http://www.fontbureau.com/fonts/serif/

http://www.typofonderie.com/

http://www.typography.net/

Delicato and Anziano could fit for this book project, since they are designed primarly as book typefaces. Check them out yourself at MRF; http://www.macrhino.com

Good luck!

What’s the period covered? Maybe Conrad?

Stefan, thanks for the suggestions. Delicato, which was already on my shortlist, is beautiful not in the ’classic’ sense, but in a way of its own— something like that is what I’m looking for.

George, you mean Linotype Conrad? Too irregular for body text, in my humble opinion.

The period covered is, to say the least, not too specific: from 1469 BC up to the Cold War.

Sorry, that was a brain-wrong, I meant Clifford, which I think should be fine. Conrad would indeed be a whimsical choice; Sweynheym and Pannartz were definitely among what our great-grandmothers would have called the “splendid primitives” of type.

Thanks for showing interest in Delicato. Let me know if you have further questions?

Whitman, with its clean, disciplined lines seems like a good match.

What app are you going to use to set the book? If it’s InDesign, I’d be looking for OpenType. That narrows the field somewhat.

Clifford is great, but not OT. Some OT ideas:
Bulmer, Kepler, Arnhem, Storm’s Baskeville Ten and his Walbaum Text.

Or, if you’re stiil thinking of Quadraat, have a look at Fresco.

Have a look at Dolly, by Underware. www.underware.nl

It is a superb book face.

John, I’ll be using InDesign. What exactly are the pros of using OpenType fonts, considering I’ve already set up separate character styles for small caps and the like, which can easily be switched back and forth between OpenType and Postscript variants?

Bulmer I find not adventurous enough. Kepler I like, but not so much its commas and quotation marks. Whitman and Walbaum are interesting options.

Pataline, Dolly (not OpenType, by the way) is one of the fonts I’m considering. I really like its lively character, which indeed might work to make the dry text a bit more exciting. On the other hand, don’t you think Dolly (example pdf) is too happy and friendly a typeface for serious subject matter such as war and its history?

I’ve also come across Slimbach’s Warnock. Would that be acceptable, keeping in mind the subject of the book? I guess Cronos is a good sans companion?

> Slimbach’s Warnock. Would that be acceptable

Good idea. It has that spikey agressiveness, but is very polished and readable.

> rather heavy/dark

This made me think immediately of the work of Smeijers,
like Renard or Arnhem. If you’re going for darkish type
it’s much better to choose from designs intended as such,
as opposed to a generally-after-the-thought demi weight
of something-or-other.

hhp

Smeijers’ stuff might be a bit too perky. John’s suggestion of Storm Baskerville Ten (or ITC Bodoni Six) sounds good to me.

Warnock is our generation’s Vendôme. Sorta. Either way, it is a gorgeous typeface. The more I have opportunity to look/play/work at/with it, the more I like it. The bonus is that the italic isn’t a pansy support to the roman, but has that rigid goodness that I love so much.

What exactly are the pros of using OpenType fonts?

Well, it depends on the fonts, but usually more extensive ligatures, kerning between the small caps and the roman, the superiors, fractions and the like. Switching to “expert sets” for some characters often breaks spellchecking. Better language support means you’re less likely to be in trouble when you discover the Czech name in your English text.

I set a book in Warnock, because I needed the Greek, and I was very pleased with it.