Frederic Goudy’s Village typeface (number one)
At some point in time, the Dale Guild Type Foundry in Howell, New Jersey, purchased a partial set of the matrices for Frederic Goudy’s original set of Village type (number one). The Special Collections Research Center at the Syracuse University Libraries has the remainder of the matrices and is interested in purchasing the rest of the set. Please contact William T. La Moy at [email protected] to pursue this matter. His direct telephone line on weekdays is 315-443-9752.
I Just googled his info. you can contact him.
Dale Guild Foundry
4621 US Highway 9
Howell, New Jersey 07731
Phone (732) 363-3590
The foundry’s not there, Theo doesn’t own the foundry any more, and it is no longer functional nor is it still in the USA. I have been trying to track down those matrices since last Fall without success. The people who seem to know are not answering emails. Sad.
Bob
See: http://www.briarpress.org/43208
Yep. It’s a sad turn of events, but as Fritz said, difficult to fend off. I wish I’d insisted that Theo send me my two mats I paid him for. Who knows where they are now!
Bob
I have heard that Patrick Gossens, who now owns the Dale Guild equipment in Belgium, will be attending the ATF conference at Wells College in August. He ended up with some of my matrices that were never returned by Micah, so perhaps we can find out the status of the equipment and maybe the Goudy mats. And if any of this will ever be used again to produce type. Micah went his own way and the last I heard was that he was attending school to be a diesel mechanic—so much for the printer’s ink that was maybe in his veins at one point in this misadventure.
Unfortunately I won’t be able to attend the ATF conference. Is there someone who is going who might undertake to report on whatever can be learned about the Goudy Village mats? If Patrick does have them, that’s fine, but it would be good to know where they are and what mats are in the collection — there was also the set of 22 point Village caps as well as the revised “i” and “j” mats recut for Frederic Sherman and the two I had recut to return the font to its original design. Curiosity!
Bob
I’m seeing Patrick in a few days. I’ll ask him.
For what it’s worth, I have plans that involve getting various founders’ machines running again, but they’re all quite embryonic and I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up.
nick
Our interest in the U.S. is in the Barth casters that will use the ATF and related foundry mats. We have enough Monotype equipment available, but it is the finely cast and accurate ATF faces that are of interest. Patrick has a good collection of mats that came with the machines, but many of the choice type faces are in privately held collections mainly in the U.S. The Barths would all have to be converted to European electrical from their US 3 phase set ups plus gas, air and water. Micah was supposed to have shown Patrick how to run these, but I think that’s out the window now.
Hi Fritz; yes, I understood that was the case, but thanks for clarifying. To clarify myself, when I say ‘founders’ machines’, I mean pivotals, hand moulds and foundry automatics. Like I say, plans are underway but embryonic, and I don’t want to say too much.
Theo had 2 pivotals at the Dale Guild that as time went on he was more and more reluctant to operate. Basically, they require serious physical effort and are slow in terms of production. When he cast the 24 pt. Engravers Roman for me, the wide set characters like W and M had to be cast on the pivotal as the 24 pt Barth mold could not go that wide. And it’s the rate of production that clouds practical production on a commercial scale. But, before the introduction of automatic casters, like the Barth and Monotypes, it was all pivotal work and those foundries produced prodigious amounts of type.
Fritz 1 & Ad Lib Press, have sent (relevant) E mails via Briar Press, but they may not have transmitted,??
If you both care to send messages via B.P. normal lines of communication, I am in the U.K. and have considerable knowledge and Info, regarding the current crop of posts,? as above, Regards Mick.
Perhaps look up on the Web My C.V. (Third Party Entry) not my words, !!
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Just before your *Hurricane Sandy* Mr Avery at the Type Museum in London was apparently, happy to put my name forward to the Lady in New York with Monotype Plant who had sadly lost her Husband, and although was a Keyboard Operator (Monotype) wanted desparately to master the Casting Machine.
I was the second choice ONLY to one of the Remaining/ Original Bona Fide MONOTYPE Engineers.