Title: Anatomy of a typeface /
Authors: Lawson, Alexander S.; Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group
Date: 1990
Publisher: David R. Godine,
Physical description: 428 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
Language: English
LC classification: Z
Abstract: "To the layman, all printing types look the same. But for typographers, graphic artists and others of that lunatic fringe who believe that the letters we look at daily (and take entirely for granted) are of profound importance, the question of how letters are formed, what shape they assume, and how they have evolved remains one of passionate and continuing concern. Lawson explores the vast territory of types, their development and uses, their antecedents and offspring, with precision, insight, and clarity. Written for the layman but containing exhaustive research, drawings and synopses of typefaces, this book is an essential addition to the library of anyone's typographic library. It is, as Lawson states, 'not written for the printer convinced that there are already too many typefaces, but rather for that curious part of the population that believes the opposite; that the subtleties of refinement as applies to roman and cursive letters have yet to be fully investigated and that the production of the perfect typeface remains a goal to be as much desired by present as by future type designers.' Anyone aspiring to typographic wisdom should own and treasure this classic."--
Contents: Goudy text and the black-letter types -- Hammer Uncial -- Cloister Old Style -- Centaur -- Bembo -- Arrighi -- Dante -- Goudy Old Style -- Palatino -- Garamond -- Galliard -- Granjon -- Sabon -- Janson -- Caslon -- Baskerville -- Bodoni -- Bulmer -- Bell -- Oxford -- Caledonia -- Cheltenham -- Bookman -- Times Roman -- Newspaper types -- Franklin Gothic and the Twentieth-century Gothics -- Clarendon and the Square-serif Revival -- Optima and the Humanist Sans-serif types -- Futura and the Geometric Sans-serif types -- Script, Cursive, and Decorated types -- Type making from punch to computer.
Notes: Includes index.
Subject headings (LCSH): Printing--Specimens.; Type and type-founding.