- I've had a deep respect for Frederic Goudy
since I heard his quote,
"a man who would letterspace lower case would steal sheep."
Frederic Goudy was one of the foremost
and prolific American typographers and printers
of the 20th century.
Through his career, he designed dozens
of typefaces including Trajan, Copperplate,
and of course, Goudy Old Style.
All of these are still used today.
He produced his first typeface design
in 1896, Camelot, named for
the Camleot press in Chicago.
In 1900, Goudy became an instructor of lettering,
beginning a lifetime of teaching.
His teaching inspired later typesetting giants.
William A Dwiggins,
Oswald Cooper,
and R. Hunter Middleton.
In 1903, Goudy and Will Ransom founded
the Village Press in Park Ridge, Illinois.
The press was modeled on the arts-and-crafts
movement ideals of William Morris's concept
of craft and skill in the handmade.
The Village Press was dedicated
to producing fine books and typefaces.
Unfortunately, it burned to the ground in 1908,
destroying all of Goudy's work and equipment.
He rebounded,
and by 1911, Goudy produced his first
well-known font, Kennerly Old style,
for an H.G. Wells anthology published by
Mitchell Kennerly.
The American Typefounders company
released his most widely used typeface,
Goudy Old Style, in 1915.
It became an instant classic.
Its graceful and organic letter forms
made it visually appealing,
while its shortened descenders allowed printers
to squeeze more type on a page.
In 1914, he was one of the founders
of the American Institute of Graphic Arts, AIGA.
In 1938, Goudy designed University of California Old Style
for the sole use of the University of California Press.
It proved enormously popular,
and the Lanston Monotype Company released
a version named Californian in 1956.
The International Typeface Corporation created
a digital version called Old Style,
or ITC Berkeley in 1983.
Goudy was said to work with the zeal of
a medieval artisan,
rejecting mass production.
He was able to design, engrave,
and cast his own type
without having to wait weeks for commercial engravers.
In 1939, Goudy's work was again destroyed by fire,
which consumed his home and his foundry.
The rest of his life was chiefly devoted to teaching
and lecturing.
Frederic Goudy was a perfectionist.
Always striving for the perfect Roman letter form.
He drew the forms perhaps 90 times taller
than the finished type.
These were then reduced,
theoretically creating a beautiful typeface.
But Goudy frequently destroyed drawings
when proofs from the resulting type displeased him.
He said "I consider a type good
"when it can't be any gooder."