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Josiah Stearns Cushing

Born in 1854, died in 1913. Boston-based book printer who is usually credited with the design of Cushing in 1896 at Monotype. McGrew writes: Cushing is a group of typefaces rather than a family, for some members have little in common with each other, and were not intended to work together. Some accounts credit the design of these typefaces to Josiah Stearns Cushing, who in the late nineteenth century was president of the Norwood Press Company in Norwood, Massachusetts. Cushing was one of the most prominent printers of the day, but it seems more likely that he merely spelled out what he wanted in typefaces for his particular purposes, and that they were executed by others.

Cushing and Cushing Italic were cut about 1897 by ATF. They are conventional roman and italic in basic design, but are almost completely uniform in weight of stroke throughout, with small oldstyle serifs, They were intended to provide a letter particularly adapted for book work, to print clearly and readably, and to reproduce well by electrotyping. A few years later they were shown as Lining Cushing No.2 and Italic, the added words probably indicating that some adjustment had necessarily been made to adapt them to the new standard alignment. BB&S had a copy of this roman under the name of Custer. in 1925 it was reissued as Bookman Lightface, in the same sizes. Compare Cardinal, Hunnewell. Frederic W. Goudy, the eminent type designer, includes Cushing Italic in his list of typefaces. In the book of his type designs, he says, "While in Hingham, Clarence Marder had me draw for him an italic to accompany the Cushing Roman already produced. ...Whether the italic shown in the specimen of today is the one I drew I cannot be sure. ..." It isn't; he went to Hingham in 1904; this Cushing Italic had been shown in 1898 or earlier.

Cushing Oldstyle (later known as Lining Cushing Oldstyle No.2) was cut in the mid-1890s by ATF, and copied by Monotype in 1901. It is a sturdy, compact face, with a large x-height. In small sizes it is medium weight; from 18-point up it is a little heavier. The large, bracketed serifs and general style are similar to the early lonics, Dorics, and Clarendons. A copy of this typeface was made by Keystone under the name of Richelieu (named for Cardinal Richelieu), Linotype had it as Title No.1, and BB&S had a very similar face, Custer Bold, which in 1925 was renamed Bookman Bold.

Lining Cushing Oldstyle Italic was cut about 1906 by ATF. It was cut for Monotype in 1910; the Monotype roman follows the original, being a little heavier in larger sizes, but the italic is wider than the original and uniform throughout, as patterns for the modified composition sizes were apparently used for display sizes as well.

Cushing Monotone was cut about 1899, a refinement of an earlier typeface of the same name. It is generally a lighter version of Cushing Oldstyle, but not as light as Cushing [No. 2]. It is neat but undistinguished for either text or display, somewhat similar to Bookman but lighter. Uniline was a similar typeface shown later by Linotype. Also compare Cardinal.

Cushing Antique was designed by Morris Benton for ATF in 1902, but not cut until 1905. An ATF announcement said of it, "Entirely redrawn and cut from new patterns. Conforms to approved outlines for antique typeface but modified to meet present-day requirements. Unquestionably the most complete and accurate series of antique made." It was copied by Ludlow in 1927. An italic was planned by ATF but not completed.

Digital interpretations include ITC Cushing by Vincent Pacella (1982), Revival 721 (Bitstream), Calgary (SoftMaker), Bushing by David Bergsland (2010), and File Clerk (2020, Jeff Levine).

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