This unique alphabet book features full-page, ultra-detailed, hand-drawn illustrations with an average of 100 items per letter for each of the 26 letters of the English alphabet. As envisioned by illustrator and muralist, Nigel Sussman, this book will provide hours of educational seek-and-find fun for art enthusiasts of all ages. There are an abundance of things to discover, from Aardvark to Zucchini!
Karl Gerstner is one of Switzerland's—and therefore the world's—best and best-known graphic and typographic designers. His high ambition in this book, first published in German in 1972, is to provide a complete and systematic taxonomy of writing, a programmed investigation into the underlying structure of script and type; Gerstner writes that his book is meant to "encompass the aspects and possibilities of the alphabet in their totality." It is this systematic and programmatic approach that sets the book apart. Most studies of typography and its larger graphic setting and context are concerned with the history of the development of writing and printing, or are collections of typographic models or typical examples, or are textbooks on layout and design. This one is organized into five sections that take up, in turn, Script and Speech—the relation between writing and language, different alphabets, reading directions (the eye follows directions and moves in a direction), style; Manual Graphics or craft—materials, tools, methods, procedures, reproductive techniques; Images—letter pictures, word pictures, sentence pictures, handwriting, size, proportion, type weight, form, harmony, texture, brightness, color; Function—as effected through dimensioning, spacing, grouping, layout, integration; and Expression—as achieved through coordination, articulation, emphasis, diversion, and the spirit of play. As a physical object, the book is more than a passive repository of examples of typographic display. It makes a dynamic and integrated typographic statement of its own and as a whole as it progresses and develops in accordance with its internal program. The book is nearly square and opens vertically rather than horizontally. Type is printed on only one side of the sheets, which are folded back on themselves along the outer edge to form double leaves, so that there is no distracting show-through "noise." There are words printed in blind embossing and stencil cutouts. And color is used with an elegant restraint, appearing only at the book's mid-section climax—its very sparseness amid the prevailing sharp black and white contributes a luxurious effect.
Many languages, particularly those which have achieved literary status, have been studied in great detail, and specialized descriptions of these are plentiful. What has not been so readily available, however, is a general survey covering a wide spectrum of the world's languages on a comparative basis. It is this kind of comparative cross-section of languages, ranging from the familiar and well-documented to the relatively obscure, that the Compendium of the World's Languages presents.
The Illustrated Compendium of Weirdly Specific Words is an illustrated dictionary of the 300+ most specific words in the English language, along with their definitions, roots, and (hilarious) usage quotes! Have you ever been lying in your bed, surrounded by crumbs and wrappers, feasting on your fifth pop tart and thought, I wish there was a word for this? Well, there is! Accubationis - the practice of eating and drinking while lying down. The English language is populated by many words that have a regular place in everyday conversation, and The Illustrated Compendium of Weirdly Specific Words celebrates these words by featuring definitions, origins and usage, and coupling illustrations. Words include: Badling (noun) - a group of ducks. Crapulence (noun) - sickness resulting from eating too much. Guddle (verb) - fishing only with your hands. Kaiju (noun) - A film genre characterized by giant, terrifying monsters. Slugabed (noun) - A lazy person who stays in bed late. Wegotism (noun) - The excessive use of the word ‘we'. With more than 300 insanely specific words, you'd think that you would know a few of them, right? Well, think again! We're willing to wager that you don't know a single one of these words! Unless, of course, you have a special interest in the smell of horse urine (the word for that particular odor is jumentuous). The Illustrated Compendium of Weirdly Specific Words not only captures these words through equally specific illustrations, it also tells you what they mean! And like so many great reference books before it, it is organized in alphabetical order, from aglet to zopissa. Readers will close this book a little bit smarter than they were when they picked it up!
The first comprehensive intellectual history of alphabet studies. Inventing the Alphabet provides the first account of two-and-a-half millennia of scholarship on the alphabet. Drawing on decades of research, Johanna Drucker dives into sometimes obscure and esoteric references, dispelling myths and identifying a pantheon of little-known scholars who contributed to our modern understandings of the alphabet, one of the most important inventions in human history. Beginning with Biblical tales and accounts from antiquity, Drucker traces the transmission of ancient Greek thinking about the alphabet’s origin and debates about how Moses learned to read. The book moves through the centuries, finishing with contemporary concepts of the letters in alpha-numeric code used for global communication systems. Along the way, we learn about magical and angelic alphabets, antique inscriptions on coins and artifacts, and the comparative tables of scripts that continue through the development of modern fields of archaeology and paleography. This is the first book to chronicle the story of the intellectual history through which the alphabet has been “invented” as an object of scholarship.
An adult parody of children’s alphabet books, offering horrible—but hilarious—advice, from the authors of All my friends are dead. In the humorous vein of Go the F**k to Sleep comes a laugh-out-loud collection of bad advice that turns the children’s alphabet book on its head. Adorable, illustrated characters lead readers down a path of poor decision-making, and alphabetical, rhyming couplets offer terrible life lessons. O is for opening things with your teeth, F is for setting Daddy’s wallet on fire, and R is for Raccoon (but definitely not for rabies). With plenty of playfully disastrous choices lurking around every corner, this compendium of black humor may be terrible for actual children, but it’s perfect for the common-senseless child in all adults. Plus, this is the fixed-format version, which looks nearly identical to the physical book. Praise for K is for Knifeball “Great fun for adults. The humorous illustrations, done in the style common in kids books, greatly add to the fun.” —Geek Alerts
This illustrated compendium celebrates LGBTQIA+ history and culture, written by and according to culture icon Justin Elizabeth Sayre! Based on Sayre's five-part show in New York City, From Gay to Z is a humorous collection of the rich legacy of gay culture, told through the letters of the alphabet. From ABBA to addiction, hair and makeup to HIV, Fannie Flagg to fierce, Sayre offers their own perspective on the things that have influenced gay culture today, including iconic figures, historical moments, ongoing issues in the LGBTQIA+ community, and everything in between. As gay culture is always evolving and different for everyone, this book does not serve as a definitive guide—instead, Sayre encourages readers to use this knowledge to reflect on the things that have informed their personal identities. Engagingly written and beautifully designed, From Gay to Z is a distinctive and dynamic look at gay culture for LGBTQIA+ readers everywhere. STRONG VOICE AND ENGAGING CONTENT: Sayre's writing is lively, engaging, and rich. The entries have their own style and contain humorous anecdotes, facts, commentary, and more—all told through Sayre's animated yet authoritative voice. BELOVED, WELL-KNOWN AUTHOR: Sayre is active and well-known in the LGBTQIA+ community and beyond. They've been recognized as one of "LA's 16 Most Talented LGBT Comics" by Frontiers Magazine, and their debut comedy album, The Gay Agenda, was named one of 2016's "Best Things in Comedy" by The Comedy Bureau. They host their own podcast, Sparkle & Circulate, where they interview performers, writers, and other creative minds of the LGBTQIA+ community. As an activist, Justin's charity benefit show, "Night of a Thousand Judys," raises money for the Ali Forney Center for Homeless LGBTQIA+ youth and is now in its 7th year. Perfect for: • LGBTQIA+ people of all ages • Fans of Trixie and Katya's Guide to Modern Womanhood • Those looking for a birthday or holiday gift for their LGBTQIA+ friends and family
A collection of over 3400 intricate artistic initials largely drawn from Victorian, Art Nouveau and Edwardian eras suitable for use in vintage style monogramming. Initials and designs are in larger format (most are 2 inches high or greater) to preserve detail and encompass a vast array of styles recovered from hard to find original sources.
