Caslon

File:Caslon portrait.jpg

Image:Caslon english roman sample.png

Image:A Specimen by William Caslon.jpg).{{efn|Mosley identifies other non-Caslon types as the Samaritan and Syriac, and "it is difficult to believe that the lower case of the Small Pica no. 1...can be Caslon's work unless it is an early attempt. It was replaced in 1742, the only one of the roman types to be abandoned in this way." After the typesetting of this specimen Caslon cut an additional "Pica No. 2" and Pearl-size.}}]]

Caslon began his career in London as an apprentice engraver of ornamental designs on firearms and other metalwork.{{cite book|last1=Haley|first1=Allan|title=Typographic milestones|date=1992|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Hoboken, NJ|isbn=9780471288947|page=31|edition=[Nachdr.].}}{{cite journal|last1=Mosley|first1=James|title=A specimen of printing types cut by William Caslon, London 1766; A facsimile with introduction and notes|journal=Journal of the Printing Historical Society|date=1981|volume=16|pages=1–113}} According to printer and historian John Nichols, the main source on Caslon's life, the accuracy of his work came to the attention of prominent London printers, who advanced him money to carve steel punches for printing, first for foreign languages and then, as his reputation developed, for the Latin alphabet.{{cite book|author-link=John Nichols (printer)|first=John|last=Nichols|title=Biographical and Literary Anecdotes of William Bowyer, Printer, F.S.A. and of Many of His Learned Friends,: Containing an Incidental View of the Progress and Advancement of Literature in this Kingdom, from the Beginning of the Present Century to the End of the Year 1777|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gqhaAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA316|year=1782|publisher=Author|pages=316–9, 537, 585–6}}{{cite book|author=John Nichols|title=Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century: Comprizing Biographical Memoirs of William Bowyer, Printer, F.S.A., and Many of His Learned Friends; an Incidental View of the Progress and Advancement of Literature in this Kingdom During the Last Century; and Biographical Anecdotes of a Considerable Number of Eminent Writers and Ingenious Artists; with a Very Copious Index|url=https://archive.org/details/literaryanecdot02bentgoog|year=1812|publisher=author|pages=[https://archive.org/details/literaryanecdot02bentgoog/page/n365 355] etc.}} Punchcutting was a difficult technique and many of the techniques used were kept secret by punchcutters or passed on from father to son. Caslon would later follow this practice, according to Nichols teaching his son his methods privately while locked in a room where nobody could watch them.{{cite book|last1=Musson|first1=A.E.|title=Trade Union and Social History|date=2013|publisher=Taylor and Francis|location=Hoboken|isbn=9781136614712|page=138}} As British printers had little success or experience of making their own types, they were forced to use equipment bought from the Netherlands, or France, and Caslon's types are therefore clearly influenced by the popular Dutch typefaces of his period.{{cite web|last1=Downer|first1=John|title=The Art of Founding Type|url=http://www.emigre.com/Editorial.php?sect=2&id=11|publisher=Emigre|access-date=19 August 2015}}{{cite journal|last1=Johnson|first1=A. F.|author-link1=Alfred F. Johnson|title=The 'Goût Hollandois'|journal=The Library|date=1939|volume=s4-XX|issue=2|pages=180–196|doi=10.1093/library/s4-XX.2.180}}{{cite web|last1=Mosley|first1=James|title=Type and its Uses, 1455-1830|url=http://www.ies.sas.ac.uk/sites/default/files/files/LRBS/Outline%20of%20Course_Type%26itsUses2013_2.pdf|publisher=Institute of English Studies|access-date=7 October 2016|quote=Although types on the ‘Aldine’ model were widely used in the 17th and 18th centuries, a new variant that was often slightly more condensed in its proportions, and darker and larger on its body, became sufficiently widespread, at least in Northern Europe, to be worth defining as a distinct style and examining separately. Adopting a term used by Fournier le jeune, the style is sometimes called the ‘Dutch taste’, and sometimes, especially in Germany,‘baroque’. Some names associated with the style are those of Van den Keere, Granjon, Briot, Van Dijck, Kis (maker of the so-called ‘Janson’ types), and Caslon.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009181144/http://www.ies.sas.ac.uk/sites/default/files/files/LRBS/Outline%20of%20Course_Type%26itsUses2013_2.pdf|archive-date=9 October 2016}} James Mosley summarises his early work: "Caslon's pica ... was based very closely indeed on a pica roman and italic that appears on the specimen sheet of the widow of the Amsterdam printer Dirck Voskens, c.1695, and which Bowyer had used for some years. Caslon's pica replaces it in his printing from 1725…Caslon's Great Primer roman, first used in 1728, a type that was much admired in the twentieth century, is clearly related to the Text Romeyn of Voskens, a type of the early seventeenth century used by several London printers and now attributed to the punch-cutter Nicolas Briot of Gouda." Mosley also describes several other Caslon faces as "intelligent adaptations" of the Voskens Pica.{{cite journal|last1=Johnson|first1=Alfred|title=A Note on William Caslon|journal=Monotype Recorder|date=1936|volume=35|issue=4|pages=3–7|url=http://www.metaltype.co.uk/downloads/mr/mr_35_4.pdf|access-date=19 October 2015}}{{cite book|author=Jan Middendorp|title=Dutch Type|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sR9g5xPPJVQC&pg=PA21|year=2004|publisher=010 Publishers|isbn=978-90-6450-460-0|pages=21–2}}{{cite web |last1=de Jong |first1=Feike |last2=Lane |first2=John A. |title=The Briot project. Part I |url=https://pampatype.com/blog/the-briot-project |website=PampaType |publisher=TYPO, republished by PampaType |access-date=10 June 2018}}

