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Typographic firsts : adventures in early printing / John Boardley.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Oxford : Bodleian Library, 2019Copyright date: ©2019Description: 192 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 25 cmContent type:
  • text
  • still image
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781851244737
  • 1851244735
Subject(s):
Contents:
Timeline -- Introduction -- Prototypographer : the first printing -- Punch, strike, justify, cast : the first fonts -- Saint Catherine and the pirates : the first italics -- Against all odds : the first female typographers -- From blockbooks to Pliny : the first illustrated printed books -- Printed polychromy : the first colour printing -- Printed illuminations : the first gold printing -- Alchemy and antimony : the first printers' marks -- 'Here begynneth a litl boke' : the first title-pages -- Printed polyphony : the first printed music -- Atlas printed : the first maps -- Goody two-shoes and the fabulist : the first children's books -- Epilogue -- Glossary.
Summary: How were the first fonts made? Who invented italics? When did we figure out how to print in color? Many of the standard features of printed books were designed by pioneering typographers and printers in the latter half of the fifteenth century. Johannes Gutenberg is credited with printing the first books in Europe with moveable type in the fifteenth century, but many different European printers and publishers went on to find innovative solutions to replicate the appearance of manuscript books in print and improve on them throughout the Renaissance. The illustrated examples in 'Typographic Firsts' originate in those early decades, bringing into focus the influences and innovations that shaped the printed book and established a Western typographic canon. From the practical challenges of polychromatic printing and sheet music printing to the techniques for illustrating books with woodcuts and producing books for children to the design of the first fonts, these stories chart the invention of the printed book, the world's first means of mass communication. Also covering title pages, maps, printing in gold, and printing in color, this book shows how a mixture of happenstance and brilliant technological innovation came together to form the typographic and design conventions of the book.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 002.09 B662 Available 33111010786255
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

How were the first fonts made? Who invented italics? When did we work out how to print in colour?Many of the standard features of printed books were designed by pioneering typographers and printers in the latter half of the fifteenth century. Although Johannes Gutenberg is credited with printing the first books in Europe with moveable type, at the height of the Renaissance many different European printers and publishers found innovative solutions to replicate the appearance of manuscript books in print and improve on them. The illustrated examples in Typographic Firsts originate in those early decades, bringing into focus the influences and innovations that shaped the printed book and established a Western typographic canon.From the practical challenges of polychromatic printing or printing music staves and notes to the techniques for illustrating books with woodcuts, producing books for children and the design of the first fonts, these stories chart the invention of the printed book, the world's first means of mass communication. Also covering title pages, maps, printing in gold and printing in colour, this book shows how a mixture of happenstance and brilliant technological innovation came together to form the typographic and design conventions of the book.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 175-185) and index.

How were the first fonts made? Who invented italics? When did we figure out how to print in color? Many of the standard features of printed books were designed by pioneering typographers and printers in the latter half of the fifteenth century. Johannes Gutenberg is credited with printing the first books in Europe with moveable type in the fifteenth century, but many different European printers and publishers went on to find innovative solutions to replicate the appearance of manuscript books in print and improve on them throughout the Renaissance. The illustrated examples in 'Typographic Firsts' originate in those early decades, bringing into focus the influences and innovations that shaped the printed book and established a Western typographic canon. From the practical challenges of polychromatic printing and sheet music printing to the techniques for illustrating books with woodcuts and producing books for children to the design of the first fonts, these stories chart the invention of the printed book, the world's first means of mass communication. Also covering title pages, maps, printing in gold, and printing in color, this book shows how a mixture of happenstance and brilliant technological innovation came together to form the typographic and design conventions of the book.

Timeline -- Introduction -- Prototypographer : the first printing -- Punch, strike, justify, cast : the first fonts -- Saint Catherine and the pirates : the first italics -- Against all odds : the first female typographers -- From blockbooks to Pliny : the first illustrated printed books -- Printed polychromy : the first colour printing -- Printed illuminations : the first gold printing -- Alchemy and antimony : the first printers' marks -- 'Here begynneth a litl boke' : the first title-pages -- Printed polyphony : the first printed music -- Atlas printed : the first maps -- Goody two-shoes and the fabulist : the first children's books -- Epilogue -- Glossary.

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