This is a sample page printed in a 1935 prospectus issued for Rawlinsons translation of Herodotus published by The Nonesuch Press, London. The text type is the tickled-up version of Monotype Plantin that the manufacturer made especially for Nonesuch Press, with Eric Gills Perpetua and Felicity in supporting roles. Designed by proto-typographer and Nonesuch Press founder Francis Meynell and composed and printed under the supervision of Walter Lewis at the Cambridge University Press, its a beautiful and rock solid piece of typesetting. You can say what you will for your exhibitionist designers, a William Morris or a David Carson, but I would rather admire a workmanlike page produced by a tradesman like Lewis under the direction of a mind like Meynells. Show me a university press that can pull this sort of page off these days! This prospectus resides in the collection at Massey College, Toronto, and is one of the many items I studied during my recent visit to Massey in October. These are just quick and dirty iPhone snaps made in low light. Nothing replaces being in the same room with a book, but there are only so many books we can afford to drag home to our shelves, and only so many days a working typographer can sneak off to a library. So a good typographer is always making notes and taking pictures of the type he or she encounters in the wild. The higher quality the better, but dont make the mistake of getting hung up on gear. Capture an image good enough to remind you what you saw. If you are working in an institutional collection, its a good idea to check with the librarian about the photo policy; many institutions have relaxed policies about taking pictures for research purposes but will ask for a fee for publication rights.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 21:03:03 +0000
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