Just as Gutenberg, Fust and Schoeffer set a standard in ecclesiastical printing with their first efforts, so Nicholas Jenson in cutting his first Roman type established a precedent which has lived to the present day.
Designers of today find inspiration in the classic expression of the Greeks for printed work which is to be similarly restrained and dignified. Type faces have been developed which are distinctly classic in feeling, echoing the letter-forms of the inscriptions which were cut in stone by Greek and Roman artisans. (Figs. [35]-[6].)
The design of the Renaissance has been embodied in the books of many nations. Indeed, it may be said that modern book design dates from the start of printing in Italy. But, just as the fine arts have never since flourished as they did in that resplendent period, so has the progress of design in printing been a matter of the work of individuals or limited groups rather than the character of a period or a national expression.
Fig. 34. Ecclesiastical style in modern typography.
The voluptuous vagaries of the successive French periods of design gave little lasting distinction to contemporary printing.
Type faces were cut at various times and by men of different nationalities which have marked characteristics, but they are not to be noted as establishing periods or styles in printing.
