Ernst Frederic Detterer (1888,

Lake Mills, Wisconsin Lake Mills is a city in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 6,211 at the 2020 census. The city is located partially within the Town of Lake Mills. History Lake Mills occupies the east shore of Rock Lake. The area was ...

– 1947,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

) was an American

calligrapher Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

, teacher, and

typographer Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing ( leading), an ...

. He studied at

Moravian College Moravian University is a private university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The institution traces its founding to 1742 by Moravians, descendants of followers of the Bohemian Reformation under John Amos Comenius. Founded in 1742, Moravian University ...

and the

Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art The Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art (PMSIA), also referred to as the School of Applied Art, was chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on February 26, 1876, as both a museum and teaching institution. This was in response to t ...

where he took classes in lettering taught by

Edward Johnston Edward Johnston, CBE (11 February 1872 – 26 November 1944) was a British craftsman who is regarded, with Rudolf Koch, as the father of modern calligraphy, in the particular form of the broad-edged pen as a writing tool. He is most famo ...

. From 1912–21 he taught wood-cut art, calligraphy and typography at

Chicago Normal School Chicago State University (CSU) is a Minority-serving institution, predominantly black public university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1867 as the Cook County Normal School, it was an innovative teachers college. Eventually the Chicago Public ...

. From 1921–31 he taught the history of printing at the

School of the Art Institute of Chicago The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which grew into the museum and ...

. The design department of the Ludlow Typograph Company commissioned him to design a Venetian type-face (i.e. one based on the designs of Venetian type-founder

Nicolas Jenson Nicholas Jenson (c. 1420 – 1480) was a French engraver, pioneer, printer and type designer who carried out most of his work in Venice, Italy. Jenson acted as Master of the French Royal Mint at Tours and is credited with being the creator of on ...

), and his ''Nicolas Jenson'' was the result. Detterer's former student,

R. Hunter Middleton Robert Hunter Middleton (May 6, 1898 – August 3, 1985) was an American book designer, painter, and typeface designer. Born in Glasgow, Scotland he came to Chicago in 1908 where he studied at the School of the Art Institute. He joined the des ...

, later expanded ''Nicolas Jenson'' into a complete type family. First cast in 1923, ''Nicolas Jenson'' was reintroduced in 1941 as

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian ...

. At the time of his death, Detterer was employed as the custodian of the John M. Wing Collection on the History of Printing at the

Newberry Library The Newberry Library is an independent research library, specializing in the humanities and located on Washington Square in Chicago, Illinois. It has been free and open to the public since 1887. Its collections encompass a variety of topics rela ...

in Chicago.Carl Purlington Rollins, ''American Type Designers and Their Work.'' in Print, V. 4, #1, p. 9.

Typefaces

* Nicolas Jenson (1923,

Ludlow Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road which bypasses the town. The t ...

) * Newberry Binding Type (1935,

ATF The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as the ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and preven ...

) Drawings by Detterer, metal patterns by

, matrices cut by

Robert Wiebking Robert Wiebking (1870–1927) was a German-American engraver type designer, typeface designer who was known for cutting type matrices for Frederic Goudy from 1911 to 1926. Life and career Robert Wiebking was born in Schwelm, Germany in 1870, he em ...

, cast in brass by

American Type Founders American Type Founders (ATF) Co. was a business trust created in 1892 by the merger of 23 type foundries, representing about 85% of all type manufactured in the United States. De Vinne, Theodore Low, ''The Practice of Typography,'' Century Comp ...

* Eusebius (1941,

) a re-issue of ''Nicolas Jenson''.

References

External links

Ernst F. Detterer Papers
a
the Newberry Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Detterer, Ernst F. 1888 births 1947 deaths American typographers and type designers Artists from Wisconsin Artists from Chicago People from Lake Mills, Wisconsin