Roslindale is a serif typeface that follows in the footsteps of De Vinne, originally published in the 1890s by the Central Type Foundry and named for the famed nineteenth century printer. It’s an oldstyle that can’t shake its Victorian sensibilities, with sharp, stubby serifs, bulbous terminals, and the occasional hint of diagonal stress.
In text, you’ll find Roslindale to be stylish and sturdy; in display, it begins to flirt with the slickness of 1970s De Vinne interpretations like ITC Bernase. The result can be a bit cheesy at times, but it’s more of a creamy brie than a stinky bleu.
I first became interested in the De Vinne style in 2015, when Indra Kupferschmid invited me to tag along on a visit to the workshop of Patrick Goossens. Patrick is a collector in Antwerp with an amazing array of presses and type, and among the slabs and grots in his wood type collection I found this bizarre ugly duckling.
Even though I only emerged with a single blurry photo, I was charmed by its clunkiness and the unforgettable tension between the historicized look of the oldstyle letterforms and the rational mind of the Victorian designer.
This offbeat “Elzevir” type made me wonder: can a typeface be simple and ornate at the same time? The idea sat around for a while, until Nick Sherman suggested that I take another look at De Vinne. Shortly thereafter, surrounded by specimen books in the lovely studio of Okay Type’s Jackson Cavanaugh, I started to formulate what my take on De Vinne should be.
Named after the Boston neighborhood, Roslindale’s first style was published in June 2017 when I sent it out to my Font of the Month Club. Since then I’ve been growing the family bit by bit, and thinking about how this old style fits in to today’s typographic landscape (with helpful feedback from club members, of course). Today, the series covers a wide range of weights in Text and Display variants, plus a special “Deck” size for subheads and big text.
Theodore Low De Vinne was an American printer and scholarly author on typography. De Vinne did much for the improvement of American printing. De Vinne was born at Stamford, Connecticut, and educated in the common schools of the various towns where his father had pastorates. He developed the ability to be a printer while employed in a shop at Fishkill, New York.He worked at the Newburgh, New York Gazette, then moved to New York City. In 1849 he entered the establishment of Francis Hart, and worked there until 1883 when the business was renamed Theodore L. De Vinne & Co.In 1886, he moved to a model plant designed by him on Lafayette Place, which still stands.De Vinne either commissioned Linn Boyd Benton, or co-designed in conjunction with Benton, the hugely popular Century Roman typeface for use by The Century Magazine, which his firm printed. For use at his own press, he also commissioned Linotype to produce De Vinne, an updated Elzevir (or French Oldstyle) type, and the Bruce Typefoundry to produce Renner, a Venetian face.He was one of nine men who founded the Grolier Club, and he was printer to the Club for the first two decades of its existence and designed and printed most of its publications during his lifetime. He was also a founder and the first president of the United Typothetae of America, a predecessor of the Printing Industries of America. Theodore Low De Vinne was an American printer and scholarly author on typography. De Vinne did much for the improvement of American printing. De Vinne was born at Stamford, Connecticut, and educated in the common schools of the various towns where his father had pastorates. He developed the ability to be a printer while employed in a shop at Fishkill, New York.He worked at the Newburgh, New York Gazette, then moved to New York City. In 1849 he entered the establishment of Francis Hart, and worked there until 1883 when the business was renamed Theodore L. De Vinne & Co.In 1886, he moved to a model plant designed by him on Lafayette Place, which still stands.De Vinne either commissioned Linn Boyd Benton, or co-designed in conjunction with Benton, the hugely popular Century Roman typeface for use by The Century Magazine, which his firm printed. For use at his own press, he also commissioned Linotype to produce De Vinne, an updated Elzevir (or French Oldstyle) type, and the Bruce Typefoundry to produce Renner, a Venetian face.He was one of nine men who founded the Grolier Club, and he was printer to the Club for the first two decades of its existence and designed and printed most of its publications during