A list of books and articles for the study of public lettering. Compiled by Elena Veguillas
Books
Atxaga, Koldo (2007) Los rótulos comerciales y otras gráficas urbanas. Bilbao: Bizkaiko Gaiak Temas Vizcaia
Baines, Phil & Dixon, Catherine (2003) Signs: lettering in the environment. London: Laurence King
Baglee, C. & Morley, A. (1988) Street jewellery: a history of enamel advertising signs. London: New Cavendish Books
Baglee, C. & Morley, A. (2006) The art of street jewellery. London: New Cavendish Books
Banham, S. (2012) Characters: cultural stories revealed through typography. Port Melbourne: Thames & Hudson Australia
Bartram, Alan (1975) Lettering in architecture. London: Lund Humphries Publishers Ltd
Bartram, Alan (1978) Tombstone lettering in the British Isles. London: Lund Humphries
Bartram, Alan (1978) Fascia lettering in the British Isles. London: Lund Humphries
Bartram, Alan (1978) Street name lettering in the British Isles. London: Lund Humphries
Bartram, Alan (1986) The English lettering tradition. London: Lund Humphries Publishers Ltd
Constantine, Mildred & Jacobson, Egbert (1961) Sign Language for buildings and landscape. Reinhold: New York
Clough, James (2015) Signs of Italy. Milan: Lazy Dog Press
Coutinho, Bárbara (2017) Cidade Gráfica. Letreiros e reclames. Lisboa no Século XX. Lisbon: MUDE - Museu do Design e da Moda
Evans, W (1998) Signs / with an essay by Andrei Codrescu. London: Thames & Hudson
Finizola, Fatima (2010) Tipografia vernacular urbana: uma análise dos letreiramentos populares. São Paulo: Blucher
Finizola, Fatima (2013) Abridores de letras de pernambuco: um mapeamento da gráfica popular. São Paulo: Blucher
Gray, M. & Armstrong, R. (1962) Lettering for architects and designers, London: Batsford
Gray, Nicolete (1960) Lettering on buildings. London: Architectural Press
Gray, Nicolete. (1986) A History of lettering: creative experiment and letter identity. Oxford: Phaidon
Gray, Nicolete (1970) Lettering as drawing. London: Oxford University Press
Gerlach, Verena (2013) Karbid Berlin – de la lettre peinte au caractère typographique. Paris: Ypsilon
Hall, Alistair (2020) London street signs. London: Batsford
Haslam, Andrew (2011) Lettering: a reference manual of techniques. London: Laurence King
Hayes, J (1951) The Roman letter: A study of notable graven and written forms in twenty centuries. Chicago: R. R. Donnelley
Heller, S & Illic, M (2013)Lettering large. Art and design of monumental typography. New York: The Monacelly Press
Herdeg, W. (ed) (1978) Archigraphia: architectural and environmental graphics. Zürich: Graphis Press
Jury, David (ed) (2011) Typographic writing, London: ISTD [See Fred Smeijer’s article ‘Typography vs commercial lettering’ pp. 147–151]
Kindersley, R. & Jennings, M. (1981) Architectural Lettering: a Reassessment. London: Royal Institute of British Architects
Kinneir, J. (1980) Words and buildings: the art and practice of public lettering. London: The Architectural Press
Laube, A & Widrig, M (2016)Archigraphy. Lettering on Buildings. Basel: Birkhäuser
Mosley, James (1999) The Nymph and the Grot: the Revival of the sanserif font. London: Friends of the St Bride Printing Library
O’Donnell, T. (1982) Lettering in the twentieth century, a report on the practice, development and teaching of lettering in Britain this century. Bath: Crafts Study Centre
