GRPH 223_ Project 2
Inspiration
Continued...
Work Process
Research
Creative Brief
Layout
An Era of Typographic Geniuses 1700’s-1800’s
Technology......................01 Printing...........................02 Engraved Letters............03 The Enlightenment........04 Louis Simonneau............05 Philippe Grandjean........06 William Caslon...............07 Pierre Simon Fournier....08
Table of
The Renaissance.............09 John Pine........................10
Contents
John Baskerville..............11 Robert Clee....................12 Giambattista Bodoni......13 Firmin Didot..................14 Hermann Berthold.........15 Geoffrey Troy..................16 George Bickham.............17
Technology
Printing
The printing press is usually cited as being invented by Johannes Gutenberg. This goldsmith did play an important role in the revolution of printing but it was originally invented and discovered in korea by monks. But keeping in the !8th century Gutenberg’s printing press was brought to the New World by Matthew Daye who was a printer’s apprentice and his father, brought the continent’s first press to Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1638. In 1640 they produced 1700 copies of the very first book printed in the colonies, the Bay Psalm Book. The printing press rapidly became vital to political and religious expression in the New World.Writers and printers like Benjamin Franklin were heroes of the time who brought many different typefaces with them. Print was at the heart of visionary ideas that shaped the American Revolution. Until the 19th century Gutenberg’s print technology had stayed fairly similar. The development of continuous rolls of paper, a steam-powered press and a way to use iron instead of wood for building presses all added to the efficiency of printing. These technological advances made it possible for writer Benjamin Day to drop the price of his New York Sun to a penny a copy in 1833. Some historians point to this “penny press” as the first mass produced--in Day’s words, his paper was made to “lay before the public, at a price well within the means of everyone, all the news of the day.”
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Engraved Letters
Engraved letters are the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it. The result of this can be a decorated object. The object can be engraved in silver, gold, steel, or glass. For engraving on paper, an intaglio printing plate of copper or a different metal may be used to print images or illustrations. Engraved lettering can be used in artistic printmaking, in mapmaking, and also for commercial reproductions and illustrations for books and magazines. The technique needed to engrave was difficult to learn and it was replaced by other etching techniques in the future. Some of the most famous engravers are Albrecht Durer, Francisco de Goya, William Hogarth, and Rembrandt. Today, traditional engraving is still practiced by goldsmiths, glass engravers, gunsmiths, and others. More modern day techniques of engraving include photoengraving and laser engraving.
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The Enlightenment
The Englightenment is the time between 1650-1800 that had a soar in revolutions in science, philosophy, society, and politics. These revolutions took away the thoughts of the medieval world and brought in new thinking that is characterized by our modern western world. This movement spread throught England, France, Germany, and other parts of Europe during the 1700s. The Englightment period started historically with the political upheaval of the French Revolution. This was a time in which the French monarchy, the privelages of the French nobility, and the political power and
authority of the Catholic Church were annihilated and replaced by a political party that was based upon freedom and equality for all. These ideals structured the Enlightenment. Important advancements during the Enlightenment include the publishment of “Principia Mathematica” and “Concerning Human Understanding” by John Locke. Another significant publication was Diderot’s “Encyclopédie.” This publication brought authors together to produce a compilation of human knowledge. Besides advancements in intellectual thinking, the
Enlightenment also ushered in a time of religious and anti-religious innovation. People began to think of their faith alongside rational terms and some argued that the universe determined its own course without intervention from God. Secret societies flourised in Europe, giving men the opportunity to have fellowship together. Some of the these well known societies include the Freemasons, the Bavarian Illuminati, and the Rosicrucians. Places like literary salons and coffeehouses brought together these men who sought to share ideas.
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Louis Simonneau
Louis Simonneau was born in 1658. He became a French engraver. He is well known for his series of engravings that are titled, “Effigies Raymundi la Fage.” Then in 1692, King Louis XIV directed that a typeface be designed for the exclusive use of the Royal printer. Under the supervision of the French Academy of Science Louis Simonneau, along with Philippe Grandjean designed a new typeface. This typeface marked a departure from the “Old Style” types. In the new typeface which is known as, “Romain de Roi,”
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Simonneau engraved the letters on copper, afterwards Grandjean punch cutted the letters. The designs for the letters were influenced by science and mathematics. For the first time a hortizontal and vertical grid became the tool for structuring a typeface. The new “transitional” typeface represented the thinking during this time period, “The Age of Englightenment.” The Age of Enlightenment was marked by a resistence to tradition. People began to emphasize knowledge and reason, rather than religion.
