The printing archeology can be a surprising discipline, if only one is able to detect and identify its tracks, and is often bringing more questions than answers… We propose to take stock on the current knowledge about the techniques used by the european prototypographers, or in other words to measure how form sometime follows function.

The diversity of late mediaeval letterforms is a challenge for paleographers and type historians, and efforts have been made to create rational typologies. The evolution of scripts and types is governed by partly different factors, especially from a technical perspective, but there was also continuing formal and functional interaction long after Gutenberg, and a comparison between both fields makes it possible to refine our notions of the interference between Gothic and Roman.

This talk is about my ongoing research on roman types cut in 15th-century Venice. Firstly I will introduce the procedures adopted in my research based on photographic enlargements and detailed analysis of printed type. Then I will discuss the type first used by Nicolas Jenson (1470), which can reasonably be considered as the prototype of all subsequent romans. I will focus on the surprisingly high design quality of Jenson’s roman, both in the choice of letterforms and in their execution. This is easy to grasp if we compare it with the other types cut in Venice in those early years. An introduction to these odd and obscure types cut in Venice during the years 1470–73 is the central theme of my talk. These types are based on calligraphic models other than Jenson’s roman and their letterforms were soon to disappear as they were eclipsed by the success of Jenson’s. Today we would find them hard to read as typefaces of our times – unlike Jenson’s letterforms.

The two clerics Konrad Sweynheym and Arnold Pannartz printed the first book with movable type south of the Alps in 1465 in Subiaco, near Rome. The typeface they used was a humanist type with a gothic touch. The Armando project is a modern revival of this particular style, on the basis of the historical prints. The goal was not to reproduce the font accurately but to develop a contemporary interpretation with reference to this unique moment in the history of typography.

The talk will give a short overview on the development and objectives of the so called ‘Proctor-Haebler method’ and a critical discussion of its underlying assumptions on 15th century punchcutting, type casting and letterpress printing. Following this, it will present the online version of the ‘Typenrepertorium’ (TW), its features and projected improvements. A discussion, if and in which ways the TW can be used not only as a tool for incunabula bibliography but also as a ressource for studying the development of letterform design in the 15th century, will finish the talk.

The paper presents a new approach to recognising type in digitised prints by using a neural network trained with ground truth data derived from the ‘Typenrepertorium der Wiegendrucke’ and manual labelling. Particular attention is given to the differences in recognition rates between font groups and the inherent problems of ‘in-between’ cases such as Bastarda and Gotico-Antiqua that can be seen when clustering images by the relative similarity of their fonts.

We will present the revival program of 15th century typefaces developed during our cursus at ANRT (2017–2019). We will tackle on the seizing of sources – exclusively printed types, the whole typographic material of these times being lost – from the sample method to the choice (and challenge) of maximum accuracy of the new design to the original form. Mainly focused on the 1460–1480 period, before the stabilisation of roman, the ambition of the project is to enlight diverse tendencies, little known and often eluded, that then arise between gothic and roman, and between manuscript and typography. The fifteen revivals will be available Open Source from the end of the talk.

The talk will present protagonists, places, events and anecdotes encountered over the last years when researching ‘typeforms without families’ from the 15th century. Some of them have led to curatorial choices in the exhibition, others motivated the wish of this symposium and research program held at ANRT. The talk will present as well a personal typeface developed in parallel and used throughout the event.

Most of the hybrid blackletter/roman ‘Midolline’ typefaces bear no relation to the calligraphy of Jean Midolle, a Frenchman born in 1794 who I consider the first ‘type designer’ in German-speaking Europe (albeit inad­vertently). Nevertheless, a near countless number foundries in the western world – from St. Louis to St. Petersburg – sold a dozen loosely related designs with tentative connections to his work.

In Germany, around 1900, some typefaces were designed that mixed gothic and roman characteristics in a way that is comparable to fifteenth-century types. These were attempts to ‘modernise’ the gothic tradition, which had remained stronger in Germany than anywhere else.

William Morris made types for his Kelmscott Press that were based on models of the 15th century. His neighbour and friend Emery Walker was a specialist in photographic reproduction processes. Morris made drawings for his roman and his gothic, that were based on enlarged photographic images that were made by Emery Walker from early printed books. This talk will show some examples of Morris’s drawings for his types and Walker’s surviving photographic type details.

In 1927, the H. Berthold type foundry released Fanfare, the second typeface of Berlin-based Jewish graphic designer Louis Oppenheim. Not announced by drumroll and trumpets, but by the beat of kettledrum and transverse flutes alike, it appears at brute force and delicately at the same time. The talk explores this expressionist hybrid of blackletter and grotesque, analyses its system of several optical sizes and different widths, and also considers Oppenheim’s lifetime and other work before, during and after World War I.

This workshop will allow the participants to discover Textura writing through a calligraphic approach. Appeared in the 13th century, it is the result of a long evolution of gothic scripts. It is the one Gutenberg will use to print the B42 Bible. After a short historical introduction, the calligraphic ductus of Textura will be approached, as part of exercises and/or custom applications. No no prior knowledge is required. Calli­graphic material will be lended to the participants, which can bring as well their own (minimum width 3 mm).
 

Learn how to discover, identify, write and master the Textura style.
 

Where ANRT, 15 participants max.

This workshop will be about knowing how to approach a 15th century type-print, the limits of accuracy, and be able, at wish, to take the path of interpretation with a maximal understanding of the original forms. Every participant will be invited to draw his own version, accurate or not, of a common source chose in the corpus of revived types produced by Alexis Faudot and Rafael Ribas during their corpus of revivals. This workshop is mainly directed towards type or graphic designers, but no prior knowledge is required. Bring your laptop and a type design software of your choice.
 

Learn how to find and get your Open-Source typeface file, get an overview of the analyzing process of a glyph source, draw with vectors from incunabula sources, modify and transform an existing type, create multiple masters, interpolate, export and test your font in current design softwares.
 

Where ANRT, 15 participants max. Full

This workshop allows participants to print type specimens from original Fanfare letters made in wood, metal and Plakadur (Berthold’s own plastic resin letters). Together we will explore the typographic system and you will learn how to arrange letters on the press, how to prepare and lock up a printable forme, and learn about the basic printing process. At the end of the workshop you will have experienced typesetting, leading, spacing (no kerning!), and printing. All the type is provided by p98a, a post-digital letterpress studio in Berlin. The instructor’s talk about ‘Fanfare, the expressive blackletter Grotesk from Berlin’ will tell you everything you need to know about the typeface. Experience in letterpress printing is very welcome, but not necessary. Aprons should be provided by the university, however, don’t dress in white and certainly do not wear your Sunday best; you will get your hands dirty.
 

Learn how to arrange and set type on a press, prepare a printable forme, print on a proof press.
 

Where ENSAD’s letterpress workshop, 6 participants max. Full