Giambattista Bodoni

Giambattista Bodoni was born into a printing family in Saluzzo, Italy. At the age of 18, he was hired by the Vatican printing house in Rome. By 1768, he was given the position of director of the press of Ferdinand, Duke of Parma, which he retained for the rest of his life.

Bodoni was the most successful early proponent of what is (somewhat misleadingly) referred to as the “modern” typeface, distinguished by a strong contrast between the thin and thick strokes, and vertical, rather than oblique, shading. His books were produced for the wealthy and the aristocracy, and were more advanced in elegance and refinement than anything else being printed in Europe. Intended more to be admired than used, his publications were often badly inaccurate and difficult to read. His Greek typefaces, as seen in his masterful edition of Homer, are more enduringly successful.

His enormous selection of typefaces was published posthumously in the two-volume Manuale Tipografico (Parma, 1818).