A History of the Old English Letter Foundries, with Notes, Historical and Bibliographical, on the Rise and Progress of English Typography.

Reed, T.B. ; Johnson, A.F.

Published by Faber and Faber, London, 1952 revised and enlarged from the 1887 first edition., 1952

About this Item

Cloth, large 8vo, 29 cm, xiv, 400 pp, ills., portraits, typographical specimens. Baines Reed's original work was described by Graham Pollard in 1928 as "an indispensable book : it is by far the best and most complete book on the history of type foundries that has been written for any country". In this revised and enlarged edition A F Johnson draws on more than 20 years' research to add considerably to the account of typographical history and to include many facts unknown to Reed. An excellent work, attractively produced by Faber. Contents: Preface to the First Edition ; Preface to the New Edition; Introductory Chapter: The Types and Typefounding of the First Printers; 1. The English Type-Bodies and Faces; 2. The Learned, Foreign, and Peculiar Characters; 3. The Printer Letter-Founders, from Caxton to Day; 4. Letter-Founding as an English Mechanical Trade; 5. The State Control of English Letter-Founding; 6. The Oxford University Foundry; 7. The Star Chamber Founders and the London Polyglot; 8. Joseph Moxon; 9. The Later Founders of the Seventeenth century; 10. Thomas and John James; 11. William Caslon; 12. Alexander Wilson; 13. John Baskerville; 14. Thomas Cottrell, Robert Thorne, the Fann Street Foundry; 15. Joseph and Edmund Fry; 16. Joseph Jackson, William Caslon III and IV, Stephenson, Blake & Co; 17. William Martin; 18. Vincent Figgins; 19. The Minor Founders of the Eighteenth century; 20. William Miller; 21. The Minor Founders from 1800 to 1830; 22. The Typefounders and Mechanical Inventions; 23. Further Minor Founders, 1831-90; Bibliography; Index. An ex-library copy with label taped around spine, labels and dockets on front endpapers, stamps and marks and stickers verso of title-page, and one or two other stamps, covers rubbed, some light soiling to endpapers otherwise Good. Seller Inventory # ABE-32416

Bibliographic Details

Title: A History of the Old English Letter ...

Publisher: Faber and Faber, London, 1952 revised and enlarged from the 1887 first edition.

Publication Date: 1952

Binding: Hardcover