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Hermann Zapf came from a strong German Tradition of lettering and design. His influences were Rudolf Koch who was immersed in black-letter versions of the alphabet and Jan Tschichold, who had published a book reflecting the Bauhaus influence on typography. Zapf taught himself to letter using (London, 1906). Unlike the strictly upright, blocky black-letters of the middle Ages, however, Zapf lettersforms were highly expressive reminiscent of the early Roman times. In 1950, many pieces of Zapf's calligraphy were printed at Stempel in Frankfurt in his Feder und Stichel. The limited edition of 500 copies was produced using his Palatino type on handmade Fabriano paper. By popular demand another edition was printed in English. This book is widely considered to be a landmark in calligraphy and printing. Although it is difficult to reproduce for web browsers and the alligraphy is primarily in German, the expressive nature ofthe letterforms is evident at a glance. While Hermann Zapf achieved early recognition as a calligrapher, it is for his type designs that he is most widely known today. In 1938, he began producing type designs for the famous Stempel foundry. Since then he has produced more that 160 typefaces, including such designs as: Michelangelo, Platino, Aldus, Melior, Virtuoso, and Optima. |