“My Dearest Friend” is how she began nearly all her letters to her husband, John. I refer, of course, to Abigail Smith Adams, first Second Lady and second First Lady of the United States. Her famous correspondence with John Adams produced nearly 1,200 letters over a span of some 40 years, leaving us with a priceless record of early American life—from household routines to war and politics to expressions of personal worry and devotion.
Although Abigail’s was not the loveliest hand, I found it sure and expressive, as befitting her extraordinary sway and intelligence; it also carries a genuine flavor of the period. In making the font I focused chiefly on her handwriting from the 1780s and ’90s, when she’d taken to using a disconnected cursive, which struck me as distinctive and alluring. OpenType features include many ligatures (to enhance authenticity), standard and contextual alternates, lining and old-style figures, cross-outs, ink blots, and complete Central/Eastern European alphabets.
