Why does the small h letter in Garamond italic bend inward?

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The small h letter in Garamond italic usually bends inward, as the following:

Sometimes it's difficult to distinguish it with b. Can anyone give some (historical) reason for that?
typography
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The small h letter in Garamond italic usually bends inward, as the following:

Sometimes it's difficult to distinguish it with b. Can anyone give some (historical) reason for that?
typography
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Stone-Zeng is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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Hi Stone-Zeng, welcome to GDSE and thanks for your question. If you want to know more about the site, please see the help center or feel free to join us in the Graphic Design Chat. Keep contributing and enjoy the site!
â Vincent
3 hours ago
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up vote
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down vote
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up vote
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down vote
favorite
The small h letter in Garamond italic usually bends inward, as the following:

Sometimes it's difficult to distinguish it with b. Can anyone give some (historical) reason for that?
typography
New contributor
Stone-Zeng is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
The small h letter in Garamond italic usually bends inward, as the following:

Sometimes it's difficult to distinguish it with b. Can anyone give some (historical) reason for that?
typography
typography
New contributor
Stone-Zeng is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Stone-Zeng is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Stone-Zeng is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 3 hours ago
Stone-Zeng
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1213
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Stone-Zeng is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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Stone-Zeng is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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Stone-Zeng is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
2
Hi Stone-Zeng, welcome to GDSE and thanks for your question. If you want to know more about the site, please see the help center or feel free to join us in the Graphic Design Chat. Keep contributing and enjoy the site!
â Vincent
3 hours ago
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Hi Stone-Zeng, welcome to GDSE and thanks for your question. If you want to know more about the site, please see the help center or feel free to join us in the Graphic Design Chat. Keep contributing and enjoy the site!
â Vincent
3 hours ago
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Hi Stone-Zeng, welcome to GDSE and thanks for your question. If you want to know more about the site, please see the help center or feel free to join us in the Graphic Design Chat. Keep contributing and enjoy the site!
â Vincent
3 hours ago
Hi Stone-Zeng, welcome to GDSE and thanks for your question. If you want to know more about the site, please see the help center or feel free to join us in the Graphic Design Chat. Keep contributing and enjoy the site!
â Vincent
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2 Answers
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The uncial h
The Garamond Roman typography designed by Claude Garamond, is one of the first Roman typefaces designed specifically for the novel printing system of the Middle Ages, expanded throughout Europe. Hence, its design is well studied and adjusted within a modulation, but in essence many of its lines continue to maintain the trait of manual writing of the scribes of the time. No just in the character h, but also the J, R, j, Q...
Garamond Italic designed by Morris Fuller Benton in 1917 (source flickr)
The printing press not only served to print and distribute books, but also to unify all the Latin Nationals lowercase in the only standard Carolingian minuscule, name due to Emperor Charlemagne, the architect of the unification. Until then, the scribes of each European country had their customs about writing and each character differed considerably. Among them the round h.
This image perfectly shows the evolution of the first manual Sweynheym & Pannartz's Romans, practically equal to the calligraphy of the scribes, to the best graphically constructed and adapted to the printing system.

Spira and most of the earliest printers in Venice used a round h (the uncial construction of h) that was more common in the humanistic manuscripts of the time.âÂÂ
We should have in mind that the Garamond we see today has already gone through many processes of redesign, from the "insert into a grid" of the XVIII th century, to Morris Benton's drawings at the beginning of the 20th century, the photographic adaptation of the mid-20th century until reaching the digital age. Even so, many of its essential features are maintained.
Although all the current classic typefaces keep the Carolingian minuscule, some historical like Garamond Font prefer to retain part of these old characteristics as an essence of its origin.
More explanation about Roman evolution here
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
The historical reason is that early italic typefaces were based on handwritten cursive lettering which was popular at the time during the early 1500s when these typefaces were first developed for printing.
The origin of cursive scripts was uncial lettering which evolved in the 4th to 8th centuries, and which ultimately came from Roman hand written cursive scripts used during classical times. These early cursive scripts also eventually developed into modern miniscule (lowercase) letter forms.
add a comment |Â
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
3
down vote
The uncial h
The Garamond Roman typography designed by Claude Garamond, is one of the first Roman typefaces designed specifically for the novel printing system of the Middle Ages, expanded throughout Europe. Hence, its design is well studied and adjusted within a modulation, but in essence many of its lines continue to maintain the trait of manual writing of the scribes of the time. No just in the character h, but also the J, R, j, Q...
Garamond Italic designed by Morris Fuller Benton in 1917 (source flickr)
The printing press not only served to print and distribute books, but also to unify all the Latin Nationals lowercase in the only standard Carolingian minuscule, name due to Emperor Charlemagne, the architect of the unification. Until then, the scribes of each European country had their customs about writing and each character differed considerably. Among them the round h.
This image perfectly shows the evolution of the first manual Sweynheym & Pannartz's Romans, practically equal to the calligraphy of the scribes, to the best graphically constructed and adapted to the printing system.

