Forms of indulgence (and the first fonts)

Gutenberg-printed indulgence form: Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel
Indulgence form printed by Guttenberg (Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel)

“Since the eleventh century, indulgences and pardons had been awarded by the Church for the remission of sins, earned either by prayer or through donations. An indulgence took the form of a preset document with a space left for the name of a penitent as proof of his or her right to divine forgiveness. For the Church, this involved costly, labour-intensive procedures where thousands of identical documents would be written by hand.”
—Paul McNeil, The Visual History of Type read more…

The Tramp Printers

The Tramp Printers Forgotten Trails of the Travelling Typographers by Charles OverbeckCharles Overbeck’s The Tramp Printers, Forgotten Trails of the Traveling Typographers from Eberhardt Press is a beautiful little book that would make a lovely gift for either the letterpress lover or union activist in your life. read more…

Hermann Zapf’s original Optima sketches

Hermann Zapf's original pencil sketches of Optima on an Italian Banknote.

“During a visit to Italy, I made studies of old inscriptions in Rome and Florence. My attention was caught especially by marble inscriptions on the floor of the Santa Croce Church in Florence. Every day, most people walked over these inscriptions so unmindfully. I got the inspiration one day to use these simple forms without serifs for a typeface.”
—Hermann Zapf read more…

The Spectator: a leaf book

The Spectator: a leaf book from the The Book Club of California, printed by The Grabhorn Press, 1939
The Spectator: a leaf book from the The Book Club of California, printed by The Grabhorn Press, 1939

The Book Club of California has, over the decades published several leaf books—books about a historical publication that include a single page, or leaf, from the original, along with an illuminating essay about the era and the document. read more…