1. Overview

London. William Caslon. Successors by various names. 1720-1937. Acquired by Stephenson, Blake & Co. But see also Caslon Ltd.

The history of this foundry is complicated.

1720. Founded by William Caslon (1692-1766).

William Caslon trained Joseph Jackson, and Thomas Cottrell. Both went on to form foundries which became important firms. (Jackson's was acquired by Caslon III and later merged into Stephenson, Blake. Cottrell's became the Fann Street Foundry, one of the mainstays of Victorian British typecasting until its acquisition in 1905 by Stephenson, Blake.

1742. William Caslon II (1720-1778) admitted to partnership. Trading as William Caslon & Son.

William Caslon III (1754-1833) "succeeded to management" (presumably in 1778). He owned the foundry jointly with his mother, the widow of William Caslon II (Mrs. William Caslon (Eliz. Caslon, ? - 1795) and his brother, Henry Caslon I.

Henry Caslon I died in 1788 and his interest passed to his widow, Mrs. Henry Caslon I.

In 1792, William Caslon III sold out his interests "to his mother and his brother Henry's widow, and bought the foundry of the deceased Joseph Jackson." He (and presumably his son William Caslon IV, at that time a minor, left the main family Caslon business and began to run the foundry started by Joseph Jackson under his own name, William Caslon III. Caslon III and Caslon IV play no further part in the history of the main family business.

So, confusingly, in 1792 there are two Caslon foundries:

• Mrs. William Caslon II and Mrs. Henry Caslon I running the main Caslon Foundry
• William Caslon III running what had been Jackson's foundry, under his own name

One should note that "running" means running. Mrs. William Caslon III, especially, was a respected member of the business community. { Moseley, James, Justin Howes, and Nigel Roche. Founder's London A-Z. (London: The [European] Friends of the St. Bride's Printing Library, 1998) , p. 27}, reproduces a page of signatures from the Minute Book of the Association of Typefounders, 1793, where "Eliz. Caslon" and what I presume is the signature of Mrs. Henry Caslon I appear together with those of Fry, Figgins, and Stephenson.

1795. Mrs. William Caslon II (Eliz. Caslon) died intestate.

1795-1799. In chancery.

1799. Mrs. Henry Caslon I (who presumably was actually running the foundry whilst it was in chancery) purchases the foundry. She takes on Nathaniel Catherwood as a partner.

1809. Mrs. Henry Caslon I dies in March. Firm continues very briefly under the sole management of Nathaniel Catherwood, who dies in June. Henry Caslon II takes over.

1814. John J. Catherwood admitted to partnership with Henry Caslon II.

1821. J. J. Catherwood leaves (he goes to Anthony Bessemer). Martin William Livermore admitted to partnership.

At some point by 1839, Henry William Caslon (Henry Caslon II's son) admitted to partnership. An 1839 specimen from "Caslon, Son & Livermore."

1846. Reed notes a failed attempt to sell the foundry. It continues as Caslon & Son. (Does this mean that Livermore died or left the partnership?)

1850. Henry Caslon II dies. Foundry also acquires the two branches (the London branch, which was formerly the Glasgow branch, and the Two-Waters, Hertfordshire branch) of the Alexander Wilson foundry (the Glasgow Letter Foundry). Henry William Caslon continues as manager of Caslon & Son. Mr. Wilson [which one?] joins Caslon & Son for a period as a manager.

N.B. the Edinburgh and Dublin branches of Alexander Wilson were purchased by James Marr, who continued them under his own name. It is a matter of interpretation to decide which branch, Caslon or Marr, represents the "continuation" of Alexander Wilson.

1874. Henry William Caslon dies. Business continues under the same name (H. W. Caslon & Co.), but the owners are T. W. Smith and partners.

1900-1937. H. W. Caslon & Co. Ltd.

Several sources note that they were acquired by Stephenson, Blake & Co. in 1937. Millington goes further and notes that Stephenson, Blake acquired Caslon's "goodwill, punches, matrices, and stock [of type]"

I do not know if this wrapped up the Caslon family business. The present firm of Caslon Limited traces its lineage back to Caslon I.

See:

Reed, Talbot Baines. A History of the Old English Letter Foundries. London: Elliot Stock, 1887.

De Vinne, Theodore Low. The Practice of Typography: A Treatise on the Proces sof Type-Making[,] the Point System, and the Names, Sizes[,] Styles and Prices of Plain Printing Types . NY: The Century Co., 1900.

Millington, Roy. Stephenson Blake: The Last of the Old English Typefounders. New Castle, DE and London: Oak Knoll Books and The British Library, 2002.

2. Specimen Books

3. Type-Makers Employed

William Caslon I.

4. Typefaces

• Nicolette Gray's Catalog No. 190