Philippe Grandjean
Philippe Grandjean born in 1666 became a French type engraver. In 1962, King Louis XIV ordered a new set of royal typefaces be created for the use of the Imprimerie Royale. This new typeface known as the Romain du Roi (“roman of the king”) would be worked on by Philippe Grandjean in collaboration with Louis Simmoneau. The design of this typeface was approved and supervised by a group of mathematicians and philosphers, and was an investigation of French typography and printing for the compliation of the Description of the Arts and Trades of France.
Romain du Roi is the first typeface that used a horizontal and vertical grid for structuring the type. The grid that was used was a 64-squre grid, with each unit further split up into 36 smaller squares. In total the entire grid was a system of 2,304 tiny squares. Capital letters were drawn on 8x8 grids, while lowercase letters were drawnon rectangular grids. The Romain du Roi was the result of a rational designn, the letters were mapped on grids before they were cut into metal. Then the punches for the metal type were cut by Philippe Grandjean. This typeface
established the principles of the Transitional faces. It includes more vertical stress, greater contrast in stoke width, wider proportions, and thin, elegant serifs. The Romain du Roi was first used for Médailles sur les principaux événments du régne de Louis le Grand. Eventually this typeface would influence the styles of Pierre Simon Fournier and John Baskerville. Before Grandjean could complete the all the modifications to the typeface, his pupil Jean Alexandre continued his work and was finally completed in 1745 by Louis Luce.
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William Caslon William Caslon was Born in Cradley, Worcestershire, in 1692. He was strongly encouraged by william bowyer to start a type foundry in London, which eventually turned into a family business that operated well into the 19th century. William Caslon founded the Caslon Foundryell’s Foundry in 1739 The other half was purchased by John James. William Caslon I had two apprentices in his Sheffield Foundry, Thomas Cottrell and Joseph Jackson who went on and started a foundry of their own in direct competition to Caslon 1757. In 1759 Jackson entered the Navy leaving Cottrell to carry on alone. Caslon started to create his own typefaces, compared to old style typefaces his had a larger x height, where more vertically orientated, stressed greater contrast and finer serifs. Caslon typeface was based on contemporary dutch models where the root of his designs so popular for the solid functionality each character was legible and easily recognized. Caslon typefaces were immediately popular and even made their way across seas, it was used for many important printed works, including the first printed version of the United States Declaration
of Independence, and the constitution. His typeface was considered the most influential typeface ever produced in england. in 1734 he issued a broadside specimen showcasing his 37 typefaces that firmly established his reputation as a premier english typographer. Caslon died on the 23rd of January in 1766 and as a result his typefaces became less popular in the century after his death, but were revived in the 1840s. Several revivals of the Caslon types are widely used today. After the death of William Caslon I, his son William Caslon II took over the Caslon Foundry business 1764–1778.In 1792, William Caslon III sold his share of Caslon Foundry to his mother and his sister-in-law, the widow of his brother Henry. Mrs William Caslon II and Mrs Henry Caslon continued to run the original main Caslon business. In the same year, William Caslon III purchased the Salisbury Square foundry (which was previously owned by Joseph Jackson who was originally william caslon the first apprentice and decided to start his own foundry)
Pierre Simon Fournier le Jeune
Pierre Simon Fournier le Jeune was a french 18th century punch cutter from France. In his early life he studied watercolor with J.B.G. Colson and ladder wood engraving. He created initials and ornaments designs of letters and standardized type size. Fournier also designed the typefaces Fournier and Narcissus that are still used today. He made a big contribution in the field of typography in 1737 when he invented the first point system for measuring type. Pierre’s scale was based on inches which were divisible into 72 points, he decided to make his punches to a scale of 72 points to the paris inch instead of the standard height to paper method. Fournier also published his first encyclopedic survey of typography it was a two volume
called manuel typographique. It was the first comprehensive overview of typography ever. Inside it offered examples of different regional trends that included type from across europe. This kind of classification to a certain subject was quite characteristic of the enlightenment movement which began in france in the 18th century. It was a scientific approach to type with consistent mathematical based rules which is the application of the enlightenment philosophy.
