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The De Stijl (Dutch for “The Style”) typographical and art movement emerged around 1917 and significantly influenced modern art, design and thought itself. In the wake of the chaos of World War I, the movement sought to express a new vision of harmony and order. De Stijl was not just an art style, but a comprehensive aesthetic philosophy. It sought universal beauty, as abstracted from individual beauty, and a visual language and typography based on simplicity, geometry and primary colors, namely red, blue and yellow. Its core characteristics were the use of straight horizonal and vertical lines, the use of rectangles and squares, an emphasis on asymmetry, and the favoring of pure abstraction. De Stijl was deeply influenced by the philosophy of Neo-Plasticism, a theory developed by Piet Mondrian, which sought to depict reality in a pure, universal form. Behind this philosophy was the religious thrust of Theosophy, particularly the spiritual writings of Helena Blavatsky (1831–1891) and Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925).

Font Restoration Mechanics. Let me begin by giving an example from the world of theology, my first love and profession. Many people, even many non-Christian people, know that we are saved “by faith.” But faith in what or who? Well, faith in God. But this is imprecise. It is faith in Jesus Christ the Bible tells us. But once again, this too can be mistaken as just an intellectual nod of the mind toward Jesus without a real life change or transformation. More detailed biblical discussion, with appropriate distinctions, must be made so that we don’t make “faith” a human, works-based activity we do to please God. Or some existential “experience” with no definable qualities. Digging even deeper, faith saves no one, though it is absolutely necessary for salvation. It is Jesus Christ who saves. Faith becomes an “instrument” of salvation. Theologians have been unpacking this salvation “by faith alone” for centuries. Books and “how-to” sermons have been written and preached and taught here. Do you see the tremendous amount of refinement that “faith” requires? Precise typography claims similar distinctions and refinements in letter development and typeface creation. CARE Typography has been able to restore older hand-drawn fonts from various sources to modern digital typefaces. One of those most prolific sources has been from Alphabets Old and New — For The Use of Craftsmen, With An Introductory Essay on ‘Art in the Alphabet’” by Lewis F. Day, London, 1910.There is a wealth of older fonts shown by Day, one of them being a Roman Forum font from an old Roman Forum engraving. It might be thought that to copy and paste the letters and import them into a font design program, like FontLab’s Fontographer, is simple and rather straight-forward. Not so. From a font designer’s work, the transfer from a screenshot of an old book to a clear and professional open type font (SEE my Blog on “Open Type Fonts” in “More About Fonts” March 9, 2021) takes care and lots of work. It is both tedious and time intensive. The details of such work are often overlooked. Here’s an inside look at such work.

Wide Is Beautiful What makes a typeface beautiful? Aesthetically pleasing fonts or typefaces have differing qualities that make them suitable and beautiful in different contexts and uses. I have chosen six (6) wide or "extended" font faces to highlight the inherent beauty and usability of such type. The samples chosen range from well used Adobe fonts to a specialty antique wide font CARE Typography crafted from an old fashioned type book published by Frederick Nelson Phillips, Inc of New York back in 1945.

Italics . Typography historically received its most valuable improvements from the printers of Italy giving us three text-letters of greatest usefulness : (1) the Roman typeface, first founded by Sweinheym and Pannartz in 1465, and afterward perfected by Jenson at Venice in 147 1 ; (2) Italic and (3) Small Capitals, introduced together by Aldus Manutius at Venice in 1501. The first volume entirely in Greek was printed at Milan in 1476 ; the first book entirely in Hebrew, at Soncino in 1488. The transition from Gothic to Italic typefaces was part of the broader evolution of typography that took place during the Renaissance period, driven by shifts in cultural, aesthetic, and technological factors. Gothic script was primarily used for religious texts, legal documents, and early printed books like the Gutenberg Bible. It symbolized tradition, formality, and authority. Gothic, was characterized by its dense, angular, and ornate letters, often with sharp vertical strokes, tight spacing, and elaborate flourishes. It was designed to mimic the style of manuscript writing at the time.

