Everyone loves the Page chromatic type specimen (1874), but it seems that no one loves it more than Nick Sherman, a digital type guy by day, who shared some of the discoveries he’s made while obsessing about the book. Sherman’s images of specimen pages, bringing oohs and ahhs from the audience, prompted him to admit that turning each page is “like getting punched in the face over and over.”

“Chromatic type” is wood type printed in two colors from two separate blocks. Its letterforms are diverse and range in complexity; in some, the two colors overlap in places and are both cut away in others, giving the illusion of four colors. Chromatic type’s flowering in the second half of the 19^th century was a letterpress response to the freedom of letterform and color in the emerging technology of chromolithography.

Wood type was made with a router via a pantograph from a master pattern. The patterns for both parts of the letter were cut into the same block, which helps explain the amazing registration. Sherman speculated that the router may have influenced the designs – rounded shapes were easy, but sharp inner corners required hand work.

William Page was an innovator who transformed the making of wood type. In the end, though, William H. Page & Co was bought out by Hamilton. The irony is that although Hamilton’s production techniques and designs were rather shoddy in comparison to Page’s, it is Hamilton which is now honored with a museum (of which Sherman is on the artistic board).

To get a hint of what the fuss is about, see Columbia’s digital copy at http://www.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/cul/resolve?clio10147342, or wait for the facsimile currently in preparation by RIT—but take Nick’s advice to see an original if possible.