They have characteristics quite different from the types that preceded them such as extreme vertical stress, fine hairlines contrasted by bold main strokes, and very subtle, almost non-existent bracketing of sharply defined hairline serifs. Modern types represented the ultimate typographic development of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He produced the best of what are known as 'modern' style types, basing them on the finest writing of his time. His books and typefaces were created during the 45 years he was the director of the fine press and publishing house of the Duke of Parma in Italy.

N° de ref.Giambattista Bodoni (1740-1813) was called the King of Printers he was a prolific type designer, a masterful engraver of punches and the most widely admired printer of his time. Lester, Giambattista Bodoni, his life and his world. I do not believe I am able to show myself more grateful for the kindness received than to record it here, in the face of the public.' (V. The sumptuousness of his library ? has provided me with reliable examples from which to draw and then to cut and to cast so many different faces.' Finally, with a rare dose of modesty, he launched himself into paroxysms of praise for the Propaganda Fide and Cardinale Spinelli: '? there I learned what little I know there were born in me the first ideas to cut and to cast there rose up in me fondness for this kind of types, and this kind of study, which encouraged me to undertake the most difficult designs, and to prevail with strength over all the most serious challenges. He wrote in his introduction: 'Having exposed to the public my specimen of Latin type, adorned with as many unusual decorations and adornments as lovers of perfect printing could possibly desire, I decided to make punches and matrices for 20 exotic typefaces and to cast them with the same accuracy ? To bring my enterprise to its desired end, I did not have to beg for help from abroad ? everything was provided for me by the munificence of his Royal Highness, who can be justly called the father of letters. As usual, he had fun congratulating himself, even while thanking others. At the same time, it gave him an opportunity to show his gratitude for his education at the Propaganda Fide and to celebrate the memory of Cardinale Spinelli. In it he displayed, in quarto, twenty of his newly cut exotic faces, and confirmed his position as a frontrunner among European typographers. Ludovico Principe primogenito di Parma ? (published on 18 April 1774).

?The Duchess had given birth to a son, Ludovico, in July 1773, an event that offered Bodoni the perfect opportunity to create a gorgeous presentation book for the baby's baptism, Pel solenne battesimo di S.A.R. A very fine copy in orange boards Bodoni's first attempt to display his exotic characters.

Bodoni book