Gothic

Lineal, Modulated, & Tuscan

Lineal or Mono-line Gothic typefaces are low- or no-contrast sans serif faces modeled on turn-of-the-nineteenth-century inscriptional and painted letters; they were popular display faces in the nineteenth century, and dominated wood type production by the twentieth.

Gothic Modulated typefaces are san serif faces with stroke contrast. As the popularity of Gothics grew in the second half of the nineteenth century, a variation on the mono-line or lineal Gothic was developed: a san serif style with higher stroke contrast. The style gained popularity after the late 1860s, and more elaborate designs were developed over the rest of the century.

Gothic Tuscans are display faces characterized by low or no stroke contrast, rounded or pointed terminals, bi- or trifurcated serifs, and often a medial (midstem) decoration; they were popular in the second half of the nineteenth century.

This category has three substyles: Lineal, Modulated, and Tuscan. In America, the term used for sans serifs was Gothic. The Lineal faces are some of the most minimal in the collection, and have a close connection to our contemporary conventions of sans serif type design. Modulated faces have a higher stroke contrast, and feature more ornamentation. Gothic Tuscan faces bear a close resemblance to Antique Tuscan faces, and in many cases their categorization is arguably interchangeable. By the twentieth century, Gothics were the dominant, and sometimes the only, style of wood type in production.

Lineal

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, a group of English architects and sign writers employed sans serif letters, revived from earlier Roman inscriptional models, for inscriptions and signboards. These sans serifs were typically referred to as “Egyptian letters.” Stylistically, sans serif letters have no serifs, as the name suggests, and tend to have simple, low-contrast strokes. The first typographic sans serif was shown by William Caslon IV in 1816, and named Egyptian. Vincent Figgins used the term Sans-serif when he first showed the style in 1830, and William Thorowgood introduced the term Grotesque when he first showed the style in 1832.

In America, the term used for sans serifs was Gothic. Edwin Allen produced the first Gothic wood type, which was shown in George Nesbitt’s 1838 First Premium Wood Types Cut by Machinery. Nesbitt also showed an extensive range of Allen’s ornamental Gothics, several of which were unique to wood type. All wood type manufacturers produced Gothic typefaces during the nineteenth century. By the twentieth century, Gothics were the dominant, and sometimes the only, style of wood type in production.

Modulated

As the popularity of Gothics grew in the second half of the nineteenth century, a variation on the mono-line or lineal Gothic was developed: a sans serif style with higher stroke contrast. The style gained popularity after the late 1860s, and more elaborate designs were developed over the rest of the century.

Wells & Webb showed the first modulated Gothic wood type in their 1840 Specimen of Plain and Ornamental Wood Type and named it Gothic Italian. This design was unique to wood type and only produced by Wells & Webb, until Hamilton Mfg. Co. produced a type with similar characteristics in 1889, named Gothic Bold. William Page also produced a number of modulated Gothic designs, the first of which was listed in 1865, and all wood type manufacturers showed a number of variations of the modulated style in specimen books after 1875.

Tuscan

Inspired by the popularity of Antique Tuscans, designers of wood type created a wide variety of Gothic Tuscans during the second half of the nineteenth century. The majority of Gothic Tuscans originated as wood type in America, and were only later produced in metal by typefounders. The first Gothic Tuscan appeared in Wells & Webb’s 1849 Specimen of Plain and Ornamental Wood Type. Another important derivation of the Gothic Tuscan style was a design first shown by Bill, Stark & Co., in 1853, named Tuscan Extra Condensed. Rather than using Bill, Stark & Co.’s name for this style, Rob Roy Kelly avoided confusion by adopting the name used in David Knox’s 1858 Specimens of Wood Type: Concave Tuscan.

A note on the types included in this category: It is difficult with many Tuscans to clearly determine if they were derived from Antique or Gothic styles, since reducing from or adding to the visual form can produce similar results. A number of the types that have been categorized as Gothic Tuscans could just as easily be categorized as Antique Tuscans.

What is Type Style?

Typefaces are categorized based on distinguishing characteristics and commonalities in the anatomy of letterforms and characters. In regard to wood type, these style categories correlate with the historical arc of the type industry, and the trends that occurred and evolved throughout. Though names and terms may have changed, the conventions of contemporary typography still possess a clear connection with the 19th century lineage.