Eric Gill's Perpetua

bschoech
8.Sep.2004 2.17pm

I think it's pretty much a general consensus that, for the most part, digitized versions of classic text typefaces absolutely pale in comparison to their original counterparts. In my opinion, the foremost examples of this include Electra and Fairfield.

I remember once getting lucky and stumbling upon an original, non-digitized setting of Gill's Perpetua somewhere (which almost looked like an entirely different typeface and made me wonder how Monotype ended up with the revival it did). Sadly, I don't quite remember which book it was.

My question is this: are there any samples (photocopies, et c.) of an original setting of Perpetua floating around on the internet?

bieler
15.Sep.2004 9.04pm

Brandon

I've printed books with the metal Perpetua and it is quite a beautiful face that is well suited to it purpose. The digital version is not nearly quite on. I think the problem was that it was a bit of an early issue before some of the concerns than many of us now share were realized.

With the Monotype Pastonchi however (which I believe may have been Monotype Typography's last effort before they merged with Agfa), they were right on. The digital is quite near an exact match to the metal version.

I suspect the early concerns in regard to historical revivals was not quite what they are today.

Gerald Lange
The Bieler Press