Īfter a short initial period of popularity, the face fell into disuse in Britain and Austin's later typefaces are quite different in style, although copies in the United States became popular around the early twentieth century with artisan printers.
In italic, like Baskerville, several letters have flourishes. The figures have a number of elaborate details reminiscent of the steely calligraphy of the period, and the slight inclination of some of them led Walter Tracy to suggest that Austin was following a written example. The figures are distinctive for being at fixed height, or lining, at approximately three-quarter the height of the capitals, in contrast to earlier numerals of variable height.
However, it is less severe in design, somewhat similar to the earlier Baskerville and slightly later Bulmer typefaces.
The Bell typeface has a precise appearance that features stylish contrasts between thick and thin strokes and ball terminals on many letters it was influenced by the radical Didone styles of type becoming popular on the continent, in particular the work of the Didot family. Not to be confused with the sans-serif typefaces Bell Gothic and Bell Centennial developed for AT&T, which are not related.īell is the name given to a serif typeface designed and cut in 1788 by the punchcutter Richard Austin for the British Letter Foundry, operated by publisher John Bell, and revived several times since.