No, it simply means SansSerif!

Interesting research!
I found myself a beautiful Akzidenz Grotesk on my perfume di Ermenegildo Zegna on the back.
Beautiful 2 and it slighlty differs from all the thin versions I have in stock. Tried to make one myself but it doesn’t look so good.

Let’s see something if you have already!

Good Luck
Stefan

This is from the one I prepared myself. Basically only making lines thinner and repairing the result in FontLab.

Stefan

Alan, check out this article by Martin Majoor... If you can get a copy of that issue of Eye, there are some good graphic comparisons of Akzidenz and Helvetica.

Stefan. Doesn’t “grotesk” indeed translate as “grotesque”? I think this designation is indeed the result of the sans serif faces as being felt to be strange compared to the usual and common serif faces of the time.
Wouldn’t “sans serif” rather go by “serifenlose Linearantiqua” (at least that’s what I learned in typography class).

Hi Jan!

Wow. Didn’t know that.
Sounds like the real origin of the word.

By the way, Jan:
You are not just in case the one Jan I met at the library König in Cologne once
who studies with Luc de Groot?

Stefan

> You are not just in case the one Jan I met at the library König in Cologne
> once who studies with Luc de Groot?

No, Stefan. I’m not.

Would have been a strange case.

ciao
Stefan

Which is your favourite cut so far Alan?
I would have to go for Berthold’s.

Many, many thanks

Sorry I haven’t replied sooner, work does tend to get in the way, annoyingly-!!
Endre, Interestingly I think I would go for Bertholds as well, but I have to ask myself why ?
Aesthetically you could argue the differences are minimal between several early Grotesks, so my choice is most likely based on
the originality of Bertholds AG, that said my research has revealed other foundries which also produced early SanSerifs could have also figured in the creation of this seminal face so one could argue (originality, whats that ?).
Its strange also that one of the names mentioned several times in various pieces of research is Vincent Figgins, he is credited with amongst others, Giza, an Egyptian style face (similar to Rockwell). I say strange because my family come from a part of London not far away from where he had his foundry and our names are similar.

re the “Grotesk” meaning I think Jan has hit the nail, so to speak ! I wonder if the idea was, this new face was so “modern” Berthold jokingly played along ?
A friend of mine who is taking typography degree intimated similar

Many thanks to all who have contributed

Alan

Dear Alan!

Regarding » Grotesk « as German native speaker (as you may note my English skills are worst) I have a few additional remarks.

In german we have (had) three modes to name a »Sans Serif«:

Grotesk
Sans Serif
serifenlose (= Sans Serif) (Linear-) Antiqua

The semantic origin of the term » Grotesk « is the French language of the 17th century. The term (grotesque) first was used in visual arts to express an unnatural combination of parts of humans, animals and plants. This term etymologically was borrowed from the Italian » grottesco « = » part of a cave «, meaning antique cave paintings, antique cuneiform writing etc.

In 1832 the London typesetter and type founder Vincent Figgins (1766–1844) created a typeface (only uppercase) called » Two-line Great Primer Sans-serif «. He was the first using the term » Sans Serif «. In the same year William Thorowgood published a typeface (uppercase and lowercase) which became known as » grotesque «.

Arround 1880 the German Typesetter Ferdinand Theinhard created a four weights typeface called » Royal Grotesk « for publications of the » Königlich-Preußischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin « (Royal Prussian Academy of Science Berlin). This was the moment when the » Grotesk « became popular in Germany. 1908 Herman Berthold took over the Theinhard Foundry and continued to sell the » Royal Grotesk « till the end of the monarchy in 1918. After that Berthold sold the » Royal Grotesk « as » Akzidenz Grotesk «.

Vertex

viel Dank Vertex

Vielen Dank auch!
;-))
Klasse