You have been requesting a comparative review of Mercury and Farnham in Bald Condensed, and I am happy to announce I will be able to offer twice the fun. Hoefler & Frere-Jones' Mercury will be compared not only to Christian Schwartz's Farnham, but to Matthew Carter's Fenway -- the type family he designed as a replacement for Times Roman in Sports Illustrated -- and Erhard Kaiser's DTL Fleischmann as well. Funny thing is that DTL Fleischmann -- which is the odd one out as it is the most faithful (and quirky) digitisation -- unexpectedly has a new competitor in Mário Feliciano's as of yet unreleased Eudald. This is a Didone which is based on the work of Eudald Pradell, a Spanish imitator of Fleischmann. So five typefaces in total will contend for the coveted title of Most Totally Awesome Fleischmann Digitisation™.

Oh, one more thing: I would like to stress that I have no academic background whatsoever, so don't expect any roaring theories nor historical contexts. I review type from a gut feeling and using common sense. So if I get it wrong, please feel free to laugh at my expense. Like, really hard.