Parisian Phoenix Publishing

Gayle Hendricks is the art director at Parisian Phoenix Publishing.

So here we go, chronologically… My Five Favorite Typeface Designers, Before 1950. These are the old white European men that made me fall in love with typography.

1. William Caslon (the Elder), English, 1693-1766. Caslon, the type that bears his name, is an old-style serif font. The thick and thins of the letters are similar, and the Os are on an axis. It’s legible. It’s easy to read. It is the little black dress of book typefaces. “When in doubt, use Caslon.” Why? Because it works.
2. John Baskerville, English, 1707-1775. Baskerville is usually considered a transitional typeface. It’s got more defined thick and thins and the Os are straight up and down. The serifs are razor-sharp, and a large x-height, which makes sense because he began his career as a grave carver. The Q in both the Roman and italics style sets my heart a flutter. Among Baskerville’s other claims to fame is that he invented wove paper.
3. George Louis Jean Baptiste Peignot (French, 1872-1915). Peignot and all his brothers died fighting in World War I. Cochin has a small x-height and long ascenders. It also features old-style numbers. Peignot’s other notable font: EB Garamond. Another serif font perfect for books. (He is not responsible for the font Peignot. That was designed by A.M. Cassandre in 1937.)
4. Eric Gill, English 1882-1940… My first typographic love. Two solid typefaces of many by Gill: Gill Sans (with the exception of ultra weight), a sans-serif; and Perpetua, a transitional serif. If you have a lot of words, Perpetua is a skinny font with a decent x-height. It’s classy. A third: Joanna, named for one of his daughters. It. There is nothing fancy about it, which I think is the reason I love it.

Trigger warning: Listing Eric Gill in 2026 is problematic. A 1989 biography published by Fiona MacCarthy used his journals as reference, and they revealed that he had sex with his daughters, his sister, and maybe even the dog.

5. Hermann Zapf, German 1918-2015. Zapf was a prolific type designer. One of my favorites, Palatino, squeaks into this collection with a birthdate of 1949. A old-style serif, Palatino is really balanced. It works great in books. It works best on poor-quality paper, like newsprint. The strokes have moderate contrast. It has a low x-height. That means if your space is limited, you can cut back on the leading.