Petrucci, A. (1993) Public lettering, script, power, and culture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Powers, A. (1989) Shopfronts. London: Chatto & Windus
Poynor, R (2001) Typographica. London: Laurence King
Saccani, Anna (2013) LetterScapes: a global survey of typographic installations. Thames and Hudson
Sánchez, América (2001 )Barcelona Gráfica. Barcelona: Gustavo Gili
Shaw, Paul (2000) A chronology of the lettering arts from 1850 to 2000: A Work in Progress. Alphabet vol.25, n.3 (Spring 2000)
Shaw, Paul (2015) The eternal letter. Two millennia of the classical Roman capital. Massachusetts: MIT Press
Smith, Percy J Delf (1946) Civic and memorial lettering. London: Black
Smith, Percy J Delf (1932) Lettering: a plea for its greater considerations. The First Edition Club
Smith, Percy J Delf (1937) ‘Lettering in association with architecture’ in Lettering of To-day. London: The Studio
Spalding, Tom (2013) Layers. Associated Edition
Sutton, J. (1965) Signs in action. London: Reinhold Studio Vista
Sutherland, W (1987) The art and craft of signwriting (Reprint of a Victorian treatise on the principles of lettering). London: Omega Books
Treu, M. (2012) Signs, streets and storefronts. A history of architecture and graphics along America’s commercial corridors. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press
Tschichold, J. (1966/1985) Treasury of alphabets and lettering. Ware, Hertforshire: Omega Books
Willen, B and Strals, N (2009) Lettering and type: creating letters and designing typefaces. United States: Princeton Architectural Press
Zabalo, Pablo & ZAbalo, Jon (1947)Arquitectura popular y grafía Vasca. Buenos Aires: Ekin
Articles
Baines, Phil & Dixon, Catherine (2004) ‘Letter rich Lisbon’, Eye, vol.14, n.54 link
Baulius, Andreu (2012) ‘La letra callejera’ in Monográfica.org. Revista temática de Diseño. Retrieved 23 October 2015 link
Berry, J. (2008) ‘Legible in pPublic space’, Eye, vol.xx, n.67
Brownjohn, R. (1961) 'Street level' in Typographica, new series n4. London: Lund Humpries, pp.33–60
Brownjohn, Robert (1963) ’Street level’ in Typographica, May 1963, p.49
Brownjohn, Robert (1963) ’Sex and Typography’ in Typographica, May 1963, p.57 (check date?)
Dixon, Catherine (2013) ‘Quiet man of letters’ in Eye vol.22, n.86, link
Forehoe, C (1955) ‘Lettering: The champion’ in The Architectural Review, vol.cxvii n.699 March 1955
Harvey, Michael ‘Down with Times New Roman: lettering on buildings, memorials and coins’ in Sculpture Journal, 18 Feb 2009, pp.223–253
Hollis, Richard (1998) ‘Building and Graphic Language’, in Eye vol.xx, n.28
Kinneir, John (2007) ‘Signs at the Royal Festival Hall’ London: Hyphen Press
Gray, Nicolete (1953) ‘Theory of classical lettering’ *in The Architectural Review* vol.114, n.683, pp.295–301, Nov 1953
Gray, Nicolete (1953) ‘Classical in practice’ in The Architectural Review vol.114, n.684, pp.400–401, Dec 195
Gray, Nicolete (1954) ‘Lettering: Sans’ in The Architectural Review vol.115, n.688, pp.269–271, April 1954
Gray, Nicolete (1954) ‘Egyptians: their character and suitability to contemporary architecture’ in The The Architectural Review vol.115, n.690, pp.387–391, Jun 1954
Gray, Nicolete (1954) ‘Lettering: Tuscan’ in The Architectural Review vol.116, n.694, pp.259–261, Oct 1954
Gray, Nicolete (1955) ‘Lettering: Modern Face and FatFace’ in The Architectural Review vol.117, n.700, pp.273–274, April 1955