which they are ever indebt to him for. Fournier also had a great passion for music and while his typeface was popular he had also created a new musical type style that made the notes round, more elegant and easier to read for musicians.Just like his other works his music typeface also gained popularity fast. But alas Pierre died and it is unknown of the year exactly but there are records of his wife being a widow. After his death his company remained in
Two years after creating the point system fournier decided to create his own foundry. In the 1750’s fournier was still popular among many, he advised sweden and sardinia in the creation of their royal printing works in
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The Renaissance
The renaissance began in northern italy, also known as the “rebirth” of learning humanism. People strived to be more educated and learned in the classical arts sciences and literature. It had began in italy because of the wealth they had and were able to spend supporting artist and geniuses. The invention of the printing press and movable type had a big cultural impact. Print technology brought major changes to publishing and knowledge production in Renaissance Europe, including standardized letterforms, new writing styles and page designs, and a broad distribution to reproduced text. Some other alterations to graphic designs were made by italian scholars, the first change to occur moving towards the new renaissance designs, were the decorative border in french books, during this time designers loved floral ornamentation such as wild flower and vines. They included these designs to change the roman alphabet original designs which were designed by Arnold Pannartz and Konrad Sweynhym. The humanistic sensibility that characterized the Renaissance was intimately connected to the revival of classical learning and art. Print stimulated this revival and encouraged inquiry through the diffusion of texts and images. During this time the “Romain du Roi” was printed and had a whole new style of typeface, with the drastic contrast between thick and thin strokes, the use of serifs and a greater balance in the
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John Pine John Pine an English designer, engraver, and cartographer (the study and practice of making maps) was born in 1690. He is most notable for his artistic contribution to the Augustan style and Newtonian scientific paradigm that prospered during the British Englightenment. Pine began his career first as an apprentice goldsmith. He eventually apprenticed with the French engraver Bernard Picart. In 1717, Pine along with other members of the Lodge formed the Grand Lodge. As a member of the Freemasons, Pine received the opportunity to engrave the frontispiece of the 1723 Constitutions of the Freemasons. This enhanced his position as an artist and secured his status as principal engraver for the Grand Lodge. Another important engraving that John Pine was commissioned for was the engravings of the
ceremonies attending King George I’s establishment of the Order of the Bath in 1725. Pine also produced a copy of the Magna carta, an edition of Horace and a part of one of Virgil, copies of the tapestries commemorating the defeat of the Spanish Armada, and several maps of London. Eventually John opened a print shop in London and was able to publish his own book illustrations and engravings. In 1743, Pine’s achievements were celebrated when he became Engraver of His Majesty’s Signet and Seals and Bluemantle Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary. Then in 1746, Pine collaborated with John Rocque (a surveyor) to create the first detailed map of London. John Pine had a very successful career and passed away in 1756.
John Baskerville was born in the year 1706 in a small town of wolverley, Worcestershire England. As he got older and he became interested in typography later he was an established printer in Birmingham. Baskerville produced his first book “volume of virgil” in 1757 it demonstrated a fluid readability in his designs but,the transition type were almost universally condemned by jealous competitors for his stark abstract qualities and extreme contrast in stroke widths within his typeface.Many people considered it to be too thin to be read easily. Baskervilles career didn’t end here,even though he was an atheist he used his typeface to print a folio bible in 1763.In his efforts to print his typeface accurately he noted for his innovations in printing by creating new ink and paper types. The new inks were created to make the slender delicate shapes of his letters stand out on the page more. He also experimented with different paper types but settling on wove paper that had a smooth glossy finish. He developed a technique that made a smoother whiter paper which showcased his dark black type.Later his typefaces were greatly admired by Benjamin Franklin who took the typefaces overseas to the U.S. and were used for many government documents. Baskerville died on January 8, 1775.After his death he had been buried at request in his backyard and and was later secretly moved into the crypt of christ’s church.This wasn’t the end of Baskerville’s work, in 1996 a type foundry named emigre released a revival of his typeface and called it mrs. eaves after baskervilles wife sarah eaves. Baskerville’s most notable typeface Baskerville represents the peak of transitional typeface and bridges the gap from old style to modern type design.
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John Baskerville
Robert Clee
Robert Clee was a fine-line engraver. He practiced incising designs onto hard, flat surfaces by cutting grooves into it. Casting types and ornaments with finer details, Robert also made trade cards, which are like todays modern business cards. As an engraver Robert moved away from the transitional style and developed more of an ornate style. Artists with this kind of style during the 18th century were known as the Baroque style. They gave up their symmenetry and became very florid, playful, and ornate. Robert Clee is most known for his design of the title page of the 1769 Bible. The print for this Bible used Robert’s own typeface, ink, and paper. Though his first published work was the title page of the 1757 Virgil.
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Giambattista Bodoni
Giambattista Bodoni was born in the year 1740 in Saluzzo, Italy. Bodoni is a third generation Italian engraver, publisher, printer, and typographer. He first started his artisitic career as an apprentice in the Vatican’s Propaganda Fide printing house in Rome. He was able to impress his superiors so much that he was allowed to print his own name on the first books that he produced such as the Coptic Missal and a version of the Tibetan alphabet. Soon he was hired by the Duke Ferdinand of Bourbon-Parma to establish the printing house: la Stamperia Reale. One of the most significant achievements he made in European community was the creation of specimen books to promote his foundry. He also began to produce classical and well known books such as Homer’s works and Gerusalemme Liberata of Torquato Tasso. Giambattista Bodoni is most famous for the creation of the Bodoni family of typefaces. He actually opened a foundry with the name Officina Bodoni. This typeface was first to reproduce hairlines in type. It had a contrast between thick and thin lines. This style of type is known as “Modern”. Firmin Didot, who had a rivalry with Bodoni, also is known for this style of type.In addition, the printing was plain, unadorned, and emphasized purity of materials. Giambattista Bodoni personally designed and engraved 298 typefaces, and his other printing foundries that he managed produced approximately 1,200 editions of typefaces.
