Containing 277 entries this beautifully produced catalogue of typespecimens printed between 1517 & 2004 offers a repertory of typographic richness that has yet to be explored. Each of these important and often exceptionally beautiful specimens is illustrated and described both bibliographically and historically.
"The present work is not the first of its genre. It was preceded in 1928 by the catalogue issued by the publishers Birrell and Garnett which we have often cited. The latter contains only 104 entries, but it is accompanied by erudite descriptions by Graham Pollard. The present descriptions extend the history of graphic production to the present day and bear witness to the changes brought about by the successive disappearance of the lead foundry and the methods of photocomposition in favour of computer technology." (Isabelle & André Jammes, from their introduction).