Reviews of book by Mac McGrew

Reviews of book by Mac McGrew

This is a collection of published reviews from various sources.

Profiles

American Metal Typefaces
of the Twentieth Century

Mac McGrew is the authority in the field of American metal typefaces. He is nationally known in typographic and graphic design circles. Mac inherited his love of letters from his father, an architect with a specialty of inscriptional lettering, who had designed the inscriptions on a number of prominent buildings in the Pittsburgh area. Several type specimens his father had used for reference became the nucleus of Mac’s large collection.

With a printing course at Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh), Mac’s work experience ranged from compositor in a small print shop during summer vacation from high school, to typographic director of a large advertising agency (Ketchum, MacLeod & Grove, now Ketchum Communications). From 1956 he also operated his own press, Press of the Licorice Cat, named for a family pet.

These varied experiences, plus a keen appetite for typographic detail, enabled Mac to become intimately acquainted with many facets of type and typesetting. He perceived the lack of a comprehensive single source of information on the subject, which led him to undertake a major project in the late 1970s, “American Metal Typefaces of the Twentieth Century.” Progress was slow until after his retirement in 1979.

In 1986 a preliminary edition of the book was published by The Myriade Press, Inc., of New Rochelle, New York. This edition was prepared for distribution to typographic experts and others who could supply missing specimens and add to the information about them.

Many groups and individuals cooperated in contributing material for the book, including type designers, founders, and others. In addition to job-related contacts, members in Typocrafters, American Typecasting Fellowship, and the American Printing History Association submitted contributions. Also members of hobby organizations, including APA (Amalgamated Printing Association), AAPA (American Amateur Press Association), NAPA (National Amateur Press Association), and other groups were very helpful and cooperative in printing and supplying specimens from their collections.

Sadly, the principal of the Myriad Press, Dr. J. Ben Lieberman, did not live to see the completion of the project, but his family fulfilled the contract. The limited preliminary edition was his idea, and it brought many valuable responses, which were incorporated into the final volume. This final volume was published in 1993 by Oak Knoll Books Type and Press describes American Metal Typefaces of the Twentieth Century as “...a must for all typographic students, designers, printers, historians and anyone else who works with the letters of our alphabet and appreciates the stories behind them.

—This review is from Serif Magazine


Jacket Notes from the Publisher,
Oak Knoll Books

McGrew, Mac;
AMERICAN METAL TYPEFACES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

“This volume belongs in every
typographical library.”

Fantastic! Spectacular! Unbelieveable! Monumental! Wow! Mind-boggling! These have been just a few of the reactions to the preliminary edition of this book. No other type speciman book has ever stirred up so much emotion and acclaim as this one. It is indeed a remarkable book: it covers every known typeface designed and cast in metal in America during this century—more than sixteen hundred of them.

The text is astonishingly detailed, not only identifying the designer, foundry, and date of issue, but also the range of sizes and closely similar designs. In many cases the history, aims and purpose of the designs are also explained, along with individual characteristics. Much of this information has been obscured by the passage of time, which is why this book has been such a labor of love for the author. In most instances each typeface and its variants (italic, bold, etc.) are illustrated in full alphabets—upper and lower case, figures and punctuation. The advent of computer typesetting and the decline of letterpress printing have made many of these specimens extremely rare and historically important. Indeed, considering the destruction of letterpress type and equipment that has occurred in recent years, it is perhaps surprising that the author has managed to gather so many of these specimens.

At the back of the book there are extensive appendixes listing common pseudonyms; popular imports; antique revivals; and ATF, Monotype, and Ludlow series numbers. The indexes provide easy access to the names of the typefaces, as well as the names of the designers, punch cutters, matrix engravers, etc.

The second edition of this book has been professionally typeset and the layout has been carefully done by the author. The type specimens appear throughout on verso pages and the corresponding text always appears on the facing recto page.


Review from the Publisher, Oak Knoll Books

McGrew, Mac;
AMERICAN METAL TYPEFACES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.

New Castle, Delaware; Oak Knoll Books; 1993 4to., cloth, dust jacket. xx, 376, (2) pages.

