I’m looking for recommendations for a text typeface for a book. The book is the biography of a workman and union activist in the 1950, but the story stretches from a few years before into the 1980/90s. I thought of a commonly-used typeface from that time, e.g. Palatino or Melior, combined with a typewriter typeface for the headings.
I don't think Palatino or Melior were ever popular for books in that period. Palatino maybe if it was "arty". The most common book faces that I recall were Times and Caledonia. Another popular one was Fairfield (or maybe I'm thinking of Electra). Sometimes Century Schoolbook or Baskerville. For the most part, the choices were limited to faces that were appropriate for book work that were available on Linotype and Monotype casting machines.
Hi Jens, I recently had a brief which called for a somewhat similar "workman" type. I ultimately chose Adelle by TypeTogether. Here is someone else's "In Use" example which demonstrates a pretty straight forward and "strong" use of type:
http://fontsinuse.com/uses/6268/epizodai-paskutiniam-filmui-rezisierius-...
I also considered Stan by Ourtype... let us know how your project progresses...
There is an interesting article in Typographica 6 from December 1962 about typewriter faces. On page 59 is a list of specimen of proportional typewriter faces including Documentary, Arcadia, or Charter. They seem like interesting picks, but it might be difficult to find digitizations of them?
Not sure why but I'm getting an Emigre Solex vibe here. Although not for the body text.
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