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Eric Gill

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An Essay on Typography (Penguin Modern Classics) Kindle Edition

by Eric Gill (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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Eric Gill's opinionated manifesto on typography argues that 'a good piece of lettering is as beautiful a thing to see as any sculpture or painted picture'. This essay explores the place of typography in culture and is also a moral treatise celebrating the role of craftsmanship in an industrial age. Gill, a sculptor, engraver, printmaker and creator of many classic typefaces that can be seen around us today, fused art, history and polemic in a visionary work which has been hugely influential on modern graphic design.

'Written with clarity, humility and a touch of humour . . . timeless and absorbing' Paul Rand, The New York Times

'His lettering was clear, confident and hugely influential on the development of modern type design. The world has now caught up with Gill' Guardian

How do we see the world around us? This is one of a number of pivotal works by creative thinkers like John Berger and Susan Sontag whose writings on art, design and the media have changed our vision for ever.

Print length

140 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

Penguin
Publication date

November 7, 2013
File size

2109 KB
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Enabled
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Not Enabled
Enhanced typesetting

Enabled
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Editorial Reviews

Review

It deals with technical difficulties, the history and evolution of letters, the craft of typography, type design and manufacturing, even orthography, and is written with clarity, humility, and a touch of humor. --Paul Rand, The New York Times Book Review

[A] classic work...[Gill] is authoritative. --The Independent

It is the form of this copy, its extreme simplicity, its unique ordinariness, that makes it an inspiration. --Mark Thomson, Eye Magazine

About the Author

Eric Gill was an English sculptor, sign painter, stonecutter, printmaker and type designer. His best known type designs were produced by the Monotype corporation, although he also designed type for private presses. His most widely used type Gill Sans, strongly influenced by the London Transport lettering of his teacher Edward Johnston, was the first successful sans type based on the humanist models of the Renaissance. Other of his designs are the intricate Perpetua and Joanna, named after his daughter.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00G0ICUD6
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin; UK ed. edition (November 7, 2013)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 7, 2013
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 2109 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 140 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #2,045,468 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #171 in Typography (Kindle Store)
- #1,086 in Typography (Books)
- #14,872 in Design & Decorative Arts

Customer Reviews:
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4.1 out of 5

73 global ratings

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alwaysmprest

Small Book, Big Ideas

Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2013

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I don't quite know how to describe this book, except to say this:
I read this the first time about 20 years ago, and then gave it away, and recently purchased another copy. I have frequently remembered what I took from Eric Gill: the idea of doing everything with the intent of doing it well, and that the frame of the picture (or the typeface of the document, or a careful paint job in a room) --the shape of the communication -- can be as important as the communication itself.

3 people found this helpful

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Andrey

Very interesting! Goes far beyond the type design.

Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2021

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Half of the book gives fresh ideas about type design.
Half of the book discusses the changes in customers' and artists' psychology after the industrial revolution.

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cristoper

Typography, Society, and Shorthand

Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2010

Eric Gill (22 February 1882 - 17 November 1940) was an English artist (sculptor, stonecutter, typeface designer, printer) and social commentator. He was an early advocate of Distributism -- a socialist Roman Catholic economic philosophy formulated by G.K. Chesterton and others which sought to bring the benefits of industrial capitalism to the masses. Since his death he has received strong criticism because of his somewhat disturbing sex life, which he recorded in his diary, and which was exposed in Fiona MacCarthy's 1989 biography . As often happens, the controversy has brought his artistic works that much more attention (and praise).

As the title suggests, "An Essay on Typography" (first published in 1931) discusses typography. Gill's credentials as a type-designer include the still-popular Gill Sans and Perpetua typefaces. The book itself is set in his Joanna face. I found it quite enjoyable to read. The pages are typeset according to his suggestions (in the chapters "The Procrustean Bed" and "The Book") for page layout: even spacing between words, 10-12 words per line, sufficient line space. The bottom margin is larger than the others, as he recommends, for ease of holding the book. Unfortunately I never hold a book at the bottom (when using one hand I hold it at the top; with two, at the sides). For the most part his notions of good type design and page layout are the same as you hear web designers periodically proclaiming today.

There is a chapter on lettering, giving a very brief history of the roman alphabet. And the next chapter is on the three alphabets in use by printers: uppercase, lowercase, and italics.

I would argue that the main theme of the book is not typography, however, but rather on the conflict between assembly-line style industrialism and the art of handicrafts at the beginning of the 20th century. Gill tries to make the case that industrial manufacturing methods and the methods of the craftsman fulfill completely different roles in society, and so are not actually in conflict. Both have their place.

He is concerned, however, that each method should stick to its own proper idea of aesthetics. Industry is good at mass producing things inexpensively using machines (and humans who are treated like machines). These mass produced goods should not try to imitate handicrafts, because mass-produced fanciful flourishes end up looking and feeling fake. Commercial posters attempting to shout each other down have turned to heavier (bolder) fonts, and have ruined legibility. Likewise with flyers using a jumble of typefaces to attract attention.

He is finally able to clearly express his concept of the complete separation between industrialism and handicrafts by the later chapters. For example from the chapter on "The Instrument":

"The time has come when the handicraftsman should cease altogether either to rail at him [the industrialist] or envy him. Let each go his own road."

And the roles of each:

"The industrialist makes no claim to produce works of art; he does so nevertheless -- when he is not imitating the art works of the past. The artist makes no claim to serve his fellow men; nevertheless he does so -- when he is not wholly led astray by the notion that art is self-expression of the expression of emotion."

