F&M College Library

History of the Book - Hand Press Period, 1450-1800

This guide is designed to provide a broad overview of printing technologies during the hand press period.

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Typography

Typography: The selection of a specific style of type for a particular use; or the arrangement of composed type for the purpose of aiding the reader's understanding of the text. A specimen sheet was used by early printers to show potential customers the various styles, sizes, and languages of type available at their shop.

1565 Francois Guyot Type Specimen Sheet
1728 William Caslon Type Specimen Sheet

Type Casting

The Making of Type: 4 Step Overview

This is a series of short videos detailing the process of type-founding. Stan Nelson, historian of printing history, hosts these segments. First developed in the 15th century, this process was critical to the world's ability to communicate until the rise of modern offset printing technologies in the 1950s.