Type

Starred review from September 1, 2004
Typographer and designer Loxley's aim in this history is to show how the "human baggage of ambition treachery and love" affected the development of Western typefaces. Thus, we get the well-known story of the legal machinations Gutenberg used to try to retain exclusive rights to his printing methods as well as stories of such lesser figures as the eccentric Eric Gill, who was, according to Loxley, perhaps "the most complex figure in the whole history of type design." We find unexpected incursions into the art of road signs and the possibility (rejected) that the computer might render type design itself obsolete ("typocalypse"). Loxley's style and approach is sprightly and generally nontechnical, so even readers without much knowledge of his subject will find his popular treatment of type history easy to read and, for the most part, not deadened by the weight of names, dates, and typefaces typical of such primary standard histories as Daniel Updike's Printing Types. An excellent choice for collections that stress printing, communications, and the arts. Peter Dollard, Mt. Pleasant, MI

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