#TypeSpecimens
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letterformarchive.org
New from Letterform Archive Books, the first of a new line featuring reproductions of our favorite collections: Creative Papers. letterformarchive.org/shop/wood-ty...

#WoodType #HarrildAndSons #Stationery #GiftWrap #TypeSpecimens #Typography
Wood Type Creative Papers: Nineteenth-Century Letterforms on Display (For Gift Wrap, Crafting, Decor & more) | Letterform Archive
16 oversize sheets featuring the bold letters and vibrant colors designed to captivate audiences near and far In the 1800s, as people migrated to urban centers, and the walls of the city increasingly ...
letterformarchive.org
September 19, 2026 at 7:03 AM
letterformarchive.org
This [1901] Bruce catalog has a rather odd title page layout, but we love two things:

1. A fairly early halftone photograph of the New York building.
2. “BRUCE QUALITY BEST QUALITY”

#TypeFoundries #BruceTypeFoundry #TypeHistory #Typography #TypeSpecimens
Photo of a book spread. On the left page is a photo of a building with this text: “ESTABLISHED IN 1813 / LOCATED IN THIS BUILDING FOR THE PAST EIGHTY-SIX YEARS”. On the right side is a title, “BRUCE TYPE FOUNDRY” across two columns. The left column has a seal with an eagle, a pattern of fleuron ornaments, and a box with the text, “BRUCE QUALITY / BEST QUALITY”. The second column has this text: OUR HANDY BOOK OF TYPES, BORDERS BRASS RULE AND CUTS PRINTING MACHINERY & GENERAL SUPPLIES BRUCE TYPE FOUNDRY 13 CHAMBERS STREET NEW YORK, U.S.A. Zoomed detail of the building photo. Zoomed detail of “BRUCE QUALITY BEST QUALITY”
August 1, 2025 at 1:43 AM
letterformarchive.org
Hanns Lohrer and Walter Krafft, Folio type specimen, Bauersche Gießerei, Frankfurt am Main, ca. 1959.

#FolioTypeface #BauerFoundry #TypeSpecimens #1950s #HannsLohrer #WalterKrafft
Spread of a booklet promoting a typeface. On the left side, small text, rotated 180 degrees, appears to rain down on a black-and-white photograph of a chair. On the right side, a reversed (white on black) photographic silhouette image of spoons with red text between them.
June 19, 2025 at 8:25 PM
letterformarchive.org
Amsterdam Type Foundry, Bristol & Carlton, ca. 1929.

See the full specimen and hundreds more in the Online Archive: oa.letterformarchive.org/item?workID=...

#TypeSpecimens #Typefaces #Fonts #ArtDeco #GraphicDesign #DutchDesign #AmsterdamTypeFoundry
Cover of a booklet. Black and blue ink on metallic paper. Text is “BRISTOL” and “CARLTON” in art deco typefaces. Inside spread of the booklet showing modern layouts with the typefaces in use surrounded by stripes and other minimalist decoration. Inside spread of the booklet showing modern layouts with the typefaces in use surrounded by stripes and other minimalist decoration. Interior spread of the booklet showing the two typefaces in waterfall specimens, large at top to small sizes at bottom.
April 9, 2025 at 4:28 AM
letterformarchive.org
Resolut specimen (typeface by Hans Brünnel), Nebiolo, 1939.

See the complete specimen in the Online Archive: oa.letterformarchive.org/item?workID=...

More on Resolut from @fontsinuse.com: fontsinuse.com/typefaces/32...

#Typefaces #Fonts #TypeSpecimens #Nebiolo #1930s #TholenaarCollection
The booklet opened to a spread showing a waterfall of size samples and a large R. The booklet open with vertical flaps to a page showing a classical image of an athlete and the title, “Resolut”. The specimen opened to a spread showing a newspaper with headlines set on the typeface and a hole broken open with “Resolut” popping out. The booklet opened to a spread showing a waterfall of size samples and a large R.
March 25, 2025 at 4:43 AM
letterformarchive.org
Franklin Type Foundry, Convenient Book of Specimens, Cincinnati, 1892

Hello, spring. (For our friends in the Northern Hemisphere.)

#TypeSpecimens #FranklinTypeFoundry #1890s #Typefaces #Fonts
Bottom half of a page from a type specimen catalog. Three sizes of an ornamental serif are shown. The largest sample says, “WINTER GONE / Birds Sing all Day Long”
March 20, 2025 at 3:42 PM
letterformarchive.org
Hamilton Manufacturing Co., Add "punch" to your printing with Hamilton wood type (Hamilton Catalog No. 25), Two Rivers, WI, 1951.

Thanks to our pals in printing, Arion Press, for donating many type specimens to our collection, including this one.

#WoodType #1950s #TypeSpecimens #HamiltonWoodType
Cover of a booklet with an illustration of a man leaning back and looking up at the giant title: “Add PUNCH…” Cropped detail of the man. Interior page of booklet showing a type specimen of Free Hand No. 862, a calligraphic foundational roman. Back cover of the booklet showing a very large “h”.
February 15, 2025 at 5:36 AM
letterformarchive.org
Franklin Type Foundry, Convenient Book of Specimens, Cincinnati, 1892.⁠

Specimen makers aimed to show each typeface at its best, often picking random words that display key letters and characteristics.

