Elizabeth
BUYLEAD VERSION
- Designer
- Elizabeth Friedlander
- Foundry
- Bauersche Giesserei
(Bauer Types) - Year
- 1938
DIGITAL VERSION
- Publisher
- Bauer Types
- Design & Production
- Andreu Balius
- Year
- 2005
DESCRIPTION
Elizabeth is a refined display serif typeface distinguished by its grace, delicacy, and balanced proportions. Originally engraved in 1938, it includes both Roman and Italic styles, offering an elegant rhythm well suited to headlines, editorial design, and expressive typographic compositions.
Elizabeth holds a special place in typographic history as one of the earliest typefaces designed by a woman, combining technical precision with a sensitive and human approach to letterform design.
Elegance
Elizabeth Friedlander was a pioneering typographer, calligrapher, and designer who worked with remarkable courage during particularly challenging times.
Elizabeth Regular in use
Elizabeth Family
- Elizabeth Regular
- Elizabeth Italic
TYPE TESTER
Languages
Context
From its earliest reception, Elizabeth was widely recognized for its exceptional quality and refinement. Georg Hartmann described it as one of the finest and most beautiful types ever produced, praising its impeccable taste and subtlety. The typeface was particularly appreciated by private presses and for printed works requiring a delicate and nuanced typographic voice.
Its contemporary impact was equally notable: the Penrose Annual (1939, Volume 41) referred to Elizabeth as the most successful type of the year, confirming its significance within the international typographic landscape.
In 2005, Spanish designer and typographer Andreu Balius1 was commissioned by Bauer Types, successor to the Bauersche Giesserei, to digitize the typeface. The revival carefully preserved the original design’s grace, delicacy, and craftsmanship, ensuring its continuity in contemporary typography.
1 Andreu Balius (Barcelona, 1962) is a type designer and university professor whose work combines historical research with contemporary creativity. After studying Sociology and Graphic Design, he founded Typerepublic in 2003, through which he has successfully revived classics such as Pradell and SuperVeloz, while also creating original typefaces for brands like SEAT and Acciona. He holds a PhD in Design from the University of Southampton and teaches typography at Pompeu Fabra University and EINA. His work has been recognized by ATypI and the TDC. A nature and mountain biking enthusiast, Balius brings a rigorous and multicultural perspective to every project.
Biography
Elizabeth Friedlander (1903-1984) was born in Berlin. She was an Anglo-German Jewish typographer, calligrapher and designer. She studied design, calligraphy and typography with E.R.Weiss at the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin and worked as a graphic designer for the elegant magazine, ‘Die Dame’ being in charge of title and layout designs. She was commissioned to design a typeface for the Bauersche Giesserei in Frankfurt am Main, a very unusual assignment for a woman in those days. Her Elizabeth typeface was engraved at the Bauersche Giesserei in 1938. Due to the war, in 1939 she moved to London, finally taking British citizenship. After the war, she was successful as a book designer and graphic designer, among others for Penguin Books, Linotype and Monotype.
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