Writing a Thesis About Bible Typography

[Member Nic…]

Typefaces used in my bibles include ITC Slimbach, ITC Weidemann, ITC Stone Serif (ITC being a common thread, it seems). The ESV online uses Georgia; well, why wouldn't you?

[Member sch…]

@ John and Ivan: very interesting, thank you. I found some other clarifications on Google Books:

Georg Rörer (without »h«), a collaborator of Luther, introduced those typographical distinctions between good and evil in a Bible printed in 1541 by Hans Lufft in Wittenberg. Luther disapproved this innovation and this is why this typographical rather unique experiment has been withdrawn in further versions of Luther's Bible (see Marion Janzin / Joachim Güntner (2006): Das Buch vom Buch: 5000 Jahre Buchgeschichte. P. 186).

I haven't found any picture from this Bible yet on Internet. In the example you, Ivan, gave us only the word »und« (written »VND«) is set in Antiqua; the word »Helle« is clearly set in Fraktur, so I guess this is not the right version.

[Member Té…]

Looks more like Schwabacher to me.

[Member qua…]

It could be the right version: instead of setting the initial letter of the verses in question, or the whole verse, in Antiqua, since only chapters really have "initial letters", perhaps the first word of a verse about evil or death was in Antiqua. That would match the photograph.

However, many modern copies of the King James Version set words such as "is" or "are" in italics when they are only implied in the original language, so it's possible that in the Bible pictured, "and" is in all-capitals Antiqua for a similar reason, and this indeed is not the right one.

[Member sch…]

Looks more like Schwabacher to me.

Yes, it's a Schwabacher. I just wanted to say »not set in Antiqua« in English.

@John: You could be right. The beginning »VND«, set in Antiqua, could be an indication for the following (presumably negative) text. Here is one last example taken from a 1541 Luther Bible (Apocalypse 19,9–21):

As you can see, they are many »VND« all over the text, but only one is set in Antiqua in the last paragraph (plus the »V« from the initial »VND« of this paragraph). And effectively, this section depicts how the »beast« and it followers are thrown to fire and killed by »the one sitting on the white horse«.

[Member Té…]

There is also that German blackletter is not suitable for all-cap setting. The less ornate Antiqua is better for that.

[Member Cri…]

There is also that German blackletter is not suitable for all-cap setting. The less ornate Antiqua is better for that.

Té: as you can see, the printer actually didn’t care about this convention: the page shows five “VND” in Blackletter and only one in Roman.

[Member Té…]

Yeah, part or all-Antiqua "and"s in verses mentioning the Beast; Schwabach otherwise. How very immensely bourgeoisly odd.

[Member Nic…]

It depends what the publisher's agenda is.
Suppose it is to promulgate Christian behaviour amongst professed Christians.
Therefore, determine which edition of the Bible various Christians use, and correlate this against a measure of Christianity, such as church attendance, charity contribution, or adherence to the 10 Commandments.
This should reveal the "best" design.

For outreach to non-believers, concentrate on the cover design, which is how most publishers prioritize.

Bear in mind that different groups read the Bible for different reasons.
Religious scholars, historians, bibliophiles, writers and lovers of literature may not be Christians.

Kindle offers Serif, Serif Condensed, or Sans options: which is the default in different Bibles, and which do people prefer?

[Member qua…]

If it's for outreach, then clearly the church doing the outreach needs to be able to afford as many copies as possible.

I'm going to assume the publisher's agenda is to sell a nice-looking Family Bible as a treasured heirloom in which a family can keep a record of the births of its children and so on. Such a Bible is likely to have a few pages with illustrated plates in color, with paintings of various dramatic events. Notes are likely to be present, of a traditional and non-controversial nature: one is more likely to see Ussher's chronology than doubts about I John 5:7. The text will probably be that of the King James Version (unless the target market is Roman Catholics).

Having thus moved the issue out of the upper reaches of devotion and theology to a cultural neighborhood where paintings of Elvis on black velvet are found, we can then ask: since this is an artifact intended to "look pretty" (and, despite the proletarian nature of its surroundings, its purchasers likely are sincere in their faith), why isn't more attention being paid to the typeface?

