A History of the Old English Letter Foundries: with Notes, Historical and Bibliographical, on the Rise and Progress of English Typography.Reed, Talbot Baines
History
A History of the Old English Letter Foundries: with Notes, Historical and Bibliographical, on the Rise and Progress of English Typography.
Reed, Talbot Baines
Printing -- England -- History; Type and type-founding -- England -- History
_Hebrew._―
2-line English, Double Pica, Great Primer, English,[539] Pica, Small
Pica, Long Primer, Brevier, Minion, Nonpareil.
_Saxon._―
English, Pica, Small Pica, Long Primer, Brevier.
_Black._―
2-line Great Primer, Double Pica, Great Primer, English, Pica,
Long Primer, Brevier, Nonpareil.
In 1828 another complete specimen appeared, showing the new series of
Romans from Double Pica to Diamond, Greek, and fifteen pages of flowers.
Mr. Andrew Wilson dying in 1830, the management of the business
devolved on his sons Alexander and Patrick, by whom it was decided, in
1832, to establish a branch house in Edinburgh. {265}
A handsome 4to specimen of the Roman letter of the Foundry was
published in 1833. This volume is interesting as being one of the
first to show the letter not only in the venerable “Quousque tandem”
paragraph, but also in an English garb.[540] It includes also five
pages of Greek, in which the Double Pica “Homer” is still prominent,
and two pages of Hebrew, but no other orientals.
In 1834 the important step was taken of transferring the Glasgow
Foundry to London, where, in premises at New Street, Gough Square, the
business was carried on.[541]
Briefly to trace the later vicissitudes of the Foundry we may add that,
about 1834, a further development of the business was completed by the
establishment of a Foundry at Two-Waters in Hertfordshire, where it was
expected the cost of production would be considerably reduced by the
cheaper labour attainable in the country. A strike occurring in 1837
among the London workmen, the Gough Square House was closed. In 1840
another branch was established at Dublin. Despite the activity of Mr.
Alex. Wilson and the continued excellence of his types, the business
declined. The latter years of his management were spent in fruitless
endeavours to supersede the old method of handcasting by machinery. The
various experiments made, however, (one of which was by the present Sir
Henry Bessemer, whose father[542] had been a type-founder) failed, and
tended further to diminish Mr. Wilson’s resources, until in 1845 be
became bankrupt.
The London and Two-Waters Foundries being offered for sale by auction,
the principal part of the matrices were purchased by the proprietors of
the Caslon Foundry in 1850, Mr. Wilson remaining for some time with Mr.
Caslon as joint manager.
The Edinburgh branch of the business, started in 1832, had continued
for {266} some time with Mr. Duncan Sinclair as managing partner. But
on the latter withdrawing from the concern and establishing himself as
an independent founder at Whiteford House, Edinburgh, about 1839, the
management was entrusted to Mr. John Gallie.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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