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Aldus, Bembo, and the Semicolon — 3 Comments

  1. Aldus Corporation was bought by Adobe Systems in 1994. Adobe kept up development on Pagemaker in a rather anemic way, as its early lead in the desktop publishing business was eroded and then eclipsed by a new player, Quark Xpress. Adobe finally re­leased its own “Quark killer,” InDesign, in 1999. Support for Pagemaker ended in the early 2000s.

    After the buyout, Paul Brainerd turned to philanthropy, aiming to bring a venture capitalist’s sensibility to charitable giving for environmental causes. His sister (also a successful tech entrepreneur) joined him in the Brainerd Foundation.

    This foundation is taking the rather unusual step of sunsetting itself. The organization will spend all of its funds and dissolve by 2020.

  2. The New York Times has posted its review of Watson’s book, by Parul Sehgal. It is itself a glorious piece of writing. Example: “Watson covers impressive ground in this short book, skittering back and forth like a sandpiper at the shores of language’s Great Debates.”

  3. Aldus Latinized his name, a practice that was widespread among the humanists. He was born Aldo Manuzio, and in Italy that is how he is still known. Venice held an extensive Manuzio 500 celebration around the quincentennial of his death in 1515.

    Had Aldus stuck with his birth name, the collaboration could have been worthy of the Marx Brothers: Aldo, Bembo, and Griffo.

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