GFS Göschen fonts

A 19th century Greek typeface

Description
Georg Joachim Göschen founded in 1782 the publishing house of G.J. Göschensche Verlagsbuchhandlung in Leipzig and was one of the most active publishers of the period in Germany. Göschen was very interested in typography, influenced by the fame and quality of the editions of G. Bodoni and F. Didot.

In 1797, he collaborated with the leading scholar of the period, Johann Jakob Griesbach, to edit and publish the New Testament in Greek for which he formed a committee of scholars to decide the new Greek type which were eventually cut by Johann Prillwitz. The book appeared in 1803 and the types show many influences from the Greek types of Bodoni. Their characteristic was the neoclassical form of marked contrast between thick and thin strokes, the cursive style and the large size of the font.

The design was too cumbersome to allow general use and can be considered successful only for its indirect influence on the later cut Greek Leipzig type. It is, however, part of the greater heritage of Greek type design and therefore the type has been digitized by George D. Matthiopoulos in 2009 and is part of GFS' type library under the name GFS Göschen cursive, in commemoration of the great German publisher.