Type Specimen Book.

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Creator

American Type Founders Company

Title

Type Specimen Book.

Coverage

Jersey City, NJ

Publisher

ATF

Date

1923

Subject

Octavo

Description

In the latter part of the nineteenth century there were dozens of type foundries throughout the United States. The success of the Linotype machine, and shortly thereafter the Monotype machine, was an existential threat to these businesses. In response, in 1892 most of these independent type founders merged to form the American Type Founders Company (ATF).

To promote their wares, ATF printed some of the most elaborate (and heaviest!) type specimen books ever seen. These culminated in the huge 1923 volume. 60,000 copies of the 1923 volume were printed, at a cost of $300,000 (approximately $4,500,000 in 2020 dollars!)

Relation