Valentina. Soul in Sapphire by Joseph H. Delaney and Marc Stiegler
A pretty elaborate treatment of Ryter for the title of Valentina. Soul in Sapphire. The science fiction novel about a sentient computer software was written by Joseph H. Delaney and Marc Stiegler, and published by Baen Books in 1984.
Valentina, an artificial intelligence program come to life, and her creator, Celeste Hackett, a shy college student and computer genius, are menaced by an unscrupulous lawyer and two computer wizards hired to destroy Valentina.
The cover art is an early work by Bryn Barnard (b. 1956). “Valentina” is based on Ryter Bold, using several of its many alternate glyphs. Some elements were additionally modified, like the swash entry stroke on V, or the hyper-extended T bar, among others. The letterforms were further enhanced with a bevel effect and a double underline. The second line, “Soul in Sapphire”, uses Ryter largely out of the box – apart from the white contour, the addition of a swash on the final E is the only customization. The secondary typeface is ITC Avant Garde Gothic (1974) by Ed Benguiat, used in all caps.
Ryter was released by Visual Graphics Corporation (VGC). Of its seven styles, only the heaviest one, Ryter Night, has been digitized. Nick Curtis named his interpretation Edgewise NF (Nick’s Fonts, 2007). It doesn’t include the many alternates of the original, though. I haven’t been able to find out about the designer of Ryter. If you have any insights, please leave a comment. Thanks!
Glyph set of Ryter Bold with alternates, as shown in a German phototype catalog from 1990.
