Introduction
fontbook is the only manufac-
turer-independent type reference
guide that compiles original, digital
typefaces and presents them in a
systematic way. Since 1991 it has
been a work of reference, primarily
intended for the visual comparison
of text faces. An abundance of care-
fully researched footnotes – on
type designers, year of publication,
similar fonts and foreign language
versions – make this a truly unique
Type Encyclopedia.
15 years after its first appearance,
FontBook is now up to its fourth
completely revised and extended
edition. The selection of displayed
fonts is based upon the consen-
sus and research of the FontBook
editors. It reflects the current in-
ternational type market as well as
recent developments in typography.
FontBook contains all the classics
of the art of printing, insofar as they
exist in digital form, but the major-
ity of the faces are contemporary;
many dating from the last 20 years.
Symbol fonts, non-Western fonts,
and non-Latin fonts have all been
assigned their own chapters.
With over 32,000 type samples
from 90 international libraries,
FontBook is the largest type
reference guide in the world.
The displayed fonts are arranged as
follows:
→ 28,000 detailed headline and
text samples ( Western encoding)
in the typographic chapters Sans,
Serif, Slab, Script, Display, Blacklet-
ter and Pi & Symbols
→ 1,700 single-line font displays
(‘CE = Central European’ encoding)
in the Latin Plus chapter
→ 2,300 detailed headline and
text samples of non-Latin fonts
(Non-Latin chapter)
With well over 100,000 addition-
al footnotes and cross-references,
FontBook is an invaluable tool for
designers, typographers, advertis-
ers, manufacturers, publishers,
type historians and anyone else
who uses type in their work.
The editorial staff would like
to thank all those who helped
complete FontBook – in particular
the staff at the publishers,
fsi FontShop International, and
also the many freelance colleagues
involved.
Berlin, June 2006
The FontBook editors
The new, improved FontBook This is how it works:
the type market continues to grow as with previous editions, the Obsolete references have been fontbook is arranged in nine
steadily. During the mid-90s grunge priority of the FontBook editors is omitted, for instance those for font chapters. Six of them represent
and techno faces contributed to create an overview of the burgeo- packages. Seeing as almost all typographic styles familiar to us
toward a rapid growth of the fonts ning world of type. For this reason manufacturers offer their fonts as from previous FontBooks, the
on offer, while recent years have we’ve sifted through the internati- single-weight downloads, there is seventh combines symbol and
seen script, industrial and retro onal type market and established hardly any demand for compilation ornamental fonts, and two new
typefaces enriching the worldwide which trends will endure. We’ve packages. Also omitted is the sym- sections allow quick access to
typographic resource. Added to consulted manufacturers, retailers, bol used in the previous FontBook foreign language typefaces:
that, a new generation of designers designers and users, and we’ve to denote alternative distribution
has discovered FontLab font editing gathered and distributed countless from a second or third manufac-  Sans
software and is busy developing type statistics and had experts turer. That information has been  Serif
contemporary text and headline analyse them. The result is a typo- integrated in the new index.  Slab
families. Last but not least, the con- graphic inventory; up to date, yet The editors have also removed  Script
clusive breakthrough of OpenType valid for years to come, and unlike the FontShop number from the  Display
technology means many existing anything else on the book market. yellow bar above the type specimen,  Blackletter
typefaces are being updated and In order to further improve as it was frequently mistaken for  Pi & Symbols
extended. FontBook, the editors have made a purchase recommendation. In  Latin Plus
And so FontBook also continues changes to the design as well as the doing this the editors emphasise  Non-Latin
to grow as a source of information. content. We’ve replaced the sepa- their desire to present a work of
Our fourth edition represents rate FontFinder with an alphabetical reference rather than a sales cata- In the first six chapters, the fonts
approximately 30 percent more 53-page index at the beginning of logue. Appearance and origin of a (Western encoding) are arranged
fonts than FontBook 3. The fact that FontBook. In this way, all search op- face take precedence over commer- alphabetically by family name.
the number of pages has increased tions have been incorporated into a cial application or distributor in- If you know what a font is called
by only 11 percent is due to the im- single volume for the first time. formation. Such information is still and/or its style (Sans, Serif,...),
proved, functional design. References to foreign language available, only now it can be found you’ll rapidly find it under its name
Despite its streamlined form, the versions of popular fonts are now in the index. in one of these chapters.
information content of FontBook in the black header bar. In addition, If you know the name of a font,
has nearly doubled. Expert sets, two groups of foreign language but aren’t sure of its style, we’d
additional weights and foreign fonts have their own chapters: recommend a look at the newly
language versions are all instantly Latin Plus (Latin accented fonts) created alphabetical index. It will
recognizable without the redundan- and Non-Latin fonts. direct you to the relevant typogra-
cy of repeated displays. Extensive To compliment the four-line text phic chapter and page number.
text families no longer spread over displays of fonts in the main chap- Manufacturer’s prefixes in font
several pages; leaving more space ters (Western encoding), we’ve names, such as itc or ff, are listed
for smaller, four-weight families added a larger single-line display. but have no bearing on the alpha-
and allowing for a more effective This is used when refined details of betical order. An overview of the
presentation of display faces. a typeface are more important than manufacturer abbreviations and
legibility in 12 point, for example company names can be found after
The ff Meta (Pro) family as shown with display faces and many script the index.
in FontBook 2006:
less than one page for 300 fonts fonts.
The new double-column If you know what type of font
index replaces the you’re looking for but don’t know
separate FontFinder.
The index lists all the its name, just dive into the relevant
fonts in alphabetical style chapter. These are between
order. It shows distributor 30 and 530 pages long, depending
information as well as
the chapter and the page on the style. Fortunately there is
number for all fonts help in the form of over 5000 new
see-also cross-references when
navigating and seeking similar al-
ternatives to a desired font. In this
way fonts can be found quickly even
in the large Display, Sans and Serif
chapters.
ff Meta+ 1 and 2 as shown
in FontBook 1998:
more than two pages for 36 fonts
6 7
 The specimen page*

