“Mr. Caslon, after he had finished his Arabic fount, cut the letters of his own name in Pica Roman, and placed the name at the bottom of a specimen of the Arabic[457]; and Mr. Palmer (the reputed author of Psalmanazar’s _History of Printing_), seeing this name, advised Mr. Caslon to complete the fount of Pica. Mr. Caslon did so; and as the performance exceeded the letter of the other founders of the time, Mr. Palmer—whose circumstances required credit with those who, by his advice, were now obstructed (_i.e._, whose business was likely to {236} suffer from this new rival)—repented having given the advice, and discouraged Mr. Caslon from any further progress. [Illustration: 59. Pica Roman and Italic, cut by William Caslon, 1720. (From the original matrices.)] “Mr. Caslon, disgusted,[458] applied to Mr. Bowyer, under whose inspection he cut, in 1722, the beautiful fount of English (Roman) which was used in printing the edition of _Selden’s Works_[459] in 1726.” Caslon’s excellent performance of this task may best be judged of by an inspection of this noble work, which remains conspicuous not only as the impression of the first letter cast at the Caslon foundry, but as marking a distinct turning-point in the career of English typography, which from that time forward entered on a course of brilliant regeneration. The Hebrew letter used in the _Selden_ was also of Caslon’s cutting, and must therefore share with the English Roman the honour of a first place in the productions of his foundry. [Illustration: 62. Pica Coptic, cut by Caslon, _ante_ 1731. (From the original matrices.)] His next performance was a fount of Pica Coptic for Dr. Wilkins’s[460] edition {237} of the _Pentateuch_,[461] a letter which Rowe Mores commends as superior to the Oxford Coptic in which Dr. Wilkins’ _New Testament_ had been printed in 1716.[462] This fount Caslon also cut under the direction of Mr. Bowyer, his generous patron, whom he always acknowledged as his master from whom he had learned his art. Caslon’s business, thus established, rapidly advanced in fame and excellence. Although at the outset it depended mainly on the support of his three chief patrons, it was soon able to stand alone and compete with the best houses in the trade.