A beautiful, wonderful book about beautiful, wonderful books. A perfect gift for any typemaniac.
Hat-tip to Shalom S.
Books
Wonderful 1874 type catalog
Collectors Weekly asks “Is an 1874 Type Catalog the World’s Most Beautiful Book?” The answer is no. But it is a visual feast nonetheless.
Source: To Hell With Helvetica: Is an 1874 Type Catalog the World’s Most Beautiful Book? | Collectors Weekly
Hat-tip to MrMild !
New Print Technologies Help Art Books Survive in a Digital World
Printed art books, often with special cover coatings, embossing and extravagant illustrations, deliver a sense of tactile immediacy.
Although the Typemaniac lives in front of a computer, he still loves buying, owning and reading real books. Thanks to Tony Zak, a member of our Northern Bureau, we now learn that art books are flourishing as meatworld objets d’art. Very cool!
Source: New Print Technologies Help Art Books Survive in a Digital World – The New York Times
Nile Peterson on Flickr
Nile Peterson has put together an astonishingly beautiful collection of typography samples and covers of typography specimen books. How did I come across this? I was searching for the Franklin Photolettering Film Alphabet Compendium.
Book designer meets programmer — Hebrew book composition
Our bud Larry Yudelson sent us a link to this neat article by Raphael Freeman, showing how he uses a variety of custom scripts to compose complex book pages in Hebrew.
I’ve sent a note to Raphael asking what page layout program he’s using. I’ll reveal all when he gets back to me.
via Book designer meets programmer | Raphael Freeman | Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel.
New coffee table book for typemaniacs
The Anatomy of Type by Stephen Coles, with a foreword by Erik Spiekermann, was published in November, 2012. I haven’t seen it personally but it looks to be a very pretty book with a full-page spread devoted to each of 100 typefaces.
FONT MANIA book
This book isn’t by the TypeManiac but it looks cool anyway.
Maria Popova’s 10 Essential Books on Typography
Popova writes, “Whether you’re a professional designer, recreational type-nerd, or casual lover of the fine letterform, typography is one of design’s most delightful frontiers, an odd medley of timeless traditions and timely evolution in the face of technological progress.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself. Now read her article on the 10 essential books on typography. You’ll find it yummy.
My desert island book list
What type books would you take with you to a desert island?
My list might include:
- My TANY Typeface Specimens Directory — 1965 showing of foundry and hot metal fonts from the Typographers Association of New York
- A.T.A. Type Comparison Book by Frank Merriman — A gorgeous hardcover book published by the Advertising Typographers Association in 1965. All the major foundry and hot metal faces are grouped into 69 categories for easy reference. I had hoped that my office mate, designer Robert Schwartz, might give me his copy when he retired, but he wouldn’t give it up. I don’t blame him. I later bought a copy through Bookfinder.
- Rockledge’s International Type Finder — similar to the ATA book but for cold type.
- Robert Bringhurst’s The Elements of Typographic Style — a beautiful book about type faces and their use.