The ultimate typeface handbook, now available at a bargain price. In addition to examining the form and anatomy of every letter in the alphabet, punctuation marks, and special characters, the book examines over 150 typefaces, their origins and font characteristics, with full-page tables including scale, weight, and useful alternatives. Cross-references situate these typefaces in their broader visual culture context, comparing important designs with seminal art pieces and movements from Gutenberg's era to the digital age.

With special attention to finding the right typeface for a given job, the handbook also includes a manual for developing digital fonts, advice on typographic rules, an in-depth comparison between sans-serif and serif typefaces, and an essay about measuring systems and indications. The extensive appendix gathers an index of over 250 type designers, an exhaustive list of type foundries, a graphical dictionary, and a bibliography for further reading.

This book received a Certificate for Typographic Excellence from Type Directors Club New York (TDC) in 2010, and a Red Dot Design Award from the Design Zentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.