Scotch Roman
Encyclopedia
Scotch Roman refers to a class of typeface
s popular in the early nineteenth century, particularly in the United States and to a lesser extent the United Kingdom. These typefaces were modeled on an original 1839 design by Samuel Nelson Dickinson, founder of the Dickinson Type Foundry in Boston, who had the design cut by Richard Austin
, and cast by Alexander Wilson and Son in Glasgow, Scotland. The name of the font family is derived from the location of the font foundry.
Scotch Roman typefaces are a serif
font, suitable for both body text and large text such as headings. De Vinne
described Scotch Roman as “a small, neat, round letter, with long ascenders, and not noticeably condensed or compressed.”
These typefaces were extremely influential on many modern typefaces, including Caledonia
, Georgia, and Escrow (commissioned by the Wall Street Journal).
Typeface
In typography, a typeface is the artistic representation or interpretation of characters; it is the way the type looks. Each type is designed and there are thousands of different typefaces in existence, with new ones being developed constantly....
s popular in the early nineteenth century, particularly in the United States and to a lesser extent the United Kingdom. These typefaces were modeled on an original 1839 design by Samuel Nelson Dickinson, founder of the Dickinson Type Foundry in Boston, who had the design cut by Richard Austin
Richard Austin (punchcutter)
Richard Austin was an English punchcutter. He was the original cutter of typefaces Bell, Scotch Roman, and Porson. Born in London, he studied wood engraving under Thomas Berwick before joining John Bell's British Letter Foundry in 1788 as a punch-cutter, where he worked until the foundry closed...
, and cast by Alexander Wilson and Son in Glasgow, Scotland. The name of the font family is derived from the location of the font foundry.
Scotch Roman typefaces are a serif
Serif
In typography, serifs are semi-structural details on the ends of some of the strokes that make up letters and symbols. A typeface with serifs is called a serif typeface . A typeface without serifs is called sans serif or sans-serif, from the French sans, meaning “without”...
font, suitable for both body text and large text such as headings. De Vinne
Theodore Low De Vinne
Theodore Low De Vinne was an American printer and scholarly author on typography.De Vinne was born at Stamford, Connecticut, and educated in the common schools of the various towns where his father had pastorates. He developed the ability to be a printer while employed in a shop at Fishkill, New...
described Scotch Roman as “a small, neat, round letter, with long ascenders, and not noticeably condensed or compressed.”
These typefaces were extremely influential on many modern typefaces, including Caledonia
Caledonia (typeface)
Caledonia is a transitional serif typeface designed by William Addison Dwiggins in 1938 for the Mergenthaler Linotype Company.Dwiggins chose the name Caledonia, the Roman name for Scotland, to express the face's basis on the early nineteenth century Scotch Roman typeface however, though Dwiggins...
, Georgia, and Escrow (commissioned by the Wall Street Journal).