Cast It #2

Cast It was launched by Italian publishing house Lazy Dog in 2016, in collaboration with the Cooperativa Anonima Servizi Tipografici (CAST), an independent cooperative type foundry. The goal of the annual publication is to promote the history and culture of typography and type design while also showcasing the foundry's typefaces.

Issue 2 publishes, as a specimen text, the first two chapters of The Printer's Grammar, a manual for typesetters written and published by John Smith in London in 1755.

As British librarian, historian and printing scholar James Mosley notes in his preface, Smith often refers to Joseph Moxon's Mechanick Exercises (published between 1683 and 1684), but unlike other manuals of the time, he does not solely rely on it. From several passages (some of which are found in the issue's excerpt), it is evident that Smith learned his trade as a typographer in German and was also familiar with French and Dutch practices.

Edited by Massimo Gonzato and Riccardo Olocco

Designed by Riccardo Olocco

Published by Lazy Dog and CAST, 2017

Softcover, 48 pages, saddle-stitch binding, 1-color printing, 6.5 × 9.5 inches

ISSN: 2531-765