The legendary woodcut engravings of Reynolds Stone are very beautiful
Is there any extant typeface based on his hand-cut work?
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1These are basically ancient Roman square capitals, and so not really a unique design. There are a few fonts which are similarly based on these, such as Trajan and Cal Roman Capitals which spring to mind, and no doubt many more.– Billy KerrAug 19, 2021 at 23:39
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1@BillyKerr You're obviously correct that there are many similar designs—it's more the special touch of Reynolds Stone's handwork that I find quite impressive (the technique rather than the form)– ubuntuquestionerAug 20, 2021 at 17:35
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1Yeah, I understand what you mean. I think it's the hand-made aspect of the lettering that makes it appealing - it's not as regular as most modern fonts. Those little quirks and imperfections give it something that is missing in most modern computer fonts. It reminds me of calligraphy, something I am very much into myself.– Billy KerrAug 20, 2021 at 18:02
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3 Answers
UPDATE: see my post below which has an extra answer.
Not specifically, but as Billy Kerr said a lot of typefaces are similar because a lot of British designers took inspiration from Trajan capitals. My absolute top recommendation would be English Engravers by Robbie Smith.
Winsel from insigne design is a more extensive family. It's more "monoline", it has less contrast. It has lower case, small caps and a lot of weights and widths. Its x-height is quite low, so you wouldn't want to use it for extended text.
Map Roman by David Jonathan Ross is spikier. It goes bolder and into condensed weights. You can buy it if you sign up to his "Font of the Month Club"
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1Accepted—Good spot on "English Engraver's", as Reynolds Stone is very much in the English engraving tradition (and was inspired to take up woodcutting by work with Eric Gill). The English spin on the old Roman capitals is very pretty, IMO Aug 20, 2021 at 17:36
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Thank you!!! British Arts & Crafts is a great style and I'm surprised more design isn't influenced by it. I suspect the reason is it looks best with artwork, which is one reason why the Winsel font sample images are so great, they capture the vibe. Or a physical form, like carved letters on a war memorial. Replicating this style as bare text on a screen without illustrations can easily fall flat.– CopilotAug 20, 2021 at 23:21
Update: today I had the chance to meet Reynolds Stone's daughter and showed her this post-she was delighted that people were interested in her father's work. She and her husband (this guy) said contact Compton Marbling, a company owned by members of her family who can sell you a license to the digitized Janet typeface he designed. I have seen some books printed using it which are very beautiful.
Very beautiful indeed. I wasn't familiar with Reynolds Stone, but a quick web search gives me this thread which indicates that a digitized version of his Janet typeface does exist, but that it it's not publicly available. See the comment from the font designer in the bottom.
This site states that Reynolds Stone designed the Minerva typeface which is available in different versions like this from Linotype. I don't believe it's based on his engravings though.
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That Linotype link is to a different Minerva typeface (although the capitals look similar).– CopilotAug 20, 2021 at 6:41
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1@Copilot Different from what? You mean it's not based on Stone's Minerva? (This answer is really more of a long comment than a real answer. Tell me if you think it's too inaccurate and I'll remove it. I've noticed you're a bit of an authority on typefaces. 😃)– WolffAug 20, 2021 at 6:47
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That's a different typeface called Minerva, designed by a Hungarian designer called Gábor Kóthay (see "Background story"). I can't find images online of Reynolds Stone's Minerva typeface. I don't think it's based on his-it's got tons of versions and alternate characters and a sans-serif version. I think it's likely an independent family which just happens to have the same name.– CopilotAug 20, 2021 at 7:28
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@Wolff Wow that Janet is quite a white whale for me now—I will be looking for it for a while. (I wonder what the rights situation is to do a revival—some of his engravings are quite old and could probably be snapped up cheaply.....) The Minerva one is a shame because I see nothing when I click on the typeface about Reynolds Stone, but it is pretty Aug 20, 2021 at 17:37