Sketch & Hand Drawn Lettering. The history of font development includes a wealth of calligraphic fonts and artistically crafted hand drawn typefaces. A number of these lettering fonts have been drawn and submitted by smaller type foundries and entrepreneurs seeking to make their mark in the font world. A casual look at ChatGPT gives some idea as to their source and character. Fonts that mimic pencil drawings often have a hand-sketched, textured, or rough-lined appearance. These fonts are great for artistic projects, children's books, casual branding, or creative typography. The sample fonts below are mostly given for personal use only, use on personal invitations and so forth, but some have been made available for commercial use as well. They demonstrate the wide range of hand drawn fonts available for use and purchase.

Four Old Playful Fancy Fonts . CARE Typography is pleased in its historical search for antique inspired fonts to introduce digitized versions of Harper and Mikado, a Gutenberg typeface and Lacrosse. Unlike their modern counterparts, these fonts are display only fanciful fonts of a bygone era in typography. However, they exude a rich history of font development that should not be forgotten in our search for the new, the sleek, the up-to-date in type. They have been developed from the rich typographic heritage of Phillips Old Fashioned Type Book published in 1945 by Frederick Nelson Phillips, Inc, in New York. This volume has caught my historic typographic eye for its plethora of ancient font styles and formulations. The Harper446 font is especially playful, with its curly capitals, its specialized "Q" capital and, of course, its flavorful and playful small case lettering, with the raised c, e and o letters and the odd looking "g." This is obviously not a text font, but can uses in artful decorative work. The Mikado231 font does not at all look like the variations of the typeface called "Mikado" in typography history. As that history notes, "Mikado was apparently inspired by Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic opera of the same name. The show opened in London in March of 1885 and in New York later that same year. According to Nicolete Gray in her classic book on ornamented typefaces, the English foundry of Sir Charles Reed and Son introduced a metal type called “Japanese” also in 1885. She characterized this typeface and other oriental based typefaces as superficial in their foreign influence. Nonetheless it appears that it was later copied by several of the American Wood-type companies. The 1906 Hamilton wood-type specimen catalog shows four versions of this design; one by Hamilton and three by acquired companies. The versions by Wells, and Morgans & Wilcox are called Mikado. The Hamilton and Page versions use model numbers 204 and 156 respectively. It is difficult to determine the specific dates when this particular wood-type was introduced, but the earliest wood-type catalog I could find showing Mikado is the 1888 Page catalog. Our sample “WINTER” is a 15 line unstamped type most similar to the Hamilton version. Incidentally, another English foundry, Miller and Richard introduced a metal typeface in 1887, also named Mikado. That typeface is totally different than the one presented here." (https://www.printmuseum.org/wood-type-mikado). This Mikado adaptation has straight angular E, F, G, K, T and even raised W, X, Y in the capitals. Note the falling stems of C, L, and lower c, e, h, m and n. Again, this playful font can be used sparingly in advertisement copy and flavorful playbills. The Gutenberg700 font is again from the Phillips book samples. Note the dotted C, U, V, small g and zero. The ampersand is also interesting. Curly serifs are used in A, J, L, S. The numerals are classic old school numerals. This Gutenberg rendering is unlike any classic Gutenberg typeface that has been presented. The LacrossePhillips font has a cute left hanging serif on the capitals. It is a bold faced font, both in the upper and lower case. It is a full font offering upper and lower case lettering, numerals and other marks. These fonts are available from CARE Typography at care typography.com at NO COST. They are free to purchase and use.

