Type: A Visual History of Typefaces and Graphic Styles

Type #1

by Cees W. de Jong (Editor), Alston W. Purvis (Editor), Jan Tholenaar (Editor)

This exuberant selection of typographic fonts and styles traces the modern evolution of the printed letter, reproducing pages from exquisitely designed catalogs showing type specimens in roman, italic, bold, semi-bold, narrow, and broad fonts. Also included are borders, ornaments, initial letters and decorations, and many spectacular examples of their use. Victorian fonts, spectacular in their complexity, are accorded a prominent place. In addition, examples from lithography and letters by inscription carvers and calligraphers are also included and described.

Featuring works by type designers William Caslon, Fritz Helmuth Ehmcke, Peter Behrens, Rudolf Koch, Eric Gill, Jan van Krimpen, Paul Renner, Jan Tschichold, A. M. Cassandre, Aldo Novarese, and Adrian Frutiger.

To accommodate the vast amount of material, we have divided the subject into two volumes. This, the first volume, covers pre–20th Century typeface specimens, with texts by editor Cees de Jong and collector Jan Tholenaar.

Genres: Design, Art, Nonfiction, Art Design, History, Coffee Table Books, Reference

360 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Cees W. de Jong is a designer and publisher based in Naarden, the Netherlands. He has published numerous books on design, architecture, art and graphic design, and is now working as a design/publishing consultant and author.

Reviews

[Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely wonderful ... pure typography-porn.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely beautiful! I borrowed this from the library, and I'm definitely going to purchase it for my own collection. So many great samples and information. I would recommend to any lover of type.

[Maia Then · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly amazing... If you are a typography lover like myself you should get this book. The beauty of typographic form awaits in its pages. I adore this book!

[Gabriela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Добро въведение в шрифтовата култура и калиграфия; наш еквивалент е "Шрифтът през вековете" на проф. Йончев.

[Akiko · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really nice touch to this oversized book is that it is written in English, German and French. The introduction includes a run-down of the most successful typefaces to date: Garamond, Caslon, Baskerville, Bodoni, Times New Roman, Akzidenz Grotesk, Futura, Gill Sans, and Helvetica. Plenty of beautiful old photographs of letterpress shops, full-color posters and plenty of typeface specimens. At a minimum, one half of the book is printed with a golden-bronze ink.

I haven't had a chance to look through the second volume, but I may return to this book when I begin studying the second half of art history in the winter semester. Could be nice to make a long scroll-like timeline or map of all the typefaces.

Or it might be nice to "reproduce" specimen books based on the typefaces available in the Letterpress shop at the Museum of Work.

[Richard Archambault · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful examples of type and engravings (cows! bicycles! trams! cigars!). I was a bit bored by the introductory texts, unfortunately.

[Eman Sultan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good source for typography concepts.

[Maria Bouvier · Rating 5 out of 5]

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[Jack Bowman]

Beautiful book carefully put together that celebrates Jan Tholenaar’s ridiculous collection. A lovely object.

[Widgets & · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic production techniques in this book showcase some very elaborate design styles. A great deal of which were new to this reader. Very interesting. If you like Marian Bantjes work, you will find alot of this book enjoyable.

[RW Press · Rating 5 out of 5]

Coming from Taschen this book is beautiful laid out. Great lengths have been made to showcase many of the typefaces featured.
The book also comes with a CD with high res images featured throughout the book. A fantastic resource to have.

[Colin Mumbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

This and its companion have turned into some of my most frequently used quick reference books. Tons of great examples of design and type work, along with informative descriptions of everything. Would recommend to anyone.

[Adriana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book