Caslon's type rapidly built up a reputation for workmanship, being described by Henry Newman in 1733 as "the work of that Artist who seems to aspire to outvying all the Workmen in his way in Europe, so that our Printers send no more to Holland for the Elzevir and other Letters which they formerly valued themselves much."{{cite book|last1=Ball|first1=Johnson|title=William Caslon, Master of Letters|date=1973|publisher=The Roundwood Press|page=346}}{{efn|"Elzevir" is a somewhat meaningless term meaning small types used by the Elzevir or Elsevier family of printers. Mosley concludes that in practice the term meant more "crisp, competent presswork" than the work of any specific engraver, since the Elseviers often used types cut centuries before in Paris.{{cite web|last1=Mosley|first1=James|title=Elzevir Letter|url=http://typefoundry.blogspot.com/2011/11/elzevir-letter.html|website=Typefoundry (blog)|access-date=7 November 2017}}}} Mosley describes Caslon's Long Primer No. 1 type as "type with generous proportions and it was normally cast with letter-spacing that was not too tight, characteristics that are needed in types on a small body. And yet it is so soundly made that words that are set in it keep their shape and are comfortably readable...It is a type that works best in the narrow measure of a two-column page or in quite modest octavos."{{cite web|last1=Mosley|first1=James|title=A lost Caslon type: Long Primer No 1|url=http://typefoundry.blogspot.com/2009/07/lost-caslon-type-long-primer-no-1.html|website=Type Foundry (blog)|access-date=2 February 2017}} Caslon sold a French Canon face he did not engrave that may to have been the work of Joseph Moxon with some modifications, and his larger-size faces follow this high-contrast model. He publicised his type through contributing a specimen sheet to Chambers' Cyclopedia, which has often been cut out by antiquarian book dealers and sold separately.{{cite journal |last1=Lane |first1=J.A. |author-link=John A. Lane|title=The Caslon Type Specimen in the Museum Van Het Boek |journal=Quaerendo |date=1 January 1993 |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=78–79 |doi=10.1163/157006993X00235|quote=We now know that Caslon moved from Old Street to Chiswell Street in 1737/8. As far as we know, all of the Chiswell Street specimens dated "1734" were issued in various editions of the Chambers' Cyclopedia from 1738 to 1753.}}

Compared to the more delicate, stylised and experimental "transitional" typefaces gaining ground in mainland Europe during Caslon's life, notably the romain du roi type of the previous century, the work of Pierre-Simon Fournier in Paris, Fleischmann in Amsterdam and the Baskerville type of John Baskerville in Birmingham that appeared towards the end of Caslon's career, Caslon's type was quite conservative. Johnson notes that his 1764 specimen "might have been produced a hundred years earlier".{{cite book|last1=Johnson|first1=A.F.|author-link=Alfred F. Johnson|title=Type Designs|pages=52–3}} Stanley Morison described Caslon's type as "a happy archaism".{{cite journal|last1=Morison|first1=Stanley|title=Type Designs of the Past and Present, Part 3|journal=PM|date=1937|pages=17–81|url=http://magazines.iaddb.org/issue/PM/1937-11-01/edition/4-3/page/19|access-date=4 June 2017|archive-date=2017-09-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904064848/http://magazines.iaddb.org/issue/PM/1937-11-01/edition/4-3/page/19|url-status=dead}}

While not used extensively in Europe, Caslon types were distributed throughout the British Empire, including British North America, where they were used on the printing of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.{{cite web|last1=Sherman|first1=Nick|last2=Mosley|first2=James|title=The Dunlap Broadside|url=https://fontsinuse.com/uses/1666/the-dunlap-broadside|website=Fonts in Use|date=5 July 2012 |access-date=6 November 2017}} After William Caslon I’s death, the use of his types diminished, but had a revival between 1840–80 as a part of the British Arts and Crafts movement.

Besides regular text fonts, Caslon cut blackletter or "Gothic" types, which were also printed on his specimen. These could be used for purposes such as title pages, emphasis and drop caps.{{cite web|title=Old English Text MT|url=http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/mti/old-english-text/|website=MyFonts|publisher=Monotype|access-date=30 August 2015}} Bold type did not exist in Caslon's time, although some of his larger-size fonts are quite bold.

One criticism of some Caslon-style typefaces has been a concern that the capitals are too thick in design and stand out too much, making for an uneven colour on the page. Printer and typeface designer Frederic Goudy was a critic: "the strong contrast between the over-black stems of the capitals and the light weight stems in the lower-case...makes a 'spotty' page". He cited dissatisfaction with the style as an incentive for becoming more involved in type design around 1911, when he created Kennerley Old Style as an alternative.{{cite book|last1=Goudy|first1=Frederic|title=A half-century of type design and typography|date=1946|publisher=The Typophiles|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/GoudyHalfCentury1946V1/page/n38 67], 77|url=https://archive.org/details/GoudyHalfCentury1946V1|access-date=26 March 2016}}

File:Fry foundry specimen Great Primer new and old from The Printers Grammar.jpg (above) and then Caslon type (below), shown in a specimen attached to an edition of The Printer's Grammar, 1787.{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=John |title=The Printer's Grammar |date=1787 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/printersgrammar00smitgoog/page/n282 271]–316 |url=https://archive.org/details/printersgrammar00smitgoog |access-date=16 June 2018 |quote=Since the first appearance of Smith’s Printers Grammar, and Mr. Luckombe’s History of Printing, many very useful improvements have been made in the Letter Foundery of Messrs. Fry and Son, which was begun in 1764, and has been continued with great perseverance and assiduity, and at a very considerable expense. The plan on which they first sat out, was an improvement of the Types of the late Mr Baskerville of Birmingham, eminent for his ingenuity in this line, as also for his curious Printing, many proofs of which are extant, and much admired: But the shape of Mr. Caslon’s Type has since been copied by them with such accuracy as not to be distinguished from those of that celebrated Founder…The following short Specimen may serve to convey some idea of the Perfection to which that Manufactory is arrived.|edition=1787 }} Mosley describes them as "a very close copy that is not easy to tell from the original."{{cite web|last1=Mosley|first1=James|author-link1=James Mosley|title=Comments on Typophile thread|url=http://www.typophile.com/node/45357|website=Typophile|access-date=28 September 2017|quote=In about 1770 the Fry foundry, whose first types in the 1760s were what they called an ‘improvement’ of Baskerville’s, had also made an imitation of the smaller sizes of the Caslon Old Face types – a very close copy that is not easy to tell from the original. In 1907 Stephenson, Blake had recast this Caslon look-alike from original matrices and began to sell it under the name of Georgian Old Face.}}]]

