Small masterpieces from the age of metal type, foundry specimen booklets introduced new typefaces to the world with exquisitely arranged showings and a variety of original in-use examples. Distributed as ephemeral marketing, many are bold visual essays, statements of typographic craft, and prized keepsakes containing essential information about type as it was meant to be seen.

This volume reproduces specimens of typefaces by celebrated German-American designer Lucian Bernhard. Drawn from across his career, the selection showcases Bernhard’s best-known designs, as well as some less familiar gems, and covers a broad range of styles, including roman, italic, script, blackletter, sans serif, and modern display.

Bernhard (1883–1972) was one of the twentieth century’s most influential and prolific graphic designers. Born in Germany and based in Berlin from 1901 through the mid-1920s, Bernhard spent his later decades in New York. Internationally recognized for his groundbreaking poster designs, he made his first mark in type with the release of Bernhard Antiqua in 1911. Over the following decades, he completed dozens of popular typefaces for the Flinsch and Bauer foundries in Germany, American Type Founders in the United States, and his own photomagnetic lettering service.

The ten specimens presented in this volume feature well-known typefaces such as Bernhard Antiqua (1911), Bernhard Fraktur (1912), Extrafette Bernhard Fraktur (1921), Extrafette Bernhard Antiqua (1924), Bernhard Schönschrift (1925), Extrafette Bernhard Kursiv (1927), Bernhard Handschrift (1928), Lucian (1928), Bernhard Fashion (1929), and Bernhard Gothic (1929).

Stacked and bound together in a single volume, with an inside pocket containing a smaller booklet, the collected specimens, drawn from the collection of Letterform Archive, offer an unparalleled portrait of a singular career in type. All nine complete facsimiles match their originals in size and trim.

Art directed by Alice Chau

Published by Letterform Archive Books, 2025

Hardcover, 208 pages, full color, 9.5 × 12.5 inches

ISBN: 979-8-98-914234-7