19cWTHappy Birthday Horatio Nelson Bill—born in Lebanon, Connecticut, on this day March 25, 1824.
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Horatio worked as a sign painter before he (and brother Jeremiah) cut wood type for Edwin Allen in Windham, Connecticut. The brothers formed their own wood type company, H & J Bill, in 1850 based in Lebanon. They moved the company six miles north to Willimantic in 1851. The company was known as Bill, Stark & Co 1853–1854. In late 1854 the company was shuttered and subsequently sold to William H. Page in 1856. Horatio was listed as Type Maker on his 1863 draft registration and listed variously as a sign painter, house painter, and fine arts painter in the 1870s and 1880s.
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Image is of Tuscan Open as shown in the 1853 _Specimens of Machinery Cut Wood Type, Manufactured by Bill, Stark & Company, Willimantic, Connecticut._ (held in the ATF Library Collection at Columbia University, Rare Books & Manuscripts.
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19cWT Happy Birthday Horatio Nelson Bill—born in Lebanon, Connecticut, on this day March 25, 1824.
Show more——————
Horatio worked as a sign painter before he (and brother Jeremiah) cut wood type for Edwin Allen in Windham, Connecticut. The brothers formed their own wood type company, H & J Bill, in 1850 based in Lebanon. They moved the company six miles north to Willimantic in 1851. The company was known as Bill, Stark & Co 1853–1854. In late 1854 the company was shuttered and subsequently sold to William H. Page in 1856. Horatio was listed as Type Maker on his 1863 draft registration and listed variously as a sign painter, house painter, and fine arts painter in the 1870s and 1880s.
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Image is of Tuscan Open as shown in the 1853 _Specimens of Machinery Cut Wood Type, Manufactured by Bill, Stark & Company, Willimantic, Connecticut._ (held in the ATF Library Collection at Columbia University, Rare Books & Manuscripts.
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#WoodType #TypeSpecimen #TypeDesign #letterforms #typography #letterpress #type #design #GraphicDesign #NineteenthCentury #OnThisDay #birthday #bibliography #archives #libraries #collections