PHOTO-LETTERING’S 979 BASIC ALPHABETS
Photo-Lettering, Inc.
[Photo-Lettering, Inc.]: PHOTO-LETTERING'S 979 BASIC ALPHABETS. New York: Photo-Lettering, Inc., 1946. Original edition. Quarto. Thick printed wrappers. 174 pp. 979 illustrated typography examples. Wrappers neatly creased along center axis. Spine joints rubbed. Small nick to foreedge of first 14 leaves. Interior unmarked and very clean. Out-of-print. The first Photo-Lettering catalog: a very good copy. Rare.
8.5 x 11 softcover book profusely illustrated with 174 pages of black and white photolettering examples. An exceptional copy of a document whose mere existence guaranteed use and abuse, and an extraordinary snapshot of the NYC Typography scene immediately after WWII.
From Luc Devroye, McGill University on Extinct 20th Century Foundries: “New York based photocomposition, lettering and digital type business active from 1936-1997, cofounded by Harold Horman and Edward Rondthaler in 1936 . . . . It was one of the earliest and most successful type houses to utilize photo technology in the production of commercial typography and lettering. Ed Benguiat: The alphabet styles in this collection, many of which took over 200 hours to complete, were drawn with pen and ink to exacting standards by veteran lettering artists.”
“Most of the original designs in this catalog are by Harold Horman, including the ten-weight Photo-Futura Condensed (based on a Bauer typeface). Other early designers included J. Albert Cavanagh and M. M. (Dave) Davison (who made the well-known Spencerian type).”
Type style sections include Brush Cartoons, Informal Scripts, Formal Scripts, Gothics and Sans Serifs, Thick and Thin Sans Serifs, Didots and Bodonis, Egyptian Square Serifs, Casonis, Caslons, Garamonds, Miscellaneous Classics and Lydians, Primers, Centuries and Cheltenhams, Typewriters, Stencils, Coopers and Posters, Engravers Misc., Old English and Medievals, Antiques and Old Fashioneds, Barnums and Playbills, Outlines and Shadeds, Photoflex, Curves and Perspectives.