This is an advertising poster for Holloway, a British travelling theatre company, when it set up in the small town of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. By rule of thumb, it measures around 36 inches (if not slightly more) by 12 inches.

According to the owner of the poster it was probably printed in the 1890s. Years in which November 21st fell on a Monday include 1881, 1887, 1898, and 1910. 1887 or 1898 seem to be the most likely dates. The Tewkesbury Historical Society has some info on the printer, William North. In 1871 he bought the business that had been set up by James Bennett in 1810 and continued by Isaac Jenner. North died in 1907, and one R.A. Newman took over the business in 1921.

Florian Hardwig comments on the fonts in use:

The broadside shows the eclectic mix of typefaces that is so typical for the Victorian era, with different styles for each line, center-aligned and interspersed with rules. Many of the fonts are tricky to identify beyond the general genre, and even when it’s possible to find a match in a specimen or reference book, 19th century typefaces often didn’t have proper trade names yet, and were rather identified by the generic designation and a number. To further complicate things, the larger lines are likely printed from wood type, which was typically local made, and is not as well documented as (metal) foundry type.

“Holloway’s” is set in caps from a bold condensed slab with bracketed serifs. Egyptienne Bold Condensed (1955) is a 20th century revival of such a style, based on an 1888 typeface by Schelter & Giesecke. Note that the first O was taken from a different font with horizontal stress. “Great Number One” shows a lighter bracketed slab of lower contrast, see Clarendon/Ionic. The typeface used for “Pavilion of Varieties” is pretty distinctive. The bold italic with flared stems appears to be related to a face shown by Bruce as Gothic Italic No. 208. “Near ‘The White Bear’” uses an extended Fat Face. Barbara Lind’s Madrone (1990) is a digital revival in the same ballpark. The light grotesque used for “Bredon Road, Tewkesbury” is similar to Caslon’s Condensed Sans-Serif No. 4, or Stephenson Blake’s No. 10 (Reed’s Condensed Grotesque No. 2). See Knockout No. 28 for a contemporary stand-in.

The heavy slab for “Great Attraction …” – underneath the row of stars and framed by two manicules – may be a descendant of Figgins’ Antique, the first slab serif types ever made. The lines with the dates (“On Monday Evening …”) use a roman with strong contrast, vertical stress, and bracketed serifs, see Modern/Scotch.

“Colleen Bawn” is a condensed roman with angled serifs in C and E, compare to Old Style No. 1 or Century Oldstyle. The bold sans (“Or, the Brides of Garryowen” etc.) appears to be Miller & Richard’s Grotesque No. 4, see Sans-Serifs & Grotesques (Miller & Richard).

“Wreck Ashore” is set in a wood type version of French Antique, possibly Stephenson Blake’s No. 3. Later on, in the 1930s, the Sheffield foundry revived this style as Playbill. See also their French Antique No. 2 which is distinguished by a rounder C.

For “Poor Jo”, North chose a wide bracketed slab serif. Caslon’s Ionic Expanded comes close.

“Faith, Hope & Charity” is an extracondensed slab with unbracketed serifs (see Antique Condensed), mixing caps with smaller caps. In 1995, Jim Parkinson made a digital interpretation based on similar American wood types.

“A Life’s Revenge” appears to be a version of a face that was first cast sometime between 1881–84 and sold under the name Rubens. It also appears further below, in a smaller size and with its distinctive descenders on A R n etc.

Despite its striking features, the typeface used for “The Ranks” is not identified. It’s a Latin (i.e. it has triangular serifs) with mid-stem spurs and ball terminals. With its extending strokes, it recalls Algerian. The closest contemporary font I’m aware of is Livery Stable, Michael Hagemann’s revival of an unnamed 19th century typeface. [It’s Latin Ornamented, see comments.]

This run-down is concluded by a “Laughable Farce” and a bold Egyptian with considerable stroke contrast. Among digital fonts, David Berlow’s Giza (1994) is a good substitute.

A Blonde in Love (CZ 1965) — The typeface used for the title is similar to a condensed Cheltenham/Gloucester, possibly a woodtype version. For the small sans serif, see Stephenson Blake’s Grotesque No. 6 and 8.

Various woodcut style posters for the Academy Cinema in London made by Peter Strausfeld in the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s. For more information visit: mikedempsey.typepad.com

Breathless (FR 1960) — The title is set in caps from Albertus, with charmingly unbalanced spacing. The bold gothic caps used for “The Academy Cinema” and elsewhere in the series exhibit qualities that have been captured in contemporary anthologies/reinterpretations like Rhode, Knockout or Champion Gothic.

Alphaville (FR 1965) — Among digital fonts, Clarendon Extra Condensed by Wooden Type Fonts is a good approximation for “Alphaville”.

A Generation (PL 1955) and Edward and Caroline (FR 1951) — The red caps appear to be from Playbill, Stephenson Blake’s reinterpretation of 19th-century “French Antique” wood type – a face that also appears on other posters of the series. Among the smaller types, there is Gill Sans Italic.

The Confrontation (HU 1969) — More Playbill, SB Grotesque, Gill Sans, condensed Clarendon and other unidentified faces. “In colour and ’scope” is in Britannic Italic. There are several digitizations, but none of them includes the italics. For the actors’ names, see The Godfather’s Haunted Lineage.

The King of Marvin Gardens (US 1972) — Big actors’ names are set in a style generically called Antique, stemming from Figgins’ Antique. Giza and Ziggurat are related digital versions. Smaller names are in caps from Windsor. The small type at the bottom is Latin Bold or similar.

AKA Wedding in Blood (FR 1973) — The generically named Egyptienne comes somewhat close for “Red Wedding”. The italic for “brilliant…” is very similar to Doric Italic No. 1.

Tonite Let’s All Make Love In London (UK 1967) and Dutchman (UK 1966) — WTC Banger from Borutta’s Wood Type Collection appears to be based on a model very similar to largest type. Unfortunately Mateusz Machalski doesn’t mention the sources of his digital interpretation.