Caslon's types fell out of interest in the late eighteenth century, to some extent first due to the arrival of "transitional"-style typefaces like Baskerville and then more significantly with the growing popularity of "Didone" or modern designs in Britain, under the influence of the quality of printing achieved by printers such as Bodoni.{{cite journal|last1=Eliason|first1=Craig|title="Transitional" Typefaces: The History of a Typefounding Classification|journal=Design Issues|date=October 2015|volume=31|issue=4|pages=30–43|doi=10.1162/DESI_a_00349|s2cid=57569313}}{{efn|Apparently sensing a business opportunity, the Fry Foundry set up in business offering copies of John Baskerville's types in the late eighteenth century, but (apparently finding this unsuccessful given preference for Caslon amongst conservative British printers) began also to issue copies of Caslon's types "with such accuracy as not to be distinguished from those of that celebrated Founder".}} His Caslon foundry remained in business at Chiswell Street, London, but began to sell alternative and additional designs.{{cite journal|last1=Mosley|first1=James|title=The Caslon Foundry in 1902: Selections from an Album|journal=Matrix|volume=13|pages=34–42}}{{cite book|title=A specimen of printing types|date=1798|publisher=Wm. Caslon|url=https://archive.org/details/specimenofprinti00casl|access-date=20 August 2015}} His grandson, William Caslon III, broke away from the family to establish a competitor foundry at Salisbury Square, by buying up the company of the late Joseph Jackson.{{cite ODNB|last1=Mosley|first1=James|title=Jackson, Joseph (1733–1792)|year=2004|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/14539}} Justin Howes suggests that there may have been some attempt to update some of Caslon's types towards the newer style starting before 1816, noting that Caslon type cast by the 1840s included "a handful of sorts, Q, [an open-form italic] h, ſh, Q, T and Y, which would have been unfamiliar to Caslon, and which may have been cut at the end of the eighteenth century in a modest attempt to bring Old Face up to date. The h, ſh and T are to be seen [in a book from] 1816, large parts of which appear to have been printed from well-worn standing type."

Even as Caslon's type largely fell out of use, his reputation remained strong within the printing community. The printer and social reformer Thomas Curson Hansard wrote in 1825:

At the commencement of the 18th century the native talent of the founders was so little prized by the printers of the metropolis, that they were in the habit of importing founts from Holland, ...and the printers of the present day might still have been driven to the inconvenience of importation had not a genius, in the person of William Caslon, arisen to rescue his country from the disgrace of typographical inferiority.{{cite book|last1=Hansard|first1=Thomas Curson|title=Typographia, an Historical Sketch of the Origin and Progress of the Art of Printing|date=1825|page=[https://archive.org/details/typographiaanhi01hansgoog/page/n296 348]|url=https://archive.org/details/typographiaanhi01hansgoog|access-date=12 August 2015}}

Similarly, Edward Bull in 1842 called Caslon "the great chief and father of English type."{{cite book|title=Hints and Directions for Authors in Writing, Printing and Publishing Their Works|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l0NTAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA35|year=1842|publisher=Edward Bull|pages=33–5}}

File:The History of Henry Esmond 1st ed.jpg, a novel by Thackeray written as a fictional memoir. The first edition of 1852 was printed in Caslon type, then just coming back into fashion.{{cite web|last1=Mosley|first1=James|title=Recasting Caslon Old Face|url=http://typefoundry.blogspot.co.uk/2009/01/recasting-caslon-old-face.html|website=Type Foundry|access-date=1 August 2015}} The goal was to achieve a period feel appropriate to its early eighteenth-century setting.]]

Interest in eighteenth-century printing returned in the nineteenth century with the rise of the Arts and Crafts movement, and Caslon's types returned to popularity in books and fine printing among companies such as the Chiswick Press, as well as display use in situations such as advertising.{{cite journal|last1=Ing Freeman|first1=Janet|title=Founders' Type and Private Founts at the Chiswick Press in the 1850s|journal=Journal of the Printing Historical Society|date=1987|volume=19-20|pages=63–102|url=http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1353058|access-date=20 April 2018}}{{cite journal|last1=Johnson|first1=Alfred F.|author-link1=Alfred F. Johnson|title=Old-Face Types in the Victorian Age|journal=Monotype Recorder|date=1931|volume=30|issue=242|pages=5–14|url=http://www.metaltype.co.uk/downloads/mr/mr_30_242.pdf|access-date=3 February 2017}}{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Caslon |volume=5 |page=452 |short= x}}

File:Byrne 1847 Pythagoras Querformat.jpg in the nineteenth century in the United Kingdom, for example the famous edition of Byrne's Euclid, published by William Pickering in 1847 and printed by the Chiswick Press.{{efn|Note, however, some replacement sorts, including a Baskerville-style Q and open italic "h", both in the style of the late eighteenth century. Justin Howes suggests that these were attempts to modernise Caslon's type towards newer styles.}}]]

Fine printing presses, notably the Chiswick Press, bought original Caslon type from the Caslon foundry; copies of these matrices were also made by electrotyping. From the 1860s new types began to appear in a style similar to Caslon's, starting from Miller & Richard's Modernised Old Style of c. 1860.{{cite journal|last1=Ovink|first1=G.W.|title=Nineteenth-century reactions against the didone type model - I|journal=Quaerendo|date=1971|volume=1|issue=2|pages=18–31|url=http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/157006971x00301|access-date=20 February 2016|doi=10.1163/157006971x00301|url-access=subscription}} (Bookman Old Style is a descendant of this typeface, but made bolder with a boosted x-height very unlike the original Caslon.) The Caslon foundry covertly replaced some sizes with new, cleaner versions that could be machine-cast and cut new swash capitals.

