Twenty Faces

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Jenson · Bembo · Granjon · Elzevir · Caslon · Fleischmann · Baskerville · Fournier · Bell · Bulmer · Miller · Centaur · Perpetua · Janson · Electra · Fairfield · Dante · Aldus · Sabon · Albertina

Bulmer

Morris Fuller Benton, based on William Martin
1792

In the late 18th century, printing had evolved to the point where fine details in letterforms and illustrations would hold up on printed pages. In Italy and France, Bodoni and Didot were printing with new types of hairline filigree and high contrast between strokes and serifs, design elements that would have fallen apart in the rough ink-and-paper situations previously available. William Martin’s Bulmer is a more restrained product of this transition, and it shares some of the characteristics of type designed by Martin’s contemporary John Baskerville.

I find Bodonis and Didots unusable for text, but this digital rendering of Bulmer is quite good, although over lengthy reading its fanciness tends not to go away.