Damus

Recent Notes

Dan Reynolds profile picture
Perhaps the first edition of the Declaration of Independence, according to Gettysburg College, was printed in German!

Two copies of Steiner and Cist’s Unabhängigkeitserklärung survive. Aside from Gettysburg College’s copy, the German Historical Museum in Berlin also has one in its collection – that is currently on exhibit again, until early August.

Steiner and Cist’s shop was located in Philadelphia, on Second Street. The types used for the broadsheet all came to Pennsylvania from the Luther Foundry in Frankfurt, though not all of the designs originated there. It is not clear whether the physical fonts Steiner and Cist had been cast in Frankfurt or by Sauer in Germantown with Luther matrices.

https://gettdigital.gettysburg.edu/Documents/Detail/declaration-of-independence-translated-into-german-published-in-philadelphia-1776/107173
Dan Reynolds · 8w
nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpq3yhtced946jss464sh05p0lfp9xaa0ypfeh89fy69ceksdwxfx9s87saqv … and a thicker-stroke template that could be copied for signs, etc. The latter, whi...
Dan Reynolds profile picture
@nprofile1q... … Of course, the exact letter shapes for any medium are not not the same today as they were in the 1960s. Or the 1930s, etc. DIN as an organization is not as helpful as it could, as even expired versions of standard have to be bought for €€. The archive is now freely accessible on site at the Deutsches Technikmuseum, though.
Dan Reynolds · 8w
nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpq3yhtced946jss464sh05p0lfp9xaa0ypfeh89fy69ceksdwxfx9s87saqv I wrote this about its first version about a year ago, but left a lot out. The immedia...
Dan Reynolds profile picture
@nprofile1q... … and a thicker-stroke template that could be copied for signs, etc. The latter, while not looking like the popular typefaces used today, or the letters on Autobahn signs, is still the predecessor of what people think of as DIN. Meanwhile, the monolinear system I mentioned in my previous toot is what was adapted to stencils for architects/engineers, and for German engraving machine templates. …
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Dan Reynolds · 8w
nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpq3yhtced946jss464sh05p0lfp9xaa0ypfeh89fy69ceksdwxfx9s87saqv … Of course, the exact letter shapes for any medium are not not the same today as they were in the 1960s. Or the 1930s, etc. DIN as an organization is not as helpful as it could, as ev...
Marcin Wichary · 8w
For those who know German typography, any advice on how to sink my teeth into understanding the influence of DIN 1451 (and its predecessors/siblings/variants) on everyday typography? Can be in Germa...
Dan Reynolds profile picture
@nprofile1q... I wrote this about its first version about a year ago, but left a lot out. The immediate DIN 1451 was DIN 16, a slanted system of standardized lettering. The DIN 1451 standard has changed significantly over the last century. Even after the typographic variant was dropped in v2, the standard still showed two completely different lettering styles, one three-width monolinear system, which looked exactly like the discarded fonts … https://www.peacham.co/journal/the-akzidenz-grotesk-youve-never-seen
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Dan Reynolds · 8w
nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpq3yhtced946jss464sh05p0lfp9xaa0ypfeh89fy69ceksdwxfx9s87saqv … and a thicker-stroke template that could be copied for signs, etc. The latter, while not looking like the popular typefaces used today, or the letters on Autobahn signs, is still the...
Typographica · 9w
nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpqjzp2q3ytpljzmwn2cv8vmgsj0qce2nd8v3q8sshuqw4tr5azhy9s4fnram Yeah, the caption on the Fanfare spread implies that. Just wasn't sure about the first example of the illustration.
Emmanuel Besse · 11w
nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpqjzp2q3ytpljzmwn2cv8vmgsj0qce2nd8v3q8sshuqw4tr5azhy9s4fnram nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpq5tufaxr2l3y77k8eee96s3n9xpwm0ywl273ydrxnscrlzmyxxzpsnwe9hc Yes, I was looking at Folio when I had this thought, and dreiviertelfett...
Dan Reynolds · 11w
nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpq5tufaxr2l3y77k8eee96s3n9xpwm0ywl273ydrxnscrlzmyxxzpsnwe9hc nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpqhdn0drpz6udkmeraltncz2eaz505a8kj46d782ruj7tchlx8yz0sr7rz2j There was Dreivirtelfett, but that was between bold and black. So, yeah,...
Dan Reynolds · 11w
nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpqhdn0drpz6udkmeraltncz2eaz505a8kj46d782ruj7tchlx8yz0sr7rz2j nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpq5tufaxr2l3y77k8eee96s3n9xpwm0ywl273ydrxnscrlzmyxxzpsnwe9hc With the exception of a few historical events branches, like Futura Buch...
Emmanuel Besse · 11w
So Halbfett is DemiBold, but I think it often looks like what we would call nowadays a Medium. Is that because our views on weight distribution changed (because of uses and technology like interpolati...
Dan Reynolds profile picture
@nprofile1q... halbfett was, at least for a long time, the term for what was called bold in English. Fett was twice as heavy as that, so Fett was similar to Heavy of Black. The regular weights of most families had no designation. They were just the typeface. A lighter than normal weight was called mager. There are some specimens that translated these terms into English badly, which I suspect is the source of the problem today.
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Kai Bernau · 11w
nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpqjzp2q3ytpljzmwn2cv8vmgsj0qce2nd8v3q8sshuqw4tr5azhy9s4fnram nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpqhdn0drpz6udkmeraltncz2eaz505a8kj46d782ruj7tchlx8yz0sr7rz2j so Medium is… Viertelfett? Fünfachtelfett?