Newspaper Fonts in the 19th century
William Tyler
I the Sherlock Holmes story "Hound of the Baskervilles" Holmes
analyzed an anonymous note constructed from words clipped from a
newspaper. He was able to identify the paper as the London Times by
the font. I'm interested in learning what fonts were in use in
newspapers of that time. Does anyone know what fonts the London Times
and other English papers were using for leading articles in
the 1880s and 1890s? (I believe that Times Roman was a 20th century
design.)
Thanks for any help,
Bill
--
Bill Tyler wty...@adobe.com Adobe is not responsible for my opinions.
Tiro TypeWorks
wty...@adobe.com (William Tyler) wrote:
>I the Sherlock Holmes story "Hound of the Baskervilles" Holmes
>analyzed an anonymous note constructed from words clipped from a
>newspaper. He was able to identify the paper as the London Times by
>the font. I'm interested in learning what fonts were in use in
>newspapers of that time. Does anyone know what fonts the London Times
>and other English papers were using for leading articles in
>the 1880s and 1890s? (I believe that Times Roman was a 20th century
>design.)
For well over a century before the adoption of Times Roman in 1932,
the Times was printed in a rather extreme 'modern' type of the kind
used by most 19th century newspapers. Walter Tracy's 'Letters of
Credit' shows some enlarged versions of such letters in the chapter on
Times Roman (it is best, however, to ignore most of the rest of the
(dis)information in this chapter). The nearest thing you're likely to
come across today is Monotype Scotch Roman or, considerably less
commonly, Stephenson Blake Modern.
John Hudson, Type Director
Tiro TypeWorks
Vancouver, BC
ti...@portal.ca
http://www.portal.ca/~tiro
Charles Hedrick
ti...@portal.ca (Tiro TypeWorks) writes:
>Times Roman (it is best, however, to ignore most of the rest of the
>(dis)information in this chapter). The nearest thing you're likely to
I understand from past postings here that the standard story about
Times Roman is now believed to be wrong. Could someone indicate where
it actually came from? As I understand it, it's now believed that it
was designed earlier in the 20th Cent. by someone unconnected with the
Times. Who actually designed it? When? What was the font called?
Is Times Roman an exact copy of that font, or were some changes made?
Donald A. Hosek
In article <4vd15q$8...@geneva.rutgers.edu>,
There's actually a large amount of dissent about what the origins of
Times Roman are. Personally, I find the evidence for Parker's theory
to be rather compelling, but more than a few not-insignificant typographic
historians disagree. What resolution (if any) the debate will come to
remains to be seen.
-dh
--
Don Hosek dho...@quixote.com Quixote Digital Typography
909-621-1291 fax: 909-625-1342 orders: 800-810-3311
For information about SERIF: THE MAGAZINE OF TYPE & TYPOGRAPHY,
http://www.quixote.com/serif/ or mail serif...@quixote.com
Tiro TypeWorks
hed...@geneva.rutgers.edu (Charles Hedrick) wrote:
>ti...@portal.ca (Tiro TypeWorks) writes:
>>Times Roman (it is best, however, to ignore most of the rest of the
>>(dis)information in this chapter). The nearest thing you're likely to
>I understand from past postings here that the standard story about
>Times Roman is now believed to be wrong. Could someone indicate where
>it actually came from? As I understand it, it's now believed that it
>was designed earlier in the 20th Cent. by someone unconnected with the
>Times. Who actually designed it? When? What was the font called?
>Is Times Roman an exact copy of that font, or were some changes made?
The roman Times type (note, not the italic) was designed within the
first five years of this century, in America, by W. Starling Burgess,
the famous naval architect (and general renaissance man). All the
details regarding Burgess' design are still being unearthed,
principally by Mike Parker, whose article in 'Printing History 31/32'
(dated 1994 -- actually '95) discusses the discovery to date. Since
the article was published, Mike has uncovered further evidence, which
I for one consider incontrovertible, but I'll let him do the honours.
Robert Long
On Tue, 20 Aug 1996 07:00:30 GMT, ti...@portal.ca (Tiro TypeWorks)
wrote:
| The nearest thing you're likely to
|come across today is Monotype Scotch Roman or, considerably less
|commonly, Stephenson Blake Modern.
There also is a Modern in the Image Club collection that, because it
sets rather lumpily, may look even more like a typical Victorian
newspaper.
Barry & Susan Stock
<...Mike Parker, whose article in 'Printing History 31/32'
(dated 1994 -- actually '95)...>
I'm game. Where can I find this publication?
-BS
--
Barry & Susan Stock · 30630-0708
Tiro TypeWorks
sst...@athens.net (Barry & Susan Stock) wrote:
><...Mike Parker, whose article in 'Printing History 31/32'
>(dated 1994 -- actually '95)...>
>I'm game. Where can I find this publication?
'Printing History' is the journal of the American Printing History
Society, PO Box 4922, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163-4922.
Membership is $30 per year.
They also have a website at
http://wally.rit.edu/cary/printing_history.html
Charles Sartwell
> wty...@adobe.com (William Tyler) wrote:
>
> >I the Sherlock Holmes story "Hound of the Baskervilles" Holmes
> >analyzed an anonymous note constructed from words clipped from a
> >newspaper. He was able to identify the paper as the London Times by
> >the font. I'm interested in learning what fonts were in use in
> >newspapers of that time. Does anyone know what fonts the London Times
> >and other English papers were using for leading articles in
> >the 1880s and 1890s? (I believe that Times Roman was a 20th century
> >design.)
>
> For well over a century before the adoption of Times Roman in 1932,
> the Times was printed in a rather extreme 'modern' type of the kind
> used by most 19th century newspapers. Walter Tracy's 'Letters of
> Credit' shows some enlarged versions of such letters in the chapter on
> Times Roman (it is best, however, to ignore most of the rest of the
> (dis)information in this chapter). The nearest thing you're likely to
> come across today is Monotype Scotch Roman or, considerably less
> commonly, Stephenson Blake Modern.
>
> John Hudson, Type Director
>
> Tiro TypeWorks
> Vancouver, BC
> ti...@portal.ca
> http://www.portal.ca/~tiro
Sebastian Carter, Twentieth Century Type Designers, writes about Stanley
Morison on page 90:
...in June 1930, he prepared a unique copy (except that he kept a
duplicate for himself) of a newspaper-sized folio, THE TYPOGRAPHY OF THE
TIMES, with forty-two full-sized reproductions of the paper from its
earliest days...
Did this history ever get published? Are parts of it in the recent
biography of Morison.
Carter cites one reference that might be helpful in clarifying what types
were used in British newspapers during late 19th century:
Allen Hutt, The changing newspaper. London. (1973).