Popular Designs for Artistic Printers

Popular Designs for Artistic Printers

Author: Central Type Foundry and Boston Type Foundry

Year: 1892

This specimen was produced at a point of great change in the American typefounding industry. The owners of the Central Type Foundry (Schraubstadter and St. John) had purchased the Boston Type Foundry in 1888. This specimen book, a joint effort of the two type foundries, is dated 1892. That is the year in which both companies were sold into the newly formed American Type Founders amalgamation. The bulk of the specimen book itself makes no reference to ATF. However, a final page (which is typographically distinct from the rest) advertises "Original Type Designs" for sale by many of the type foundries which amalgamated into ATF (two of which are noted as "Owned and Operated by the American Type Founders' Company"). On its title page this specimen refers only to the Central and the Boston foundries, but the cover of this particular copy bears the title "Artistic Novelties for Printers, for sale by Boston Type Foundry, Boston." It seems reasonable to conclude that this specimen was prepared jointly by the Central and Boston foundries before the formation of ATF but that this particular copy was published by the Boston Type Foundry after the formation of ATF. Many of the larger foundries