At the behest of Matthew Carter, Gudrun Zapf von Hesse (the German bookbinder, calligrapher, and type designer) designed Carmina BT from 1984–86 for Bitstream Inc. Carmina BT is available in four weights (light, medium, bold, and black), each with its own italic.

Although Carmina BT is a neutral design, optimized for use in digital publishing, Zapf von Hesse’s unique calligraphic spirit is still quite visible in the family’s letterforms. This is not surprising, as all of Zapf von Hesse’s typefaces are calligraphic in nature. Yet Carmina BT is suitable for almost any conceivable digital text application, from book design up through signage use.