The 4- and 5-point sizes have a single-loop g. Monotype composition sizes of Franklin Gothic have been greatly modi- fied to fit a standard arrangement 12-point is shown in the specimen-notice the narrow figures and certain other poorly reproportioned characters. Franklin Gothic Condensed Italic was added by Whedon Davis in 1967. Although Benton started a wide version along with the others, it was abandoned the present Franklin Gothic Wide was drawn by Bud (John L.) Renshaw about 1952. Franklin Gothic Condensed and Extra Condensed were also designed by Benton, in 1906 Italic by the same designer in 1910 and Condensed Shaded in 1912 as part of the "gray typography" series. The principal specimen here is Monotype, but the basic font is virtually an exact copy of the ATF typeface in display sizes, except that Monotype has added f- ligatures and diphthongs. Franklin Gothic is characterized by a slight degree of thick-and-thin contrast by the double-loop g which has become a typically American design in gothic typefaces by the diagonal ends of curved strokes (except in Extra Condensed) and by the oddity of the upper end of C and c being heavier than the lower end. All of these typefaces bear more resem- blance to each other than do the typefaces within some other single families. Franklin Gothic (named for Benjamin Franklin) not only became a family in its own right, but also lent its characteristics to Lightline Gothic. Designed in 1902 by Morris Fuller Benton, it was one of the first important modernizations of traditional nineteenth-century typefaces by that designer, after he was assigned the task of unifying and improving the varied assortment of designs inherited by ATF from its twenty-three predecessor companies. Mac McGrew: Franklin Gothic might well be called the patriarch of modern American gothics. Digital versions exist by Bitstream, Elsner&Flake (in a version called ATF Franklin Gothic), Red Rooster (called Franklin Gothic Pro, 2011), Linotype, and ITC ( ITC Franklin Gothic). Solo's version, Comtesse, Elite Kanzlei (1905, Stempel), Meta, Lipsia, QHS Nadejda (QHS Soft), Blackletter 681, Marriage (Softmaker), Wedding Text TL (by Tomas Liubinas). Wedding Text has been copied so often it is sickening: Wedding Regular and Headline (HiH, 2007), Dan X. 1901: Wedding Text (some put this in 1907), Old English Text, Engravers' Old English (a blackletter font remade by Bitstream).Digitizations by Elsner&Flake, Bitstream and URW. This was a complete redraw of Century Roman which was designed in 1894 by his father, Linn Boyd Benton, for Theodore Low DeVinne, the publisher of Century Magazine. 1900: Century Expanded (1900: poster by Heather Leonhardt).Roycroft Tinted is a very unusual face, in which the typeface is engraved with the equivalent of a halftone screen of about 25 percent tone value, with a black shadow on the right side this typeface was cut by the Dickinson Type Foundry branch of ATF in Boston, and includes the same special characters as Roycroft. ATF gave specific instructions for their intended use: "M with the short vertex, in words the letters of which are open R with the long tail, as a final letter in all-cap words the wide h, m, and n, as a final letter only t with the swash tail, as a final letter but not too frequently u with the descending stroke, in words having no descending letters ct ligature, wherever possible the long s and its combinations, in antique work." Roycroft Open was cut in 1902, probably from the same patterns as the parent face. Many typefaces of the day had a number of alternate characters. Roycroft is also said to be the first typeface for which the large size of 120-point was engraved in type metal, with matrices made by electrotyping. October 4, 1900." While the machine was originally designed in 1884 to cut punches rather than matrices, it is doubtful that no fonts of mats were cut before 1900. Bullen, ATF librarian and historian, says, "The first font of type to be made from matrices directly engraved on the Benton machine was 24-point Roycroft. Gerry Powell, director of typographic design for ATF in the 1940s, says, "Roycroft was first known as Buddy, changed when it was adopted by Elbert Hubbard for the Roycroft Press." Henry L. then a popular weekly magazine, and has been credited to Lewis Buddy, a former Post artist and letterer, but ATF says it was designed "partly" by Morris Benton, about 1898. It was inspired by lettering used by the Saturday Evening Post. Mac McGrew on Roycroft: Roycroft was one of the most popular of a number of rugged typefaces used around the turn of the century, when printing with an antique appearance was in vogue. He managed the ATF type design program from 1892 until 1937. 1948, Morristown, NJ), who published over 200 alphabets at ATF. TYPE DESIGN INFORMATION PAGE last updated on