Gray, Nicolete (1960) ‘Sans serif and other experimental inscribed lettering of the early Renaissance’ in Motif, n.5, pp.66–70, Autumn 1960
Gray, Nicolete (1961) ‘The civic trust and lettering: A visit To epping’ in Typographica, n.4 ns December 1961 London: Lund Humphries
Gray, Nicolete (1964) ‘Lettering on buildings’, in Motif n.13, pp.17-47. London: Shenval Press
Mosley, James (1964) ‘English vernacular’ in Motif n.11, pp.3–55, Shenval Press
Mosley, James (1964) ‘Trajan revived’ in Alphabet, pp.13–42
Mosley, James (1965) ‘‘The Nymph and the Grot: the revival of the sans serif letter’ in Typographica n12, pp. 2-19
Nash, J R (2002) ’In defense of the Roman Letter’ in E F J Journal [Internet] Retrieved from link [Accessed: 24 April 2015]
Poynor, Rick (2012) ‘Robert Brownjohn: Photos at Street Level’ in Design Observer, 18 November [Internet] Available from: link [Accessed: 1 February 2015]
Smeijer, Fred (2011) ‘Typography vs commercial lettering’ in Typographic writing. London: ISTD pp. 147–151
Smith, Percy Delf (1945) ’Beauty in signs and civic lettering’. Journal vol.xciii , n.4888
Taylor, Horace (1926) ’The importance of good lettering’ in Commercial Art & Industry. December 1926 pp.289–294
Tracy, W. (1960) ‘Typography on buildings’, in Motif n4. London: Shenval Press
City lettering books
A Coruña
Cocho, Ana (2005) Rotulados. Galicia: Colexio Oficial Arquitectos de Galicia (COAC)
Amsterdam, The Nederlands
Espinoza, Ramiro & Becker, Rob (2015) Curly letters of Amsterdam. Lecturis (Read a review by Yves Peters here)
Helle, Maarten (2008) Amsterdam in letters. Valiz
Jacobs, Bas (2017) Safari Typo Amsterdam. Amsterdam: De Buitenkant (there was a presentation and the video, in English, can be seen here)
Safari Typo ! – Amsterdam (2017) Directed by Thomas Sipp. France: Arte France [Online]
Barcelona, Spain
Fili, Louise (2017) Gràfica de les Rambles. Princeton Architectural Press
Safari Typo ! – Barcelona (2017) Directed by Thomas Sipp. France: Arte France [Online]
Sánchez, América (2001) Barcelona gráfica. Barcelona: Gustavo Gili, Barcelona
Satué, Enric (2001) El paisaje comercial de la ciudad: letras, formas y colores en la rotulación de comercios de Barcelona. Barcelona: Alianza Forma
Ulrich Kehrer, Martin (2013) Stadtalphabet Barcelona.
Basque Country & French Basque Country
Zabalo, Pablo & ZAbalo, Jon (1947)Arquitectura popular y grafía Vasca. Buenos Aires: Ekin
Colas, Louis (1923) La tombe basque: recueil d’inscriptions funéraires et domestiques du Pays Basque français, études, notes et références diverses. Biarritz: Grande Imprimerie Moderne
Berlin, Germany
Gerlach, Verena (2013) Karbid Berlin – de la lettre peinte au caractère typographique. Paris: Ypsilon (Read a review by Yves Peters here)
Safari Typo ! – Berlin (2017) Directed by Thomas Sipp. France: Arte France [Online]
Bilbao, Spain
Atxaga, Koldo (2007) Los rótulos comerciales y otras gráficas urbanas. Bilbao: Bizkaiko Gaiak Temas Vizcaia
Brussels, Belgium
Van Steendam, Stan (2013) Brussels Type. Lester
Cork, Ireland
Spalding, Tom (2013) Layers. Associated Editions
Granada, Spain
Torres, Nano (2017) GarnataType. Tipografía y entorno urbano en Granada. Granada: Diputacion de Granada
Hamburg, Germany
Campe, Chris (2010) Projekttitel Hamburg alphabet. Kunde Junius Verlag
Jaén, Spain
Montoro, Juan & Campos, Carlos (2020) Rótulos chuléricos de Jaén. Jaén
Le Havre, France
Boyer, Elodie (2012) Lettres du Havre. Éditions Non Standard
Lisbon
