THE MODIFICATION OF LETTERFORMS
Stanley Hess
Stanley Hess: THE MODIFICATION OF LETTERFORMS. New York: Art Direction Book Company, 1972. First edition. Quarto. Blue cloth titled in gold. Printed dust jacket. 148 pp. Fully illustrated with black and white typographic examples. Nice dust jacket protected in a vintage Bro-Dart sleeve. Out of print. Interior unmarked and very clean. A fine copy in a fine dust jacket. Uncommon.
8.25 x 11.25 hardcover book with 148 pages devoted to the exploration of the alphabet as purely graphic symbols. A revised edition was published by the Art Direction Book Company in 1981.
“The Modification of Letterforms marks a major advance in the design of the alphabet in terms of pure graphic symbols. For the first time, a comprehensive analysis is presented for the 26 letters individually, and of their relationship tot eh alphabet as a whole. It provides a basic understanding of each letter, its construction historically, and in terms of photocomposing techniques and facilities. Never before has there been such an extensive visual study of the 26 letters as the basic communication vehicle of Western civilization and, in our times, the world.”