1470 ROMAN Typeface is standardised by 1470 - Nicolas JENSON 1486 - Erhard RATDOLT 1499 - Francesco GRIFFO (jan 14, 1470 – jan 14, 1499)

Description:

Nicolas Jenson began printing in Venice with his original roman font from 1470.
Jenson's design and the very similar roman types cut by Francesco Griffo c. 1499 and Erhard Ratdolt c. 1486 are acknowledged as the definitive and archetypal roman faces that set the pattern for the majority of western text faces that followed.

The Jenson roman was an explicitly typographic letter designed on its own terms that declined to imitate the appearance of hand-lettering. Its effect is one of a unified cohesive whole, a seamless fusion of style with structure, and the successful convergence of the long progression of preceding letter styles.

Jenson adapted the structural unity and component-based modular integration of Roman capitals to humanistic minuscule forms by masterful abstract stylization. The carefully modelled serifs follow an artful logic of asymmetry.

The ratio of extender lengths to letter bodies and the distance between lines results in balanced, harmonious body of type.

Jenson also mirrors the ideal expressed in renaissance painting of carving up space (typographic "white space") with figures (letters) to articulate the relationship between the two and make the white space dynamic.

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