Walbaum was originally punchcut by Justus Erich Walbaum in Weimar around 1800. It ranks with Bodoni and Didot as one of the great European "modern" style typefaces. Modern types represented the ultimate typographic development of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. They have characteristics quite different from the types that preceded them; such as extreme vertical stress and fine hairlines contrasted by bold main strokes. This contemporary version of the Walbaum font is quite authentically close to J. E. Walbaum's original, and it distinguishes itself from the other moderns with its wider caps and larger x-height.
Some of the individual characters are quite different from other moderns as well, such as the b with no foot serif, the lowercase a with its squarish counter shape, and the Q tail with the curious asymmetric juncture. Possibly the most unique of the modern types, this beautiful family is legible, flexible, and has compelling warmth in its openness and grace.
