serif typeface development. please help!?

Question

what major events/parts should be looked at when it comes to the development of the serif?
1) how it came to be i.e. stone chisseled by Romans etc and then the Gothic period and how it dissappeared until renaissance
2) roman numerals
3) Trajans column
4) Renaissance
5) the guy who developed serif from the human proportions of the body...forgot his name, sorry.
what about after renaissance period? what happened to the serif from then until now and how has it developed? any major events that i have missed out from the above list? i can look at how garamond and other classical typefaces have extended through out centuries but dont know much about who did them and why and how though. what about how is it developing today? are people designing their own SERIF fonts and why serif and not san serif? is it possible to design a serif font with such precision like Romans did today and why is it still used?

Answer 1

Hey All Giggles,

I think this is what you are looking for:

"Tory, Geofroy (zhôfrwä' tôrē') [key], c.1480–1533, Parisian printer, typographer, and author, b. Bourges. After study in Italy, he won distinction as a professor in Paris and became editor to the printer Henri Estienne. He took up drawing and engraving and returned to Italy to study (1516–18). He worked as a bookbinder, Grolier being one of his clients. As designer and engraver he produced beautiful initials, borders, and illustrations, as well as his famous printer's mark (a broken jar) and that of Robert Estienne (an olive tree). His Book of Hours, which first appeared in 1525, introduced type design free from dependence on handwriting and established book designing as an art in France. His part in establishing French 16th-century printing of superb quality was recognized by his appointment as printer to the king (Francis I). Tory's writings include Champfleury (1529), wherein he explains and illustrates the theory governing his designs of roman capitals. Tory advocated the use of the French language; he introduced accents, the apostrophe, and the cedilla into the printing of French."

"Geoffroy Tory
Also Maistre Geofroy Tory de Bourges. Parisian printer, designer and engraver, 1480-1533. As designer and engraver he produced beautiful initials, borders, and illustrations. In Champ-fleury, auquel est contenu l'art et science de la vraie proportion des lettres Attiques selon le corps et visage humain (Paris, 1529), Geoffroy Tory compared the proportions in letters to proportions in the human body. The books treats the design of Roman capitals and is critical of the work of Dürer. It was translated in English by George B. Ives, New York, in 1927. There also exists a facsimile, with introduction by John Jolliffe. East Ardsley, dated 1970. He was rewarded by François I with the title of Imprimeur du Roi in 1531. Octavo.com sells a CD of the original book. You can also view the text on-line. Essay in Spanish on his life. Page at Columbia University."

Answer 2

The serif is a feature in lettering and was used by the Ancient Greeks and the Romans. I have seen it on stone inscriptions in Greece - including the Paros Manuscript and at Knossos on Crete. The Roman style of lettering is probably the most well known for the use of serifs. Go to www.wikipedia for some examples of the use of the serif. I would really enjoy doing your research for you, but you will remember the subject better if you do it for yourself.