First edition. A fine copy. The ease with which we can choose a typeface today from a plethora of options to fit a particular need is something we may take for granted, but it is possible only because of the tremendous amount of labor and ingenuity that came before. The story of the lives and work of Linn Boyd Benton and Morris Fuller Benton is an important chapter in the history of type, recalling a time in American history when men quietly worked at developing and improving mechanical technologies that they thought would continue evolving incrementally into the future.

Foreword by Matthew Carter.

Patricia Cost began researching the Bentons in the early 1980s. The results of her efforts were initially published as a masters thesis at Rochester Institute of Technology and generated inquiries from around the world since, due to the nature of their work and to their own reticence, the Bentons had remained mostly unknown. Her book incorporates further research and contains a comprehensive listing of Morris Bentons typefaces.