“MacFarland was cut in 1899 by Inland Type Foundry,
adapted from Römische Antiqua of Genzsch & Heyse in
Germany. It is named in honor of Mr. J. Horace MacFarland,
prominent printer of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. At about the same
time, the foundry of A. D. Farmer & Son cut essentially the same
typeface [though
De Vinne says they differ] from the same source, naming it
Bradford after the first noted printer of New York;
and Hansen issued Crawford, another look-alike. The
Inland typefaces, along with Condensed MacFarland designed and cut
in 1903, went to ATF when that foundry acquired Inland in 1912. The
typefaces have some relationship to Elzevir or
French Old Style, but are heavier, though not as heavy
as the related De
Vinne series. Lacking the eccentricities of some
characters of DeVinne, these typefaces became popular
for book titles and other work for More…
“MacFarland was cut in 1899 by Inland Type Foundry, adapted from Römische Antiqua of Genzsch & Heyse in Germany. It is named in honor of Mr. J. Horace MacFarland, prominent printer of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. At about the same time, the foundry of A. D. Farmer & Son cut essentially the same typeface [though De Vinne says they differ] from the same source, naming it Bradford after the first noted printer of New York; and Hansen issued Crawford, another look-alike. The Inland typefaces, along with Condensed MacFarland designed and cut in 1903, went to ATF when that foundry acquired Inland in 1912. The typefaces have some relationship to Elzevir or French Old Style, but are heavier, though not as heavy as the related De Vinne series. Lacking the eccentricities of some characters of DeVinne, these typefaces became popular for book titles and other work for which DeVinne was considered unsuitable. Keystone’s Dickens is very similar but a little lighter; it is known as Classic on Linotype, but 18-point Classic Italic is the equivalent of MacFarland Italic.” [McGrew 1993]
