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Typefounder
The years at the Boston Type and Stereotype Foundry nurtured Dickinson's fascination with the design and manufacture of printing type. Undoubtedly he set up his own printing office with the intention of eventually establishing his own typefoundry when sufficient time and money were available. From the moment he began to print on his own, interest in type equalled, if not exceeded, his occupation with new printing machinery.
One can infer that, when he opened his printing office, his former employers were not aware of this intention. Otherwise they would not have encouraged him. According to Dickinson's first announcement, his "choice selection of Type, and other apparatus" were "selected from the Boston Type and Stereotype Foundry" (Boston Daily Advertiser, 9 Dec. 1829). And, it will also be remembered, his references included the Foundry's agent. However, the limited assortment of faces produced by his sponsor frustrated his ambition to own a large stock. Purchases from other foundries gradually mounted to the time when he could advertise that a "selection of the very best has been made from the London and Paris Foundries, so that his Office presents as great a variety of Type as can be found in any other Office in America."[37] In 1841, he catalogued the massive inventory of more than 285 varieties, including wood type, in his Specimen of Printing Type in S. N. Dickinson's Office, Boston.
Meanwhile he had planned to become a typefounder. He may have begun, as David Bruce, Jr., recalled many years later, in 1840 with faces which "were selected from the punches of David Bruce, Jr., Williams-burgh, L. I., and the molds and fitting under the direction of Mr. Michael Dalton, executed by Mr. Edwin Starr and Son, Philadelphia."[38] The fact that the firm of Edwin Starr & Son did not exist at that time discredits the accuracy of Bruce's memory. The other statements in his recollection await verification.
According to De Vinne, Dickinson's dislike of available faces prompted him to send his designs for a new face, modeled in 1837, to Alexander Wilson & Son, Edinburgh, where punches were cut and matrices shipped to him two years later. The face, said De Vinne, is the
The subscriber has the gratification to announce that in addition to his heretofore extensive facilities for Book and Job printing, he has added the very important item of Casting his own Type. This step enables him to keep his office abundantly supplied with type of the best and newest cut. The type for book work, already got up, presents the most beautiful faces that can be found in the country.
Authors and others interested, are requested particularly to examine the Bourgeois, Long Primer, Small Pica, and Pica. The Small Pica was cut a year or two since, but previously to being fitted up for the subscriber's use, many of the letters were re-cut, and others re-touched; and, after a thorough revision, it was pronounced perfect.[39]
The second, one year later, acknowledged that the Wilsons did punch-cutting for him:
By 1844, his successful introduction of this face tempted him to offer to design other faces:
With his well-equipped printing shop conveniently at hand, Dickinson
made two grand flourishes in publicizing the typefoundry which he said
"commenced in 1840."[42] He used his
new type in The Works of
The other flourish, Specimen of Type for Book Printing, Manufactured by Samuel N. Dickinson, issued in 1842, is not a mere series of alphabets. Its thirty-five leaves contain an assortment of complete book pages. Thus, for example, Brevier is seen in three 32mo. pages—solid, thin leaded, and leaded, in an 18mo. page, solid, in a 12mo. page, thin leaded, in three 8vo. pages—leaded, solid, and double column solid. There are also displays of Nonpareil, Minion, Bourgeois, Long Primer, Small Pica, and Pica. Dickinson also provided specimen sheets showing complete alphabets in roman and italic as well as numerals. The first paragraph of his introductory statement expressed his feeling for style and elegance:
Dickinson's enjoyment in creating a successful typefoundry was soon disturbed by rumors of a revolutionary development in the industry. Word spread that the new process of electrotyping could be utilized to produce matrices from cast type or punches, thereby permitting any typefounder to reproduce any face at very low cost. Moreover, new designs could be produced without the expense of a punchcutter. A passage in a letter to Elihu Geer implies that Dickinson conducted some experiments toward this end:
In addition to intense price competition, typefounders had to contend with pilferage of designs. In the same letter to Geer, Dickinson discussed the unreasonableness of price-cutting as well as his resentment against those who plundered his ideas:
After launching his book type, he sought out and attracted another market: newspaper type. In 1846, the Boston Daily Evening Traveller announced that its "new and elegant typographical dress" was commenced with a complete suit of type from Dickinson (Daily Evening Traveller, 1 April 1846). Only two sizes, Minion and Agate, were used because "the less the number of fonts, . . . used in the printing of a daily paper, the less the liability of getting the type mixed by the compositors, which in the hurry of getting the paper ready for press, is not of unfrequent occurrence" (Daily Evening Traveller, 28 April 1846). Yet, the editors pointed out, because of Dickinson's perseverance and skill and
Type for books and newspapers comprised only a part of the typefoundry's output. Leads, brass rules, furniture, ornaments of various styles and sizes, borders, vignettes, Greek type, and phonotype were among the other products. In 1846, Dickinson celebrated his achievement by preparing a Hand-Book Specimen of Printing Type, Cuts, Ornaments, Etc. The contents of this volume of almost 190 leaves must have been a complete display. The preface, dated January, 1847, stated that the Scotch faces (more than a dozen varieties) "were selected from the very extensive Foundry of Alexander Wilson & Sons of Edinburgh, and also from an eminent letter cutter of that city" (Hand-Book, l. 1). It concluded with a regretful sentence: "There are only three kinds of American cutting exhibited among these Book and News founts, viz: English, Pica No. 1, and Small Pica No. 1; but they are considered by many as very handsome." The preface was followed by a "Notice," dated June, 1847, in which he apologized: "We had not the time to put any extra gloss upon the Printing, and contented ourselves with letting it pass as a plain piece of work" (Hand-Book, l. 2). His dignity did not permit him to say that illness had forced him to be in New York in January, February, and March, thereby preventing him from guiding the book through the press. The imposing array of typographical materials in this volume is all the more impressive when one remembers that Dickinson had been a typefounder for only seven years.
The complications of his illness kept him away from his business for such long periods that he could not collect many of his accounts receivable. In March, 1847, the firm had to borrow money to meet the payroll (C. C. P. Moody to Geer, 25 March 1847). He soon sold the printing office, but managed to hold on to the typefoundry for another ten months. Then, as he told Geer, he surrendered to his fate:
Real Scotch Faces
have been received with general commendation, and they are daily becoming more and more popular for their elegance of form and remarkable durability.
MICHAEL DALTON.
[fist] The friends and patrons of this Foundry may rest assured that it has fallen into good and competent hands. Mr. Phelps is well known as an accomplished printer.—Mr. Dalton has had twenty years experience in the practical departments of type-founding, and his knowledge of the art is second to that of no other founder in the country. In relinquishing my favorite business, it affords me pleasure to say that, under the new arrangement, the friends and customers of this Foundry may with certainty depend upon a prompt and faithful discharge of all orders; and that if, heretofore, they have been pleased with its productions, the skill and talents of its present proprietors cannot fail, hereafter, to give them the fullest satisfaction. S. N. DICKINSON.[46]
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