TYPOGRAPHY 2
Robert Harling (Editor)

Robert Harling (Editor) with James Shand and Ellic Howe: TYPOGRAPHY 2. London: The Shenval Press, 1937. Original Quarterly Spring 1937 issue. Published in an edition of 1,200 copies. A near-fine softcover magazine with original publishers plasti-coil (ie. revolutionary French Plastoic) binding: the Plastoic binding is soiled. A truly rare publication, seldom offered.

9 x 11 softcover book with plasti-coil binding and 48 pages of avant-garde typographic design from England, circa 1937. The good folks at Bloomsbury's Shenval Press were fighting to bring the international revolution in New Typography to England's sheltered shores in the 1930s. An excellent keepsake and snapshot from the trenches in the battle between Art and Trade in the typsetting industry.

This edition of TYPOGRAPHY includes maximum-quality letterpress printing on a variety of paper stocks, as well as tipped-in plates of museum exhibitions, slug printing and uncut sheets of Tram tickets. Laid in is a booklet of W. A. Dwiggins typography with Bernard Griffin drawings. A phenomenal production that comes with my highest recommendation.

Here is the Publisher's Manifesto for TYPOGRAPHY: " The Sponsors of TYPOGRAPHY believe that fine book production is notthe onlymeans of typographical expression or excitement. We Believe, in fact, that a bill-head can be as aesthetically pleasing as a Bible, that a newspaper can be as typographically arresting as a Nonesuch." Sounds good to me.

Look at the Contents and Contributors to this issue:

Contents:

  • Shell Guide to Typography by John Betjeman with 2-tipped in samples
  • Typefounding and Typsetting by Ellic Howe
  • Features for Two Millions by John Rayner with bound-in newspaper apges
  • The Honour of Your Company... by Anthony Bellarticle on the design of invitations to art exhibits with tipped-in examples for shows by Edvard Munch, Francisco Bores, and pablo Picasso. The tipped-in Man Ray exhibition card is missing.
  • Slug by James Shand4 tipped-in examples
  • TramTicket Typography by J. C. Allsop with bound-in sheets of tram tickets.
  • The Work of Feliks Topolski by Molly Fordham
  • Typographical Inset, Specimens and Reviews

According to Rick Poynor, Herbert Spencer often spoke of the importance of Harling and Shand's Typography -- Jan Tschichold's article on TypeMixtures in the third issue had a decisive influence on his eventual direction (Poynor: Typographica. NYC: Princeton Architectural Press, 2002. page 15.)

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