CASLON

TYPOGRAPHY
The Independent Typo

D uring the 18th centur y, the

Enlightenment culminated in the

French and American revolutions.
Philosophers dreamed of a brighter
age. This dream turned into a reality
with the French Revolution. European colonization of the Americas and
other parts of the world. Great Britain became a major power worldwide.
Is in this context (the 1730s) when
William Calson I designed, in London, a group of serif typefaces. He
worked as an engraver of punches,
the masters used to stamp the moulds
or matrices used to cast metal type.

AGMWb

In this particular Old-style

serif, with organic structure resembling
handwriting with a pen, the A has a
concave hollow at top left, the G is
without a downwards-pointing spur at
bottom right and the sides of the M
are straight. The W has three terminals at the top and the b has a small
tapered stroke ending at bottom left.

Ascenders and descenders are

short and the level of stroke contrast is modest in body text sizes.
Small x-height and accentuated bracketed serifs. It also has a vertical axis.
The Caslon types were distributed throughout the British Empire, and
were immediately successful and used
in many historic documents , including
the U. S. Declaration of Independence.
They fell out of interest in the late
eighteenth century, due to the arrival
of transitional typefaces like Baskerville. Interest in 18 t h century printing returned in the 19th century with
the rise of the arts and crafts movement, and Caslons types returned to
popularity in books and fine printing
among companies as well as display
use in situations such as advertising.

SOURCES:
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caslon
http://ilovetypography.com/2010/07/26/reviving-caslon-the-snare-of-authenticity/
http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/caslon-baskerville-and-franklin-revolutionary-types
http://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/type_basics/type_families.htm