Jump to content
Education typography videos. Check out our YouTube channel …

Elizabeth Caslon

Recommended Posts

Riccardo Sartori

nypl.digitalcollections.e29853a0-5f7e-0131-d9ae-58d385a7bbd0.001.w.jpg

Perusing the New York Public Library Digital Collections, I stumbled upon four sheets from a specimen book

The typefaces presented are Eliz. Caslon’s New Canon, Eliz. Caslon’s New Pica (roman and italic), and Eliz. Caslon’s New Double Pica (roman and italic).

The NYPL lists 1785 as date of publication and “Caslon, William, 1754-1833” as Author (that would be William Caslon III, grandchild of William Caslon).

However, that “Eliz.” piqued my curiosity, and, after a cursory search, I met Elizabeth Caslon.

mw61597.jpg

(Source: National Portrait Gallery)

Caslon [née Cartlich], Elizabeth (1730–1795), typefounder, was born in Foster Lane, London, on 31 May 1730, the daughter of William Cartlich, refiner, of Foster Lane, and his wife, Elizabeth. She was baptized on 4 June at St John Zachary, London. On 25 June 1751 she married William Caslon (1720–1778) [see under Caslon, William (1692–1766)], typefounder, of Chiswell Street; they had two sons, William and Henry. When her husband died intestate, on 17 August 1778, Elizabeth and her sons each inherited one third share of the typefounding business, which she continued, trading as Elizabeth Caslon & Sons. She was a talented businesswoman, having assisted her husband during his lifetime in the management of the foundry. In 1785 the firm produced an extensive type specimen book on sixty-four leaves, dedicated to George III.

(Source: Oxford DNB article: Caslon, Elizabeth)

I assume the pages in the NYPL are from that 1785 specimen, but don’t know if the “Eliz. Caslon” added to these typefaces’ name was just to differentiate them from the ones issued by other iterations of the Caslon foundry, or if Mrs. Elizabeth Caslon had a part also in their design.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
  • 4 months later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

Our partners

The largest selection of professional fonts for any project. Over 130,000 available fonts, and counting.
Discover the Best Deals for Freelance Designers.
Discover the fonts from the Germany foundry FDI Type. A brand of Schriftkontor Ralf Herrmann.
Get to your apps and creative work. Explore curated inspiration, livestream learning, tutorials, and creative challenges.
Download FDI Altmeister for free …
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We are placing functional cookies on your device to help make this website better.