The 700 Berthold fonts join Monotype's library of more than 36,000 fonts. The Nasdaq-listed U.S. font company is acquiring the German-born foundry's inventory.
Founded in Berlin in 1858, Berthold is known for its Akzidenz-Grotesk font family. This font, which dates from 1896, is "the mother of all sans serif fonts" presents Berthold on his website. It was the inspiration for Helvetica. In addition to Akzidenz-Grotesk, Berthold's inventory includes other famous fonts such as Imago, Block, Cosmos, Solemnis, Formata or City.
Berthold also developed equipment. In the 1950s he brought out the Diatype typesetting machine, and in the 1960s the Diatronic, a keyboard-controlled typesetting machine for mass production.
The foundry ceased operations in 1993 and the Chicago-based Berthold Types took over the distribution of the digital font library and created several new fonts.
Ninan Chacko, CEO of Monotype, said: "With this acquisition by Monotype, Berthold's historic typefaces will become part of one of the largest type foundries in the world. Our management will increase the global visibility of Berthold's inventory, celebrate its legacy and put these important typefaces in the hands of more creative professionals. But more than that, this acquisition ensures that iconic typeface families, including Akzidenz-Grotesk, Imago and Formata, remain as accessible and relevant as other historic typeface families in the Monotype library such as Helvetica Now, Gotham and Neue Frutiger."
