A History of the Old English Letter Foundries / with Notes, Historical and Bibliographical, on the Rise and Progress of English Typography.

• “Mr. ROBERT ANDREWS’ FOUNDERY, 1706.

  • ORIENTALS.
    • Hebrew.—
      • 2-line English, 32. [P.?]
      • Double Pica, 68. [P.?]
      • Great Primer, 35.
      • English (the common German face), 47.
      • English, 73. [P.?]
      • Pica, 65.
      • Long Primer, 35.
      • Brevier, 35.
      • Small Pica, old, 42.
      • Small Pica, another, 77.
      • Small Pica, another, 73.
      • Nonpareil, 35.
    • Rabbinical Hebrew.—
      • English (German), 30.
      • Rashi, Pica, 29.
      • Rashi, Long Primer,* 30.
      • Rashi, Brevier,* 29.
      • Rashi, Nonpareil,* 29.
      • Large face points, 42.
      • Accents, 27.
      • Small face points, 28.
    • Samaritan.—
      • (Leusdenian), 21.
    • Syriac.—
      • Great Primer, 47; Points, 13.
    • Arabic.—
      • Great Primer, 104.
      • English, 62.
  • MERIDIONALS.
    • Æthiopic.— Great Primer,* 212. [P.]
  • OCCIDENTALS.
    • Greek.—
      • English.‡
      • Long Primer.‡
      • Brevier.‡
      • Long Primer, 457.
      • Brevier, 331.
      • Nonpareil, 329.

        ‡ “These three were purchased by Thos. James, 20th April 1724, ten years before the sale of the foundery.”

    • Roman and Italic.—
      • 2-line English full face caps, 31.
      • 2-line English Roman, 147.
      • 2-line English Italic, 108.
      • Double Pica large face Roman, 122.
      • Double Pica small face Roman, 115.
      • Double Pica Italic, 107.
      • Double Pica 2, Roman, 118.
      • Double Pica 2, Italic, 66.
      • Another, 126.
      • Great Primer 1, Roman, 114.
      • Great Primer 1, Italic, 102.
      • Great Primer 2, Roman, 110.
      • Great Primer 2, Italic, 66.
      • English Roman and Italic, ...
      • English 2, Roman, 92.
      • English 3, Roman, 96.
      • English Roman lower-case, 32.
      • Pica Roman, 117.
      • Pica Roman, lower-case, 27.
      • Pica Roman, and Italic, long face, ...
      • Long Primer Roman, 84.
      • Long Primer Italic, 80.
      • Long Primer Roman lower-case, 42.
      • Long Primer Roman lower-case, another, 38.
      • Long Primer Italic capitals and double-letters, 45.
      • Brevier Roman lower-case, 57.
      • Brevier Roman lower-case, another, 57.
      • Brevier Italic, ...
    • Title Letters and Irregulars.—
      • 4-line Pica full face caps, 30.
      • Canon Roman, 27. [M.]
      • Canon Italic, 74. [M.]
      • 2-line Double Pica Roman, 127.
      • 2-line Great Primer full face caps, 31.
      • 2-line Pica full face caps, 31.
      • 2-line Pica Roman lean face, 58.
      • Paragon Roman, 122.
      • Paragon Italic, 100.
      • Small Pica Roman, 76.
      • Small Pica Italic, 82.
      • Small Pica Italic, another, 98.
      • Small Pica Italic, another, 80.
      • Small Pica Roman and Italic, ...
      • Bourgeois Italic, 72.
      • Nonpareil Roman, 80.
      • Pearl Roman, 2 sets.
  • SEPTENTRIONALS.
    • Anglo-Saxon.—
      • Pica, 16.
      • Pica, another, 21.
    • Anglo-Norman.—
      • Great Primer capitals, 24.
    • English.—
      • Great Primer with law, 116.
      • English* with law, 106.
      • Pica with law, 125.
      • Pica small face, 71.
      • Long Primer,* 78.
      • Brevier with law, 118.
      • Small Pica* with law, 120.
      • Small Pica,* 58.
      • Nonpareil,* 43.
    • Secretary.—
      • Great Primer capitals, 15.
    • Hibernian.—
      • Pica,* 60. [M.]
      • Bishop Wilkins’ Real Character, English, 160. [M.]
      • Mr. Adam’s symbols, 20. [M.]
      • Mr. Moxon’s correcting marks, English, 16. [M.]
      • Mathematical Characters, English and Small Pica, 42. [M.]
      • Astronomical and Astrological, 31. [M.]
    • Music.—
      • 2-line Great Primer, 54.
      • Paragon, square-headed, 44.
      • Large old square-headed, 61.
      • Sundry old square-headed, 155.

Although he accumulated a large quantity of matrices, Robert Andrews does not appear to have been a good workman. The very indifferent manner in which he cut the punches for Miss Elstob’s Saxon Grammar has been elsewhere recorded,370 and the fact that his apprentice, Thomas James, after quitting his {197} service and setting up for himself, furnished his new foundry entirely with foreign matrices, speaks somewhat unfavourably for the merits of the English letter then in common use.

Three of the Greek founts, however, James did subsequently purchase, in 1724, for his own use; and nine years later, on Andrews’ retirement from business, he purchased the whole of his foundry, and that of his son, with the exception of the Canon Roman and Italic, which were acquired by Mr. Caslon.

Robert Andrews was one of the Assistants of the Stationers’ Company. He only survived his retirement two years, and died November 27th, 1735, at the age of 80.

His name appears as a contributor of £5 5s. towards the subscription raised by Mr. Bowyer’s friends in 1712, after the destruction by fire of that eminent printer’s office.

JAMES GROVER, circ. 1675. THOMAS GROVER, his son.371

This foundry, which, according to Rowe Mores, was supposed to include founts formerly belonging to Wynkyn de Worde, was the most extensive, and in many respects the most interesting of the later seventeenth century foundries. It seems probable that James and Thomas Grover began business in partnership, about the year 1674, in succession to one of the “Polyglot” founders, whose matrices they appear to have acquired. Their foundry was situated in Angel Alley, Aldersgate Street; and, about 1700, at which date Rowe Mores fixes his summary, was evidently of considerable extent.

Although many of the founts are of little importance, it is worthy of note that among the Roman and Italic matrices is included, for the first time, a Diamond; and that a Pica and Long Primer are distinguished as “King’s House” founts, and were probably reserved for the service of the Royal press at Blackfriars. The large-face Double Pica Roman and Italic, there is reason to suppose, is the famous fount cut by John Day about 1572, which had subsequently been in the possession of one of the Polyglot founders.372 In Scriptorials, Cursives and other fancy letters, as well as in peculiar and mathematical sorts, the foundry was unusually rich. The Great Primer and 2-line Great Primer Black matrices are those reputed to have belonged to De Worde; and from these {198} founts, says Mores, were taken the two specimens shown on page 343 of Palmer’s General History of Printing.373

Among the “learned” founts, the English Samaritan matrices were those from which had been cast the type for Walton’s Polyglot, in 1657, as were also those of the larger Syriac; while the Double Pica large and small faced Greek claim a still earlier origin, being the founts in which was printed Patrick Young’s Catena on Job, in 1637, the matrices having been procured from the proceeds of the fine on the King’s printers for their scandalous errors in the printing of the “Wicked” Bible, as detailed in a former chapter.374 The smaller face, as we have noticed, bears the strongest resemblance to the Greek of the Eton Chrysostom. Mores states that the Great Primer Arabic of the Polyglot was in this foundry, but omits to include the matrices in his summary.375