Looking to identify this book font from 1984, used by Clarendon Press, Oxford

[Roger the Shrubber]

Dear TG Forum,

I am looking to identify the font and weight used in this book: T Aston (ed.), The History of the University of Oxford, vol. 1, 1984. I have included a screenshot showing the main body text and some some italics in the footnotes in the hope that helps.

The book is available on Google Books here:
https://books.google.co.uk/books?redir_esc=y&id=AkJO3TAxMtwC&q=etampes#v=onepage&q&f=false

I am interested in acquiring a digital version of this font, or one that is very similar. Free would be nice, but I am happy to purchase a commercial one.

All thoughts and guidance very much appreciated – thank you!

All best wishes,

Roger

[Kevin Thompson]

Not a great amount of detail visible in your sample. Sabon is similar.

[Riccardo Sartori]

1 hour ago, Roger the Shrubber said:

I am looking to identify the font and weight

Looking at the slightly larger, thus clearer, type on the TOC, it could be a pre-digital cut of Garamond.

As for the weight, the softness and relative darkness of the letters is due to the printing process, so it would be hard to find a digital equivalent.

[Roger the Shrubber]

Thank you very much!

Yes, I see that Garamond has the right italic 'h' and 'y'.  I was not aware that Garamond came without the crossover on the capital 'W', but I see now that it in some versions it does.

Thank you for the observation on weight, ink, and paper. That makes absolute sense. What a shame it is hard to replicate digitally.

Thanks again!

Roger