PART ONE

WHEN BOOKS WERE WRITTEN

_Page 1_

The scribe at work, opp. p. 1

Assyrian clay tablet, p. 1

Ancient Roman reading manuscript, p. 2

Roman waxed tablet, p. 3

The Egyptian “Book of the Dead,” p. 3

Evolution of the alphabet, p. 4

Capital letters of the ancient Romans, p. 4

Uncial letters of the sixth century, p. 5

Half-uncial letters, p. 5

Gothic letters of the fifth century, p. 5

Page from the “Book of Kells,” p. 6

THE ORIGIN OF TYPOGRAPHY

_Page 7_

Portion from Fust and Schœffer’s Psalter of 1457, opp. p. 7

French playing card, a block print, p. 7

Image print of 1423, p. 7

Bible of the Poor, from block book, p. 8

Text page from the block book “Ars Moriendi,” p. 8

Page from an engraved wood block, p. 9

Page from separate metal types, p. 9

Two pages from the Huntington copy of Gutenberg’s Bible, p. 12

Decorated page from Gutenberg’s famous Bible of Forty-two Lines, opp. p. 12

THE SPREAD OF TYPOGRAPHY

_Page 13_

The Venetian style of typography and decoration, opp. p. 13

The spread of typography (table), p. 13

Page printed by Koburger, p. 14

The first displayed composition, p. 14

A page from the famous Bamberg Missal, opp. p. 14

The first italic, a page by Aldus, p. 15

Specimens from Plantin’s Polyglot Bible of 1569, pp. 16, 17

Gothic ornamental pieces, from a “Book of Hours,” p. 16

Page by England’s first printer, p. 17

Page in English by John Daye, p. 18

The first Psalter in English, p. 18

TYPOGRAPHY IN COLONIAL DAYS

_Page 19_

A title-page of 1655, with much type display, opp. p. 19

First book printed in English America, p. 19

Title-page of a Shakespeare book, p. 20

First edition of “Pilgrim’s Progress,” (reset by Whittingham), p. 21

First issue of the London “Times,” p. 21

Page from a chap-book, p. 22

Page from “Description of Trades,” p. 22

French specimen of 1742, p. 23

Caslon types and ornaments, p. 23

First edition of “Paradise Lost,” p. 24

Two pages from “Poor Richard’s Almanack,” p. 25

Italian specimen of 1776, p. 26

Pages from Bodoni books of 1789 and 1806, p. 26

TYPOGRAPHY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

_Page 27_

A Morris title-page and text page, opp. p. 27

Page from a “Book of Common Prayer,” p. 27

A design of the rule-curving period, p. 28

Title-page of 1810, p. 28

Title-page of 1847, p. 28

Title-page of 1872, p. 28

Title-page of MacKellar’s “American Printer,” p. 29

A banquet program of 1865, p. 29

From a type-foundry specimen book of 1885, p. 30

A business card of 1865, p. 30

A business card of 1889, p. 31

Stationery composition of 1870, p. 31

The panel as used in 1893, p. 31

A neat letterhead of 1897, p. 31

Title-pages by Charles Whittingham, p. 32

Bradley’s adaptation of the Colonial style, opp. p. 32

A Jacobi page of 1892, p. 33

A Bradley page in lower-case, p. 33

A Bradley page in Caslon capitals, p. 34

A De Vinne page, p. 34