Monotype Bembo通常被认为是Aldus Manutius的15世纪罗马风格中最漂亮的复刻版本之一，但最初版本没有斜体。据说， Stanley Morison委托著名书法家Alfred Fairbank为Bembo设计了第一个斜体，并于该1929年以金属活字（metal font）发布。但是，Alfred Fairbank声称自己是将设计作为一个独立的项目绘制，然后把图纸出售给了Monotype公司。据他所说，“有人说我是被邀请为Bembo罗马体设计一款斜体。事实并非如此。如果已经有人提出要求，那么制作的斜体字体则会有所不同。“ 不管你相信哪个版本，很明显，Fairbank的设计（虽然是无可否认的漂亮）显然与Bembo罗马体并不和谐。第二种更为传统的斜体字最终被绘制出来并加入到Bembo家族中。

Fairbank的第一个设计是基于16世纪书法大师Ludovico degli Arrighi的作品，它作为一种独立的活字字体非常朴素。然而它从未涉足过凸版印刷字体（phototype），如果不是英国Monotype Imaging的排印负责人Robin Nicholas和美国Monotype Imaging的高级设计师Carl Crossgrove，这款字体很可能已经消失了。

Nicholas和Crossgrove使用Fairbank的原始图纸作为新的数字设计的起点，但这仅仅是开始。他们改进了间距，对字距进行了精确的调整并优化了数字成像的设计。此外，Nicholas还创建了一组可替代的小写字母、花式和斜体的大写字母，以及足以使任何设计项目个性化的替代字符。 在完成工作时， Nicholas和Crossgrove创作了一个小型的字体家族，其中包括Fairbank（早期活字字体的复刻版本）和Fairbank Chancery（一种更具书法意味的设计形式）。两种字体都附加了一套华丽的大写字母，优美的连字，开头和结尾的字母，以及一组完整的小写字母斜体字符。现在，Fairbank不再是失败的Bembo斜体，而是有它自己的光芒：华丽、优雅的设计将为节日贺卡、邀请函，以及任何需要意大利风格美的应用增添一份优雅。”

Monotype Bembo is generally regarded as one of the most handsome revivals of Aldus Manutius' 15th century roman type, but the original had no italic counterpart. The story is told that Stanley Morison commissioned Alfred Fairbank, a renowned calligrapher, to create the first italic for Bembo, which was released as metal fonts in 1929. Alfred Fairbank, however, claimed that he drew the design as an independent project and then sold his drawings to Monotype. According to him, the statement has been made that I was asked to design an italic for the Bembo roman. This is not so. Had the request been made, the italic type produced would have been different."

Whichever version you believe, it was obvious that Fairbank's design - while undeniably beautiful - was not harmonious with Bembo roman. A second, more conventional italic was eventually drawn and added to the Bembo family.

Fairbank's first design, which was based on the work of sixteenth-century writing master Ludovico degli Arrighi, managed to have a modest life of its own as a standalone font of metal type. It never made the leap into phototype fonts, however, and the face could have been lost, were it not for Robin Nicholas, Monotype Imaging's Head of Typography in the United Kingdom, and Carl Crossgrove, a senior designer for Monotype Imaging in the US.

Nicholas and Crossgrove used the original drawings for Fairbank as the starting point for a new digital design, but this was only the beginning. They improved spacing, added subtle kerning and optimized the design for digital imaging. In addition, Nicholas created an alternative set of lowercase letters, fancy and swash capitals and enough alternate characters to personalize virtually any design project.

By the time his work was complete, Nicholas and Crossgrove had created a small type family that included Fairbank, a revived version of the earlier metal font, and Fairbank Chancery, a more calligraphic rendition of the design. An additional suite of ornate caps, elegant ligatures, and beginning and ending letters accompanies both fonts, as does a full complement of lowercase swash characters. Now, instead of a failed Bembo italic, Fairbank emerges in its true glory: a sumptuous, elegant design that will lend a note of grace to holiday greetings, invitations, and any application where its Italianate beauty is called for."