blado’s aldine italica.f. johnson tells us of antonio blado’s aldine italic¹: &laqu
blado’s aldine italica.f. johnson tells us of antonio blado’s aldine italic¹: «He printed some admirable volumes in an Aldine italic, in particular the first editions of various works of Macchiavelli [sic], 1531 and 1532. … No printer produced a better book in this style of type.» [Periods of Typography | The Italian Sixteenth Century, ernest benn, london, 1926, p11]. unfortunately, johnson did not provide a facsimile of this notable typeface; nor indicate who cut blado’s aldino² [✓]. casting around, i was delighted to discover copies of Il principe [The Prince]³ & Historie⁴, both 1532, held in the morgan library, nyc; & formed a plan to examine these at first opportunity. with thanks to the morgan library for permitting my examination of these lovely & important books. unfortunately, departing the morgan’s reading room, my request to illustrate this post with my photos was declined by reading room staff: alas, illustration deferred until next visit to a more «humanistic», european library [✓].¹ italic after the style of the first italic cut for aldus manutius in 1501 by francesco griffo.² «The Italians called the character Aldino.» [d.b. updike, Printing Types, vol.1, oup, 1937, p129].³PML 52863.⁴PML 62958. -- source link
#typography#italic#antonio blado#griffo