Recent Specimens.

The land of Gutenberg leads the world in artistic combinations and fine-art typography. Messrs Schelter & Giesecke, of Leipzig, have sent us their new specimen book, which is not only a cyclopædia of systematic type ornament, but contains some of the finest examples of typographic decoration ever executed. The book is a large octavo, printed on both sides of the leaf, and contains four hundred pages of type specimens alone. To each section is prefixed a beautifully-illuminated title-page. The first section contains body-founts, English and German; the second, plain and ornamental job-letter, including many original productions; the next section includes scripts and ornamental initials; and a very complete collection of Russian, Greek, Hebrew, and Oriental founts follows. The next department is that of ornamental combinations, in which Messrs S. & G. are not surpassed by any house in the world. Next follow figures, signs, braces, indexes, and music; then a large collection of vignettes; and two more divisions— brass rule and printers' requisites—complete the book, which, however, is supplemented by a valuable catalogue of sixty closely-printed nonpareil pages, in which is set forth every item, its weight and price, with a cipher key for orders by wire.

Herr H. Poppelbaum, of the Krebs Foundry, Frankfurt-am-Main, sends us No. 4 of the Typographische Neuigkeiten, a handsome quarto, in which the novelties of his foundry are exhibited. The cover is in four colors, displaying a large and graceful silhoutte border, new to us. Compositors using MacKellar's « oak » ornaments are often annoyed that the design is so imperfectly carried out. Hr Poppelbaum has added six characters, of obvious utility, including opposites to and , and a pretty centre-piece, with two birds naturally drawn, contrasting very favorably with the miserable little object in the original series. If these new sorts could be cast to range with the American fount, every printer who uses it would get them. Diagonal quads, at an angle of 45°, are shown. It is strange that English and American founders persistently refuse to cast these simple and useful auxiliaries, and that printers requiring them must send— as Typo had to do—to Germany. An original and beautifully-cut mediæval letter is shown in twelve sizes, 6-to 60-point, under the name of « Holländsche Gotisch, » and a clean-cut and graceful script, « lnglesa, » in four sizes. There is a fine collection of head-and corner-pieces, and lastly, a charming but expensive series of « Amoret » initials in two sizes—the smaller about 5 ems square.

French typefounders have a wide reputation, but until last mail we had never received a specimen sheet from one of them. We have now to acknowledge a packet of finely-printed specimens, from the foundry of M. Gustave Mayeur, of Paris, including a number of original styles. One of these is an admirable French-face bookwork roman, 16-point, after models of 1819—when old-face had gone out, and before spider-limbed styles had come in. If preferred, the fount is supplied with e instead of e, thus producing an old-style effect by the change of a single character. Some pretty series of initials are shown—one pattern, on a shield, being original and striking. There are also some effective shield ornaments, in halves, mortised to admit square initials. We notice some American designs— the « oak » ornaments among the number. These have been re-cut, and the changes, though almost imperceptible, are for the better.

The same remark applies to the « auxiliaries » series 2 of the Cleveland Foundry, which we find here with additions and improvements. In the piece in the margin, for example, the simple omission of the perpendicular line enables it to be used in the centre or at either end of the line, as preferred. — A page of styles for visiting-cards shows that French printers use much more variety in this kind of work than English fashions will permit.

The Manhattan Foundry, New York, send us their First Specimen Book, small quarto, neatly printed, and containing some good notions. Prominence is given to the « Baker » brass-rule ornaments, in two series, 69 sorts each, for thick-and thin-face rule respectively. They are excellent combinations, and are calculated to save no end of time, trouble, and waste, in cutting, mitering, curving, and justifying.— The « Scenic » combinations are better in idea than execution. Some of the figures are not well drawn, and the characters do not join up well. The notion is susceptible of wide development, and we expect to see it greatly improved upon. Some of the original running borders, nonpareil and pica, are good, and they are all effectively shown. The most original idea in the book is a series of thirty-two « artistic » trade cuts, thoroughly German in conception, though Yankee in execution. They are heraldic in style, and, to our mind, too fanciful in most cases for their intended purpose. Half of them might be used for title-page vignettes or tail-pieces, without their original intention being suspected.—We wish this young and enterprising house success.

The St. Louis Foundry show two new scripts—the « Royal, » a plain legible round-hand, and « Old-style, » a good imitation of the quaint caligraphy of a hundred-and-fifty years ago: for old-style printing this will be in demand. The admirable « Art Gothic » appears in two new sizes, 10-and 60-point. And there are three more « eccentrics » with lower-case: « Jupiter, » « Apollo, » and « Hermes. » The latter, a condensed style, takes Typo's fancy.

Barnhardt Bros. & Spindler show three sizes of « Standard » script —plain lower-case and flourished caps. The same house has brought out a good extra-expanded old-style italic called « Lightface Challenge »; a title series called « Spencer »—old-face, with all the ugly points emphasized; some « art » ornaments of the forked-lightning genus, and four new series of word ornaments.

Messrs Foster, Roe, & Crone, Chicago, send us specimens of their « latest art fakes, » including « slobs, curlicues, and beauts.» The ornaments are as fantastic as the names,—in fact, indescribable and incomparable.

The Cleveland Foundry have brought out an eccentric titling letter called « Oxford, » with ornamented initials, and some ornaments of the scribble style just at present in favor with American printers.

Under the name of « Copygraph, » Messrs Farmer, Little, & Co. have brought out a new pica type-writer face.

The Union Typefoundry, Chicago, show some neat and original borders, from 6-to 24-point.

An Australian supply house sends us a sheet of cuts, marked at a « tall » figure. The best of them could be engraved in New Zealand at the price.

From the Austin Foundry we have specimens of a series of sixteen trade emblems, 10 x 6 ems, of no special merit.—And this is all we have had from England in two months.