New York 1813-1901. George Bruce & Son. George Bruce's Son & Co. Philadelphia. New York. David Bruce (1770- ; born in Scotland) trains as a printer in the UK. Emigrates to US in 1793. George Bruce (1791? - 1866) emigrates in 1795; trains as a printer. They start a printing business together in 1806. Investigated stereotyping ca. 1812 and began commercial stereotyping in 1814. These were plaster stereotypes, and the Bruces experienced difficulties in purchasing high spaces and quads for this (recall that at the time type didn't look quite like modern type; it was planed away on the shoulder and used with low quads and spaces so as better to make a deep impression in soft paper; the recesses in the typographical printing surface so created were a problem for plaster stereotypes). They obtained the assistance of Edwin Starr, and acquired Starr's Type Foundry ca. 1817.
David Bruce retires 1822 (briefly returns 1824). Foundry run by George Bruce and his son, David Wolfe Bruce (d 1895). Also David Bruce, Jr. (later inventor of the pivotal caster). Annenberg (p. 81) says that in 1828 David Bruce Jr. went briefly to Albany to "take charge of a type foundry," but does not say which one (there were at least two: A. W. Kinsley & Co. (Franklin Letter Foundry) and Starr & VanBenthuysen).
David Bruce Jr.'s first typecasting machine used 1838-1845 by George Bruce. His second machine, of 1843, was rejected by George Bruce and was used first at the Boston Type Foundry instead.
1866. George Bruce dies; his son, David Wolfe Bruce, succeeds to sole management. David Wolfe Bruce retires in 1890; foundry to Harry M. Hall, Vilinder B. Munson, and Robert Lindsay (all employees). Late company names: "V. B. Munson, successor to George Bruce's Son."
Acquired by ATF in 1901.
1828. A Specimen of Printing Types
A Specimen of Printing Types and Ornaments, Cast in the Letter-Foundry of George Bruce . (NY: George Bruce, 1828.)
Digitized by Google Books from the NYPL copy. The icon at left links the presentation of that digitization at the Hathi Trust; identifier: nyp.33433006349736. Here is a local copy of this digitization as a single PDF-format file (238 Megabytes)
1848. Specimens of Printing Types
David W. Peat has done a 48 page reprint of (all of? a selection of?) the 1848 Geo. Bruce & Co. specimen book. It is (in 2011) available from him at 1225 Carroll White Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46219.
1869. Abridged Specimen of Printing Types
An Abridged Specimen of Printing Types Made at Bruce's New-York Type-Foundry . (New-York: George Bruce's Son & Co., 1869.)
This book has been digitized by Google from the NYPL copy, and is available via Google Books. Here is a local copy of the Google Books version of the same. The bibliographic data for this volume in Google Books seems to describe it correctly, as the 1869 edition.
This same digitization is available at a higher resolution at The Hathi Trust; id: nyp.33433000730477. However, the bibliographic information associated with the book at The Hathi Trust does not seem to match the digitization. It indicates that the copy digitized lacked a title page, but that the binder's title as "Bruce's New York Type Foundry. 1882." Yet the volume digitized has its title page and indicates that it is the 1869 edition (hand-annotated to "1869-70"). The icon at left links to the Hathi Trust version. Finally, here is a local copy of the Hathi Trust version, as a single PDF file (415 Megabytes). I have not yet found online a digitization of the 1882 version that the NYPL catalog data at Hathi Trust would seem to indicate exists.
1869 (1874 Reissue). Specimen of Printing Types
An Abridged Specimen of Printing Types Made at Bruce's New-York Type-Foundry . 1874 Reissue. (New-York: George Bruce's Son & Co., 1869, 1874.)
Digitized by Google Books from the NYPL copy. The icon at left links the presentation of that digitization at the The Hathi Trust; identifier: nyp.33433000823298. Here is a local copy of the Hathi Trust version, as a single PDF file (371 Megabytes).
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