“The origins of Bookman Old Style lie in the typeface called Oldstyle Antique, designed by A C Phemister circa 1858 for Miller & Richard. Many American foundries made versions of this type which eventually became known as Bookman. The roman of Monotype’s Bookman Old Style [designed by Ong Chong Wah in 1990] is based on earlier Lanston Monotype and ATF models. The italic has been redrawn following the style of the Oldstyle Antique italics of Miller & Richard.” — Linotype

“Monotype created Bookman Old Style […] with the same metrics and proportions as ITC Bookman. In the details, it looks more like the old Bookmans, but it has a similar ‘cursive’ italic and enlarged lowercase.” — Mark Simonson

The popularity of this Bookman could be owed to its bundling with various Microsoft products in the 1990s. Linotype released the retail version of Bookman Old Style in 2005.