欧美人文风情第93篇:西方印刷术和字体的历史

 Type is power: the power to express words and ideas visually. 字体就是力量：在视觉上表达字句和想法的力量。

It's timeless but always changing. And that's what we're going to explore. 它是永恒的但总是在改变。而那就是我们要去探究的东西。

Most people agree that the creator of typography was a German man named Johannes Gutenberg, 大部分的人同意印刷术的创造者是一位叫做古腾堡的德国人，

and yes, he wore a hat like that. 还有是的，他戴像那样的一顶帽子。

Before Gutenberg came along and revolutionized the world of communication, books needed to be scribed by hand, usually by months. 在古腾堡出现并彻底改革了通讯的世界之前，书籍必须以手缮写，通常要花上数个月。

It was very time-consuming and expensive. 它非常耗时且昂贵。

So Gutenberg created Blackletter, the first ever typeface, modeled after the writing of the scribes. 所以古腾堡创造出“黑体字”， 至今第一种字体，模仿抄写员的笔迹。

Blackletter has thick vertical¹ lines and thin horizontal connecters, which made it great for scribing, “黑体字”有粗的垂直线以及细瘦的水平连结，那让它很好刻出来，

but they look very dense² and squished together when printed. 但它们印出来的时候看起来非常浓密还压扁在一起。

Something needed to change. 某些东西需要改变。

Enter Roman Type. 进入“罗马字体”。

This particular typeface is Cambria, which you're probably used to seeing on your word processor. 这特别的字体是“Cambria”，这你大概在你的文字处理器上很习惯看到。

But the first ever Roman typeface was created in the fifteenth century by the Frenchman Nicolas Jenson. 但有史以来第一个“罗马字体”是由法国人Nicolas Jenson在十五世纪时所创造。

This is his typeface right here. 这里就是他的字体。

Jenson worked mainly in Venice, Italy and was inspired by the lettering found on ancient Roman buildings. Jenson主要在意大利威尼斯工作，他是受到古罗马建筑物上所发现的刻文所启发。

His letterforms were based on straight lines and regular curves. 他的字体是基于直线和标准的弧形。

This made them very clear legible compared to the dense darkness of Blackletter. 这使得它们和“黑体字”的浓密黑色相比非常地清晰易读。

This legible new typeface was an instant success and quickly spread across Europe, riding on the coattails of the Renaissance³. 这清楚易读的新字体是个瞬间的成功，搭上文艺复兴的便车，迅速地散布在欧洲。

The next major innovation in typography after Roman letters was Italics, which are like slanted⁴ and stylized versions of Roman Type. “罗马字体”之后，在印刷术上的下一个主要创新是“斜体字”，它像是“罗马字体”倾斜的、格式化的版本。

They were created in the late fifteenth century by all these Venetians from Italy as a way of fitting more letters onto the page and saving money. 它们在十五世纪晚期被所有这些从意大利来的威尼斯人给创造出来，作为一个在页面上装进更多字并省钱的方法。

Now we use Italics interspersed⁵ in Roman Type for emphasis. 现在我们用散布在罗马字体中的斜体字以示强调。

All these Venetians also created the modern comma and semicolon, but that's another story. 所有这些威尼斯人也创造出了现代的逗号和分号，但那是另一个故事了。

Type development stayed fairly stagnant⁶ until the eighteenth century in England when William Caslon created the typeface that set a new standard for legibility. 字体发展保持颇为停滞不前，直至十八世纪在英国，当William Caslon创造出为易读性定下了新标准的字体。

Well, it wasn't anything radical⁷. It was just what the world was looking for. 这个嘛，它不是什么极端的东西。它只是世界那时正在寻找的东西。

The style of Caslon's typeface is now referred to as Old Style. Caslon字体的风格现在被称为“旧风格体”。

A few decades later, another brick named John Baskerville created a new variety of typeface, which we called Transitional. 数十年后，另一位叫做John Baskerville的好人创造了一个新种的字体，我们称之为“过渡时期体”。

Later still, a Frenchman named Didot and an Italian named Bodoni created typefaces that we've classified as Modern. 之后还有，一位叫Didot的法国人和一位叫Bodoni的意大利人创造了我们分类为“现代体”的字体。

Most serif typefaces fit into one of these three categories, but what does each category mean? 大多数的衬线字体符合这三个类别之一，但每个类别的意义何在？

An Old Style typeface has letters that have fixed⁸ serifs and low contrast between thick and thin strokes. 一个“旧风格体”字体有着拥有固定衬线的字母以及粗细笔画间的低对比。

A Transitional typeface has letters with thinner serifs and a higher contrast between thick and thin strokes. 一个“过渡时期体”字体有着拥有较细的衬线的字母以及粗细笔画间较高的对比。

And a Modern typeface has letters with very thin serifs and extreme contrast between thick and thin strokes. 而一个“现代体”字体有着拥有非常细的衬线的字母以及粗细笔画间极端的对比。

