Key

The following symbols are used throughout THP publications:

# Known to be digitized at this writing
= Identical to the following face (different tradenames)
~Comparable to the following face
≈Strikingly similar to the following face
≠ Clearly distinguishable from the following face (same or similar tradename)
®Design patented (US) or registered by the person cited in the year cited

Specimen and Chapter Spreads

As illustrated in the Sample PDFs,¹·² historical information is tabulated with full specimens on left-hand pages of specimen and chapter-introduction spreads.  Tables with documentation sources and extensive supplementary information about designers and design owners are hyperlinked to color-coded text.

When documentation for a field is missing or not definitive, the entry reads Unknown or Unverified (annotated by a plausible hypothesis and its source).  In rare cases of conflicting credible evidence, both are entered.

  Pre-digital Tradename(s). Metal or wood [letterpress] and mainstream photo-lettering or transfer-type tradenames [Franklin Photolettering, Solotype, Letraset, etc.] are identified and separated by an equal sign.  When a numbered face is traced to its original source, the number is entered; otherwise, Untitled precedes the pre-digital tradename.  Digital tradenames are disregarded.

  Date. Year of earliest specimen examined by THP or cited by a credible authority.  Dated producer catalogs, advertisements or review specimens published by trade journals may predate national registration by several years and/or attribute a face to a source different from one accepted in the past.  When the best-available date is only approx­imate, the letter “c” [circa] precedes it.  When more-precise information is known, the following symbols apply:

<    Before the year stated
≤    During or before the year stated
>    After the year stated
≥    During or after the year stated
±    Between the years stated

  Designer/Nationality.  Name of the person(s) who first imagined and/or drew the glyphs.  When the designer is known, his/her name and then-current citizenship are entered.  Unless a credible authority has reported otherwise, US-patented designs are attrib­uted to the Inventor of Record (a TF principal, rarely qualified as a designer—see also 19th-Century Designers).

  Owner/Nationality.  Name of the designer’s employer, client or business.  When the designer is unknown, the owner’s nationality is substituted.  When the design was not patented or not assigned, the earliest-known vendor is entered.