How typography happens

About this book

"Is typography an art or a science? The gradual tendency of the word 'typography' to mean 'typographic design', and the emergence of the typographer as a professional in his own right, form the subject of this stimulating book. Looking at the work of many well-known practitioners in England, Germany, France and the USA, Ruari McLean examines the development of typography, starting in the seventeenth century with the Mechanick Exercises of Joseph Moxon, progressing to the influences and work of the great German typographer Jan Tschichold and his contemporaries. Based on the Sandars Lectures given by the author at the University of Cambridge, How Typography Happens is well illustrated with unusual and significant images, mostly unfamiliar. It is a useful and important account that will appeal to anyone interested in the graphic arts and the history of the book. Book jacket."--BOOK JACKET.