by Sebastian Carter
Publisher: Lund Humphries Pub Ltd; New edition (September 2002)
Paperback: 192 pages
ISBN: 0853318514
Price: $40.00  Buy It!

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by Lewis Blackwell
Publisher: Gingko Press; Illustrated edition (August 2001)
Paperback: 192 pages
ISBN: 392725889X
Price: $27.97  Buy It!

Reviewed by Joe Pemberton:
This is an excellent book. While it is not a comprehensive reference, the visual samples are generous and well paced. The historical commentary is well-informed and moderately thorough and provides an enjoyable read. My only complaint is that it only covers the twentieth century!

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by Christopher Burke
Publisher: Hyphen Press; approx. 700 pictures, printed in colour

Paperback: 336 pages
ISBN: 978–0–907259–32–9
Price approx: $75.00  

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by Alastair Johnston
Publisher: Oak Knoll Books; (October 2000)
Paperback: 220 pages
ISBN: 1584560096
Price: $39.25  Buy It!

Reviewed by Poltroon:
This book started out to show how Dadaism and concrete poetry were foreshadowed in the anonymous nonsense texts of type specimen books in the nineteenth century and grew into a much larger cultural study of the reading habits, politics and amusements of that era. The type specimens (many of which are illustrated) are a springboard to a wider discussion of many topics from hermits to the alcoholism of printers. Most of the fun occurs in the footnotes (there is even a fake footnote that can be deciphered as a reference to PALE FIRE by Nabokov). There are checklists of rare specimens in public & private collections in Britiain & the US which can be consulted & very useful family trees showing how the holdings of various typefounders passed from hand to hand. In addition new light is shed on the earliest American wood types cut for display in the 1830s as well as some interesting stuff on the graphic appeal of large type.

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by Allan Haley
Publisher: Pubs Overstock; (April 1995)
Paperback: 127 pages
ASIN: 0823001709
Price: $21.95  Buy It!

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by Johanna Drucker
Publisher: Thames & Hudson; (March 1999)
Paperback: 320 pages
ISBN: 0500280681
Price: $19.25  Buy It!

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by Roger Walton (Editor)
Publisher: Watson-Guptill Pubns; (May 1999)
Hardcover: 184 pages
ISBN: 0688168515
Price: $27.97  Buy It!

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by Rob Roy Kelly
Publisher: DaCapo Press; (June 1977)
Paperback: 350 pages
ASIN: 0306800594
Price: Out of print   Buy It!

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by Alexander Lawson
Publisher: David R Godine; Reprint edition (July 2002)
Paperback: 432 pages
ISBN: 0879233338
Price: $17.47  Buy It!

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by Peter Bain (Editor), Paul Shaw (Editor)
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press; (May 1998)
Paperback: 64 pages
ISBN: 1568981252
Price: $19.95  Buy It!

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by Fred Smeijers, Robin Kinross
Publisher: Chronicle Books; (February 1997)
Paperback: 184 pages
ISBN: 0907259065
Price: $28.00   Buy it!

Reviewed by Joe Pemberton:
Smeijers brings relevance to modern (digital) type design by illustrating the nuances of designing with metal. Much more than a history lesson, this book sheds light on the assumptions and process of our predecessors in a way that challenges our thinking about designing with modern, digital tools. Smeijers finishes with a call to designers to embrace the current media and push the boundaries of past conventions.

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by Stephen Heller, Louise Fili
Publisher: Chronicle Books; (June 1997)
Paperback: 132 pages
ISBN: 0811811352
Price: $8.95  Buy It!

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by Steven Heller, Louise Fili
Publisher: Allworth Press; (October 1, 2000)
Paperback: 208 pages
ISBN: 1581150695
Price: $13.97  Buy It!

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by Robert Bringhurst
Publisher: Hartley & Marks; 2nd edition (January 1997)
Paperback: 320 pages
ISBN: 0881791326
Price: $20.97  Buy It!

