Press Room
Letterform Archive Announces the Release of the Type By Series, A New Collection of Rare Typeface Specimens
Media Contact
Katie Peeler, [email protected], +1.415.223.2823
SAN FRANCISCO, California, April 9, 2025— Letterform Archive Books is excited to announce the release of the Type By series, a collection of three volumes dedicated to legendary type designers Lucian Bernhard, Roger Excoffon, and Aldo Novarese. The series presents facsimiles of foundry specimen booklets from the age of metal type, showcasing the work of celebrated designers in their original forms as they were first meant to be seen.
The Type By series includes:
• Type by Lucian Bernhard: This volume reproduces ten complete facsimiles of typeface specimens by celebrated German-American designer Lucian Bernhard. The selection showcases his best-known typefaces as well as hidden gems from his career and spans a broad range of styles including roman, italic, script, blackletter, sans serif, and modern display faces.
• Type by Roger Excoffon: Featuring ten specimens of typefaces by French designer Roger Excoffon, this volume captures the bold and innovative work of a midcentury maestro. The selection covers the full array of Excoffon’s career with the Olive foundry and includes specimens of his most influential typefaces, providing a rich portrait of his contribution to typography.
• Type by Aldo Novarese: This volume showcases sixteen facsimile specimens from Aldo Novarese, the quintessential Italian type designer who worked for nearly four decades with Nebiolo, Italy’s leading metal type foundry. The selection spans a wide range of styles including roman, script, sans serif, and display type, and offers a comprehensive look at Novarese’s best work.
Each volume in the Type By series is meticulously crafted to honor its original design, with facsimiles reproduced at their authentic size and trim. Housed in a magnetized trifold portfolio with exposed binding, every edition includes an interior pocket containing additional booklets for deeper exploration. Informative biographies on the inside covers highlight the featured designer and supporting cast, while the back pages offer insights into the typefaces and specimens—detailing their distinctive features, credits, and historical context. The Type By series provides an in-depth look at some of the most influential typefaces of the twentieth century and celebrates the legacy of three iconic figures who shaped modern typography.
Type by Bernhard, Excoffon, Novarese: Collected Specimen Booklets are available now at letterformarchive.org/shop.
Hardcover $55 or Hardcover Bundle $150 | 9.5 × 12.5 inches | 206 pages (Bernhard); 232 pages (Excoffon); 242 pages (Novarese) | ISBN: 9798989142330 (Bernhard); 979898914237 (Excoffon); 9798989142354 (Novarese)
About Letterform Archive
Founded in 2015, Letterform Archive is a non-profit center for preserving and sharing the history of the graphic arts. Letterform Archive Books produces exquisite titles based on its collection of more than 100,000 artifacts, as well as bold new books on design, type, and lettering. Distributed worldwide by D.A.P. (Distributed Arts Publishers), the Archive’s publications include Strikethrough: Typographic Messages of Protest, Bauhaus Typography at 100, Only on Saturday: The Wood Type Prints of Jack Stauffacher, The Complete Commercial Artist: Making Modern Design in Japan, 1928–1930, Citizen Printer: Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr., NKF: Piet Zwart’s Avant-Garde Catalog for Standard Cables, 1927-1928, and Emigre Fonts: Type Specimens, 1986–2024.