#manuale typographicum

[archivist-dragonfly]

Book 482

Manuale Typographicum

Hermann Zapf

Z-Presse/MIT Press 1968

We’re starting to get into a really interesting bunch of books now. The next two books were part of an epic estate sale I handled, and I knew as soon as I saw them that they were coming home with me. I believe they were originally issued with both dust jackets and slipcases, which are now lost, but the interiors are flawless and stunning. From the copyright page, it appears that this book was first printed as an oblong quarto in 1954, and this 1968 edition is the first trade limited edition. As such, it is signed and numbered (#704) by the great Hermann Zapf. Printed on fine heavy rag paper, the print quality of both books is absolutely incredible. With pristine type examples from around the world, printed in two colors, this book is an absolute treasure.

[uwmspeccoll]

Typography Tuesday

Today we present a few pages from the 1968 edition of Hermann Zapf’s classic typographic design publication Manuale Typographicum, handset and printed in an edition of 1000 copies signed and numbered by Zapf at Officin Ludwig Oehms in Frankfurt am Main for Zapf’s own Z-Presse. The first edition appeared in 1954 in an oblong quarto. The book displays “100 typographical arrangements with considerations about types, typography and the art of printing selected from past and present, printed in eighteen languages.” Zapf writes:

Perhaps this book can help to bring the complexities of type and typography within the grasp of those plain readers who today tend to consider type a commonplace unworthy of further regard. Very few take thought of the development of the alphabet, to which every generation, as in architecture and fine art, has added its own contribution. But we best honor the achievements of the past when, inspired by their tutelage, we design for our own contemporary printing, alphabets suited to the industrial design of our century.

Our copy is another generous gift from Jerry Buff. Click on the images for more details.

View more posts related to Hermann Zapf.

[already-14]

L’utopie graphique selon Hermann Zapf

Hermann Zapf dans son Manuale Typographicum recence en réalité grammaire et vocabulaire graphique. Et c’est en cela qu’il constitue une expérience majeure. C’est que, dans l’histoire de la typographie, jamais on a exploré avec autant de finesse toutes les richesses d’expression de ces vingt six lettres.

[providencepubliclibrary]

On his birthday, in memory of Hermann Zapf, the brilliant calligrapher and typeface designer: images above from his Manuale Typographicum. 

(You can see this, in our Special Collections, by appointment.)