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Waldemar Zachrisson

Swedish type designer (1861-1924). In his ABC of Lettering and Printing types, Erik Lindegren writes: In Sweden, the Gothenburg printer, Waldemar Zachrisson (1861-1924), had followed the work of William Morris with great interest. In his annually published printing calenders and in his monthly pamphlets, he propagated for the ideas of Morris and in this way worked for the reformation of Swedish book art and typography. As a pointer to Zachrisson's endeavour to imbue the art of printing with a national characteristic, we should take into consideration his cooperation with the German type-founders, Genzsch&Heyse, with whom he produced a roman which would be particularly suitable to the Nordic languages. About this type, which is based on the type cut by the Dutch printer Christophe Plantin, who had copied from Nicolas Jenson, Waldemar Zachrisson wrote in a letter in 1907 to his friend and colleague, Hugo Lagerstrom, in Stockholm: "I have been given delightful encouragement and strong support in my convictions about this style from several remarks made in letters from experts of note. Nordisk Antiqua (Genzsch-Antiqua) will certainly contribute to the artistic attractiveness of the pages and editions of the book; it is easy to read, it is more robust than the ordinary medieval types, and the colour of the style is just strong enough for printing on our clear white paper." Gisela Will adds: Nordisk Antiqua (or Genzsch-Antiqua) was not designed by Waldemar Zachrisson, but by Friedrich Bauer, 1863-1943. The first appearence was in 1906 with a single weight under the name of Nordisk Antiqua. In the year of 1912 a whole family of seven weights was announced under the name of Genzsch-Antiqua which was part of the name of the foundry in Hamburg where Bauer had been the manager of composing and printing since 1900. As the foundry Genzsch&Heyse had a lot of customers in Scandinavia, their Nordisk Antiqua became widely spread over the north of Europe. Personal note: Christopher Plantin was born in France, but lived and worked in Antwerp (Belgium).

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