The Art & Practice of Typography / A Manual of American Printing, Including a Brief History up to the Twentieth Century, with Reproductions of the Work of Early Masters of the Craft, and a Practical Discussion and an Extensive Demonstration of the Modern Use of Type-faces and Methods of Arrangement

by Edmund G. Gress

EXAMPLE 141
A title-page of classic design, with an Aldine anchor device. By William Aspenwall Bradley

Example [143].—This is a page from one of the Roycrofters’ serious efforts in bookmaking. It was printed in dense black ink on white stock, the large text initials standing forth in pleasing contrast.

Example [144].—This is a page from a book by Theodore L. De Vinne, and probably presented his personal ideas in book typography. Notice the spacing around the subheading, and the treatment of footnotes. The first line under the subheading is not indented.

Examples [145] and [146].—D. B. Updike, of the Merrymount Press, is responsible for the typography of these pages, which are a portion of a book containing the ceremony of marriage as performed in the Protestant Episcopal Church. The type is a special letter based upon early forms. The book was printed in black and vermilion. Mr. Updike, with Rogers, Goudy and others, believes that the way to improve typography in America is to do typography as well as it can be done. He established the Merrymount Press in 1898, and has arranged and printed many fine volumes, in addition to much high-grade small work.

EXAMPLE 142
Classic feeling expressed in a modern title-page. Designed by Fred. W. Goudy

Example [147].—Books of poetry are usually treated in a typographic style that is light and dainty. The typographer who has the spirit of the artist in him puts more into a book than is required by the traditions of the craft and endeavors to express with type and decoration the spirit of the poet’s message. The verses of Edgar Allan Poe, with their suggestion of dark shadows and pathos, make the book designer’s task difficult, but in this example Mr. Nash has given the work a decorative treatment that in its dark tone helps to beautify the sad spirit of the great American poet. Washington Text shows forth admirably as a type for these pages and the decorative panel harmonizes with it in both tone and design. In its original form the book was printed in dull black and dull red inks on a toned hand-made paper. The liberal margins assisted in giving that touch of exclusiveness and taste that is essential in good book-printing.

EXAMPLE 143
Text-page of a de luxe volume. By the Roycrofters, East Aurora, N. Y.