If you are a font-lover, this will make you smile. The American Type Founders Company 1923 Specimen Book and Catalogue is a very hard-to-find book with 1148 pages of typefaces, typeface accessories, printing equipment, and insights into printing as it was in 1923. My favorite font (Caslon) is in this book, along with many others.
David Armstrong at Sevanti Letterpress has digitized the 1923 American Type Founders Company Specimen Book and Catalogue. It is in the public domain. Click here to find the digitized book. Click here to read more about the digitizing process.
Linda and I, as Piece O’ Cake Designs, were self-published for 8 years and I was in charge of all things related to layout. It was at that time that I really started to pay attention to different fonts and how they worked. These days I use fonts on the website and blog, and in downloadable patterns. When I want to put text into a quilt, I enjoy having access to the huge variety of fonts that are available today.
Even if fonts are not your thing, this book is laid out well and is full of surprises. You never know where that next cool idea is going to come from—it could be here. Enjoy!
PS – I learned about this from Chuck Green’s newsletter, which is always interesting.
Piece O Cake Blog 
Wow! This is a really neat book and so glad to see it digitized!
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Dear Becky,
I forwarded this News Post on Piece O Cake Blog to my sister. She is a non-quilter but does calligraphy professionally for weddings and other clients. Below is her response:
>> This is so cool that I won’t even let myself glance at it or I will be spending entire days on it, rather than actually working! Because I am a fontaholic, & I am very early in my recovery! (One font is too many, a gazillion fonts are not enough……)
Diane Lovejoy Sent from my iPad
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It is cool! I’m with your sister.
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