misc: type

This category is for images of metal type or other pieces used in the process of making type. Images of different typefaces can be found under other tags, including “exotic type,” “gothic,” “italic,” and “roman.”

Coronelle Romaine, matrices

These are matrices---the pieces of copper that are the molds used to produce pieces of type---used for the typeface Coronelle Romaine. If you zoom in, you can see the nicks at the bottom of the matrices used to orient them in the mold and the individual letter forms, as well as ligatures (joined letters), numbers, and assorted other characters. Stamps made to illustrate this typeface can be seen here.

Coronelle Romaine, stamps

These stamps illustrate the forms of individual sorts of the typeface Coronelle Romaine, designed by Hendrik van den Keere in the early 1570s. You can see the matrices for casting these sorts here.

Coronelle Romaine, unjustified matrices

These matrices have not yet been justified: they've been struck with the various letterforms and glyphs, but the resulting pieces of copper haven't been made uniform and ready to use. If you compare these matrices with the finished ones, you can easily see the difference.