Fonts, Typefaces, and Hands, oh my!

 

So because I am a huge geek and spend too much time hanging out with former typesetters and graphic designers, BLHarley1775GospelsFol391JohnCh5V7-12.jpg I need to share my font choices for the website. As my persona is from Kent, England in the late 6th C AD, I looked at manuscripts that might have been seen there. I used The ‘Harley Gospels’, or ‘Codex Harleianus’ as my primary exemplar as they were likely created in a Roman chancery like any books Augustine brought with him to England. They are written in Uncial with running titles in Rustic capitals. I decided to be kind to my readers and used a Roman font based on typefaces by Francesco Griffo in late fifteenth century Venice instead of uncial for my body text. His typefaces were based on his study of classical Roman capitals. This appealed to me in a very circular way.  The Page on the right is Folio 391r from a 6th Century Gospel Book (British Library, Harley MS 1775), text of the Gospel of John, 5:7-12. 

Here are some lovely photos of the Harley Gospels (Harley 1775) in the British Library.

My Roman Rustic Capital headings are Cal Rustic Capitals.
My Uncial sub headings are Cal Uncial.
My Roman body text is Griffo Classico, a serif body font.

Some other books that are possibly associated with Augustine’s mission to Kent are:

  • The  St Augustine Gospels, (Corpus Christi College, Cambridge MS 286), a 6th-century Italian-illuminated Gospel Book.
  • A copy of the Rule of St Benedict, now MS Oxford Bodleian Hatton 48.
  • A Gospel, in an Italian hand, now MS Oxford Bodelian Auctarium D.2.14.
  • A fragment of a work by Gregory the Great, now in the British Library as part of MS Cotton Titus C.