Wolss is a revival based on Groote Augustyn Romyn cut in 1760 by the Flemish punchcutter Jan Baptist van Wolsschaten (1714–1776). The face is relatively light compared to its eighteenth-century contemporaries, features narrow proportions and sharp details in its design. The digital interpretation reflects findings of a thorough research of the original type and printed materials preserved in the collection of Museum Plantin-Moretus in Antwerp, Belgium. The underlying grid system used in this Baroque type is reminiscent of Renaissance foundry type production methods, and is also applied to the final revival. Wolss currently includes a text style suitable for use in small sizes and also a display version emphasizing the characteristic design details found in the original punches.
Wolss typeface was designed and developed during the Expert class Type design 2021–22 at the Plantin Institute of Typography. I would like to thank Dr. Frank E. Blokland for his guidance and supervision, and Jan Van der Linden, Bart Van Put and Museum Plantin-Moretus for their help and support throughout the project.
Wolss is a revival of Groote Augustyn Romyn cut in 1760 by the Flemish punchcutter Jan Baptist van Wolsschaten (1714–1776) who was a member of the Van Wolsschaten family of printers and type-founders in Antwerp. The original matrices and punches are preserved in the collection of Museum Plantin-Moretus along with historical type specimens and books showing printed samples of the type. The target size of Groote Augustyn Romyn is about 12 pica points making the original type suitable for text use. The face is relatively light compared to its eighteenth-century contemporaries, features narrow proportions and sharp details in its design.
Detail of the type specimen signed J. B. Van Wolsschaten sculpsit, 1775, showing Groote Augustyn Romyn (about 12 pica points) cut by Van Wolsschaten.
Detail of Horae Diurnae, 1771, showing the type in use for the text of the book.
The examination of the matrices supports Dr. Frank E. Blokland’s$^1$ dissertation about the standardised production methods in historical foundry type: Matrix widths were standardised and justified for fixed registers, and a stem-based unitisation system could be distilled. This system could be used for setting the ratios for x-height and ascenders/descenders, and fitting (spacing).
The widths of the matrices were standardised by units of the stem width as illustrated in the letter /n. Matrices were also justified for fixed registers as marked above in red. A stem-based unitisation system could be distilled also for setting the body size ratios: x-height was calculated 12 units and the ascenders/descenders were equally 7 units.
The character widths could be defined by the underlying unitisation system and an overlay of the matrices on the printed materials shows how the fittings for both match.
$^1$ Frank E. Blokland, On the Origin of Patterning in Movable Latin Type: Renaissance Standardisation, Systematisation, and Unitisation of Textura and Roman Type, (Leiden: Leiden University, 2016). **https://www.lettermodel.org/
The unitisations derived from the matrices were initially used as a basis for the digital drawings; however, the result proved to be too light to read comfortably when set in text sizes. Although the punches and matrices were delicate in places, the ink spread as a result of the printing process caused emboldening of the type. In order to reflect this effect, historical prints were used to recalculate the unitisation system.