Chistmas is a PostScript Type 1 font with a calligraphic style; in particular the Chancery style. It is a close descendant of a Type 3 PostScript font by Bill Horton named MacHumaine. It has a sharper and more angular appearance than its distant relative BlackChancery, but it’s more authentic to the appearance of broad-pen hand calligraphy.
In its conversion from Type 3, many improvements have been made for better printing performance. I shifted a few characters around to different keys, generated an “st” ligature to match the “ct”, made a second variant of “e”, eliminated some loops in the outlines, relocated many points for improved hinting, and twiddled a few other things, hopefully for an improvement. Mr. Horton has previously indicated his preference that variations of his fonts carry new names… So this variety is renamed Christmas for its suitability for that season’s use, coming so soon after its first release.
Doug Miles
704 N. Water #1
Ellensburg, WA 98926-2865
509/925-5280
Following is Bill Horton’s original note accompanying Christmas’s immediate ancestor, MacHumaine, explaining its relationship to the older and very popular BlackChancery (Note that the currently available BlackChancery PostScript and TrueType font is not derived from the Delahan outlines):
January 1989
A few years back, I created a bitmapped font using FONTastic, originally called Philo, and after some alterations, Fancy Chancery. It was unique mainly for its removal of dots where smooth curves would not be permitted, thus giving an overall appearance of gray. The font actually prints quite cleanly (particularly at 12 point) on the ImageWriter and was only a 24 pt. bitmap initially.
The original font, with my blessing, has shown up in numerous places with several names and with variations, from Fluent Fonts of Casady & Greene (“Palazzo”) to bulletin boards here and there. Most recently I received from Doug Miles in Washington state a newly done bitmap in a heavier weight (“BlackChancery”) plus a PostScript font executed by Marion Delahan in Oklahoma based upon the same font.
Totally coincidentally, I had started redrawing the original Fancy Chancery (for LaserWriter) when I received the Delahan version and used her version as the basis for a complete redrawing and renaming of the PostScript font to what I presently call MacHumaine.
There have been inquiries as to how I intend to distribute MacHumaine. I wish it to remain in the public domain to be used by anyone who wants to take the trouble to copy it. The package contains the original Fontographer file as well as the AFM file so that anyone who decides they want to alter or improve it, may do so if they have Fontographer. I would not be extremely happy to learn that someone is trying to sell it and I am not quite sure how that eventuality would be dealt with, but if a read me accompanies the font, hopefully folks will realize they need not buy it when it is available without charge.
Historically, the font MacHumaine, as its name is intended to imply, is based on calligraphic handwriting and is not too distant from Zapf Chancery Black. That font, drawn by Hermann Zapf, was not the model for MacHumaine, but Zapf also used chancery cursive handwriting as a the basis for his font. MacHumaine is a sort of potpourri of calligraphic strokes and flourishes that, to my eye, seem to be pretty well integrated and, especially when italicized on the Mac, gives an appearance of italic handwriting. I do hope you enjoy it.