Reprint of the second, revised edition. Discover 1,600 classical as well as bizarre typefaces in one of the most massive tributes to the history of printing and metal types! This edition of American Metal Typefaces of the Twentieth Century contains 300 more typefaces in a clean, attractive format. This extremely organized work captures the rapidly disappearing traditions and legacy that metal-type printing has left behind. Much of this information has been lost by the passage of time, and its preservation in this book is essential for anyone studying typefaces, typography and its background. Structured by alphabetically-listed type families, these typefaces and their variant forms are shown in full alphabets — upper and lower case with numerics and punctuation. The specimens themselves are cleanly reproduced from metal types for maximum clarity. The text is incredibly detailed and informative, not only identifying the designer, foundry and date of issue but also the range of sizes and closely similar designs by other founders. The history, aims and purpose behind many of these typefaces are also described, along with production problems encountered and individual characteristics. Additional information inclues extensive appendices listing common pseudonyms, popular imports, antique faces plus American Typefounders, Monotype and Ludlow series numbers. The indexes provide easy access to typeface names as well as names of designers, punch cutters, matrix engravers and other tradesman. The history of metal types and printing, now forever preserved, has long affected the spread of human civilization. Oak Knoll Press is proud to offer this work to generations of graphic designers, typographers, printing and graphic arts enthusiasts all over the world.

Price: USD 75.00, http://www.oakknoll.com/

(As of 2007, this book is no longer being offered directly through Oak Knoll.)
As of 2010, this book is now back in print. See http://www.oakknoll.com


Review from Rare Book Collections,
Louisiana State University

Mac McGrew. “American Metal Typefaces of the Twentieth Century.” New Castle, Delaware: Oak Knoll Books, 414 Delaware Street, New Castle, DE 19720. Second, revised edition, 1993. xx, 376 pp., illustrated. ISBN 0-938768-34-4 $75.00 (hardback); ISBN 0-938768-39-5 $49.50 (paperback).

Reviewed by Elaine Smyth, Rare Book Collections, Louisiana State University.

Mac McGrew’s “American Metal Typefaces of the Twentieth Century” is a huge compilation, including more than 175 pages of type specimens. It is a bounteous feast of a source work for anyone interested in types and letterforms. Each specimen is served up accompanied by information about the design and production history of the type, frequently including remarks on the types special features and comparisons to similar or related typefaces. Like any master chef, the author has taken care with the presentation. The information is neatly organized in two-page spreads, with specimens on the versos facing descriptive text on the rectos. Marginal notes on the rectos, set in a smaller size, provide additional information about which companies cast thetype in what sizes.

In his preface, McGrew succinctly outlines the changes in technology, business, and taste that led to a rapid proliferation of typefaces in twentieth-century America, thus providing the “raison detre” for this book. Noting that “knowledge of the body of metal type and its production is helpful in understanding the possibilities and limitations” of typefaces, the introduction sets forth a brief outline of the history of typecasting machinery, describes (with a thoroughly labeled diagram) the physical characteristics of a piece of type, and covers topics such as practical design limitations related to kerning and italics, brief histories of typefounding companies and matrix makers mentioned in the text, and foreign sources of type. It concludes with notes on the specimens and how they were gathered, a word about copies, duplicates and similar faces, and comments on size ranges and alignment.

The typographic feast of specimens that follows is punctuated by a series of insets scattered at intervals throughout the book, called “Typographic Tidbits.” These palate- clearing “sorbets” include sections on “Nomenclature of Parts of Letters,” ligatures, “Whats In a Font,” variant characters, decorative initials, “Commas and Quotes,” the ampersand, visual reproportioning, the California type case, and “The Most Prolific Type Designers.” Information about type designers is supplemented in an eight-page appendix listing type designers (usually with dates and identifying notes) and their types. Another appendix lists persons mentioned in connection with types who are not designers, intelligently referencing them by type rather than page number. Additional appendixes display antique typefaces and popular imports, list common typeface synonyms, and index Lanston Monotype Series Numbers, American Typefounder Series Numbers, and Ludlow Series Numbers.

As noted in the Introduction, the specimens were gathered from many sources, and the quality of reproduction on a few is—apparently of necessity—poor. In some instances, “when a desired size was not obtainable, a larger size has been shot down” (p. xviii), but unfortunately the percentage is not always known (see for example, Condensed Corbitt).