In the United States, "Caslon" became almost a genre, with numerous new designs unconnected to the original, with modifications such as shortened descenders to fit American common line, or lining figures, or bold and condensed designs, many foundries creating (or, in many cases, pirating) versions.{{cite web|last1=Pichotta|first1=Jill|title=Caslon FB|url=http://www.fontbureau.com/fonts/CaslonFB/|publisher=Font Bureau|access-date=30 August 2015}} By the 1920s, American Type Founders offered a large range of styles, some numbered rather than named.{{cite book|title=Specimen Book & Catalogue|date=1923|publisher=American Type Founders|pages=[https://archive.org/details/1923AmericanTypeFoundersSpecimenBookCatalogue/page/n151 130]–191, 780|url=https://archive.org/details/1923AmericanTypeFoundersSpecimenBookCatalogue|access-date=30 August 2015}} The hot metal typesetting companies Linotype, Monotype, Intertype and Ludlow, which sold machines that cast type under the control of a keyboard, brought out their own Caslon releases.

File:Caslon classic and modernised italics.png characters allowing the user to choose whether to use Caslon's original characters, which have many flourishes in italic, or simplified "modernist" letterforms such as a J without crossbar and open-form italic h.]]

According to book designer Hugh Williamson, a second decline in Caslon's popularity in Britain did, however, set in during the twentieth century due to the arrival of revivals of other old-style and transitional designs from Monotype and Linotype. These included Bembo, Garamond, Plantin, Baskerville and Times New Roman.{{cite book|last1=Williamson|first1=Hugh|author-link=Hugh Williamson (book designer)|title=Methods of Book Design|date=1956|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=85–98 etc.}}

Caslon type again entered a new technology with phototypesetting, mostly in the 1960s and 1970s, and then again with digital typesetting technology. There are many typefaces called "Caslon" as a result of that and the lack of an enforceable trademark on the name "Caslon", which reproduce the original designs in varying degrees of faithfulness.

Many of Caslon's original punches and matrices survived in the collection of the Caslon company (along with many replacement and additional characters), and are now part of the St Bride Library and Type Museum collections in Britain. Copies held by the Paris office of the Caslon company, the Fonderie Caslon, were transferred to the collection of the Musée de l'Imprimerie in Nantes.{{cite web|last1=Mosley|first1=James|title=The materials of typefounding|url=http://typefoundry.blogspot.co.uk/2006/01/materials-of-typefounding.html|website=Type Foundry|access-date=14 August 2015}} Scholarly research on Caslon's type has been carried out by historians including Alfred F. Johnson, Harry Carter, James Mosley and Justin Howes.

File:Caslon Old Face 1915.jpg

File:Linotype Caslon Old Face type specimen (31732193084).jpg adaptation. It was based on types provided by the H.W. Caslon company, although some of these were re-engraved around the end of the nineteenth century rather than being Caslon's original work.]]

The H.W. Caslon & Sons foundry reissued Caslon’s original types as Caslon Old Face from the original (or, at least, early) matrices. The last lineal descendant of Caslon, Henry William Caslon, brought in Thomas White Smith as a new manager shortly before Caslon's death in 1874. Smith took over the company and instructed his sons to change their surnames to Caslon in order to provide an appearance of continuity. The foundry operated an ambitious promotional programme, issuing a periodical, "Caslon's Circular". It continued to issue specimens from top printers including George W. Jones until the 1920s.

Some Caslon faces were augmented by adding new features, in particular swash capitals for historicist printing.{{cite book|title=Specimens of Type|date=1915|publisher=H.W. Caslon & Co.|location=London|url=https://archive.org/details/specimensoftypes00hwcarich|access-date=19 August 2015}} From around 1887 the type was sold with additional swash capitals.{{cite journal|last1=Tracy|first1=Walter|title=The Alternatives|journal=Bulletin of the Printing Historical Society|date=1991|issue=30}} Howes describes these as "based rather closely on François Guyot's [popular 22pt] italic of around 1557...found in English printing until the early years of the eighteenth century." From around 1893 the company started to additionally recut some letters to make the type more regular and create matrices which could be cast by machine. Due to the cachet of the Caslon name, some of the recuttings and modifications of the original Caslon types were apparently not publicly admitted. The H.W. Caslon company also licensed to other printers matrices made by electrotyping, although some companies may also have made unauthorized copies.

In 1937, the H.W. Caslon & Sons foundry was also acquired by Stephenson Blake & Co, who thereafter added "the Caslon Letter Foundry" to their name.{{cite book|last1=Millington|first1=Roy|title=Stephenson Blake: the last of the Old English typefounders|date=2002|publisher=Oak Knoll Press [u.a.]|location=New Castle, Del. [u.a.]|isbn=9780712347952|pages=167 etc.|edition=1st}}

The hot metal typesetting companies Monotype and Linotype offered "Caslon Old Face" releases that were based (or claimed to be based) on Caslon's original typefaces. Linotype's has been digitised and released by Bitstream.{{cite web|title=Caslon Old Face|url=http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/bitstream/caslon-old-face/|website=MyFonts|publisher=Bitstream|access-date=30 August 2015}}

File:Caslon 471.jpg

Caslon 471 was the release of the "original" Caslon type sold by American Type Founders. American Type Founders advertised it as "the Caslon Oldstyle Romans and Italics precisely as Mr. Caslon left them in 1766.{{cite book|title=1923 American Type Founders Specimen Book & Catalogue|date=1923|publisher=American Type Founders|location=Elizabeth, New Jersey|url=https://archive.org/details/1923AmericanTypeFoundersSpecimenBookCatalogue}} It was apparently cast from electrotypes held by American Type Founders' precursors. Thomas Maitland Cleland drew a set of additional swash capitals.

Caslon 471 is generally not available in digital forms as of 2022. {{cite web|title=Berthold Caslon 471 in use - Fonts In Use|url=https://fontsinuse.com/typefaces/16042/berthold-caslon-471|access-date=2022-11-27}}

File:Caslon 540.jpg

File:Caslon Swash Caps.jpg

Caslon 540 was a second American Type Founders version with shortened descenders to allow tighter linespacing. The italic was distributed by Letraset with a matching set of swashes, as a result revivals of this typeface are sometimes sold without a regular style (see below). The very distinctive ampersand in the italic is often used alone and mixed in with other typefaces in settings where no other characters from Caslon 540 are employed.

