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The Metamorphoses of Ovid translated by Allen Mandelbaum

Contributed by John Butler on Dec 4th, 2020. Artwork published in
circa 1993
.
Letterspaced  on the dust jacket.
Photo: John Butler. License: All Rights Reserved.

Letterspaced Centaur on the dust jacket.

This 1993 translation of Ovid is luxuriously large, as is the type: 559 pages in what looks like fourteen point Bembo. Many regard the digital Bembo from that era too thin for text, but at this size it feels perfect.

The title page features  and  Italic.
Photo: John Butler. License: All Rights Reserved.

The title page features Castellar and Diotima Italic.

The Metamorphoses of Ovid translated by Allen Mandelbaum 3
Photo: John Butler. License: All Rights Reserved.
The Metamorphoses of Ovid translated by Allen Mandelbaum 4
Photo: John Butler. License: All Rights Reserved.
Stanzas are interspersed with these tastefully tapering rules.
Photo: John Butler. License: All Rights Reserved.

Stanzas are interspersed with these tastefully tapering rules.

Bembo’s lowercase italic z is not approximately equal. The synthetic italic small caps could use some weight.
Photo: John Butler. License: All Rights Reserved.

Bembo’s lowercase italic z is not approximately equal. The synthetic italic small caps could use some weight.

Typefaces

  • Bembo
  • Diotima
  • Castellar
  • Centaur

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2 Comments on “The Metamorphoses of Ovid translated by Allen Mandelbaum”

  1. That cover evokes album covers from 4AD circa the same time – Cocteau Twins and others.

  2. The Bembo is also available slightly thicker for smaller font sizes under the name Bembo Book MT Pro. The Diotima was also available as a swash variant under the name Dinosaur.

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