Letters are beautiful
December 1, 2024 1:09 PM   Subscribe

From specimens of chromatic woodtype to the groovy letter people and 16th Century writing templates typography and calligraphy turn visual language into something beautiful. Beginning in the early 20th Century, the Ludlow Typograph Company (1906 to late 1980s) gave its sales staff specimen books to advertise fonts and ornaments that could be printed on its Ludlow Typograph, a hot metal typesetting system used in letterpress printing for large-type material such as newspaper headlines or posters. from The Beautiful Ludlow Typography Specimen Books c. 1958 [Flashbak]
posted by chavenet (6 comments total) 24 users marked this as a favorite
 
I don't know for a fact, but I presume these images are from the Internet Archive's scan of this book (based on "This is issue D"). For people who are interested, they have a lot of other books from the Ludlow Typography Company including this short one which is all Christmas Decorations.
posted by jessamyn at 1:28 PM on December 1, 2024 [5 favorites]


The linked video is from Don Black Linecasting, a place that was about three blocks from my house yet - despite my interest in the subject - I never visited. The company closed down in 2020 after Don's son passed away. Don himself passed away in 2023 in his mid-eighties.
End of an era: A last link to publishing’s storied past closes its Toronto doors

Dang.
posted by scruss at 3:07 PM on December 1, 2024 [5 favorites]


...including this short one which is all Christmas Decorations.

The blue pencil layout guy in me can't help thinking, "OMG, it's hot-metal seasonal line tape!!!"
posted by wenestvedt at 6:51 AM on December 2, 2024 [1 favorite]


A page with many images of Ludlow fonts in real-world designs: https://fontsinuse.com/foundry/698/ludlow

The Cameo is very pretty!

Looks like some folks have re-created many of Robert Hunter Middleton's designs and sell them: https://www.myfonts.com/collections/robert-hunter-middleton

There's a free version of "Tenpo Bold" here that I am liking: https://www.fontspace.com/ludlowtempo-font-f31389
posted by wenestvedt at 6:58 AM on December 2, 2024 [1 favorite]


And here's a free version of the seasonal ornament face: https://www.fontspace.com/ludlow-borders-and-ornaments-font-f40958
posted by wenestvedt at 7:04 AM on December 2, 2024


Beauty.
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 11:32 PM on December 2, 2024


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