Next, William Caslon's great grandson, named William Caslon IV, got sick of all these serifs, 接着，William Caslon的曾孙，叫做William Caslon四世，厌倦了所有这些衬线，

so he dicided to remove them entirely⁹ and made a new kind of typeface, called the Sans Serif. 于是他决定了完全拿掉它们并做了个新种的字体，叫做“无衬线体”。

It didn't catch on immediately but would eventually get really big. 它并没有立刻流行起来但最终会变得非常大受欢迎。

During the Second Industrial Revolution, advertising¹⁰ created the need for new typefaces. 在第二次工业革命期间，广告创造出对新字体的需求。

Letter were made taller and wider, mainly used in large sizes on posters and billboards¹¹. 文字被做得更高而且更宽了，主要以大型字体被用在海报以及告示牌上。

Things got pretty weird¹², but one happy result of all of this experimentation¹³ is Egyptian or Slab¹⁴ Serif. 事情变得很奇怪，但所有这些实验的一个快乐结局是“埃及体”或是“Slab Serif体”。

It has really thick serifs, and it's usually used for titles. 它有非常粗的衬线，而且通常是被用在标题上。

As a backlash to the complexity¹⁵ found in typefaces of the nineteenth century, the early twentieth century brought something simple. 作为对于在十九世纪字体中所发现的复杂性的强烈反对，二十世纪初产生了某种简单的东西。

Paul Renner from Germany created a typeface called Futura, and it was based on simple geometric shapes. 德国的Paul Renner创造出了一个叫做“Futura体”的字体，它是根基于简单的几何形状。

This is called the Geometric Sans. 这叫做“几何无衬线体”。

Around the same time, a British man Eric Gill, created the typeface called Gill Sans 约莫在同一个时间，一位英国人Eric Gill创造出了叫做“Gill Sans体”的字体，

that was similar to the Geometric Sans but with gentler and more natural curves, 它类似“几何无衬线体”但有着较和缓且更天然的弧线，

and this is called the Humanist Sans. 这个叫做“Humanist Sans体”。

The next major step in the world of Sans Serif happened in Switzerland in 1957 with the introduction of Helvetica. “无衬线体”世界中接下来主要的一步，随着“Helvetica”字体的采用，于1957年发生在瑞士。

It has simple curves and is available in many different widths. 它拥有简单的弧线，适用于许多不同的宽度。

And someone called it the world's favorite typeface. 而有人称之为世人最喜欢的字体。

The world of typography changed forever with the introduction of the computer. 印刷术的世界因电脑的使用而永远地改变了。

There were a few difficult years of crude Pixel Type due to the primitive¹⁶ screen technology. 因为早期的荧幕技术，曾有一小段属于粗糙“像素体”的艰困时代。

But then technology evolved, and computers began to allow for the creation of thousands of beautiful typefaces, 但接着科技进步，电脑开始允许数以千计美丽字体的创作，

and the other...done. 还有其他的...结束。

But now anyone has the freedom to create their own unique typeface. 但现在任何人都有创造他们自己独特字体的自由。

And that is the history of typography. 那是印刷术的历史。

 

1 vertical   

adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置

参考例句：

• The northern side of the mountain is almost vertical.这座山的北坡几乎是垂直的。
• Vertical air motions are not measured by this system.垂直气流的运动不用这种系统来测量。

2 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

3 renaissance   

n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴

参考例句：

• The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
• The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。

4 slanted   

有偏见的； 倾斜的

参考例句：

• The sun slanted through the window. 太阳斜照进窗户。
• She had slanted brown eyes. 她有一双棕色的丹凤眼。

5 interspersed   

adj.[医]散开的；点缀的v.intersperse的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The grass was interspersed with beds of flowers. 草地上点缀着许多花坛。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 stagnant   

adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的

参考例句：

• Due to low investment,industrial output has remained stagnant.由于投资少，工业生产一直停滞不前。
• Their national economy is stagnant.他们的国家经济停滞不前。

7 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

8 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

9 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

10 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

11 billboards   

n.广告牌( billboard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Large billboards have disfigured the scenery. 大型告示板已破坏了景色。 来自辞典例句
• Then, put the logo in magazines and on billboards without telling anyone what it means. 接着我们把这个商标刊在杂志和广告看板上，却不跟任何人透漏它的涵意。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年4月号

12 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

13 experimentation   

n.实验，试验，实验法

参考例句：

• Many people object to experimentation on animals.许多人反对用动物做实验。
• Study and analysis are likely to be far cheaper than experimentation.研究和分析的费用可能要比实验少得多。

14 slab   

n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上

参考例句：

• This heavy slab of oak now stood between the bomb and Hitler.这时笨重的橡木厚板就横在炸弹和希特勒之间了。
• The monument consists of two vertical pillars supporting a horizontal slab.这座纪念碑由两根垂直的柱体构成，它们共同支撑着一块平板。

15 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

16 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。