Francesco Griffo (1450–1518), also called Francesco da Bologna, was a fifteenth-century Italian punchcutter. He worked for

Aldus Manutius Aldus Pius Manutius (; it, Aldo Pio Manuzio; 6 February 1515) was an Italian printer and humanist who founded the Aldine Press. Manutius devoted the later part of his life to publishing and disseminating rare texts. His interest in and preserv ...

, designing the printer's more important humanist typefaces, including the first italic type. He cut Roman, Greek, Hebrew and first italic type. Aldus gives Griffo credit in the introduction of the ''Virgil'' of 1501. However, as Manutius had achieved a monopoly on italic printing and Greek publishing with the permission of the Venetian government, he had a falling-out with Griffo. Griffo then went to work for Gershom Soncino, whose family were Hebrew printers. It was with Soncino that Griffo's second italic type was cut in 1503. In 1516 he returned to Bologna where he began print publishing. In 1518 Griffo was charged with the murder of his son-in-law, who had been beaten to death with an iron bar. This is his last appearance in the historical record. He is presumed to have been executed.

Influence

Griffo's typefaces have been very influential. His Romans show a degree of abstraction from calligraphy not present in the work of the earlier master Nicolas Jenson, while his italic and Greek types are notably

cursive Cursive (also known as script, among other names) is any style of penmanship in which characters are written joined in a flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing faster, in contrast to block letters. It varies in functionalit ...

. Philip B. Meggs wrote in ''A History of Graphic Design'', "Griffo researched pre-Caroline scripts to produce a roman type that was less artistic but more authentic than Jenson's designs". The italic type was designed to look like handwriting of the humanist scholars. This more personal form of type became widely popular in Europe. Typefaces based on his work include Monotype Poliphilus roman,

Bembo Bembo is a serif typeface created by the British branch of the Monotype Corporation in 1928–1929 and most commonly used for body text. It is a member of the " old-style" of serif fonts, with its regular or roman style based on a design cut ar ...

Book roman, Bembo Titling, Morris Fuller Benton's

Cloister Old Style Cloister is a serif typeface that was designed by Morris Fuller Benton and published by American Type Founders from around 1913. It is loosely based on the printing of Nicolas Jenson in Venice in the 1470s, in what is now called the "old style" o ...

italic,

Jack Yan Jack Yan (; born 1972) is a New Zealand publisher, designer and businessman. He is best known as the founder and publisher of ''Lucire''. He ran for mayor of Wellington in 2010, and again in 2013, but was unsuccessful in both elections. Backgr ...

's JY Aetna roman,

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Aldine 401 roman, and Franko Luin's Griffo Classico roman and italic; more distant descendants include the romans of

Claude Garamond Claude Garamont (–1561), known commonly as Claude Garamond, was a French type designer, publisher and punch-cutter based in Paris. Garamond worked as an engraver of punches, the masters used to stamp matrices, the moulds used to cast metal ty ...

, Giovanni Mardersteig's Dante, Robert Slimbach's

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and

Matthew Carter Matthew Carter (born 1 October 1937) is a British type designer.Christophe_Plantin.html" ;"title="y Christophe Plantin">y Christophe Plantin' in typography's golden age was in perfect condition (some muddle aside)

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's Yale Typeface.

Publications

The publications of Francesco Griffo's at Bologna as cited by ''Francesco Griffo da Bologna: Fragments & glimpses: a compendium of information & opinions about his life and work.'' *''Canzoniere et triomphi di messer Francesco Petrarcha'', 20 September 1516. *''Archadia del Sannazaro'', 3 October 1516. *''Gli Asolani di Messer Pietro Bembo'', 30 October 1516. *''Labirinto d amore de Messer Giovanni Bocaccio nomato il Corbaccio'', 9 December 1516. *''M. Tull. Ciceronis Epistolae familiares accuratius recognitae'', 20 December 1516. *''Volerii Maximi dictorum et factorum memorabilium libri nouem'', 24 January 1517.

Influence

Publications

References

Further reading