There’s an old cemetery in Castine, Maine—a lovely coastal town with a surviving crop of stately American elms. Dating back into the 1700s, the cemetery’s headstones have the familiar old domed-tablet shape, some topped by winged skulls. Thanks to the Castine Historical Society, I got my hands on a couple of epitaph rubbings and modeled a typeface after the lost stone carving style peculiar to the time and place. Castine (the font) has a melancholy, wistful, nostalgic air—and is frankly just a little bit spooky. Its long, sharp serifs and slight uneveness recall simpler times when character meant more than precision. Castine has roman and italic styles.* (Check out the epitaphs.) $49 | Order  

*The OpenType release of Castine™ adds numerous ligatures, old-style and lining figures, and Central/Eastern European alphabets.

“Your period-style handwriting fonts remain the very best I've ever found. Thanks for your most excellent contributions to American typography!”
—A.L., Los Angeles CA

“Your fonts are gorgeous, and in particular, your handwriting fonts are the best I've ever seen.”
—J.H., Witny, Oxfordshire, England

“Oh! I'm in loooove with this font! It's lovely, it's organic, it's real, it's got history & tradition. My designs are singing!”
—C.C., Palo Alto CA

“I took one look at American Scribe and knew it was the Declaration of Independence before reading the ad copy. You captured it perfectly.”
—B.P., Marietta OH

“The Texas Hero font is fantastic and just what I have been looking for.”
—D.M., Mahwah NJ

“Well done on preserving the old ways of writing—they wrote and spoke so much nicer than we do now.”
—A.K., Adelaide, S. Australia

“The Lamar Pen font is divine. We are using it on a novel set in the eighteenth century, and the author is ecstatic.”
—J.H., London, England