Bibliography - Typography

Bibliography: Updike, Daniel Berkeley. Printing Types: Their History, Forms, and Use (volumes 1&2), 4th ed. Oak Knoll Press, 2001.  This book really describes the history of different printing types from many different countries like France, Germany, and even Latin-based roots. It included a lot of picture copies of these different texts as well. It started with the fact that Gutenberg did not actually invent printing, but that he adopted many ideas from different countries around him. I originally found this on the HBLL page and wanted to read it, but it was already checked out; luckily I found it free on Google Books. Blades, William. The biography and typography of William Caxton, England's first printer. 1824-1890 This book began with a biography of William Caxton (obviously stated in the title of this book), but it also delved into the history and development of England's first printer. William Blades listed several things in which you can determine when a book was published and how similar early typography was to books that were handwritten by a scribe. For example, how each page was written one at a time, how each print varied from another, what kind of paper they used, how closely they printed to the inner margins, the kind of ink, etc all contributes to helping bibliographers and others know precisely when the book was published. This book can be found at the HBLL and also in the Hathi Trust Digital Library. (Click the link in the title above). Printers' marks : A chapter in the history of typography by W. Roberts editor of "The Bookworm". W. Roberts (William), 1862-1940. The best description of this book is found here in the book's preface: (Please notice the pretty art) This book discusses printer's marks, which were used to protect from piracy; illustrations; book origins; history and bibliography; art, and many other subjects. Full of fascinating information. You can also find an online copy at this link here. Sir John Young Walker MacAlister, Alfred William Pollard, Ronald Brunlees McKerrow, Library Association, Sir Frank Chalton Francis. The Library, Volume 8. This book is a compilation and discussion of many different texts of different authors all of whom either wrote a book on an area of typography or wrote an actual document using typography. It included many historical documents and discussed which font number type it was, what ink it was written with, how many leaves, etc. It brushed on wood engravings, and how different blocks were carved. This book contained a LOT of information. Gress, Edmund G., A. Frederick,  etc. The American manual of typography; an exhaustive exposition of the various phases of type-composition. 1903. This book is incredibly detailed and covers so many topics! It begins with more modern forms of typography, but constantly refers to ancient methods. I thought it was really interesting how often it mentioned that some typographers try to model their print after medieval printing methods, because of the artistic beauty and how authentic the type looks, making it more appealing. Also, all throughout the book, it had pictures of old type, and it was fascinating to look at. I found this books on Google books. (Click the link in the title above). Challenges and Insights and Interesting Facts:   Probably over 60% of the books and bibliographies I found were in other languages, which made it rather difficult to research. I definitely had to get creative! Google Books "Content" drop down menu on many of the books were very inaccurate. Finding books about older texts instead of about modern day typography Trying to understand the older texts. They were WAY above my knowledge level...definitely written for someone who is in to that kind of thing. Finding footnotes Wikipedia searching was WAY more interesting to me than boring old books. No offense. But I felt like I actually learned more with Wikipedia because they were straight to the point, chronological, more on my comprehension level, and had so many examples of ancient typography like Medieval tiles, Phiastos Disc, Pruefening Abbey Inscription, etc. I didn't get that from the books that I read. Of course, I got a lot more detailed info, but that was pretty much useless to me (and boring) because I didn't appreciate it due to my lack of knowledge in that area. However, I did enjoy looking at the ornate pictures included in the books.