Clarendon (typeface)

Clarendon
Category	Serif
Classifications	Slab serif
Designer(s)	Robert Besley
Foundry	Fann Street
	; (Show all characters)
	Sample

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Clarendon is an English slab-serif typeface that was created in England by Robert Besley for the Fann Street Foundry in 1845.^[1] Besley went as far as trying to patent the typeface, and Clarendon is now known as the first registered typeface. However, the patents at the time lasted only three years; as soon as the typeface became popular, it was copied by other foundries.^[2] The original matrices and punches remained at Stephenson Blake and later resided at the Type Museum, London. They were marketed by Stephenson Blake as Consort, though some additional weights (a bold and italics) were cut in the 1950s.

It was named after the Clarendon Press in Oxford. The typeface was reworked by the Monotype foundry in 1935. It was revised by Hermann Eidenbenz in 1953.

The font was used extensively by the government of the German Empire for proclamations during World War I.^{[citation needed]}

Clarendon was used by the United States National Park Service on traffic signs,^[3] but has been replaced by NPS Rawlinson Roadway. In 2008, the typeface was utilized extensively by the Ruby Tuesday restaurant chain in the re-launch of their corporate identity.^[4]