American Proprietary Typefaces historyoftypedesignlithos Smith College hosted a conference

Smith College hosted a conference in honor of Sanger

It’s got five fives and is printed in five colors

what might our letters look like

Ehmcke would be to read this inspiring book and revel in its beautiful illustrations

living together in perfect harmony

American Proprietary Typefaces historyoftypedesignlithos Smith College hosted a conferenceIn these first days of 2026, its easy to forget that at one time in history, a proprietary typeface was a rare thing. It took a lot of work to make type. Yeah, yeah. We know. It still does. But in the hot type era, it was a different kind of work. It took forever and was incredibly expensive. Now everyone and every company has a custom typeface. But this is a book about American proprietary typefaces in the early twentieth century, when such a thing