The Printer's Handbook

[All the above images are cropped from the full book pages and have
been background cleaned; click through for enlarged versions]

In the first half of the 19th century, BG Teubner ran one of the most advanced printing houses in Germany. The Leipzig company was renowned for publishing the most comprehensive editions of classical literature in the original Latin and Greek.

In the production of their critical texts, a variety of Greek fonts were developed that became standards in printing for over a century. And although Teubner died in 1856, his name survived at the printing company through successive evolutions and ownership changes. In fact, a series of classical texts known as Bibliotheca Teubneriana is still published today.

The present work --- 'Schrift- und Polytypen-Proben' (1848) {Fonts and examples of different type} --- appears to be a fairly comprehensive model-book or copy-book aimed at printers. It contains a wide variety of fonts and typographic elements, decorative borders, printer's ornaments, page cornices, emblems, shields, trophies and pendants, as well as what look like Victorian clip-art motifs.

'Schrift- und Polytypen-Proben' is online at SLUB Dresden : click the little book icon to load the thumbnail pages.