44 votes

Remnants of a legendary typeface have been rescued from the River Thames

5 comments

  1. [2]
    mat
    Link
    Well that is just fantastic in every way. Thanks for the link!

    Well that is just fantastic in every way. Thanks for the link!

    9 votes
    1. turmacar
      Link Parent
      I love the casual mention of a permitted society dedicated to scavenging from the river, some of whom do so at night with headlamps to hide 'their' patches. It feels like something from a Gaiman...

      I love the casual mention of a permitted society dedicated to scavenging from the river, some of whom do so at night with headlamps to hide 'their' patches. It feels like something from a Gaiman novel.

      12 votes
  2. [2]
    balooga
    Link
    That’s a much larger dump than the headline suggested at first read. I don't know much about traditional letterpress or how publishing houses collected and organized their typefaces but I wouldn’t...

    Green managed to recover a total of 151 sorts (the name for individual pieces of type) out of a possible 500,000.

    That’s a much larger dump than the headline suggested at first read. I don't know much about traditional letterpress or how publishing houses collected and organized their typefaces but I wouldn’t have expected a set to contain so many pieces. I was picturing one guy emptying out a banker’s box of letterforms into the river; this sounds like a truckful (wagonful?) that would have required a team of people to unload. Assuming that 500k figure is correct.

    6 votes
    1. FlippantGod
      Link Parent
      It sounds like he was simply very persistent and made regular trips over multiple days.

      It sounds like he was simply very persistent and made regular trips over multiple days.

      1 vote
  3. asteroid
    Link
    This is the best thing I have read all day!

    This is the best thing I have read all day!