Wood Type Creative Papers: Nineteenth-Century Letterforms on Display (For Gift Wrap, Crafting, Decor & more)

16 oversize sheets featuring the bold letters and vibrant colors designed to captivate audiences near and far

In the 1800s, as people migrated to urban centers, and the walls of the city increasingly became a surface for printed broadsides and posters, wood type emerged as a splendid and economical tool in the creation of large-scale advertisements. Lighter in weight and less cumbersome than metal, it was quickly available in an explosion of expressive styles.

Wood Type Creative Papers gathers sixteen distinctive designs from a nineteenth-century catalog by noted purveyors of letterpress machinery Harrild & Sons. These oversize perforated sheets offer dynamic black-and-white typography, astonishing decorative fonts, and vivid chromatic letterforms, attesting to wood type’s rich and enduring appeal.