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72 "TYPOGRAPHY:
the name “‘Gothic”’ to the fact that the angular black letter design is suggestive of the sweep and line of Gothic architecture.
Gothic script had featured a formal and informal style, and the new “humanistic” script also followed this pattern, the formal letter being upright and the informal letter sloping (these styles later being copied in roman and italic types).
About fifteen years after Gutenberg’s black letter type a true roman letter in type was introduced in Venice by two Germans, Johann and Wendelin da Spira, who followed humanist manuscript letter forms. They were not the first however, the design having been anticipated in an isolated instance by Adolph Rusch of Strasbourg.
The first fine roman type came from the Frenchman, Nicholas Jenson, one of the typographical greats. Following humanistic scripts, he devised (in Venice, in 1470) a series of distinguished and very legible roman type faces that were and are renowned for their beauty of design and perfectness of balance. Jenson was responsible, too, for the design and introduction into type of lower case letters. He also cut excellent black letter types for use in religious printing.
The first book printed in English was produced in 1475 on the continent by William Caxton, who later introduced the art of printing to England.
The Aldine press, founded in Venice in 1495 by Aldus Manutius probably was responsible (through the “de Aetna” type) for the style of roman letter known as “old style.” Present old style roman letter forms derive largely from Aldus, through the later designs of Claude Garamond.
Roman types in use today fall broadly into two classifications—‘‘old style” and “modern.”
Old style roman types are based on earliest Roman letter forms and are distinguished by the appearance of irregularity and a freedom of design in the _ individual letters, by sensitively curved serifs and a harmonious relationship between the thick and thin strokes. These early manuscript and monument letter forms are noted for a seldom-surpassed sensitivity and feeling for the aesthetics of letter design.
As contrasted with old style romans, “modern” roman types, actually developed in the 18th century, are precise and almost mechanical in construction. They are distinguished by pronounced thick-and-thin letter strokes.
Aldus Manutius was responsible also for the introduction into type (in about 1500) of the slanting “chancery” or italic type. Named after Aldus’ native Italia and said to be designed after the sloping hand-writing of Petrarch, great Italian poet and humanist, Aldus’ italic type followed the style of cursive writing which paralleled the more formal script. However, the italic designs