A Timeless Lost Typeface

Posted inThe Daily Heller
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By Steven HellerPosted  ∙  1 min. read

Benedictine was designed by Joseph E. Hill in 1915 for Mergenthaler Linotype and introduced in 1917 with this stunning thread bound specimen folder. Later the family was showcased in a 1921 edition of The Linotype Bulletin, Vol. 17.

The introduction to the text below will provide insight into this elegant face, which is a revival of type used by the Italian incunabula printer Plato de Benedictis.

Alas, it has yet to be digitized.

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Posted inThe Daily Heller ∙ Typography

Steven Heller has written for PRINT since the 1980s. He is co-chair of SVA MFA Designer as Entrepreneur. The author, co-author and editor of over 200 books on design and popular culture, Heller is also the recipient of the Smithsonian Institution National Design Award for "Design Mind," the AIGA Medal for Lifetime Achievement and other honors. He was a senior art director at The New York Times for 33 years and a writer of obituaries and book review columnist for the newspaper, as well. His memoir, Growing Up Underground (Princeton Architectural Press) was published in 2022. Some of his recent essays are collected in For the Love of Design (Allworth Press).

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