Blackletter Type & Universities . The use of blackletter fonts in academic contexts dates back to the medieval period and is deeply tied to the history of early European universities. Fonts like Fraktur, Textura, and Gothic were the norm in the academic world until the rise of modern typefaces in the 18th and 19th centuries. Even today, many universities, particularly in Germany and England, continue to incorporate elements of blackletter design into their official documents, crests, and seals. These fonts serve as a link to the academic traditions of the past, evoking a sense of scholarly authority, history, and prestige that remains integral to the identity of many academic institutions. The Blackletter typeface style, often associated with the gothic or medieval period, has a fascinating history in the context of universities and academic institutions. The term "University" in relation to blackletter fonts typically refers to the use of these fonts in academic and religious contexts during the Middle Ages, and later in formal academic environments where tradition, authority, and history are emphasized. The most notable "University" blackletter fonts are linked to the old European universities and have been used in documents, manuscripts, and crests. The University of Leipzig in Germany, founded in the early 15th century, was one of the first to adopt blackletter fonts in its printed materials and documents. The university's early academic works were published in blackletter typefaces, which was consistent with the typographic style of the time. Although blackletter fonts have largely been replaced by more modern typefaces (like serif and sans-serif) in contemporary university branding, some institutions still use elements of blackletter fonts in their logos or crests to emphasize tradition, heritage, and historical continuity. Harvard University (USA) uses a variation of the blackletter style in its iconic Harvard shield, which incorporates a stylized version of the blackletter form in the letter "H" and other aspects of its heraldic design. The blackletter-style elements in the logo give the university an air of tradition and scholarship. Similarly, Oxford University and Cambridge University in the UK have incorporated blackletter fonts or medieval script influences in certain documents, seals, and emblems. Many universities, particularly in Europe, still use blackletter-inspired fonts in their formal graduation certificates, academic diplomas, and official titles. These fonts are not used for everyday communications but remain symbols of academic distinction, formal documents, and prestigious traditions. For instance, in Germany, Fraktur or Textura fonts may still appear in official publications or university documents to honor the historical roots of higher education. What Is Blackletter? Blackletter, also known as Gothic script, emerged in Western Europe around the 12th century, during the medieval period. It was the dominant script used for writing and printing for several centuries, particularly in manuscripts produced by monks in monasteries. Blackletter fonts are distinguished by their sharp, angular strokes, tightly spaced letters, and intricate designs, which made them both highly decorative and somewhat difficult to read. The style was heavily influenced by the insular script, a form of handwriting that evolved in the British Isles, as well as by the Carolingian minuscule used in the Holy Roman Empire. Blackletter fonts were widely used in early printed books, particularly in Germany, where the printing press was first developed. In the early days of academic education in Europe, blackletter fonts were the primary typefaces used in university textbooks, religious texts, and documents. Three types of Blackletter typefaces were commonly used — Fraktur, Textura, and Rotunda.

Seven Revived Fonts. CARE Typography is pleased to introduce seven fonts, revived from Phillips Old Fashioned Type Book (New York, 1945). The CrayonetteCare font has been ably presented elsewhere by David Jonathan Ross as Crayonette DTR ( https://djr.com/notes/crayonette-djr-font-of-the-month ) in 2017 and is also available on Adobe fonts. Crayonette was designed by Henry Brehmer in 1889 and first issued by Philadelphia’s Keystone Type Foundry. It is a weird and wonderful Victorian design that, to Ross's knowledge, had never received a suitable digital revival. And thanks to research by Indra Kupferschmid , he also found out that Crayonette came in an Inline version as well, and also appeared under various other names such as Almah, Columbian Italic, Fantaisie, Italienne Cursiv, and Zierschrift. The CrayonetteCare font version here has been digitized by CARE Typography using the Phillip's font samples book, sample #30C. The DaintyCare font (Sample #775 from Phillips) is a light an airy typeface with both Caps and smaller case lettering. What is notable is the distinctive "Q" and "Z" letters. Note also the capital "H" and the unique ampersand "&" of the font. The GlypticCare typeface does not have all the numerals and is primarily a caps only font. The fancy ampersand is to be noted in this rendering. Glyptic is an ornamented Latin serif designed in 1878 by Herman Ihlenburg and issued by the Philadelphia type foundry Mackellar, Smiths and Jordan. David Ross produced a fine rendering of the