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FRENCH RENAISSANCE PRINTING TYPES: A CONSPECTUS
Vervliet, Hendrik D.L.
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A majority of today's Western text types, whether Roman, Italic, Greek, or Hebrew, derive from type designs conceived or perfected in sixteenth-century France. They became available all over Europe from the 1540s onwards. Their design, often going by the name of Garamont, remained unchanged for two centuries. Their pleasant serenity and excellent readability triggered a revival from the 1850s onwards.
This conspectus aims at surveying exhaustively and regardless of aesthetics, all Roman, Italic, Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic typefaces made in France during the sixteenth century. Such a survey will be of interest to historians, bibliographers, and philologists wishing to identify the types used in the imprints they are investigating, as well as to type historians or type designers wishing to base their attributions on documentary evidence.
The conspectus consists of introductory chapters on the sources available, the evolution of sixteenth-century type-casting and letter-engraving, biographical notices of 17 punchcutters (both famous ones, such as Colines, Garamont, Granjon, and lesser known ones, such as Vatel, Gryphius, or Du Boys) and the methodology used. The main part of the book consists of the facsimiles of 409 typefaces (216 Romans, 88 Italics, 61 Greeks, 41 Hebrews, 2 Arabics, and one phonetic) each with a short identifying notice, describing their letter family, size, punchcutter (or eponym), their first appearance in books or type-specimens, the surviving materials such as punches or matrices, and finally (for about two-thirds of them), the recent literature. Every typeface has been illustrated, several with multiple examples of their use.
Author Henrik D.L. Vervliet was previously Librarian at the University of Antwerp and a professor at the University of Amsterdam. His work includes bibliography and books on humanism and book history.
Available in the UK from The Bibliographical Society.
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SCHICKSAL EINE GESCHICHTE IN BILDERN.
by Nückel, O.
Text in German. Desting: A History in Pictures, a graphic novel without words. Beautiful wood engravings trace an individual's destiny through the course of life from youth to "escape." Nückel (1888-1955) was a German painter, graphic designer, illustrator, and cartoonist, best known as one of the 20th century's first wordless novelists. Boards lightly soiled. Previous owner's bookplate on front pastedown.
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