Sans serif Bishop Marks from 1673

Abstract

Research Presentation: Sans serif Bishop Marks from 1673.

Historical research is utilized within the production of an alphabet of letterforms which explore the context for the sans serif Bishop Marks from 1673. The limited published history, along with original (primary source) examples on post, were studied within the production of an experimental digital typeface of the date-stamp glyphs. This initial font is planned for commercialisation within a functional computer font for the next REF.

The letterform modelling and characteristics of this font represent a late seventeenth and eighteenth century typographic serif-less idiom which informed the regular weight of the ETRVSCA Sans Typeface (submitted to REF21). Bishop Sans is physically realized within the production of a letterpress type specimen of the date font.

This work makes a contribution of ‘new knowledge’ to type design history which has always accepted the sans serif letterform as being principally an early nineteenth-century phenomenon with only incidental and minimal development through the eighteenth century. This presentation proves that deliberately serif-less ‘sans’ typography was commonplace and public-facing throughout the age of the enlightenment, and that the production of hand stampers, originally in metal and later with removable component dates justifies these letters being described as ‘moveable type’.

Abstract: Following the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Charles II appointed a Postmaster General to control a postal delivery system that was widely abused and corrupted. The ‘Colonel’, Henry Bishop (1611-1691/2), introduced in 1661 a post office date recording stamping process to clearly mark all authorised post. Bishop announced: “A stamp is invented that is putt upon every letter shewing the day of the moneth that every letter comes to the office, so that no Letter Carryer may dare detayne a letter from post to post; which before was usual” (Hendy, 1905, pp. 3-4). A forerunner of the much later date-cancelled pre-paid postage stamp ‘the Penny black’ introduced in 1840 — these ‘Bishop Marks’, are thought to have been first cut in metal and later from boxwood with the date of every month. Initially the in-relief numbers and letters were in a Roman serif face, but from 1673 a (curios) serif-less Roman was cut which appears to have had more affinity to primitive Saxon or early Graeco-Roman forms, than the contemporary typefaces of the late seventeenth century. Some Bishop Mark stampers even appear to use a system of movable type date numbers to reduce the quantities of ink stamps needed.

Possibly devised for the expediency of the ink-stamp cutting, or to dispense with the fragility of fine serifs, or perhaps to limit ink squash or clogging — these serif-less forms endured up until c.1787. These deliberate forms utilised the classical Latin alphabet, with abbreviations of two capital letters to indicate the month, with the Roman ‘V’ to represent ‘U’ in ‘AV’ for August, and the Roman ‘I’ for ‘J’ in ‘IV’ and ‘IY’ for the months of June and July. This practice of abbreviating the month in post office hand-stamping continued well into the 20th century until more mechanised forms of sorting and franking letters were introduced in general post offices.

More importantly for type historians these significant examples of a printed serif-less Sans letterforms precede the first sans serif typeface of c.1812-16 by a hundred and forty years. Examples of Bishop’s boxwood ink-stamps do not appear to have survived, although it’s possible examples may well reside in private stamp collections? But large numbers of ephemeral ‘Bishop Mark’ letters remain in existence amongst ‘pre-stamp’ collectors — providing the opportunity for a late seventeenth-century sans serif typeface revival. Why then does this, deliberate and prolific ‘Sans’ in wide circulation, fail to be recorded within any of the previously recognised histories of the development of the sans serif typeface? A beautiful ‘everyday’ letter which has until now it seems, been completely overlook?

The research presentation also included example specimens of the ETRVSCA Sans font in development for dissemination and feedback critique from industry professionals.

TypeTursday London: https://www.typethursday.org/london

ARRO: https://arro.anglia.ac.uk/view/creators/Melton%3D3AJon%3D3A%3D3A.html

ARU Figshare: https://aru.figshare.com/articles/presentation/San_serif_Bishop_Marks_from_1673/9771983

Researcher's Website: http://emfoundry.com

Full text

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1800s&Postman&on&horseback delivers&mail&to&provincial&family &–from&a&1866&print&from&a&painting&by&Frederick&
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1

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Hello,&I’m&Jon&Melton…
Bish op& M ark s& are& a&ha nd-struck&bisected circular&date !"#$% from&the&17th Century
that&was&applied&to&all&post&up&to&the&introduction& of&pre-paid&adhesive&labels…
and&the&reason&we&call&these&labels&‘stamps’&–ever&since&the&introduction& of&the& ‘Penny &Bla ck ’&in&1840.
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3

