On the occasion of the 14th annual Italian Language Week in the World, The Director of the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago Andrea Raos is pleased to invite you to the following lecture: Brief History of a Type Face: From Venice in 1470 to Our Own Time by Paul F. Gehl, the George Amos Poole III Curator of Rare Books, and Custodian of the John M. Wing Foundation on the History of Printing at the Newberry Library.

The design of type in the twentieth century was largely a matter of historical revivals or revolts against historical models, so it raises all kinds of historiographical issues as well as aesthetic ones. In this talk, Paul F. Gehl (for 25 years the curator of the Newberry's collection on typography) will trace the history of one, particularly influential type face from its introduction by printer Nicolas Jenson to revivals as recent as last year. Along the way he will suggest that the history of type is central to the histories of art, science, literature, and commerce.

This event is free and open to the public. Click here to RSVP.

Source: http://www.iicchicago.esteri.it