Also in the chapter on "The Book," after discussing some economic considerations of publishing, Gill concludes:

"Whether, as seems probable, industrialism win a complete victory, or human nature so far reassert itself as to overthrow industrialism, is not here our concern. For the present we hold simply to the conviction that the two principles and the two worlds can exist side by side [...]"

As a stenography enthusiast the last chapter, "But Why Lettering?", was a very pleasant surprise. Gill points out the lack of consistency between the sounds of spoken English and the roman letters used to represent them. As a solution he advocates the roman alphabet be replaced by a phonographic alphabet like those used in shorthand systems! He devotes several pages to anticipating the charge that shorthand is ugly. This leads me to believe he was only familiar with the Pittman system and had not seen the cursive Gregg system which was dominant in America at the time. He rightly points out that current shorthand systems sacrifice legibility for speed, whereas a system designed to replace the alphabet for everyday writing would have to be completely unambiguous (everyday writing doesn't require real time transcription, anyway).

The last chapter also has a cute bit where he uses Adam Smith's example of the specialization required to manufacture a pin to conclude that capitalism is the most cooperative system ever developed.

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Pavlos

Eric Gill

Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2014

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Despite the thing that are not much associated with typography in this book . Eric Gill is writing so many thing that are happening today like if he knew. A historical book about typography by the english master of his era.

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Daniel Sabino de Souza

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2015

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Great source

One person found this helpful

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Phoebe T. Marrall

An Essay on Typography

Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2007

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This book has the details and history anyone drawn to printing and writing will savor.

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wiredweird

History by the man who made it

Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2004

This essay on typography is actually an essay on far more. It goes well with William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement, in its nostalgia for the 'humane' individual craftsman over the commerce and industry. Gill comes back, again and again, to question the proper places of mass production and handwork with respect to each other. He was an idealistic, but still realized that industry was here to stay - it could not (and still can not) simply be wished away. The real goal is "an industrialism ... [with] many noble and admirable features."
Gill uses typography and printing as the vehicle for his social thoughts, and offers a good bit of advice on typography throughout. He discusses letter forms as ethetic, practical, and historical objects - especially interesting from a man who made so much typographic history himself.
I never did quite work my way through all of his social arguments, however. He seems to hold "engineers" as the opponents of art and perhaps creativity. I known that many engineers then and now lack training in esthetics and visual presentation. Anyone who's seen the Brooklyn Bridge or Eiffel Tower knows, however, that engineering is also a creative act. Gill ridiculed the practice of one worker designing a font, a second preparing it for transfer to metal, another cutting the master tools for each letter, and so on. I have to agree, the assembly line mentality is not suited to all tasks, especially when each product is as unique as a letter form. Still, among all arts, printing is perhaps the one most typified by team effort and division of labor. It would be a very rare individual who could create a text worth reading, create the font in which it is presented, set the type and run the press, and carry out all the other tasks needed to create a bound book. The question is not whether parts of a job should be handed to different specialists, but which jobs should be subdivided - a question I never saw answered.
This is a wonderful work by a man whose livelihood, art, and spiritual life all worked closely together. I recommend it to anyone who works in the arts, not just those with an interest in type.

7 people found this helpful

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Juan G. Acosta

Great work

Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2009

Abolutely exciting.
Is get in, in the mind of Eric Gill, know more for him, and the world of this time.

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Daniel Zonneveld Coltro

Simple but pure edition

Reviewed in Germany on October 18, 2020

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The edition is really simple, but accordingly to the author's typographic standards.

Melissa

Interesting Perspectives

Reviewed in Canada on September 20, 2017

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(As a preface I am a student currently studying graphic design, with heavy interest in focusing on type design.)

This book provides very good insight on Eric gills views on typography.
I found it very helpful as some views are not popular giving the reader the opportunity of hearing a different perspective. Many books within this genre are a rehashing of each other, they often contain the same information however it is just laid out in a different manner. This book on the other hand was refreshing.
Not only that but Gill's writing style is very easy to read, so it is a very different experience from say reading the elements of typographic style.

Conductor71

Man or Machine

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 19, 2014

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Although this essay is nominally about Typography, it is underneath an elegant and concise discourse on the hand-made product in a time of mass production. Written in 1931, before the machine had totally taken over all production, when the term hand-made meant something (and something expensive), Gill's words now take on an elegiac feel. Even so, he makes valuable distinctions between the business of manufacturing anything and the pleasure of making something.

3 people found this helpful

benjaflex

Bei Nebenwirkungen fragen Sie bitte Ihren Typographen oder Setzer

Reviewed in Germany on June 24, 2016

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Eric Gills "Essay on Typography" ist eine historische Abhandlung ohne Mehrwert für modernes DTP. Durch die 133 Seiten muss man sich teilweise durchquälen, stellenweise erlebt man eine "Früher war alles besser"-Mentalität, und Gills Traktat verkommt zu einem verbitterten, sozialpolitischen Rant.
Das Thema "Typographie" scheint nur am Rande eine Bedeutung zu besitzen. Neue Erkenntnisse ergeben sich jedenfalls nicht, zudem sind jene spärlich eingesäten Axiome doch in H.P. Willbergs "Typolemik" so viel gezielter und amüsanter zu finden.

Auf dem Cover steht "Written with clarity, humility and a touch of humour ... timeless and absorbing". Leider kann ich davon nichts bestätigen, oder aber Paul Rand hatte ein anderes Buch vor sich liegen.

One person found this helpful

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Christopher Brotherton

An essay on typography

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 17, 2013

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As a former printer's compositor who worked with some of Gill's type faces I found this an intreging work. It is a surprisingly provocative essay that goes way beyond the surface features of design and places Gill along side William Morris as a critic of work and society.

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