Medieval Books-The Secrets of Medieval Fonts

[Tasmith]

A wonderful article about medieval fonts:

https://medievalbooks.nl/2016/04/29/the-secrets-of-medieval-fonts/

[ericp]

Thanks for posting this very interesting and "biting" link!   

[Estefa]

Love all the blogs by Erik Kwakkel – so much cool information!

[flummoxed]

There goes whatever little sleep I could get today! Looks to be a wonderful read, and I could spend hours on that website.

[Inkysloth]

I'm saving it to read in the morning, but I find the use of "font" when referring to hand written work one of those things that makes me very twitchy!

[jeanwilson]

I'm saving it to read in the morning, but I find the use of "font" when referring to hand written work one of those things that makes me very twitchy!

I knew that font was not the right word to use for different styles of writing by hand - but there doesn't seem to be a word that covers - a particular style of writing by hand. A lot of calligraphers will use the word *hand* - as in "I chose this particular hand because it complemented the words." But *hand* would be a confusing term to try to force on the general public. So - what is the solution? At least with the word font - people are aware that we are talking about a particular style from a long list of choices. I decided to just use it because there was no alternative that was better.

[Ken Fraser]

For lettering by hand, I use the word "style"or "hand" but never "font".

[Estefa]

From Mr. Kwakkels article : "Postscriptum – In response to some helpful remarks on Twitter, I am aware, of course, that scripts and fonts – as used in the title – are not the same thing. However, I like the comparison of the two, and used it here, because just like medieval script, a font relates both to the notion of family (Times New Roman) and its execution (e.g. a 12 point letter). More on fonts and typefaces here (via John Mulloy, @MulloyJohn)."

I know exactly what you mean, Ken, but I think in that case the use of the word font might be justifiable !

I like to use the word script ... or script style.

[AndyT]

Etymologically, "font" derives from the act of casting, in this case the individual characters in a set of type.  It shares a root with "foundry", in fact.  It's very much a printing term, and I suspect that Mr Kwakkel must have been a mischievous mood.

Paleographers seem to prefer "script" to anything else, but "style" and "hand" seem equally useful.  The latter has an antique flavour which I rather like, but as Jean says it's probably a hard sell to the general, non-calligraphic public.