This one’s for you, Zip Code 84214: Here’s Dormer in 18 point. Originating in 1888 with Chicago’s Great Western foundry, their successor Barnhart Bros. & Spindler renamed it Pekin and continued production into the early 20th century. This type is from the matrix fonts in the Chas. Broad collection. Partway through casting, the lowercase C mat failed catastrophically. But by pure luck one of the font’s two duplicate mats was this character, and the project was completed. Nevertheless, first proof revealed that the matrices were in poor condition; we noted at least seven characters with visible, if minor, flaws. The decision was made to go ahead and offer it for sale (with disclaimer)—but given the rundown condition and high failure probability of the mats, Dormer will not be cast again.
Also new this month is Hadriano in 24 point. Inspired by Roman inscriptions mentioning the emperor Hadrian, Frederic Goudy designed it in 1918. (Sol Hess applied tooling to the face in 1932 to create Hadriano Stone-Cut, which Skyline has also cast.) FWG was fond of the capital Q and this is one of the faces in which he provided an alternate letterform for that character. There is also a font ornament—it’s a neat little element, but seems rather odd in that while the type face is a chiseled or engraved design, the ornament is clearly calligraphic. As with our casting of the Stone-Cut, we have manually mortised the long-tailed standard Q and U to provide perfect fit. Skyline offers our most sincere thanks to Mark K in California for generously furnishing the Hadriano matrices.
August restocks: Borders No. 1220 and 1562, and a record 43 new listings added to The Junk Bin.
And now back to the task at hand—figuring out how we’ll celebrate International Letterpress Day. (And when is that? Why, 9/18 of course!) Hey, got it! For the first time ever, Skyline will offer FREE SHIPPING (USA), one day only. Watch for a banner on the web site revealing the Coupon Code. This is the only advance notice, so write yourself a reminder!