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it¹s fFnali arFvd: F PdDd a kopI v /androklIz n H lFan from a
bUk stP in /rugbI in xli febrMAri, n nQ F¹v fFnali got it. n
F hAv t sE, H tFpografI iz sumhwot nFsD HAn F imAJind. F¹v
Ylredi skAnd wun pEJ At 1200 dpi (YlmOst klCD Han F kAn sI it!),
n F¹m gOiN t bigin rIpradVsiN diJital vxZanz v /rId¹z fonts, Az
AkVDatli Az F kAn. F hAv a lot v uHD HINz gOiN on, HO, sO
His mE tEk sum tFm.

nQ wun pqnt rimEnz: bF hwot nEmz wUd rId wont hiz fonts t bI
kYld?


It¹s finally arrived: I ordered a copy of Androcles and the Lion from a
book store in Rugby in early February, and now I¹ve finally got it. And I
have to say, the typography is somewhat nicer than I imagined. I¹ve already
scanned one page at 1200 dpi (almost clearer than I can see it!), and I¹m
going to begin reproducing digital versions of Read¹s fonts, as accurately
as I can. I have a lot of other things going on, though, so this may take
some time.

Now one point remains: By what names would Read want his fonts to be
called?


Regards,
Joe Spicer
/JO spFsD

Hi Joe Spicer and all!

Joe, did you get the paperback or the hardbound Androcles? After nearly half
a century the paperback's paper is pretty yellow and funky. The hardbound is
often available on the Web - the "library" edition.

The fonts were founded by the Stephen Austin company, and I think they should
be named after them, if they need a new name.

Bob Richmond
Knoxville TN and Gastonia NC

Unfortunately, mine is the paperback edition. It is a little yellow, and a
little bent, but I¹ve got two other books and a binder of CDs sitting on top
of it right now, which seems to be helping. Otherwise, it¹s in great
condition, except without the reading key bookmark.

Every font needs a name, though none is given in the book. In a quote in
the forward, Shaw requests that the Roman part be in ³the original Doctor
Johnson¹s lettering². I¹m not sure who¹s meant by that, but the font looks
like Caslon to me (and always a good guess for books printed at that time).

I also may make a font from the vertical table ³for writers², which appears
to be hand-lettered, probably by Read.

Regards,
Joe Spicer
/JO spFsD



On 3/25/05 5:12 PM, "RSRICHMOND@..." <RSRICHMOND@...> wrote:

> Hi Joe Spicer and all!
>
> Joe, did you get the paperback or the hardbound Androcles? After nearly half a
> century the paperback's paper is pretty yellow and funky. The hardbound is
> often available on the Web - the "library" edition.
>
> The fonts were founded by the Stephen Austin company, and I think they should
> be named after them, if they need a new name.
>
> Bob Richmond
> Knoxville TN and Gastonia NC
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/JO,

A hardbound Androcles & the Lion used to be distributed to new members of the
spellingsociety. A similar edition used to be available from 2nd hand book
dealers for about $10. I regret that we do not have a box of books to
distribute. Many libraries have a copy.

I think we could certainly reprint a reading key bookmark and a page of
transcribed text.

Regarding your questions:
Have you tried to contact the type foundry?
What about the typewriter element that was created?

--Steve
Unfortunately, mine is the paperback edition. It is a little yellow, and a
little bent, but I’ve got two other books and a binder of CDs sitting on top of
it right now, which seems to be helping. Otherwise, it’s in great condition,
except without the reading key bookmark.

Every font needs a name, though none is given in the book. In a quote in the
forward, Shaw requests that the Roman part be in “the original Doctor Johnson’
s lettering”. I’m not sure who’s meant by that, but the font looks like
Caslon to me (and always a good guess for books printed at that time).

I also may make a font from the vertical table “for writers”, which appears
to be hand-lettered, probably by Read.

Regards,
Joe Spicer
/JO spFsD
I ordered a copy of Androcles and the Lion from a book store in Rugby in
early February, and now I’ve finally got it. And I have to say, the typography is
somewhat nicer than I imagined. I’ve already scanned one page at 1200 dpi
(almost clearer than I can see it!), and I’m going to begin reproducing digital
versions of Read’s fonts, as accurately as I can. I have a lot of other
things going on, though, so this may take some time.

Now one point remains: By what names would Read want his fonts to be called?

Steve,
It would be possible to reprint the book in the US, where I believe the
copyright no is longer valid. DeMeyere¹s documentation for the Androcles
and Ghoti fonts (http://www.demeyere.com/shavian/) includes a copy of the
bookmark. There has been talk in the past of starting an organization for
the support of Shavian, and of distributing books and things to members. I
think a bookmark and a page to read (if not a book) are a good idea, if the
funding can be found.

And no, I haven¹t contacted the type foundry, but I¹m about to email them.
After a closer look, the Roman font doesn¹t look so much like Caslon‹I¹ll
ask about that, too. Not much is known about the typewriter, and I don¹t
remember who made it. Someone else (I can¹t remember who) asked the Steven
Austin company about the Linotype machine used to typeset Androcles, but
didn¹t get much.

