Wood Type Specimens from the Alembic Press
The Alembic Press has built up a collection of founts of wood letter, and has produced a variety of type specimen books and postcards featuring these faces. The letters are printed with all their faults, such as worm-holes, cracks, etc, but the specimen books feature full founts, or at least as full as are possessed by the Press. Where possible, the specimens give the name of the face, the producer, and the design number, but many of the founts have so far proved impossible to identify. The Press has produced various different styles of specimen book, some being exclusive to the one face, some featuring several faces in the one book. The books about Delittle, and the Alphabet books, show only part founts, but all the others have complete founts for each face. The books currently in print are shown below, along with some rather low definition images (despite appearances, the paper used is cream in colour):
A full upper case fount of this Antique face. Maker unknown, but similar to Stephenson Blake's Antique No.1. Printed in two colours, with Japanese binding and paper covers.
20ff. Approx 4" x 10". 40 copies. UK£20.
of Wood Type
50ff. 19½" x 13¾". Now out of print.
A full upper case fount of this Sans wood letter, maker unknown. The two colours of printing combine to give a three colour result, with a fourth colour (of the white background) incorporated in the design of the letters. Accordion fold.
10pp. Approx 3" x 4". 36 copies. Now out of print.
A specimen of the full Delittle fount, printed in two merging shades of purple. Accordian fold.
18pp. 9" x 10". 30 copies. Now out of print
Displays as much of the alphabet as we have of this Antique Expanded wood letter. The cap X is missing, and there is no lower case or punctuation. A second colour sub-text is used to identify many of the irregularities. Concertina folded.
12pp. 2" x 6". 40 copies. Now out of print.
The full capital fount of this ornate Tuscan Condensed wood letter. Constructed with a slotted double accordion fold, and with 18 or 34 pages, depending upon how one counts them!
40 copies. 3" x 3¾". Now out of print.
Six 6-line Wood Type Alphabets
A boxed set of six different wood letter alphabets, with an accompanying abcedarium on typographic subjects. Set in 6 line wood type, as follows
2: Playbill - an ABC of typefaces
3: Round Serif - an ABC of typefounders
4: Sans Condensed - an ABC of typographic terms
5: Winchester Condensed - an ABC of typefounding terms
6: Sans Bold Italic - an ABC of parts of the press.
See also further details.
Each volume 32pp. 3" x 2¾". 100 boxed sets.
UK£30 for the set. Now out of print
Describes the first eight years, from 1888, of this firm of English wood letter manufacturers, with extracts from their Day Book. Illustrated with type specimens. Set in Caslon.
64pp. 10" x 7½". Now out of print.
(see above)
3 line Antique (extremely) Expanded (see above)
14-line Tuscan (see above)
40 line Poynder (see above)
Six 6-line Wood Type Alphabets (see above)
Specimens of Wood Type (see above)
8 line Atlas Text
A Little Alphabet
Abracadabra
A 40 line Wood Letter Alphabet
Delittle - an English Wood Letter Manufacturer
Thackeray's Alphabet
To order a book, or for further information,
e-mail alembicpress@googlemail.com
For more about the Press's activities,
go to The Alembic Press