Christoffel van Dijck

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Christoffel van Dijck Born in Dexheim, Germany in 1606 or 1608 (some sources say 1601), he died in Amsterdam in 1669. Dutch printer, typefounder, type cutter, and type designer who worked for Elsevier. He had a type foundry in Amsterdam. In texts like Johan Enschedé's Proef vann Letteren (1768), his name is spelled Chistoffel van Dyk. Elsewhere we find the more modern Dutch spellings Dijk and Dijck for his last name. Rudi Geeraerts explains a bit about present day types based on Van Dijck's work. I cite him, interspersed with my own comments and additions: Monotype Van Dijck (1937-1938) is based on a typeface used in 1671 in Herscheppinge (Joost van den Vondel) printed by Daniel Bakkamude. Jan van Krimpen was consultant to Monotype on that project. Most graphic designers were a bit disappointed because it looks skinny when used in normal text sizes. The digital version is due to Robin Nicholas. DTL Elzevir (1992, Gerard Daniels) is based on a study of several cuttings from Christoffel Van Dijck. Dutch Type Library mentions that it is mainly based on the Augustijn Romeyn a cut found on a 1682 type specimen issued by Daniel Elsevier's widow (hence the name DTL Elzevir) showing some typefaces from Van Dijck and others. So the DTL Elzevir is not a remake of the Monotype Van Dijck. Gerard Unger's Hollander (1983) is based on a study of the typography used in 17th century books using typefaces cut by van Dijck and possible Dirck Voskens. The Hollander is also the base of the well-known Swift. So Unger's Hollander is not a remake of the Monotype Van Dijck. OurType's Custodia, designed by Fred Smeijers, is a single-weight roman, with italic and matching small caps, with a seventeenth-century flavour. It was made in 2002 for use in the publications of the Custodia Foundation. Custodia 17 is the first typeface to join the OurType Classics collection. By seventeenth century flavoured we mean the flavour shared by a range of 17th century punch cutters, like Christoffel van Dijck, Dirck Voskens, Johan Michael Smit and Jean Baptiste van Wolschaten. References to and specimens of their typefaces can be found in several archives. One of them is the Plantin-Moretus Museum in Antwerp. The OT Custodia is neither a Van Dijck revival nor a Monotype Van Dijck remake. Dutch Textura (1681), in versions called Augusteyn Duyts and Mediaen Duyts. He designed a Hebrew typeface for the Hebrew bible of rabbi and typefounder Immanuel Atias (or: Joseph Athias), known as Otiyot Amsterdam (or: Letters from Amsterdam). Typefaces offered at MyFonts that are rooted in Van Dijck's work include: Van Dijck (Robin Nicholas, Monotype). Monotype Van Dijck was remade by G.G. Lange (1993, Berthold) and is of better quality according to many, including, e.g., Jan Middendorp in Dutch Type. Adobe Caslon (1990, Carol Twombly, Adobe). This is here because William Caslon's Caslon (1725) was influenced by Christoffel Van Dijck and Dirck Voskens. Caslon 3 (Linotype). Based on a 1905 cut bu ATF. Caslon Classico (1993, Franco Luin, Linotype). FontShop link. Klingspor link. Christoffel Van Dijck's digital legacy.	EXTERNAL LINKS Christoffel van Dijck [Designer info] Monotype link Klingspor Museum page MyFonts search Monotype search Fontspring search Google search INTERNAL LINKS Type designers ⦿ Type designers ⦿ Dutch type design ⦿ Textura ⦿ Elzevir ⦿ Caslon ⦿ German type scene ⦿ Hebrew font links ⦿ Blackletter fonts ⦿