About the project

Daniel Berkeley Updike (1860–1941) was a distinguished American printer, typographer, historian, and in 1922, released Printing Types: Their History, Forms and Use with and a revised second edition in 1937.

This two-volume work became known as the standard work on the subject and a basic book for all interested in the graphic arts. Updike explored the art of typography from the dawn of Western printing in the fifteenth century to the twentieth century—focusing primarily on European printing in Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and England as well as the United States. In it he traced the development of type design and discussed the importance of each historic period and the lessons they contain for contemporary designers. His study provided one of the first systematic historical analyses of typeface development, establishing typography as a serious academic discipline.

Photos of the two volumes of Printing Types — First edition personal copy of Printing Types

More than 360 figures are included, showcasing examples of typography, borders, flowers, and pages pulled from other seminal books from the fifteenth century up through the beginning of the twentieth. These examples were crucial to understanding the topics he covered due to the fundamentally visual nature of typography. These figures were facsimiles of books from his own collection, libraries, and others’ collections from around the world—many of which had not been reproduced until their inclusion in his work.

Digital scans of both editions are freely available on the Internet Archive.
First edition: Volume 1, Volume 2
Second edition: Volume 1, Volume 2

“The text, however much it abounds in dates, names, or historical facts, is of little importance compared with the study of the facsimiles or examples to which it directs attention.”—Daniel Updike, 1922

While facsimiles are valuable, they can’t compare to the original material from which they were generated. This project is a reproduction of Updike’s original work enhanced by the inclusion of scans of the original materials in place of the facsimiles. Thanks to publicly available digital collections, original scans of nearly every facsimile have been carefully sought out and included to allow readers to explore the many traits Updike described in their original form. All of the illustrations are also available in a comprehensive catalog with filters for browsing by country, style, and contents and cross-referenced with the chapters in which they appear. Additionally, supplemental notes from the second edition have been included in context, unifying the two editions.

Updike also recommended that his readers consult hundreds of books, specimens, and other important sources from throughout the centuries to study examples of interesting printing and typography. However, he did not include facsimiles of them. These sources have also been enhanced with more than 1,200 links that point to complete scans of the original sources (indicated by the icon)—giving readers a richer source of history beyond simple descriptions. This modern edition creates new opportunities for those interested in the history of printing and typography in Europe and the United States.

The chart below gives a breakdown by decade of the number of sources mentioned and figures reproduced by decade from the 1470s onward. Updike focused heavily on the eighteenth and nineteenth century and less on the seventeenth century. The chart extends into the 2000s due to some books only being available as reprints in later years.

How it was made

Photo of a large antique book from the late nineteenth century and matching facsimile from it on a laptop, taken at the Newberry Library in Chicago

This edition was created over the course of about four months. As an homage to the hand-set type of Updike’s original work, all text for this project was manually retyped and formatted—comprising approximately 200,000 words. Tens of thousands of pages of antique books were also carefully consulted to find as many original source materials as possible.

See how it was made

Special thanks

Special thanks is owed to the wonderful and helpful staff at the Newberry Library in Chicago, Boston Public Library Special Collections, and Providence Public Library Special Collections in Rhode Island, who graciously and enthusiastically provided access to several original books that were not available online. Their willingness to dig through obscure archives to find very specific pages is greatly appreciated.

Additionally, the many archives and libraries dedicated to digitizing antique books for everyone to enjoy were invaluable to completing the research for this project. This project would not be possible without these institutions and their ongoing efforts to make these books available for everyone to enjoy.

Corrections and additions

Every attempt has been made to ensure accuracy in reproducing Updike’s work and identifying the material he cited. Where original scans could not be found, facsimiles from Printing Types were included and where original sources could not be found, links were omitted.

Corrections from the second or digital edition appear as ~~crossed out text~~ with updated text appearing near them with a dashed underline. Please send any corrections or additions and they will be reviewed and addressed.

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Licensing

Text and figures from Updike’s Printing Types are in the public domain. Most scans are also in the public domain but their sources should be consulted before use.