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From: clouds@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Kathy Strong)
Newsgroups: comp.fonts
Subject: Re: Optima
Summary: Why not get it from the horse's mouth?
Message-ID: <42430@ut-emx.uucp>
Date: 12 Jan 91 01:45:20 GMT
References: <1991Jan12.001000.11113@usenet.ins.cwru.edu>
Sender: news@ut-emx.uucp
Reply-To: clouds@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Kathy Strong)
Lines: 32

In article <1991Jan12.001000.11113@usenet.ins.cwru.edu> sms16@po.CWRU.Edu 
(Steven M. Schwartz) writes:
>
>     Wondering if anyone out there is familiar with the history of typesetting
>and fonts, particularly "Optima".  This is for a graphics project; Optima will
>be used on Aldus Pagemaker.  The layout must be done in Optima and describe the
>history of its development.  Optima was designed by Hermann Zapf if that helps 
>any.  Any ideas would be greatly appreciated... time is of the essence.

Hmmm, that name sounds vaguely familiar ...   :-)

I popped out of usenet and onto the University of Texas on-line library catalog,
where I found 21 books by Hermann Zapf, including several copies each of

About alphabets: some marginal notes on type design (Z250 A2 Z3613 1970)
  and
Hermann Zapf and his design philosophy (Z250 A2 Z379 1987) (yes, he wrote it)

I bet either of those would be a good place to start your research. Also, 
there's a guy named Clifford Burke who wrote a series of articles on various
typefaces for Publish magazine. Some of them are collected (somewhat abridged)
in a book called _Type from the Desktop_ which is probably available at your
local bookstore (thanks, David :-). 

--K

-- 
...........................................................................
:   Kathy Strong               :  "Try our Hubble-Rita: just one shot,     :
:  (Clouds moving slowly)      :   and everything's blurry"                :
:   clouds@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu  :                           --El Arroyo     :
:..........................................................................: