NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #3/NN_1993_3.iso/spool/comp/text/tex/15419

Text File | 1993-01-25 | 1.7 KB | 38 lines

Newsgroups: comp.text.tex
Path: sparky!uunet!brunix!doorknob!pgh
From: [e-mail] (Paul Howard)
Subject: Re: WANTED:  book on typesetting in general
In-Reply-To: [e-mail]'s message of Fri, 15 Jan 93 16:00:19 GMT
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Sender: [e-mail]
Organization: Dept. of Computer Science, Brown University
References: <[e-mail]>
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 15:23:07 GMT
Lines: 25

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Jim Graham) writes:

   I'm looking for a good book on general typesetting rules.  the intent
   here is to learn more about typesetting itself, which will then allow me
   to do better work with TeX.  I'm not interested in a book that teaches
   me how to run a typesetter, but rather, things to do and not to do when
   typesetting (with whatever you happen to be using).

I just bought a copy of "The Elements of Typographic Style" by Robert
Bringhurst.  It talks about book layout, page layout, punctuation,
font selection, history of typefaces, etc., in an only mildly
prescriptive way.  It sounds as though this might fit the bill for
you.  It's a new book (copyright 1992), and not too expensive ($14.95
US in paperback).  For what it's worth, on the back cover Hermann Zapf
says that he hopes this book becomes the Typographer's Bible.

One thing Bringhurst does say that caught my attention is that you
should buy ONE typeface family and get to know it very well.  "One good
typeface is better than an infinite number of mediocre ones." or words
to that effect.

-- Paul
--
Paul G. Howard    Dept. of Comp. Sci.   Brown Univ.   Providence RI 02912-1910
email [e-mail]    phone [phone]    FAX [phone]    ham KA1YNE