Digital revivals of Caslon 540 are sold by Bitstream, {{cite web|title=Caslon 540 Font (Bitstream)|url=https://www.myfonts.com/collections/caslon-540-font-bitstream|access-date=2022-11-27}} Linotype, {{cite web|title=Caslon #540 Font (Linotype)|url=https://www.myfonts.com/collections/caslon-540-font-linotype|access-date=2022-11-27}} and ParaType. {{cite web|title=Caslon 540 Font (ParaType)|url=https://www.myfonts.com/collections/caslon-540-font-paratype|access-date=2022-11-27}} The ParaType version includes Cyrillic characters. These revivals are sold with only the regular and italic styles and without any other weights. However, the same foundries also market Caslon Bold (i.e., Caslon 3) and its italic as separate products. {{cite web|title=Caslon Bold Font (Bitstream)|url=https://www.myfonts.com/collections/caslon-bold-font-bitstream|access-date=2022-11-27}}{{cite web|title=Caslon #3 Font|url=https://www.myfonts.com/collections/caslon-font-linotype|access-date=2022-11-27}}{{cite web|title=Caslon Bold Font (ParaType)|url=https://www.myfonts.com/collections/caslon-bold-bt-font-paratype|access-date=2022-11-27}} Furthermore, Elsner+Flake, {{cite web|title=Caslon 540 EF Font|url=https://www.myfonts.com/collections/caslon-504-italic-font-elsner-flake|access-date=2022-11-27}} ITC, {{cite web|title=Caslon #540 Font (ITC)|url=https://www.myfonts.com/collections/caslon-italic-and-swashes-font-itc|access-date=2022-11-27}} and URW {{cite web|title=Caslon #540 Font (URW)|url=https://www.myfonts.com/collections/caslon-no-540-font-urw|access-date=2022-11-27}} sell the italic style without its upright style.

A slightly bolder version of Caslon 540, released by American Type Founders in 1905.{{cite web|title=Caslon 3 LT|url=http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/linotype/caslon/|website=MyFonts|publisher=Linotype|access-date=30 August 2015}} Digital revivals of Caslon 3 (also called Caslon Bold) are sold by Bitstream, Linotype, and ParaType. The ParaType version has Cyrillic glyphs.

A decorative openface serif typeface with very high ascenders, popular in the United States. Despite the name, it has no connection to Caslon: it was an import of the French typeface "Le Moreau-le-Jeune", created by Fonderie Peignot in Paris as part of their Cochin family, by ATF branch Barnhart Brothers & Spindler.{{cite web|last1=Devroye|first1=Luc|author-link=Luc Devroye|title=Le Moreau-le-Jeune: A Typographical Specimen with an Introduction by Douglas C. Murtrie|url=http://luc.devroye.org/mcmurtrie-moreau-1936/|website=Type Design Information|access-date=26 March 2016}}{{cite web|last1=Kupferschmid|first1=Indra|title=Caslon Openface|url=http://www.alphabettes.org/caslon-openface/|website=Alphabettes|date=9 November 2012 |access-date=26 March 2016}}{{cite web |title=Moreau-le-jeune |url=https://fontsinuse.com/typefaces/45042/moreau-le-jeune |website=Fonts in Use |access-date=26 May 2022}}{{cite web |title=Caslon Open Face |url=https://fontsinuse.com/typefaces/10265/caslon-open-face |website=Fonts in Use |access-date=26 May 2022}} Digital revivals are sold by Bitstream {{cite web|title=Caslon Openface Font (Bitstream)|url=https://www.myfonts.com/collections/caslon-open-face-font-bitstream|access-date=2022-11-27}} and Monotype. {{cite web|title=Caslon Open Face Font (Monotype)|url=https://www.myfonts.com/collections/caslon-open-face-inactive-font-monotype-imaging|access-date=2022-11-27}}

The British Monotype company produced three Caslon revivals.{{cite book|author=Stanley Morison|title=A Tally of Types|url=https://archive.org/details/tallyoftypes0000mori|url-access=registration|date=7 June 1973|publisher=CUP Archive|isbn=978-0-521-09786-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/tallyoftypes0000mori/page/24 24]–7}}

: 1903, Series 20, Old Face Special

: 1906, Series 45, Old Face Standard

: 1915, Series 128 & 209, Caslon & Caslon Titling.

{{Main |Imprint MT}}

A more regular adaptation of Caslon by the British branch of Monotype was commissioned by the London publishers of The Imprint, a short-lived printing trade periodical that published during 1913.{{cite book|last1=McKitterick|first1=David|title=A history of Cambridge University Press.|date=2004|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=9780521308038|edition=1. publ.}} It had a higher x-height and was intended to offer an italic more complementary to the roman. It has remained popular since and has been digitised by Monotype.{{cite web|title=Imprint MT|url=https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/mti/imprint/|website=MyFonts|publisher=Monotype|access-date=12 July 2015}}

Ludlow had a wide variety of Caslon-types.

A heavy version of Caslon 540, released by American Type Founders in 1966.

Caslon 223 and 224 were phototypesetting families designed by Ed Benguiat of Lubalin, Smith, Carnase and then ITC. Like many ITC families, they have an aggressive, advertising-oriented bold structure, not closely related to Caslon's original work.{{cite book|first=Allan|last=Haley|title=Typographic Milestones|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dKeVor1olhkC&pg=PA31|date=15 September 1992|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-471-28894-7|pages=31–39}} 223 was the first version (named for LSC's street number), a companion version with more body text-oriented proportions followed sequentially numbered 224.

Image:Caslon Pro Ligatures.svg of Adobe Caslon Pro. Th is not historic.]]

