Fresh Mushroom Cookbook by Sybil Henderson

Neptun in use for a mushroom-centered cookbook written by Sybil Henderson of Henderson Publications and designed by Julie Finger.

Neptun originated in 1900 at a German foundry with a long and boring name, the Aktiengesellschaft für Schriftgießerei und Maschinenbau (“Public limited company for type founding and mechanical engineering”) in Offenbach. It saw a revival in the 1960s when several American phototype providers issued versions, including Photo-Lettering’s Xenotype 3471, Headliners’ MP 428, and Lettergraphics’ Neptune. Its ancestry becomes evident in glyphs like the M, which follow the construction of German blackletter designs, compare to Jean-Paul-Fraktur, for example.