Merlo Original is a contemporary reinterpretation of the eighteenth-century typefaces once distributed by Domingo Merlo in Madrid. It is available in four weights with matching italics and features an extended glyph set, carefully optimized for text composition.

When we think of classic eighteenth-century typefaces, Spain rarely takes center stage. Spanish contributions to typography from this period are often overlooked in broader historical accounts. Yet the quantity and quality of Spanish type design and production during the latter half of the eighteenth century are truly remarkable. It was the work of punch-cutters such as Gerónimo Gil, Antonio Espinosa, and Eudald Pradell that first drew me to historical typefaces—and ultimately to the idea of reviving them. My focus has long been on revivals of typefaces created or used in Spain, illuminating a chapter of typographic history too often forgotten.

Domingo Merlo, unlike the names above, was not a punch-cutter but a type founder, meaning that the punches for the typefaces he sold in Madrid were likely produced elsewhere. For that reason, calling Merlo Original a Spanish revival is only partially accurate. As Matthew Carter once remarked when reviewing my first version of Merlo in 1998:

“This looks too French to be Spanish.”

Trial fonts

Specimens

2025
8 styles