A medieval display font for fantasy covers, game titles and labels.
Leggio is a medieval display font. Its name is Italian for the lectern that held the great choir books, and its letters are inspired by the Rotunda book hands of 14th- and 15th-century Italy. Sharp pen strokes and open, generous shapes give titles a striking medieval rhythm while smaller text stays easy to read. Set it on fantasy book covers, game titles, labels and posters.
Leggio follows the round Gothic book hand of Italy, the one used for the great choir books that stood open on a lectern. We kept its round, open bowls and short ascenders and gave every stroke a crisp cut, so the letters read as medieval and still read. Left out on purpose: the spiky blackletter of German print, and any worn or inky texture in the letters themselves. That belongs in the picture, not in the font.
Leggio mixes two kinds of capitals. Most are plain, with straight stems, but E, M and U take the round forms of the old book hand. A few round forms give the Gothic voice, while the plain majority keeps a title easy to read.
Leggio began with n, o and d in the first sketch, and the rest was built from their parts: most of h and all of r lie on n, c is an opened o, a borrows the bowl of d. That is why every letter speaks with the same hand.
Leggio follows the round book hand, not the narrow one: the white inside an n is wider than its stem. Squeeze the same letters a little and the counters fill in at small sizes, and the words blur.
Every stroke end is cut at one of a few shared angles: the heads of the stems, the dot of the i and the tops of a, c, f and t all rise the same way. Repeated cuts are what make different letters look written by one pen.
Leggio has the accented letters for 30 languages written in the Latin alphabet, so the same book hand sets a title in English, French, German, Polish, Turkish or Icelandic. Choose a language to see a line set in Leggio.
Le chœur chante à la lumière des cierges
French letters: à â æ ç è é ê ë î ï ô ù û ü ÿ œ
Fröhliche Lieder für kühle Nächte
German letters: ä ö ü ß
Canciones para la noche más larga
Spanish letters: á é í ñ ó ú ü ¡ ¿
Il coro canta più piano la sera
Italian letters: à á è é ì í ò ó ù ú
Canções antigas para a noite de São João
Portuguese letters: à á â ã ç è é ê í ò ó ô õ ú
Oude liederen voor de lange winteravond
Dutch letters: á â ä è é ê ë í ï ó ô ö ú û ü ij
Cançons antigues per a la nit de Nadal
Catalan letters: à ç è é í ï ò ó ú ü ŀ
Gamla sånger för långa vinterkvällar
Swedish letters: å ä ö é
Gamle sange til lyse sommernætter
Danish letters: å æ ø é
Sanger for kor på søndag morgen
Norwegian letters: å æ ø é è ê ó ò ô
Vanhoja lauluja pitkiin talviöihin
Finnish letters: ä ö å š ž
Gömul lög fyrir langar vetrarnætur
Icelandic letters: á æ é í ð ó ö ú ý þ
Vanad laulud pikkadeks talveõhtuteks
Estonian letters: ä õ ö ü š ž
Stare pieśni na długie zimowe wieczory
Polish letters: ą ć ę ł ń ó ś ź ż
Staré písně pro dlouhé zimní večery
Czech letters: á č ď é ě í ň ó ř š ť ú ů ý ž
Staré piesne na dlhé zimné večery
Slovak letters: á ä č ď é í ĺ ľ ň ó ô ŕ š ť ú ý ž
Régi dalok a hosszú téli estékre
Hungarian letters: á é í ó ö ő ú ü ű
Cântece vechi pentru nopțile lungi de iarnă
Romanian letters: ă â î ș ț
Uzun kış geceleri için eski şarkılar
Turkish letters: ç ğ ı İ ö ş ü
Amhráin aosta don oíche fhada
Irish letters: á é í ó ú
Òrain aosta airson na h-oidhche
Scottish Gaelic letters: à è é ì ò ó ù
Gabonetako abesti zaharrak
Basque letters: ñ ü
Cancións antigas para a noite de San Xoán
Galician letters: á é í ñ ó ú ü
Këngë të vjetra për netët e gjata
Albanian letters: ç ë
Ou liedjies vir lang winteraande
Afrikaans letters: á é è ê ë î ï ö ô û ü ý
Lagu lama untuk malam yang panjang
Lagu-lagu lama pada waktu malam
Mga lumang awit para sa mahabang gabi
Filipino letters: ñ
Nyimbo za zamani za usiku mrefu
Yes. The Desktop licence covers personal and client work: book covers, posters, packaging, merch and print-on-demand products.
Yes. A logo set in Leggio is yours to use; the font files themselves stay licensed to you.
Yes. Install the OTF on your computer or iPad, and any app that uses installed fonts can set it.
Yes, with the Web, App or ePub licence, sold on MyFonts and Gumroad. Our licence page explains the Gumroad licences in plain words; MyFonts uses its own.
Thirty languages written in the Latin alphabet, from French and German to Polish, Turkish and Icelandic. Each one is shown above.
Not yet. Follow the foundry on Gumroad to hear when new styles arrive.