The Man Who Invented Italics

For most of recorded human history, human history (and everything else) was recorded mostly by hand. That changed around 1440, when Johannes Gutenberg invented the moveable-type printing press. Suddenly the written word became a whole lot more accessible.

Aldus Manutius was an early pioneer in moveable-type printing. As this article from Smithsonian explains, he designed the first italic typefaces that were much easier to read the cumbersome Gothic of Guttenberg. (Back then, italics were considered an entirely separate typeface, not just a slanted version of a Roman font.) He helped standardize punctuation. And he was the first to print small, easily carried books meant to be read for both entertainment and education by a secular audience.

Today, Aldus is not well remembered. His contributions are so ubiquitous that they have been largely forgotten. (I’ll admit I am only familiar with him because several early—and very popular—desktop publishing programs were marketed by Aldus Corporation, a company that was named for him.) 2015 marked the 500th anniversary of Aldus’s death. So if you like type (and I do) and if you like books (and I do) and if you like reading (and I do), stop for a moment to acknowledge Aldus’s contribution to early printing.