The Aldine Press
Vergil of 1501, in italic
Arrighi's original italic typeface, c. 1527. At that time italic capitals had not yet been designed
Italic script and type has a long history. It was based on handwriting.
Ludovico Vicentino degli Arrighi (1475–1527) was a papal scribe and type designer in Renaissance Italy. Present day cursive writing style known as "italic" is based upon the style he developed. It has been said that the style of cursive known as "italic" got its name from this Italian designer. Modern day scribes, also known as "calligraphers", study the work of Arrighi to learn the structure of the style of writing known as "italic" Archived 2015-09-09 at the Wayback Machine, a modernized version of the Chancery hand which was first perfected by Roman scribes in the early part of the sixteenth century.