Glyptic font and it is also available on Adobe fonts. The PenelopeCare font is a decorative typeface digitized from the Phillips book of old fonts. Its original version of all caps was designed and offered by Typographer Mediengestaltung, by Dieter Steffmann, Kreuztal, Germany, and is part of a package of 357 old time fonts. A more developed rendering has been offered by Dan Solo of Solotype in Cleveland in 2004 on myfonts.com. That version is $19.95 from MyFonts. Steffmann has offered Penelope as a free font, for both personal and commercial use. He writes — "For several years, I have completed not only erroneous public domain fonts, but I have digitized or vectorized complete fonts. Nowadays, even high-quality fonts are available and affordable for everyone. Therefore, I have specialized in collecting and digitizing "blackletter" (Fraktur) fonts, which have no market value to large font houses because of insufficient demand, and are therefore generally not available for purchase. Since I consider fonts to be cultural heritage, I do not agree with their commercialization. Fonts once made out of metal type obviously had a price along with their metal value, and the cost of designing, cutting and casting is convincing, particularly since the buyer also acquired ownership of the purchased fonts! Anyone who believes that they can buy a magazine now a days and then have the property acquired as in the times of metal setting, is wrong: The font foundries only sell "licenses" for a file of nothing but "zeros and ones" with no real material value, and the buyer usually does not become the owner, but only a licensee! For all these reasons I am giving out my fonts to everyone for free for commercial purposes without any restrictions and I hope you enjoy in these fonts as much as I and many other font-friends around the world do!" The PenelopeCare font is therefore free to all who want it from CARE Typography. The Antique Pointed Caps font (#56C from Phillips) with numerals is a bold, blackletter font with distinctive squared off edges. The Old Flemish font (#18 from Phillips) has the telling characteristics of pre-Victorian days with abundant flourishes. The Ornament91 font has slim lines and accented flourishes. These seven fonts are also available from CARE Typography and can be ordered from our email site — cshanktype@gmail.com — for a small fee. They can also be ordered as a group for $35.

Early American Printing & Type Foundries.* Printing was introduced into America at Mexico by the Viceroy Mendoza in 1536. The first book printed was the Escala Espiritual de San Juan Climaco , of which no copy is known to exist; but the oldest American book now extant is the Manual de Adultos , dated 1540, of which only the last four leaves are to be found in the library of the Cathedral of Toledo. The name of the earliest printer is a matter of question. Cambridge, Massachusetts, is entitled to the distinction of having the first printing-press in North America, which was under the charge of Stephen Daye. For this press the colony was mainly indebted to the Rev. Jesse Glover, a non-conformist minister possessed of a considerable estate, who had left England to settle among his friends in Massachusetts. Some gentlemen of Amsterdam also “gave towards furnishing of a printing-press with letters, forty-nine pounds and nothing more.” This was about 1638. The first book issued was the Bay Psalm-Book , in 1640. The first book issued in the Middle Colonies was an Almanac , printed by William Bradford in 1685, near Philadelphia. Bradford was sent from England in 1682 by William Penn. As the government of Pennsylvania became very restrictive in regard to the press, Bradford in 1693 moved to New York, and was appointed printer to that colony, where he established in 1725 the New York Gazette, the first newspaper published there. He died May 23, 1752, after an active and useful life of eighty-nine years. The first paper-mill in America was established near Germantown, Pa, in 1690, by William Rittenhouse. The first newspaper in America was the Boston NewsLetter , which was first issued by John Campbell on Monday, April 24, 1704. It was regularly published for nearly seventy-two years. The second was the Boston Gazette , begun December 21, 1719. The third was the American Weekly Mercury, issued in Philadelphia, by Andrew Bradford, on December 22, 1719. James Franklin, an elder brother of Benjamin, established the New England Courant , August 17, 1721. The oldest living paper of the United States is the New Hampshire Gazette , published at Portsmouth, now (Oct. 7, 1877) one hundred and twenty-one years old. The North American United States Gazette leads the existing daily press of this country in point of antiquity. It is the successor of the Pennsylvania Packet , (begun in 1771 and becoming a daily paper in 1784), and was the chief commercial journal of Philadelphia. According to Holmes's American Annals, about 200 newspapers were printed in the United States in the year 1801, of which seventeen were issued daily, seven three times a week, thirty twice a week, and one hundred forty six weekly. There must also have been at the same time as many as sixty offices engaged in miscellaneous printing. The whole business had increased threefold in eleven years. Type Foundries in Early America. A type foundry is