#TypeSpecimens #Poetry #Typefaces #Fonts #1890s #Victorian #Typefaces #Fonts
Cropped detail of a specimen page for a decorative display typeface, Condensed Geometric, at different sizes. Text includes: THERE ARE THINGS Whose Reality even Outshines the Fairy-Land In Beauty of Shape and Varied Hues THESE TROPHIES Are More Worthy of Our Prince Cropped detail of a specimen page for a typeface, Lakeside Script, at different sizes. Text includes: There is a Pleasure in the Pathless Woods, Then is a Rapture on the Lonely Shore. There is Society Where None Intrudes. By the Deep Spa and Music in its Roar Cropped detail of a specimen page for a decorative display typeface, Mystic, at different sizes. Cropped detail of a book’s half-title page reading, “Specimens” in a decorative typeface surrounded by ornaments and a small illustration of a bird.
February 9, 2025 at 5:50 PM
letterformarchive.org
New from Letterform Archive Books! The Type By series: a suite of portfolios brimming with facsimiles of specimens for some of the greatest type design hits of the last century.

#TypeDesign #TypeSpecimens #GraphicDesign #Fonts #Typefaces #Typography #AldoNovarese #RogerExcoffon #LucianBernhard
December 21, 2024 at 4:16 PM
letterformarchive.org
Got a discerning designer on your shopping list? We asked our team for their favorite gift ideas from the Archive. letterformarchive.org/news/staff-p...
#DesignGifts #BlackFriday #Typography #GraphicDesign #PaulRand #TypeSpecimens #ZuzanaLicko
Staff Picks: Letterform Archive’s Holiday Gift Guide 2024
Got a discerning designer on your shopping list? Our team offers our favorite gift ideas from the Archive.
letterformarchive.org
November 29, 2024 at 6:17 PM
typegirl.bsky.social
Which came first? The playbill or the type specimen?

Today’s interesting read: fontsinuse.com/uses/6/the-t...

#typography #typespecimens
June 11, 2025 at 10:36 PM
ipswichmuseums.bsky.social
Did you know Ipswich Museums has some incredible type specimens in our collection? Here are just a few! These fossils are snapshots of prehistoric life, helping researchers piece together Earth’s ancient ecosystems.

#IpswichMuseums #NaturalHistory #TypeSpecimens
An image of a fossilised fish otolith, or ear bone, identified as Microgadus ipswichensis. The otolith is elongated and slightly curved, with a textured surface featuring ridges and grooves. It has a pale beige colour with subtle variations in tone. Below the image, a label with an orange background displays the text "Fish Otolith (Ear Bone)" in bold black letters and the scientific name Microgadus ipswichensis in italicised script. Otoliths are used in fish for balance and hearing, and their fossilised remains help scientists study ancient marine environments and fish species. An image of a fossilised sea urchin, identified as Clypeaster anglicus. The fossil has a rounded, slightly flattened shape with a sandy beige surface. A faint five-pointed star pattern, characteristic of echinoids, is visible on the top, formed by the petal-like arrangement of tube feet. The texture is rough, with signs of wear and erosion. Below the image, a label with an orange background displays the text "Sea Urchin (Echinoid)" in bold black letters and the scientific name Clypeaster anglicus in italicised script. Fossils like this provide insights into ancient marine ecosystems and the evolution of echinoderms.
March 22, 2025 at 9:00 AM
chemoelectric.masto.ai.ap.brid.gy
A new Flickr album:

Monotype Bell No. 402 | Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/chemoelectric/albums/72177720328115132

#fonts #flickr #typespecimens
Monotype Bell No. 402
Explore this photo album by Barry Schwartz on Flickr!
www.flickr.com
August 2, 2025 at 7:46 PM
typographica.org
Big fan of CJ Dunn’s new Dunbar Design Repository: cjtype.com/dunbar-desig... Like other digital type specimens it’s a big long scroll full of samples and motion, but it’s as informational as it is showy.

#TypeDesign #TypeSpecimens #Typography #Fonts
Dunbar Design Repository
A Versatile Geometric Typeface System
cjtype.com
July 7, 2026 at 7:42 PM
typographica.org
If you’re at all interested in type history, the Stephen O. Saxe fellowship at RIT is a great opportunity to dig into one of the deepest troves of specimens & foundry documents. I’d love to see more of his collection surfaced through research. www.rit.edu/carycollecti...

#TypeDesign #TypeSpecimens
Summer Research Fellowships | Cary Graphic Arts Collection | RIT
www.rit.edu
November 20, 2025 at 7:35 PM
typographica.org
Toot. https://oa.letterformarchive.org/item?workID=lfa_type_0807&targPic=lfa_type_0807_019.jpg #LetterformArchive #TypeSpecimens
October 30, 2025 at 2:32 AM
typographica.org
Weiss Borders in use. (Two Weiss Schriften specimens, ca. 1930) #LetterformArchive #TypeSpecimens
October 30, 2025 at 2:32 AM
typographica.org
The latest Eye magazine includes a major feature on @letterformarchive.org. I like that the photographer, Maria Spann, was drawn to the parts of the stacks closest to my heart, such as the phototype catalogs.

#Phototype #LetterformArchive #TypeSpecimens
Photo of a magazine open to a spread with photos of red metal shelving filled with books, including “lettergraphics, SERIALS, BERTHOLD TYPES, BERTHOLD HEADLINES E3, and Monsen Super Display Types”
June 5, 2025 at 6:31 PM
corysheffield.bsky.social
🧪 Ezra Cresson was one of the most prolific describers of Hymenoptera in North America, this work detailing 2737 of his type specimens, 601 of these are bees. I refer to this publication at least once every few weeks, so feel very fortunate to have found a hard copy recently. #bees #typespecimens
March 6, 2025 at 1:57 AM