Rare Books

Specimens of type : a pandemic project, 2020-2022

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Description: This specimen book represents a snapshot of the typefaces at Xanadu Press in Spring 2022... 240 typefaces of nearly 800 fonts. Inspired by typefounders' specimen books, we have grouped our types into themes that document our lives: the Driftless Area of Wisconsin, our appreciation for history and literature, nostalgia, and contemporary commentary. Dates and originators of these typefaces are as close as careful research could ascertain.
Type: Rare Books(Opens in new tab)
Publication date: [2022]
Call number: 642213
Provenance: Gift of Robert Mullen, April 2023.
Dimensions: 13 x 30 cm
Associated people: Mullen, Robert A., (1949-)

Bóyǎzhāi yìnwù túzhāng huòshì hángqíng

Rare Books

Specimen type catalog, printed in black and green. Shows a variety of typefaces and stamping products (date received, paid, bill due, etc.) for a variety of business needs. Numerous Chinese owned-business are represented in sample logos, business cards and stamps, the majority are local to San Francisco, but business in Minnesota and Mexico are also shown. The publication is undated, but one of the stamps depicted is for 1934.

653409

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Johann Friedrich Blumenbach: handwriting specimen, letter and transcript

Manuscripts

Handwriting specimen of Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, plus accompanying letter and transcript prepared by Blumenbach's son. The five-line handwriting specimen is dated 1834, December 28, and is found on a folded sheet with two pages of writing; two lines of this text are in French and three lines, including Blumenbach's signature, are in German. The specimen is annotated and translated into English by Blumenbach's son and by an unidentified person. The second page of the sheet contains a letter from Blumenbach's son to an unidentified recipient addressed as My dear Sir and dated 1836, April 27, describing the handwriting specimen; this letter is in English. Also contains a one-page undated typed transcription and partial translation of Blumenbach's lines and of the start of the son's letter, as well as biographical information about Blumenbach, prepared by an unidentified person; this page contains annotations in pencil relating to the material's archival location.

mssHM 83022-83023

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American printers' specimen exchange

Rare Books

The American Printers' Specimen Exchange required participating printers from the United States and abroad to submit 200 to 300 copies of examples of their best color printing, and in exchange they each received one bound copy of all the entries used.

656854

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Group 888: Thompson Type Machine Co. (Chicago, later purchased by the Lanston Monotype Machine Company of Philadelphia - see group 1360)

Manuscripts

Includes booklets with type samples and pricelists for the available fonts. Much of the correspondence is with company representative Charles B. Slaughter. Includes some correspondence with Machine Composition Company of Boston (see group 1966) and Dearborn Type Foundry (see group 2085).

mssMerrymount

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Susan B. Anthony letter to an unnamed editor

Manuscripts

Letter by Susan B. Anthony addressed to "Mr. Editor, Dear Sir," written on letterhead of Fowler & Wells, Phrenologists and Publishers. Fowler & Wells published the first two volumes of Susan B. Anthony's History of woman suffrage (1881). The letter reads: "By my request our publishers mail to you tonight, the advances sheets of "The History of Woman Suffrage," that you may be able to bring out your notice of it as early as our New York papers -- the book will not be handed them until Friday. Hoping that your reviewer will give these pages a careful reading and a just if not generous report thereof. I am Sir - Respectfully yours Susan B. Anthony."

mssHM 83495

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Type Foundery Specimens - American, English, & Continental

Manuscripts

This collection contains of the business records of the Merrymount Press and the related papers of its founder Daniel Berkeley Updike (1860-1941). The bulk of the collection consists of financial volumes; correspondence with customers, publishers, illustrators, craftsmen, and suppliers; bills; estimates; and scrapbooks with specimens of work. While the majority of the correspondence is comprised of letters, there are occasionally proofs, specimens, and cloth, paper, fabric samples, etc., found with the correspondence. The records reflect Updike's involvement with printing across the United States and in Europe, though much of his work was produced for clients in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York City. Some of the correspondence reflects Updike's personal interests including Rhode Island history and churches and charitable work with poor children as well as prison inmates.

mssMerrymount

Specimens of type : a pandemic project, 2020-2022

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Bóyǎzhāi yìnwù túzhāng huòshì hángqíng

Johann Friedrich Blumenbach: handwriting specimen, letter and transcript

American printers' specimen exchange

Group 888: Thompson Type Machine Co. (Chicago, later purchased by the Lanston Monotype Machine Company of Philadelphia - see group 1360)

Susan B. Anthony letter to an unnamed editor

Type Foundery Specimens - American, English, & Continental