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Charles Bluemlein’s Calligraphic Typeface Collection is a vital documentary record of the heyday of hand lettering and commercial calligraphy in the United States. From the early 1930s through World War II, New York City was home to a professional community of approximately 200 letterers. This technical discipline experienced a systematic decline with the advent of phototypesetting (photo lettering), becoming almost entirely obsolete following the consolidation of digital typography.

The methodology employed by Bluemlein in the creation of these typefaces is of great analytical interest: the process involved collecting various handwritten samples and then deconstructing and systematizing complete glyphs based on those samples. Since the formal design of these typefaces differed significantly from the original signatures, fictitious names were assigned to the new typeface families, which were originally documented and distributed through the catalogs of Higgins Ink.

Today, Alejandro Paul and the Sudtipos type foundry have undertaken the digital revival and expansion of the collection. This contemporary version meets the functional demands of modern design, with meticulous care taken during the digitization of the strokes to preserve the fidelity of the original ductus and maintain the historical nomenclature established by Bluemlein.