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eXtreme Type Terminology

Posted by TimSlavin at March 27, 2008

"Since the invention of printing, typefaces have been classified historically. The earliest type is now known as black letter, blackletter, block, fraktur, gothic or old English. The humanist, or Venetian typefaces followed, a style that more closely resembled handwriting. Old style, old face, or garalde type. Garalde, a term rarely used now, is a mash-up of the names Garamond and Aldus, referring to the notable typefounders Claude Garamond and Aldus Manutius. Old style typefaces are distinguishable from humanist types by the horizontal rather than oblique or sloping crossbar of the lowercase e."

From I Love Typography. It's the first part of a six part series about type terminology. Along the way, you get some history, learn a few things you did not know, and get to look at gorgeous fonts. Not a bad deal.