Still working from the mother lode of foundry matrices rescued from India, here’s a fine treasure: Border No. U-20. It has a corner and runner in 24 point (both of which are subtly asymmetrical), and not one, but two medallions on 48 point em-body. These elements can be used in combination to create a design that stands out among typecast piece borders as uncommonly elaborate.
Also new this month is the very robust 19th century face Staccato in 36 point, another selection from the Chas. Broad matrix collection. It complements our previous casting of this face in 24 point, and was quite a substantial project—we did up sixty fonts, totaling over 550 lbs.
Back in stock is Concave. The original Concave design included two font ornaments: a Maltese cross to be used between words, and a matched pair of decorative brackets to gussy up the line ends. Our matrix font did not include these. However, for our second casting in 2012 we searched the matrix vault and found a cross that was a very close match. Then for this, our third casting, we came up with an ornamental bracket of unknown origin ( but probably 19th century) that, while not identical to the original element, is of the perfect weight to accompany Concave and looks right at home with it. These ornaments can be seen in the specimen shown on the product listing.
Are you using P22 Blox, those scaled-up Alpha-Blox done in plastic as a collaborative project between P22 Analog and Starshaped Press? If so, you may be interested in our new wood furniture product, a set of 40 pieces cut to 6 x 6 picas that will be useful as quads in combination with P22 Blox. Or with 6-line wood type, for that matter. You’ll find this in our Products menu under Imposing Furniture.
Like any other business, Skyline gets nicked for a 3% fee when customers order by credit card or PayPal. We’d rather give that money to YOU than to them! Just select the Pay by Check option when you checkout, enter Coupon Code 3FREE and the discount will be automatically applied. This’ll cost you a stamp, but the break-even point is less than $19.00, and on a big order it could save you big bucks. (For the fine print, visit the COUPON! page on our web site.)
Logged another treasure hunt last month, this time to a very remote near-ghost town in the California desert. Came home with a full load of scrap type and rusty junk, including a Chandler & Price 8×12 press manufactured in 1900 that had been a yard ornament for the last few decades. It’s complete and has no welds or breaks. She’ll get a full restoration, Skyline-style, and will then be up for adoption. We’ll keep you posted.