P22 Preissig Calligraphic
Czech typographer/artist/designer Vojtěch Preissig spent the majority of 1910-1930 living in the United States, teaching at Columbia College in New York ,and later Wentworth Institute in Boston. He is credited with introducing the linoleum cut as a graphic art technique to North America and he associated with noted typographic and book luminaries throughout his career. The culmination of his artistry materialized in his edition of Aucassin and Nicolette for the Limited Editions Club (1931.) This book featured striking linocuts, and all book, ornament, and type design by Preissig. The typeface used in this book is known as Preissig Antiqua. It is at first glance a high contrast roman typeface but on closer inspection, one can see that the entire typeface is made up of straight lines with stark angles in place of flowing curves.
Preceding his Antiqua typeface which is featured in Aucassin and appears in dozens of other books published by the Czech state printing office, he developed a type design that remained unpublished until 2019. The design features an accompanying italic as well as small caps. Preissig originally named the typeface after his former employer in New York: Butterick Publishing Co. The Butterick typeface anticipates the full angularity of Preissig Antiqua but also retains a heavy calligraphic influence. The P22 digital version of “Butterick” was started shortly after seeing the original drawings in an exhibit in Prague in 2004. A sympathetic security guard allowed a few photographs to be taken (the guard was later chastised by a superior at the museum for letting this happen.) These contraband photos fueled a rapid development of the typefaces. Eventually other images of the faces were published (In the book The Typefaces of Vojtech Preissig by Otaka Karlas (2009) and it seemed that the lack of exclusive access might mean that another intrepid type revivalist might scoop P22. Another many years later we realized that this unique face needed to enter the world of contemporary design. There was a brief correspondence in 2017 between Richard Kegler of P22 and Veronika Burian of Type Together about a possible collaboration on a revival of this typeface. After a few back and forths, it seems that a very amicable difference of opinion made a collaboration seem unlikely. Burian's approach of making the face highly functional for contemporary use was at odds with Kegler's view that the original design should adhere somewhat strictly to the very particular intention of Preissig's original design. This is always the struggle with any historical type revival, and the subject of many lively typographic conversations. Ultimately the P22 release featured a close resemblance to the original design in a single weight with small caps and italics and the addition of an expanded latin character set.
Image of original 'Butterick' drawing taken at the National Gallery Prague 2004
