A N O T E
O N T H E T Y P E
BY
BENJAMIN S. WHITE
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The type for this publication is set, depending on your system, in Times (Roman) or Times New Roman. This typeface was originally developed by The Times newspaper of London, under the direction of Stanley Morison, with the actual production delegated to Victor Lardent. It is believed that Morison provided Lardent with samples of his typeface Plantin with specifications for modifications that would improve its legibility and longevity on press.
The different names result from copyright and naming appropriation, not substantial difference in the type itself. As type evolved from a craft process heavily reliant on physical dexterity to an electronic process dependent upon mathematical calculation, there were some rough spots in the translation. By the mid-1990's, font and computer technology had advanced to the point where design and craft were once again the primary consideration.
TrueType, somewhat of a misnomer, is the technology that enables you to see these elegant fonts in a manner that even Morison might find pleasing, should he have found the destruction of type foundries a positive development. Both Microsoft and Apple have developed TrueType formats that they claim are superior, when, in point of fact, the differences are visually imperceptible to most. As a result, each is distributed seperately, each with a claim of excellence, and, in the end, most embrace as superior the one they were predisposed towards, regardless of critical analysis.
