Raúl Rosarivo

Raúl Mario Rosarivo (1903 in Buenos Aires, Argentina – 1966) was an Argentine typographer, researcher, designer, poet, painter, and illustrator, known for his work in the analysis of the Gutenberg Bibles. He held the position of General Director of the Buenos Aires Provincial Graphic Workshops (Talleres Gráficos de la Provincia de Buenos Aires).

Rosarivo, in his Divina proporción tipográfica ("Typographical Divine Proportion"), first published in 1947, analyzed Renaissance books with the help of compass and ruler and described the use of the "número de oro" (golden number), by which he meant the ratio 2:3, in books produced by Gutenberg (as well as Peter Schöffer, Nicolas Jenson, and others). According to Rosarivo himself, his work and assertion that Gutenberg used the "golden number" (or "secret number" as Rosarivo also called it) to establish the harmonic relationships between the diverse parts of his printed works, was analyzed by experts at the Gutenberg Museum and re-published in the Gutenberg Jahrbuch, its official magazine.