Wednesday, February 2, 2022

italics are cheaper! (and sort of look greek)

compare roman capitals with manutius' italics

the main advantage of Manutius's italics is that the new character is economical. 

why? italics are a little tighter than the traditional roman. italics allow the printer to save space and money on the cost of a book.

however, in the spirit of Manutius, italics should imitate the Greek writing of the time, which was decorated with many ligatures and other frills. WHY? 

they were very appreciated in Venice. WHY?

Venetian is a romance language with familiar proximity to Greek and Albanian! roman italics was the character used in "Virgil," published in 1501 by Manutius.