#type specimens

[uwmspeccoll]

Typography Tuesday

STEPHENSON BLAKE

Today we're showing a new acquisition from one of the giants of British type founding, Specimens of Printing Types from Stephenson, Blake, the Caslon Letter Foundry, Sheffield, published in Sheffield, England by Stephenson Blake & Co. in 1959. Stephenson Blake claims a lineage directly back to William Caxton, the founder of English type and printing in 1476. We think they stand on firmer ground, however, in also claiming descent from William Caslon, the founder of the first truly British typefaces beginning in 1734.

Silversmith and mechanic William Garnett and toolmaker John Stephenson began foundry operations in 1818 with financial support from James Blake. A year later, they acquired the firm of William Caslon III and IV, an offshoot of the Caslon family business. Garnett left the firm in 1829 and the company was renamed Blake & Stephenson in 1830, but Blake died soon after. Stephenson himself died in 1864 and passed the business onto his son Henry. The company was purchased in 1905 Sir Charles Reed and Sons, but the Stephenson name was retained. In 1937, the company purchased H.W. Caslon & Sons, the other branch of the storied Caslon dynasty, securing its right to claim full Caslon heritage.

Stephenson Blake continued to make some type until 2001, but it finally closed its foundry in 2005, with much of its historical stock going to the Type Archive in London. Because of financial issues, the Type Archive also had to close its doors in 2022, and the Stephenson Blake collection was transferred to the Victoria & Albert Museum as the interim custodian.

Shown here are some shaded typefaces and ornaments from the 1959 catalog.

View more Typography Tuesday posts.

[stone-cold-groove]

Open come in.

[drawdownbooks]

Join us at Typographics 2024 in NYC this weekend! Draw Down will be participating in the book fair, which is free and open to the public!

Friday 6/14 through Sunday 6/16, 10AM-5PM every day at 41 Cooper Square (The Cooper Union) in New York City. The fair is between E 6th St & E 7th St (just across the street from the Great Hall where the main Typographics conference will be taking place) We'll be with friends @pioneerworks @letterformarchive @ksmallgallery @leftbankbooks @lubalincenter + more! Ellen Lupton will be on site on Saturday signing her latest book! The fair is right around the corner from Printed Matter's East Village Zine Fair (also free and open to the public), so you can have a full day of zines, books, and typography!

[providencepubliclibrary]

Seems like someone needs reading glasses

From O.I. Leman (Moscow) type specimen book, 1914

[applesquire]

Specimens of chromatic wood type, borders, etc. manufactured by Wm. H. Page & Co.

[markscherz]

Yes, for those of you unfamiliar with the term, a holotype (or, if multiple individuals, syntypes) is the original reference specimen for a taxonomic name. Not to be considered typical or archetypal in any way, this specimen is simply the anchor of the name (in this case Xenodermus javanicus is the name in question). Anyone wanting to say they have found this species, or thinking they have a different species, must confirm it by checking this specimen. It is the 'name-bearer'. These are the most important specimens in any natural history collection, and some of the most important biological objects in the world.

Dragon Snake aka Javan Mud Snake (Xenodermus javanicus), family Xenodermidae, west Java, Indonesia

photograph by Mark Spence

[draculiza]

but what if I'm goth and mall goth? the original and the 'poser', the real and the fake, the one with both sides of the coin. the one who's in love with nu metal and goth music, intertwined together. my two demons, dancing and bopping to the beat.

[buromarks]

-YTF Garamông https://www.instagram.com/p/C71wXExSke-/?img_index=1

[fandomfuntimem]

A follow up comic to this

Left -> right

First time I've ever done a full comic page. This is what i planned for the one shot to end with.

I'll probably do this au in different directions. But if the story were to end with this this is where I think it would go.

[rlyehtaxidermist]

to me, Mamizou and Nue are the type specimen for what I call "youkai married". they clearly have their own spheres of influence and places of residence and agendas, but at the same time are willing to drop what they're doing or move across japan to help the other carry out overly complex schemes, fight the ancient hermit that the other's cult dug up, or engage in what even the most freudian topologist to ever ponder orientable surfaces couldn't interpret as human sex

[uwmspeccoll]

Typography Tuesday

More De Vinne Initials

This week we present a few more initials from Types of the De Vinne Press, published in New York by the De Vinne Press in 1907. The press was founded in 1883 by Theodore Low De Vinne (1828-1914), a co-founder of the prestigious Grolier Club and one of the leading commercial printers of his day, whose enterprise had a profound influence on American printing and typography.

De Vinne defines the initial as:

A large or ornamented letter at the beginning of a chapter or paragraph, as high as many lines of the text type by its side, and lining neatly with its first and last lines . . . .

He further states that "A proper initial at the beginning of a first paragraph always gives attractiveness to the composition. It is the feature that first catches the eye." These initials certainly do.

View more posts from Types of the De Vinne Press.

View more posts with initials.

View more Typography Tuesday posts.

[stone-cold-groove]

You’ll like our tasty hamburgers!

[razzberrysheep]

Cringetober day 8!

[the-vampire-lazarus]

Real artists I think Rockstar/Musician Lestat's music should be written by/influenced by (this is just my opinion don't come for me):

Nine Inch Nails

Korn

Chappell Roan

Lady Gaga

Sleep Token

Type O Negative

My Chemical Romance

Ethel Cain

Maneskin

Hozier

Specimen

Nirvana

[cloning-vat-mistake]

Been thinking abt five after the flux is removed... So here she is on ur screen !

[drawdownbooks]

Harber Type Specimen (A2 version) by Benoît Bodhuin

Harber is a dot matrix design with variable axes for weight, slant, volume, noise, and optical size.

Published by Benoît Bodhuin, 2023

1 double-sided sheet, 5-color Risograph, 16.5 × 23.4 inches Ships folded, dimensions 8.3 × 11.7 inches