Specimen Book from the Boston Type Foundry, Containing Also a Complete Price List of Printing Material
The 1889 specimen book and price list of the Boston Type Foundry at 104 Milk Street, which calls itself the oldest type foundry in New England, established in 1817.
What it is
The 1889 specimen book and price list of the Boston Type Foundry at 104 Milk Street, which calls itself the oldest type foundry in New England, established in 1817. An opening letter says the firm shares management with the Central Type Foundry of St. Louis, so one order draws on both stocks, and that its job faces are cast in Copper Alloy metal. Four claims follow: durability, finish, lightness (90 pounds holding as many ems as 100 pounds of ordinary metal) and faces, backed by a list of daily papers using it. Next come trade terms, old metal taken in exchange, a long case for the new point system, estimating tables for newspaper offices, and a priced catalogue of presses such as Colt's Armory and the Peerless. Some 200 pages of display faces follow, each sample line carrying size, font scheme and price, then borders, map type and an index.
Why read it now
Read it as a catalogue that closes the sale on the page. Each sample line carries the size, the font scheme and the price, so choosing and ordering are one act, the same logic as a product card with price and code under the photo. The trade mechanics still work: a larger discount for paying within 10 days than within 30, credit for old metal against new stock, and a list of named newspapers as proof instead of adjectives. The point system section is the strongest part. The foundry asks buyers to adopt the coming standard and calls the cry of confusion against it bosh; the standard won, and type is still measured in points, though the digital point is slightly larger. What has dated: the four Copper Alloy claims come with no test figures, the joke sample lines about mourning garments and a grand elopement, and a market that folded into American Type Founders within three years. Use: if you sell many variants to Gulf trade buyers, put price, size and order code on the same line as each sample, and publish the customer list.
Passages worth keeping
Parties purchasing new outfits are advised to have all their type and rules made on the Point System, which will be the uniform system of the future with all American type founders.
ينصح المسبك من يجهز مطبعة جديدة بأن يشتري كل حروفه وفق نظام النقاط، لأنه المعيار الذي ستتبعه المسابك الأمريكية كلها، فهو يبيع للمشتري قرارًا يحميه في المستقبل.
Remember, that by ordering of us you save freight from the manufactory, and you will get the goods as soon, if not sooner.
يقدم المسبك نفسه وكيلًا لبضائع المصانع الأخرى، وحجته أن الشراء منه يوفر أجرة الشحن ولا يؤخر التسليم.
After once using Copper Alloy you will never want to go back to the ordinary lead type of other founders.
وعد بأن التجربة الأولى تكفي لإقناع المشتري، وهو ادعاء بلا رقم ولا اختبار يعتمد على ثقة القارئ بالمسبك.
A single column map can be set in twenty minutes, when the compositor has once learned the case, which contains only sixteen characters.
حروف الخرائط تسمح للصحيفة بتركيب خريطة بعرض عمود واحد في 20 دقيقة بستة عشر رمزًا فقط، فالمنتج يُباع بالوقت الذي يوفره.
Make your own selections from the specimens shown. We do not desire to select for you.
يترك المسبك الاختيار للمشتري ويطلب منه أن يختار من العينات بنفسه، فالكتاب أداة طلب قبل أن يكون إعلانًا.
The scanned text has OCR errors. The passages are quoted from it, with only obvious slips fixed.
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