Superbold — Book about heavy fonts

Bold letters have their origin in the Industrial Revolution, where an increased demand for large and conspicuous types arose. Bold letters received large dissemination and popularity with the so-called wood types that are almost extinct today. However, in the USA and Switzerland there is still a small handful of wood type heroes, dedicating themselves to the art of wood type and thus, keeping a segment of type history alive. If you want to learn more about of wood type, you should visit the Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum or the corresponding website. Another important person in this context is Rob Roy Kelly. He is known best for his investigations into the history, design, and manufacture of nineteenth-century wood type. He was also a highly respected design educator whose interest in the pedagogy of teaching a creative discipline led to an immensely valuable body of writings on the subject.
This book attempts to tell the story of bold letters, also called superbold or heavy fonts. It was important for me to do this in an informational and at the same time amusing way. On the one hand, I have attempted to illustrate the history of bold letters, with factual and informative material. On the other hand, I have inserted with funny and fanciful images. Typography, for me, is not a dry and pedantic topic, but inspires true feeling, which I have attempted to convey.
The book is divided into four parts: Word, History, Form and Use. “Word” addresses the linguistic terms, “History” is dedicated to the origin of types, “Form” deals with the peculiarities and personalities of letters, and, last but not least, “Use”, which offers examples of the initial use of bold letters. You can find exemples at the end of the book.
A total of eight different type styles: Fat Face, Egyptian, Grotesque, Tuscan, Ornamental, 3-Dimensional, Black Letter and Reverse are demonstrated. The last one is not a type style in the true sense, but an interesting phenomenon within the history of typography.
I would like very much to address the topic of type in an unusual, yet entertaining way. I offer this book as an entry-level medium for type. It is for all those who have always wanted to venture closer to the topic of type, but never dared because existing books are either too complex, or simply boring.