I have a question without an answer. Why are there so few revivals of some of the classics of French type from the Belle Epoque? In particular, I have in mind timeless beauties like Elzevir no. 3, and Peignot's Serie 16eme.
Before you rush to correct me: yes, I know that Mario Feliciano is preparing Parnaso Text, his take on the no. 3 above; and I know that Coen Hofmann and Charles Mazé took on 16eme. But, their revivals are really display faces; they don't work for long text at all. Way too high-contrast. And, while I expect Parnaso T will be outstanding, that's just one revival. Shouldn't there be a lot more of them? It's an outstanding face by any measure; as is Peignot's S16; as it Perrin's Augustaux. For comparison, just recently we had two or three revivals of that compellingly awful Scotch by Phemister; I'm talking about Lineto's Catalogue and Pyte's Triptych. If that dreadful thing was worth reviving, so is the zenith of late-classical French type.
So, what's going on? Is it the economics of type making in late capitalism that discourages these projects? They don't make enough money to justify the effort? What gives? Inquiring minds wish to know.
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https://typographica.org/typeface-reviews/berthe/
Although I agree an optical axis that (further) tames its contrast would be wonderful.
* Not Peignot BTW. In fact the Peignot acquisition resulted in the scuttling of most of the sober work by Deberny, in favor of trendy display designs.
You might also enjoy this, just released in March:
Also worthwhile are many German designs from the first half of the 20th century.
Why do we not see more of them today? It must be fashion/money. But maybe the tide is turning... Fingers crossed.
Mr Weiss: That's great news. I really look forward to your revivals, when they come. Your foundry is a favorite place of mine. By the way, I hope you won't leave German type behind. I think we still don't have a revival of the Roemische Antiqua/Romanisch that does it justice. For a look at how beautiful it was (and the italics, too, always a greater challenge to get right), here's a good selection, on pp. 109-116:
http://luc.devroye.org/Seemann/AlbrechtSeemann-HandbuchDerSchriftarten-1926.pdf
Mr Savard: Here's a good sample of the Serie no. 16. I grew up reading a lot of French books printed in it, and it makes for extremely pleasing typography.
https://collections.bm-lyon.fr/MIL_01CTF00101130MG04?&query[]=publisher_s:%22Deberny%20%26%20Peignot%22&query[]=Peignot&query[]=Peignot&hitStart=43&hitTotal=200&hitPageSize=25
It gains from the ink spread, to be sure, but I think the artists who created it took that into account. Sadly, that lead-type-on-paper look is half the magic of old typography, and none of the digital artists who revived it took that into account. That's why I'm kind of disappointed in their work.
Mr Papazian: Thank you for letting me know about Ms Savoie's work. I saw it when it came out, and I hope she expands on it. While we're at it, I should say that I love Mathieu Cortat, and I respect his artistry; but his Louize doesn't quite capture the sheer magic of Perrin's Augustal. I was dumbstruck when I saw his Corps 14, which you found for us to appreciate here:
http://luc.devroye.org/fonts-33035.html
It's just -- I don't even have the words for it.
Lastly, you're absolutely right about older German work. A young designer would be well advised to take a stroll through the non-fiction/science books printed in Germany in the Interbellum years. They had some unbelievably good type--local variants of Romanisch and Scotch Romans that are just unbelievable. In terms of clarity, unobtrusiveness, and ease of reading, they gave Century OS and Times a good run for their money.
Thanks for this interesting post. French types of the 19th century haven’t been ignored entirely: Tobias Frere-Jones and Nina Stössinger recently collaborated on a family of types called Empirica, which they based on Louis Perrin. It’s an interesting performance, as it emphasizes the 19th-century details of the letters over the underlying classical forms. And it adds a lowercase, which makes for an interesting comparison with Sumner Stone’s Popvlvs, a similar idea that remains firmly in the classical camp.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/frere-jones-web/font/families/specimen_documents/000/000/011/original/FrereJonesType_Empirica.pdf?1560816276
In 1975, when I was 22, I settled in Boston, where I lived for forty years. As a newly minted adult, I was obligated to perform a number of civic responsibilities, such as register as a resident, as a voter, and as a driver. The official forms were all relics of a long-past typographic era, set in French Elsevier text often with Tudor Black headings. These were all, I later learned, composed in hand-set metal type at a city-owned print shop located in the city’s North End. Sometime in the late 1970s, the city decided to modernize its graphics operation and sell off its old composing room. I went to the sale, hoping there might be something worth acquiring. (I picked up a rule-bending machine.) The official forms I had filled out were all there, kept standing for future printings and revisions. The types were badly worn. When the French Elsevier became too worn, they set the revisions in another type of the same body size, sometimes on the same line—making a ridiculous hodgepodge.
I already knew these “French Elsevier” types well from many visits to the green bouquiniste stalls that line the Seine near Notre Dame. It seemed that nearly every book or feuilleton published between the 1870s and 1918 was set in them. The ubiquity of these types is what probably led to their disappearance, like the way that Scotch types were used and disappeared in England and the U.S. They needed a long rest. But I think we’re ready for some revivals!
On the Cambridge side of town, I was struck by the frequency of signs in some version of Goudy. Felt very New England.
Of course, while it is true older people read printed books, and now young people seem to be stuck to their computer screens most of the time... one part of that is not true of North America. English speakers even in Canada, never mind those living in the United States, are (and have been for at least a century or two) for the most part unlikely to be able to read anything written in any language other than English.
In fairness, a lot of other, small countries teach their kids foreign languages only because they have to. Not out of some cosmopolitan taste for world culture. America doesn't have to, so they mostly don't.
Returning to French excellence, here's another sample of the glory of Serie 16eme. This may make it clear why I objected to Maze's Berthe. I don't think it captured the unassuming warmth of the real thing. Seems cold and clinical to me. Silver lining: there's room (and a need) for a better revival!
Check out the beautiful italics, below. I'm sure Mr Feliciano's Parnaso, when the text version comes out, will match the beauty of this type.
The third sample (by Anglade) seems a neo-garalde. Strangely, it has two lowercase As; or maybe the setter reached inside two different cases. One A looks like the one that inspired Matthew Carter's Galliard; and the other somewhat resembles the A in De Does' Lexicon. Delightfully strange. Also unusual for a garalde is the short hood on the lowercase F.
What I'm really intrigued by, and excited to discover, is MacFarland. It looks like nothing I've seen before. I thought MacFarland looked like the sample below, which Brunner revived as Bradford, from the Bradford & MacFarland foundry specimen. Live and learn, I guess. Anyway, very interesting.