Font catalog

[2] The definition has also been applied to websites[3] offering a specimen collection similar to what a printed catalog provides.

[1] In all forms, font catalogs aid typesetters and graphic designers in choosing appropriate typefaces or narrowing down candidates for the typesetting or design process.

The first known font catalog was printed by European printer Erhard Ratdolt in 1486.

[4] The first American font catalog was printed in 1812 for Binny & Ronaldson, a type foundry in Philadelphia.

[5] Although they had put out an earlier catalog in 1809, it only contained printing ornaments, with no examples of typefaces.