Ok, now the reason for this latest post. From the reading I was inspired to flip through my copy of The Smithsonian Book of Books by Michael Olmert. As I opened the inside cover there was an inscription "Ex Libris" (meaning From Books) similar to the "Ad Libris" (To Books) we see in Mr. Penumbra. Cool, but not overly. Then, turning the page I see...
the Festina Lente mark (http://pleasanthillbookclub.blogspot.com/2013/03/what-is-festina-lente.html) of 15th century printer Aldus Manutius! Super cool!
While reading the entry about Aldus I came across an entry about the man who created the type face (font) used by Aldus and it is pretty similar to what is described in the book. Turns out that "Griffo Gerritszoon" the font creater from the book, is actually Francesco Griffo who was born in the same year as Aldus (1450) and died three years after him (1518).
The type setting "Gerritszoon", as far as I can determine, created by the real Griffo is actually "Times New Roman". This would fit based on the description of "Gerritszoon" (though I can't find a "Gerritszoon Display" version of Times New Roman) as found as Kindle type and the font found on every computer. The Smithsonian Book of Books also has a photo sample of Aldus' work which, to my untrained eye, looks very much like Times New Roman.
If it seems weird that a 15th century printer would be using something as simple as Times New Roman, I must note that Aldus is heralded for not only printing great classical writings, but "these books [became] widely available in small, affordable editions, [and] easy to read."(Olmert p. 130)
PS- I'm only 51% through the book. I'm sure I'll be posting more soon. Or I might only be writing this much because 3rd quarter grades are due and I am procrastinating. In which case I won't follow up until 2nd semester grades come due.
Thanks for this post!i kept googling and searching for gerritszoon to see if if was real, your post helped!
ReplyDeleteme too!
ReplyDeleteIf you google Griffo Gerritzoon there is a chatroom full of revelatory comments about Robin Sloan's use of prime numbers, names,and references; everything seems to have a deeper meaning. And did anyone else notice that the book cover, minus the title, glows in the dark? Very cool.
ReplyDeleteGrr I didn't! And I've given it back to the library!
DeleteI didn't believe that so I tried it it does very faintly unless you've been holding it out in the sun. So cool
DeleteMine glows in the dark
DeleteI just anagram analyzed Gerritszoon. One solution was: zero sorting.
ReplyDeleteThis book is a unique (yes, unique) piece of work. Bravissimo!
ReplyDeleteAs a former typographer, I hate it that the typeface is Times Roman! I was hoping for something a little more elegant, like Caslon, or Garamond, or Goudy. "Times New Roman is not a font choice so much as the absence of a font choice, like the blackness of deep space is not a color. To look at Times New Roman is to gaze into the void."
ReplyDeleteI don't know what font Gerritszoon is supposed to be either, but Francesco Griffo was the inventor of Bembo, which was a modern 15th century type, and he invented the cursive or italic script, which made a fortune for Aldus Manutius.
ReplyDeleteI think it's supposed to be Garamond because if you look at the Wiki entry for Garamond it's associated with a Jean Jannon and that's the main character's last name. Also isn't Garamond the font that was preloaded on Macs?
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ReplyDeleteGriffo also made the Palatino and Poliphilus fonts, see: http://www.mwbixler.com/spec_htm/spbk_polibl_x.html, and according to jtauber, the title font of the book itself is set in poliphilus "Re: this card, Robin Sloan has confirmed to me that it is, in fact, Poliphilus" at https://thoughtstreams.io/jtauber/mr-penumbras-24-hour-bookstore/#card-495
ReplyDeleteWhy would Sloan rename a font? Infringement? Can't imagine, as he is writing 'about' it - not using it. Also, it is appears here (thank you!) to be an extremely common/popular font (and yes, rather boring).
ReplyDeleteHowever, the name he created for it, Gerritszoon, is an old Dutch name - literally 'Gerrit's son and the real name of...... Desiderius Erasmus! http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Gerrit+Gerritszoon.
Does this add/change/clarify anything? I'm reading the book atm, I'm afraid I missed many references already.... Thanks for your posts!
I believe that, in 2002, Apple Garamond (a proprietary cut of Garamond) was replaced with Myriad.
ReplyDeleteDespite the appearance of 'Google' in every other paragraph, [sigh] it was a good, light read.
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ReplyDeleteIn reading this book I assumed that "Geritszoon" was a re-working of Garamond. A quick google of Claude Garamond's life reveals him to have worked with Aldus Mantius and Francesco Griffo. Not to mention that for many years the work of a copycat, Jean Jannon (the book's main character) was mistaken for Garamond's work. I'm fairly certain that the font in question must be Garamond. Though not loaded on to as many devices as in the book, it is one of the most highly regarded and ubiquitous fonts. Having gone through a degree in printing, Garamond and the history surrounding its creation seemed the obvious mirror to Sloan's story.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, Times New Roman makes no sense at all, since it was commissioned for the New York Times itself, which did not happen until 1931.
Tho it starts slow, It's an amazing book that manages to mix ancient volumes, hyper-new IT, youth and age, SF and NY. I'll tweet-review it soon on @NovelCrimes.
ReplyDelete— jules