About more alphabets

Typophile Chapbook, New Series, 3. "Letterforms are things that nearly all of us in the Western world have learned to take for granted. We treat them much like door knobs, water taps, thermostats, and hinges. We evidently think (in defiance of all logic) that what we read or write matters far more than how it's read or written, and that letterforms are just a way to get there, as a door knob is a way to open a door," writes Robert Bringhurst in the Foreword to About More Alphabets. This book hopes to bring attention to a neglected topic by focusing on the letterforms of Hermann Zapf. From metal type to the digital characters, Hermann Zapf has composed exceptional type designs for seventy years. He can be considered one of the most important calligraphers of all time, as well as a most notable book designer and typographer. His typefaces are among the most beautiful and familiar in the world. This book, a companion volume to the Typophile Chapbook About Alphabets (1960, updated 1970), describes Zapfs post-1970 type designs and provides new research on many of the earlier types. In this volume, typographer and calligrapher Jerry Kelly describes the origins and history of numerous Hermann Zapf typefaces including Marconi, ITC Zapf International, Linotype Zapfino, and Zapf Civilité. Kelly also includes new information on the Palatino nova and Optima nova families. This new Typophiles Chapbook is profusely illustrated with type specimens and drawings, many of which have never before been reproduced. Illustrations include drawings by Zapf, comparisons of various types, early sketches, typefaces never issued, and a twenty-eight page image section of type specimens. Other types described include Hallmark Textura, AMS Euler fraktur bold, Zapf Renaissance italic swash, Medici script, Aurelia, AMS Euler, Zapf Renaissance, ITC Zapf Chancery, and Zapf Civilité. Robert Bringhurst calls Zapf one of historys greatest two-dimensional architects. He says, "Hermann Zapf has made letters so subtle, so lovely they bring tears to knowledgeable eyes. And there are very few people who know Zapfs work as well as Jerry Kelly. Read him and weep."