Veronese (series 59) was a typeface of the

Monotype Monotyping is a type of printmaking made by drawing or painting on a smooth, non-absorbent surface. The surface, or matrix, was historically a copper etching plate, but in contemporary work it can vary from zinc or glass to acrylic glass. The ...

company in the UK made to be used for type casting in hot metal typography It was cut in 1911 for the publisher J. M. Dent, the owner of the

Everyman's Library Everyman's Library is a series of reprints of classic literature, primarily from the Western canon. It began in 1906. It is currently published in hardback by Random House. It was originally an imprint of J. M. Dent (itself later a division ...

. It was based on another foundry-type made for this publisher. Both founts were based on an old Venetian roman type made by

Nicolas Jenson Nicholas (or Nicolas) Jenson (c. 1420–1480) was a French engraver, pioneer, printer and type designer who carried out most of his work in Venice, Italy. Jenson acted as Master of the French Royal Mint at Tours and is credited with being the cr ...

. The typeface was launched in 1912 in a collection of the poems of

Lorenzo De Medici Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici (), known as Lorenzo the Magnificent (; 1 January 1449 – 9 April 1492), was an Italian statesman, the '' de facto'' ruler of the Florentine Republic, and the most powerful patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Lo ...

which was published by

Ballantyne Press The Ballantyne Press was founded in 1799 by James Ballantyne and his brother John Ballantyne. James was particularly noted for his friendship with Sir Walter Scott who partially financed the printer after he moved his press to Edinburgh Edinb ...

. This font was also the basis for

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...

and his

Golden Type The Golden Type is a serif typeface designed by artist William Morris for his fine book printing project, the Kelmscott Press, in 1890. It is an "old-style" serif face, based on type designed by engraver and printer Nicolas Jenson in Venice aroun ...

. Dent admired Morris and his Golden type, and the way Morris tried to implement his ideas on printing. Dent however wanted to use machines to produce the type for his trade editions for his Everyman's Library. In this way he was able to take Morris's socialist principles in a more practical way, compared with the bibliophile editions of the Klemscott press. The font Monotype produced was almost a copy of Golden Type, but with sharper slab serifs, and cleaner lines. A lighter version was produced in 1919 after the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, with bracketed serifs, and named Italian Old Style series 108.Judy Slinn, Sebastian Carter, Richard Southall, ''History of the Monotype Corporation'', Printing historical Society, 2014, , p.196 In 1967 Series 59 was taken out of production and all patterns, designs and punches were destroyed. After this date no new mats could be made, although Series 108 is still available. However, several digital fonts based on Veronese are currently available.

References

Old style serif typefaces Typefaces and fonts introduced in 1912 Monotype typefaces Latin-script typefaces {{typ-stub