The Jenson Roman

Name: The Jenson Roman
SKU: 9788898030682
Price: 36.00 EUR
Availability: InStock

Author: Riccardo Olocco

Language: EN

€ 36,00

Descrizione

For purchases in the USA and Canada, we recommend contacting Oak Knoll.

This book is about the roman type used in Venice by Nicolas Jenson, one of the most successful 15th-century printers. Jenson was well-known among his contemporaries because of his success as a printer/publisher and because of the quality of his type.

His editions featured several rotundas, and notably, a roman which can safely be considered as the prototype of virtually all roman types up to the present. Jenson’s roman has been highly praised in the past and was used as a model for several type revivals by early 20th-century private-press printers. However, the importance of this type in the development of our typographic letters has not yet been sufficiently recognised.

The volume aims to draw attention to this important type and to its maker with fresh bibliographical information and photographic analysis of the letterforms. The type is thoroughly analysed, the career of Jenson is sketched, and discussions on type-making techniques and the origin and development of its letterforms are presented.

Finally the influence of Jenson’s design is illustrated. This will show how his specific design choices were picked up by such punchcutters as Francesco Griffo and Claude Garamont, and became the standard for roman lowercase up to our times.

Images will play a pivotal role in this richly illustrated book. These visualisations allow readers the opportunity to explore the data and examine both the broader context and finer details, and systematically follow the discussion while verifying the reliability of the analysis results.

Text, photographs and book design by Riccardo Olocco
Preface by Lotte Hellinga

21 × 28 cm
120 pages
Hardcover
English
Isbn 978-88-98030-68-2
First edition October 2024

Description

This essay delves into the work of Nicolas Jenson, one of the most influential printers of the 15th century. He’s renowned for creating a Roman typeface, the so called “Jenson Roman” that has shaped much of modern typography. The volume stands out for its use of numerous high-quality illustrations, which allow the reader to visually follow the technical analyses and fully understand the significance of this still little-known artisan’s work within his historical context. The images help verify the accuracy of the observations and provide a tangible visual reference for the letters created by the printer.

Many typographers used the Jenson Roman as a model at the beginning of the 20th century, a period of significant renewal in the art of printing. Despite his notable impact on typography, Jenson’s contribution has yet to be fully recognized within the historical landscape. This book aims to address this gap, offering new bibliographical insights and an unprecedented photographic analysis that reveals previously unexplored aspects of his work.

The work not only explores Jenson’s career but also the techniques he employed to create his typefaces. In particular, it examines the origins and evolution of his letters, providing a clear view of his creative process and technical approach. The book also highlights Jenson’s influence on later engravers such as Francesco Griffo and Claude Garamont, who adopted many of his design choices, establishing the standards for lowercase Roman typefaces still in use today.

In summary, this volume offers a comprehensive analysis of Jenson’s contribution to typography. It takes a historical perspective enriched by new discoveries and careful visual analysis. The author, Riccardo Olocco, is known for his in-depth research on Roman typefaces and the typographic techniques used in past centuries. He combines a rigorous academic approach with close attention to practical and technical details.