Collecting rare specimen books from type foundries can be a really expensive hobby. Luckily there is a growing number of digitized type specimen books available online. The Open Library project offers a free and enjoyable way to browse in those books. The magnifying glass isn’t working yet, but you can download most of these type specimen as PDFs with a sufficient resolution. Here is a selection of the available type specimen books:
William Caslon – A specimen of printing types (1785)
Caslon: A specimen of cast ornaments (1798)
Franklin type foundry, Cincinnati – Convenient book of specimens (1889)
Barnhart bros. & Spindler, Chicago – Book of type specimens (1881)
Keystone Type Foundry, Philadelphia – Abridged specimen book (1906)
Cleveland Type Foundry – Catalogue and book of specimens of type faces (1895)
Palmer & Rey, San Francisco – New specimen book (1884)
American Type Founders Company – American specimen book of type styles (1912)
Lanston Monotype Machine Company – The monotype specimen book of type faces (1922)
Inland Type Foundry, St. Louis – Specimen book and catalog (1897)
MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan Co, Philadelphia – Specimens of printing types (1892)
Selections from the specimen book of the Fann Street Foundry (1874)
Fifteenth book of specimens from the Cincinnati Type Foundry (1882)
Condensed Specimen Book from the Boston Type Foundry (1860)
Specimen of printing types from the foundery of Binney & Ronaldson, Philadelphia (1812)
Book of type specimens by Barnhart bros. & Spindler in Chicago (1907)
Related Links:
- Hi-Res Scans of type specimens of typefaces from Justus Erich Walbaum
- Crucial Fuel online gallery
- Flickr sets by “Nike” from Germany including cover shots and specimen spreads
- Nick Sherman’s specimen collections on Flickr
- Type Specimen Flickr Group
- Berlintypes huge type specimen collection (mostly cover shots)
- More specimen book cover shots by “Typefaces World”
2008/02/18 at 7:07 PM
lovely! sad the mackellar pdf is not online, I can not wait to see it with zoom! thanks for the links.
2008/02/18 at 7:19 PM
This is an amazing resource. The resolution of some of these PDFs is a bit lower than ideal, but they’re great to look at regardless.
I’ve always liked the Internet Archive (the group behind Open Library) for offering public domain horror movies, but never thought to search their database for type specimens.
Thanks for the info.
2008/02/18 at 7:26 PM
It is! They just used the wrong URL. This should work.
2008/02/18 at 7:33 PM
Nick, Ralf, what ones you were able to open pdf?
2008/02/18 at 7:38 PM
Remove the »_lt« from the links and they should all work fine.
2008/02/18 at 8:33 PM
It might be easier to get them here (different presentation of the same stuff at the Internet Archive site).
2008/02/19 at 3:38 AM
i just love the MS&J book! great find.
2008/02/19 at 7:13 AM
Neat! Did you notice the bitmap fonts in the back of the Caslon catalog?
(The stern notice saying I should be using IE6+ or Firefox to view the site was kind of silly. It seems to work fine in Safari.)
2008/02/20 at 11:40 PM
Wow, thank you for linking to these! I am blown away by the “New Specimen” book – just the “A”s in “A Business Talk” on page 5 are inspiring.
2008/02/20 at 11:41 PM
The Palmer & Rey’s book, that is.
2008/03/19 at 1:59 PM
Oh God! Oh God! Oh God!
2008/03/30 at 1:25 PM
I had no words on my previous comment, but I should have said: Thank You Half! You’r da man!
2008/06/03 at 3:18 AM
The Type catalogues are great. There are more on the site.
the copy of the ATF 1923 catalogue on the site is not perfect.
I scanned my copy of the catalogue into a pdf file,it is quite karge.When I put it in cd disks I spread it over 5 disks. It is in color and is clear. some of the pages are a little crooked .
I tried to send it to the librarym but can’t figure out how to do it. Would you like a copy, ar can you help get it on the net..
Lou
2008/07/22 at 5:34 PM
Hello!
I have a copy of a type specimen book that I cannot find any information about. It is entitled, “Twentieth Century Desk Book of Type and Printing Material” by American Type Founders Co., dated 1900-1901 and printed in Chicago.
I literally cannot find any informatio at all anywhere about this reference book.
Thank you for your help!
