Examples and excerpts are taken from private collection and "The Anatomy of Printing, The Influences of Art and History on its Design", John Lewis, Faber & Faber, London, 1970.
1. Illuminated
Manuscripts
The term "illuminated" comes from the Latin word "illuminare" meaning"adorn." Christian, Jewish, Buddhist and Muslim religious books are all found in ornate illumination.
2.
Insular Uncials
Developed by Irish monks, but came to Ireland via missionaries of the Roman church in the 5th century.
Turn the pages of the
Lindisfarne Gospels a priceless treasure of Northumbrian art.
3.
Scribes
Scribes were originally monks and nuns but a demand for books led to the growth of secular shops employing men and women.
This scribe is checking his quill which must be sharpened continually.
4.
Layout
The initial layout is done in dry point. The text is applied first and then the painting and illumination is applied later.
5.
Book of Kells
c. 800
This example is a carpet page, an intricate and intertwined combination of decoration and lettering covering the full page with rich color and imagery.
6.
European
Papermaking
600 years after the Asian papermakers, the art of paper begins in Europe. Linen rags are pulverized and mixed with water to make a slurry that is molded on a screen. An embedded watermark would signify the maker.
Visit a Swiss paper mill making handmade paper
Early 1400's, Europe
Linear woodblock printing (with hand color added later) was rough and common method to print. Type was painstakingly carved wrong-reading to add some right-reading text to cards, posters or religious prints.
Johann Gutenberg
A jeweler and inventor in Mainz, Germany, Gutenberg perfected the processes for punch cutting, casting and letterpress printing.
Visit his museum in Mainz at
http://www.gutenberg.de/english
/http://www.bl.uk/treasures/gutenberg/homepage.htm
8.
a. Punch
b. Matrix
c. Letter
These three elements were the basis of Gutenberg's system. Early printers cut their own punches and were trying to copy the nuances of handwriting.
a. b.
c.
To see a complete explanation of the type making process http://home.earthlink.net/~adozois/type/index.html
9.
Humanism
A 19th Century term to describe the revival of the study of Classics. A more secular approach to life, it advocated applying wisdom with eloquence along with service to public good.
Petrarch, 1304—1374
"Father of Humanism"
10.
Nicholas Jenson,
Venician Oldstyle
Following the style of the humanist manuscripts which were written in carolingian script, Jenson cut the first humanist face.
Bruce Rogers bases Centaur on Jenson in 1900.
11.
Francesco Griffo
Working as a punch cutter for printer Aldus Manutius, Griffo is credited the first italic face.The purpose of italic was to save space. It was a typeface, not a subset of a roman face.
12.
Bembo
1929
This face was created for a book written by Cardinal Bembo.Stanley Morrison used Griffo's face as a basis for this Bembo, produced by Monotype Corporation in London.
