Six Centuries of Type & Printing is a handsome volume from Glenn Fleishman (previously) about the history of the technology culminating in what you most likely looking at right now: letters on a screen. They used to take bits of metal dipped in sticky colored liquid, then push them onto opaque cellulose films called "paper"—at least in the olden days! It is, he writes, "a concise hardcover book that will teach you exactly everything you wanted to know about how we went from the first forays into inking letters on paper to today's digital marvels."
The book Six Centuries of Type & Printing briskly tells the story of the evolution of type and printing, starting with early documented efforts and surviving artifacts from China and Korea, and introducing Gutenberg and his innovations. It then takes you through each generation of increasing sophistication in metal and relief printing until the abrupt 20th century shift into flat offset printing, which was made possible through photographic and digital improvements, and phototypesetting and digital composition.
The ebook is just $10, but you'd be cheating yourselves; get the book for $32.
Previously:
• The Modern Face of Letterpress
• The Type Deck: playing cards with beautiful fonts
• Typeface reviews
• A font based on vintage Bulgarian lottery tickets
