The Elements of Typographic Style

In a discussion embracing five and a half centuries, poet and designer Bringhurst covers the design of individual characters of type and entire alphabets, as well as the layout of pages, including such items as footnotes, margins, and tables. A glossary defines terms such as kern, fore-edge, and pica, and there are annotated lists of type designers, from the 1400s until now, and of type foundries, mostly contemporary. An appendix illustrates unusual typographic characters, such as the Croatian “dyet” and the German “sharp s,” and a final appendix lists, without annotation, more than 100 books and periodicals for further reading. The author’s prose is sometimes flowery, and some of his strongly expressed opinions are questionable. Nonetheless, there’s a wealth of sound advice and instruction here. Not required for most collections, this will be useful to graphic designers and those interested in the history of printed letterforms.