Coutinho, Bárbara (2017) Cidade Gráfica. Letreiros e reclames. Lisboa no Século XX. Lisbon: MUDE – Museu do Design e da Moda
London
Safari Typo ! – Londres (2017) Directed by Thomas Sipp. France: Arte France [Online]
Hall, Alistair (2020) London Street Signs. London: Batsford
Madrid, Spain
Agromayor, Luis (1992) Tiendas de Madrid. Madrid: Susaeta ediciones
Agromayor, Luis (1991) Tabernas de Madrid. Madrid: Ed. Lunwerg [Discontinued]
Corazón, Alberto (1979) El sol sale para todos: un análisis de la iconografía comercial de Madrid. Madrid: Banco Urquijo
Lattes, Leandro (2003) Hasta fin de existencias / While stocks last. Madrid: Aldeasa
Lattes, Leandro (2004) Hasta fin de existencias 2 / While stocks last 2. Madrid: Aldeasa
Marseille
Safari Typo ! – Marseille (2017) Directed by Thomas Sipp. France: Arte France [Online]
Munich
Linke, Oliver (2013) Auf den Spuren des Münchner Schildermalers Karl Blaschke. Munich: August Dreesbach Verlag (A link with images here)
Melbourne, Australia
Banham, Stephen (2012) Characters: cultural stories revealed through typography. Port Melbourne: Thames & Hudson Australia [Read Paul Shaw’s review here]
Montreal
Safari Typo ! – Montreal (2017) Directed by Thomas Sipp. France: Arte France [Online]
New York, USA
Murray, James T & Karla L (2008) Store front: The disappearing face of New York. Corte Madera, CA: Gingko Press
Rinaldi, Thomas E (2012) New York neon. New York: W W Norton & Company
Paris, France
Fili, Louise (2015) Graphique de la rue: The signs of Paris. Princeton Architectural Press
Safari Typo ! – Paris 1 & 2 (2017) Directed by Thomas Sipp. France: Arte France [Online]
Pernambuco, Brazil
Finizola, Fatima (2013) Abridores de letras de pernambuco: um mapeamento da dráfica popular. São Paulo: Blucher
Valencia, Spain
Giménez, Tono Giménez & Gorria, Tomás (2017) Valencia al detalle / Vàlencia al detall. Valencia: Eina Cultural
Nava, Juan (2002) Itinerarios tipográficos. Un paseo por los viejos rótulos comerciales valencianos. Valencia: ADCV
Salamanca
Gil, Emilio & Azofra, Eduardo (2017) De vítores y letras. Salamanca: Universidad de Salamanca
Santander
Barrera Garaña, Federico (2020) Santatipo. Memoria tipográfica de los rótulos comerciales de Santander. Santander: Libros.com
Warsaw, Poland
Karwinska, Ilona (2008) Neon Warsaw. Warsaw: Agora [Read a review in It’s nice that here]
Karwinska, Ilona (2017) Neon revolution. Eastern bloc electro-graphic design. Warsaw: Neon Muzeum
Wien, Austria
Ulrich Kehrer, Martin (2009) Stadtalphabet Wien
By countries
Bartram, A. (1986) The English lettering tradition. London: Lund Humphries Publishers Ltd
Camargo, José Eduardo & Soares, L (2007) O Brasil das placas. Sâo Paulo: Panda Books
Clough, James (2015) Signs of Italy. Lazy Dog Press
Fili, Louise (2014) Grafica della strada: The signs of Italy. Princeton Architectural Press
MacDonald, Vici (2016) Shopfront elegy. Sampler: a themed compendium of vintage UK facades. London: Reverse Press
Nava, Juan (2020) Letras recuperadas/Letters recovered. Valencia: Palaugea
Rothfeld, Steven & Aciman, Andre (2001) Entrez: signs of France. Workman Publishing
Treu, M. (2012) Signs, streets and storefronts. A history of architecture and graphics along America’s commercial corridors. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press
Collected by Elena Veguillas. CSM PhD Candidate. Set in iA Writer Duo, by BoldMonday. Updated 21 January 2021