Now I have decided to resume (or at least to try to) work on typefaces, with a certain continuity, despite the limitations of time and due to family reasons.

This goes both for digital versions of lead typefaces which I am interested in and for my own designs, of course little by little, and taking all the time needed.

For a start, and to warm up again in drawing letter forms carefully, I’ve been cultivating interest in digital versions of lead typefaces I would like to use myself. Especially american typefaces from the late nineteenth century, in particular in the vein derived and/or related to Gustave F. Schroeder’s De Vinne.

Now, to the point: besides gathering further type specimens, I would need to contextualize the history of these typefaces and the historical unfolding of the foundries which released them. I have seen there are a few resources providing historical information on them, but I would like to ask to the experts here which would be the most accurate (but also concise, as I am not doing a proper research to write about them, just to understand better their spirit in context) source for this kind of research.

I am interested in particular in John F. Cumming’s Howland and in the whole De Vinne family (and derivates).

For example, I see that apparently Howland was released in 1892, before being incorporated in ATF's catalog. But De Vinne’s patent is from 1893, so I believe it’s unlikely as Howland apparently was designed as an alternative to De Vinne Condensed as a titling face. Is there further information on this?

Many thanks in advance. Any contribution, even minimal, will be greatly appreciated. And if I can reciprocate in some way, I'll be happy to do so. :-)

Later in 1799 he left East India Company Press and joined Missionary Press in Serampore, where along with Bengali he also developed type in 14 languages, including Arabic, Persian, Marathi, Telegu, Burmese and Chinese. He made the Serampore Missionary press the largest multiscript foundry in Asia in early 19th Century. He also trained the next generation of punch-cutters, pioneering the typographic legacy in India.

I created a open source project for creating a OpenType version  of the world's first Bangla Typeface - as a  tribute to Panchanan Karmakar .

The font file is available at its website and source is available at  our github page 

Things I learned while working on this project

- When I use Bengali opaque conjuncts (like ka-ta  ) along with alternate transparent conjuncts  (like  ) , and vertically stacked conjuncts like ma-pa  as well as horizontal or “half form – full form” conjuncts like  in the same typeface, it is not an aberration, or 21st Century simplification , but a part of almost 250 year old Typographic legacy of Bengali script.

- Some letters like nna  and la  have exchanged there shapes with time, and can be confusing to modern day Bengali reader.

- Some conjuncts were so different looking, that I would not have been able to decipher them unless roman transliteration was accompanying them.

Examples include ja-nya  ( ), ka-ukaar ( ) , ma-ukaar ( ) , ta-ya( ) , ha-ya ( ).

- That like Arabic, some Bengali conjuncts like ssa-ukaar had a separate initial and final form .

I have deliberately not included western punctuation like comma, semicolon, etc as they were introduced for Bengali text only in 1855 by Iswarchandra Vidyasagar.

I do not know where this typeface will be useful. I hope it will stimulate newer designs in Bengali typographic scenario, which is  boringly dominated by descendants and copies of a single typeface for almost 50 years.

The most famous theater playbill in American history is for “Our American Cousin,” to be performed at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. on April 14, 1865.  We know that Lincoln was assassinated during the third act of the play. 

The playbill (link attached to a fine copy at the Huntington Library in California) shows a variety of fonts. 

Although there has been considerable writing about the different versions of the playbill, no one has said anything about the different fonts used in the bill.

Is anyone able to provide any information about them? 

Thanks

https://hdl.huntington.org/digital/collection/p16003coll6/id/5034/