On The Semiquincentennial
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On the semiquincentennial, as we contemplate the disturbing irony of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in which the American colonies set out to rid themselves of the tyranny of monarchs, readers may be curious to know that the Declaration in it’s first printed form (known as the Dunlap Broadside) was set in type imported from the Caslon letter foundry in Chiswell St in the City of London.
Caslon’s four lines pica of 1766 was used for the word ‘DECLARATION’
Caslon’s English Roman was used for the body type
The Caslon letter foundry in Chiswell St
Let us also remember the words of John Adams, writing against the injustice of punitive taxes imposed by the British government upon the American colonies. Such was the reputation of Spitalfields for Radicalism at that time.
“I won’t buy one shilling worth of anything that comes from Old England, till the Stamp Act is appealed, nor shall my sons and daughters; I’d rather the Spittlefield weavers should pull down all the houses in Old England, and knock the brains out of all the wicked great men there, than this country should lose their liberty.”
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