The&first&Bishop&Mark&date&stamps&known&as&Type&I&from&1661-1673&were&of&Serifed&type.&Type&I&'()from&1673-
1713…were&unserifed.
…(left&is&an&example&Type&I&Serifed&from&1668,&and&Right&Type&IA&San-serif& f rom &1706 .
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4

They&were&introduced&following the&‘Res toration&of&the&Monarchies’&and&the&‘farming’&out&of&the&Post&in&1661&–by&
our&First&Postmaster-General…
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5

Colonel& Henry&Bishop (1611-1691),&originally&confirmed&as&‘Master&of&Running&Messages’&on&14th August&1660,&–
he&was&appointed&as&the&first&Postmaster-General&by&a&Roy al&Proclamation&dated&16th&January &1661.
Seen&here&on&a&vintage&postcard&of&his&portrait,&in&the&collection& at&Parham&Park&in&West&Sussex.
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6

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delay s,
but&probably&also&to&stem&the&individual&profiteering&by&those&employed&to&collect&and&deliv er&post.
All&post&from&England&and&Wales&was&‘town’&or&route&postmarked&and&went&to&London,… Edinburgh&in& Scotland&
and&Dublin& in&Ireland.&When&it&was&date-stamped&with&the&fee&penned&in&ink&that&was&to&be&charged&upon&deliv ery
before&it& was&distributed&via&our&post& roads.
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http://www.ilcollezionista.bolaffi.it/2013/02/il-bishop-britannico-il-primo-bollo-postale-del-mondo/
7

There&was&a&Commemorative&Sheet&issued&for&The&London&International&Stamp&Exhibition&of&July&1960.&Marking&
the&Tercentenary&of&his&appointment.
This&sheet&shows&the&majority&of&the&early&Date&Stamps&as&san&serif,&and&using&what&becomes&a&standard two-
letter& abbreviation&for&the&Month:&‘FE’&for&February;&‘MR’&March;&‘AP’&April;&’MA’&May;&etc.
AND&using&the&Classical Rom an&alphabet&‘IV’&for&June; &‘I Y’&July ; &’AV’&August…(and&although&not&shown&‘IA’&for&
January).
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were&developed&in&Scotland&in&the&late&17th Century,
This&idea&evolved&into…ingenious&a nd&complex&meta l&type&sets&within&ca ncel-date&stampers&of&the&19th century&-
which&by&this&time&are&almost&exclusively&in&!#.!)!-3+5)type.
Incidentally&the&collecting&of&envelopes&with&postmarks&is&called&!"#$%&'()*+,
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10

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11

Following&the&introduction& of&san serif&date&stamps&in&1673,&known&as&‘Type&IA’&GC'H,…
the&numerical ‘da y ’&is &sw itche d&to& the& bo ttom& of&t he&b ise cted & sta mp& and &the& two&l ette r&mo nth& a bbrev ia tion &to&th e&
top& in&1713,&which&are&referred&to&as&‘Type&II’&GJH.
The&stamps&then&get&larger&and&there&is&much&variation&within&the&letterforms,& and&the&impressions&suffer&from&
under-inking&or& greater&ink&squash…
–but&principally& da te-stampers&remain&serif-less&right&up&until&1787-8…
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Lowe,&R.&(1947)&-./01()234 ,5(.&61,78/9$./0,./0,:.$'1;<,Encyclopaedia&of&British&Empire&Postage&Stamps.&Robson&
Lowe&Ltd,&London.&p.17.
12

…when&they&became&serifed&once&more,&and&the&General&Post&Office&starts&experimented&with&serif&letterforms&in&
the&round.
With&date&stamps&becoming&a&little&more&reminiscent&of&the&round&cancel-date&frank ing&system&we&recognise&
today .
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13

This&Type&II&GJH)Bishop&M ark&in&sans&s erif&is &of February&1702.&Under-inked&so&stamped&twice,&it&clearly&shows&a&
letter& without& serifs&but&with&flared&stroke&modelling.
Many&of&the 18th Century&sans&serif&Bishop&Mark s&display&a&variety&of&letterform&s tyles&ranging&from&lineal&strokes&
to&vestigia l&or&flared&serifs.
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14

