[Pkg-fonts-bugs] ITP: GFS Solomos - Ancient Greek italic font revival

Nicolas Spalinger nicolas_spalinger at sil.org
Fri Apr 27 10:19:48 UTC 2007


Package: wnpp
Severity: wishlist

* Package name    : ttf-gfs-solomos
* Version         : 1.0
* Upstream Author : George D. Matthiopoulos
(Greek Font Society)
* URL             :
http://www.greekfontsociety.org/pages/en_typefaces19th.html
* License         : Open Font License
* Description     : Ancient Greek font

>From the middle of the 19th century an italic font with many
calligraphic overtones was introduced into Greek printing. Its source is
unknown, but it almost certainly was the product of a German or Italian
foundry. In the first type specimen printed in Greece by the typecutter
K. Miliadis (1850), the font was listed anonymously along others of
11pts and in the Gr. Doumas' undated specimen appeared as «11pt Greek
inclined». For most of the second half of the century the type was used
extensively as an italic for emphasis in words, sentences or exerpts. In
1889, the folio size Type Specimen of Anestis Konstantinidis'
publishing, printing and type founding establishment also included the
type as «Greek inclined [9 & 12 pt]».
Nevertheless, the excessively calligraphic style of the characters,
combined with the steep and uncomfortable obliqueness of the capitals,
was out of favour in the 20th century and the type did not survive the
conformity of the mechanical type cutting and casting. The font has been
digitally revived, as part of our typographic tradition, by George D.
Matthiopoulos and is part of GFS' type library under the name GFS
Solomos, in commemoration of the great Greek poet of the 19th century,
Dionisios Solomos.









More information about the Pkg-fonts-bugs mailing list