In ‘Dutch Type’, Jan Middendorp presents a comprehensive overview of type design and lettering in the Netherlands, tracing its origins through type designers and lettering artists from the 15th to the 20th centuries. Partly based on interviews, the book also offers insight into the motives and methods of the first generations of digital type designers, featuring published and unpublished typefaces as well as sketches, studies, and samples of lettering work. While the quest for quality and innovation has remained constant, it makes clear that the advent of desktop type has opened up the discipline to a more spontaneous, inventive, and democratic approach.
Dutch Type was originally published in March 2004 and was received with huge enthusiasm. Its 3,500 copies sold out in 3 years. The book soon became hard to find and ended up being offered at embarrassingly high prices on Amazon, eBay and by antiquarians — between €400 and $800 for a copy.
In 2018 author Jan Middendorp decided to self-publish a near-identical reprint, and successfully financed the production with crowdfunding.
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