History of typography

Notes on Stephen Fry and the Gutenberg Press:

By Johannes Gutenberg

The Gutenberg was his first book. New information age fuelled by the power of the printed word.

15th century materials and techniques. 

Dance Macabre 1499 - earliest illustration.

Difference between fist and test press - only printed one page at a time.

Gutenbergs birthplace - Mainz. Born 1400.

The church recognised the potential uses of the printed word, being the Gutenberg’s main audience.

Thought that the Gutenberg Press was designed from a wine press.

Had to leave bankrupt Mainz to start business.

Black death cased partnership to collapse, but work continued.

His workshop was near the water due to using fire.

Made two punches a day.

Most high end books were written on Vellon - the skin of a calf. 140 calfs for a single copy of the bible.

Chinese invented paper 1200 years earlier. 

Started with linen rags instead of wood pulp.

Made paper in Basel.

Probably took Gutenberg a year to make the letters for the bible.

Was forced to hand over all of his printing equipment due to not having money.

His method was used for next 500 years.

Notes on lecture:

300 characters originally created to replicate scribe - wasn’t so modern.

Up to 20th century there weren’t ‘creatives’, they were just fulfilling a need, problem solving. Not to create something fantastic and original.

Printing revolution was to support church having a massive social effect around the world. 

First typeface used in print - Bastarda. Blackletter 1454. To mimic German calligraphy which was used in Bible writing.

This style was most predominant.

Another form that began to emerge was the Roman/serif for of type, based on stone engravings originating in the Roman Empire. E.g. Jenson by Nicolas Jenson, 1470 or Griffo’s Roman, Francesco Griffo 1495 - more precise and refined, also invented italic forms.

Fraktur by Leonhard Wagner, 1513, refined and exaggerated used in most of protestant reformation literature.

Garamond Roman by Claude Garamond, 1538.Developed from Griffo and most widely used Roman Serif type. 

Baskerville by John Baskerville, 1757. More condensed and delicate, refined, consistent with improved proportions. Used throughout Enlightenment period. Publications about science, philosophy, etc. Possible because of paper being finer and able to take the ink better - less clumpy type.

Bodoni by Giambattista Bodoni, 1788. Highly refined and precise for finer papers and fine-tuned casting methods. Enlightenment documents.

Higgins’ Antique by Vincent Figgins, 1815. Slab serif / display type which is used for display type such as posters. To improve display readability. Grotesque (a type with no serifs, people thought looked grotesque) or gothic.

Clarendon by William Thorowgood, 1815. Serif / display / ‘Clarendon’ style. So iconic he protected the design legally, when expired many foundries produced their own.

Franklin Gothic by American Type Foundries, 1904. Use of gothic in US was equivalent to grotesque. Used mostly in newspapers and advertising.

Avant Garde by Herb Lublin, 1970. Important due to its design for phototypesetting technologies. Rigorous geometric design owing to typefaces like Futura.

Verdana by Matthew Carter, 1996. Sans-serif exclusively for digital - Microsoft.

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Printing revolution - profit from church became vehicle for descent to challenge the authority of the church. Weapon that resulted in change.