Bodoni. Here's an article which should help fill you in.

What I mean is: the faces which Françoise Didot, Françoise Ambroise Didot, Pierre l’aîné Didot and Firmin Didot cut – what were the original names of their typefaces? Is there a specific face which most resembled what we call ‘Didot’ today?

In old time, a typeface never got a name such we use now. We call Garamond, Bodoni, Baskerville to refer to a particular style ow their creators/designers/cutters.

Typefaces used name following their sizes, cut, but it was a generic name not related to the style.

So, in a print shop, around 1789 for example in France, the Mignone size can be a Fournier (how we call it now) when the Cicero can be a Garamond (how we call it now).

And if you cross the street, and went to another print shop, well, perhaps this one is more up to date, and their you will found for same sizes, some earlier cut of a Didot...

Rod, in short, I don't know the answer to your question.

But, the Didot family cut many typefaces (most of which were probably named by their size instead of their styles, as JFP said above). If you went to a Didot press to have your stuff printed, you got it printed in "their" typefaces. If you went somewhere else (esp. I guess, in Holland), you would get the typefaces that that printer used. I don't think that you could just walk into a printing office in the 1700s and say, "I really dig John Baskerville's types, can you print my book in that instead of Caslon's?"

Bodoni in Parma used his own typefaces as well, which appear similar (relatively) to Didot family typefaces. But Giambattista Bodoni's typefaces were not Didot typefaces, and Didot family typefaces were not made by G. Bodoni, even though later historians grouped them all under the heading "Didones." Confusing enough?

I'm not sure what Ralph is hinting at. (Can you elaborate, Ralph? Didot-made typefaces were never called Bodoni typefaces while the Didots were alive, as far as I know.)

Thanks everyone, that makes much more sense!

> Giambattista Bodoni was hired in Parma
> to create something similar to what was
> happening in Paris at the time.

But note that his idol was Baskerville.

hhp

Tiffany, without looking at any books, what I recall is something like that:

Bodoni intentions was to meet Baskerville in England but stopped in Paris due to sikness. Anyway, before this trip his first types were much influenced by Fournier -- then, by Baskerville + Didot, its perhaps why Bodonis types are more flourished and round than the stricts Didots.

Anyway, Didot was influenced by Baskerville when Bell, Austin were influenced by Didot! :-) Well, type history is complex.

"Didones" is simply Did(ot) + (Bo)doni, like Garaldes is Gara(mond) + Alde.

The concept of different style of typefaces probably appeared during the 19th century, period during which Caslon started a second career, Sans and Fat faces appaered and period which, people like Perrin and Jannet started to cut sort of revivals of old faces.

Just a note to this. I recently picked up a copy of Specimen de Caracteres of Typographie Firmin-Didot et cie that dates from the early 1920s. The specimen catalog has the Didot and Poetique Didot showings. Interestingly, unlike Anglo-American specimen books the name of the type size precedes the typeface name. While not as caught up with the typographic revival, as typical of Spain and Italy as well during this time period, some really nice vignettes!!!

What we know as Bodoni, historically followed what the Didot Family did. From what I remember from that lecture (given by James Mosley) Giambattista Bodoni was hired in Parma to create something similar to what was happening in Paris at the time. Some people had left Paris but still wanted to feel a part of what was happening. Even then people were aware of what we call today, trends.

(I'd love for this to be fleshed out as I lost my notes)