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Book Typography
This book examines the essential factors of a well designed book - attractive and suitable type, close spacing of words, reader-friendly format - and considers how maximum-quality typography (of books or of any text intended for continuous reading), consonant with traditional standards, can be achieved by users of present-day technology. Word-division, letter-space, punctuation, different styles of footnotes and endnotes, use of symbols and special characters, the niceties of dashes, treatment of quoted passages, folios and running heads, are studied with reference to renowned authorities, including the Cambridge and Oxford styles. The famous Monotype and Linotype book faces are surveyed in their historical contexts with remarks on the qualities of the current digital versions of them.
160 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2005
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June 9, 2022
Book Typography is fundamentally fragmented, consisting of seven (or six?) disconnected essays organized into five chapters with no common paratext beyond acknowledgements and index. There is no obvious reason other than their shared author for these essays to live together, and the publication‐worthiness of each is widely varying, so it makes sense only to address each chapter on its own merits.
“The school of close spacing” – The fieriness of this manifesto is enough to make it the most interesting work in the collection, and though I found Mr Rafaeli’s views on letter‐ and word‐spacing unconvincing, he certainly draws attention to real pitfalls that typographers would do well to avoid. He champions minimal spaces between words and condemns much kerning, the result of which, if his own typesetting of Book Typography is to be taken as a demonstration, is many a capital T or quotation mark that appears attached to the wrong word entirely. Despite the absurdity, or perhaps because of it, much food for thought may be found in these pages (at least for readers yet unfamiliar with the dogma of Geoffrey Dowding).
“Mise‐en‐page” – This technical guide covers various aspects of book design, largely organized around the components common to a page such as blockquotes and page numbers. Mr Rafaeli has a particular interest in diaries, and anyone designing a layout for one would do well to review this chapters, but his own layout is so poor that navigation is too difficult for it to be recommendable as a reference for general book design.
“On book design and typographic style” – Two unconnected book reviews compose this chapter. Mr Rafaeli offers no easy thumb‐up‐or‐down take aways, but he seems to think relatively little of Richard Hendel’s On Book Design despite appreciating some elements and relatively highly of Robert Bringhurst’s The Elements of Typographic Style despite having some hard‐to‐follow criticisms regarding its treatment of languages other than English. The former review is remarkable for a stunning attack on Mr Hendel’s fitness to discuss typography that, despite my personal dislike of On Book Design, made me squirm in my seat.
“Points of style” – This meta‐style‐guide raises many questions, compares the relevant advice given by many others, and rarely provides conclusions.
“Types for books” – Two surveys of specific typefaces compose this chapter. It’s evident that there are two halves to the chapter because they are numbered, but it’s not at all clear how that division point was determined or what it signifies. Typefaces are arranged more‐or‐less chronologically, and much attention is paid to the knotty histories of hot‐metal and digital revivals of old faces, but ultimately it feels like Mr Rafaeli is throwing open his own personal notebook for us rather than presenting some kind of overarching narrative or argument. Most bizarrely, through nearly all the chapter, the reader is left desperate for more illustrations of the typefaces being discussed, but on the final page each paragraph is set in the typeface it addresses, and no mention is made of this sudden deviation.
“The school of close spacing” – The fieriness of this manifesto is enough to make it the most interesting work in the collection, and though I found Mr Rafaeli’s views on letter‐ and word‐spacing unconvincing, he certainly draws attention to real pitfalls that typographers would do well to avoid. He champions minimal spaces between words and condemns much kerning, the result of which, if his own typesetting of Book Typography is to be taken as a demonstration, is many a capital T or quotation mark that appears attached to the wrong word entirely. Despite the absurdity, or perhaps because of it, much food for thought may be found in these pages (at least for readers yet unfamiliar with the dogma of Geoffrey Dowding).
“Mise‐en‐page” – This technical guide covers various aspects of book design, largely organized around the components common to a page such as blockquotes and page numbers. Mr Rafaeli has a particular interest in diaries, and anyone designing a layout for one would do well to review this chapters, but his own layout is so poor that navigation is too difficult for it to be recommendable as a reference for general book design.
“On book design and typographic style” – Two unconnected book reviews compose this chapter. Mr Rafaeli offers no easy thumb‐up‐or‐down take aways, but he seems to think relatively little of Richard Hendel’s On Book Design despite appreciating some elements and relatively highly of Robert Bringhurst’s The Elements of Typographic Style despite having some hard‐to‐follow criticisms regarding its treatment of languages other than English. The former review is remarkable for a stunning attack on Mr Hendel’s fitness to discuss typography that, despite my personal dislike of On Book Design, made me squirm in my seat.
“Points of style” – This meta‐style‐guide raises many questions, compares the relevant advice given by many others, and rarely provides conclusions.
“Types for books” – Two surveys of specific typefaces compose this chapter. It’s evident that there are two halves to the chapter because they are numbered, but it’s not at all clear how that division point was determined or what it signifies. Typefaces are arranged more‐or‐less chronologically, and much attention is paid to the knotty histories of hot‐metal and digital revivals of old faces, but ultimately it feels like Mr Rafaeli is throwing open his own personal notebook for us rather than presenting some kind of overarching narrative or argument. Most bizarrely, through nearly all the chapter, the reader is left desperate for more illustrations of the typefaces being discussed, but on the final page each paragraph is set in the typeface it addresses, and no mention is made of this sudden deviation.
Displaying 1 of 1 review