Monsen Phototype: A complete see every character reference source

Before 2621 South Hill Street in Los Angeles was home to Mendelson & Associates Inc (a wholesale jeweler), it was home to Monsen Typographers, which claimed to be “your best way with words.” They also made handsome type specimens—of which this is one. And because this “complete see every character reference source” allows one to see every character at a respectable size, one can easily bring new life to old, forgotten phototypes that never made the leap to digital. A comprehensive, handsome, and useful showing prepared by Emmett Morava at James Cross Design Office. ALSO, we’re just noticing that there are 27 pages of about 54 proprietary types—but those aren’t complete showings. Some appear to be adaptations of existing faces—like, there’s a Bold Kabel and a grotesque Gill. But some are unknown to us—although phototype is not really our area of expertise. But there might be clues in here to other things.