The book of books : 500 years of graphic innovation

This visual history brings together an extraordinary collection of books to illustrate a canon of more than five hundred years of Western book design. Beginning in 1471 with an edition printed by the influential Nicolas Jenson in Venice and ending in 2010 with a stylish design by Irma Boom, these exceptional and sometimes iconic work cover a broad range of genres: reference works and works of art, 'machines for reading' and picture books, prestigious collector's items and affordable paperbacks.

The story moves from the era when books were accessible only to a wealthy elite, through to the introduction of the first inexpensive editions of popular works, then on to the age of mechanization, when high-quality books could at last be mass-produced for a growing reading public, and beyond to the postmodern era, when restricted print runs and luxury presentation once again became marks of desirability. As well as changing tastes and evolving technology, the contributions made by printers, illustrators, typographers and graphic designers are highlighted throughout, showcasing the evolution of methods to guide readers through the text, the emergence of standard elements such as title pages and tables of contents, and the shifting interaction between typography, colour and images.

Here is the work of the greatest printers of the hand-press period - Aldus Manutius, Christoffel Plantin, the Elzeviers, John Baskerville, Giambattista Bodoni - alongside books by trendsetting designers of the modern era - William Morris, El Lissitzky, Jan Tschichold, Paul Rand, Massin, Bruce Mau. Also featured are remarkable illustrated works by architects and artists such as Giovanni Battista Piranesi and Maria Sibylla Merian. Special attention is also given to printers' manuals and type specimens, placing letterforms and printing techniques in a broader context, and charting the changing relationship between form and function, between legible clarity and decorative profusion.

Even in today's digital age, many designers and readers still feel strongly attracted to the printed book as an object of beauty and fascination. Lavishly illustrated throughout, this is an unmissable journey through time for everyone who loves books.

Introduction -- The invention and spread of printing -- Nicolas Jenson -- Gheraert Leeu -- Erhard Ratdolt -- Bonino de Boninis -- Jacob Bellaert -- Nuremberg chronicle -- Johannes & Gregorius de Gregoriis -- Hypnerotomachia Poliphili -- The sixteenth century -- Wolfgang Hopyl & Henri Estienne I -- Aldus Manutius -- Luca Pacioli -- Henri Estienne I -- Complutensian polyglot -- Johann Froben -- Theuerdank -- Vitruvius -- Ludovico degli Arrighi -- Albrecht Dürer -- Geoffroy Tory -- Marco Fabio Calvo -- Decoration and illustration -- Hans Holbein the Younger -- Robert Estienne -- Andreas Vesalius -- Simon de Colines -- Jacques Kerver -- Michael Isingrin -- Michel de Vascosan -- Jean de Tournes -- Robert Granjon -- Christoffel Plantin -- Plantin polyglot -- Henri Estienne II -- Giovan Francesco Cresci -- The Dutch golden age -- Willem Barentsz -- Jan van den Velde -- Vincenzo Scamozzi -- Paulus Aertsz van Ravesteyn -- The Elzeviers -- Joan Blaeu -- Joseph Moxon -- The eighteenth century -- Cornelis de Bruijn -- Charles Plumier & Imprimerie royale -- Maria Sibylla Merian -- Martin-Dominique Fertel -- Mark Catesby -- George Bickham -- Giovanni Battista Piranesi -- Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert -- John Baskerville -- Pierre-Simon Fournier -- Johannes Enschedé -- Louis-René Luce -- Joaquín Ibarra -- François-Ambroise Didot -- Giambattista Bodoni -- Thomas Bewick -- Redouté & Didot le Jeune -- Imprimerie impériale -- Nineteenth-century graphic techniques --

Alois Senefelder -- William Savage -- Vincent Figgins -- Jean Midolle -- John Gould -- Gottlieb Haase Söhne -- Chiswick Press -- John Sliegh & Birket Foster -- Victorian gift book -- Julius Klinkhardt -- Eadweard Muybridge -- James McNeill Whistler -- Gerrit Dijsselhof -- Private presses and traditional book typography -- William Morris -- Théo van Rysselberghe -- Lucien & Esther Pissarro -- Theodore Low De Vinne -- Count Harry Kessler & Emery Walker -- Rudolf von Larisch -- Doves Press -- Henry van de Velde -- Peter Behrens -- American Type Founders Company -- Avant-garde and new typography -- Francesco Cangiullo -- Fernand Léger -- Bruce Rogers -- El Lissitzky -- Rudolf Koch -- Francis Thibaudeau -- Theo van Doesburg & Käte Steinitz -- Karel Teige -- H.N. Werkman -- W.A. Dwiggins -- Wierner Werkstätte -- Count Harry Kessler & Edward Gordon Craig -- A.M. Cassandre -- John Heartfield -- Jan Tschichold -- Eric Gill -- Piet Zwart -- Jan van Krimpen -- Pierre Faucheux -- Modernism and Swiss typography -- Richard Paul Lohse -- Jan Tschichold -- Herbert Bayer -- Willem Sandberg -- Marie Neurath -- Robert Massin -- Lester Beall -- Paul Rand -- Karl Gerstner -- Max Huber & Giovanni Pintori -- Willy Fleckhaus -- Rémy Peignot & Adrian Frutiger -- Wim Crouwel -- Quentin Fiore -- Christian Chruxin -- Wolf Vostell -- Katy Hepburn -- Massimo Vignelli -- Helmut Brade -- Postmodernism -- Irma Boom -- Paula Scher -- Bruce Mau -- Rudy VanderLans & Zuzana Licko -- Derek Birdsall -- Stefan Sagmeister -- Joost Grootens -- Irma Boom -- Postscript.