Julie
2008/07/22 at 5:38 PM
What do you wan’t to know?
You might start here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Type_Founders
And also try the links at the bottom of this page.
2008/07/22 at 5:53 PM
Hello!
That is what I’m saying, it is driving me crazy! I find ATF specimen books for before and after that date, printed in Buffalo or New Jersey, but none for that date printed in Chicago.
Julie
2008/07/22 at 6:05 PM
Hello!
I am trying to determine the rarity or importance of this reference but can find nothing to help me do that. Your link was very helpful learning more about AFT history, but it does not reference this book either.
Julie
2008/08/25 at 6:13 PM
I have the same 1901 type book, “Twentieth Century Desk Book of Type and Printing Material”, as well. It’s a beautiful book. There was a copy on the Belgium Ebay about a month ago that sold for around $300 US. The copy I have, was purchased at a flea market this weekend. I got it for $25. It was originally priced at $250! I can’t find any info either. I’d like to scan it and put it online.
2009/03/04 at 10:32 PM
Does anyone know where I might borrow a copy of any of the actual Mackellar books so that I can scan a few pages at a much higher resolution than shown here (or, alternatively, pay a fortunate owner of such a treasure to scan some pages for me)? If I had an extra thousand bucks, I could find an original to buy (they appear once in awhile in online auctions but always with a huge reserve), but all I want is some scans. Anybody got any ideas? Thanks!!
Xavier
xwhys@yahoo.com
2009/06/18 at 2:17 PM
it is the reason why i love digital life. it just narrow the gap between the rich and poor (of course i am poor). we can enjoy some thing like “Rare Type Specimens” which was only available for richs.
2010/09/08 at 11:13 AM
Thank you very much. This site helps in my type research work.
2010/12/13 at 10:58 PM
Julie,
ATF published several editions of the Desk Book from 1898 to 1901, all of them about the same trim size: 5-3/4″ x 8-1/2″, with from 1024 to 1186 pages. They were imprinted for various locations such as Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, etc. but they were all printed at the former MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan foundry in Philadelphia. None were printed in Chicago.
-Steve Saxe
2011/06/06 at 10:27 AM
really great stuff. Didn’t know that there’s such a history in specimen books. Thanks
2012/01/25 at 9:14 AM
Great list, there is collection of scans in the “Silver Buckle Collction” from the University of Wisconsin Digital Collection http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/SilverBuckle/Browse.html
includes the following:
Add “punch” to your printing with Hamilton wood type. 1951
American line type book: borders and ornaments price list, printing machinery and material. 1906
ATF Spartan: medium and italic.
Automatic white space.
Bauer types in use.
The Blue Streak Linotypes: master models 31 & 32.
The Blue Streak Linotypes: model fourteen.
Hamilton printing plant equipment / manufactured by Hamilton Manufacturing Company. Hamilton Manufacturing Co. (Two Rivers, Wis.) ([1922-1932])
Instruction on installation, care and operation of the chandler & price 10×15 and 12×18 craftsman press with rice automatic feeder 1934. Chandler & Price company (1934)
[Letter from Ray C. Cook, sales director of Hamilton Manufacturing Company regarding Hamilton wood type catalog no. 25]. Cook, Ray C. (1951)
La lettre d’imprimerie: origine, développement, classification & 12 notices illustrées sur les arts du livre. Thibaudeau, F (1921)
La lettre d’imprimerie: origine, développement, classification & 12 notices illustrées sur les arts du livre. Thibaudeau, F (1921)
Linotype news. 1963
Nickel-alloy type: Keystone Type Foundry. 1906
The Nubian: a new fashion in types.
Price list of printing type and typographic material. Mackellar, Smiths & Jordan Co (1891)
The printing arts: selected from a detailed description of all guilds. Sachs, Hans, Ammann, Jost (1968)
Two-series modernage typography introduced by the American Type Founders Company.
Type specimen book. Democrat Printing Co. (Madison, Wis.) ([1940])
Types: fancy metal rules and metal furniture too.
Wood 2. Morgan Press ([1964])
Wood type. Hamilton Manufacturing Co (1938)
Wood type. 1897
Woodcock’s printers’ and lithographers’ weekly gazette. 1881
Woodtype: selective emphasis for fine typography. 1960