Posted 13 years ago
potrero
(156 items)
Picked up this absolutely beautiful wood type font yesterday. Looks like very large metal type but its actually wood. Here's what I know about it: it a 7-line Clarendon Extended by J. G. Cooley (a company which was ultimately bought like many others by Hamilton Mfg.) The Cooley logo on the font was in use from 1859-1868.
Incredible find and it seems to be a typographers dream considering the backup characters. Thanks for sharing.
For those with an interest in wood type, a couple must-have reference books:
1) American Wood Type: 1828 - 1900, by Rob Roy Kelly [RRK], 1969. The "bible" of wood type. The out-of-print hardbound edition will cost you, but a new paperback edition has just been published by Liber Apertus Press:
http://tinyurl.com/cofddr8
2) The Art of Wood Type, by Greg Ruffa, 2009. A bit less detail than RRK, but the last two-thirds of the book is a beautiful compendium of wood type from some of the top collections around the country, including full-page proof sheets and color plates covering over 100 classic font styles. A labor of love by collector and printer Greg Ruffa, this is a very beautiful, high-quality "coffeetable" paperback. Available only from the author. View and buy online at:
http://theartofwoodtype.com/