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Typo: A Monthly Newspaper and Literary Review, Volume 8

Type Specimens

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Type Specimens.

everal new and useful styles appear in the latest number of the Typographic Advertiser of the Mackellar Foundry. Columbus, a fine bold letter, a kind of ornamental DeVinne, has now a lowercase added to all five sizes, and will, we think, become a standard face. Columbus Outline, (in preparation), to work with it in register, will also be a valuable display style where a large and light face is required. Rimpled, eight sizes, 8· to 48·, is somewhat in the DeVinne style also, but ragged in contour. As there is a market for such faces, the founders are fully justified in supplying them; but we do not think that the style will last. The whole of the first page is set in the 8· of this peculiar face, with distressing effect. Polo, in five sizes, 8· to 60·, is another wedge-face. It is fanciful and free, but not extravagant. We notice duplicate forms of R, a, c, d, n, and there may be others. Houghton, five sizes, 8· to 60·, is a heavy face, the lowercase Irish in character. A similar form is to be found in same of the caps, but they are so extravagantly scrolled as to mar the effect of the lines. With a series of caps in quieter taste, this would be a much more useful letter. In addition to the scrolls with which the caps are furnished, there are separate flourishes for attachment to the projecting points. The series of Caxton Black is now completed by the addition of two larger sizes, 42· and 54·.

Messrs Archibald & Fowler, 32 York Place, Edinburgh, have lately been producing artistic and æsthetic vignettes for the trade. The Edinburgh series of Initials is one of their novelties. The letters are open, after the « Quaint » pattern, about 4 ems pica in depth, decorated in free style with floral and conventional ornaments, the blocks varying in depth from about 6 to 10 ems.

In Press and Paper (Tokyo) for November we see a set of six odd little Japanese ornaments, and two borders, 30· and 36·, No synopsis is given, but they appear each to consist of two characters, a conventional floral ornament, not much to European taste. The text being all in the Japanese character, we cannot give the name of the foundry.

The Paris foundry of Ch. Doublet has brought out, under the name of Nouvelles Fantaisies Lithographiques, a new fancy letter in five sizes, 12· to 48·. It is a variant of the Washington, the form of which face has been faithfully followed, and a light outline added at the right and foot of the letter. The effect is very good.

Messrs Genzsch & Heyse, of Hamburg, send us a beautifully printed pamphlet, setting forth in detail their new Pompadour combination, with numerous examples of its use. It is to a great extent on the same lines as Reinhold's fine Rococo, but is less extensive, as regards number of characters. It is in four sections, each of which may be used apart from the rest. The first of these, taken singly, would be of more use to the ordinary job printer than either of the others, and supplies the framework on which the more elaborate designs are built. It contains 62 characters, about half of which constitute an exceedingly pretty and flexible double light line combination. Section 2 consists of larger pieces, in the irregular scroll style characteristic of the rococo combinations, and sketched with due regard to light and shade. Sections 3 and 4, 13 and 18 characters respectively, are similar in style, but of larger size, most of the pieces in the last section being about 8 ems square. In the illustration given, the border is displayed in many ingenious ways, some of the examples being richly brought out in tint and color. A feature of this design is, that figures are entirely absent.—The heavy backslope italic, Pionier, is a real artistic success. With each font, in addition to the plain caps, is supplied a second alphabet, tastefully decorated in silhouette with a spray of long slender leaves; also end flourishes. These latter possess a new feature in being extensible, so that the display line may, if desired, be underlined its full length. The series includes six sizes, 20· to 60·, and the ornamental initials of each font combine well with the caps of the next smaller size.

Some months ago we noted the Excelsior and Keil Grotesque of the Aktiengesellschaft, and the Favorite Ornaments of the same foundry. This month we show complete specimens. The Keil Grotesque differs from the original Keilschrift (Wedge-type) only in the absence of the fine line at side and foot. This, we think, is an improvement all through, especially in the larger sizes, where the fragile line is a decided disadvantage. We know of no modern job face surpassing the Keil Grotesque in beauty and general usefulness. Its only drawback is the kern on the B and other characters. For lines of caps, duplicate sorts, without the kern, would be useful. The Excelsior is the same as an earlier face, the Tedesca, with an outline added at side and foot. In this case the light line is a decided improvement, modifying as it does a certain hardness and angularity characteristic of the original face. We show a line of each; the remainder of the series will be found on page 14, where also is shown the full synopsis of sections 2 to 5 of the pretty Favorite Ornaments. Apart from its use in combination, as shown in our headpiece, this series is specially rich in single vignettes, which can be quickly and effectively used as tail-pieces, corner ornaments,
Series I.

Series I.

&c. A full set contains 100 characters, they are carefully classified, and each section is complete in itself. With sections 1 and 3 are supplied a quantity of metal 2· fine rule, to extend the water-line, where necessary, in the aquatic subjects.