Inkunabula font

The Inkunabula does not exist. Or, more precisely, there are too many versions of it. The Inkunabula typeface was designed in 1911 in 14-point size for the Executive Committee of the International Exposition of Turin, held that same year. The work was carried out by the Augusta Type Foundry — the name by which Nebiolo & Co. was known during that period.

As recorded in Archivio Tipografico No. 247 (March 31, 1923), the typeface was conceived as a faithful reproduction of a design originally used by Erhard Ratdolt. Ratdolt, a printer from Augsburg, Germany, was active in Venice during the late fifteenth century, specializing in the publication of classical Latin texts. Between 1475 and 1478 he collaborated with two fellow German printers, Peter Loslein and Bernhart Maler. After a decade in Venice (1476–1486), Ratdolt returned to his native Augsburg.

The model chosen for the Inkunabula revival was specifically the Roman type used in Ratdolt’s 1476 edition of the Kalendarium. As its title suggests, the book comprises a series of ephemerides extending to the year 1530. The text was authored by Regiomontanus — the pseudonym of Johannes Müller of Königsberg (Unfinden, June 6, 1436 – Rome, July 6, 1476) — a German mathematician and astronomer regarded as one of the earliest writers of astronomical treatises. His almanacs achieved such enduring popularity that they continued to circulate long after his death, which occurred in Rome in the same year as the Kalendarium’s publication, just a month after his fortieth birthday.

The Kalendarium appeared in Latin and Italian in 1476, and in German in 1478, issued in both Roman and Gothic types — a testament to the transitional spirit of early printing and the cosmopolitan culture of fifteenth-century Venice.

Ratdolt’s Type and Its Influences

As noted above, the type used by Ratdolt is a Roman face that, while probably influenced by the model of Nicolas Jenson, is stylistically closer to that of another German printer, Adam von Ammergau. It nonetheless fits perfectly within the conceptual framework of the early Venetian Roman types, distinguished in particular by the pronounced inclination of the counters in curved letters, which in some cases — such as \d and \p — approach near horizontality.

In the Inkunabula version, the letter \Y was updated to the modern vertical form, though I have also included the archaic glyph as an OpenType stylistic alternate (OTF).

Example of the original letter \Y

Subsequently, the series of the new typeface was completed in sizes 10 and 18 point, and finally expanded to include sizes 6, 8, 12, 16, 20, 28, 36, and 48 (the latter available only in uppercase). And here we return to the initial paradox: the 14-point version differs considerably from the others, which in turn display subtle yet meaningful variations. Beyond the usual optical adjustments — such as ascender height, descender length, the ratio between x-height and capitals, stroke contrast, and glyph width — the differences between the 14-point cut and all other sizes lie in the very structure of the letterforms themselves.

To list just a few of the most evident discrepancies with respect to the later sizes:

• The C, whose lower terminal is more rounded and slanted;
• The O, whose inner contour is oval rather than elliptical;
• The Q, with a completely different tail;
• The c, which — like the 15th-century original — is visibly taller than the average lowercase height;
• The d, where the junction between the bowl and stem is pinched, like an ink trap;
• The i and j, whose dots differ not only in shape but also in position;
• The f, with a vertical upper terminal and a different, lower crossbar;
• The y, with a more proportionate descender;
• The number 8, which leans to the left.

Comparison of the letter \C shapes of body 28 and 14, in particular note the significantly different lower terminal.

Nor does the variation stop there: even within the 14-point size, discrepancies can be found among the glyphs. A telling example is the letter \F, which changes form entirely over time.

Comparison of the versions of the letter \F: at the top you can see the letter in 14 point in the initial version, at the bottom two updated versions compared with a third in 36 point.

In my opinion, this diversity of forms is one of the main reasons why Inkunabula has long lacked a true digital edition — with the exception of the fine Inkunabula TX by Claudio Piccinini, based on the 14-point version and, to my knowledge, still in development.