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letterform.
The&’M’&and&‘R’&of&March&are&normally&seen&ligatured&on&Bishop&M a rk &da te&stamps,&and&the&caps&of&‘A’&and&‘P’&of&
April&and&the&‘M’&and&‘A’&of&May&were&combined.
I’m&also&currently&exploring&the&possibility&that&town-stamps&(which&were&almost&exclusively&in&serif&type)&such&as&
‘OXF ORD’&seen&here&–utilised&moveable&type&held&in&a&stamp&head&such&as&this&19th century&ebony&and&brass&
stamper?
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15

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mind&of&the&flared&stroke&letterforms&which appear&on&Roman&Brick&and&Tile&stamps.
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16

…some&were&even&a&mixture&of&serif-less&da te&fig ures&and&serifed&month&letters!
So&what&did&early&17th and&18th Century&da te-stampers&look&like?
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17

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19th Century &ink &postage&stampers with&turned&wooded&handles&looked&like&this.&And&I&suspect&earlier&18th century&
ones&would&hav e&look ed&similar&but&with& a&round stamp&head?
This is&a&post-due&‘6d&TO &PAY&UNPAID&PO STED’&stamper from&the&late&19th Century using&sans serif&type.
17th century&ones&may&of&course&look ed&like&plain&Wax&Seal&Stampers?&Such&as&these…
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would&have&cut&stamps&for&the&General Post&Office&in&Edinburgh.
But& s ome& phila telis ts& belie v e&tha t&the &pos t&off ice& work ers& cut&the ir& own& sta mps ,&–which&given&the&specialist&
nature&of&cutting&desk &seals,&stamps&and&intaglios&-K)L0-!"+4.?
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engraver&and&etcher&in&Edinburgh&around&1780.
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The&S cottish Post&Office&in&Edinburgh&stamped&Bis hop&Mark s&from&1693&onwards&but&retained&se rifed&type&in&the&
original&form&with&the&month&abbrev iation&on&the&top.
Following&the&ama lgamation&of&the&British&Post&Offices&in&1707&they&began&to&stamp&in&‘RED’.&This &late&1797&Bishop&
Mark&example,&is&dated&‘F E’&11&in&serif&for&11th of&February&–the&stamp&shows&a &mis aligned&top&to&bottom&ha lf.
Ever&‘canny’&the&Scots&utilised&a&moveable&two-part&stamper&from&the&late&17th Century .&It&had&a&reusable&‘M onth’&
top& part&which&could& have&a&separate&numerical&day&added&each&morning!
Presumable&to&save&the&cost&of&hav ing&new&stampers&cut&quite&so&reg ularly&as&in&England.
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20

Bish op& M ark s& were &als o&us ed&i n Ireland&from&1672&and&some&images&of&17th Century&examples&show&the&use&of&a&
,-!"+1+#7 or&near&!-3+587-!!)a&year&before&the&first&serif-less&ones&were&used&in&Eng land.
So&sans&serif&date&stampers&may&have&been&‘informed’&by&those&from&Ireland?&But&the&Dublin&mark&above&from&
1780&is&clearly&serifed.
M#.!)!-3+5)Bishop&Mark s&were&eventually&used&in&the&‘colonies’&in&New&York &from&the&1760s.&The&above&sans&serif&
Bish op& M ark &fro m&the &colon ial& period& is& da ted &the&2 3rd September&1773&on&a&letter&sent&from&Boston&
Massachusetts&to&Portsmouth&in&New&Hampshire.
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22

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One theory&may &be&that&the&smaller&early&!-3+5-A stampers&introduced&by&Henry&Bishop&tha t&were&in&meta l&a nd&
that&the&serifs&clogged&with&ink.
When&date&stampers&were&introduced&in&the&19th Century &to&ca ncel&the& adhesive labels&we&call&‘STAMPS’&-the&
General&Post&Office&used&Cleaning&Brushes.&
These&are&from&the&20th Century&–so&Ink&‘clogging’&seems&to&have&been&an&ongoing&issue.
As&these&brushes&are&large!
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23

