26 PROCEEDINGS OP THE 



Ml'. De Vinne, in acknowledging the receipt of tliis communi- 

 cation, said he was getting old and could not himself undex'take 

 the necessary research, but that he had handed Mr. Hart's letter 

 and enclosures over to Mr. J. W. Phinney, the Manager of the 

 American Typefounders' Company, Boston. Mr. Phinney kindly 

 undertook a thorough investigation, which occupied some months, 

 and it was not till Nov. 4, 1913, that Mr. Hart received the 

 following reply : — 



Mr. Theodore L. De Vinne has handed nie your inquiry about the date of 

 cerl'ain types used in the titlepage of a pamphlet entitled "Some liecent 

 Lectures by George W. Sleeper ; Boston, William Bense, Printer, 1849." 



1 have examined my specimen books of French, German, English, and 

 American types, and am disappointed. 



Our Librarian in Jersey City, where we have a Typographic Library and 

 Museum, has examined tlie catalogues of four Libraries, and is unable to find 

 the Sleeper Lectures pamphlet. 



Tlie type has been variously called "Norman," "Wide Latin," "Celtic 

 No. 2,'' etc. 



We do not find any specimens of " Norman " in French specimen-books 

 earlier than 1879, in Berlhier, a concern with a reputation of [producing] faces 

 foreign to France. Even at this day no French specimen-book of a leading; 

 type-foundry shows " Norman." The earliest sliowing in England was by 

 F'iggins, 1873, one size, two-line Great Primer, Caps, and Small Caps., called 

 " Wide Latin." The same book shows " Ornamented Latin," three sizes, with 

 Floriated Caps, and Small Caps, similar to "Wide Latin," in bodies coi-re- 

 .^ponding to our 6-, 8-, 10-, 12-, and 18-poiiit sizes. 



Figgins also shows the Floriated Caps, separately under the name "Latin 

 Initials." 



We have not been able to find the face in German books earlier than 

 1885. 



MacKellar, Smiths, & Jordan's 'Typographic Advertiser' of July, 1870, 

 shows the face in eight sizes as " Celtic No. 2." All other specimens in that 

 issue are priced, indicating that tlie face was quite new at that date in that 

 foundry. 



The Matrix Book of the Johnson Foundry shows tliat the face was first 

 added in 1870. Tiie matrices are electrotyped. The specimen has no patent 

 date, while all faces originating in that foundry were patented as they 

 appeared. 



Conner's 'Typographic Messenger' shows the face in 1873, as a supplement, 

 printed on one side, suggesting that it was just added. 



The Boston Type Foundry shows the face in five sizes of Caps, in 1874, and 

 there is a note to the effect that " Small Caps, are in preparation." 



Our collection has the Dickinson book of January 187(i, in which "Norman " 

 is sliown in four sizes in Caps, and Small Caps. I believe the Dickinson 

 commenced to manufacture the " Norman" in 1874. 



Finally, in a letter written March 16, 1914, kindly giving me 

 permission to quote the above statement, Mr. Phinney summed up 

 the results of his enquiry in these words :— " It seems to me 

 impossible that the titlepage could have been set at the date 

 claimed for it, the style of type used in some of the lines of the 

 titlepage being designed at a much later date, as we have 

 recently estabhshed in the runniug-dowu we gave to the type 

 face." 