“The letters don’t get their true delight when done in haste and discomfort, nor merely done with diligence & pain, but when they are created with love and passion.”
Firmin Didot
Firmin Didot was born April 14, 1764 in Paris, France.He later became a french printer, engraver and type founder. Didot also invented the word “stereotype� which in the printing business is the metal plate created for actual printing of pages opposed to printing pages directly with movable type. This process revolutionized the printing of books and trade with his cheap additions. Later he had created a family paper manufactory located in Essonnes a town outside of Paris. This was the perfect place too because it was located near the town of Corbeil many notable paper manufacturing companies.The family business helped Belgium create a royal printing press and helped France publish the Biographie Nationale.
Didot is known for using the modern classification types, the types that he used are characterised by his contrast of extreme thick and thin strokes and hairline serifs. These typefaces were so popular and loved that many of his fonts are still used today.
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Born in 1831, Hermann Berthold was the son of a calico-printer. Berthold started his career as an instrment maker and galvanograph (the technique of depositing metal onto a surface by electricity). In 1858, he founded the Institute for Galvano Technology in Berlin. Berthold is known more in the typographic world for the equipment he invented instead of creating typefaces. He is most famous for making typing equipment that was made of brass instead of the lead or zinc that was dominant during the time. By using brass, he was able to produce extremely fine letter forms and shapes without soldering and it was more durable. In 1878, Berthold created the standard system of typographic measurements. This system established a point system in which 1 meter was equivalent to exactly 2,660 typographic points. Berthold also founded the H. Berthold A.G. Company, which is one of the largest and most successful type foundries in the world. This company is also known for the creation of Akzidenz-Grotesk, which is a sans-serif. This typeface was used as a template for a font called Neue Haas Grotesk which was released in 1957 and later renamed Helvetica. Today Akzidenz-Grotesk remains one of the most expensive fonts to purchase.
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Hermann Berthold
Geoffry Troy Geoffroy Tory was born in Bourges in 1480, ten years after the first printing press arrived Tory left for Paris after completing his studies in Italy. He worked there as a bookbinder, editor of texts, and corrector for the press, serving such clients as Jean Grolier de Servières. The first book Tory is known to have worked on is the Pomponius Mela, in 1508. This helped him develop a name for himself and he became one of the youngest professors to teach at the college du plessis, while he thought he continued his passion of bookmaking and binding. He was known by his other coworkers to be an extremely hard working often taking heavy work loads. Some would maybe even call it obsessive, but it soon lead him to have a passion for the arts.
To follow this drive to learn more about the arts he quit working at the college and packed up and moved to Italy. He disappeared for awhile and wasn’t in the limelight until he moved to Paris and became recognized for his illuminated manuscripts. It wasn’t until 1514 that he married his late friend’s wife who was a widow and had already had daughter named Agnes. Troy taught her everything he knew, even teaching her another language, latin. It wasn’t until Agnes was nine when she died of unknown causes. Troy was lost without her, writing potey of his only daughter. When he learned printing he used a printers mark that was on his daughters urn. Troy was very depressed for a long time after her death that it influenced many of his later works.
In 1525 Troy published his own copy of “The Book of Hours” it later became Troys most famous work. He broke all the traditions of that time and it contained sixteen full page borders and thirteen large wood cuts.In 1529 Troy published his own book called Champfleury, it was one of the most influential books of all time. It set a standard for french publishing. He wanted to put french text into print and he added an apostrophe, accent and cadilla, Troy tried to bring french text back to its original latin roots. In 1530 he became King Francis I, official printer. After he died his apprentice Claude Garamond took over as official printer. The exact date of his death is unknown but in a lease to a house and land it ended in 1533 because his wife was a widow so we assume he died sometime in that year.
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George Bickham George Bickham was an English writing master and engraver. He is best known for his engraving work in The Universal Penman, which is a series of writing exemplars that helped to make the English Roundhand Script very common in the 18th century. Then in 1712, Bickham wrote copy books and business texts. During this time period there was a strong connection between writing and mathematics instrucion. He was one of the 26 London writing masters to create and engrave the penmanship samples forming the Universal Penman, which was reported to be the most important and popular of copy texts used by writing masters to instruct their pupils. Bickham also published The British Monarchy, which is a collection of 188 plates of historical notes with 43 plates of views of English and Welsh counties. They are called views instead of maps although they are presented as map-like perspective with major towns marked. Bickham’s son also followed the tradition of engraving.
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