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. 

I am pleased to learn that the font has shown up in 
numerous places with several different names and 
variations, from Fluent Fonts of CasadyWare (Casady Greene) 
(with my permission) to bulletin boards here and there. 
Most recently I received from Doug Miles in Washington 
state a newly done bitmap in a heavier weight plus a 
postscript font executed by Marion Delahan in Oklahoma 
based upon the same font. 

Coincidentally, I recently started redrawing the original 
Fancy Chancery on Fontographer for Laserwriter. When I 
received the Delahan version I decided on a complete 
redrawing and renaming of the postscript font. The result 
is 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 time to copy it. 
Additionally, the package contains the original 
Fontographer workfile as well as the AFM file so anyone who 
wishes to alter or improve it, may do so if they have 
Fontographer. The bitmaps are absolutely pure FONTOGRAPHER 
generated with no tweaking. For my own purposes this is 
satisfactory, however if you would like to see them 
cleaner, have at it with Fontastic. I would not be 
extremely happy to learn that MacHumaine is being sold, but 
I am not quite sure how that eventuality would be dealt 
with. Hopefully this Read Me, which accompanies the font, 
will make folks realize they need not buy it as it is 
available without charge. Anyone who wishes to use 
MacHumaine as a screen display in a commercial program or 
in conjunction with a commercial program has my permission 
to do so. Only outright sale of the font is discouraged.

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 pot pourri 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. Oddly, it prints quite 
well even at small sizes and is quite readable. Please do 
not use it ALL CAPS. Generally calligraphic styles do not 
lend themselves to this treatment and this one is no 
exception. Use key caps to check for a few added 
characters. Any comments or suggestions on the font are 
welcome.

Bill Horton
1205 De la Vina Street
Santa Barbara CA 93101
(805) 962-3964