Joseph W. Phinney
Encyclopedia
Joseph Warren Phinney was an American printer, type designer, and business executive. Phinney began his career at the Dickinson Type Foundry in Boston
where he designed type and worked in management, eventually becoming owner. He was a key player in arranging the merger of twenty-six large foundries to for the American Type Founders Company
in 1892, becoming both manager of the Boston branch and head of the design department, where he oversaw the consolidation of type faces following the merger. Though his own designs were largely derivative, Phinney took a great interest in type and its history and throughout his tenure at A.T.F. he sought to preserve and protect that company's legacy, as for instance, when he over saw the re-introduction of Binny & Ronaldson
's 1796 type design, Roman No. 1, as Oxford in 1892, or when he purchased Frederick W. Goudy's first type design, Camelot, in 1896. He stayed with A.T.F. for the rest of his career, eventually becoming senior vice-president, retiring shortly before the company fell upon hard times during the Great Depression
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Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
where he designed type and worked in management, eventually becoming owner. He was a key player in arranging the merger of twenty-six large foundries to for the American Type Founders Company
American Type Founders
American Type Founders was a business trust created in 1892 by the merger of 23 type foundries, representing about 85% of all type manufactured in the United States...
in 1892, becoming both manager of the Boston branch and head of the design department, where he oversaw the consolidation of type faces following the merger. Though his own designs were largely derivative, Phinney took a great interest in type and its history and throughout his tenure at A.T.F. he sought to preserve and protect that company's legacy, as for instance, when he over saw the re-introduction of Binny & Ronaldson
Binny & Ronaldson
Binny & Ronaldson established the first permanent type foundry in the United States. Founded in Philadelphia in 1796 by the Scots Archibald Binny and James Ronaldson....
's 1796 type design, Roman No. 1, as Oxford in 1892, or when he purchased Frederick W. Goudy's first type design, Camelot, in 1896. He stayed with A.T.F. for the rest of his career, eventually becoming senior vice-president, retiring shortly before the company fell upon hard times during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
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Typefaces designed Joseph W. Phinney
In addition to many faces cut for the Dickinson Type Foundry, Phinney also cut these faces cast by American Type FoundersAmerican Type Founders
American Type Founders was a business trust created in 1892 by the merger of 23 type foundries, representing about 85% of all type manufactured in the United States...
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- Jenson Series
- Jenson Oldstyle + italic (1893), based on William Morris'sWilliam MorrisWilliam Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...
Golden Type, matrices cut by John F. Cumming from drawings by Phinney. - Jenson Heavyface (1899)
- Jenson Condensed + Bold Condensed (1901)
- Jenson Oldstyle + italic (1893), based on William Morris's
- Bradley Text (1895), developed from Will H. Bradley's lettering on the Christmas cover of Inland Printer Magazine by either Phinney or (more probably) Herman Ihlenberg.
- Satanick (1896), based on William MorrisWilliam MorrisWilliam Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...
's Troy and Chaucer, matrices cut by John F. Cumming from drawings by Phinney. - Taylor Gothic (1897), capitals only, lower-case based on Central Type Foundry of St. Louis' Quentell. Lagter re-worked by either Morris Fuller BentonMorris Fuller BentonMorris Fuller Benton was an influential American typeface designer who headed the design department of the American Type Founders , for which he was the chief type designer from 1900 to 1937...
or Goudy as Globe Gothic. - Devens Script (1898)
- Touraine Oldstyle Italic (1898)
- Lower-case letters for Goudy's Camelot (1900)
- Abbott Oldstyle (1901)
- Engravers Old English (1901), usually credited to BentonMorris Fuller BentonMorris Fuller Benton was an influential American typeface designer who headed the design department of the American Type Founders , for which he was the chief type designer from 1900 to 1937...
. - Flemish Black (1902) An adaptation of Priory Text, an 1870’s version of William CaslonWilliam CaslonWilliam Caslon , also known as William Caslon I, was an English gunsmith and designer of typefaces. He was born at Cradley, Worcestershire, and in 1716 started business in London as an engraver of gun locks and barrels, and as a bookbinder's tool cutter...
’s Caslon Text of 1734. - Cheltenham Oldstyle + italicCheltenham (typeface)Cheltenham is a display typeface, designed in 1896 by architect Bertram Goodhue and Ingalls Kimball, director of the Cheltenham Press. The original drawings were known as Boston Old Style and were made about 14" high. These drawings were then turned over to Morris Fuller Benton at American Type...
(1902), developed from Bertram GoodhueBertram GoodhueBertram Grosvenor Goodhue was a American architect celebrated for his work in neo-gothic design. He also designed notable typefaces, including Cheltenham and Merrymount for the Merrymount Press.-Early career:...
's architectural lettering by either Phinney or BentonMorris Fuller BentonMorris Fuller Benton was an influential American typeface designer who headed the design department of the American Type Founders , for which he was the chief type designer from 1900 to 1937...
. - Cloister Black (1904), lower-case identical to Flemish Black, capitals usually credited to BentonMorris Fuller BentonMorris Fuller Benton was an influential American typeface designer who headed the design department of the American Type Founders , for which he was the chief type designer from 1900 to 1937...
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