his lifetime. He was also a founder and the first president of the United Typothetae of America, a predecessor of the Printing Industries of America.Theodore Low De Vinne was an American printer and scholarly author on typography. De Vinne did much for the improvement of American printing. De Vinne was born at Stamford, Connecticut, and educated in the common schools of the various towns where his father had pastorates. He developed the ability to be a printer while employed in a shop at Fishkill, New York.He worked at the Newburgh, New York Gazette, then moved to New York City. In 1849 he entered the establishment of Francis Hart, and worked there until 1883 when the business was renamed Theodore L. De Vinne & Co.In 1886, he moved to a model plant designed by him on Lafayette Place, which still stands.De Vinne either commissioned Linn Boyd Benton, or co-designed in conjunction with Benton, the hugely popular Century Roman typeface for use by The Century Magazine, which his firm printed. For use at his own press, he also commissioned Linotype to produce De Vinne, an updated Elzevir (or French Oldstyle) type, and the Bruce Typefoundry to produce Renner, a Venetian face.He was one of nine men who founded the Grolier Club, and he was printer to the Club for the first two decades of its existence and designed and printed most of its publications during his lifetime. He was also a founder and the first president of the United Typothetae of America, a predecessor of the Printing Industries of America.
Roslindale is a primarily residential neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, bordered by Jamaica Plain, Hyde Park, West Roxbury and Mattapan. It is served by an MBTA Commuter Rail line, several MBTA bus lines and the MBTA Orange Line in nearby Jamaica Plain. Roslindale has its own branch of the Boston Public Library, the neighborhood is covered by Boston Police District E-5 in West Roxbury, EMS Ambulance 17 is stationed in Roslindale, and the Boston Fire Department has a station on Canterbury Street which houses Ladder 16, Engine 53 & District Chief 12. Roslindale’s original Engine Company 45, was deactivated on April 10, 1981, due to budget cuts. The portion of the Arnold Arboretum south of Bussey Street is located in Roslindale.
In the 1860s, the area was called South Street Crossing, due to the railroad’s intersection with South Street. However, when the community applied for a post office district of its own, the name South Street Crossing proved to be unacceptable to the government. The name Roslindale was suggested by John Pierce, a well traveled member of the community, who told the assembled citizens that the area reminded him of the historic town of Roslin, Scotland, outside Edinburgh. Pierce thought the area was like a dale because of the hills surrounding it. Thus the combination of “Roslin” and “dale” was submitted to the United States Postal Service and the name Roslindale was formally established. Roslindale grew residentially as a classic streetcar suburb. The railway was built after the American Civil War, and spawned a new round of commercial development. Roslindale saw steady growth in its residential population, beginning in the 1880s, with the introduction of the horse-drawn street railway service between Forest Hills and Dedham. On March 14, 1887, a Boston & Providence Railroad train consisting of a locomotive and nine passenger cars inbound from Dedham to Boston with over 200 passengers, was passing over a bridge at Bussey Street, in the current Arnold Arboretum, when the bridge collapsed causing the rear five cars to pile up on top of each other, killing twenty-three and injuring over one hundred. This is considered one of the first major rail catastrophes in the country, and contributed to the widespread inspection of train bridges across the U.S.
Get Roslindale!
Even though the Roslindale family is still growing, you can order what I’ve got, and get a free upgrade to the released version once it’s ready! Variable fonts are included in most packages at no extra charge.
Desktop Format:
OpenType CFF Format (Postscript OTF)
Web Formats:
Web OpenType Font Format (WOFF & WOFF2)
App Format:
OpenType TrueType (TTF)
Language Support: Latin, Western & Eastern European • Latin, Vietnamese
Cases: Uppercase • Lowercase
Figures: Lining
Stylistic Alternates: R with serifed leg • Upright M • High-waisted M • Italic tailed forms • Cursive forms • Single-story a • Single-story g • Roman serifed forms • Roman block forms • Two-story a • Two-story g