The esteem in which she was held by all who knew her was amply testified by numerous notices in the public prints of the day. “Her merit and abilities,” says one, “in conducting a capital business during the life of her husband and afterwards, till her son was capable of managing it, can only be known to those who had dealings with the manufactory. In quickness of understanding and activity of execution she has left few equals among her sex.” And, in the same strain, the _Freemason’s Magazine_ of March 1796, thus speaks of her: “The urbanity of her manners, and her diligence and activity in the conduct of so extensive a concern, attached to her interest all who had dealings with her, and the steadiness of her friendship rendered her death highly lamented by all who had the happiness of being in the extensive circle of her acquaintance.” The latter notice is accompanied by a portrait of this worthy lady. Mrs. Caslon’s will becoming the object of some litigation, her estate was thrown into Chancery, and in March 1799, the Foundry was, by order of the Court, put up for auction and purchased by Mrs. Henry Caslon for £520. The smallness of this figure is the more remarkable since only seven years previously, on the retirement of Caslon III., a third share of the concern had sold for £3000. “On the decease of Mrs. Caslon,” writes Hansard, in 1825, “the management of the Foundry devolved on Mrs. Henry Caslon, who, possessing an excellent understanding, and being seconded by servants of zeal and ability, was enabled, though suffering severely under ill-health, in a great measure to retrieve its credit. Finding the renown of William Caslon no longer efficacious in securing the sale of his types, she resolved to have new founts cut. She commenced the work of renovation with a new Canon, Double Pica and Pica, having the good fortune to secure the services of Mr. John Isaac Drury, a very able engraver, since deceased. The Pica, an improvement on the style of Bodoni,[509] was particularly admired, and had a most extensive sale. Finding {252} herself, however, from the impaired state of her health, which suffered from pulmonary attacks, unable to sustain the exertions required in conducting so extensive a concern, she resolved, after the purchase of the Foundry, to take as an active partner Mr. Nathaniel Catherwood, (a distant relation), who by his energy and knowledge of business fully equalled her expectations. This connection gave a new impetus to the improvements of the Foundry, which did not cease during the lives of the partners, and their exertions were duly appreciated and encouraged by the printers. In 1808 the character of the Foundry may be considered as completely retrieved, but the proprietors did not long live to enjoy their well-merited success. In 1799, Mrs. Henry Caslon had married Mr. Strong, a medical gentleman, who died in 1802. In the spring of 1808 she was afflicted with a serious renewal of her