Customer Reviews

Fraktur Mon Amour

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3 star:		(1)
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If you like typefaces, typography, books, printing, or even if you just like beautiful and interesting design, cough up the rather pricey asking-price and buy this book immediately. You will love it. At first glance, it looks like a missal or prayerbook. Unlike missals, however, the page edges are done in PINK rather that red, and that little fillip more or less sums up what this book is about: why serious and foreboding typefaces have become the badge of gangs, rappers, and super-hip types everywhere. And why blackletter is now commonplace in packaging, storefront awnings, and endless other sites.

In addition to the thorough presentation of some 300 typefaces with dates, designers, and origins, you will find a facing-page design using the typeface. Many quite well done and some even exciting. Of course, I'm not the first to find the book spectacular. It won the Type Directors Club of New York's 2007 Award for Typographic Excellence. It should also get some kind of prize for campiest title for a typography book ever.

The book was originally printed in Germany, and at the bottom of each typeface sample page, there is a German text (translated in the introduction). It is quite a ridiculous text, something about a diplomat eating a pie, but in fact many pages have variations on the text, some of which are even more hilarious. Of course, you'll have to be able to read German to appreciate these, so you might want to consult Amazon's selection of German instruction books.

In short, this book is a classic "sleeper." When I ordered it I was expecting a rather straightforward, perhaps dry book about blackletter typefaces. What I got was a thoroughly delightful and entertaining romp through type and design. Yet a book that was also full of information and even scholarly in its details. Not to mention a CD-ROM with 100+ blackletters.

Just be careful, you may find it addictive. I did.

I read a review of this book months ago in Eye magazine, and waited impatiently for the new edition to come out. The wait was worth it. Judith Schalansky's love of blackletter is clear on every page. Each spread shows one blackletter font - the character set and a pangram on the right side, and a graphical arrangement on the left. The new edition contains 333 such spreads, which is an astounding collection. (Who knew there were so many blackletter fonts?) Anyone interested in typography or calligraphy will find this book a delight to page through.

I have only two complaints. First is the paper. It is less opaque than I'd wish, so there's substantial show-through from page to page. (This is hard to avoid; in a book with 720 pages, the paper must be fairly thin.) Additionally, there is a disappointingly high number of flecks in the paper, which can be rather distracting when looking at the type. Second, many of the graphical compositions fail to give much sense of the specific font's "feel", and some are little more than wasted space. However, there are also some which are both intriguing and informative.

I'm glad I got a copy, and thank Ms Schalansky for her dedicated work!

I bought this book from Prairie Lights in Iowa City for $60 and it is worth it! I practice calligraphy every day and was looking for a new set of exercises as most of the books of such tutorials are rather shallow. Months later, not yet have I delved the depth of this tome! Inspiration bon appetit!

I'm a font-freak, so I think seeing all these German-style faces is loads of fun.
Seriously, if you are interested in type or need a book that looks like a Bible, this your deal. Looking at the scripture-like cover, no one knows what it is about, even if they speak German.
Put it on a bedside table. It will impress your religious visitors (if you take them to your bedroom) and it's absolutely unreadable.
Wo die Liebe hinfallt.

Interesting essays, a wonderful selection of typefaces, almost half of which are on the enclosed CD, and two sewn in bookmarks in the signature colors - what's not to love? This is a really fun resource for graphic design artists as well as calligraphers. In addition to some fairly out-there fonts, there are a number of truly classic one, including the typefaces used by J Gutenberg and Wm Morris. Many thanks to all concerned!

There is a lot of history involved with Gothic black fonts. The decription of the book does not mention that it comes with a CD-ROM of 150 fonts. A nice surprise!

I first saw this book at a graphic art store. I pulled it off the shelf because it looked so mysterious, like a very thick old bible. At the time, I did not have the funds to purchase it. I waited patiently and then saw it was on Amazon and I ordered it straight away. I will never regret getting this book. It has been so well laid out, the colors, the style, the mood, it is truly exceptional work. Just flipping through it I have learned so much about layout/pattern design, as a letter from each font has been used to create a graphic on the left, and the full font is displayed on the right. I had no problems seeing the mood of the fonts whatsoever, besides, the book comes with a CD so you can easily see the fonts on your computer. I have already shared this book with several others who were also impressed by the magnitude of fonts and the work that must have gone into the research alone. There was much love put into the creation of this book, and it shows!