Think TYPE...Think TASCHEN...

Welcome to the world of TYPE...care of TASCHEN!

Everything you could ever want to know about printing letters and numbers! Looking back as far as man's first efforts to communicate with visual signs and drawings, Letter Fountain is a completely unique typeface handbook: in addition to examining the form and anatomy of every letter in the alphabet (as well as punctuation marks and special characters), the book cross-references type designs with important works of art and art movements from Gutenberg's times until today. Further attention is given to the esthetics of the digital age and typographical recommendations such as the choice of the right typeface for a job. Rounding out the guide are an in-depth comparison between sans-serif and serif typefaces, an essay about measuring systems and indications, advice about typographic rules, plus a manual for developing digital

TYPE Volumes 1 and 2 - Between the two volumes you have overview of type history from 1628-1938. Both volumes come with a keycard, allowing you access to jpegs of the images.

Celebrated printer and type designer Giambattista Bodoni set the standard for printing the alphabet with his Manuale Tipografico (1818). The two-volume set—published posthumously in a limited edition of 250—features 142 sets of roman and italic typefaces, a wide selection of borders, ornaments, symbols, and flowers, as well as Greek, Hebrew, Russian, Arabic, Phoenician, Armenian, Coptic, and Tibetan alphabets.

Seuss in Translation

How do you think the rhyming scheme sounds in Hebrew? My guess is awesome.

Mr. Trivia

Roger Hargreaves' Mr. Men series (1971) and Little Miss series (1981) have remained in print since their respective inception, been translated into nearly thirty languages, and have sold millions upon millions of copies. Seeing them pass through the store, parents purchasing the little books and immediately handing them to their children at the front counter, has always made me a little nostalgic. I grew up on the series myself, had a few personal favorites, and still get a kick out of how deceptively stylish they are. Too cute for words, really. Not too cute for franchising however, as I discovered the other night.

Not normally one to be suckered into buying a bunch of crap just because the item(s) in question bears the image of some nostalgic-to-me icon, I have to admit that I was, sheepishly, a little smitten when I discovered some of the Mr. & Little Miss products that have been created over the past few decades. A couple of these things would probably be floating around in my room to this day if they had seen fit to distribute them more widely in the US.

-Mr. Lazy Slippers
-Mr. Cool Toilet Seat Covers
-Mr. Funny's Runny Honey (what?!)
-Mr. Bump Plasters

Furthermore, I would like to try all of these candies:

It's A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

It's a beautiful day in the Richmond District, our new bike corral is in full use. We're here for all of your 4th of July reading and music listening needs, so stop on by and pick up something to read at the BBQ.

RAAM

Have you ever heard of Shermer's Neck?

No, it's not a town in Nevada or upstate New York. It's a condition named after long-distance-cyclist and founder of Skeptic Magazine (and author of the recent book, The Believing Brain) Michael Shermer, whose neck muscles failed him about 2500 miles into the 3000 mile Race Across America (RAAM).

Those suffering from Shermer's Neck--which tends to afflict riders about 300 miles or so into this 10 day, 3000 mile race across the continent--take to extreme makeshift measures to keep their heads up: some fashion structural supports (from whatever's handy, including Pringles cans), others wind their helmets with duct tape and then fix that to their backs.

Obviously, anyone willing to tape their head to their back in order to keep bicycling across the country in the middle of June is not a normal person. They're a little crazy--and the RAAM, in which cyclists must average at least 300 miles a day (yay! basic math) with little or no sleep, will only make them a little crazier. (To find out just how much crazier, check out this fascinating episode of Radio Lab.)

As a testament to the sheer power and perversity of human determination there is little that compares to the RAAM (one competitor quipped that "Everest is more dangerous, but the RAAM is harder"), which is one of the reasons I'm excited about Amy Snyder's visit to the store on July 14th at 7pm. Snyder, whose experience as a triathlete provided her with insight into the limits of the mind and body, is the author of Hell on Two Wheels, a riveting chronicle of the 2009 RAAM, one of the closest and most controversial races in the history of the tournament.

So, if you're at all interested in any of the above--to recap: failing neck muscles! lack of sleep! terrifying visions of armed warriors on horseback (listen to the Radiolab episode)! bicycles!--and want to hear more by an author whose account of the race has been praised as "gripping" by the Wall Street Journal, please come join Ms. Snyder and the rest of the Thursday night crew on July 14th.

For more information, visit our events page.

Image from Bicycle Dreams, a documentary about the RAAM