Another explanation, I believe, lies in the character’s deep connection to its origins. It bears all the marks of one of the earliest attempts to design type for printing. Its archaic charm is also its weakness: the letterforms lack the harmony, proportions, and optical refinements that modern readers have come to expect.

For this reason, my initial idea was not to base my work on any specific size, but rather to create a reinterpretation — one that would remain faithful to the originals while harmonizing the contrasts and proportions of the various glyphs. The result is the Flanker Inkunabula. I sought to adopt the shapes that seemed to me the most pleasing or the most representative of the Inkunabula remembered by experts — a design as close as possible to the original, yet with unified contrasts and dimensions. The shoulders, bowls, and heights have now been balanced; stroke thickness is more consistent across the alphabet; and the geometry of the serifs is more uniform.

Flanker Inkunabula is available on MyFonts.

The Flanker Inkunabula, the dark colored glyphs are the original ones

Yet during the design process, I felt the dissatisfaction of a task only half complete. It seemed wrong to stop there, considering how long this alphabet had been neglected. I therefore decided to create two additional typefaces: Inkunabula Corpo 14 — a faithful revival of the original 14-point cut, representing its design stage between 1911 and 1923 — which can be downloaded below.

Inkunabula corpo 14 (size 14)

And Inkunabula Nova, a reimagined version with a more modern and legible approach, which will also be available soon on MyFonts.

Inkunabula Nova

Scribal Abbreviations

The Inkunabula typeface inherited the scribal abbreviations of its fifteenth-century model. These abbreviations had been used in Europe since the third century by scribes seeking to conserve the rare and costly materials on which they wrote. In the early years of printing, the use of such abbreviations remained common for the same reason, as did numerous ligatures — most of which have since fallen into disuse. It should be noted, however, that the composite symbols used for abbreviations varied significantly depending on the geographic origin of the text.

The Nebiolo foundry’s new type incorporated the signs shown in dark color in the accompanying illustration, while those in red were later added for completeness, since they are present in the original text. Interestingly, I did not find one of these marks in the Roman-type text but, rather curiously, within the Gothic one: the abbreviation for the ending “-us,” which in the Roman text appears in the red form shown. The decision to introduce a sign belonging to another script may have been motivated by the fact that the Inkunabula series was reproduced for a facsimile reprint of De Regimine Sanitatis by Giacomino da Confienza — a work that required the inclusion of these scribal abbreviations.

Final Thoughts

Reconstructing Inkunabula proved far more difficult than anticipated — not so much due to the scarcity or poor quality of the surviving materials, but rather because, as mentioned earlier, the original Roman seems to have been the offspring of many fathers, lacking a clearly defined structural identity. A considerable amount of mediation was therefore required among the various forms.

Given the complexity of the subject, I remain — more than ever — open to suggestions and feedback from anyone patient enough to share them.

In 1926, alongside the ornamental and filleted initials, an italic companion was finally introduced, inspired by an elegant sixteenth-century design.
But that, as they say, is another story…

Useful links

Kalendarium of Regiomontano

• Roman character version, on the website of the Library of Congress of the United States of America.
• Gothic character version, on the archive.org website.

More examples of printed books with Erhard Rardolt’s font

• Monumentum compendiosum pro confessionibus cardinalium reliquorumque praelatorum / Breve scrutatoriolum peccatorum pro confessionibus, Erhard Rardolt, 1476, on the archive.org website.
• Appiano, Historia Romana parte I, Erhard Rardolt, 1477, sul sito archive.org.
• Appiano, Historia Romana part II, Erhard Rardolt, 1477, on the archive.org website.

Scribal abbreviations references

• Adriano Cappelli, Dizionario di abbreviature latine ed italiane (Dictionary of Latin and Italian abbreviations), Hoepli, 1929, on the archive.org website.
• Cappelli-online on www.adfontes.uzh.ch