Deepdene (typeface)

Deepdene
CategorySerif
Designer(s)Frederic Goudy
FoundryLanston Monotype
Date released1927 onwards
Shown hereLinden Hill

Deepdene is a serif typeface designed by Frederic Goudy from 1927–1933.[1] It belongs to the "old-style" of serif font design, with low contrast between strokes and an oblique axis. However, Deepdene has crisp serifs and a nearly upright italic, with much less of a slant than is normal for this style.[1]

Issued by the American branch of Lanston Monotype, Deepdene was popular on its release and often used for the body text of books.[2][3][4] Several digitisations have been created.

Deepdene is named after Goudy's home in Marlborough-on-Hudson.[3][5][6] This was itself named for the road on which he previously lived in Queens, New York.[7][8]

Design

Goudy described the design as loosely inspired by "a Dutch type which had just been introduced;" Goudy's friend Paul Bennett suggested in later life that this was Jan van Krimpen's Lutetia although Walter Tracy writes that the attribution cannot be certain.[9] He also later created a medium weight, bold and bold italic.[1]

Goudy's biographer D. J. R. Bruckner praised the design as "the type that brings together the most characteristics of Goudy types the best".[3]

Goudy later created a blackletter design, Deepdene Open Text and the derived Deepdene Text, which was intended to complement it for purposes such as initial capitals.[a] The designs are not related otherwise.[1]

The family in metal type included:

Digitisations

Deepdene has been digitised and released by several organisations and software companies. P22's digitisation under their LTC imprint perhaps uniquely includes the swash capitals and small caps in italics.[10] The open-source "League of Movable Type" project has released an open-source digitisation, "Linden Hill", by Barry Schwartz, in regular and italic with swashes but without bold weights.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Goudy, Frederic (1946). A Half-Century of Type Design and Typography, Volume 2. New York: The Typophiles. pp. 150–201. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  2. ^ Updike, John (16 December 1990). "A Bull in the Typography Shop: a review of Frederic Goudy by D. J. R. Bruckner". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  3. ^ a b c Bruckner, D. J. R. (1990). Frederic Goudy. Masters of American Design.
  4. ^ "Deepdene Oldstyle". P22. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  5. ^ "Guide to the Frederic Goudy Papers, 1903-1966". Catherine Pelton Durrell '25 Archives and Special Collections Library. Vassar College. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  6. ^ "Deepdene, Goudy's Home on Old Post Road". Marlborough Local History (blog). 2 March 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  7. ^ Sloane, Eric (April 2006). Return to Taos: Eric Sloane's Sketchbook of Roadside Americana. Courier Corporation. pp. 8–9. ISBN 978-0-486-44773-5.
  8. ^ Emily Amodeo; Joanne Sagarese Pagnotta; James B. Cosgrove (2012). Marlborough. Arcadia Publishing. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-7385-9788-1.
  9. ^ Tracy, Walter (January 2003). Letters of Credit: A View of Type Design. D.R. Godine. p. 121. ISBN 978-1-56792-240-0.
  10. ^ "LTC Deepdene". MyFonts. LTC. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  11. ^ Schwartz, Barry. "Linden Hill". League of Movable Type. Retrieved 27 August 2015.

Notes

  1. ^ Text means "textura", a term meaning blackletter. It does not in this context indicate a font intended for body text.