Bery Script
TYPE BY · Fred Smeijers · 2012
A single-weight stencil script by Fred Smeijers, drawn from the 18th-century French stencil letters of Paris stencil maker Jean Gabriel Bery.
About
Fred Smeijers adapted the batârde coulée calligraphic hand of Jean Gabriel Bery, whose stencil set was supplied to Benjamin Franklin in 1781 and is now held at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia. The stencil breaks, rather than undermining the script's rhythm, introduce a syncopation that works across text settings, aided by lowercase linking strokes added by Smeijers. Released in 2012 as part of TYPE BY's Stencil Fonts Series, it is paired with Bery Roman and sits within a body of work that accompanied an exhibition on the history of the stencil letter curated by Smeijers and Eric Kindel.
Classification
A script typeface derived from 18th-century French stencil letters in the batârde coulée calligraphic tradition, with stencil breaks built into the design as a structural feature rather than a limitation.