Alphabets to Order: The Literature of Nineteenth-Century Typefounders' Specimens

by Alastair Johnston

This appropriately lovely history surveys the literary output of the anonymous craftsmen who set type-specimen books during the typefounding boom of the 19th century. Combining typographic scholarship and literary criticism, Johnston (a bibliographer and co-founder of Poltroon Press) shows that the apparently random texts employed by British and North American typesetters to display their typefaces actually reflected the typesetters' interests and preoccupations, from the arcane to the mundane, and that they had plenty to say as well about the reading habits, politics, amusements, and whimsies of the day. Includes a number of reproductions of texts. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

213 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000