EndGrain

Modified Q

Bethany Heck — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 16:07:33 +0000

I don’t post nearly enough Q’s on End Grain. This guy used to be a part of the 514 die stamped font that Page first produced in 1887. But you can see where the top triangle flourish has been trimmed off, presumably so the letter would match another similar typeface. It’s still a lovely letterform. This style has a very nice combination of straight lines and hard angles with some nice curves lines. The tail is pretty substantial, often you’ll see wood type Q’s with tiny and tacked on tails.

Style: Number 514
Style first appeared: 1887
Size: 8 line
Manufacturer: Page
Manufacturing Method: Die Cut?
Is it part of a complete set? Not Quite

Grotesque R

Bethany Heck — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 16:20:45 +0000

I love grotesque R’s! They are so heavy but always have great lines on the leg. This one slides out just a bit at the bottom, enough to give it visual interest but not distracting. You can see that the edges on this block have cleaned up easier than the rest of it.

Style: Grotesque
Style first appeared: Unknown
Size: 15 line
Manufacturer: Hamilton
Manufacturing Method: Pantograph
Is it part of a complete set? Yes

Antique 6

Bethany Heck — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 19:22:51 +0000

Ah, what a great way to start the year! I love the numerals for this typeface. They are huge and meaty and delectable. I love the ball terminal at the end of the stroke, it gives the number a lot of personality. It’s almost like he’s rocking a pompadour.

Style: Antique
Style first appeared: 1828
Size: 25 line
Manufacturer: Unknown
Manufacturing Method: Pantograph
Is it part of a complete set? Yes

Gothic P

Bethany Heck — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 18:10:12 +0000

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas! This is a very handsome P, it’s nice and beefy and well balanced. The top of the letter seems to have a thicker stroke than the rest of it. The face has a little bit of staining with some nice round spots that make it very lovely.

Style: Gothic
Style first appeared: Unknown
Size: 15 line
Manufacturer: Hamilton
Manufacturing Method: Pantograph
Is it part of a complete set? Yes

Inconspicuous O

Bethany Heck — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 16:11:20 +0000

The most unique thing about this particular block is how shallow the shoulder is. I’m not an expert, but I think there may be a possibility that this block was die-cut. You can see where the shoulder is peeling away from the face at the top, and I’m not seeing any obvious router markings.

Style: Gothic
Style first appeared: Unknown
Size: 15 line
Manufacturer: Unknown
Manufacturing Method: Possible die-cut?
Is it part of a complete set? No

Mmmm

Bethany Heck — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 15:44:33 +0000

It’s been ages since I posted some of my French Antique letters, so here’s a lovely couple of M’s. As is usually the case, the lowercase letter has seen much less use than it’s older brother. The lowercase letter has traces of red ink in its hairline counters. The lowercase form seems a bit more jolly and friendly than the uppercase M, which has a lot of sharp angles.

Style: French Antique
Style first appeared: 1869
Size: 15 line
Manufacturer: Hamilton
Manufacturing Method: Pantograph
Is it part of a complete set? Yes

Stained N

Bethany Heck — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 17:19:56 +0000

Going to close off the week with this gorgeous Gothic N. The staining is so rich and lovely, and the clear and bright wood grain really pops out next to it. The negative areas house two really nice sets of tiered pantograph marks. I love big type like this because you can see how the rings stretch over the face so well.

Style: Condensed Gothic
Style first appeared: Unknown
Size: 40 line
Manufacturer: Unknown
Manufacturing Method: Pantograph
Is it part of a complete set? Almost

Grecian V

Bethany Heck — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 16:27:31 +0000

I haven’t posted any letters from my beloved Grecian set for awhile, so I thought I’d post this slick V today. The left stroke is so thin that it gives the letter a dramatic presence. The contrast is very nice. I love how the stroke narrow in that the bottom, it’s a nice detail that gives the letter even more visual interest.

Style: Unknown Grecian
Style first appeared: 1846
Size: 28 line
Manufacturer: Unknown
Manufacturing Method: Hand Carved
Is it part of a complete set? Not yet!

Holiday Poster

Bethany Heck — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 15:43:32 +0000

I‘ve got a wonderful change of pace post for today! The always magnificent Jennifer Farrell of Starshaped Press has printed an amazing holiday poster and did a wonderful write up on the creation of the poster and some great tidbits regarding the type and ornaments she used. You can buy one of these lovely pieces at her etsy shop!

Thanks for everything, Jen!

‘Happy Holidays’ poster by Starshaped Press (Jennifer Farrell)

In October, I was fortunate to acquire a large collection of wood type that had previously been buried in the attic of a print shop that served all the printing needs of the small town in which I grew up. Some 70 faces strong, it included some very fine specimens of both elaborate and hard working fonts that have seen a great deal of wear, care and repair, as well as fantastic borders and ornamental pieces.

I was able to ship a large portion of the collection back to Starshaped in Chicago so that we could begin to use it as soon as possible. The first piece I wanted to create was a holiday print that incorporated a lot of text, since this would give me the opportunity to use many of the new faces, as well as at least one of the borders. Given the maximum sheet size our proof press can handle (approx. 14×18″), it became apparently quickly that setting up one forme (the type/ornaments/borders and necessary set up pieces) just wouldn’t do. I set up two separate formes to use as much of the most interesting type as possible and considered printing two separate posters.

Then I thought it might be fun to run them both in different colors on one piece of paper to see how the type would interact and create new forms in the print. I added some prominence to the border by printing rectangular linoleum blocks behind it. After printing the two formes, I still needed something to act like a focal point and decided the large HAPPY HOLIDAYS would definitely do that. I added some of the star and snowflake-esque ornaments and printed them in gold. Overall, I was quite happy with the look of the poster and tried a few different paper options to get different effects.

A few interesting tidbits…

-One of the corner border pieces was replaced at some point in its life; it’s made of copper instead of wood, which was a common way to replace missing or damaged pieces.

-’Feliz Navidad’ uses type that is actually cut on a diagonal instead of a straight rectangular block. It even came with it’s own spacing to make it fit with whatever else prints alongside it.

-Necessity is the mother of invention; there is no ‘H’ in the typeface used for ’sleighbells’, hence the improvised smaller H with ornaments below it.

-Much of the type was already mortised, meaning that the negative spaces were cut away so that it could fit more closely with the type next to it. This is most obvious (and useful) in ‘HOLIDAYS’ with the A and Y.

Antique A

Bethany Heck — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 18:22:42 +0000

Back to back A’s this week, just because I love them so much! This guy is solid, meaty and wonderfully angular. I love the uneven stroke weight from one side of the letter to another. This guy has been cut into, as many A’s are, for kerning. The serifs on the bottom are so wide that the space between them is just a hairline, an interestingly delicate detail in what is a bold and in your face style.

Style: Antique
Style first appeared: 1828
Size: 25 line
Manufacturer: Unknown
Manufacturing Method: Pantograph
Is it part of a complete set? Yes