Boston: David R. Godine, 2013. 194 pages; color and b&w illustrations. Warde, one of the finest American book designers and typographers worked mainly between the world wars. Clean throughout; tight binding. First Edition. quarter cloth-decorated boards. Fine/No Jacket. 8vo. Language: ENG.

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Bibliographic Details

Title

Printer's Devil: The Life and Work of Frederic Warde

Publisher

David R. Godine, Boston

Publication Date

2013

Language

English

ISBN 10

1567923674

ISBN 13

9781567923674

Binding

Hardcover

Edition

First Edition.

Condition

Fine

Dust Jacket Condition

No Jacket

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About this title

Synopsis

The biography of a central figure in the final era of hot-metal composition and printing

The book and type designer Frederic Warde is remembered today chiefly for his collaboration with Stanley Morison, for producing the singular typeface Arrighi. His life was short (he died in 1939, at the age of only forty-five) but in the previous two decades he had pursued a peripatetic, rollercoaster career that saw him come into contact with most of the leading players in his field, in England, Europe, and America: Bruce Rogers, Mardersteig, Updike, Ruzicka, George Macy, William Kittredge, and, of course, Morison, are just a few of a stellar cast of characters whose lives intersected with his orbit.

Until now, as it was scantily documented, Warde is the missing piece in the story of design, type, and printing in the interwar years, and this book will make essential reading for anyone interested in that critical period, one that saw the end of hot-metal and the emergence of graphic design as a distinct profession. Warde laid many false trails about his personal history, but the author has drawn upon a surprisingly large body of surviving documentation to piece together a fascinating picture of his life and of the complex, frustrating, sometimes dislikeable, but often inspiring, figure at its center.

The best of Warde’s extensive body of work displays a restraint and economy linked with an often striking color sense that feels thoroughly modern in its approach. This output was maintained, sometimes erratically, against the backdrop of Warde’s mercurial and fragmented professional and personal life. Polarizing the opinions of those he met, he was unfailingly a prolific, entertaining, and informed letter writer, and his correspondence provides invaluable insights into his world and those around him. Here is a designer’s life played out against the backdrop of the boom years of the 1920s, the challenges of the Depression, and the obstacles and opportunities created by his own remarkable, but troubled, genius.

About the Author

Simon Loxley is a graphic designer and a writer on design, typography, and design history. He is the founding editor of Ultrabold magazine.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

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We are a seller of used, out-of-print, and scarce books dealing mostly with visual arts, decorative arts, architecture and photography. Our listings also include some in areas of history, gardening, religion, literature. Soon to be listed are books on various maritime subjects; small press books; Limited Editions Club books. We would welcome questions about the mentioned books not yet listed.

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