BlackCap, ATF 1898

William E. Loy writes that Black Cap was designed and cut by Charles H. Beeler Jr. for MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan.¹ The earliest-known commercial specimen was advertised in the January 1891 edition of The Inland Printer, so he probably created it in 1890.

 

The MSJ ad and catalog of 1892 do not claim a design patent, and none has been found. After the merger in 1892, ATF showed it in 1897 and 1898 with an apparently erroneous notice. Unfortunately, lack of a full alpha-numeric patent exhibit means that certain glyphs may not be available today.

 

¹Loy, W.E.: Designers and Engravers of Type. In The Inland Printer 24:417, December 1899.

 

A revival of this letterpress typeface has been undertaken by a Partner of The Type Heritage Project.

 

More about this font: forums.typeheritage.com/topic/black-cap/

More THP revival projects: forums.typeheritage.com/status/

More cool undigitized fonts: http//forums.typeheritage.com/undigitized/

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