Today we are spoiled with the assortment of design options allowed to us when creating a word document, a blog post, item packaging, a billboard, etc. Various fonts, typefaces and formats lend themselves to designers creating masterpieces for both personal projects and advertising. It was not always this way.
The invention of the italic typeface was one of the first deviations from standard roman fonts of the past. Created by Aldus Manutius and his designer Francesco Griffo in 1500, they named it “italic” after their home country of Italy.
Italics are a typeface that slants gently to the right, like so. It was invented by Aldus Manutius as an alternative to the harsh and formal roman typefaces, and was meant to resemble handwriting, lending itself to informal texts.
The first use of italics was hand cut by Francesco Griffo, and the first use of the typeface in a completed work was used in an Italian tribute version of a collection of poems by Virgil, published in 1501. After this it became widely popular and was often poorly copied. Due to it’s widespread misuse, Manutius lobbied the Venetian Senate to get a patent for sole use of italics, and had it reconfirmed by three separate popes. Despite this, many people continued use of the italic typeface, with minor changes so they could avoid being sued by Manutius.
Francesco Griffo fled Venice after a financial argument with Manutius, but there was prior tension due to Griffo’s claims that he invented the typeface, not Manutius and that Aldus was stealing the credit. It is rumoured that he continued to cut italics for other printers, as other copies of italics began popping up in northern Italy, and then reached Paris, France by 1512.
Italics, despite what many think, are very specific. They tend to be thinner and closer together than a lot of other typefaces, similar to the traditional roman style of the time. Today, there are many different ways to use italics despite originating as an informal, handwritten style, including for emphasis, or for title descriptions.
References:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/italic