French Renaissance Printing Types

"A survey of all Roman, Italic, Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic typefaces made in France during the sixteenth century, describing the evolution of type-casting and letter-engraving and the methodology used. Illustrated with facsimiles of 409 typefaces with detailed descriptions including their first appearance in books or type specimens"--Provided by publisher.

This collection of thirteen essays examines sixteenth-century type design in France. Typefaces developed during this period were to influence decisively the typography of the centuries which followed, and they continue to influence a great many contemporary typefaces. The papers' common goal is to establish the paternity of the typefaces described and critically to appraise their attributions, many of which have previously been inadequately ascribed. Such an approach will be of interest to type historians and type designers seeking better-documented attributions, and to historians, philologists, and bibliographers, whose study of historical imprints will benefit from more accurate type descriptions. The papers and illustrations focus on the most important letter-cutters of the French Renaissance, including Simon de Colines, Robert Estienne, Claude Garamont, Robert Granjon, Pierre Haultin, and also include a number of minor masters of the period.

The conspectus consists of introductory chapters on the sources available, the evolution of sixteenth-century type-casting and letter-engraving, biographical notices of 17 punchcutters (both famous ones, such as Colines, Garamont, Granjon, and lesser known ones, such as Vatel, Gryphius, or Du Boys) and the methodology used. The main part of the book consists of the facsimiles of 409 typefaces (216 Romans, 88 Italics, 61 Greeks, 41 Hebrews, 2 Arabics, and one phonetic) each with a short identifying notice, describing their letter family, size, punchcutter (or eponym), their first appearance in books or type-specimens, the surviving materials such as punches or matrices, and finally (for about two-thirds of them), the recent literature. Every typeface has been illustrated, several with multiple examples of their use.

Booksellers and Printers in Provincial France presents short biographies for over 2700 booksellers, printers and bookbinders active outside Paris and Lyon in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Using archival as well as printed sources, this book analyses the place of the printing press and of the printed book in late fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Brittany and casts new light on the development of printing in provincial France.

An illuminating account of the design inspirations and technical transformations that have shaped the digital typefaces of the 21st century In this fascinating tour through typographic history, Paul Shaw provides a visually rich exploration of digital type revival. Many typefaces from the pre-digital past have been reinvented for use on computers and mobile devices, while other new font designs are revivals of letterforms, drawn from inscriptions, calligraphic manuals, posters, and book jackets. Revival Type deftly introduces these fonts, many of which are widely used, and engagingly tells their stories. Examples include translations of letterforms not previously used as type, direct revivals of metal and wood typefaces, and looser interpretations of older fonts. Among these are variations on classic designs by John Baskerville, Giambattista Bodoni, William Caslon, Firmin Didot, Claude Garamont, Robert Granjon, and Nicolas Jenson, as well as typefaces inspired by less familiar designers, including Richard Austin, Philippe Grandjean, and Eudald Pradell. Updates and revisions of 20th-century classics such as Palatino, Meridien, DIN, Metro, and Neue Haas Grotesk (Helvetica) are also discussed. Handsomely illustrated with annotated examples, archival material depicting classic designs, and full character sets of modern typefaces, Revival Type is an essential introduction for designers and design enthusiasts into the process of reinterpreting historical type.

In 14 original essays, The Oxford Illustrated History of the Book reveals the history of books in all their various forms, from the ancient world to the digital present. Leading international scholars offer an original and richly illustrated narrative that is global in scope. The history of the book is the history of millions of written, printed, and illustrated texts, their manufacture, distribution, and reception. Here are different types of production, from clay tablets to scrolls, from inscribed codices to printed books, pamphlets, magazines, and newspapers, from written parchment to digital texts. The history of the book is a history of different methods of circulation and dissemination, all dependent on innovations in transport, from coastal and transoceanic shipping to roads, trains, planes and the internet. It is a history of different modes of reading and reception, from learned debate and individual study to public instruction and entertainment. It is a history of manufacture, craftsmanship, dissemination, reading and debate. Yet the history of books is not simply a question of material form, nor indeed of the history of reading and reception. The larger question is of the effect of textual production, distribution and reception - of how books themselves made history. To this end, each chapter of this volume, succinctly bounded by period and geography, offers incisive and stimulating insights into the relationship between books and the story of their times.

This book offers something new, a full-length study of printing Anglo-Saxon (Old English) from 1566 to 1705, combining analysis of content and form of production. It starts from the end-product and addresses the practical issues of providing for printing Anglo-Saxon authentically, and why this was done. The book tells a story that is largely Cambridge-orientated until Oxford made an impact, largely thanks to Franciscus Junius from Leiden. There is a catalogue of all books containing Anglo-Saxon, with full details of their use of manuscript or printed sources. This information allows us to see how knowledge of Anglo-Saxon grew and developed.