Regards,
Joe Spicer
/JO spFsD



On 3/26/05 2:42 PM, "stbetta@..." <stbetta@...> wrote:

> /JO,
> A hardbound Androcles & the Lion used to be distributed to new members of the
> spellingsociety. A similar edition used to be available from 2nd hand book
> dealers for about $10. I regret that we do not have a box of books to
> distribute. Many libraries have a copy.
>
> I think we could certainly reprint a reading key bookmark and a page of
> transcribed text.
>
> Regarding your questions:
> Have you tried to contact the type foundry?
> What about the typewriter element that was created?
>
> --Steve
>> Unfortunately, mine is the paperback edition. It is a little yellow, and a
>> little bent, but I¹ve got two other books and a binder of CDs sitting on top
>> of it right now, which seems to be helping. Otherwise, it¹s in great
>> condition, except without the reading key bookmark.
>>
>> Every font needs a name, though none is given in the book. In a quote in the
>> forward, Shaw requests that the Roman part be in ³the original Doctor
>> Johnson¹s lettering². I¹m not sure who¹s meant by that, but the font looks
>> like Caslon to me (and always a good guess for books printed at that time).
>>
>> I also may make a font from the vertical table ³for writers², which appears
>> to be hand-lettered, probably by Read.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Joe Spicer
>> /JO spFsD

Re: [shawalphabet] Androcles and the fontJoe wrote:
> Steve,
> It would be possible to reprint the book in the US, where I believe
> the copyright no is longer valid. DeMeyere's documentation for the
> Androcles and Ghoti fonts (http://www.demeyere.com/shavian/)
> includes a copy of the bookmark. There has been talk in the past
> of starting an organization for the support of Shavian, and of distributing
> books and things to members. I think a bookmark and a page to
> read (if not a book) are a good idea, if the funding can be found.
>
> And no, I haven't contacted the type foundry, but I'm about to email
> them. After a closer look, the Roman font doesn't look so much like
> Caslon-I'll ask about that, too. Not much is known about the
> typewriter, and I don't remember who made it. Someone else (I
> can't remember who) asked the Steven Austin company about the
> Linotype machine used to typeset Androcles, but didn't get much.


Stephen Austin is a printing company, not a type foundry. They
cast the type on Monotype machines (not Linotypes). Monotypes
were used in printing companies for making type for their own
use. Monotypes have a separate keyboard machine which
punches a wide (~ four inch) paper tape. That tape is read by
the casting machine which casts individual pieces of type set
up in order and ready to print. The machine uses a "table" of
letter molds, each of which is 1/5 inch square. The machine
holds 15x15 molds, although later ones could hold 15x16 or
15x17, so all three Shavian fonts would be in the machine at
the same time.

For mass production, molds were punched by the Monotype
Corporation (in Redhill, Surrey I believe), but a one-of-a-kind
font such as this would probably have been engraved.

The type is normally dumped for remelting after use, although
it's possible to separate the letters and save them, but this was
rarely done. About 1980 I wrote to Stephen Austin and asked
if they would sell the molds or at least cast some type and send
it to me. They refused both, although they said they would be
happy to print something for me in Shavian. I later heard from
printing friends in England that Stephen Austin had disposed
of all their letterpress (metal type) equipment, and now used
offset exclusively. The special molds for Shavian were donated
to the Type Museum in London.

The master drawings were probably retained by the Monotype
Corporation. The remaining equipment and much paperwork
from Monotype was donated to the Type Museum, so it may
still be there, although things are not presently well organized
at the Type Museum.

--Ph. D.
Gfilip driscul

Re: [shawalphabet] AndroclesJoe skribis:
> Unfortunately, mine is the paperback edition. It is a little yellow,
> and a little bent, but I've got two other books and a binder of CDs
> sitting on top of it right now, which seems to be helping. Otherwise,
> it's in great condition, except without the reading key bookmark.
>
> Every font needs a name, though none is given in the book. In a
> quote in the forward, Shaw requests that the Roman part be in
> "the original Doctor Johnson's lettering". I'm not sure who's meant
> by that, but the font looks like Caslon to me (and always a good
> guess for books printed at that time).


Shaw requested that the book be lettered by an "artist calligrapher"
in the "absence of printers' types." I will assume Shaw was referring
to Edward Johnson. He was a famous English calligrapher who
wrote the 1906 book "Writing and Illuminating, and Lettering." This
book was very influential with many European type designers. I
believe Mr. Johnson also designed the sans serif type used by
the London Underground.

Monotype (and other type makers) made several different versions
of Caslon. The roman type used in "Androcles" appears to be one
of these.

--Ph. D.

Thanks for clarifying. I¹ve already emailed my questions (though you¹ve
answered some), and I¹ll be awaiting a response.

