What's 6pt Plantin?

As for the Fleischman (I'm still unsure to spell it with one "n" or two...) I have the glorious 1908 Enschede specimen book on hand - arguably the best source for anything Fleischman. I can get you good 600dpi scans, or 1200dpi macro photo images (which however will be focused adequately only on a few letters at a time). I could also do 2000dpi photos but those would require a tripod (which I have, it's just more work). But I can't do this for free, sorry. Please let me know.

hhp

Oh, Goody, that sounds truly glorious!
As soon as I've managed to meet my three deadlines (all work and no eggs makes Fredrik a dull boy) I'll mail ya � privately.

BTW � Fleischmann can be spelled both ways, he was from Germany, where they spelled it with two n:s, whereas in the Netherlands it's spelled with one.

A 6 pt Plantin is, well, a good font for small type says ole 'Arry Carter. Or so I thought. Looking in my issue of the Printing Historical Society Bulletin reprint of his article on Optical Scale I realize he was referring to 8 point Plantin. And Fleischman(n).
So, 8 pt it is and I'll get back to you.

Happy easter everywhere!


�

Is the Plantin reference to Monotype Plantin?

A great letterpress face. Tough as nails (for a Monotype face�something about the design) and functioned quite well, optically, at the smaller sizes

Not the prettiest flower in the bouquet, but always the one that lived the longest. Definitely a workhorse.

Yeah, I think it's the Monotype version.

Perhaps not a conventional beauty, but in this case I'd say the beauty is in its practice.

I would love to see some of the work you've done with it, but I guess it's long gone.

�

Fredrik

Print never goes away. We did a book back in '86 with the Plantin, The Compleat Melancholick. Still in print, both the letterpress and the offset editions (the latter reproduced from the letterpress proofs). I guess that should tell you something about how successful a publisher I am!!!! (nothing worse than not putting a title into OP status).

But if you are interested, I pop the offset version up on eBay from time to time (currently up), and they are both always for sale on Amazon. Obviously, just another compositional exercise (but, I always liked the book).

Plantin is a man among boys. The anal-historicists who obsess about the "wrong" lc "a" piss me off so... Gerald, doesn't Archetype have it? I'll be coming in this Tuesday - maybe I can do a print for you, Fredrik. My trademark effeminately light touch on the press would reveal the forms quite well I hope (on good paper, which I have on hand).

BTW, I just dug up my copy of that Carter article (always a pleasure to gaze upon such technical eloquence), and I think there's a plausible reason why all the samples bottom-out at 8 point: foundries start behaving quite strange below that - some, like ATF, go nuts (but to me at least in the best meaning of the word), while others (like the Imprimerie Nationale) are too tentative. This causes any design analysis to start venturing into human psychology - always treacherous ground.

hhp

Fredrik, I'll be going to Archetype this evening.
Assuming they have Plantin, if some prints of it
would be useful to you, please let me know ASAP.

hhp

have been away, terribly busy. If it's not too late � yes please, it'd be very appreciated.

�

It's OK, they don't have it anyway. :-(

hhp