You&can&find&late&19th and&Early&20th Century&Post&Office&date&stamper&sets.
These&have&movable&metal ty pe&held&within&a&detachable&‘head’&and&used&the&sa me&two-letter&month&
abbreviations&as&the&first&Bishop&Marks.&&
By&the&20th Century&sans&serif&ty pe&certainly&has&become&the&face that&represents&our&Postal&S ervice.
This&is&a&Mid&20th Century&GPO &Da te&S tamper&box&set&with a&later&matrix&for&ORE&HASTINGS&EAST&SUSSEX&set&to&22&
AP&(April)&[20]00.
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25

Serif-less&date&stampers&were&introduced&during&the&tenure&of&U-.3 <)9-..-")the&1st&Earl&of&Arling ton,& in&1673. &
He&was&appointed&the&F ourth&Postmaster-General&in&1667.&Previously&as&an&Ambassador&abroad&concerned&
with&foreign&affairs&and&the&‘Dutch&Threat’,& –he&may &hav e&developed&a&sensibility&for&the&‘Classical&Rev ival’&and&
may&have&been&aware&of&Republican&Roman&serif-less&inscriptions.&And&perhaps&it&was&felt&that&that&the&C#1 "%6,
D.)4,should&share&an&affinity&with&Ancient&Rome.
But& I &su spe ct&tha t&it&( more &lik ely )& refle cts& a&respect&for&Rome’s&Empire&infrastructure,& of&communication,&and&
the&use&of&a&courier& sys tem&called&the&Cursus%Publicus.&A&relay &system&of&staged&posts&adapted&from&the&ancient&
Persians,&with&the&delivery&of&‘official’&correspondence&believed&to&have&been&copied&from&the&third&dynasty &
Egyptians&(c.2778&BC)&who’s&court&officials&marked&communication&with&stamped&red&and&blue&hieroglyphs&
which&translate&as&“In&the&name&of&the&living&king,&speed!”1
Incidentally&the&first&examples&of&a&postmark&in&Europe&come&from&Venice&in&Italy.&They&are&from&the&early &14th
Century &with& penned&instructions&imploring& the&posta l&officials&.4" to&delay&state&correspondence&using&the&
Latin:&‘=#(%, 3#(%11#1&'B,A%$./(#11#1&'E,(Quickly,&very&quickly,&very&fleetingly),&similar&to&our&term&‘post&haste ’&
from&the&1530s,&with&the&word&‘poste’&referring& to&the&sta bling &of&horses&and&relay s&along&the&route<
By&the&16th century&the&French&were&endorsing&their&mail&F'/,0#$#9' /3'E (with&speed&and&care)…The&first&hand-
struck&(stamper)&postmarks&were&from&Milan&in&the&early&15th century,&which&had&the&city&coat&of&arms&and&a&
warning&of&torture:&‘52G,6'/.,?2)3.)2&E,(under&penalty&of&the&forks). 2
The&Romans&used&lead&‘Bullae’&sea ls&to&ens ure&important&dispa tches&were&only &read&by &the&recipient.&Many &of&
these&Bullae&denote&the&sender,&be&it&from&a&Legion,&a&General&or&the&Emperor& himself.&This&one&‘AVG’&‘N’&(top&
rig ht)& i s&from&Emperor&Nero. &A&system&of&ceramic&and&lead&seals&continued&to&be&used&through&the&Byzantine&
into&the&mediev al&period,&right& up&to& the&19th Century &on& cloth&bale&‘goods’& -so&that&they &arrived&un-tampered,&
and&complete.&Many&have&the&year&stamped,&and&19th Century &exa mples&principally &used&sans&serif&type.
But& lik e& Roma n&Brick s tam ps&th ey &al so&uti lise &ma ny &form s&of &se rif-less,&near&lineal&to&vestigial,&to&full-serifed&
letterforms…with&the&sans&serif&varieties&.48A402" making&the&cleaner&impression!
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26

