The Javanese typefaces of Johannes Enschedé en Zonen and Lettergieterij Amsterdam voorheen N. Tetterode
In this research, Jo De Baerdemaeker investigates how the Javanese writing system, the indigenous script of pre-colonial Indonesia, was adapted to print. He focuses on the Javanese typefaces that were manufactured in The Netherlands in the nineteenth and twentieth century.
The cutting of the first Javanese fount, which was undertaken at Joh. Enschedé en Zonen in Haarlem, coincided with the founding of the first printing house in Jakarta (then known as Batavia, capital of ‘Dutch-India’). Less than a century later, Lettergieterij Amsterdam developed a new, simplified, Javanese fount, amongst other styles and weights.
The Javanese founts of both Dutch typefoundries were internationally well received and were distributed to polyglot printing houses throughout Europe.
This study discusses the development of these Javanese printing types and the collaboration between the punchcutters and the academics. Although this project provides a historical account of the events, it also illustrates the characteristics of the Javanese script and analyses the stylistic features and typographic use of the individual typefaces. It concludes with suggestions for designing and typesetting digital Javanese computer fonts.
This research project was first presented at ATypI Dublin in 2010.
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