Jenson, Nicolas

Jenson, Nicolas

Jenson or Janson, Nicolas (both: nēkôläˈ zhäNsôNˈ), d. c.1480, Venetian printer, b. France. Jenson studied printing with Gutenberg at Mainz for three years. He was one of the first to design roman type, which was far superior in beauty and alignment of characters to that of John of Speyer. He started publishing under his own name and with his own type in 1470 in Venice, producing numerous celebrated and beautiful editions. His roman type of 1470 furnished inspiration for Garamond, Caslon, William Morris, Bruce Rogers, and other masters. After his death, his type was used by the Aldine Press.

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