A Tally of Types, 1999, page 79
The page offers images of pages 79 and 80 of the book A Tally of Types, by Stanley Morison (Boston: David R.Godine, 1999) showing two version of the Fournier typeface drawn under Morison’s direction for the Monotype Corporation in Britain in 1924: Fournier types 178 and 185. Also shown for comparison are a scan reproduction of a photo-litho offprint of some Monotype metal-set Fournier (Oliver Bernard’s translations of Rimbaud’s Collected Poems, Penguin, 1965), the same text typeset in digital Fournier, and the same text set in Corundum, a recent typeface by the Joshua Darden studio in Brooklyn USA.
Please scroll down to see all seven images.
For various reasons the ‘wrong’ specimen was chosen for development as ‘Fournier’, and the better font was eventually cut in only one size, named ‘Barbou’, and used by Cambridge University Press for one book and the magazine The Fleuron.
Thanks to the Darden Studio for rescuing this distinguished font for the digital realm.
A Tally of Types, 1999, page 79
A Tally of Types, 1999, page 80
Fournier 185, enlarged
Here are three samples of various ways of typesetting a nineteenth-century French poet, Arthur Rimbaud. The first image of a scan of page 218 from Oliver Bernard’s excellent translation of Rimbaud’s Collected Poems (Penguin, 1965). It was originally set by Clays Ltd, Bungay, St Ives, UK, in Monotype Fournier metal. The proofs were photographed and printed photo-litho; this is a scan of that text.
Rimbaud sample, Monotype Fournier, 1965
The second, below, is a modern setting of the same text in digital Fournier. Note how anaemic the font appears.
Rimbaud text reset in digital Fournier
The third, below, is the same text set in Corundum, a font cut by Joshua Darden in Brooklyn USA. The font has issues with InDesign, as it is not a fully OpenType font, but it works.
Rimbaud text reset in digital Corundum
The last image, below, is the three texts set in (l to r) Monotype Fournier metal, digital Fournier and digital Corundum.
Rimbaud text set in (l to r) Monotype Fournier metal, digital Fournier and digital Corundum.
E N D The Internet address of this page is http://johntranter.com/00/fournier.shtml