Richard T. Austin

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Richard T. Austin London-based punchcutter (1768-1830) who had his own foundry, The Imperial Letter Foundry, in London. Before that, he had worked at John Bell's British Letter Foundry from 1788-1798 (when the foundry closed) as a punchcutter, and at William Miller's foundry in Edinburgh. His typefaces: Tooled Roman (1788). Bell (1788, British Letter Foundry). Originally cut for John Bell by Richard Austin in 1788. Monotype made a metal version in 1931. Available at Monotype in digital form as BellMT (see Monotype Bell 341). It is also available as B694 Roman and Baltimore on the SoftMaker MegaFont XXL CD (2002). Mac McGrew: Bell as cut by Lanston Monotype in 1940 is a copy of the typeface of the same name cut in 1930 by English Monotype at the instigation of Stanley Morison, and was originally cut by Richard Austin for the English printer John Bell in 1788. Lanston describes it as a delicate and refined rendering of Scotch Roman, but without the unduly heavy capitals and some other objectionable characteristics of that face. English Monotype says the letters are open and inclined to roundness; they possess a certain crispness reflecting a French copperplate engraved inspiration. The typeface has been referred to as the first English modern face, with its sharply contrasted shading, vertical stress, and the earliest consistently horizontal top serifs on the lowercase. Bruce Rogers found an unidentified typeface at Riverside Press in 1900; he called it Brimmer and used it to good effect in book work. The same typeface was called Mountjoye by D. B. Updike at the Merrymount Press. It was later identified as Bell, and this may have led to its resurrection by English Monotype. The French explain Bell as a British typeface halfway between transitionals (such as Baskerville) and modern typefaces (such as Bodoni or Didot, the "didones"). Fry's Ornamented (1796, British Letter Foundry). Also known as Ornamented No. 2 cut by Austin for Dr. Edmund Fry. Stephenson, Blake&Co. acquired the type in 1905, and in 1948 they issued fonts in 30-pt (the size of the original design), 36-, 48- and 60-pt sizes. A digital version by ARTypes in 2007 is also called Fry's Ornamented (2007). David Rakowski made a digital version called Beffle in 1991. Austin's Pica No. 1 (1819). One of the first modern typefaces in Britain. Porson (1806, Caslon Foundry). This Greek typeface is based on the handwriting of the English classicist Richard Porson's transcription of the Medea. Richard Austin was commissioned by the Cambridge University Press to cut it, from 1806 onwards. It was cast by Caslon foundry, but it never appeared in their specimens. It was completed and used only after Porson's death in 1808, in the editions of plays of Euripides produced by Cambridge scholars. Bringhurst notes that after its first appearance, it was soon copied by other founders, and was released by Monotype with some corrections in 1912. By the end of the 19th century, together with New Hellenic (by Victor Scholderer), it had become the main Greek type used in Britain. Scotch Roman (1813, William Miller / Miller&Richardson). This didone typeface was revived in 1907 by Monotype Corporation. It is considered as the first British modern typeface. Also known as Georgian or Brimmer [when Bruce Rogers found the typeface at the Riverside Press in 1900, he used it for books under the name Brimmer]. D.B. Updike used another font of this type at his Merrymount Press where it was called Mountjoye. Scotch Roman#2 (1920) is a revival by Linotype. Antique (ca. 1827). This was revived in 2007 by HiH as Austin Antique. One of the most remarkable digital revivals and extensions of his work is also called Austin. Originally designed by Paul Barnes as headline type for the British magazine of fashion Harper's & Queen, of Hearst Magazines UK, Austin is a loose revival of the typefaces cut by Richard Austin in the late 18th century. Referencing Austin's original creation, Paul Barnes turned up the contrast, tightened the spacing and came up with a fresh, new, bold and beautiful look for the constantly changing world of fashion. Barnes himself describes the face as "a British Modern with the styling and sheen of New York in the 1970s." The Cyrillic version was designed in 2009 and 2016 by Ilya Ruderman (CTSM Fonts). FontShop link. Klingspor link. Wikipedia link. View Richard T. Austin's typefaces. Alexa Stephenson's detailed image of Bell. View Richard Austin's typefaces.	EXTERNAL LINKS Richard T. Austin [Designer info] Monotype link Behance page Klingspor Museum page MyFonts search Monotype search Fontspring search Google search INTERNAL LINKS Type designers ⦿ Type designers ⦿ Type design in the United Kingdom ⦿ Modern style [Bodoni, Didot, Walbaum, Thorowgood, Computer Modern, etc.] ⦿ Type in Scotland ⦿ Greek/Coptic ⦿ Caslon ⦿ Scotch Roman ⦿ Baskerville ⦿