tion of a cataract in each eye; still his musical ear furnished the faculty of distinguishing persons whom he knew by their voices; and his cheerful spirits enabled him to sustain the calamity with a becoming temper of mind. At length, his courage, in undergoing the operation of couching three several times, was rewarded with the perfect restoration of his sight; and his friends again experience the delight of hearing him truly say, 'Ah! I'm happy to see you, by But although ever ready with anecdote and whim to enliven, still more to his honour as a man, may it be added, that he can at once turn the cheerful smile into serious solicitations, for the assistance of a decayed old friend, his orphan, or his widow." Mr. Caslon died in 1833. The portrait here given is taken from that in Hansard's Typographia.

William Caslon IV, being left in sole possession of the foundry, made considerable progress in extending the business, especially by the addition of the new fashioned fat-faced types, at that period so largely affected. His chief improvement, however, was the introduction in 1810 of the Sanspareil matrices for large letters. This invention,, which Hansard somewhat extravagantly describes as the greatest improvement in the art of letter-founding that has taken place in modern times, consisted in the substitution of pierced, or rather built-up matrices, in place of the old sand moulds hitherto in use, and it rapidly secured favour in the trade, and was as early as possible adopted by the other founders.

In 1812, Mr. Caslon also took out a patent for a new form of type for imposing on a cylinder, of a size from to 4th that of ordinary type, and cast wedge-shaped, or larger at the end containing the face than at the foot; an attempt which reflected more credit on the ingenuity of its author than upon his practical judgment, and which was not proceeded with.2

Although no complete specimen book of Caslon IV has occurred to our notice of a later date than that of 1807 (which is itself the 1803 book altered by pen and ink), the numerous sheets appearing from time to time, and collected in the first specimen of his successors, prove that one or more specimens of the foundry must have appeared during the interval.

In 1819, Mr. Caslon, Junr. disposed of his foundry to Messrs. Blake, Garnett & Co., of Sheffield, to which town the entire stock was removed.

After his retirement from type-founding, he devoted himself actively to the

1 The Circular announcing this improvement is dated Salisbury Square, Jan. 1, 1810. The new types are offered at Is. 10d. per lb., and, as an encouragement to buyers, Is. per lb. is offered for old metal.

2 See ante, p. 120.

This appears to have been intended as an improvement on the invention of Nicholson, who was the first (in 1790) to suggest the casting of types wedgeshaped, for fixing on cylinders. (p. 119.)

scheme for lighting London with coal-gas. For some of his appliances in connection with this business-the sliding water-joints for pendants and chandeliers amongst others he received the medal of the Society of Arts (his only reward, for he did not patent his invention). In 1832 he went to reside at Henley, and ten years later was afflicted with total blindness, an operation for cataract having proved unsuccessful. In this state he continued for twenty-seven years, "tired," as he said, "of having been so long in the dark," but serene in temper, and his mind illuminated with Christian hope. He taught himself to read the embossed printing for the blind, and was able to write by the aid of a simple apparatus constructed for that purpose. He lived, in spite of his affliction, to a cheerful old age, and died in 1869, aged 88. He left no son.

To estimate the complete revolution which had taken place in the productions of this foundry during the interval between 1807 and 1819, it is only necessary to glance through the first specimen book of the new proprietors, issued in the latter year, which may be taken to represent the state of the foundry pretty nearly as it was at the time of its transfer to Sheffield. There is not a single fount in the one book which reappears in the other. The modern fat-face Romans and Egyptians1 take the place of Jackson's elegant old-style letters. The Orientals have completely disappeared, and the general appearance of the book reflects as much as any specimen of the period the prevalent taste of a so-called improved art.

It was, apparently, highly esteemed in its day. "Mr. Caslon," says Hansard, writing only six years after the event, "transferred to the Sheffield founders such a specimen of type and flowers as will ever cause us printers to regret the loss of such a competitor for fame in this difficult business."

Messrs. Blake, Garnett & Co., a firm formed for the special purpose of acquiring the type business, issued their first specimen, above referred to, very shortly after the transfer of the business to its new quarters. Their prefatory note is interesting, not only as recording the transaction, but as intimating that the Oriental and Foreign founts, which had formed so conspicuous a feature of the previous specimens of the foundry, had also found their way to Sheffield :—

"Blake, Garnett and Co. beg leave respectfully to inform the trade that they have purchased the whole of Mr. Caslon's Foundery, which, in addition to the Specimens here offered to their inspection, contains founts of Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic, Saxon, German, etc. from Brevier to Double Pica, chiefly modern, also every kind of Accented letters, . . . and a variety of other Sorts, of which Specimens are not yet printed."

1 Considerable prominence is naturally given to the large letters "cast in moulds and matrices" by the new "Sanspareil" method.

The activity of the new proprietors resulted in a rapid increase in the extent and business of the foundry. Supplementary specimens were frequently issued between 1820 and 1830, when the style of the firm became Blake and Stephenson. Mr. Stephenson was a man of great energy, practical skill and artistic taste, and it is to his exertions that the rapidly-achieved eminence of the house was chiefly due. In 1841, the firm took its present style of Stephenson, Blake & Co. Mr. Stephenson directed the operations of the Sheffield foundry until 1860, when the management devolved on his son, Mr. Henry Stephenson, in whose hands it still remains.

LIST OF SPECIMENS, 1765-1831.

No date. Jackson's first Specimen of one fount. 1765? (Referred to by Nichols, Lit. Anec., ii, 360.)

(Lost.) (Lost.)

1783. Jackson's second Specimen (described by Mores, Dissert., p. 83.) No date. Specimen of the Deo Nagri or Hindvi Type, cut for the purpose of printing a Grammar and Dictionary of that Language under the Direction of William Kirkpatrick, Captain in the Service of the Honourable East India Company, and Persian Secretary to the Commander in Chief in India. By Joseph Jackson, Letter Founder, Salisbury Court, Fleet Street. 1784? Broadside. (J. F.)

1798. A Specimen of Printing Types by William Caslon, Letter Founder to the King, Salisbury Square, London. 1798. 8vo. (W. B.)

1798. A Specimen of Cast Ornaments by William Caslon, Letter Founder to the King. London. Printed by C. Whittingham. 1798. 8vo.

(W. B.)

1803. A Specimen of Printing Types by W. Caslon and Son, Letter Founders to the King. London. Printed by C. Whittingham, Dean Street, Fetter Lane. 1803. 8vo, (Caslon.) 1807. The above Specimen, with additions, and title, altered from "W. Caslon and Son, 1803," to "W. Caslon, junr., 1807." (Caslon.) No date. A Specimen of Printing Types, etc., by Blake, Garnett and Co. (successors to Mr. W. Caslon, of London), Letter Founders, Sheffield. (1819.) 8vo. (T. B. R.) 1826. Supplement to Blake, Garnett and Co.'s Specimen, 1826. 8vo. (Caxt. Cel., 4405.) 1827. Specimen of Printing Types by Blake, Garnett and Co. (successors to Mr. W. Caslon of London), Letter Founders, Allen Street, Sheffield. 1827. 8vo. 1827-8. Supplements to Blake, Garnett and Co.'s Specimen, 1827 and 1828.

(Caxt. Cel., 4406.) 8vo. (Caxt. Cel., 4408.)

1830. Select Specimen of Printing Types by Blake and Stephenson, Sheffield.

1830. 8vo. (Caxt. Cel., 4414.)

1831. Specimen of Printing Types by Blake and Stephenson (successors to Mr. W. Caslon of London), Letter Founders, Sheffield. 1831. 8vo.

(S. B. & Co.)

UU