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An Atlas of Typeforms / James Sutton, Alan Bartram
Books
REF.TY.2252
116 p. : ill. (b&w) ; 1.5 cm.
1988
Graphic design (Typography), Italic, Type and type-founding., black letter, roman, type specimens, typefaces
James Sutton and Alan Bertram here trace and lavishly illustrate the history of the development of printed material, starting with the Roman and medieval letterforms and scripts which were the starting points for the alphabet designs we know today, and giving examples of the various stylistic changes that have taken place throughout the centuries. A feature of their approach is the great enlargement of a selection of characteristic letterforms, choosing the most famous and influential of the types so that their features can be compared and the beauty of their proportions better appreciated. Full alphabets are also displayed throughout, at actual size (usually 30 point), and the historical flow from Venetian and Old Face, through Transitional and Modern up to the Twentieth Century Roman, can clearly be seen. Attention is also given to the Grotesques of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as well as to such special areas as Egyptian and Clarendon (the 'slab-serifs') and the varieties of decorative display lettering.