The presentation of fonts in the Ê

Font name.
six major chapters has been stream-
On the left side of the black bar
lined by consolidating information. you’ll find the name of the font
In the black reversed-out headers family, single typeface or font
package – large families also have
that contain the font names, you
a package number (e. g. 1, 2,...).
will find details about available The initial letter determines the
foreign languages. The presenta- alphabetical order; manufacturer
prefixes are ignored. Families with
tion of weights has been condensed
a large number of interpretations
and the weight descriptions now (for instance Garamond or Bodoni)
list any additional styles such as are sub-arranged in order of popu-
larity and/or date of publication.
Expert sets, Small Caps, Old Style
figures, etc. Characteristic letters
from the additional styles are in- Á
Historical information.
corporated in the four-line text font
Here you can find the name(s)
sample. of the designer(s) and year of
In case you need to set Central publication of almost all of the
typefaces in FontBook. If the
European or Asian language texts,
typeface is a reinterpretation or
you’ll find the necessary fonts adaptation of an earlier design,
straight away in the newly created the original date of publication
will appear in brackets.
Latin Plus and Non-Latin chapters.
Information regarding the character
sets and supported languages can Ë
Display font sample.
be found on the introductory pages
The new single-line large display
of the Latin Plus and Non-Latin was created primarily for headline
chapters. and script faces. It is used for
designs where a 12 point text
sample doesn’t show enough
The font specimen pages are divided
detail.
into six typographic chapters plus
one for Pi- and Symbol fonts.
Every typeface has a 24 point head-
È
line sample (A-Z, a-z,...); text families
Header sample.
also have a 12 point sample text for
The most important characters
all weights. Display faces show a
of a font are displayed here
single line of 24 point text for each
(upper and lower case, numbers
weight.
and punctuation), generally in
24 point. The sample also shows
The Latin Plus and Non-Latin
accented letters, special Western
chapters enable quick searches
European characters and currency
for foreign language typefaces;
symbols if they are available.
Central European and other accented
fonts as well as non-Latin fonts such
as Arabic or Cyrillic.
Í
»See also« reference.
Here you’ll find references to simi-
lar or related fonts. If these are in
a different chapter, it will be noted
in brackets ( e.g. »Display«). With
over 7,000 references, FontBook
invites vast typographical forays.

Î Ï
Text sample.
If a typeface (family)
contains more than one
weight, a small (12 point)
four-line text specimen is
shown for each; including
the one used for the hea-
der (note the black instead
of yellow arrow).
A text sample may display
several versions of a
weight such as Roman,
Small Caps, Expert set,
Old Style Figures, Tabular
Figures, etc.
Weight names.
The name of the weight is
listed above every text
sample. Should a weight
have variations (e.g. Small
Caps, Tabular Figures,...)
these are attached to their
names, separated by a
slash. The weight displayed
in the header is indicated
by a black ∞ arrow.
Ì
Foreign language
references.
Should a font be available
in language versions other
than Western (for example
CE = Central European,
B = Baltic, T = Turkish,...
see list of abbreviations
in the Non-Latin introduc-
tion), references will be
found on the right hand side
of the bar. The fonts are
displayed in the Latin Plus
and Non-Latin chapters.

Please read the introduction

to the foreign language chapters,
Latin Plus and Non-Latin.
It explains the character sets and
supported languages of the
foreign language fonts.

*The sample page shown above

does not exist like this;
it is just a made-up example
showing all possible elements
on the same page
8 9