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technologies
This page is
currently under development. We'll be adding detailed
pointers to online and offline resources in coming weeks.
typography
Typography: Who, When, How (Cologne, Konemann 98)
edited by Friedrich Friedl, Nicolaus Ott & Bernard
Stein is a comprehensive guide to typographers, printers
and 'dead tree-flake' technology. Rookledge's
International Handbook of Type Designers (Carshalton
Beeches, Sarema Press 91) by Ron Eason & Sarah
Rookledge is shorter but more analytical. Arguably
the best guide is Robert Bringhurst's The Elements of
Typographical Style (Vancouver, Hartley & Marx
96). Bringhurst coauthored A Short History of the
Printed Word (Vancouver, Hartley & Marx 98).
For a more in depth study consult Robin Kinross' Modern
Typography: An Essay in Critical History (Princeton,
Princeton Architectural Press 96) and Sebastian Carter's
masterly 20th Century Type Designers (New York,
Norton 95). Walter Tracy's Letters of Credit
(Boston, Godine 89) profiles major designers and design
considerations.
Jan Tschichold's The New Typography: A Handbook for
Modern Designers (Berkeley, Uni of California Press
95) and The Form of the Book: Essays on the Morality of
Good Design (Vancouver, Hartley & Marks 95) are
better value than the characteristically wacky rant by
Eric Gill in An Essay On Typography (Boston, Godine
93).
Tschichold's Treasury of Alphabets & Lettering: A
Source Book (New York, Norton 95) while less
analytical is a major resource. Alexander
Lawson's Anatomy Of A Typeface (Boston, Godine 96)
intelligently profiles a face rather than the man.
Fleuron Anthology (Toronto, Uni of Toronto Press 73)
edited by Francis Meynell & Herbert Simon comprises
essays on printing from the seminal journal Fleuron.
Joseph Blumenthal's Art of the Printed Book, 1455-1955:
Masterpieces of Typography through Five Centuries from the
Collections of the Pierpont Morgan Library (Boston,
Godine 73) is, simply,
a beautiful book.
Karl-Erik Tallmo's essay
Where It's @ discusses the history of the 'at'
symbol. In contrast, Johanna Drucker's The Visible
Word: Experimental Typography & Modern Art 1909-23
(Chicago, Uni of Chicago Press 96) is a rigorous academic
study.
the press
Among archival and museum resources Luc Devroye's
typographic portal
is a comprehensive link-farm. The St
Bride Printing Library in London is a specialist
reference library with a world-class collection covering
printing, paper, binding, graphic design, typography,
illustration, publishing and book-selling.
In Australia the more modest Melbourne Museum of Printing
(MMP)
at Footscray is worth a visit.
The UK Printing Historical Society (PHS)
publishes an authoritative journal and bulletin.
The American Printing History Association (APHA)
was founded in 1974 to encourage study of printing history
and associated activity, including typography,
papermaking, bookbinding, illustration and publishing.
William Peterson's Modern Fine Printing site
offers electronic access to basic documents on British and
American fine printing, particularly William Morris and
the Kelmscott Press. James Moran's Printing
Presses: History & Development From the Fifteenth
Century to Modern Times (Berkeley, Uni of California
Press 78) is a major study.
binding and paper
Mirjam Foot's 1997 Panizzi Lectures on The History of
Bookbinding as a Mirror of Society (London, British
Museum 98) is less recondite than Jan
Szirmae's The Archaeology of Mediaeval Bookbinding
(Aldershot, Ashgate 99), an argument that binding
techniques were - like paper - a prerequisite for the
print revolution.
Foot also wrote Studies in the History of Bookbinding
(Aldershot, Scolar Press 93), co-authoring Howard Nixon's A
History of Decorated Bookbinding in Italy and A
History of Decorated Bookbinding in England (Oxford,
Clarendon Press 92). Philippa Mack produced the more
accessible British Library Guide To Bookbinding:
History & Techniques (Toronto, Uni of Toronto
Press 98)
The Dunhuang Project includes an online history
of Chinese bookbinding.
We commend Tsuen-Hsuin Tsien's Paper & Printing,
volume 5.1 of Joseph Needham's magisterial Science
& Civilisation in China (Cambridge, Cambridge Uni
Press 85). Richard Hills' Papermaking in Britain
1488-1988 (London, Athlone Press 88) is a succinct
introduction to manufacture and markets.
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