Century
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You need JavaScript enabled and the latest version of Flash Player to see this type sample.Credits
- Designer(s)
- Morris Fuller Benton, Linn Boyd Benton, T. L. De Vinne
- Foundry(ies)
- American Type Founders
- Release Year
- 1895
- Country of Origin
- United States
- Classification
- Serif, Transitional
- Original Format
- Metal (Foundry)
- Distributor(s)
- Add
- Tags
- 1900s, serif, text, transitional
Background
The first Century™ Fonts Family was cut by Linn Boyd Benton working with T. L. De Vinne for Century magazine to replace the unsuitable face they had used previously. This was followed a few years later, at the turn of the century, by Century Expanded. It was Morris Fuller Benton, who made several other versions of Century™, who also made several versions Schoolbook for ATF, starting in about 1919. The best known appeared in 1924. This face does the job it was meant to do very well. Century fonts are round, open, and sturdy, and although heavier in appearance than many other serif fonts, Century™ Fonts Family comes near the top of the list of no-nonsense text fonts that will withstand a lot of punishment. Generations of children learned to read with this century font.