Petit Serif
Monumental Roman capitals rooted in London architectural lettering at 55 Broadway
Matthieu Cortat designed Petit Serif drawing on Percy J. Delf Smith's lettering for 55 Broadway, London, as documented in Smith's 1946 book Civic and Memorial Lettering. The typeface is a capitals-only lineal with classical Roman proportions; its restrained serifs trace back to the brushwork of the original monumental lettering. A 2026 update adds Light and Bold weights to the 2012 Regular, expands the character set, refines Cyrillic, and introduces a variable font format.
Set in Petit Serif
Insights
- Serifs are a direct formal consequence of the brush technique used in the source lettering, not a stylistic addition.
- The family is intentionally capitals-only, covering Greek and Cyrillic alongside Latin.
- Alternate A and I glyphs address Basque orthographic conventions specifically.
- The 2026 update converts a single-weight release into a three-weight variable family.
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