Adobe Caslon is a very popular revival designed by Carol Twombly.{{cite journal|last1=Silverman|first1=Randy|title=Carol Twombly on Type|journal=Graphic Arts|date=December 1994|url=http://content.lib.utah.edu/utils/getfile/collection/uspace/id/674/filename/image|access-date=22 September 2015}} It is based on Caslon's own specimen pages printed between 1734 and 1770{{cite web|url=http://store1.adobe.com/cfusion/store/html/index.cfm?store=OLS-US&event=displayFontPackage&code=180 |title=Adobe - Fonts : Adobe Caslon |publisher=Store1.adobe.com |access-date=2012-10-22}} and is a member of the Adobe Originals programme. It added many features now standard in high-quality digital fonts, such as small caps, old style figures, swash letters, ligatures, alternate letters, fractions, subscripts and superscripts, and matching ornaments.{{cite book|last1=Hill|first1=Will|title=The Complete Typographer: A Manual for Designing with Type|date=2005|publisher=Person Prentice Hall|location=Upper Saddle River|isbn=9780131344457|pages=53|edition=2nd}}{{cite journal|last1=Haley|first1=Allan|title=Adobe Caslon: A New Interpretation|journal=Step-by-Step Graphics|date=1997|pages=108–113}}

Adobe Caslon is used for body text in The New Yorker and is one of the two official typefaces of the University of Virginia and the University of Southern California.{{cite magazine|last=Gopnik|first=Adam|title=Postscript|magazine=The New Yorker|date=February 9, 2009|page=35|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/02/09/john-updike}}{{Cite web |title=Official Typefaces {{!}} USC Identity Guidelines {{!}} USC |url=https://identity.usc.edu/print/typefaces/ |access-date=2022-08-31 |website=identity.usc.edu}} It is also available with Adobe's Typekit programme, in some weights for free.

File:Two Caslons.png

Big Caslon by Matthew Carter is inspired by the "funkiness" of the three largest sizes of type from the Caslon foundry. These have a unique design with dramatic stroke contrast, complementary but very different from Caslon's text faces; one was apparently originally created by Joseph Moxon rather than Caslon.{{cite book|last1=Mosley|first1=James|author-link=James Mosley|chapter=Reviving the Classics: Matthew Carter and the Interpretation of Historical Models|editor1-last=Mosley|editor1-first=James|editor2-last=Re|editor2-first=Margaret|editor3-last=Drucker|editor3-first=Johanna|editor4-last=Carter|editor4-first=Matthew|title=Typographically Speaking: The Art of Matthew Carter|date=2003|publisher=Princeton Architectural Press|isbn=9781568984278|page=35|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WqXd_w4S4SsC&pg=PA31|access-date=30 January 2016}} The typeface is intended for use at 18pt and above.{{cite web|title=Big Caslon promotional page|url=http://bigcaslon.webtype.com/|publisher=Font Bureau|access-date=27 July 2015|archive-date=3 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150703084257/http://bigcaslon.webtype.com/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://new.myfonts.com/fonts/fontbureau/big-caslon/ |title=Big Caslon - Desktop font « MyFonts |publisher=New.myfonts.com |date=2000-01-01 |access-date=2012-10-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090118010803/http://new.myfonts.com/fonts/fontbureau/big-caslon/ |archive-date=2009-01-18 }} The standard weight is bundled with Apple's macOS operating system in a release including small caps and alternates such as the long s. Initially published by his company Carter & Cone, in 2014 Carter revisited the design adding bold and black designs with matching italics, and republished it through Font Bureau.{{cite web|title=Big Caslon FB|url=http://www.fontbureau.com/fonts/BigCaslonFB/|publisher=Font Bureau|access-date=23 June 2015}}{{efn|The modern family Quarto by Hoefler & Frere-Jones is a well-received revival of the Dutch display types that inspired Caslon’s larger sizes, and is therefore quite similar.{{cite web|last1=Buchanan|first1=Matthew|title=Quarto Review|url=http://typographica.org/typeface-reviews/quarto/|website=Typographica|access-date=19 August 2015}}{{cite web|title=Quarto|url=http://www.typography.com/fonts/quarto/overview/|publisher=Hoefler & Frere-Jones|access-date=19 August 2015}}}} It is used by Boston magazine and the Harvard Crimson.{{cite web|title=Big Caslon|url=http://fontsinuse.com/typefaces/555/big-caslon|website=Fonts in Use|access-date=30 August 2015}}

LTC Caslon is a digitisation of the Lanston Type Company's 14-point size Caslon 337 of 1915, in turn a revival of the original Caslon types.{{cite web|title=LTC Caslon MyFonts|url=https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/lanston/ltc-caslon/|website=MyFonts|access-date=19 August 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://www.p22.com/lanston/giampa/CaslonFountEight.html |title=LANSTON FONT | CASLON OLDSTYLE, 337 | WILLIAM CASLON |publisher=P22.com |access-date=2012-10-22}} This family include fonts in regular and bold weights, with fractions, ligatures, small caps (regular and regular italic only), swashes (regular italic weight only), and Central European characters.{{cite web|url=http://www.p22.com/lanston/caslon.html |title=LTC Caslon Family |publisher=P22.com |access-date=2012-10-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019032841/http://p22.com/lanston/caslon.html |archive-date=2012-10-19 }} A notable feature is that like some hot metal releases of Caslon, two separate options for descenders are provided for all styles: long descenders (creating a more elegant designs) or short (allowing tighter linespacing).

To celebrate its release, LTC included in early sales a CD of music by The William Caslon Experience, a downtempo electronic act, along with a limited edition upright italic design, "LTC Caslon Remix".{{cite web|url=http://www.microsoft.com/typography/links/news.aspx?NID=5128 |title=Microsoft Typography - News archive |publisher=Microsoft.com |access-date=2012-10-22}}{{cite web|url=http://www.p22.com/products/cds.html |title=Audio |publisher=P22 |access-date=2012-10-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019122215/http://p22.com/products/cds.html |archive-date=2012-10-19 }}

File:Kings Caslon.png

King's Caslon is a modern interpretation of Caslon created for King's College London and released by Dalton Maag. {{cite web|title=Why classic type is like a Victorian house|date=7 August 2014 |url=https://www.creativebloq.com/computer-arts/why-classic-type-victorian-house-81412572|access-date=2022-11-11}} The typeface has a text version with two weights (Regular and Bold), in addition to a display version, each of which has its respective italic. {{cite web|title=King's Caslon - Adobe Fonts|url=https://fonts.adobe.com/fonts/kings-caslon|access-date=2022-11-11}}

The text styles of King's Caslon have a lower level of contrast between strokes than most earlier Caslon revivals, while the display styles have more contrast.

