While you may take for granted the basic pack of fonts that came with your word processing software, someone had to invent each and every one of those fonts. And while some common fonts were invented after the advent of the computer, others are centuries old.
Above: An example of the memetic use of Impact, which is a default font on Windows since Windows 98.
Garamond
Garamond was named after a punch-cutter named Claude Garamond, who used an early version of the font in a book published in 1530. But the work of the early 17th century engraver Jean Jannon was also needed to create the font that we know as Garamond. The most widely known modern fonts based on their designs are Adobe Garamond (Robert Slimbach for Adobe, 1989) and ITC Garamond (Tony Stan, 1975).
(via The Atlantic and The Guardian)
Caslon
Caslon was designed by William Caslon I (1692-1766) after 1734. The widely used digital variant named Adobe Caslon was designed by Carol Twombly in 1990.
(via Jacob Dean King)
Baskerville
Baskerville was designed by John Baskerville in 1757.
(via Government of Canada)
Didot
This font was based on the works of Pierre Didot between 1783 and 1811, and was successfully adapted to modern devices by Adrian Frutiger for the Linotype foundry in 1991.
(via Ivan Pucic/Behance)
Copperplate Gothic
Copperplate Gothic was designed by Frederic W. Goudy in 1901, and released by the American Type Founders.
Franklin Gothic
Franklin Gothic was originally designed by Morris Fuller Benton in 1902-1903 for American Type Founders.
