progress on |
Andrea
Palladio on his houses - and what visitors have thought of them | |
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The size I have chosen is 14pt, but these are Didot points, i.e. larger than conventional English/American points which means that when cast on a 14pt body sorts with descenders or ascenders stick out below and above the type body by a tiny amount; this is not a problem as the type will be leaded by at least three points. Stan Lane did a trial casting of a page of type in it for me some months back and I was a tad disappointed - the letters seemed loosely fitted with just that bit too much air between them so the words felt 'too windy' in Stan's words. I had almost expected it, having looked at settings in the Monotype specimen sheets and elsewhere. After we had discussed it, Stan did another casting of the same text but with a narrower 'set' (12.5 rather than 12.75, for the cognoscenti) which has the effect of casting each letter on a fractionally narrower body thus closing up the letters forming each word. (There is always the danger, if one overdoes this, of letters colliding but it looks as though this won't happen here.) It feels somewhat heretical to go against the design choice made by the Monotype Drawing Office; but thanks to its relatively low use of letters with descenders, Latin always has a lovely regular look on the printed page, a property that Italian to a degree retains, more so than English anyway with its relatively plentiful y's and g's in particular. So I was hoping to achieve that same solid effect that makes 15th- and 16th-century pages from the Venetian presses looks so fine, with tightly set and justified long lines. Just that small change in the set made what I felt was an important improvement and in particular it improved the tightness of the words on the lines, adding to the overall look. So that is how it will be. I'm still not sure about the leading - the earliest printers rarely leaded their lines - I guess Aldus for example was aiming to get as much on those small pages as he could, just like any paperback publisher today - so I am torn between the same effect and my normal desire to be able to have the individual line look individual, without having it all fall part. Stan has cast about two-thirds of the text - twenty large galleys - which I collected this week, so some experiments are in order. Given that the text is finalised and the overall layout decided, I've finally been able to calculate the paper required. So I gritted my teeth the other day and sent an order for 3,500 sheets of hand-made paper from Cartiera Amatruda in Amalfi, Italy. Gulp. With type and paper in hand soon, I shall start work on finalising the page layout ... and clearing the press-shop ready for action. Firstly, this meant tidying up my galley racks which over time fill with type awaiting dissing, type for things I might just need again (a prospectus for instance), and type that can finally be sent back. Secondly, I had to see if I had sufficient leads. My normal long line is 32em so I have considerable quantities of 32em leading; but this book is mostly on a 34em measure (about a third being on 24em), so I have had to check just how much leading I have of that length in 2pt, 3pt, and 6pt. I found a decent amount in my lead racks, as well as a quantity of 35em (where did that come from?) which I'm unlikely ever to use so was cut down to 34em and added to my stock. Once I have experimented and decided whether the leading is to be 3pt or 4pt I can decide what my shortfall is and to ask Stan to cast for me. | ||
