The Revival of Caslon Types Justin Howes is our first published book. It consists of three essays, originally published in the annual Matrix , dedicated to reproducing from original stamps the electronic version of the fonts originally created by William Caslon I (1692-1766). The foreword was written by John Randle, the creator Whittington Press and the MPs Nicolas Barker, long-time editor-in-chief of the quarterly The Book Collector .
For us this is a particularly important book: we love Caslon's fonts and we are also members The Caslon Club , a secret group of typographers whose membership list was lost by its anonymous chairman.
From the review that appeared in issue 32 The Matrix (2015)
The incredible longevity of The Matrix has marked both the beginning and the end of Justin Howes’s unique contribution to typographic scholarship. In Matrix No. 3 we printed his first article, “Noel Rooke, the Early Years,” and in Matrix No. 24 his last, “Caslon’s Patagonian.”
Justin's interest in Caslon was sparked by the sight of our Caslon poster (My Dear Brother…) at the Whittington Open Day in 1986. It included a letter from Eric Gill praising Caslon – which resonated strongly with Justin. The fact that this rather pleasantly produced, attractively bound in leather and marble paper, was Polish would have been in keeping with his eccentricity. It has a few typos, but it contains three of Justin’s principal articles on Caslon, published in the Matrix. It ends with a moving obituary of Nicolas Barker for the Independent.
The book contains Justin's analysis, published in issue 21 of Matrix, of Caslon's punches and matrices held in Sheffield in the Stephenson Blake archives until they were transferred to the Museum of Typography in London. Each size, from 8 to 72 points, is analysed character by character, and the replacement punches are noted [...]. This is a comprehensive typographical study.
This little gem should be on the shelves of all those who knew and admired Justin, as a reminder of this extraordinary researcher who achieved so much in his short life, rightly suspecting that time was not on his side.
We published the book in English, set it in LTC Caslon type, and printed it on Century Laid cotton paper in an edition of 75 numbered copies. The whole thing was bound in half leather.
Edition in English.
