This past weekend, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that a gorgeous typeface I’d (very prematurely) considered a touch too mannered for the staid realm of book typography, is actually a pleasure to read. That face is Hoefler & Frere-Jones‘s gorgeous and classically striking Requiem.
The context for this discovery is a thus-far fascinating and well-written novel by David Mitchell, titled Cloud Atlas. After about 20 pages or so, I noticed that, besides liking the typesetting, the typeface had a lovely capital ’Q’, with a graceful tail. I flipped to the back (not expecting much, but trying anyway) and I found an excellent colophon:
This book was set in Requiem, a typeface designed by the Hoefler Type Foundry. It is a modern typeface inspired by inscriptional capitals in Ludovico Vicentino degli Arrighi’s 1523 writing manual, Il modo de temperare le penne. An original lowercase, a set of figures, and an italic in the “chancery” style that Arrighi helped popularize were created to make this adaptation of a classical design into a complete font family.
So, long story short, I know lust after Requiem even more than I already did. There are too many great things about this family (Hoefler & Frere-Jones is one of the best foundries around) to get into with any fullness, so do yourself a favor and check it out. Trust me.
Wow, that is an achingly beautiful font. Makes me want to read Cloud Atlas, even apart from all the great things I’ve heard about it.