The essence of any typeface is a visuality which neither words nor measurement can fully convey, and it is this concept of form which the type designer seeks to express by various syntactic means; narrative, philosophical, and associative. As the definitive model of the Roman letter for 550 years, Nicolas Jenson’s typeface has become inscrutable; the more it is propogated, the more mysterious and protean the concept of ‘Jenson’ becomes, the richer it is as a mine of meaning, and the better a foil for reinterpretation.
Goodchild. View pdf. License at Fontspring.
