Origin uncertain, but the 1892 Boston/Central catalog notes it as “patented” with a patent pending on the Bold style. Used already in 1884. A similar design was issued by Inland as Extended Old Style, ft. an ‘R’ where the leg doesn’t enter the counter.
Cast in Germany by AG für Schriftgießerei and Schelter & Giesecke as Mediäval breit mager. Listed with a note “Centr. Typ. F., St. Louis 1840” in Seemann.
See also the even wider Old Style Expanded.