Touraine Old Style Italic

ATF / Other?

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1. Overview

This typeface was first shown in 1898 (by ATF) and last shown by a (nominal) typefoundry in 1903 ( Damon & Peets), although a later third-party showing exists (Univ. of Chicago, 1910). Evidence in the 1900 ATF showing indicates that it was based on an English typeface (which has not yet been identified).

The face is distinctive for its wide range of swash alternates and an unusual lowercase 'y'. To the best of my knowledge this italic was designed to stand on its own; it was not the complementary italic of any roman. I do not know the identity of its designer or its history before ATF (if any). Neither do I know the reasons for its association with the sculptor Jean Goujon (c. 1510 - after 1572, according to Wikipedia) as indicated in ATF's 1898 advertisements and 1900 specimen. However, Wikipedia notes that Goujon is "usually attributed [with] the engravings of the French version of Francesco Colonna's 'Songe de Poliphile'". I believe that would be a French edition of Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, one of the landmarks of pre-1500 printing. But a quick look at editions of Hypnerotomachie, ou discours du songe de poliphile online does not suggest (to me, at least) any obvious links with this type.

The typeface is not shown in the Saxe/Johnston edition of Loy, although it would just barely qualify in terms of date. There is a typeface called "Touraine" by Deberny & Peignot (1947) listed in Jaspert, Berry, and Johnson's Encyclopedia of Typefaces, 4th edition (1970) (London: Cassell Illustrated, reprinted 2008), but it is entirely unrelated.

None of the ATF or related showings give much sense of the wide range of swash alternates available. These are better shown in the photograph of a font of type in the BriarPress discussion thread on this topic (see below) - but that may not be the ATF type.

2. The Printer and Bookmaker (1898)

ATF advertised this type in the June 1898 number of The Printer and Bookmaker (Vol. 26, No. 4, p. 212).

[click image to view larger]

image link-to-the-printer-and-bookmaker-v26-n4-1898-06-google-mich-p212-pdf243-touraine-osi-sf0.jpg

(Digitized by Google from the University of Michigan copy. Google thinks that this is The American Printer and Lithographer, which is incorrect but understandable. For the complex history of the naming of this periodical, see the CircuitousRoot page for The American Printer . The image above links to a PDF of this page, extracted from this Google digitization.)

3. The Inland Printer (1898)

ATF advertised this type in the July 1898 number of The Inland Printer. (Vol. 21, No. 4).

Unfortunately, this volume of The Inland Printer has not yet been digitized. Fortunately, Annenberg reprinted this showing in A Typographical Journey through The Inland Printer (Baltimore, MD: Maran Press, 1977), p. 622. This Inland Printer showing is identical to the showing in The Printer and Bookmaker in June of 1898 (see above).

4. ATF Desk Book (1898)

The type is shown in the 1898 American Type Founders' Desk Book: Specimens of Type, [etc.] in 30, 36, and 42 point.

[click image to read]


image link-to-atf-1898-502-touraine-sf0.jpg

(Digitized by Google from the New York Public Library copy and available via Google and The Hathi Trust. Hathi ID: nyp.33433006348316. The image above links to a PDF of the two-page showing extracted from the Hathi version.)

5. ATF Desk Book (1900)

The type is shown in the 1900 American Type Founders' Desk Book of Type Specimens [etc.] in 6 through 42 point. This showing is notable because it asserts "Patent applied for in U. S. and registered in England."

[click image to read]


image link-to-atf-1900-282-touraine-sf0.jpg

(Digitized by Google from the University of Michigan copy and available via Google and The Hathi Trust. Hathi ID: mdp.39015001988578. The image above links to a PDF of the two-page showing extracted from the Hathi version.)

6. ATF Desk Book (1901)

In a BriarPress discussion thread on this topic (see below), user "circut5" reported that this type was shown in the 1901 edition of ATF's Desk Book.

7. Damon & Peets (by 1904)

Touraine Old Style Italic was shown in a specimen by Damon & Peets, possibly as late as 1904.

The specimen book itself bears no date. It is 592 pages, which would seem to indicate that it is the same as the "c 1906" specimen listed in Annenberg's Type Foundries of America and their Catalogs, second edition (New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Books, 1994). But evidence suggests that it is earlier.

Google has scanned the Princeton University library copy of this specimen (Annenberg's sources did not include this library). Its metadata in the Princeton catalog claims a date of 1903 (Annenberg lists no specimen from 1903). It bears a presumably original acquisition stamp of "Feb 3 1904", so it can't have been later than that. It shows Bradley Italic, which McGrew dates to about three years after Bradley (1895) and which was shown in The Inland Printer in December 1898. So it must date from between December 1898 and February 1904. [TO DO: see if internal evidence might narrow this range further]

Annenberg's discussion of Damon & Peets indicates that this firm was simply a sales organization from 1868 to the founding of ATF in 1892. It did not become a part of ATF, but in 1896 opened its own type foundry.

This specimen is identical to the one which appears in the 1900 ATF Desk Book, so it would appear that Damon & Peets, despite operating a typefoundry in competition to ATF, were offering ATF types.

[click image to read]


image link-to-damon-peets-1903-hathi-njp-32101063891269-p0080-pdf0106-touraine-osi-sf0.jpg

(From the Hathi Trust version of the Google scan of the Princeton University copy. Hathi ID: njp.32101063891269. Pages 80-83, PDF 106-109. The image above links to a PDF of the four pages of this showing.)

8. University of Chicago Press (1910)

The second edition of the Manual of Style of the University of Chicago Press (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1910) contained specimens of types in use at the press. These specimens include one-line showings of Touraine Old Style Italic in six to thirty-six point.

[click image to view larger]

image link-to-chicago-manual-of-style-2ed-1910-google-harvard-pdf230-touraine-osi-sf0.jpg

(Digitized by Google from the Harvard University copy. The image above is linked to a PDF of this single page, extracted from that digitization.)

9. BriarPress Discussion (2013)

In June 2013 there was a discussion on Briar Press trying to identify a font of type which greatly resembles ATF's Touraine Old Style Italic. See: http://www.briarpress.org/34853 In this discussion, BriarPress user "circut5" provided the breakthrough identification of the photographed font of type with Touraine O. S. Italic as shown in the 1901 ATF Desk Book.

However, it isn't entirely clear that the type shown in the photographs of this thread is exactly ATF's Touraine O. S. Italic. In particular, the lowercase 'z' in the font as photographed differs from that shown in the 1898 ATF advertisements. (But on the other hand this is not conclusive. The typeface had many alternate swash characters, and it may be that this is an alternate 'z' not represented in the particular font photographed.)

Since the font as photographed contains both dollar signs and pound stirling signs, and since ATF's 1900 showing indicates that this typeface was registered in England, it may be that the font shown is an earlier English version by an as yet unknown foundry. Others in the thread thought that it was more likely to have a continental European source.


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