16k? That is so small, it sounds like the file is corrupt.
As far as the fonts, the menu may have a drop down for font weight, reg, bold, etc. but many times the bold, italic, other versions are shown by interpreting the original font bitmap (screen display part of font suitcase) "on the fly." It's a shortcut used on a lot of system fonts. The actual outlines, the postscript vectors, are downloaded to the printer according to what you specify and that creates the file that actually gets printed.
When you purchase a font and install it to the system through Font Utility, that gives you a proper bitmap for each weight, not an estimate or interpretation. Buying fonts is pretty cheap these days and may be worth it for those you use a lot. What you see on the screen is a more accurate version of the font's actual appearance.
I'm not sure this adds anything to the conversation...
Note: Newer fonts are usually sold as 'TrueType.' These don't need both vector and bitmap files, just one file. I don't really understand how it works but I use them and they work, so it must be magic.
