Johannes Rolu and Jan Roman

Little is known of these two founders from the low countries. Comparisons of their known specimens to type in John James' inventory prove that much of their work purchased by James as he toured the Netherlands for type moulds. It is interesting to note that Rolu and Roman also collected this kind of equipment as some of the decorative types found in their specimen sheets and consequently used in Williamsburg date from the late 1570's.

Specifics:

Four of Rolu's distinctive fonts and two of Roman's have been connected with the same printers who used James' type. Since these fonts were sold by James, it seems likely that they were purchased from him by Parks originally.

The Rolu sizes range from approximately 24 to 48 points, Roman types from 18 to 24 points.