1800s Ephemera

A lot of fonts can emerge from this collection

Do you mean there are 19th-century fonts that remain unavailable because they have not been re-issued? All the type you see on the website from the 1800s (note: no apostrophe needed pace Mr. Forder) is available in metal or digital or both. However, Mr. Forder certainly has a lovely set of paper and he's to be commended on it. We're jealous here!
www.writtenbyhand.com Manuscript Americana

In fact, hundreds if not thousands of typefaces from the 19th century never really made it to the 20th century.

For instance, in the US, American Type Founders was formed in the late 19th century as a consolidation of dozens of small foundries from around the country. Font libraries were consolidated and typefaces that were considered "obsolete" were dropped. Into the early 20th century ATF's library was continually pared down partly to make room for new designs, but also so resources were not wasted on faces that had gone into disuse.

It's true that a great many typefaces from before the 20th century are currently available, but many--possibly the majority--are not.

Also, there are even thousands of typefaces from the 20th century that have never been digitized.

I was suggesting that people could make new fonts based in this samples

> there are even thousands of typefaces
> from the 20th century that have never
> been digitized.

Shshsh! :-/

hhp

Not to mention, shshsh, that many of the faces in the ephemera collection are not "fonts" at all, but hand drawn.

>Shshsh! :-/

I know, I know. Just saying...