Hello everyone,I'm looking for any piece of information regarding 'Bruce' typeface. I'm sending some pictures of a US type catalogue from 1935. But I have an older specimen of 1838 with the same typeface without a name, and I'm trying to identify it.
Thanks in advanced & sorry for the bad pictures.
Comments
Are you sure it’s a knockoff, James?
This is Figgins 1801
An this is (Henry) Caslon 1841
The Starrs were itinerant typefounders of questionable manufacturing ability and of business acumen. At some time ca. 1810 David Bruce Sr. went to London to learn stereotyping for his publishing business. After he returned, American type founders wouldn’t supply him all that he needed because they thought that stereotyping would hurt their business. So Bruce Sr. helped secure credit for the Starrs to set up a typefounding business, but Richard Starr got bored and the Starrs bailed. Bruce Sr. took over the business because he needed it to make stereotyping take off in America and probably because he cosigned on the loan.
I’ve also read some footnote or other about Richard Starr, late in life, claiming to have cut hundreds of types for various American foundries. But he was bitter and drunk, and I’ve never confirmed if he was the Bodoni of early America who got written out because he was bad at business or if he was just talking so people would buy him drinks.
Reading between the lines, Bruce Sr. probably paid the Starrs to crank out copies of typefaces from specimens he brought back from London. The Starrs then did work for some other foundries, including a failed attempt at a new foundry in Philadelphia. They cut matrices for Kinsley, who didn’t last long. So the assets of those two foundries were probably sold off to other foundries, creating at least three American sources for these designs. Which would explain why there are some almost exact copies of American type prior to the advent electroplating in 1838 despite America having very few capable punchcutters.