Tuesday Typefaces: Caslon Openface

Of the hundreds of typefaces that the Center for Book Arts has in its collection, there are 22 different variations of Caslon, named for William Caslon I (1692-1766), the great British type designer. Caslon's typefaces were inspired by Dutch Baroque types, commonly used types in England at that time. They are characterized by short ascenders (the portion of a lower-case letter that extends upward, above the letter's x-height) and descenders (the portion that extends below the baseline), and bracketed serifs (the decorative detail on the end of some of the strokes of each letter).

Caslon's designs were immediately popular and used for many important printed works, including the first printed version of the Declaration of Independence. After his death, the use of his types diminished, but they experienced a revival in the 1840s as a part of the British Arts and Crafts movement. New versions based on his original 18th Century designs spread, sometimes having little or nothing in common besides the serifs and the name. Today there are many typefaces called "Caslon" with some other distinguishing element, which reproduce the original to varying degrees.


The Center's collection includes several different variations on Caslon, including Caslon 540, issued by American Type Foundry in 1902; Caslon Openface, issued by Barnhart Brothers & Spindler in 1915; and Caslon Antique, a decorative American typeface that was designed in 1894 by Berne Nadall. Despite the name, Caslon Antique is not actually a member of the Caslon family of typefaces at all, since it has little to do with the original forms designed by William Caslon. Nadall's foundry, Barnhart Bros. & Spindler, renamed the face in the mid-1920s.as a a marketing maneuver to boost the popularity of a previously unpopular typeface by associating it with the more popular Caslon.

Many of our variations on Caslon can be classified as display faces, suitable for headlines and posters and other occasions that call for a decorative touch. These faces are perhaps not suitable for an entire novel,  but may be perfect for a title page or invitation.

A wonderful part of working at the Center for Book Arts is the ability to use (or simply look at) all the different styles of type that it has to offer. With the electronic age, it is easy to take it for granted that each typeface was designed by an artist who took each letter into consideration. Each piece of type, crafted in metal or wood, is a work of art in itself, and it is great to take the time to appreciate that. Caslon Openface is just one, so join us next week for another!

-Christina Squitieri


Have any stories about your favorite (or least favorite) typeface? Want to give us suggestions or comments? Comment on this post, email us at info@centerforbookarts.org, visit us on Facebook (/centerforbookarts) or follow us on Twitter (@center4bookarts). Can't wait to see you there!

Monday Methods: The Headband

Welcome to the Center for Book Arts' first edition of "Monday Methods"! Today we'll be talking about a very small element in nearly every hardcover book printed today: the headband.


Headbands, which appear on the head and tail end of a book, were originally a functional part of the book-binding process. They were used to connect and hold sections of a book together, and the slight protrusion also protected the part of the spine (where the book was sewn) that was left unprotected by the front or back cover. Nowadays in commercially-bound books they are usually purely decorative, yet are still so tied to the aesthetic of the hardback book that it would be strange to see one otherwise.

A round-back book with a headband

Headbands for hand bookbinding today can either be purchased already-made on a roll and then glued onto the spine of the book as-is, as at left in the picture; or sewn by hand with silk thread. Headbands can be made out of any colors you choose, but often they consist of two. The pre-made headbands that beginning students use in Bookbinding I are made of a piece of cloth with a round, embroidered bump of color at one end. Modern books that are mass-produced have reams of headbands made on a machine, which are also attached to the book after the pages are put together.

Artists at the Center for Book Arts sometimes choose to make their own headbands from scratch, and every once in a while a weekend class is given on how to sew your own. Sewn headbands can be made in striped, chevron, and other patterns. The silk thread is sewn in a pattern around a stiff core and laced into each section of the book itself as it is made, so that the headband is fully integrated into the textblock itself.  A fantastic resource on the subject is Headbands: How To Work Them, by Jane Greenfield & Jenny Hille (Oak Knoll Press, 2008).

If you have any hardcover books in your house (including dictionaries), I encourage you to take a look at them. Do they have headbands? What color are they? Odds are, a hardcover book does have them, and you may not have noticed them (or appreciated them) before! An important part of bookmaking before our time, the little headband continues to be a part of bookmaking today.

We hope you enjoyed the first day of our new blogging adventure! Please comment below with suggestions, questions, or stories about headbands (did you look and realize your old copy of Hemingway has the same headband as your copy of the DaVinci Code? We want to hear it!). You can also help start a conversation on Facebook (/centerforbookarts) or Twitter (@center4bookarts). Can't wait to see you there!

-Christina Squitieri

Coming Soon to the CBA Blog: Daily Columns!

Hello, everyone! The Center for Book Arts Blog is going to be making some exciting and new changes soon. Starting next week, we will be posting daily! Each day is going to have a theme, giving you the chance to learn more about the CBA, what we do, and what you can learn here. Here is an outline of what each day will look like:

Methods Monday: Think bookbinding and printing are things of the past? Not true! The methods we use at the CBA are still used (though to a much larger scale) in modern book production. Start your week off with a cup of coffee and a look through the bindery and printshop to see how similar your copy of Twilight is to what we do (and teach!) every day.

