Ghost Foundry

Harper’s November

Artist

Edward Penfield

1866–1925. Illustrator, poster artist. Born in Brooklyn, New York.

Penfield studied at the Art Students League and became art editor at Harper’s. From the mid-1890s he designed a poster for each monthly issue.

The sheets use flat colour, strong outlines and hand-drawn serif capitals. HARPER’S and the month name carry the whole message.

All posters by Edward Penfield

Poster by Edward Penfield. A man and a woman stand before a football board. Above, Harper’s in orange serif capitals. Below, November in the same capitals in green with a yellow shadow.
Harper’s November
Artist
Edward Penfield
Year
1895
Era
Art Nouveau
Country
United States
Lettering
Serif, Display
Printer
Not stated on this copy
Held by
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Record
LCCN 2006676057
Scan
Wikimedia Commons
Rights
Public domain

Fonts on this poster

Fonts

Harper Capitals

HARPER’S in orange serif capitals
NOVEMBER in the same capitals, green with a yellow shadow

Lettering as it appears on the poster.

Letters from the poster

Hover, focus or tap a letter for a closer look.

Full typeface

The full alphabet. Letters from the poster stay as they are. The rest are drawn to match them: same shapes, same spacing, same feel.

Lettering style

Serif, Display

Download

Type specimen

History

Harper’s Magazine issued a poster for each month in the mid-1890s. Penfield, then art editor, drew many of them himself.

The lettering is a bold hand-drawn serif. HARPER’S sits in orange. NOVEMBER repeats the same lettering in green with a drop colour.

The Library of Congress publishes the scan with no known restrictions.

Source and rights

Edward Penfield died in 1925. His work entered the public domain on 1 January 1996. The Library of Congress publishes the scan with no known restrictions.

Scan from Wikimedia Commons, catalogue record LCCN 2006676057. Brand names on the poster belong to their owners and are never used as font names.

Same era, lettering or artist.