Porson (typeface)

Porson is a typeface in the Greek alphabet based on the handwriting of the English classicist Richard Porson, who, as his biographer writes, "excelled ... in writing with neatness and beauty" and "wrote notes on the margins of books with such studied accuracy that they rivalled print". [Watson, 361]

The face was based on Porson's transcription of the "Medea". ["Dictionary of National Biography", 162] Richard Austin was commissioned by the Cambridge University Press to cut it, from 1806 onwards.Bringhurst, 278] It was cast by Caslon foundry, but it never appeared in their specimens, as the type was peculiar to Cambridge.Bowman, x] It was completed and used only after Porson's death in 1808, in the editions of plays of Euripides produced by Cambridge scholars. [Sandys, 428] After its first appearance, it was soon copied by other founders, and was released by Monotype with some corrections in 1912. By the end of the 19th century, it has become virtually the only Greek type used in Britain.

Comparing with Greek types used previous to it (known as "Old Style"), Porson is characterized by its simplified forms and its abandonment of ligatures and alternative forms, which have influenced later Greek, and even Roman types. It has been described as "calm yet energetic", and used by the Oxford Classical Texts for over a century.

Notes

References

*Bowman, J. H. (1992). "Greek Printing Types in Britain in the Nineteenth Century: A Catalogue". Oxford: Oxford Bibliographical Society.
*Bringhurst, Robert (2004). "The Elements of Typographic Style". Point Roberts, WA: Hartley & Marks.
*"Dictionary of National Biography" (1917). Vol. XVI. London: Oxford University Press.
*Sandys, Sir John Edwin (1998 [1903-1908] ). "A History of Classical Scholarship". Vol. II . Bristol: Thoemmes Press.
*Watson, John Selby (1861). "A Life of Richard Porson, M. A.". London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts.

External links

* [http://www.greekfontsociety.gr/pages/en_typefaces19th.html Greek Font Society] - free download of GFS Porson, based on the Monotype version
* [http://www.geocities.com/greekfonts/ The Greek Font Foundry] - free download of Porson 0.8 Beta