Making Printers' Typefaces

Making Printers' Typefaces By R. Hunter Middleton Director of Department of Typeface Design, Ludlow Typograph Company Publisher: The Black Cat Press, Chicago, Illinois Completed: April 1938 | First Edition Copyright: 1938 by The Black Cat Press ???????????????????????????????????? SIGNED BY NORMAN W. FORGUE ? CO-DESIGNER AND PRINTER The Printer's Note page bears a manuscript signature of Norman W. Forgue, founder of the Black Cat Press and co-designer of this volume. According to the Printer's Note ? the page on which he signed ? this book was designed jointly by Middleton and Forgue, and printed by Forgue at the Black Cat Press on Strathmore Highway Book paper in April 1938. Forgue was not simply the printer of this book; he was a creative collaborator in its making. His signature here is that of a co-creator signing his own work. Forgue-signed Black Cat Press books are consistently valued by specialist dealers (ABAA and ILAB members) in the $75?$490 range depending on title and significance. ???????????????????????????????????? ABOUT THIS BOOK R. Hunter Middleton (1898?1985) was one of the most consequential American typeface designers of the 20th century. As Typographic Director of the Ludlow Typograph Company in Chicago for 47 years, he designed or adapted nearly 100 typefaces that shaped the visual landscape of American printing and advertising. In 1968 he received the Type Directors Club Medal ? the field's highest honor. Making Printers' Typefaces is Middleton's firsthand account of the complete process of creating metal typefaces ? from initial concept and drawing through punch-cutting, matrix-making, and type casting. It is widely regarded as one of the essential primary texts on the subject, and was conceived as the first in a planned series on the graphic arts. ???????????????????????????????????? TYPEFACE SPECIMEN PLATES The second half of the book is titled "A Showing of Typeface Alphabets Designed by the Author for Ludlow Matrices" ? 16 full-page plates displaying complete alphabets, numerals, and punctuation in typefaces designed by Middleton himself, printed directly from Ludlow matrices. Many of these became among the most widely used typefaces of the 20th century in advertising and commercial printing. Faces shown: Stellar Delphian Open Tempo Medium Tempo Heavy Tempo Heavy Inline Tempo Light & Medium Cursive Capitals Karnak Intermediate Karnak Heavy Garamond Bodoni Black Eusebieus Italic Umbra Eden Light Eden Bold Mandate Coronet Coronet and Mandate in particular became hugely influential script faces. Seeing them displayed here ? in the book written by the man who designed them, co-designed and printed by Forgue in 1938 ? makes this a singular document in American typographic history. ???????????????????????????????????? BIBLIOGRAPHIC DETAILS - First edition, first printing - Small private press production ? exact print run unknown but certainly limited - Blue cloth-textured dust jacket stamped in silver - Text set in Linotype Granjon and Ludlow Garamond - Paper: Strathmore Highway Book - Co-designed and printed by Norman W. Forgue, The Black Cat Press, Chicago - Completed April 1938 - 36 pages of text + 16 full-page typeface specimen plates ???????????????????????????????????? CONDITION Dust Jacket: Near Fine. Vivid blue with silver stamping intact and bright. Minor wear at top of spine. No tears, chips, or fading. Interior: Clean and bright throughout. Signed by Norman W. Forgue in manuscript ink on the Printer's Note page. Specimen plates clean and sharp. No other markings, underlining, or foxing observed. Please review all photos carefully. Happy to provide additional images on request.