Help identifying these fonts in old lawyers' business cards

[thrain44]

Hello everybody,

since i'm planning to make my own business card like the ones my grandad and great grandad, both lawyers, had, i'm trying to figure out what fonts they had used.

The cards had been made in Italy.

The oldest one (Antonio) might had been done in the first half of the 1900 century, probably post Great War, or around that time anyway.

The second one looks the hardest. It had been made post WWII. As for the sans-serif, I can't identify it either!

 

[MissNobody]

I think the first one (Antonio) looks like Chevalier.

The second one (Marcoleone) looks like Century Schoolbook.

The third font (Venezia) is kinda small but it looks similar to Cornerstone.

 

[Riccardo Sartori]

These are typical examples of typefaces used for stationery, available in serif, sans serif, and small serif styles. Some, like Chevalier, more ornate. Every foundry had their versions, differing in some small details, but with the same general features: wide proportions and small caps instead of a lowercase.

The most notable that were digitised are, arguably, Engravers (Roman and Gothic),  Sackers (Roman and Gothic), and Copperplate Gothic.

There also are plenty of more or less modern revivals and reinterpretations.

[thrain44]

38 minutes ago, MissNobody said:

The second one (Marcoleone) looks like Century Schoolbook.

Mmmh i think some letters differ. The N and the R especially. I thought it might look like Engraver Font, but still, the R is slightly different, and also the type of serif in that letter (it's uneven), in a different fashion from the other serifs

[thrain44]

5 minutes ago, Riccardo Sartori said:

These are typical examples of typefaces used for stationery, available in serif, sans serif, and small serif styles.

[...]

Every foundry had their versions, differing in some small details, but with the same general features: wide proportions and small caps instead of a lowercase.

So, very likely, non reproducible I'm afraid...?

[thrain44]

I found Orlando, which is a variation made in Italy (like the business card country of origin!) of the Engravers one.

What do tou think?
https://fontsinuse.com/typefaces/32089/orlando

Might be pretty similar!
Still, can't figure the sans serif part...

[Riccardo Sartori]

44 minutes ago, thrain44 said:

So, very likely, non reproducible

Probably not in all details (you would need not only the exact font, but also the same printing technology), but certainly “in spirit” it can be done, and, at least for the first one, Chevalier is spot on.

A graphic designer can surely help you making the right adjustments.

45 minutes ago, thrain44 said:

Still, can't figure the sans serif part.

Because it is not a sans serif: it is a low contrast serif, like (the wider styles of) Copperplate Gothic or the one suggested by MissNobody.

[Riccardo Sartori]

1 hour ago, thrain44 said:

the R is slightly different

A leg of |R| more similar to the sample can be found in one of the aforementioned modern reinterpretations: Speakeasy (unfortunately perhaps a bit too bold).

Also probably worth checking, even if with the wrong |R|: Craw Modern.