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Death certificates, Salerno, Italy (1889–1917)

Contributed by MacNeill Chapman on Jan 22nd, 2022. Artwork published in
circa 1889
.
1889. “Registro” uses a typeface related to , while “Atti di Morte” is in a version of the design later known as , which was sold by Italian foundry Società Urania as Pekino. “Parte I” is (similar to)  or Interchangeable Gothic.
Photo: MacNeill Chapman. License: All Rights Reserved.

1889. “Registro” uses a typeface related to French Oldstyle, while “Atti di Morte” is in a version of the design later known as Bruce Mikita, which was sold by Italian foundry Società Urania as Pekino. “Parte I” is (similar to) Lining Gothic or Interchangeable Gothic.

These are cover pages from the Salerno, Italy death certificates, “Atti di Morte,” from between 1889 and 1901. I found these during research into my Italian heritage, and they were too cool to not share.

1892. “Registro” uses , patented by Hermann Ihlenburg for  in 1884. The bifurcated Tuscan caps with outlined shade used for “Atti di Morte” go back to Henry Brehmer’s  for  (1876). “Anno” is set in a style like . “Degli” and the body copy might be  (similar, but without beard on G: ).
Photo: MacNeill Chapman. License: All Rights Reserved.

1892. “Registro” uses Mortised, patented by Hermann Ihlenburg for MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan in 1884. The bifurcated Tuscan caps with outlined shade used for “Atti di Morte” go back to Henry Brehmer’s Ornamented No. 1540 for Bruce (1876). “Anno” is set in a style like Old Style Bold. “Degli” and the body copy might be Mediäval-Egyptienne (similar, but without beard on G: Old Style Antique).

1901. “Il Presidente” and “Il Giudice Delegato” use a style known in the U.S. as .
Photo: MacNeill Chapman. License: All Rights Reserved.

1901. “Il Presidente” and “Il Giudice Delegato” use a style known in the U.S. as French Antique/Clarendon Extended.

1909. “Atti di Morte” is a version of , which was sold in Italy by Reggiani (as Turandot) and by Nebiolo (as Etrusco nerissima). “Ufficio” is in .
Photo: MacNeill Chapman. License: All Rights Reserved.

1909. “Atti di Morte” is a version of Zeitungs-Grotesque, which was sold in Italy by Reggiani (as Turandot) and by Nebiolo (as Etrusco nerissima). “Ufficio” is in Washington.

1917. “Atti di Morte” is set in  Bold (cf. this specimen by Barnhart Brothers & Spindler)
Photo: MacNeill Chapman. License: All Rights Reserved.

1917. “Atti di Morte” is set in De Vinne Bold (cf. this specimen by Barnhart Brothers & Spindler)

Typefaces

  • French Oldstyle
  • Bruce Mikita
  • Lining Gothic
  • Mortised
  • Ornamented No. 1540
  • Old Style Bold
  • Mediäval-Egyptienne
  • Washington (Central)
  • Zeitungs-Grotesque
  • French Antique/Clarendon Extended
  • De Vinne
  • unidentified typeface

Formats

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Artwork location

6 Comments on “Death certificates, Salerno, Italy (1889–1917)”

  1. Thank you for sharing these fascinating documents, MacNeill!

    Most of the tagged typefaces were tracked down by my colleague Matthijs (thanks, Matthijs – great job!). Unfortunately, we don’t have easy access to period specimens from Italy. Some IDs are to be understood as approximations, and virtually all of the typefaces probably went under different names in Italy. Also, several styles are still unidentified. Maybe our readers can help and fill some gaps.

  2. I’m in awe of what you did find out, brilliant work Matthijs and Florian!

  3. Florian, the 1889 which you labeled as French Oldstyle was cut and sold by Nebiolo (and very likely by Augusta before them), it was widely used in Italy across the 1930s, I will source the name from my issues of Archivio Tipografico.

  4. Thanks, Claudio! IIRC, that ID was among those found by Matthijs. Yes, would be great to know under which name it went in Italy.

  5. Eva found this face in a specimen by Società Augusta (from Archivio Tipografico), under the name Intestazione Medioevale:

    Archivio Tipografico mentions that it was also known as Capitali Aldo Manuzio in a Nebiolo specimen from 1920.

  6. See also Französische Mediaeval-Versalien as shown in the 1899 specimen by Krebs and Initiales Elzeviriennes as shown in the 1909 specimen by Beaudoire et Cie. That’s the same design, isn’t it?

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