Typography Tuesday
WOOD TYPE FROM I. M. IMPRIMIT
This week we present two wood-type broadsides printed by Ian Mortimer, artist, designer, printer, and proprietor of I. M. Imprimit in London. The top poster was printed for the very first issue of Matrix in 1981 and displays twelve of the more decorative typefaces from the collection at I. M. Imprimit. It demonstrates the range of widths, weights, and sizes that poster and job printers frequently stocked. The next broadside was printed for inclusion in Matrix 2 of 1982 and shows the range of so-called “Antiques” to offer an idea of the diversity of appearance that could be manifested in a single type style.
The “Antique” was first shown and named by London typefounder Vincent Figgins in his specimen book of 1815, and by 1820 versions were known as “Egyptian Antique.” The basic style is characterized by square-cut slab serifs, which in the so-called “French Antique” became thicker and heavier than the main strokes. This particular specimen displays both Egyptian and French Antiques in bold and light versions of normal, elongated, and expanded styles.
Mortimer notes that:
