C A S L O N

WILLIAM CASLON1692—1766

MRS. WILLIAM CASLONSARAH PEARMAN

ca 1689 — 1728

WILLIAM CASLON II1720—1778

MARY CASLON

HENRY CASLON I1788

HENRY CASLON II1786—1850

MRS HENRY CASLON I(ELIZABETH ROWE)

1809

MRS HENRY CASLON IIMARY ANN CASLON

1785 — 1816

WILLIAM CASLON III1754—1833

WILLIAM CASLON IV1780—1869

HENRY WILLIAM CASLON1815—1874

MRS WILLIAM CASLON III(MISS WITTENHAM)

MRS WILLIAM CASLON II(ELIZABETH CARTLICH)

1730—1795

CASLON FAMILY TREE

typefaceDESIGNER

WilliamCaslon

(1692 – 1766)

W ith the rise of hot metal typesetting beginning at the close

of the 19th century, existing foundry metal typefaces

such as Caslon’s had to be adapted to specific typesetting

technology. This was true again with phototypesetting, mostly in the 1960s

and 1970s, and then again with digital typesetting technology, mostly since

the mid 1980s. As a result of that, and the lack of trademark on the name

“Caslon” by itself, there are many typefaces called “Caslon” with some other

distinguishing element, which reproduce the original designs in varying degrees

of faithfulness.Various versions of the Caslon has been developed throughout

the world. Though the skeleton remains the same, unique features have

been added to distinguish among various type foundries found throughout

the world.There are 13 variations of Caslon found in the world today.

Typesof

Caslon

Caslon is a group of ser i f t ypefaces .

A c o m p a r i s o n t o F o u n d e r s C a s l o n

Caslon is a classic Old Style typeface. Based on Humanist writing style and Roman inscriptions, old style typeface has the following characteristics:

Serifs are almost always bracketed.

Head serifs are almost angled.

Subtle differences between thick and thin lines.

OLDSTYLE

concave extended apex almost vertical serif large oblique serif

two part tail no spur good contrast lightly raised serif

“Uppercase

pear shaped ear small foot

wide bowl small triangle

small flat serifs

Lowercase”

ff fi fj fl ffi fflffj f ct st ſ ſhTh

ſi ſl ſſ ſt fi fl Ligatures of Adobe Caslon Pro

REGULAR. 52 PT

ff f i fj fl ff i fflffj f ct st ſ ſhTh

ſ i ſl ſſ ſt fi fl

ff fi fj fl ffi fflffj f ct st ſ ſhTh

ſi ſl ſſ ſt fi fl

ff f i fj fl ff i fflffj f ct st ſ ſhTh

ſ i ſl ſſ ſt fi fl

ff fi fj fl ffi fflffj f ct st ſ ſhTh

ſi ſl ſſ ſt fi fl

ff f i fj fl ff i fflffj f ct st ſ ſhTh

ſ i ſl ſſ ſt fi fl

italic. 19 PT

semilbold. 19 PT

semilbold italic. 19 PT

bold. 19 PT

bold italic. 19 PT

bibliography

YEAR OF PUBLICATION

This type specimen book was made for a class

taken at SCAD – GRDS Trpography 1.

The main text of this book was set in adobe caslon pro.

©2013 | PRINTED IN HONG KONGALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Bonneville, Douglas. The Big Book of Font Combinations. Web. 10 Mar. 2013.

Bringhurst, Robert. The Elements of Typographic Style. 2nd ed. Hartley & Marks Publishers, 2002. Print.

Jong, Cees de. Creative Type: a Sourcebook of Classic and Contemporary Letterforms. London: Thames & Hudson, 2005. Print.

“Typeface: Caslon.” Web. 10 Mar. 2013.

“ WHEN IN DUTCH USE CASLON ”

William Caslon