1Foley,&J. (1993) H"',I2#//'11,8/3*3$%6'0#.,%?,5#9/1,J,5*&G%$1.Guinness&Publishing&Ltd,&Enfield. England.
2Harm,& R.&(2015)&K221G)#' ?< ,L.3(1,./0,L'.(1M ,H "',!%1(.$ 5')A#3's.&Stellenbosch&Philatelic&Society:&
https://stbphilatelic.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/sfvapr2015.pdf
Also:
Mackay,&J. (1988) H"' , I2 # // ' 11 ,C % %4 , % ?, 5( .& 6 1 .Guinness&Publishing&Ltd,&Enfield. England.
500BC&–Roma n&Posta l&S y stem:
https://bathpostalmuseum. org.uk /500bc-roman-postal-system.html
Cursus&Publicus:
https://en.m.wik ipedia.org/wiki/Cursus_publicus
26

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27

So,&I’ve&been&studying&serif-less&examples&of&Bishop&Marked&letters,&and&there&would&have&been&countless&
numbers&of&these&sent&through& the&post.
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28

All&original&and&all&sans&serif,&in&order&to inform&my&current&typeface&project&which&was&presented&at&ATypI18&in&
Antwerp.
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29

A&typeface&that&is&based&upon&Sir&John&Soane’s&use&of&serif-less&titling&on&his&architectural& drawings&since&1779…
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30

The&earliest&example&of&this&was&Exhibited at&the&Roy a l&Academy&Summer&Exhibition&of&1779.
Exhibit&number&‘308’& consisted&of:&a&section,&elev ation&and…the&Plan&drawing&above&which&included&two&
distinctive&title&blocks&rendered& as&Roman&stone&(.G2$.,./1.(.,(which&are&architectural&writing& tablet&motifs).
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31

I&have&produced a&display&weight&sans&serif&developed&from&Soane’s&drawings…
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32

With&the&caps&derived&from&an&inscription& on&a&pair&of&gate-houses&a t&Langley&Park &in&Norfolk&c. 1790,&which&is&
likely&Soa ne’s&earliest&and&pos sibly &only &serif-less&inscription&still& in&existence&today!
The&Soane&style&of&serif-les s&letterforms&ha ve&a&wide&‘T’&based&upon&a&square,&a&near&full&circle&‘O’,&equilateral&‘V’&
and&bullets&between&the&words.&It&uses&V&as&‘U’&and&an&I&as&J&that&has&a&very&subtle&of&vestigial&curve.
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33

From&1784&onwards&John&Soane&slowly&promotes&his&serif-less&letterforms&on&his&drawings,&and above&is&an&
elevation&drawing&for&the&gate-house&‘Lodges’&at&Langley&Park.
The South&Lodges&elevation&is&dated&1790,&and&has&a&pair&of&stone&Greyhounds&depicted&with&the&inscription&of&the&
Beaucha mp&F amily &m otto:&T O UJO URS &FI DELE&(Alwa y s&Faithful)&rendered&on&the&plinths&beneath&dog s&with&shields . &
The&commissioned&designs&for&Langley&Park&began&as&early&as&1784&and&were&eventually&completed&by&1793.
I&have&a&chapter&on&H"',1')#?N$'11,$'((')?%)&1,%?,O%"/,5 %./' ,being published&by&Liverpool&University&Press&in&2020.
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34

Iam&generating&a&font&family&that&represents&the&!403O- of&the&earliest&k nown&S ans&Serif&metal&typeface&of&
William&Caslon&IV&(the&4th),&rec orded & in&hi s&ty pe &sp ecim en& book &of &18 16. &It&was&named&‘Two&Lines&English&Egy ptian”
and&was&only&available&in&CAPS. &The&size&‘Two&Lines &E ng lis h”&was&used&for&titling.
Some&page-sections&of&this&specimen&book &have&rece ntly&been&analys es&and&dated&by &John&A.&Lane&as&potentially &
printed,&as&ea rly&a s&1812.
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35

My&ATypI18&Antwerp lecture&identified&the&title& blocks&on&>+3 #.-!+(! engraving&!#./(.,0'$,K#/?'%,0# K')%/',&from&
P',Q/(#3"#(.,R%&./',of&CRVQI)as&the&source&of&Soane’s&inspiration&for&his&titling&on&architectural&drawings.
I&wont&go&into&what&the&ONIONIANA&blocks&are&here.&But&if&you&would&like&to&v iew&my&ATypI&lecture&‘H)2',5%2)3',
%?,("',1./1E,–then&its&on& YouTube…
https://www.y outube. com/watch?v=Iz5X9my_X5Q
→
Tom.I.&(Volume&I.)&&[Tav].XLI&(Plate.41)
36

