Top all-time · #4738
Typespec
Company blog · typespec.co.ukdesignhistory
Typespec is the company blog at typespec.co.uk, writing about design and history. Since 2013, 16 different Hacker News readers have linked it 17 times, most often “The Doves Type”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-09-09, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (12) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link this site for the Doves Type, a lost typeface whose printing blocks were recovered from the Thames, with pages on its recovery and a digital version for sale. Comments only point to it.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 12 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Most-linked posts?
- /doves-type/5 people · 5 mentions · first linked 2015-02-08
- The Doves Type5 people · 5 mentions · first linked 2022-02-02
- /recovering-the-doves-type/2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2015-07-26
What Hacker News says?
Maybe drop Robert Green (the man behind this article) an email on: https://typespec.co.uk/custom-font-services/
Comment linking /custom-font-services/
on “Remnants of a legendary typeface have been rescued from the Thames”Submitted The Doves Type as a story · 3 points
HN discussionThe "modernized version", available as a font file, was modernized too much.[1] It doesn't look period. The H.P. Lovecraft Society has some 19th century fonts, if you need them.[2] Those were recovered from old documents. [1] https://typespec.co.uk/doves-type/ [2] https://www.hplhs.org/resources.php
Comment linking /doves-type/
on “Remnants of a legendary typeface have been rescued from the Thames”Submitted The Doves Type as a story · 2 points
HN discussionActually, divers recovered them in 2014 to augment a digital reconstruction of the typeface: https://typespec.co.uk/doves-type/
Comment linking /doves-type/
on “Typography is impossible (2016)”Submitted A font raised from the dead: The Doves Type story (2013) as a story · 2 points
HN discussionWrite It in Doves Type, imo – https://typespec.co.uk/doves-type/
Comment linking /doves-type/
on “Write it in Garamond”Submitted Raised from the dead: The Doves Type story as a story · 1 points
HN discussionLooking at http://www.typespec.co.uk/doves-type/ I see that if you use this typeface on a webpage, then you have to pay-per-viewing of said page. Is there a discussion for the arguments for and against pay-per-view when using font? Have their been licensing schemes for typeset work where the printer had to pay each time a person opened the book using said typeface?
Comment linking /doves-type/
on “How the Doves Type Was Nearly Lost”Submitted History of the Doves Type as a story · 1 points
HN discussionHere seems to be the fruit of Robert Green's labor: http://www.typespec.co.uk/doves-type/
Comment linking /doves-type/
on “How the Doves Type Was Nearly Lost”Doves for purchase on Typesec here, £40: http://typespec.co.uk/doves-type/
Comment linking /doves-type/
on “The fight over the Doves: A legendary typeface gets a second life”I wonder, how was the "i" cut in lead with the dot being off-center? Wouldn't this cause the letter to be unusually wide? Or was it cut as some kind of ligature, which I find hard to imagine. Addendum: there is a picture of an "i" at http://www.typespec.co.uk/recovering-the-doves-type/ . The "i" is cut with the dot at the right edge of the metal plate that holds it
Comment linking /recovering-the-doves-type/
on “One man's obsession with rediscovering the Doves typeface”http://www.typespec.co.uk/recovering-the-doves-type/ better pictures of recovered type here.
Comment linking /recovering-the-doves-type/
on “One man's obsession with rediscovering the Doves typeface”The Doves Type font can be seen at this site http://www.typespec.co.uk/doves-type/ , which als tells the story how it was recovered.
Comment linking /doves-type/
on “One man's obsession with rediscovering the Doves typeface”You can buy a digital version of the typeface for 40 pounds at http://www.typespec.co.uk/doves-type/
Comment linking /doves-type/
on “Lost typeface printing blocks found in river Thames”It is for sale, not on Google fonts http://www.typespec.co.uk/doves-type/
Comment linking /doves-type/
on “Lost typeface printing blocks found in river Thames”
