Does Universtiy Roman count?

University Roman, that is.

Scotch Romans are very Victorian, and can be pretty good stuff.

University Roman is, IMHO, horrible, at least in current digital form.

i always thought University Roman is a 70’s type. glad to know otherwise.

plenty of the stuff that was big in the seventies is victorian.

Actually, University Roman is neither a Victorian face nor a 70s face. It’s based on a face called Stunt Roman, from the Speedball Textbooks by Ross George, which appeared in several editions from the 1920s on. In the 13th edition (ca 1938, the earliest I have), it looked like this...

By the 20th edition (issued 1960; reprinted 1965 & 1972), a number of the quirks had been smoothed out, and it looked alot more like the face we’ve come to know as University Roman.

This makes sense—sort of—as lettering. Since the letterer can alter the swashes and proportions at will, they perhaps can make the ’stunt’ work for a few words.

The ’stunt’ is to have extremely wide round letters and extremely narrow straight letters. Ungainly proportions. Then throw on the swashes.

I don’t think it ever worked as a font.

Stunt Roman is beautiful! I never realized it was University Roman’s parent so to speak.

However, I always thought University Roman (Stunt Roman) had Victorian characteristics, not necessarily developed in the Victorian era, but drawing from some of the elements of the day. How wrong am I?

I recall University Roman was huge in the late 1970s, along with ITC Garamond, Souvenir and Korinna.
More of your fave fonts, eh Bill?

My father, who is a big CR Mackintosh fan, has University Roman for the name sign of his house, and insists Mackintosh designed it. Parents!....

Like others who frequent these boards I have feelings about type the way most people do about other people.

Not very rational but:

ITC Garamond I actually think can look good in display, though it is bad in text. I think Tony Stan drew type well, including American Typewriter and Berkeley. So kill me.

Souvenir I think is all around a very good face. It just has a softness that is out of fashion—or it it coming back?

Korinna I don’t know.

University Roman they should kill and put a stake through its heart, before it can extend its evil tendrils further :)

Edit: Nick, looking at the numerals, I see they don’t suffer from the truly ungainly proportions of the rest.

To get back on track a bit, Carter & Cone’s Monticello is a sort-of-scotch roman & much better rendered than the various PostScript Caledonia’s & Linotype Scotch Roman for setting text.

Princeton commissioned the digital Monticello (non-exclusive). I believe you can buy it from Linotype as well, but in the early days at least, it didn’t have the full character compliment that the fonts from Carter & Cone had. Besides, one should support the small foundries.

If if bothers you that Monticello is derived from a Binney & Ronaldson (i.e., American) typeface, then use one of the horrible PostScript Scotch romans — just remember that B&R were good thieves, so I’d say it is a “name thing.”

Thanks everyone! I’m leaning towards the direction of Souvenir, but I’ll try most of your suggestions.