a história da Fundição Gans, segundo Luc Devroye

aqui vai, segundo Luc Devroye, a unanimidade mundial em tipografia, a história resumida da Fundição Gans, seguida da enunciação de algumas das suas mais importantes typefaces, bem como dos atuais revivals digitais disponíveis, com especial atenção por ele dada a atuação da Intellecta Design e de Paulo W na manutenção da memória destes tipos, em typefaces digitais.

Fundicion Tipografica Richard Gans
[Richard Gans]

The Richard Gans Foundry is a defunct Spanish foundry which existed from 1888-1975. Richard Gans was the son of a medic from Karlsbad, Austria. He emigrated to Spain in 1874. He died in 1925. Until 1936 the foundry was led by Mauricio Wiesenthal, but in 1936, his children, Ricardo, Manuel and Amalia Gans Gimeno, now adults, took over. Ricardo and Manuel were assassinated during the Civil War. The foundry was used to make ammunition, and after the war, Amalia Gans and then Reinaldo Leger Tittel started anew in run-down buildings. Throughout its existence, types were designed by a number of people from within and outside the foundry. Designers included Jose Ausejo Matute (d. 1998), Antonio Bilbao (who created Escorial in 1960), the son Ricardo Gans, and Carl Winkow. In the post-war era, Reinaldo Leger and Amalia Garcia Gans made typographic decisions on which types to produce, and acted as typographic directors. Richard Gans' grandson, José Antonio Gans García, is still alive today. Six specimen books were published with titles like Fundicion Richard Gans Muestrario Edicion V. The first and second editions, rare books indeed, were published between 1883 and 1903. Editions 3 through 6 appeared in the period 1903-1922. In 1965, a small catalog was published under the name Tipos Gans. The National Library in Madrid has Muestrario de Richard Gans (Madrid, Richard Gans, 1903, 410 pages) and Catalogo provisional (Madrid, 1950). On the web, the most complete discussion of Richard Gans is in the PDF file Fundicion Tipografica Richard Gans Historia y Actividad 1888-1975 (2004) by Dimas García Moreno and José Ramón Penela. Fonts: Until 1925, there were basically no original types. Almost everything in the specimen books of that era is due to German foundries, principally those of Wilhelm Woellmer in Berlin and Edmund Koch in Magdeburg. Some of those typefaces in common with Koch include Grotesca Chupada Redonda, Ronda Universal. Early types in this category also include Escritura Selecta, Escritura Favorita, Escritura Luis XV, Gótico Globo (blackletter), Gótico Uncial (blackletter), Nueva Titular Adornada, Tipos de Adorno, Latina Moderna, Grotesca Ancha, Grotesca and Grotesca Chupada. Many, if not most of these, saw the light at the end of the 19th century and survived until 1965. It is fashionable now to revive all the faces. Nick Curtis created a few (see below), and Paul W (Intellecta Design, Brazil) did many more. The original Gans types can be categorized as follows:

* Bodoni and Bodoni Redonda.
* Ibarra (1931) and Ibarra Cursiva: a tall ascender garalde family. Paulo W digitized as GansIbarra.
* Escorial: a display face with Koch Antiqua influences, designed ca. 1960 by Antonio Bilbao.
* Nueva Antigua N� 1 and N� 2.
* Elzeviriano Ibarra Titular.
* Dalia (or Ibarra Vaciada): a two-line display face. Similar to Delphian Open Titling (Middleton, Ludlow, 1928).
* Iniciales Ibarra.
* Romana 1
* El Greco. Weights include Antigua El Greco (1924), El Greco Adornado Titular (with Mexican-style sawteeth). Greco was the inspiration for Melina BT (Nick Curtis, 2003). Curtis' Melina Fancy is based on Greco Adornado. For a free version of Adornado, see GrekoDeco (1992, Dave Fabik).
* El Greco Antique (1930s). Revived as Kifisia Antigua NF in 2005 by Nick Curtis.
* Senefelder: etched look all caps.
* Preciosa: Showboat-style Western look.
* Carmen, Carmen Adornada, Velázquez, Españolas Adornadas, Antigua Adornada, Utopian, Tipos de Adorno, Americanas (Tuscan style), Elzevirianas Adornadas: Late 19-th century style display faces. Paulo W (Intellecta Design) created the beautiful digital family Gans Tipo Adorno (2006). He also made the family Gans Titular Adornada (2006).
* Regina, Helios, Vulcano (1920s): art nouveau style. Ludlow's Vulcan Bold is based on Vulcano.
* Gótico Globo: art nouveau style with blackletter influences.
* Antigua Manuscrito: a semiscript face designed by Hermann Delitsch at the Royal Academy of Graphic Arts in Leipzig. Delitsch was Tschichold's teacher. Digitized as a family by Paulo W as Gans Antigua Manuscrito (2006).
* Antigua Progreso (1923): an interesting serif face. A digital version called Bellini was made by A. Pat Hickson, 1992. Linotype sells Greco (DsgnHaus, 1996) which according to some typophiles really is Progreso.
* Gótico Cervantes (1928): blackletter with regular and ornamental caps.
* Gótico Uncial (blackletter).
* Luxor, Italiana (1951: black caps face), Italia Cursiva, Egipcia Progreso (1923, short ascenders): slab serif styles.
* Grotesca Radio: a geometric no-contrast sans.
* Grotesca Compacta.
* Grotesca Chupada Redonda: a rounded sans.
* Grotesca Ideal Negra, Grotesca Favorita, Grotesca Reformada.
* Primavera: a condensed sans. Paulo W digitized a condensed family called Gans Lath Modern (2006).
* Radio Lumina: a display sans. Digitized as Gans Radio Lumina (2006) by Paulo W at Intellecta Design.
* Imán: a shadow headline all-caps face.
* Titania (1933): an elegant two-line poster face. See the revival Faerie Queen NF (2006, Nick Curtis).
* Radio Bicolor: a headline sans family.
* Fulgor (1930): a connected script face. Intellecta Design did digitized this too.
* Escritura Juventud (1950, Joan Trochut Blanchard): a great script with lots of identity and swing.
* Gloria, Gloria Reformada (1930): a connected script family. Gloria was revived by Nick Curtis in 2005 as Pismo Clambake NF.
* Atlántida .
* Gaviota.
* Antigua. See the digital family Gans Antigua (2006, Paulo W).