Typeface Tuesday: Did you know the CBA has over 800 different fonts in our printshop? These different typefaces and sizes are used by local artists to create everything from poetry chapbooks to thank-you cards. Tune in as we explore the history, artistry, and usage of one each week.

Wednesday Exhibitions: The Center for Book Arts has exhibitions in its gallery space, presenting the work of contemporary book and letterpress artists all over the country, and these books are ART! Each Wednesday, take a look at what people today are doing with paper and ink. Your Kindle may be good for breezing through the New York Times on the subway, but I can guarantee it can't come close to these innovative and beautiful pieces.

Thursday Terms: Taking a class at the CBA with definitely enhance your vocabulary. Methyl cellulose, signatures, and em dashes are common in daily conversation. Ever want to know what these words mean and how they apply to book arts? Stop by on Thursdays for a taste of what you can learn—even in our intro classes.

Friday Insights: The Center for Book Arts doesn't just have open houses and gallery openings. We're here 6 days of week, and daily artists rent studio space and work on their projects, classes are taught, and administration gets done. Check in on Fridays to find out what happens on the day-to-day basis here (and perhaps even interviews with artists!)

As the Center for Book Arts Blog transitions to our daily format, we encourage feedback from our readers. Is there anything you particularly like? Dislike? Have ideas for new columns? Let us know! Feel free to drop us a line either in a comment to one of our posts or email us at info@centerforbookarts.org. Thank you and we hope you enjoy this new and exciting page!

Paper Marbling

Coming up next month, we're proud to offer the opportunity to learn the traditional technique of paper marbling. On February 11th, Steve Pittelkow will join us at the Center to share his expertise in the art of Turkish Marbling. Pittelkow's interest in marbled paper stems from a longtime desire to personalize his own bookbinding with distinctive papers. He teaches extensively and enjoys revealing the secrets for successful marbling. Over the years, he has experimented with a wide variety of paints and papers in a quest for materials that allow students a rich and satisfying marbling experience.

Paper marbling is a method of surface design, used to create colorful patterns similar to smooth marble or stone. Marbled papers are popular used as endpapers in books, and can personalize your work with an energizing hit of color.  Turkish marbling involves suspending colored pigments in a water bath, and then manipulating the colors into a pattern using combs, rakes, brushes or other implements. The pattern is then transferred to a prepared sheet of paper. There's a great essay here on the different types of marbling techniques, both Eastern and Western methods, and a discussion of how to classify marbled papers, as well as a beautiful database of different kinds of marbled papers, organized by type of pattern, for your visual enjoyment.

Once you've browsed their collection, you hopefully are itching to try it for yourself. Registration is here for next month's class; students will learn to mix the bath and colors, prepare paper, and practice many traditional patterns. This 'at the tank' class will provide each student with many papers for use in future projects.

Crafting a Narrative

Artist Iviva Olenick is back at the Center February 4-5, Saturday and Sunday, with a class that focuses on the narrative possibilities of working in fabric. Crafting a Narrative is a weekend immersion in fiber techniques, including text-based embroidery, basic applique and fabric collage techniques, and image transfer methods. She says "The goal is for students to incorporate new techniques into the creation of a soft "book" in unconventional form, or a piece of narrative artwork".

Iviva is a Brooklyn-based visual artist who embroiders daily. She works in series, blending illustration and text in autobiographical embroidered textiles. You can see more of her work here. and on her embroidered blog.

Registration for her class is here: don't miss out!

New Programs for a New Year!

Have you taken a look at our website recently? We've updated both the classes and events pages with all the exciting things we have planned for the New Year. Some highlights include:

• A Paper Marbling workshop on February 11 with master of the art, Steve Pittelkow
• The return of the Caterpillar Stitch on March 17-18
• Experimental Letterpress! An immersion into the world of H.N. Werkman with Lynne Avadenka as your guide. March 16-18.

• Paper like leather, Bark like thread:Korean Paper Techniques with Aimee Lee. Feb. 4-5.
• The opening of our Winter Exhibitions! January 18th is the opening reception for Fine & Dirty: Contemporary Letterpress Art, as well as two new Featured Artist Projects by Ethan Shoshan and Patricia Ward. 
• Celebration of the Chapbook 2012: Featuring readings, panels, workshops, and a book fair. Events here at the Center on Wednesday, March 28th and at CUNY Grad Center on March 29-30. 
• Talks on the history and practice of typography:  with Barbara Henry, Russell Maret, Micah Currier, and Jesse Ragan. 
• And more! Artist Talks, our Winter Open House, Book Arts Lounge.....

There's so much going on you won't even notice the cold! (You can thank us later for filling your calendar for you.) What are you looking forward to this year?