Enlargements+

Russell Maret. Specimens of Diverse Characters. [New York, N.Y.]: Russell Maret, 2011. Purchased on the Henry S. Morgan Fund, 2012.

This bravura display of letterpress typefaces demonstrates the wit, ingenuity, and typographical prowess of Russell Maret, one of the most gifted and enterprising fine printers in New York. It is his most ambitious work to date, an impressive folio printed in several colors on handmade paper with specimens of his new proprietary typeface, Iohann Titling. Maret designed Iohann Titling and had it cast in lead by one of the last remaining typefoundries in the U.S. This is one of fifteen special copies bound in morocco and accompanied with a portfolio of progressive proofs. The book and portfolio are elegantly packaged in a clamshell box with a compartment containing actual lead type, a reminder that “type is something you can pick up and hold in your hand.”