Diotima

The italic lower-case is relatively calligraphic in design with a 'single-story' 'g'. The design is named for the philosopher Diotima of Mantinea, perhaps appropriately highlighting its status as one of the few typefaces designed by a woman up to this point. Released in the roman or regular style around 1951 and the italic around 1953, although Zapf-von Hesse had been working on the design for some years by this point. The design was her first full typeface. Her husband, Hermann Zapf, used it for typesetting their wedding announcement. Stempel later released Ariadne-Initialen (Ariadne Initials), a set of swash capitals to complement it. The design was later reissued by Linotype. In 2001, San Francisco Public Library held an exhibition on Hermann and Gudrun Zapf's work, showcasing early specimens of Diotima.

• Name — Diotima • Style — Serif Display • Creator — Gudrun Zapf-von Hesse • Foundry — Stempel Linotype • Releasedate — c. 1951

Diotima was digitised early on in the period of digital fonts, with releases by Linotype (which had inherited the rights from Stempel) and Adobe. In 2008-9, Zapf-von Hesse and Akira Kobayashi of Linotype released Diotima Classic, a new interpretation. It is in light, regular, bold and heavy weights and italics. Linotype described the 'regular' weight as corresponding to the metal type after ink spread, and the light as analogous to the previous digital version (that shown right). The bold and heavy weights were new additions. The width was somewhat reduced in roman and widened in italic.