Dr Goran Proot (University of Antwerp; B)

There are the Romans! Changing Faces in the Book Production of the Southern Low Countries, 16th-17th centuries.

The research of Dr Goran Proot gave rise to this event.
He is introduced by Professor Chris Coppens (University of Leuven)

ON THE THRESHOLD of the sixteenth century, Thierry Martens printed a book with roman ty pe for the first time. For the best part of a decade, Martens would remain the only printer in the Southern Low Countries composing Latin-language books with roman ty pe, but from 1510 onwards, other printers adopted this custom, too. Within ten years, roman type had become the most important fount for Latin-language books. As a result, the use of roman type for text in Latin-language books amounted to 75% between 1531 and 1540. In contrast, the use of blackletter sank to just 7%.
In the years to come, roman ty pe would take the place of blackletter in vernacular books as well. This paper will demonstrate how roman type was introduced in Dutch-language books in the Southern Low Countries in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. First, the survey by Van Impe and Bos, dealing with blackletter and roman from a macro-structural point of vie w, will be reconsidered. Second, it will be demonstrated how roman type and related type families entered the title page from the 1540s onwards, long before its use as text type in vernacular books.
Third, by means of three examples the micro-structural level will be explored in order to show how roman type entered the paratext of actual editions.

GORAN PROOT is a postdoctoral research fellow of the Research Foundation Flanders. He is engaged in research on layout and typographical design of pre-1815 hand-press books in Flanders.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Dr Goran Proot
• UA
• Universiteit Antwerpen
• University of Antwerp
• Book Design
• Middle Ages to the Future
• Miraeus lectures