Aldous Huxley paperbacks, Harper & Row
Island, 1972
Two paperback book covers designed and illustrated by Emanuel Schongut, and published in Harper and Row’s Perennial Classic series in 1972.
The typeface is Nubian, a nowadays seldom seen Fat Face with broad proportions. Designed by Willard T. Sniffin, it was first cast by American Type Founders in 1928. Nubian has very short serifs. In place of seriffed or ball terminals, several of its letterforms feature gently flared stroke endings, see e.g. S. Among its hallmark characters are i and j with half-circle dots as well as a curtailed g – neither of which is included on the covers shown here.
In the early 1970s, Nubian was available from Photo-Lettering, Inc., under its original name. Today there are several digital versions, including OPTI Nubian Foundry (Castcraft, 1990–1991), Noble (FontBank, 1992), Nubian (Dieter Steffmann, 1999), and Fansler (Walden Font Co., 2013).
Ape and Essence was first published in 1948. Island is Aldous Huxley’s final book, originally published in 1962. Aldous Huxley who was born on this day in 1894, 125 years ago.
Ape and Essence, 1972
2 Comments on “Aldous Huxley paperbacks, Harper & Row”
Such well integrated design and such pleasing style make this entire jacket a classic example of this illustrator’s artistry, Thanks for the opportunity to see this work and the fine use of this font!
Great designing; the chosen type style, how the illustration extends out of the framed portion and bleeds off the cover, the bold black type in relationship to the bright colors. It all works.