Tuesday Typeface: Dante

Typefaces are often named after the artists who create them, work or previous designers that provide inspiration for their creation, or individuals or presses that commission them. The Dante typeface has no direct connection to the author of The Divine Comedy, but rather received its name from Trattatello in Laude di Dante, a work by Boccaccio and the first book to use the new typeface in 1955. Dante is a serif font designed by the scholar and printer Giovanni Mardersteig in the mid 1950s. Mardersteig was an artist who operated the Officina Bodoni private printing press, known for its finely crafted books. Mardersteig worked closely with Charles Malin, a renowned punch-cutter, to develop the typeface. This collaboration, combined with the experience and expertise of both men, ensured that the design would translate flawlessly to the technology of the time and would be elegantly created and imminently readable.

Dante was influenced by the work of Fifteenth century punchcutter Francesco Griffo, which we covered in further depth in a Tuesday Typeface devoted to Bembo, a more direct successor to Griffo’s typefaces. One of Mardersteig’s express goals was to use the sensibilities of Griffo’s designs and translate them into both  roman and italic letters, since during Griffo’s time, typefaces were created in either roman or italic, but not both. However, the greatest stress was placed on creating a typeface that was elegant and easy to read. The serifs and tops of lowercase letters are carefully designed with an increased horizontal emphasis to assist the eye’s movement from left to right.

 

Dante was Mardersteig’s last and most successful design. The face gained immediate popularity and was adapted for machine use by Monotype, who also convinced Mardersteig to expand the font family to include three different weights. Dante was adapted for digital use by Monotype's Ron Carpenter in 1993. 

The Center for Book Arts used Dante Monotype to print its 30^th anniversary publication, New World Suite Number Three

Have any stories about your favorite typeface? Want to give us suggestions or comments? Comment on this post, email us at info@centerforbookarts.org, visit us on Facebook (/centerforbookarts) or follow us on Twitter (@center4bookarts). Can't wait to see you there!
  .