Writings
Writings comprises commissioned articles (including those for other websites) and books.
4 October 2013
Legacy of Letters T-shirt with logo in Spencerian script. Handlettered by Tony Di Spigna; digitized by C.J. Dunn; screenprinted by Ink Brigade (Portland, Oregon) who miraculously held the hairlines. White ink on asphalt gray. 100% cotton. American Apparel. Sizes XL, L, M and S. Contact Paul Shaw with your size request after your purchase. This shirt is out-of-print.
3 July 2013
by Paul Shaw. Alphabet vol. 25, no. 3 (Spring 2000) and Scripsit vol. 24, nos. 1 and 2 (Summer 2000). 64 pages; 8.25 × 11 inches; 13 images (B&W); paperback; designed by Paul Shaw. Out of Print.
A dense guide to the history of lettering since the middle of the 19th century. Includes lists of books, magazines, articles, exhibitions, conferences, films, and events. There is also a separate list of key figures. An essential source for anyone wishing to research modern lettering, calligraphy and stonecarving.
3 July 2013
by Paul Shaw. Alphabet vol. 26, no. 2 (2001) and Calligraph vol. 23, no. 2 (2001). 64 pages; 8.25 × 11 inches; 230 images. (B&W); paperback with full color cover; designed by Paul Shaw.
A visual companion to A Chronology of the Lettering Arts from 1850 to 2000 with corrections and additional information.
3 July 2013
New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1998. Edited by Peter Bain and Paul Shaw with essays by Lawrence Mirsky, Philipp Th. Bertheau, Christopher Burke, Philipp Luidl, Yvonne Schwemer-Scheddin and Hans Peter Willberg. 72 pages; 107 images (B&W); set in Stempel Garamond; paperback; designed by Stephanie Reyer and Mindy Lang.
The monograph accompanying the ground-breaking 1998 exhibition of the same name at Cooper Union has been a must-have item for anyone interested in blackletter type.
3 July 2013
Special double issue of Printing History 38/39 vol. XIX, no. 2 and vol. XX, no. 1 (1999). Edited by Peter Bain and Paul Shaw. 80 pages; 172 images (B&W); set in Schneidler Medieval; paperback; designed by Peter Bain and Paul Shaw.
This scarce catalogue of the 1998 Cooper Union exhibition is as essential, if not more so, than the monograph. OUT OF PRINT November 2020.
3 July 2013
by Paul Shaw. Scripsit vol. 22, nos. 1 & 2 (Summer 1999). 48 pages; 156 images (B&W); set in Trajanus; paperback; designed by Paul Shaw and Alessandro Colizzi.
This is the final part of the blackletter trilogy. Out-of-print; a PDF is available.
3 July 2013
by Nicolete Gray. Motif 5 (1960) expanded reprint edited by Paul Shaw. Seattle and New York: Legacy of Letters, 1997. 14 pp. plus a center gatefold and cover gatefold; 11 images (B&W); paperback 6 × 9 inches; set in Sabon; designed by Paul Shaw.
An updated reprint of Nicolete Gray’s seminal article on 15th c. sans serif lettering published as a promotional vehicle for The Florentine Set of typefaces.
3 July 2013
Essay by Georgiana Greenwood. Edited by Paul Shaw. 32 pages; 32 illustrations (B&W); set in Schneidler Medieval; designed by Paul Shaw.
This issue of Alphabet is a sampler of work from F.H.E. Schneidler’s rare four-volume portfolio Der Wassermann.
3 July 2012
by Gerrit Noordzij, edited by Paul Shaw. 32 pages; 51 illustrations (B&W). Also contains an interview with Hermann Zapf by Katharina Pieper; set in Sudum and Tret; designed by Gerrit Noordzij.
This issue of Alphabet is a collection of essays by famed Dutch typography teacher Gerrit Noordzij that are unavailable elsewhere.
3 July 2013
by Paul Shaw. 32 pages; 8.5 × 7 inches; 35 images (6 in color); set in Schneider Antiqua; paperback; designed by Michael Clark.
The only monograph on German calligrapher and type designer Werner Schneider. Out-of-print; a PDF edition with additional images in color is available.
3 July 2013
by Silvano Fassina, trans. Judyth Smith and Paul Shaw. Seattle and New York Legacy of Letters, 1997 containing “Scritturea e comunicazione visiva” by Giovanni Lussu, “Memoria delle lettere romane” by James Mosley, and “Maiuscole romane. Cinque itinerari per le strade di Roma” by Silvano Fassina. First edition of a special double issue of Calligrafia (1995) edited by Kathy Frate, Giovanni Lussu, Anna Ronchi, Daniele Turchi and Mauro Zennaro. Edition of 1000 copies, 72 pages; 2 maps; 65 photographs (B&W) 9.5 × 6.25 …
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3 July 2013
“Looking for Letters in New York: A Tale of Surprise and Dismay” by Paul Shaw. 80 pages; 5.25 × 8.5 inches; 83 images (B&W); paperback; designed by Christopher Calderhead.
This single essay issue of Letters from New York is the only available publication on the environmental lettering of the metropolis. A number of the signs are no longer extant.
4 July 2013
by Paul Shaw. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: The MIT Press, 2011.
This is the acclaimed account of the tortuous path that led to Helvetica becoming the typeface of the New York City subway system.
4 July 2013
Poster for 2011 talk to Tulsa Art Directors Club on Helvetica and the New York City Subway System; 2 colors; heavy paper; designed by Paul Shaw.
10 July 2013
Fans of Helvetica and the New York City Subway System can now proclaim their allegiance with a specially-designed t-shirt. The black t-shirt, designed by Abby Goldstein and Paul Shaw, mimics the binding of the Blue Pencil edition of the book with the word Subway in white on both sides. On one side it is set in AG Oldface (standing in for Standard) and on the other in Helvetica. The incredibly soft 100% cotton shirts are manufactured by …
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16 May 2013
Bibliologia 7 (2012) is finally out—and so is my article “New Types for New Books Revisited”. The article is a survey of the typefaces used by several American and British book designers, ranging in age and in temperament. It is a tribute to the late Will Powers (1943–2009) and his essay New Types for New Books: What We Have, What We Need (2006) which argued that we should use only typefaces designed for digital production and …
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