Sister Outsider. Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde (Crossing Press, 1984)
Book jacket of the hardback edition, Crossing Press, 1984
The first edition of Audre Lorde’s Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches was published by Crossing Press, Trumansburg, NY, in 1984:
[…] a collection of essential essays and speeches written by Audre Lorde, a writer who focuses on the particulars of her identity: Black woman, lesbian, poet, activist, cancer survivor, mother, and feminist. This collection, now considered a classic volume of Lorde’s most influential works of non-fiction prose, has had a groundbreaking impact in the development of contemporary feminist theories.
Mary A. Scott designed the cover, using a photograph of the author by Salimah Ali, and a combination of MGB Patrician (1980) and the sans-serif ITC Benguiat Gothic (1979). In a previous post, I noted that MGB Patrician can be regarded as a compressed relative of (the seriffed) ITC Benguiat (1978). For some reason, the original typeface choices were replaced with ITC Benguiat in the otherwise unaltered design of the paperback cover shown below – with condensed proportions for the main title and Lorde’s name. Unlike MGB Patrician, ITC Benguiat doesn’t offer an alternate S that reaches below the baseline. The initial S was enlarged and stretched to replicate the look. ITC Benguiat is less compact and also lighter in weight. The emulation hence doesn’t have the same impact.
Cover of the paperback edition, Crossing Press, 1984
Title page of the paperback edition, with the same design as the hardback edition, featuring MGB Patrician for the title
Table of contents. The text typeface is Goudy Oldstyle.
