Giambattista Bodoni

Printer and typefounder

The Duke’s printer in Parma, whose types with extreme contrast became the epitome of the modern roman.

Giambattista Bodoni worked in Rome before becoming head of the ducal press in Parma in 1768. There he cut hundreds of typefaces.

His letters have a vertical stress, very thin hairlines and straight serifs. His Manuale tipografico, published after his death in 1818, shows the whole collection.

• Bodoni