College and Research Libraries


Typefounding in America, 1787-1825. By 
Rollo G. Silver. Charlottesville: Univ. 
Pr. of Virginia for the Bibliographical So-
ciety of the University of Virginia, 1965. 
xiii, 139p. $7.50. ( 65-19396). 

In the five essays which make up this 
monograph Professor Silver has traced the 
early development and emergence of Amer-
ican typefounding. Although by 1769 there 
were sporadic attempts at typefounding, it 
was not until the Revolution had ended 
that any real interest in a domestic industry 
appeared. When that time arrived the per-
sons best qualified to direct the fledgling 
industry were European emigrants. Thus, 
Professor Silver has chosen 1787-the year 
that a Scottish typefounder was first known 
to be active in this country-to begin his 
chronological coverage. By 1825, the year 
with which this study closes, American 
typefounding was firmly established. 

The first chapter, «Typefounding as a 
Permanent Industry," focuses on the 
achievements of two other Scotsmen, 
Archibald Binny and James Ronaldson, who 
produced the first professional and cheap 
American type. Among the persons dis-
cussed in the chapter on "Some Minor 
Typefounders and Punchcutters" are the 
peripatetic Benjamin Franklin and his 
grandson, Benjamin Franklin Bache, who 
was trained by French typefounders. Un-
fortunately, neither established a perma-
nent firm. Other minor typefounders were 
Francis Bailey of Philadelphia and Samuel 
Sower, whose Baltimore foundry turned out 
a large quantity of type from 1804 to 1820, 
including the popular "diamond." The third 
chapter, "Growth and Expansion," presents 
the achievements of such men as E. W. 
White, George and David Bruce, and Wil-
liam Hager. Hager enjoyed an international 
reputation in the industry as the owner of 
the Bruce Type Casting Machine. The final 
essays, "Inventions and Patents" and "The 
Importation of Type," are closely related, 
for the developments outlined in the for-
mer chapter were to have an influence upon 
the importation of type. Type continued to 
be imported throughout the entire period 

58/ 

Book Reviews 
covered by this work because of the per-
sistent preference of American printers for 
European type, particularly that of Caslon, 
Fry, and Wilson. As a means of partial re-
dress American typefounders turned to tar-
iffs, and a sympathetic government laid 
duties on imported type. By 1825, Ameri-
can typefounding was sufficiently developed 
and protected to begin a period of rapid 
growth, but that, as Professor Silver notes, 
is another story. 

The book is handsomely printed and de-
signed. The thirty-six plates include a good 
selection of specimen sheets; students of 
the history of American printing will find 
this feature particularly useful. The index 
is comprehensive. 

We are often confronted with evidence 
of the contributions of these early type-
founders. For example, much of the type 
used in the text of this work is Monticello, 
the linotype adaptation of Binny's elegant 
roman. One need look no further for an-
other example than a recent issue of Pub-
lishers' Weekly (September 5, 1966, page 
72). The Mergenthaler advertisement on 
that page notes, among other facts about 
the Monticello, that it has been used as the 
text face in eight of the fifty Books of the 
Year of the past five years. Other individual 
examples abound. It is to Professor Silver's 
credit that for the first time there is now 
available a comprehensive study of the con-
tributions of early typefounders in America. 
-Robert D. Harlan, University of Califor-
nia, Berkeley. 

Harper's University: the Beginnings; a 
History of the University of Chicago. 
By Richard J. Storr. Chicago: The Univ. 
of Chicago Pr., 1966. xvi, 411p., illus. 
$8.95. (66-13890). 

How anyone could write a dull history 
of Harper's University is difficult to under-
stand, but Professor Richard J. Storr has 
done just that. As if in apology for some 
criticisms which surely will be leveled by 
his disappointed readers, the author notes 
"the circumstances of its founding, the 
names of the persons associated with it,