Sunday, August 30, 2009

Foenetics and typesetting


When you get old, you start noticing the obits, it seems. And sometimes you find out about amazing lives. The NYT has this on Edward Rondthaler. The name rings a bell, but not for his role as a "Foenetic Speler" — he was also a very significant figure in modern typsetting, …
by helping usher in the age of photographic typesetting. Phototypesetting was for decades a vital bridge between the hot-metal days of old and the digital typography of today.
Some of us worked with stuff* before hot-metal, but I guess we're all in the obits or reading the obits these days.

*And no, I was never told to mind my Ps and Qs.

Image from his old company, here.

No comments: