Nicolas Jenson

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Nicolaus Jenson, portrait

Nicolas Jenson (1420 - 1480) was a French engraver, pioneer printer and typographer who did most of his work in Venice.

His name is also written as Nicolas Janson, Nicholas Jenson, or Nicolaus Jenson.

Type founder, punch cutter, printer and publisher, Nicolaus Jenson, who was born in Sommevoire, France, is esteemed as the creator of the first model "roman" typeface. This typeface was widely imitated and served as inspiration for the likes of Garamond and Aldus. The style later came to be called "Venetian oldstyle".

During his tenure as Master of the French royal mint at Tours, Jenson relocated to Mainz in October 1458, by order of King Charles VII. There, under the tutelage of Gutenberg, he studied the art of metal movable type for three years.

By the time of Charles' death in the year 1461, Jenson had yet to return with the technique to France. It is thought that he had little desire to return under the rule of Louis XI. Consequently, he spend some time in Frankfurt and, in 1467, arrived in Venice.

A specimen of Nicolas Jenson's archetypal roman typeface, from the "Laertis", published in Venice ca 1475.

From 1468 onward, Jenson inhabited the City of Canals, where he opened his own printing workshop, eventually producing around 150 titles.

Jenson's typographer's mark

In the years that followed, Jenson created his first roman typeface deliberately constructed on the basis of typographical principles, as opposed to the old manuscript models. It was first employed in his 1470 edition of Eusebius, De Evangelica Praeparatione. In 1471, a Greek typeface followed, which was used for quotations, and then in 1473 a Black Letter typeface, which he used in books on medicine and history.

He is also responsible for launching two book trading companies, first in 1475 and then in 1480, under the name of Johannes de Colonia, Nicolaus Jenson et socii. A particular advertisement from 1482 exhorts Jenson's books:

"do not hinder one's eyes, but rather help them and do them good. Moreover, the characters are so intelligently and carefully elaborated that the letters are neither smaller, larger nor thicker than reason or pleasure demand."

Following his death in 1480, his respective typefaces were employed by the Aldine Press, and have continued to be the basis for numerous fonts. Examples include Bruce Rogers' "Centaur" in 1914, Morris Fuller Benton's "Cloister Old Style" in 1926, and Robert Slimbach's "Adobe Jenson" in 1996.