Jonathan LittlewoodJan 31
We went to the fascinating "Secrets of the Thames" exhibition at the London Museum Docklands today. My favourite exhibit was some examples of Doves Type recovered from the river and subsequently used to recreate the font. The photo is poor, but the story is much better. 1/3 #typeface #thames
Show threadJonathan LittlewoodJan 31
Around 1900, two neighbours in Hammersmith founded Doves Press and created the rather attractive Doves Type typeface for use in all their books. There was a falling out, and one partner was given sole use of the typeface but had to bequeath it to the other on his death. 2/3
Show threadJonathan LittlewoodJan 31
He decided to bequeath the typeface to the Thames instead and made 170 trips to Hammersmith Bridge to throw the matrices and punches into the river - 1,000 kg in total. Just over a century later, Robert Green recovered enough of the type to create a digital replica.
https://typespec.co.uk/doves-type/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doves_Press
3/3
The Doves Type® – Typespec

Show threadRealGene ☣️Feb 1
@frogplate
I appreciate the time, money, and effort to rediscover this typeface, but I think it's stingy to sell Dove and Dove Headline as separate licenses.
Show threadJonathan Littlewood
@RealGene
I'm just a humble back-end developer and so have no idea how typefaces are priced, but I did think "Ouch!" when I saw those prices.
Feb 1 at 4:03pmWeb
Show threadRealGene ☣️Feb 1

@frogplate
It's also an actual fact about typefaces that you can't really copyright the appearance, only the name in the USA. So expect to see "Pigeon" or "Turtledove" copycat fonts appear for free, especially at those prices. They likely won't be quite as meticulously done, but pretty close.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property_protection_of_typefaces

Intellectual property protection of typefaces - Wikipedia