The distinction and legibility of his type secured him the patronage of the leading printers of the day in England and on the continent.

[3] In 1716, he started business in London as an engraver of gun locks and barrels and as a bookbinder's tool cutter.

[1] He died on 23 January 1766, and was buried in the churchyard of St Luke Old Street, London, where the family tomb is preserved (bearing his name and others).

Though his name would come to be identified with an enduring style of Latin alphabet, Caslon's first typefaces were what contemporary typefounders called "exotics."

His first design was an Arabic made at the English size (14pt), commissioned by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge before 1725, followed by a Hebrew created for William Bowyer in 1726, and a Coptic for Wilkins first used in 1731.

His first Latin typefaces were a roman and italic cut in the pica size (12pt), of a style that was fully realized by the publication of his foundry's specimen sheet in 1734.

John James in the period 1716–1764 also built up by purchase what became the leading English type foundry of the 18th and early 19th centuries.

Jackson left the navy in 1763 and continued to be employed in Thomas Cottrell, Neveil's court 1759–1785 Foundry for a short time.