Series 1

THE SPECIMENS

For centuries, type founders have published samples of their wares, in the form of documents which are in essence catalogs of their product lines. Erhard Ratdolt, printer in Venice, was the first to do so, with his “Index Characterum” in 1486; William Caslon’s “A Specimen,” London, 1734, is perhaps the most famous.

Type specimens have adopted many forms from sheet to book, often demonstrating great ingenuity in design and writing, to the extent of becoming works of art both literary and visual—concrete poetry or text-based art, if you will—but in general the format for a typeface specimen requires at least two of the following: (i) A headline at display size, (ii) The alphabet in sequence, and (iii) A text block.

These prints fit the bill.