Spira and most of the earliest printers in Venice used a round h (the uncial construction of h) that was more common in the humanistic manuscripts of the time.âÂÂ
We should have in mind that the Garamond we see today has already gone through many processes of redesign, from the "insert into a grid" of the XVIII th century, to Morris Benton's drawings at the beginning of the 20th century, the photographic adaptation of the mid-20th century until reaching the digital age. Even so, many of its essential features are maintained.
Although all the current classic typefaces keep the Carolingian minuscule, some historical like Garamond Font prefer to retain part of these old characteristics as an essence of its origin.
More explanation about Roman evolution here
add a comment |Â
up vote
3
down vote
The uncial h
The Garamond Roman typography designed by Claude Garamond, is one of the first Roman typefaces designed specifically for the novel printing system of the Middle Ages, expanded throughout Europe. Hence, its design is well studied and adjusted within a modulation, but in essence many of its lines continue to maintain the trait of manual writing of the scribes of the time. No just in the character h, but also the J, R, j, Q...
Garamond Italic designed by Morris Fuller Benton in 1917 (source flickr)
The printing press not only served to print and distribute books, but also to unify all the Latin Nationals lowercase in the only standard Carolingian minuscule, name due to Emperor Charlemagne, the architect of the unification. Until then, the scribes of each European country had their customs about writing and each character differed considerably. Among them the round h.
This image perfectly shows the evolution of the first manual Sweynheym & Pannartz's Romans, practically equal to the calligraphy of the scribes, to the best graphically constructed and adapted to the printing system.

Spira and most of the earliest printers in Venice used a round h (the uncial construction of h) that was more common in the humanistic manuscripts of the time.âÂÂ
We should have in mind that the Garamond we see today has already gone through many processes of redesign, from the "insert into a grid" of the XVIII th century, to Morris Benton's drawings at the beginning of the 20th century, the photographic adaptation of the mid-20th century until reaching the digital age. Even so, many of its essential features are maintained.
Although all the current classic typefaces keep the Carolingian minuscule, some historical like Garamond Font prefer to retain part of these old characteristics as an essence of its origin.
More explanation about Roman evolution here
add a comment |Â
up vote
3
down vote
up vote
3
down vote
The uncial h
The Garamond Roman typography designed by Claude Garamond, is one of the first Roman typefaces designed specifically for the novel printing system of the Middle Ages, expanded throughout Europe. Hence, its design is well studied and adjusted within a modulation, but in essence many of its lines continue to maintain the trait of manual writing of the scribes of the time. No just in the character h, but also the J, R, j, Q...
Garamond Italic designed by Morris Fuller Benton in 1917 (source flickr)
The printing press not only served to print and distribute books, but also to unify all the Latin Nationals lowercase in the only standard Carolingian minuscule, name due to Emperor Charlemagne, the architect of the unification. Until then, the scribes of each European country had their customs about writing and each character differed considerably. Among them the round h.
This image perfectly shows the evolution of the first manual Sweynheym & Pannartz's Romans, practically equal to the calligraphy of the scribes, to the best graphically constructed and adapted to the printing system.

