Fraktur Mon Amour | 
 enlarge | Author: Judith Schalansky
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
Category: Book
List Price: $75.00
Buy New: $46.59
You Save: $28.41 (38%)
New (30) Used (6) from $46.59
Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 55515
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 648
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.4 x 2.1
ISBN: 156898801X
Dewey Decimal Number: 686.2247
EAN: 9781568988016
ASIN: 156898801X
Publication Date: October 3, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
When was the last time a book on typography made you swoon? Just wait until you feast your eyes on Fraktur Mon Amour Berlin-based graphic designer Judith Schalansky's love letter to Blackletter fonts. Blackletter also known as Fraktur or Gothic type was commonly used throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. By the end of the Renaissance it had mostly been replaced by the typeface Latin Antiqua. The use of Blackletter type became taboo in Germany after World War II because it was incorrectly associated with the Nazis who actually banned its use in 1941 because it was falsely believed to be a Jewish invention. Revelations about the true history and meaning of Blackletter type have resulted in a resurgence in usage by graphic designers. Companies such as Nike Reebok and Coca-Cola now use Fraktur in their advertising. It decorates posters album covers and even skin in the form of tattoos. But a comprehensive collection of the most beautiful classic faces as well as the best new variations has been missing until now.
Fraktur Mon Amour reproduces 300 variations of Blackletter fonts ranging from historical fonts to contemporary reinventions in a sensuous beautifully crafted hot-pink prayer book-style catalog that is destined to become a fetish object for designers and type enthusiasts. Each Blackletter font is presented on a full page along with its complete alphabet date of origin the name of its designer and its original foundry. On the facing page is a composition created from that font that explores the subversive beauty of this unique typeface. In addition 137 of these fonts?including four created exclusively for this book?are collected on an enclosed CD (Mac and PC) for free private and restricted commercial use. Fraktur Mon Amour is the winner of several awards including the Type Directors Club of New York's 2007 Award for Typographic Excellence.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Amour fatale = You'll become addicted October 12, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you like typefaces, typography, books, printing, or even if you just like beautiful and interesting design, cough up the rather pricey asking-price and buy this book immediately. You will love it. At first glance, it looks like a missal or prayerbook. Unlike missals, however, the page edges are done in PINK rather that red, and that little fillip more or less sums up what this book is about: why serious and foreboding typefaces have become the badge of gangs, rappers, and super-hip types everywhere. And why blackletter is now commonplace in packaging, storefront awnings, and endless other sites.
In addition to the thorough presentation of some 300 typefaces with dates, designers, and origins, you will find a facing-page design using the typeface. Many quite well done and some even exciting. Of course, I'm not the first to find the book spectacular. It won the Type Directors Club of New York's 2007 Award for Typographic Excellence. It should also get some kind of prize for campiest title for a typography book ever.
The book was originally printed in Germany, and at the bottom of each typeface sample page, there is a German text (translated in the introduction). It is quite a ridiculous text, something about a diplomat eating a pie, but in fact many pages have variations on the text, some of which are even more hilarious. Of course, you'll have to be able to read German to appreciate these, so you might want to consult Amazon's selection of German instruction books.
In short, this book is a classic "sleeper." When I ordered it I was expecting a rather straightforward, perhaps dry book about blackletter typefaces. What I got was a thoroughly delightful and entertaining romp through type and design. Yet a book that was also full of information and even scholarly in its details. Not to mention a CD-ROM with 100+ blackletters.
Just be careful, you may find it addictive. I did.
 Delightful collection October 2, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I read a review of this book months ago in Eye magazine, and waited impatiently for the new edition to come out. The wait was worth it. Judith Schalansky's love of blackletter is clear on every page. Each spread shows one blackletter font - the character set and a pangram on the right side, and a graphical arrangement on the left. The new edition contains 333 such spreads, which is an astounding collection. (Who knew there were so many blackletter fonts?) Anyone interested in typography or calligraphy will find this book a delight to page through.
I have only two complaints. First is the paper. It is less opaque than I'd wish, so there's substantial show-through from page to page. (This is hard to avoid; in a book with 720 pages, the paper must be fairly thin.) Additionally, there is a disappointingly high number of flecks in the paper, which can be rather distracting when looking at the type. Second, many of the graphical compositions fail to give much sense of the specific font's "feel", and some are little more than wasted space. However, there are also some which are both intriguing and informative.
I'm glad I got a copy, and thank Ms Schalansky for her dedicated work!
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