Reviewed by William Berkson:
Few books deserve the name 'great', but this is one. The author brings a combination of eloquence, learning, and passion for excellence, and the result is a stunning achievement. This work seems to be at the top of everyone's lists of books in typography.
      One of the book's greatest strengths is also a weakness, though. Bringhurst has the classical taste in art - a taste that treasures the rare combination of serenity and elation, and the works of art that give us this feeling.
     Following this taste, he perceptively separates out the Romantic elements that we have come to accept as normal, such as bold fonts, grotesque style sans, wide pages, and the em dash. And he revives and highlights the classical views of proportion and design in typography.
      All of this provides a powerful new standard of excellence for book typography - and books are really Bringhurst's focus.
      The weakness of this book is that the Romantic taste does indeed have its place, and this taste is neglected. Not only advertising, but also any short material is often best served by typography that is not serene, but rather provocative. What would quickly become tiresome in a book can be delightful in smaller doses, and a different context.
      I share Bringhurst's classical tastes, so to me the neglect of advertising and the Romantic side of typography is no big loss. The Romantic taste is to be found everywhere else, so this book is a rare treasure: an exploration of the classical taste in an art that affects everyone.

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by W. Pincus Jaspert, W. Turner Berry, A. F. Johnson
Publisher: Seven Dials; (October 2001)
Hardcover: 520 pages
ISBN: 1841881392
Price: $20.97  Buy It!

Reviewed by Josè Espejo:
Not a bad book but a bit dated now. Its 50 years old and although recently updated, is missing some major typefaces such as Frutiger and only has limited specimens of fonts like DIN. Not very well laid out either but it does contain most of the major fonts with a paragraph on the provencance and history of each font. All in all a useful reference.

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by Stanley Morison
Publisher: Hartley & Marks; (July 1997)
Paperback: 128 pages
ISBN: 0881791369
Price: $13.97  Buy It!

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by Gerritt Noordzij, et al
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing; (November 27, 2000)
Paperback: 192 pages
ISBN: 088179175X
Price: $24.95  Buy It!

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by Walter Tracy
Publisher: David R Godine; (December 2003)
Paperback: 224 pages
ISBN: 1567922406
Price: $19.95  Buy It!

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by Robin Kinross
Publisher: Chronicle Books; 2nd edition (February 2004)
Paperback: 224 pages
ISBN: 0907259189
Price: $19.25  Buy It!

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by Christopher J. Burke
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press; (January 1999)
Paperback: 220 pages
ISBN: 1568981589
Price: $24.50  Buy It!

Reviewed by Nick Shinn:
What fascinates me most about typography is the sheer amount of meaning contained in a typeface. A quantum hologram, the more you look the more you find.
     No one has looked harder than Chris Burke, here. This is a heavy-duty piece of scholarship written by a type designer. And what a story, putting type design at the centre of world events and contextualizing it with respect to everything: the designer's personal life, his design work and teaching, technology, politics, culture, business, and so on. All the details of Renner's life illuminate Futura, including those that happened many years after he designed it.
     As a type designer, I found reading this to be very empowering, giving great relevance to a geeky, obscure pursuit.

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by Warren Chappell, Robert Bringhurst (Contributor)
Publisher: Hartley & Marks; 2nd edition (April 2000)
Paperback: 288 pages
ISBN: 0881791547
Price: $24.95  Buy It!

Reviewed by Paul Stanley:
The title is only partly right. Short this certainly is, relative to the ground it covers. But it is hardly really a history -- more a sort of chronology with comments. It does engage to some extent with technical developments, but it doesn't attempt any real cultural or economic analysis. Overall the tone is antiquarian rather than historical, and Bringhurst's sententious style grows, to my mind at least, tiresome here. Although it does cover territory other than books, it does not do so thoroughly; its focus is very much on high typographical culture. It can be read with some pleasure by those who are already interested in printing. But I am underwhelmed by it. There surely is a fascinating history of the "printed word" to be written; but I don't think this is it.

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by Steven Heller (Editor), Philip B. Meggs (Editor)
Publisher: Allworth Press; (March 2001)
Paperback: 288 pages
ISBN: 1581150822
Price: $13.97  Buy It!

Reviewed by Poltroon:
The usefulness of this book, and I imagine it has some value, is totally negated by the cheap paper, lousy binding and braindead typography. It should be pulped and someone other than Allworth should reprint it. Why are their books so egregiously lousy?

