Italic: the slanted style in handwriting and type
Italic refers to a slanted, often cursive style of handwriting and a corresponding typographic style. Originating in Renaissance Italy, italics are used for emphasis, titles, foreign words and scientific names.
Italic describes both a style of handwriting and a class of typefaces characterized by letters that lean to the right and often show cursive influences. In handwriting, italics are a flowing, calligraphy-influenced form that speeds writing and improves legibility. In typography, italic type differs from upright roman letters by its slant and, in many cases, by distinct letterforms crafted for a more elegant or compact appearance.
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Key characteristics
Although people commonly use the term to mean simply "slanted text," true italics have specific features:
- Rightward slant: most italic glyphs tilt slightly to the right, creating motion and emphasis.
- Altered letterforms: many italic letters are based on cursive shapes and may differ substantially from their roman counterparts (for example, a single-storey a or a more looped f).
- Calligraphic origin: the shapes often reflect pen strokes and contrast found in handwriting.
- Not the same as oblique: oblique or sloped type is mechanically slanted without redesigning letterforms; true italics are redrawn.
Historical development
The italic convention traces to Renaissance Italy, where scribes adapted a fast chancery hand into a readable bookhand. Early printers and type designers then translated these shapes into metal type. Notable figures in this history include Italian calligraphers and printers who refined the style in the early 16th century. Modern study of those hands and early books informs contemporary practice; historians and designers examine original exemplars to understand how handwriting shaped printed italics. See historical commentary on italic script and the evolution of italic type, and writings about influential practitioners such as Arrighi.
Uses and conventions
Italics serve several practical and conventional roles in written materials. Typical uses include:
- Emphasis: to stress a word or phrase in running text.
- Titles and works: book, film or newspaper names are often set in italics.
- Foreign words and terms: to mark words not established in the running language.
- Scientific names: genus and species are conventionally italicized in biological nomenclature.
- Variables and emphasis in mathematics and technical writing.
Typographers and editors balance these uses with readability and accessibility; excessive italics can reduce legibility or hinder screen readers.
Distinctions and modern practice
In contemporary design the distinction between italic and oblique is important. Many serif families include a true italic with specially designed glyphs reflecting cursive forms, while some sans-serif families offer an oblique cut created by slanting the upright shapes. Typeface makers also produce complementary italic styles to harmonize weight and proportion across a family. Discussions of typography contrast the qualities of a cursive font with those of mechanically slanted faces and explain how calligraphic traditions influence digital design. Early developments in Italy remain a touchstone for designers who adapt those principles for print, web and variable fonts.
When using italics, follow the style rules of your discipline or publisher, prefer true italic cuts when available for better aesthetics, and reserve italics for clear semantic functions rather than decorative overuse.
Properties and distribution
Whereas in normal antiqua, which is perpendicular (recte) to the line, the glyphs are vertical, in an italic typeface they appear to be running, racing - they are slanted, tilted to the right, and may form ligatures. They may also be different in shape from the corresponding non-italic glyphs. Examples of this are the "single-storey" form ɑ of the lowercase a or the descender of the lowercase f (see example on the right).
Italics are not only found in the Latin alphabet. Cyrillic script also distinguishes between cursive and upright forms. For broken typefaces, italic, as well as bold, type styles are traditionally uncommon. In fracture typesetting, therefore, the blocking type dominates for distinction.
The terms italic and cursive
The term italic goes back to that of cursive. However, the two terms are by no means congruent. "Italic" refers to cursive (also called running or running script), i.e. typefaces that are suitable for rapid writing by hand. They originated from writing with a quill and similar writing utensils, as well as the demand for high writing speed. They usually have connected letters and are also often, but not necessarily, slanted. The adjective italic and the noun cursive, on the other hand, usually refer to typesetting. The characteristic common feature of italic weights is the slant of the characters, which are otherwise usually unconnected like the characters in normal weights.
The English term cursive means "cursive" and not "italic". It is used in computer systems (for example, in HTML or CSS), among other things, to generally indicate that a font from the font class of cursive fonts is to be used for display, without explicitly naming a specific cursive font. The operating system or the application program then uses an available font preset for this font class.
Away from typography, fonts such as Egyptian hieroglyphics or Chinese calligraphy forms are sometimes called "cursive", even though this only has to do with the concept of a (handwritten) cursive and nothing to do with cursive typesetting fonts. Conversely, in German printer-speak, a cursive typesetting script is sometimes called a "cursive", although this term actually refers to handwriting. This adds to the confusion of terms, whereas in English the two subjects are linguistically more clearly delineated by the terms italic and cursive.
Questions and answers
Q: What is Italic script and type?
A: Italic script and type is a cursive font based on a kind of calligraphic handwriting. The style slants slightly to the right and can be used to emphasize key points in a printed text.
Q: Who was Ludovico Vicentino degli Arrighi?
A: Ludovico Vicentino degli Arrighi (1475–1527) was a papal scribe and type designer in Renaissance Italy who developed the style of writing known as "italic". It has been said that this style got its name from him.
Q: How do modern day scribes learn the structure of italic writing?
A: Modern day scribes, also known as "calligraphers", study the work of Arrighi to learn the structure of italic writing.
Q: What is chancery hand?
A: Chancery hand is an early sixteenth century handwriting style which was first perfected by Roman scribes. It has since been modernized into what we know today as italic type.
Q: What are oblique types?
A: Oblique types are fonts where the letters are slanted but their shape does not change, unlike italics which have flourishes copied from calligraphy. This approach is used by many sans-serif typefaces.
Q: What purpose do italics serve in modern texts?
A: In modern texts, italics can be used to emphasize key points in a printed text or act as the print equivalent of underlining something for emphasis.
Related articles
Author
AlegsaOnline.com Italic: the slanted style in handwriting and type Leandro Alegsa
URL: https://en.alegsaonline.com/art/48614
Sources
- italic-handwriting.org : "The Society for Italic Handwriting - Articles"
- w3schools.com : W3Schools tutorial on using <i> tags
- mediawiki.org : MediaWiki's help on making italic text