Ladybird Book 'dinosaurs' font identification

[PunkyDory]

Can anyone identify the font used for 'dinosaurs' in the attached image. It's from a Ladybird Book from 1974. I have found a few similar fonts, but none quite the same. Square dot on the 'i', single story 'a', and 's' shape might be things to look at.

Many thanks

S.

 

[Ralf Herrmann]

4 minutes ago, PunkyDory said:

It's from a Ladybird Book from 1974.

Do you know the title?

[PunkyDory]

Is just called 'dinosaurs'. Here is a link to the book:

https://www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb/books/colin-douglas/dinosaurs/9780721403731

 

 

[Kevin Thompson]

Seems to be AG Schoolbook Medum.

[PunkyDory]

That's the one! Thank you 🙂

 

Not sure why that didn't come up on any of the font-identifier sites !

[Riccardo Sartori]

1 hour ago, Kevin Thompson said:

Seems to be AG Schoolbook Medium

Interestingly, looking at some other samples, the |t| appears to be “Helvetica-like” in shape, rather than “Futura-like”, as in AG Schoolbook (or Helvetica Textbook, for that matter, which however offers a better matching straight |l|).

[PunkyDory]

43 minutes ago, Riccardo Sartori said:

Interestingly, looking at some other samples, the |t| appears to be “Helvetica-like” in shape, rather than “Futura-like”, as in AG Schoolbook (or Helvetica Textbook, for that matter, which however offers a better matching straight |l|).

Yes ... at first glance I assumed it was a Helvetica variant until I noticed the single bowl 'a'. 

Hmmm ... so do I unmark this as solved?!

 

[Riccardo Sartori]

1 hour ago, PunkyDory said:

do I unmark this as solved?

It depends on what you need from the solution: AG Schoolbook seems to be the best available digital option for the shape and weight of the letters in “dinosaurs”. It is possible that pre-digital AG Schoolbook offered alternate characters for |l|t|, but also that one of the myriad of Helvetica-like typefaces available had an alternate |a| and it would be nearly impossible to pinpoint which one, especially if it hasn’t been digitised. 

To find a digital alternative to set the other titles in the series, I don’t know about AG/Akzidenz-Grotesk, but at least the latest iteration of Helvetica offers an alternate single-storey |a|.

[PunkyDory]

3 hours ago, Riccardo Sartori said:

It depends on what you need from the solution: AG Schoolbook seems to be the best available digital option for the shape and weight of the letters in “dinosaurs”. It is possible that pre-digital AG Schoolbook offered alternate characters for |l|t|, but also that one of the myriad of Helvetica-like typefaces available had an alternate |a| and it would be nearly impossible to pinpoint which one, especially if it hasn’t been digitised. 

To find a digital alternative to set the other titles in the series, I don’t know about AG/Akzidenz-Grotesk, but at least the latest iteration of Helvetica offers an alternate single-storey |a|.

Understood. I can see that Stylistic Set 02 of Helvetica Now has the single storey 'a', so I think that's probably the one.

I've also just noticed that AG Schoolbook and Helvetica Textbook have a tail-less 'u', which isn't a match.

Thanks for all your help!

[Riccardo Sartori]

8 hours ago, PunkyDory said:

I think that's probably the one.

Surely it’s not (Helvetica Now didn’t exist in 1974), but most probably something in that lineage.

 

8 hours ago, PunkyDory said:

I've also just noticed that AG Schoolbook and Helvetica Textbook have a tail-less 'u', which isn't a match.

Good catch!

[Kevin Thompson]

Sorry to have missed the stemless u—and the fact that AG Schoolbook wasn’t released until 1983.

Doing a bit more research on the book series, they seem to have used a number of “infant” variations of other typefaces for the interior (Sassoon, for one). The cover text may be another that has not survived into the digital age.

 

[Warren]

Hey there,

I was looking for the same thing for a meme.

I did find this link below, which says it is Alberta.

https://fontsinuse.com/uses/18664/richard-the-lion-heart-ladybird

I'm now looking for somewhere to download it from ... for free (not in the ones on Word)

[Warren]

Found this download:

[link removed]

[Ralf Herrmann]

1 hour ago, Warren said:

Found this download:

[link removed]

That’s an illegal download by the way, so I removed it. The “MT” stands for Monotype and that is the legal source. 

[Riccardo Sartori]

On 8/10/2021 at 2:26 PM, Warren said:

I did find this link below, which says it is Alberta.

While the publisher is the same, the typeface is definitely not.