The answer is probably "well, duh, if we had to typeset this giant book again, it would eat up our profit margin, and we wouldn't be able to sell it for $29.95 any more". Given that there are public-domain etexts of the KJV out there, and you can do wonderful things with laser printers these days, that might change someday.

There is a market for more upscale printed Bibles of good appearance, but I suspect it's very limited.

[Member Joe…]

Nick Job mentioned ITC Weidemann.
It was originally designed by Kurt Weidemann as a bible text face and was named Biblica.

Read more here:
http://www.linotype.com/844/itcweidemann-family.html?viewmode=family&id=...

or a bit more detailed in the German version:
http://www.linotype.com/de/844/itcweidemann-schriftfamilie.html?viewmode...

[Member aar…]

Of course, Luther’s choice of Schwabacher for his German people’s bible was anything but arbitrary.
But at that time, Antiqua / Roman type was known as the Humanists’ type. The «corporate typeface» of the Roman-Catholic Church in print was still Textur.
After his excommunication, Luther stated that nobody could possibly ever get into heaven who has not rejected the pope’s doctrine. So logically, the legend of the hellish parts being set in a different face than the rest should feature Textur instead of Antiqua.
;)

[Member gau…]

Kurt Weidemann had some interesting but provocative opinions about emotion and typography:

Weidemann, Kurt, ‘Biblica — designing a new typeface for the Bible’, Baseline, 6 (1985), 7–11

My poor summary and response: He felt that a typeface for the Bible must be devoid of romantic emotion and not impose any emotional quality to the text. A neutral face would allow the text to communicate more faithfully and without additional influences of typographic emotion.

Personally, I disagree. There is no such thing as 'neutral' typography. The design and use of type always adds a layer of emotion to the text, and even 'neutral' designs affect the perception and response of the reader.

The Bible is a highly emotional book that is intended to elicit a deep spiritual - and intellectual - response in its readers. The values and variety of that response are affected by its typography and type. That is unavoidable. Type for the Bible can enhance or dampen the response. Fraktur vs. Antiqua is an obvious example, but there are modern ones, too, such as Brian Sooy's excellent Veritas, used by Tyndale House, which enhances the text's dynamic, exciting properties. Unfortunately, Biblica (a.k.a. ITC Weidemann) tends to impart a colder, more distant quality (for a number of reasons). While I myself bought and used ITC Weidemann years ago for a number of jobs, I would not use it if I were typesetting a Bible.

This also holds for non-Latin Bible type. John Hudson's SBL Hebrew is amazing in how it mixes warmth with grandeur, and (I hear) makes the text seem less stodgy then some more traditional designs.

[Member aar…]

Weidemann’s madness about neutrality is a common phenomenon amongst German designers of his generation (as a side note, Otl Aicher was born in 1922, the same year as Weidemann). Their aspiration for neutrality can only be understood in this context.
So their objectivism, being their way of coping with their innermost experiences, is highly subjective and emotional.

One cannot not communicate, as Paul Watzlawick put it.

That said, I always found ITC Weidemann had a certain warmth to it.

[Member dez…]

"...Otl Aicher was born in 1922, the same year as Weidemann"

Massimo Vignelli was born in 1931, not late enough to escape the neutrality syndrome ;-)

[Member kva…]

Hi Ryan - if you are interested in a copy of the Design & Production Bible from 2Krogh & Jongbloed, then email me at [email protected] and we'll work something out

- Andreas Krautwald

[Member Ran…]

An interesting aspect of Biblical typography is that typically readers are not reading in uninterrupted spells for long periods of time. How often does someone sit down and read the entire book of Isaiah in one sitting? More typically a person will read a verse, or several verses, or a chapter, then have a good think, or flip to another related verse.

Which is to say, the demands on the type are more like a reference book than a novel.

Note: I've always wanted to see a bible printed in Storm's Biblon, does one exist?

[Member Alt…]

Hello,

You might like to check this post.

[Member qua…]

Incidentally, a thesis about Biblical typography could include a lot of interesting material, since, despite the present situation, in the past printers did devote much care and attention to at least some of their editions of the Bible.

Thus, for example, Baskerville printed a beautiful edition of the Bible in the typeface that bears his name, pictured in some books on the history of typography.