A modern attempt to capture the spirit of Caslon by William Berkson, intended for use in body text.{{cite web|last1=Berkson |first1=William |title=Announcement on Typophile thread |url=http://typophile.com/node/65216 |website=Typophile |access-date=19 August 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120724204852/http://typophile.com/node/65216 |archive-date=July 24, 2012 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.spd.org/2009/02/boston-magazine-redesign.php|title=Boston Pops: A Conversation with Patrick Mitchell|access-date=2009-12-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091014010904/http://www.spd.org/2009/02/boston-magazine-redesign.php|archive-date=2009-10-14|url-status=dead}} Although not aimed at being fully authentic in every respect, the typeface closely follows Caslon's original specimen sheet in many respects. The weight is heavier than many earlier revivals, to compensate for changes in printing processes, and the italic is less slanted (with variation in stroke angle) than on many other Caslon releases. Berkson described his design choices in an extensive article series.{{cite web|last1=Berkson|first1=William|title=Reviving Caslon, Part 1|url=http://ilovetypography.com/2010/07/26/reviving-caslon-the-snare-of-authenticity/|access-date=23 June 2015}}{{cite web|last1=Berkson|first1=William|title=Reviving Caslon, Part 2|url=http://ilovetypography.com/2010/11/02/reviving-caslon-part-2-readability-affability-authority/|website=I Love Typography|access-date=21 September 2014}}

Released by Font Bureau, it includes bold and bold italic designs, and a complete feature set across all weights, including bold small caps and swash italic alternates as well as optional shorter descenders and a "modernist" italic option to turn off swashes on lower-case letters and reduce the slant on the "A" for a more spare appearance.{{cite web|title=Williams Caslon Text–an overview of OpenType layout features|url=http://www.fontbureau.com/media/pdf/WilliamsCaslonText-Features.pdf|website=Font Bureau|access-date=23 June 2015}}{{efn|It is not to be confused with a totally different "Caslon FB" by Jill Pichotta, inspired by bold condensed Caslon-inspired typefaces used in American newspaper headlines.}} It is currently used in Boston magazine and by Foreign Affairs.

A notable feature of Caslon's structure is its widely splayed "T", which can space awkwardly with an "h" afterwards. Accordingly, an emerging tradition among digital releases is to offer a "Th" ligature, inspired by the tradition of ligatures in calligraphy, though not a historical type ligature, to achieve tighter letterspacing.{{cite web|last1=Shaw|first1=Paul|title=Flawed Typefaces|url=http://www.printmag.com/featured/flawed-typefaces/|website=Print magazine|date=12 May 2011 |access-date=2 July 2015}} Adobe Caslon, LTC Caslon, Williams Caslon and Big Caslon (italics only, in the Font Bureau release) all offer a "Th" ligature as default or as an alternate. King′s Caslon does not provide the "Th" ligature.

File:Caslon family grave, St Luke's.jpg, London]]

File:Caslon brochure introduction.jpg

A number of Caslon revivals are "distressed" in style, adding intentional irregularities to capture the worn, jagged feel of metal type.

ITC Founder's Caslon was digitized by Justin Howes.{{cite web|last1=Howes|first1=Justin|last2=Mosley|first2=James|last3=Chartres|first3=Richard|title=A to Z of Founder's London: A showing and synopsis of ITC Founder's Caslon|url=http://stbride.org/friends/publications/gazette.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051101010725/http://stbride.org/friends/publications/gazette.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 November 2005|website=Friends of the St. Bride's Printing Library|publisher=St Bride Library|access-date=28 September 2017}} He used the resources of the St Bride Library in London to thoroughly research William Caslon and his types.{{cite web|url=http://www.linotype.com/en/651/itcfounderscaslon-family.html |title=Download ITC Founder's Caslon™ font family |publisher=Linotype.com |access-date=2012-10-22}} Unlike previous digital revivals, this family closely follows the tradition of building separate typefaces intended for different sizes. Distressing varies by style, matching the effect of metal type, with large optical sizes offering the cleanest appearance.

This family was released by ITC in December 1998.{{cite web |url=http://www.itcfonts.com/Fonts/NewFonts/1998/ |title=New Releases - Fonts.com |publisher=Itcfonts.com |date=2012-10-16 |access-date=2012-10-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825065027/http://www.itcfonts.com/Fonts/NewFonts/1998/ |archive-date=2012-08-25 |url-status=dead }} Following the original Caslon types, it does not include bold typefaces, but uses old style figures for all numbers.

Following the release of ITC Founder's Caslon, Justin Howes revived the H.W. Caslon & Company name, and released an expanded version of the ITC typefaces under the Founders Caslon name.{{cite web|last1=Howes|first1=Justin|title=Welcome to H. W. Caslon and Company Limited|url=http://www.hwcaslon.com:80/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040920073520/http://www.hwcaslon.com/|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 September 2004|publisher=H. W. Caslon and Company Limited (Archive image from 2004)|access-date=2 November 2017}}{{cite journal|last1=Howes|first1=Justin|title=The Compleat Caslon|journal=Matrix|date=2003 |url=https://archive.org/details/typetypographyhi0000unse/page/92/mode/1up|pages=35–40}}

Caslon Old Face is a typeface with multiple optical sizes, including 8, 10, 12, 14, 18, 22, 24, 30, 36, 42, 48, 60, 72, 96 points. Each font has small capitals, long esses and swash characters. The 96 point font came in roman only and without small capitals. Caslon Old Face was released in July 2001.

Caslon Ornaments is a typeface containing ornament glyphs.

