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In this case, the digitized font is taken not from the metal types themselves, but from specimens printed on paper. The paper was less uniform and smooth than modern paper, and there was a noticable amount of ink bleed. Since OP is interested in the "character" given to the letterforms by this era of printing technology, it makes sense to suggest some way of simulating this uneven bleed and spread.

Usually, yes, but this font tries to reproduce the imperfections of text printed centuries ago (or, to quote the article, "look badass with its kinks and nicks"), so having two glyphs of the same type look exactly identical feels a bit jarring. Same as with other "rough" fonts which try to emulate stencils, handwriting etc. All of these would benefit from some randomness...

so how do SVG fonts handle this? Or do they?

on edit: asking as you probably have in depth technical knowledge on this it would be nice to get some pointers on.