I think those samples are Caledonia, by W. A. Dwiggins, which has been around since the late 30's, and is a very popular text font.

Bitstream's Transitional 511 is their version of Caledonia.

There is also New Caledonia, which I suppose is a slightly modernized version that looks virtually identical.

I hate disagree with you Mike, but I think this looks more like Baskerville to me. It's got some not-quite-Baskerville-ness to it (like the closed bottom loop on the g), but I think it's a closer match than Caledonia. IMHO.

It's OK for us to disagree Mark. Usually I learn something when that happens. One of the other not-quite-Baskerville-ness features that set me off in the other direction is the Q in Sample 1. I couldn't find ANY Baskervilles with a Q like that. It looks like some sort of Scotch (Caledonia, or Bruce Old Style -- but not Scotch Roman). I agree certain letters like the C and t look more Baskervillian, so Caledonia isn't quite right, for sure. Bruce Old Style has the wrong C serifs, but has a better Q and J than any Baskerville I can find, and the t is closer than Caledonia's.

So far, I don't feel very good about any of the suggestions. Do you have any other ideas? (here are the samples below, so we can see them more easily)

The 's' is also interesting.... no top serif sticking up, and the 'u' seems to have flat top serifs, rather than angled.

I think it has the gestalt of Old Style No. 7/Bruce Old Style. I know very little about metal type, but presumably if there was an Old Style No. 7 there were at least six others that didn't make the leap to digital format. Perhaps this is one of those -- retains the overall qualities of Bruce Old Style, but differs in some details?

I got it: Linotype Georgian (see page 103 in Jaspert). I don't think this has made it to digital. Interesting face, though. I thought there was something English-looking about it.

Well done Mark! I agree that looks like it. Mystery solved. I appreciate you keeping me on my toes -- it's tempting to stop looking with the first thing that fits a few of the earmarks without looking at all the letters. You're very thorough. I will try harder to emulate that.

Yeah, that's a pretty obscure one. Never noticed it before. According to Jaspert,

"A roman dating from c. 1790, perhaps from the Fry Foundry, but its early history is obscure. ... Linotype Georgian designed by G. W. Jones (and Victorian) are similar to the Stephenson Blake design, but there are a number of small differences...."

It doesn't say when any of the others were done and it appears this face was only in use in England. I've never noticed it before this. It's not in any of my other books. Very interesting face.

An Atlas of Typeforms shows Georgian, and says that it is based primarily on an Alexander Wilson face.

Oh, thanks! I don't usually look there.

This turned out to be both an educational and expensive thread for me. John's post about 'An Atlas of Typeforms' got me looking for a copy, which led to finding an old Intertype Catalog, which in turn led to finding a 1912 ATF Specimen Book (I always wanted one of these). I bought all three, a total of about 2,000 pages of type books, for just under $200, which feels like a bargain.