Five Hundred Years of Book Design

This study of five centuries of book designs looks at the successes and failures, and examines some classics of layout and production from Western Europe and America. It follows design from the uncluttered Italian Renaissance, through French ornamentation, to 19th and 20th century mass production.

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What decisions lie behind the way a book is designed? How are readers of books helped or hindered by the choices that a designer, publisher or printer has made in presenting an author's text to its intended audience? Are there any lessons we can learn from a study of books produced over the last 500 years? In this study of book design of the past five centuries, Alan Bartram looks at the successes and failures of his predecessors. Some classics of layout and production are examined, and Bartram looks with fresh eyes at a varied range of books published in Western Europe and America in that period. From the generally uncluttered layout of the Italian books of the Renaissance, the fashion changed to the more ornamental designs of the French. Later on the mass production of books during the 19th century resulted in a lowering of standards, which in turn left the field clear for the elegant books produced by the private presses of the day. The attention to detail given by theses private presses has had a marked influence on current designers and publishers, some of whose books are examined here.
This visual history of book design and production is intended for a wide audience - students of graphic design and the history of the book, bibliophiles, collectors and all who are interested in the visual communication of ideas