These typefaces are packaged in the following formats:

• Founders Caslon Text: Caslon Old Face (8, 10, 12, 14, 18), Caslon Ornaments.{{cite web|last1=Howes|first1=Justin|title=Founders Caslon Text|url=http://www.hwcaslon.com:80/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040920073520/http://www.hwcaslon.com/|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 September 2004|publisher=H. W. Caslon and Company Limited (Archive image from 2004)|access-date=2 November 2017}}
• Founders Caslon Display: Caslon Old Face (22, 24, 30, 36, 42, 48, 60, 72), Caslon Ornaments.{{cite web|last1=Howes|first1=Justin|title=Founders Caslon Display|url=http://www.hwcaslon.com:80/catp3.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041013004700/http://www.hwcaslon.com/catp3.asp|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 October 2004|publisher=H. W. Caslon and Company Limited (Archive image from 2004)|access-date=2 November 2017}}
• Founders Caslon 1776: Caslon Old Face (14), Caslon Ornaments.{{cite web|last1=Howes|first1=Justin|title=Founders Caslon 1776|url=http://www.hwcaslon.com:80/catp1.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041013001736/http://www.hwcaslon.com/catp1.asp|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 October 2004|publisher=H. W. Caslon and Company Limited (Archive image from 2004)|access-date=2 November 2017}} A selection of the types used on the United States Declaration of Independence.

However, following the death of Justin Howes, the revived H.W. Caslon & Company went out of business. Howes bequeathed all rights to the H. W. Caslon version to St Bride Library in London.

An exuberant parody of Caslon italics created by Mark Andresen, this 1995 Emigre font was created by blending together samples of Caslon from "bits and pieces of dry transfer lettering: flakes, nicks, and all".{{cite web|title=NotCaslon|url=http://www.emigre.com/EFfeature.php?di=111|publisher=Emigre|access-date=23 June 2015}}{{cite web|title=Buy NotCaslon|url=http://www.emigre.com/OT/NotCaslon|publisher=Emigre|access-date=23 June 2015}}{{cite web|title=NotCaslon|url=http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/emigre/notcaslon/|website=MyFonts|publisher=Emigre|access-date=30 August 2015}}

File:Caslon 540 italic.png

This 2006 creation by P22 is based on the pages produced by Benjamin Franklin circa 1750. It has a distressed appearance.{{cite web|title=P22 Franklin Caslon|url=https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/p22/franklin-caslon/|website=MyFonts|publisher=P22|access-date=30 August 2015}}

{{Main|Caslon Antique}}

File:American Caslon family.jpg

This decorative serif typeface was originally called Fifteenth Century, but later renamed Caslon Antique. It is not generally considered to be a member of the Caslon family of typefaces, because its design appears unrelated, and the Caslon name was only applied retroactively.

{{Clear}}

{{notelist|30em}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• Rowe More, Dissertation 1778
• John Nicols, Biographical and Literary Anecdotes of William Bowyer 1782
• John Nicols, Literary Anecdotes, 1812–1815

The following two authors based their writings entirely on these three publications.

• Talbot Baines Reed, A History of Old English Letter Foundries, 1897
• Daniel Berkeley Updike, ''Printing types, their History, forms and use, 1937

• Conseguera, David, Classic Typefaces: American Type and Type Designers, Skyhorse: 2011 {{ISBN|9781621535829}}.
• Lawson, Alexander S., Anatomy of a Typeface. Godine: 1990. {{ISBN|978-0-87923-333-4}}.
• Meggs, Phillip B, McKelvey, Roy. Revival of the Fittest: Digital Versions of Classic Typefaces. RC Publications, Inc.2000. {{ISBN|1-883915-08-2}}
• Updike, Daniel Berkeley. Printing Types: Their History, Forms, and Use. Dover Publications, Inc.: 1980. {{ISBN|0-486-23929-2}}

{{Commons category}}

• [https://fontsinuse.com/typefaces/236/caslon Fonts in Use] (see sub-pages for use of specific versions)

• By the original Caslon Company, inherited by William Caslon II: [https://archive.org/details/specimenofprinti00caslrich Specimen of 1785] (issued by William Caslon III)
• By a breakaway company run by William Caslon III: [https://archive.org/details/specimenofprinti00casl Specimen of 1798] (completely different roman and italic typeface designs, in the transitional and modern style, although according to Reed most of the exotics are apparently obtained from the original Caslon foundry)
• [https://archive.org/details/specimensoftypes00hwcarich H.W. Caslon & Co. Ltd., specimen book, 1915]. The 20th century Caslon company at its height, including many sample settings.
• Late specimen sheet of the Caslon foundry from 1924: [http://magazines.iaddb.org/issue/CAI/1924-02-01/edition/null/page/25?query= outside]{{Dead link|date=November 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, [http://magazines.iaddb.org/issue/CAI/1924-02-01/edition/null/page/27?query= inside]. Included with Commercial Art magazine. George W. Jones's Caslon specimen of 1924 is similar.
• American Type Founders, [https://archive.org/stream/americanspecimen00amerrich 1912 Specimen Book]. Includes Caslon samples on pages 116-123 & 314-353.
• American Type Founders, 1923 Specimen Book: [https://archive.org/details/1923AmericanTypeFoundersSpecimenBookCatalogue complete digitisation], [http://www.circuitousroot.com/artifice/letters/press/noncomptype/typography/atf/atf-1923/index.html separate volumes (incomplete)]. Includes many examples of American releases of Caslon and sample settings in full-colour printing.
• [http://magazines.iaddb.org/issue/PRM/1953-08-01/edition/null/page/40 1953 article] by Eugene Pattenburg in Print magazine on the popularity of Caslon in contemporary advertising. Many sample showings.

{{Authority control}}

Category:Old style serif typefaces

Category:Caslon Foundry typefaces

Category:Adobe typefaces

Category:Public domain typefaces

Category:Letterpress typefaces

Category:Photocomposition typefaces

Category:Digital typefaces

Category:Typefaces with text figures

Category:International Typeface Corporation typefaces