Augustino da Siena designbriefyear1 Bourbeau serving up a goblet

Bourbeau serving up a goblet of water with warmth and panache

but he uses the poster as his signature medium

Abstract & Delight: A Few Covers by Audrey Meyer is the second issue of our Design Brief and the first step on a long journey of exploration into the work of an overlooked midcentury designer

Eric Gill’s career as an artist began in Ditchling

Each letter is a lovely example of the sign-writer’s art even if it doesn’t say anything in particular

Augustino da Siena designbriefyear1 Bourbeau serving up a gobletTo honor Alfred Fairbank on his eightieth birthday in 1975, David R. Godine in the United States and The Merrion Press in England collaborated in publishing this facsimile of the rare and superb writing manual of Augustino da Siena. This is the last of the great writing manuals to be cut in wood, and to examine its place in the continuum of calligraphic manuals and to elucidate its text, Alfred Fairbank, the grand master of calligraphers, has written