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William H. Page Wood Type Company [William Hamilton Page]

Norwich, CT-based company involved in wood type production. In 1856, William Page (b. Tilton, NH, 1829, d. Mystic, CT, 1906) bought out Horatio and Jeremiah Bill and founded Page and Bassett in South Windham, CT, with his partner James Bassett. In 1857, they moved to Greenville, CT. Some time later Samuel Mowry replaced Bassett as partner, and the company is Page and Co of Greenville, CT. Another name change occurs, to William H. Page&Co. In 1869, Page buys the operation of Colley&Dauchy. Mowry retires a bit later, the company moves to Norwich, CT, and becomes the William H. Page Wood Type Company. A year later, a defection of sorts---Charles Tubbs (an employee since 1860), John Martin and George Keyes leave to set up the American Wood Type Co. In 1881, George Setchell joins the business, and Page and setchell patent the die-cut production method. In 1889, Setchell sells all interests to S.T. Dauchy, who becomes president, only to sell the entire company to Hamilton in 1891. During the Civil War, Page perfected his equipment and became the leading manufacturer of wood type. In 1874, the company published a specimen book of so-called chromatic (wood) type. Henry Lewis Bullen described it this way: This is the most notable of wood type specimens. Page outshone all competitors in imparting a degree of artistry in designing wood type and borders, most of which could be printed in several colors . . . . [It is] a work of unusual excellence, well worth preserving. In 1891, Page's firm was absorbed by the Hamilton Manufacturing Company of Two Rivers, WI.

Many of his wood types were digitized by Jordan Davies of Wooden Type. Page's fonts include Aetna, Antique No. 4 (revived as HWT Slab in 2013 by Hamilton Wood Type Foundry), Antique Tuscan No 9 (revived by Tom Wallace in 2006), Bindweed (revived by Solotype), Clarendon Condensed, Clarendon Condensed Bold, Clarendon Extended, Clarendon Heavy, Columbian (ca. 1870; revived in 23020 by Jeff N. Levine as Cherrywood JNL, by Dick Pape in 2013 as AWTPageColumbian), Concave Tuscan X, EgyptianTwo (2005), French Antique, French Clarendon (XXX Condensed No. 117), French Semi, Gilbey, Gothic Tuscan Round, Hamilton, Minnesota, Norwich Aldine ML (1872, digitized by Tom Wallace in 2010 under the same name), Number 154, Page No. 508, Peerless 131 Bold, Rigney, Skeleton Antique, Teutonic, Tuscan Italian Round, Unique Wood, William Page 500, William Page 506.

In 2013, John Bonadies (MPress Interactive) started making digital typefaces based on Page's models. They published MPI Aldine Extended (based on a 1872 wood type by William H. Page), MPI Antique (slab serif), MPI French Clarendon (based on wood type from 1865 by William H. Page), MPI French Antique (a typical far West saloon font based on wood type by William H. Page, 1869), MPI Egyptian Ornamented (a western typeface based on a 1870 wood type by William H. Page), MPI Arcadian (based on a 1870 design by William H. Page), MPI Tuscan Extra Condensed (based on William H. Page wood type from 1872), MPI Norwich Aldine Reversed (from a 1872 original).

Also in 2013, Dick Pape embarked on a large process of digitization of wood types at the Rob Roy Collection of the University of Texas. His digital fonts are free and are bundled under the label American Wood Type, or AWT. Revivals by Dick Pape of fonts due to William Page include AWTPage&SetchellNo154, AWTPage-SetchellNo515, AWTPageAldine, AWTPageAldineExpanded, AWTPageAldineOrnamented, AWTPageAntTuscanCond, AWTPageAntTuscanOutlined, AWTPageAntiqueBlack, AWTPageAntiqueCond, AWTPageAntiqueNo7, AWTPageAntiqueTuscan, AWTPageAntiqueTuscanNo1, AWTPageAntiqueTuscanNo8, AWTPageAntiqueXXCond, AWTPageAntiqueXXXCond, AWTPageBelgianCond, AWTPageBeveledNo142, AWTPageCelticOrnamented, AWTPageClarendonExtended, AWTPageClarendonNo1, AWTPageClarendonXXCondensed, AWTPageColumbian, AWTPageConcaveTuscanXCond, AWTPageConcaveTuscanXCondOutline, AWTPageCorinthianNo2, AWTPageEgyptian, AWTPageEgyptianOrnamented, AWTPageFrenchAntique, AWTPageFrenchClarendonCond, AWTPageFrenchClarendonXXX, AWTPageFullFacedGrecian, AWTPageGothicLightFace, AWTPageGothicTuscanNo1, AWTPageGothicTuscanPointed, AWTPageIonic, AWTPageIonicCondensed, AWTPageNo500, AWTPageNo501, AWTPageNo506, AWTPageNo508, AWTPageNo51, AWTPageNo510, AWTPageNo515, AWTPageNorwichAldine, AWTPageOrnamentedAldine, AWTPagePeerlessAntNo129, AWTPagePeerlessCondOldStyl, AWTPagePhanitalianNo132, AWTPageRomanAetna, AWTPageRunic, AWTPageSkeletonAntique, AWTPageTeutonic, AWTPageTuscanCondNo2.

Revivals by Nick Curtis: Page Five Fifteen NF (2015), Rockwall NF (2015, after Aldine and Aldine Extended), Hunky Dory NF (2014, a circus font after William H. Page's wood type Doric, ca. 1850), Sodbuster NF (2014, after Gothic Dotted), Tuscalooza NF (2014, after the 1872 typeface Tuscan Extended), Bandiera Del Legno NF (2014: this Tuscan wood type revives Gothic Tuscan Condensed Reversed), Belgique NF (2014: a revival of the (Western) wood type French Clarendon XXX Condensed No. 117), Skelett Antiken NF (2014, after Clarendon XX, 1959).

In 2020, Mark Simonson reworked, extended and modernized Aetna in his 30-style text and display typeface family Etna.

FontShop link.

Digital typefaces based on W.H. Page's work. View revivals of William Hamilton Page's typefaces.

EXTERNAL LINKS
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INTERNAL LINKS
Wood Type ⦿ Type designers ⦿ Type designers ⦿ Type scene in Connecticut ⦿ Western fonts ⦿ Dick Pape's typefaces ⦿ Nick Curtis ⦿ Clarendon ⦿ Circus fonts ⦿ Tuscan fonts ⦿