Soane’s&owned a&copy&of&Q/(#3"#(.,R%&./',&s een&here &with&>#"-WXC GTav.XLI) under&a&magnifier.
Soane’s&edition&was&from&1776,&rebound&as&‘S6'). 0',!#)./'1#E.&The&book&and&plates&are&confirmed&as&being&the&
‘firs t& prin ting ’& of& 1 776 &because&later&reprints&included&Tom. I.&(Volume&1)
at&the&top& left&on&each&plate&from&1778-9&onwards.
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37

The&edges&are&severely&stained&on&this&book&where&one&holds&the&page&of&>7#"-WXC)(Tav.XLI),&reflecting a&huge&
amount&of&handling&by&a&significant&number&of&readers.
Indeed,Georg e&Bailey ,&Soane’s&pupil&and&the&first&curator&of&the&Soane&Museum&from&1837,&commented&in&the&
front& of&the&book&about&its&heav ily&foxed&condition.
We&don’t&know&when&Soane&aquired&his&copy&of&Q/(#3"#(.,R%&./',but&the&plan&of&the&Nimphaeum&of&Nero&was&by &
far&the&most&studied.
Studied&by&countless&improvers,&apprentices&and&assistent&architects&to& S oane&before&his&death&in&1837.
This&was&clearly&seen&to&be&a&MOST&important&engraving?&And&the&significance&it&possesses&–is&the&serif-less&
letterforms!
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I&now&believe&-that&by&adding&in&the&serifed&‘E’,& Piranesi&is&arguing&that&the&Romans&added&serifs&to&the&lineal&
characters&of&the&Etruscan&alphabet?
THUS&counteracting&the&Greco-Roman&deba te&of&the&mid-eighteenth&century…that Ro man &arch itectu re& wa s&
directly& informed&by&that&of&the&Greeks.
He&therefore& retains&architectural& authority&by &demonstrating&that&Roman&Inscriptional&letterforms& ev olved&from&
the&I talian&Etruscans?
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But& this &inte rcha nge &of& addi ng& and& removing &serifs&does&provide&me&with&opportunitiy& for&a&super&family.&One,&
with&and&without&component&serifs...
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...possibly&some&Piranesi&Open&Shaded&Initials.&But&like&Piranesi’s&ONIONINA,&it&will&eventually&be&developed&into&a&
family&of&serif-less,&vestigial&and&serifed&Roman&forms.
Incidentally,&the&Romans&generated&a&‘G’&by&adding&a&small&v ertical&stroke&to&the&‘C’&of&their& orig inal& or&archaic&
Latin&Alphabet&which&was&in&turn&derived&from&the&21&letters&of&the&Etruscan&Alphabet
–and&I&wanted&to&mirror&this &in& my &ty peface&which&is&similar&to&the&capital&‘G’s&that&Soane&and&his&understudies&
used&in&their&Titling&on&drawing s.
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https://en.wik ipedia.org/wik i/History_of_the_Latin_script
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San&serif&Bishop&Marks&have&now&informed&the&development&of&a&‘Book&Weight’&of&Soane’s&sans…
and&a&typeface&family&has&been&established,&which&is&now&called&ETRVSCA,&–given&that&the&Etruscan&Alphabet&is&
proving&to&be&the& 43 +1 +.)45)403 ) M# .!)M -3 +5)ty peface&today.
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The&font&ETRVSCA&is&progressing&well&and&includes&Open&Type&and&Contextual&Alternate&features,&and&now&
comprises&of&Latin,& Greek &and&Etruscan&sets...
–and&it&is& my&hope&to&complete&the&font&in two&weights&relativ ely &soon&within&a &rese arch&S a bbatical. &With&Soane’s &
letterforms&becoming &a&bold&or&‘Display’&weight,&and&the&finer&forms&found&in&Bishop& M a rks &becoming&the&‘Book ’&
weight.
But& a ny &help &or&a dvi ce&y ou& can& giv e &me& on&how &to&s cript&m y& Bishop &Ma rk s&da te &glyph s&le t&a lone& how&to& ma nag e&a&
font&with&an&Etruscan,&Greek&and&Latin&alphabet,&will&be&greatly&received?&
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Forum Questions?
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Visit: www.emfoundry.com
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