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by Jan Tschichold
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company; (April 1995)
Paperback: 236 pages
ISBN: 0393701972
Price: $24.50  Buy It!

Reviewed by David Kadavy:
I would argue that this book is an "essential." A little known treasure of Tschichold writing when compared to "A New Typography," but every bit as valuable. Tschichold will illuminate you with detailed rationale behind his preferences for various type specimens. He also reveals some of his thoughts on proportions that are a great supplement to Bringhurst's thoughts on the same in "The Elements of Typographic Style." I owe a huge deal of my understanding of typography to this book.

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Publisher: Mark Batty Publisher; (March 2003)
Hardcover
ISBN: 0972424083
Price: $65.00  Buy It!

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by Ruari McLean (Editor)
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company; (April 1995)
Hardcover
ISBN: 0393702014
Price: $18.90  Buy It!

Reviewed by Jean François Porchez:
One of my prefered readings. All these short stories are gems to read. [The text is] similar in quality to John Dreyfus' highly expensive Into Print published a couple of months [prior]. Not much illustration here, it's really a book to be read, that's it. Composed in FF Quadrat.

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by Rick Poyner
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press; (September 2001)
Hardcover: 144 pages
ISBN: 1568982984
Price: $31.50  Buy It!

Reviewed by Jesús de Francisco:
The history of Typographica magazine in its glorious 32 issues, carefully crafted by British designer Herbert Spencer over the course of eighteen years, from 1949 to 1967. According to Rick Poynor it was influential, eclectic, wide-ranging, experimental, distinctive, groundbreaking,...
     This book, on a subject that was previously practically unknown for me, is one of my top five in the last several years.

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by Margaret Re, Johanna Drucker, James Mosley
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press; (September 2003)
Paperback: 104 pages
ISBN: 1568984278
Price: $24.50  Buy It!

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by Philip Meggs (Author), Rob Carter (Author)
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons; (December 1, 1993)
Paperback: 416 pages
ISBN: 0471284297
Price: $31.47  Buy It!

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by Friedrich Friedl (Editor), Nicolau Ott (Editor), Bernard Stein (Editor)
Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal Pub; (July 1998)
Hardcover: 592 pages
ISBN: 1579120237
Price: $39.98  Buy It!

Reviewed by Jean François Porchez:
Big book (mainly because it is published in German/French/English on same page), low price but, too much missing people and things to be a really good one.
      I bought it one day in 1999, opened it for half an hour, got hungry because I never found the people I looked for, and never re openned it.
     Perhaps better for typography in general than type design in particular.

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by Frederic W. Goudy
Publisher: University of California Press
Hardcover: 170 pages
ASIN: 0520033086
Price: $60.00  Buy It!

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by Steven Heller, Louise Fili
Publisher: Chronicle Books; (July 1999)
Paperback: 196 pages
ISBN: 0811823083
Price: $20.97  Buy It!

Reviewed by Joe Pemberton:
What this book lacks in sophistication it makes up for in ambition. Few type books cover this full range of periods in a single volume and the material itself does provide a great visual reference if you're looking for inspiration.
     While this book is visually rich and the samples are excellent, it is light on commentary or historical information. This volume is larger than other Chronicle design books but it doesn't take advantage of the added size. Many of the images are small and overly crowded. Overall, though, the price reflects the quality and I enjoy it as part of my library.

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by Phil Baines, Andrew Haslam
Publisher: Watson-Guptill Pubns; 1st edition (July 15, 2002)
Paperback: 192 pages
ISBN: 0823055248
Price: $20.97  Buy It!

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by Harry Carter, James Mosley (Introduction)
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press; (June 2002)
Paperback: 208 pages
ISBN: 0907259219
Price: $24.50  Buy It!

Reviewed by Fritz Park:
This is essential reading! A must for all typography enthusiasts! A series of lectures given by Carter with a nice overview as well as corrections from Mosley.
     Thoughtful as well as insightful. Although dated. It would seem however, that is the point though!

Reviewed by Jim Richardson:
An education! Taking the reader from the birth of the printing press through the evolution of type from Gothic through to Roman.

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by Kees Broos
Publisher: Gingko Press; (December 2003)
Paperback: 144 pages
ISBN: 9063690371
Price: $34.36  Buy It!

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