Roman vs Italic > Eusebius
EUSEBIUS
De Evangelica Praeparatione
Venice: Nicolaus Jenson, 1470
Nicolaus Jenson's first roman type, the first type to be consciously designed according to typographical ideals liberated from manuscript models, was first used in this book.
As an advertisement issued in 1482 attests, Jenson's books "do not hinder one's eyes, but rather help them and do them good. Moreover, the characters are so intelligently and carefully elaborated that the letters are neither smaller, larger nor thicker than reason or pleasure demand."
It was a model, in full or in part, for many of the types used by the great private presses, including William Morris's "Golden" (1890) and the Doves Press roman (1891), as well as Bruce Roger's "Montaigne," later revised as "Centaur."
American Type Founders Company Library