Spira and most of the earliest printers in Venice used a round h (the uncial construction of h) that was more common in the humanistic manuscripts of the time.âÂÂ
We should have in mind that the Garamond we see today has already gone through many processes of redesign, from the "insert into a grid" of the XVIII th century, to Morris Benton's drawings at the beginning of the 20th century, the photographic adaptation of the mid-20th century until reaching the digital age. Even so, many of its essential features are maintained.
Although all the current classic typefaces keep the Carolingian minuscule, some historical like Garamond Font prefer to retain part of these old characteristics as an essence of its origin.
More explanation about Roman evolution here
The uncial h
The Garamond Roman typography designed by Claude Garamond, is one of the first Roman typefaces designed specifically for the novel printing system of the Middle Ages, expanded throughout Europe. Hence, its design is well studied and adjusted within a modulation, but in essence many of its lines continue to maintain the trait of manual writing of the scribes of the time. No just in the character h, but also the J, R, j, Q...
Garamond Italic designed by Morris Fuller Benton in 1917 (source flickr)
The printing press not only served to print and distribute books, but also to unify all the Latin Nationals lowercase in the only standard Carolingian minuscule, name due to Emperor Charlemagne, the architect of the unification. Until then, the scribes of each European country had their customs about writing and each character differed considerably. Among them the round h.
This image perfectly shows the evolution of the first manual Sweynheym & Pannartz's Romans, practically equal to the calligraphy of the scribes, to the best graphically constructed and adapted to the printing system.

Spira and most of the earliest printers in Venice used a round h (the uncial construction of h) that was more common in the humanistic manuscripts of the time.âÂÂ
We should have in mind that the Garamond we see today has already gone through many processes of redesign, from the "insert into a grid" of the XVIII th century, to Morris Benton's drawings at the beginning of the 20th century, the photographic adaptation of the mid-20th century until reaching the digital age. Even so, many of its essential features are maintained.
Although all the current classic typefaces keep the Carolingian minuscule, some historical like Garamond Font prefer to retain part of these old characteristics as an essence of its origin.
More explanation about Roman evolution here
edited 2 hours ago
answered 2 hours ago
Danielillo
12.7k11750
12.7k11750
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
The historical reason is that early italic typefaces were based on handwritten cursive lettering which was popular at the time during the early 1500s when these typefaces were first developed for printing.
The origin of cursive scripts was uncial lettering which evolved in the 4th to 8th centuries, and which ultimately came from Roman hand written cursive scripts used during classical times. These early cursive scripts also eventually developed into modern miniscule (lowercase) letter forms.
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
The historical reason is that early italic typefaces were based on handwritten cursive lettering which was popular at the time during the early 1500s when these typefaces were first developed for printing.
The origin of cursive scripts was uncial lettering which evolved in the 4th to 8th centuries, and which ultimately came from Roman hand written cursive scripts used during classical times. These early cursive scripts also eventually developed into modern miniscule (lowercase) letter forms.
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
up vote
2
down vote
The historical reason is that early italic typefaces were based on handwritten cursive lettering which was popular at the time during the early 1500s when these typefaces were first developed for printing.
The origin of cursive scripts was uncial lettering which evolved in the 4th to 8th centuries, and which ultimately came from Roman hand written cursive scripts used during classical times. These early cursive scripts also eventually developed into modern miniscule (lowercase) letter forms.
The historical reason is that early italic typefaces were based on handwritten cursive lettering which was popular at the time during the early 1500s when these typefaces were first developed for printing.
The origin of cursive scripts was uncial lettering which evolved in the 4th to 8th centuries, and which ultimately came from Roman hand written cursive scripts used during classical times. These early cursive scripts also eventually developed into modern miniscule (lowercase) letter forms.
edited 15 mins ago
answered 22 mins ago
Billy Kerr
23.3k21954
23.3k21954
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add a comment |Â
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Hi Stone-Zeng, welcome to GDSE and thanks for your question. If you want to know more about the site, please see the help center or feel free to join us in the Graphic Design Chat. Keep contributing and enjoy the site!
â Vincent
3 hours ago