''Anatomy of a Typeface'' is a book on
typefaces written by Alexander Lawson.
[''Anatomy of a Typeface'', Alexander Lawson, David R. Godine, 1990.]
Background
The book is notable for devoting entire chapters to the development and uses of individual or small groupings of typefaces. Beyond ''Anatomy of a Typeface'' Lawson has considered and discussed the classification of types. Within ''Anatomy'', Lawson arranges the typefaces by classification. In his preface, Lawson qualifies his classification: "After using this system in the teaching of typography over a thirty-year period, I know that it is reasonably effective in the initial study of printing types. I am not disposed to consider it faultless by any means. A classification system, after all, is simply a tool ... Its primary purpose is to help people become familiar with these forms preparatory to putting them to effective and constructive typographic use."
Following are the thirty-one chapters of ''Anatomy of a Typeface'':
* the Black-letter Types: Goudy Text and Hammer Uncial;
* Old Style Types:
Cloister Old Style,
Centaur
A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse.
Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as being ...
,
Bembo, Arrighi,
Dante
Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...
,
Goudy Old Style
Goudy Old Style (also known as just Goudy) is an Serif#Old-style, old-style serif typeface originally created by Frederic Goudy, Frederic W. Goudy for American Type Founders (ATF) in 1915.
Suitable for text and display applications, Goudy Old Styl ...
,
Palatino
Palatino is the name of an old-style serif typeface designed by Hermann Zapf, initially released in 1949 by the Stempel foundry and later by other companies, most notably the Mergenthaler Linotype Company.
Named after the 16th-century Italia ...
,
Garamond
Garamond is a group of many serif typefaces, named for sixteenth-century Parisian engraver Claude Garamond, generally spelled as Garamont in his lifetime. Garamond-style typefaces are popular and particularly often used for book printing and b ...
, Galliard,
Granjon,
Sabon
Sabon is an old-style serif typeface designed by the German-born typographer and designer Jan Tschichold (1902–1974) in the period 1964–1967. It was released jointly by the Linotype, Monotype, and Stempel type foundries in 1967. The design of ...
,
Janson
Janson is the name given to a set of old-style serif typefaces from the Dutch Baroque period, and modern revivals from the twentieth century. Janson is a crisp, relatively high-contrast serif design, most popular for body text.
Janson is based o ...
,
Caslon,
Baskerville,
Bodoni,
Bulmer,
Bell, Oxford,
Caledonia
Caledonia (; ) was the Latin name used by the Roman Empire to refer to the part of Great Britain () that lies north of the River Forth, which includes most of the land area of Scotland. Today, it is used as a romantic or poetic name for all ...
,
Cheltenham
Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...
, and
Bookman;
* Newspaper Types:
Times Roman;
* Twentieth-century Gothics:
Franklin Gothic
Franklin Gothic and its related faces are a large family of sans-serif typefaces in the industrial or grotesque style developed in the early years of the 20th century by the type foundry American Type Founders (ATF) and credited to its head desig ...
;
* Square-serif Revival:
Clarendon;
* Humanist Sans-serif Types:
Optima
Optima is a humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Hermann Zapf and released by the D. Stempel AG foundry, Frankfurt, West Germany in 1958.
Though classified as a sans-serif, Optima has a subtle swelling at the terminals suggesting a glyphic ...
;
*
Geometric Sans-serif Types:
Futura;
* Script, Cursive, and Decorated Types; Type Making from Punch to Computer.
Editions
The third printing of ''Anatomy'' appeared in 2002.
See also
* ''
The Elements of Typographic Style
''The Elements of Typographic Style'' is a book on typography and style by Canadian typographer, poet and translator Robert Bringhurst. Originally published in 1992 by Hartley & Marks Publishers, it was revised in 1996, 2001 (v2.4), 2002 (v2.5), ...
''
References
{{Reflist
Design books
1990 non-fiction books
Godine books