Zum Jahreswechsel 1914, Schriftgießerei Eduard Scholz

Zum Jahreswechsel 1914. Gestatte mir hierdurch meinen sehr geschätzten Geschäfts-Freunden die besten Wünsche zu unterbreiten mit dem Ersuchen, das mir bisher entgegengebrachte Vertrauen auch künftighin freundlichst bewahren zu wollen. Hochachtend, Schriftgießerei Eduard Scholz

Translation:

On the occasion of the turn of the year 1914. Allow me herewith to extend my best wishes to my esteemed business friends with the request that the trust they have placed in me to date will be most kindly maintained in the future. Yours sincerely, Eduard Scholz Type Foundry

A politely phrased New Year’s greeting from Schriftgießerei Eduard Scholz in Vienna, set in caps from their Neue Block. This typeface is basically a copy of Berthold’s Reklameschrift Block (1908), but distinguished by smooth contours. Like the precursor from Berlin, it came with a range of alternates and ligatures that helped justify a block of text – see for example the two widths for E in the last two lines. The card also features alternates for F H L T U. The type is framed by two facing griffins – the heraldic animal of printers and typesetters – in sejant erect attitude, holding a pair of ink balls.

Happy New Year! Here’s hoping that it will turn out better than 1914.