 | |
| Category | Serif |
|---|---|
| Classification | Old-style |
| Designer(s) | Frederic W. Goudy |
| Foundry | American Type Founders |
| Date released | 1915 |
| Re-issuing foundries | Lanston Monotype Intertype Ludlow |
Goudy Old Style (also known as justGoudy) is anold-styleseriftypeface originally created byFrederic W. Goudy forAmerican Type Founders (ATF) in 1915.
Suitable for text and display applications, Goudy Old Style matches the historicist trend of American printing in the early twentieth century, taking inspiration from the printing of theItalian Renaissance without a specific historical model.[1][2] Eccentricities include the upward-curved ear on theg and the diamond shape of the dots of thei, j, and the points found in the period, colon and exclamation point, and the sharply canted hyphen. The design is relatively light incolour.[3]
In Goudy's autobiography, he described the italic based on study of sixteenth-century italics: "I studied many of the older italics and came to the conclusion that...some of the outstanding italics of the sixteenth century had little or no inclination and yet preserved their italic character".[4]
Several variants, designed by several designers, were released in the ensuing years (all faces ATF unless otherwise specified).[5]By Goudy:
By others:
The face was an instant best seller, prompting ATF to issue a special 124-page specimen book of the series in 1927. Thedescenders of Goudy Old Style were kept short at ATF's insistence to allow tight line setting on theircommon line system, to Goudy's irritation.[7] In addition, he sold the design to ATF for $1500 and received no royalty, causing his relationship with the foundry to deteriorate.
The face was immediately licensed toLanston Monotype and some of the weights were issued byIntertype as well.Ludlow called its 1924 knock-off theNumber Eleven series.[8] Monotype's designer F.H. Pierpont, better known forRockwell andMonotype Grotesque, designed a similar face namedHorley Old Style, adding a distinct influence ofCaslon designs.[9]
As the face was a "classic" almost from the day of its issue, producers ofcold type offered their own versions ofGoudy Old Style under the following names:[10]
Commercial releases have been made byMonotype, Fontsite, DTP Types, Electric Typographer,Lanston Type,Bitstream,URW++ (bundled withMicrosoft Office),Adobe, andLinotype. As many early digitisations were sublicensed, several of these may represent the same digitisation marketed by different rights-holders, possibly upgraded with modern features such as contextual ligature substitution and small caps. LTC's digitisation includes the calligraphic and swash alternate characters, as well assmall caps.[11]Goudy Catalog has been copied byScangraphic,Bitstream,URW++, andElsner+Flake. A version calledGoudy Schoolbook also exists, with single-story versions of the lettersa andg, but it is not for sale to the general public. (The digitisation bundled with Microsoft Office lacks all these features; it does include ligatures, but they must be inserted manually.)
'Sorts Mill Goudy' is an open-source revival created by Barry Schwartz as part of the League of Movable Type project, which contains small capitals and otherOpenType features.[12] Bhikkhu Pesala expanded this under the name 'Sukhumala', adding bold, bold italic and handtooled styles.[13]
ATF's other related fonts, Goudy Handtooled and Goudy Catalog, have also been digitised, again with a variety of companies holding some rights although only LTC's release includes Handtooled Italic.[14][15][16] Goudy Title has not been digitised under that name.
Goudy Old Style is the text typeface used inHarper's Magazine.[citation needed] It is also the typeface used for headings inThe Spectator.[17] It is the official typeface ofEmory University inAtlanta,Georgia,Lewis & Clark College inPortland, Oregon,Moravian College inBethlehem,Pennsylvania,Northwestern University inEvanston, Illinois,Clemson University inClemson, South Carolina, andHamilton College inClinton, New York. It is also used by theNational University of Colombia.[18] It is also the standard body text font forKey Club publications.[citation needed] The bold italic weight is used for the wordmark of Whittard's.[citation needed]
I had at some time or other copied a few letters of classic form from a portrait painting - I have always said "by Hans Holbein" but later search has never brought these particular pattern letters to light...I studied many of the older italics and came to the conclusion that...some of the outstanding italics of the sixteenth century had little or no inclination and yet preserved their italic character... Taking theAldine italic as a starting point [I] succeeded in producing an original letter which, I believe, constituted the first distinctive italic in modern times.
