Design

From The Book of Kells to Boccaccio’s Decameron, from the Vienna Genesis to Dante’s Divine Comedy: to open Codices illustres is to open the door into a precious, private world. Now in a revised format, this radiant book brings you face-to-face with 167 of the most exquisite and important manuscripts of the medieval age.

Presented in brilliant large-format reproductions, these paradigms of miniature painting and illumination from the 4th century to 1600 were once the property of some of the greatest power players in history. Now art-historical treasures, they are worth many millions and typically tucked away in private collections or closely guarded archives—until now.

Although the focus of this collection is on European manuscripts, examples from Mexican, Persian, and Indian tradition illustrate the refinement and intricacy of manuscript illumination in non-European cultures. An informative synopsis for each manuscript orients the reader at a glance, while a 36-page appendix contains biographies of the artists, as well as an extensive bibliography, an index, and a glossary for technical terms.

Now available at a bargain student price, Letter Fountain is the ultimate typeface handbook. In addition to examining the form and anatomy of every letter in the alphabet, punctuation marks, and special characters, the book examines over 150 typefaces, their origins and font characteristics, with full-page tables including scale, weight, and useful alternatives. Cross-references allow these typefaces to exist in a broader visual culture context, comparing important designs with seminal artpieces and movements from Gutenberg’s era to the aesthetics of the digital age. With special attention to finding the right typeface for a given job, the handbook also includes a manual for developing digital fonts, advice on typographic rules, an in-depth comparison between sans-serif and serif typefaces, and an essay about measuring systems and indications. The extensive appendix contains a general index, a typeface index, an index of over 250 type designers, an exhaustive index of type foundries, a graphical dictionary, and a bibliography for further reading. This book received a Certificate for Typographic Excellence from Type Directors Club New York (TDC) in 2010, and a Red Dot Design Award from the Design Zentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.

Have you ever thought of citrus fruits as celestial bodies, angelically suspended in the sky? Perhaps not, but J. C. Volkamer (1644–1720) did—commissioning an extravagant and breathtaking series of large-sized copperplates representing citrons, lemons, and bitter oranges in surreal scenes of majesty and wonder.

Ordering plants by post mostly from Italy, Germany, North Africa, and even the Cape of Good Hope, the Nuremberg merchant Volkamer was a devotee of the fragrant and exotic citrus at a time when such fruits were still largely unknown north of the Alps. His garden came to contain a wide variety of specimens, and he became so obsessed with the fruits that he commissioned a team of copperplate engravers to create 256 plates of 170 varieties of citrus fruits, many depicted life size, published in a two-volume work. The first volume appeared in 1708, with the impressively lengthy title The Nuremberg Hesperides, or: A detailed description of the noble fruits of the citron, lemon and bitter orange; how these may be correctly planted, cared for and propagated in that and neighboring regions.

In both volumes, Volkamer draws on years of hands-on experience to present a far-reaching account of citrus fruits and how to tend them—from a meticulous walk-through of how to construct temporary orangeries, glasshouses, and hothouses for growing pineapples to commentary on each fruit variety, including its size, shape, color, scent, tree or shrub, leaves, and country of origin.

In each plate, Volkamer pays tribute to the verdant landscapes of Northern Italy, his native Nuremberg, and other sites that captured his imagination. From Genovese sea views to the Schönbrunn Palace, each locale is depicted in the same exceptional detail as the fruit that overhangs it. We witness branches heavy with grapefruits arching across a sun-bathed yard in Bologna and marvel at a huge pineapple plant sprouting from a South American town. The result is at once a fantastical line-up of botanical beauty and a highly poetic tour through the lush gardens and places where these fruits grew.

Few colored sets of Volkamer’s work are still in existence today. This publication draws on the two recently discovered hand-colored volumes in the city of Fürth’s municipal archive in Schloss Burgfarrnbach. The reprint also includes 56 newly discovered illustrations that Volkamer intended to present in a third volume.

Mysterious and mathematical at once, the magical visual world of Dutch artist M.C. Escher (1898–1972) has captivated scientists and scholars and made its mark on popular culture, inspiring book covers, album art, films, posters, and puzzles.

This set puts Escher’s tessellated wonders right at your fingertips with 17 easy-to-assemble paper sculptures. Folding along the score lines, you can transform the artist’s richly geometric designs into three-dimensional polyhedra with forming and reforming patterns, including genius arrangements of flowers, butterflies, lizards, and seashells. The book includes a review of the geometric principles and artistic invention underlying Escher’s optical marvels as well as concise instructions.

From The Book of Kells to Boccaccio’s Decameron, from the Vienna Genesis to Dante’s Divine Comedy: to open Codices illustres is to open the door into a precious, private world. Now in a revised format, this radiant book brings you face-to-face with 167 of the most exquisite and important manuscripts of the medieval age.

Presented in brilliant large-format reproductions, these paradigms of miniature painting and illumination from the 4th century to 1600 were once the property of some of the greatest power players in history. Now art-historical treasures, they are worth many millions and typically tucked away in private collections or closely guarded archives—until now.

Although the focus of this collection is on European manuscripts, examples from Mexican, Persian, and Indian tradition illustrate the refinement and intricacy of manuscript illumination in non-European cultures. An informative synopsis for each manuscript orients the reader at a glance, while a 36-page appendix contains biographies of the artists, as well as an extensive bibliography, an index, and a glossary for technical terms.

Mysterious and mathematical at once, the magical visual world of Dutch artist M.C. Escher (1898–1972) has captivated scientists and scholars and made its mark on popular culture, inspiring book covers, album art, films, posters, and puzzles.

This set puts Escher’s tessellated wonders right at your fingertips with 17 easy-to-assemble paper sculptures. Folding along the score lines, you can transform the artist’s richly geometric designs into three-dimensional polyhedra with forming and reforming patterns, including genius arrangements of flowers, butterflies, lizards, and seashells. The book includes a review of the geometric principles and artistic invention underlying Escher’s optical marvels as well as concise instructions.

From The Book of Kells to Boccaccio’s Decameron, from the Vienna Genesis to Dante’s Divine Comedy: to open Codices illustres is to open the door into a precious, private world. Now in a revised format, this radiant book brings you face-to-face with 167 of the most exquisite and important manuscripts of the medieval age.

Presented in brilliant large-format reproductions, these paradigms of miniature painting and illumination from the 4th century to 1600 were once the property of some of the greatest power players in history. Now art-historical treasures, they are worth many millions and typically tucked away in private collections or closely guarded archives—until now.

Although the focus of this collection is on European manuscripts, examples from Mexican, Persian, and Indian tradition illustrate the refinement and intricacy of manuscript illumination in non-European cultures. An informative synopsis for each manuscript orients the reader at a glance, while a 36-page appendix contains biographies of the artists, as well as an extensive bibliography, an index, and a glossary for technical terms.