Featured Article
A bibliographic catalog of American wood type manufacturer’s stamps
In his 1964 American Wood Types folio, Rob Roy Kelly published 15 manufacturer’s stamps, with dates of use, and included a explanation of the stamping process. Five years later he would use this explanation to accompany 16 manufacturer’s stamps in his book American Wood Type 1828–1900. Robert Long published Wood Type & Printing Collectibles in 1980 that showed 11 American manufacturer’s stamps, two of which had not been previously shown by […] Read more – ‘A bibliographic catalog of American wood type manufacturer’s stamps’.
Wood Type Research
Wood Type Research is a blog of current research in wood type design, manufacture and use during the 19th and 20th centuries by Professor David Shields, Chair of the Department of Graphic Design at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Latest Articles
- Aldine & Aldine Ornamented
- Aldine & Aldine Ornamented were patented by William H Page — and assigned to William H Page & Co — on March 15, 1870, (US Design No 3,905). The faces were first shown as wood type by William H Page & Co in their July, 1870 Specimens of Wood Type. In American Wood Type Rob Roy Kelly‹1› stated that he believed this design to have originated as a wood type […] Read more – ‘Aldine & Aldine Ornamented’.
- William Hamilton Page
- William Hamilton Page was born in Tilton, New Hampshire March 14, 1829 to James & Jane Greenleaf Page. Page spent his childhood on a farm in the Connecticut River Valley, and would go on to be the most important American wood type manufacturer of the 19th century. Page started as a printer’s apprentice at age 14 in Bradford, Vermont. From 1843–1849 he moved from printer to printer in towns and […] Read more – ‘William Hamilton Page’.
- Chromatic Gothic Paneled
- This shaded, beveled san serif design named Chromatic Gothic Paneled was first shown as a two color chromatic‹1› in Wm H Page & Co’s 1874 Specimen of Chromatic Wood Type, Borders, &c. The schematic design, from which Chromatic Gothic Paneled was derived, was patented March 3, 1874 (filed Jan 5, 1874) as US Design Patent No 7,230 by William H Page. The patent displayed the underlying organizational structure of […] Read more – ‘Chromatic Gothic Paneled’.