Regards,
Joe Spicer
/JO spFsD



On 3/26/05 7:12 PM, "Ph. D." <phild@...> wrote:

> Joe skribis:
>> > Unfortunately, mine is the paperback edition. It is a little yellow,
>> > and a little bent, but I¹ve got two other books and a binder of CDs
>> > sitting on top of it right now, which seems to be helping. Otherwise,
>> > it¹s in great condition, except without the reading key bookmark.
>> >
>> > Every font needs a name, though none is given in the book. In a
>> > quote in the forward, Shaw requests that the Roman part be in
>> > ³the original Doctor Johnson¹s lettering². I¹m not sure who¹s meant
>> > by that, but the font looks like Caslon to me (and always a good
>> > guess for books printed at that time).
>
> Shaw requested that the book be lettered by an "artist calligrapher"
> in the "absence of printers' types." I will assume Shaw was referring
> to Edward Johnson. He was a famous English calligrapher who
> wrote the 1906 book "Writing and Illuminating, and Lettering." This
> book was very influential with many European type designers. I
> believe Mr. Johnson also designed the sans serif type used by
> the London Underground.
>
> Monotype (and other type makers) made several different versions
> of Caslon. The roman type used in "Androcles" appears to be one
> of these.
>
> --Ph. D.

Philip,

Thanks for the information and the detective work.
We could certainly reprint a cheaper edition of the book but it would seem
that those who are interested could purchase a $10 used copy.

A better investment might be in a digital version of the dual
transcription....
Something similar to what has been done with Truespel and Grimm's fairytales.

--Steve

Dual reader:
fairytale conversions: http://jhd.freeshell.org/truespel/en/fairytale.html
Truespel converter: http://jhd.freeshell.org/truespel/en/

Tradspel - traditional
128+ ambiguous symbols for 40 sounds
most symbols represent 2 or more sounds Truespel - regualized
one symbol per sound*
The Frog-King or
Iron Henry The Fraag-Keeng or
Ieyern Henree
In old times when wishing still helped one, there lived a king whose
daughters were all beautiful, but the youngest was so beautiful that the sun itself,
which has seen so much, was astonished whenever it shone in her face. Close by
the King's castle lay a great dark forest, and under an old lime-tree in the
forest was a well, and when the day was very warm, the King's child went out
into the forest and sat down by the side of the cool fountain, and when she was
dull she took a golden ball, and threw it up on high and caught it, and this
ball was her favorite plaything. In oeld tiemz wen wisheeng stil helpd wun,
thair livd u keeng huez dauterz wer aul byuetifool, but thee yungist wuz soe
byuetifool that thee sun itsself, wich haz seen soe much, wuz usttaanishd wennever
it shoen in her faes. Kloes bie thee Keengz kasool lae u graet daark forist,
and under an oeld liem-tree in thee forist wuz u wel, and wen thee dae wuz
vairee worm, thee Keengz chield went out intue thee forist and sat doun bie thee
sied uv thee kuel fountin, and wen shee wuz dul shee took u goeldin baul, and
thhrue it up aan hie and kaut it , and this baul wuz her faeverit plaethheeng.

* visualize a shavian transcription
Joe wrote:

> Steve,
> It would be possible to reprint the book in the US, where I believe
> the copyright no is longer valid. DeMeyere’s documentation for the
> Androcles and Ghoti fonts (http://www.demeyere.com/shavian/)
> includes a copy of the bookmark. There has been talk in the past
> of starting an organization for the support of Shavian, and of distributing
> books and things to members. I think a bookmark and a page to
> read (if not a book) are a good idea, if the funding can be found.

> And no, I haven’t contacted the type foundry, but I’m about to email
> them. After a closer look, the Roman font doesn’t look so much like
> Caslon—I’ll ask about that, too. Not much is known about the
> typewriter, and I don’t remember who made it. Someone else (I
> can’t remember who) asked the Steven Austin company about the
> Linotype machine used to typeset Androcles, but didn’t get much.


Stephen Austin is a printing company, not a type foundry. They
cast the type on Monotype machines (not Linotypes). Monotypes
were used in printing companies for making type for their own
use. Monotypes have a separate keyboard machine which
punches a wide (~ four inch) paper tape. That tape is read by
the casting machine which casts individual pieces of type set
up in order and ready to print. The machine uses a "table" of
letter molds, each of which is 1/5 inch square. The machine
holds 15x15 molds, although later ones could hold 15x16 or
15x17, so all three Shavian fonts would be in the machine at
the same time.

For mass production, molds were punched by the Monotype
Corporation (in Redhill, Surrey I believe), but a one-of-a-kind
font such as this would probably have been engraved.

The type is normally dumped for remelting after use, although
it's possible to separate the letters and save them, but this was
rarely done. About 1980 I wrote to Stephen Austin and asked
if they would sell the molds or at least cast some type and send
it to me. They refused both, although they said they would be
happy to print something for me in Shavian. I later heard from
printing friends in England that Stephen Austin had disposed
of all their letterpress (metal type) equipment, and now used
offset exclusively. The special molds for Shavian were donated
to the Type Museum in London.

The master drawings were probably retained by the Monotype
Corporation. The remaining equipment and much paperwork
from Monotype was donated to the Type Museum, so it may
still be there, although things are not presently well organized
at the Type Museum.

--Ph. D.
Gfilip driscul

test test test test
in kulD nO les

wil it kum TrM?
Sud it bI blM?

??