a company that designs or distributes typefaces. Before digital typography, type foundries manufactured and sold metal and wood typefaces for hand typesetting and matrices for line-casting machines like the Linotype and Monotype, for letterpress printers. Today's digital type foundries accumulate and distribute typefaces (typically as digitized fonts) created by type designers who may either be freelancers operating their own independent foundry, or employed by a foundry. Type foundries may also provide custom type design services. A foundry, principally for German type, was established at Germantown, Pennsylvania, about the year 1735, by Christopher Saur, (or Sower,) a printer, who executed in German the first quarto Bible printed in America, as well as other valuable works in the German language. Three editions of the Bible were printed, in the years 1743, 1763, and l776, the latter two by his son. In 1739, Saur also published a newspaper in Germantown. An abortive attempt was made about 1768 to set up a foundry at Boston by a Mr. Mitchelson from Scotland, and another in Connecticut in 1769 by Abel Buel. In 1775, Dr. Franklin brought from Europe to Philadelphia the materials for a foundry, but little use of them was made. John Baine, a type-founder of Edinburgh, sent a relative to this country with tools for a foundry. At the close of the Revolutionary War, his son came over himself. They carried on the business until 1790, when Mr. Baine died, and returned to Scotland. Dutch founder, Adam G. Mappa, settled at New York about 1787, and cast Dutch and German faces, as well as Roman styles. Another type-foundry was put in successful operation in Baltimore, about 1805, by Samuel Sower & Co. It had in it some molds and matrices which had been used by Christopher Sower, who had printed in Germantown, near Philadelphia, and cast his own types. He printed with German characters; but now the foundry was revived with excellent Roman and Italic letters, and among other extraordinary things it had the size called Diamond, with a smaller face than had ever been cast before. It was the smallest type in the world at that time. The early Diamond typeface, sometimes referred to in the context of early American printing, has distinct characteristics that arose during the period of its use. The Diamond typeface was typically used in very small sizes, often referred to as “diamond” in the context of type sizes. This made it popular for compact printing formats, such as almanacs and pocket-sized books. Early versions often featured condensed letterforms, allowing more text to fit into a limited space while maintaining legibility. The design often included sharp angles and geometric forms which contributed to its distinctive look. The early characters tended to have minimal contrast between thick and thin strokes, which was a hallmark of types from this period, contributing to a more unified visual appearance. Some variations of the Diamond typeface featured ornamental serifs or embellishments, reflecting the decorative style of the time. Despite its small size, the diamond typeface maintained a level of legibility that was crucial for effectively conveying information in smaller prints. These characteristics made early Diamond types particularly suitable for the practical needs of printing in early America, as they balanced elegance and functionality in small formats. In 1811, Elihu White established a type-foundry in New York. He had been long engaged, in connection with Mr. Wing, in the manufacture of printing types at Hartford, Connecticut, upon a plan of their own invention, by which twenty or thirty letters were cast at once; but, abandoning that invention, he adopted the bid plan of casting and having a good assortment of faces and bodies, his removal to New York was a great convenience to its printers, and they gave him a very satisfactory support. But the principal business in type-founding still continued for some years to be done in Philadelphia. A bid plan for type casting, typically used in the context of typography and printing, outlines the proposed approach and costs associated with creating typefaces through the casting process. In a “bid plan” was included the Project Scope, which clearly defined the extent of the type casting project, including the number of typefaces to be created, specific styles (serif, sans-serif, display, etc.), and any custom requirements. Details for the materials to be used, such as alloys for metal type, and any specific preferences for typeface characteristics (weight, width, etc.) were part of the plan. The Plan outlined the type of casting techniques to be employed, whether traditional hand casting or later modern digital methods, with explanations for choices made, timelines and milestones for project completion, cost breakdowns, quality control measures, revisions and approvals, delivery methods and a communication plan throughout the project. A well-developed bid plan ensured clarity and set expectations for all parties involved in a type casting project, facilitating smooth collaboration and successful outcomes. In 1813, another type-foundry was begun in the city of New York, by D. & G. Bruce, principally to cast types for their own use. They had carried on book-printing for seven years, and had now become acquainted with the stereotype art.