Robert Besley

Typefounder

London typefounder whose Clarendon of 1845 became the model for typefaces with heavy, bracketed serifs.

Robert Besley was a partner in the Fann Street Foundry in London, and in 1845 the foundry registered the Clarendon typeface. It was one of the first typefaces protected in Britain.

Besley was also active in politics and became Lord Mayor of London in 1869.

• Clarendon