A somewhat problematic aspect of the book is its complete lack of documentation. The Introduction states, “Facts and data regarding typefaces have been obtained from many sources, but primarily from the literature of the typefounders, ... from ‘The Inland Printer’ and other trade publications, and from my personal experience with types and their sources. Often it has been necessary to decide which seems to be the most authentic of conflicting details, particularly of dates” (p. xviii). Given Mr. McGrew’s deep involvement and encyclopedic knowledge of the field, one is inclined to accept his decisions as well-informed. However, without knowledge of which sources he consulted, the researcher who encounters conflicting evidence is hampered in evaluating its worth by not knowing the basis for Mr. McGrew’s decisions. On the other hand, to ask for complete documentation of this astonishing coalescence of personal knowledge and painstaking research is to demand the impossible. Given the richness of what is provided, it seems almost churlishly gluttonous to ask for more, but perhaps some bibliography might usefully have been included.

Spread like a vast typographic buffet, this is a satisfying work whether you are just snacking on a typographic tidbit or sitting down to make a seven-course repast—from Abbott Oldstyle, Andromaque, and Arrighi, through Gothics and Goudys to Mastodon, Neuland, Zapf, and Zephyr. This book is highly recommended to anyone with an interest in type. To its buyers, “Bon appetit!”


Review from Amazon.com

“THE” indispensable reference for the subject
August 22, 1997

Reviewer: tphinney@compuserve.com from San Jose, CA, USA

“Mac McGrew has comiled an amazingly complete sample book of very nearly every metal typeface made in the United States in the 20th century, which number in the thousands. The addition of additional notes and tidbits makes it more entertaining, but primarily this is an encyclopedic reference, showing each typeface, with information on designer, foundry, history of the face, and cross-references to closely related faces. Highly recommended.”


Amazon.com

American Metal Typefaces of the Twentieth Century
by Mac McGrew
Avg. Customer Rating:

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From Reviews of the Preliminary Edition

“This volume is a must for all typographic students, designers, printers, historians and anyone else who works with the letters of our alphabet and appreciates the stories behind them.”—Type & Press

“Mac McGrew is the authority in the field of American metal typefaces. He is nationally known in typographic and graphic design circles, and I do not know anyone with the detailed knowledge of American types, based on a lifetime of studying them, that he has. American Metal Typefaces could not have been written by anyone else. In addition to knowing his subject, he has long experience in writing about it and writes well.

“Although metal typefaces might seem obsolete in an era of digital computer typesetting, this is far from the case. The computer faces are frequently resurrected metal typefaces, and a reference book for these faces would seem to me to be of great usefulness even today. I believe there is a great—and growing—interest in the material covered in American Metal Typefaces, among diverse groups with both historic and practical concerns. It would be hard to imagine a more comprehensive or accurate or interesting treatment. It belongs in every typographical library.

“The book could be recommended to art directors, type directors and typographers, graphic artists and designers, design students reference libraries, private press printers, and anyone interested in the graphic arts.”—Stephen 0. Saxe, former editor, American Printing History Association Newsletter

These have been just a few of the reactions to the preliminary edition of this book. It is indeed a remarkable book: it covers every known typeface designed and cast in metal in America during this century—more than sixteen hundred of them.

The text is astonishingly detailed, not only identifying the designer, foundry, and date of issue, but also the range of sizes and closely similar designs. Much of this information has been obscured by the passage of time. In most instances each typeface and its variants (italic, bold, etc.) are illustrated in full alphabets-upper and lower case, figures and punctuation. The advent of computer typesetting and the decline of letterpress printing have made many of these specimens extremely rare and historically important. It is surprising that the author has been able to gather together so many of these specimens.

In 1986 a preliminary edition was published by The Myriade Press, Inc., of New Rochelle New York, for distribution to typographic experts and others who could augment the showing of type specimens or add to the information. It brought much response, which has been incorporated into this new edition.

At the back of the book there are extensive appendixes listing common pseudonyms; popular imports; antique revivals; and ATF, Monotype, and Ludlow series numbers. The indexes provide easy access to the names of the typefaces, as well as the names of the designers, punch cutters, matrix engravers, etc. The second edition of this book has been professionally typeset to the author’s layout.


Also available from Alibris Books.

Also available from Amazon UK.

Also available from Amazon Japan.