Century type family
| Category | Serif |
|---|---|
| Classification | Didone, Scotch Modern |
| Designer(s) | Linn Boyd and Morris Fuller Benton |
| Foundry | American Type Founders |
| Date released | 1894–1923 |
| Variations | Century Expanded, Century Schoolbook, Century Old Style, Century Catalogue, Century 731, Century 751, Century 725, Century Schoolbook Monospace |
| Also known as | Century 701 Century 702 Monospace 722 Revival 707 |
| Shown here | Century Schoolbook |
Century is a family of serif type faces particularly intended for body text. The family originates from a first design, Century Roman, cut by American Type Founders designer Linn Boyd Benton in 1894 for master printer Theodore Low De Vinne, for use in The Century Magazine. ATF rapidly expanded it into a very large family, first by Linn Boyd, and later by his son Morris. With ATF no longer operating, a wide variety of variants and revivals with varying features and quality are available.
Century is based on the "Scotch" genre, a style of type of British origin which had been popular in the United States from the early nineteenth century and is part of the "Didone" genre of type popular through the entire nineteenth century. Its design emphasizes crispness and elegance, with ball terminals, minimalist brackets, prominent slab serifs, and high contrast between thick and thin strokes. Generous whitespace between the letters is intended to offset the weight of the thick strokes. Readability is improved by line spacing because of taller x-height.
Despite originating in the nineteenth century, use of the typeface remains strong for periodicals, textbooks, and literature. The Supreme Court of the United States requires that briefs be typeset in Century family type. The Supreme Court also uses Century Schoolbook for its published opinions. According to Charles Shaw, "The rugged simplicity of the Century family of types has made it an enduring favorite of American typographers for almost one hundred years. Beginning as foundry type, Century has withstood a series of technical transformations into Linotype, Monotype, Ludlow, phototype, transfer type, digital type, and Xerox-like 'toner type'."