Have a look at FF Clifford (very nice), or Caslon.

Thanks!

I like Caslon very much, I'd like to see more. Can anyone site an instance where this typeface is used in a book?

Zoe.

Okay, so what's the difference between
Caslon Old Style 337
www.lanstontype.com/CaslonATF.html

and

Adobe Caslon Pro?
http://www.adobe.com/type/browser/P/P_1712.jhtml

Will be doing the prepress work using either In Design or Pagemaker...

And what about Founder's Caslon?
http://www.hwcaslon.com/catp2.asp

I'm now thoroughly confused...and am beginning to have a deep appreciation for the professionals this trade.

Caslon Old Style 337 is a faithful rendering of the original metal face of the same name, which in turn was an early 20th century revival. I believe Mr. Giampa worked directly from the metal type. This is great if you are going to use letterpress printing (a lot of letterpress printers like these because of this), but they will tend to look a little thin in offset printing.

Adobe Caslon is a recent (c. 1990) revival of the original 18th century Caslon types done by Carol Twombly at Adobe. It's a very modern purely digital adaptation with a lot of corrections and smoothing out of the design while still capturing the flavor of the original. The overall feel is similar to Caslon Old Style, but without the quirks.

Founder's Caslon is an facsimile reproduction by Justin Howe of Caslon's original types, warts and all. The most striking thing about this version is that, instead of doing one design that captures the general look of all the different sizes Caslon cut, there are many different fonts, each based on a particular size of the original Caslon. Using this, you could make a reasonable facsimile of the way metal type used to look, when every size was a separately cut font.

Of these three, I would go with either Adobe Caslon or Founder's Caslon, depending on the look you're after. Founder's would be better if you need to use it in display sizes, not just text.

Also, you might look at some of the suggestions we offered in a couple of threads earlier this month, one is here, but I can't seem to find the other one. I'll post a link if I find it.

If you're working in InDesign, you're in luck, because both Founder's and Adobe Caslon have Opentype versions. (Mind you, if you want 337, you might contact Gerald about an OT version.)

OK, great. Thanks for all the help.

We have decided to go with Adobe Caslon with Bickham embellishments. Accurate historical context and nice look.

So how do I buy the opentype versions - do I just buy Adobe Caslon Pro? I can work either on Mac or PC, I have both. Have not yet purchased InDesign, was planning to check out the demos.

Zoe.

Ok, so I went to linoytpe.com and printed a sample of the text. It rendered really funny, with uneven blotches of ink across the text. Is this the way it will look?

Here with Bickham...just a test w/out transparency

I actually kind of like this. Is that linotype.com tool just a rendering of what the text would look like if it were actually pressed and not digitally published?

Zoe.

You should download the pdf from Adobe's site and print it on your laser printer to get a better idea what it will look like (see the pdf near the bottom of the page here). The samples you posted are just the way it looks on a computer screen.

"So how do I buy the opentype versions - do I just buy Adobe Caslon Pro?"

When you purchase InDesign CS Caslon Pro is included in the bundle.

If you really want the look to be old fashioned you should make sure to use old-style (non-lining) figs for the numbers and also you could try beginning each chapter, or section, with a phrase in small caps. Adobe Caslon has an expert collection.

Adobe Caslon Pro includes all the expert characters in the main fonts. You need an OpenType aware application like InDesign or Illustrator CS to get to them (I think).