The Ludlow Company tried to interest several printers in the fine press in using the Ludlow machine. As this exchange with George Macy of the Limited Editions Club shows, Eusebius or “Nicolas Jenson” was part of their strategy. We have highlighted certain passages.

March 19, 1930

Mr. George Macy, Director,
Limited Editions Club, Inc.,
551 Fifth` Avenue,
New York City.

Dear Mr. Macy:

In the monthly letter of the Limited Editions Club for March, you wrote as follows: "A typeface called Cloister is probably the closest approximation of the types he (Jenson) used." If you are familiar with the books printed Nicolas Jenson in this roman type, an examination of the type specimens I have enclosed with this letter will reveal the existence of another typeface to be considered in the honors for reviving the roman type of Nicolas Jenson.

This is a specimen of a typeface named Nicolas Jenson. It was designed by Mr. Ernst F. Detterer at the request and direction of Mr. George O. Cromwell, Vice President and in charge of design for the Ludlow Typograph Co. who placed the face on the market during 1924. Mr. Detterer is Director of Printing Arts of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

While calling your attention to the existence of this excellent typeface based on the Jenson model, in this instance, bears no serious relation to your fine work in directing the publication of the volumes of the Limited Editions Club, yet I believe the facts will be of personal interest to you.

Yours very truly,

LUDLOW TYPOGRAPH COMPANY
Department of Letter Design
Head Designer

March 21 1930
The Limited Editions Club INC
551 Fifth Avenue
New York
TELEPHONE Murray Hill 3644

Mr. R. Hunter Middleton
Ludlow Typograph Company
2032 Clybourn Avenue
Chicago, Illinois

Dear Mr. Middleton

I am grateful to you for sending me your letter of March nineteenth, together with the specimen showing of the Nicolas Jenson type. I knew about this type, since I have a copy of the Will of Nicolas Jenson, printed in that face. It does not seem to me as smooth a face as Cloister, but I do feel it is a very lovely type, and I only wish more printers could be persuaded to use the Ludlow for book composition so that I could prescribe this type sometime.

As a matter of fact, I was firmly opposed to the linotype Jenson face in our edition of Two Medieval Tales. I urged both Falls and Marchbanks to use Nicolas Jenson instead. But Falls had his heart set on the linotype Jenson, which to me is an ugly face, and since our whole proposition is to give the artists and printers a free hand, we gave them a free hand.

Cordially yours

George Macy
Director

November 14, 1932
LUDLOW TYPOGRAPH COMPANY
NEW YORK DISTRICT OFFICE: WORLD BUILDING
63 PARK ROW, NEW YORK CITY BEEKMAN 8255

General Offices and Factory
2032 CLYBOURN AVENUE, CHICAGO, ILL.
District Sales Offices in
BOSTON ATLANTA SAN FRANCISCO

Mr. R. Hunter Middleton
Ludlow Typograph Company
2032 Clybourn Avenue
Chicago, Illinois

Dear Mr. Middleton:

The information in your letter of November 8 regarding Mr. George Macy, Director of The Limited Editions Club, is very interesting. I was extremely pleased to receive the specimens of printing which accompanied your letter.

Mr. Macy's interest in our Nicolas Jensen is very much appreciated and I regret we do not have more users in this city equipped with this typeface so that we could refer him to them. We have not met with much success in New York in creating a real interest in this extremely fine typeface. At this time the only printing plant equipped with the Nicolas Jensen series is the Display Printing Corporation, specialty printers. The Prudence Printing Company who recently purchased the Ludlow equipment formerly the property of the Manifold Press, Inc., preferred to have the #11 series and we exchanged the Nicolas Jensen which they had for the #11. The Fales Lino-Art Co., Inc., a trade composition house, have the 24, 56, and 48 point sizes of the Nicolas Jensen Light and Light Italic.

At my earliest convenience I intend to call on Mr. Macy and will suggest to him at that time that if he cares to use the Nicolas Jensen in any of his printing he could recommend to the printer doing the job that the composition can be obtained from the Fales Lino-Art Co., Inc.

Your thoughtfulness in calling to my attention Mr. Macy's interest in our typeface is appreciated and I hope that he will decide to use the Nicolas Jensen in some of his printing.

With kindest regards,
Very truly yours,

New York District Manager
LUDLOW TYPOGRAPH COMPANY

November 16, 1932
LUDLOW TYPOGRAPH COMPANY
NEW YORK, DISTRICT OFFICE: WORLD BUILDING
63 PARK ROW, NEW YORK CITY BEEKMAN 8255

General Offices and Factory
2032 CLYBOURN AVENUE, CHICAGO, ILL.
District Sales Offices in
BOSTON ATLANTA SAN FRANCISCO

Mr. R. Hunter Middleton
Ludlow Typograph Company
2032 Clybourn Avenue
Chicago, Illinois

Dear Mr. Middleton:

You will be pleased to learn that I had an interesting visit Tuesday afternoon with Mr. George Macy, Director of Limited Editions Club. He was most cordial and seemed to friendly disposed toward Messrs. McMurtrie, Cromwell and yourself.

Mr. Macy professed to be very well acquainted with Ludlow claiming that on several occasions he has set and cast lines on our machine. I informed him that I understood he was interested in our Nicolas Jensen and told him where he could secure this typeface should he wish to use it in any his work. He said he hoped that some day one of the limit editions would be set on the Ludlow. From his conversation it was evident that he was not altogether familiar with our library of typefaces and he welcomed my suggestion that a complete specimen book be sent to him. The book was forwarded to him today.

I had a very pleasant visit with Mr. Macy and enjoyed making his acquaintance.

Very truly yours,

LUDLOW TYPOGRAPH COMPANY
New York District Manager

The originals of these letters are in the Middleton papers at the Newberry Library.