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Type: The Secret History of Letters
by
Simon Loxley
"Good typography should be invisible", so goes the old maxim--the typeface should carry the message, but not distract with its own personality. But if you've ever wondered how type was developed, exactly what a Goudy Friar is, or if Baskerville has anything to do with Sherlock Holmes, then Type will answer these questions and more. This is the story of the f...more
Hardcover, 256 pages
Published
April 24th 2004
by I. B. Tauris
(first published 2004)
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Laura
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Ah, the poverty of Times New Roman . . .: Even though I'm not a typographer or type-designer, when I began engaging in desktop publishing a decade ago and sought out guidance for the decisions I suddenly had to make, I became interested in the history and minutiae of fonts and letterforms for their own sake. Also, in pursuit of a master's degree in library science more than thirty years ago, I took an elective in the "History of Books and Printing," so the background knowledge was alre...more
Heather
rated it
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
people who judge books by their covers
Shelves:
web-design
Part history of typography and part biography of the celebrated font designers like Goudy, Caslon, and (choke, gag) Gill. A good deal of the book is taken up by the animosity and backstabbing between foundries. The author also inserts a few typographical tours of the UK, including a visit to Caslon's grave in London (you'll be rather surprised to find out where it is).
There is a sentence in the book along the lines of: "I was standing on a London Underground platform comparing...more
There is a sentence in the book along the lines of: "I was standing on a London Underground platform comparing...more
I finished it!
The writing's fine, I suppose. And for a book about type and typesetting, it's a pretty finely designed paperback.
But... there's nothing "secret" about this book.... Most of it is simply untold because it's not all that interesting.
I am able to recognize and contextualize many more fonts now, though. It's not worthless, but it was a slog to get though some of this.
The writing's fine, I suppose. And for a book about type and typesetting, it's a pretty finely designed paperback.
But... there's nothing "secret" about this book.... Most of it is simply untold because it's not all that interesting.
I am able to recognize and contextualize many more fonts now, though. It's not worthless, but it was a slog to get though some of this.
Simultaneous Reading: As I found this coupled with Alexander Lawson's "Anatomy of a Typeface" was more enjoyable than as individual books: they augment one another. Simon Loxley, a graphic designer, dramatizes key typographic innovations through the personalities of the designers. Featured: Edward Johnston's letters for the London Underground; Jan Tschischold's New Typography.
This book covers everything from the development of Movable Type, the Private Press Movement, 21st Century type and all the fonts in between. Fun to read...if your into that kind of thing.
this book is one of those single issue history books about type and the people who created the first typefaces. it's interesting so far, we'll see what happens.
Font history!
Siddartha
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Simon Loxley is a graphic designer and writer on design, typography and design history.
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