Simon Davies
@simonfd.bsky.social
Publishing Manager, @themhra.bsky.social
Co-editor of the MHRA Style Guide
Posting about scholarly publishing • History and future of the book • Book design, typography, typesetting 📚
Also work on the history of witchcraft & magic 🌒
• Views here my own
Co-editor of the MHRA Style Guide
Posting about scholarly publishing • History and future of the book • Book design, typography, typesetting 📚
Also work on the history of witchcraft & magic 🌒
• Views here my own
Fancy guy on a fancy horse, 1549
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
November 24, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Fancy guy on a fancy horse, 1549
#earlymodern
#earlymodern
'The hand that keeps the world informed'
(from the Manual of Linotype Typography)
Love the sinister lighting; tough on the compositor's eyes, mind...
(from the Manual of Linotype Typography)
Love the sinister lighting; tough on the compositor's eyes, mind...
November 24, 2025 at 1:12 PM
'The hand that keeps the world informed'
(from the Manual of Linotype Typography)
Love the sinister lighting; tough on the compositor's eyes, mind...
(from the Manual of Linotype Typography)
Love the sinister lighting; tough on the compositor's eyes, mind...
Absolutely thought this book was going to be about something else
*George Harrison plays*
*George Harrison plays*
November 20, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Absolutely thought this book was going to be about something else
*George Harrison plays*
*George Harrison plays*
Why would anyone want this service??
November 17, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Why would anyone want this service??
The doom of books; or, what the phonograph will do (1894)
November 13, 2025 at 3:06 PM
The doom of books; or, what the phonograph will do (1894)
@heatherfro.bsky.social timeline synchronicity:
November 11, 2025 at 10:16 AM
@heatherfro.bsky.social timeline synchronicity:
October 29, 2025 at 10:16 AM
October 26, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Saint Benedict reviving a monk killed by the Devil (c. 1505). The Devil killed him by throwing bricks at him, apparently
October 24, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Saint Benedict reviving a monk killed by the Devil (c. 1505). The Devil killed him by throwing bricks at him, apparently
When I was a student I applied a couple times for jobs at the university library; never got one, the feedback was I shouldn’t say how much I like books, because as a library worker they might as well be cans of beans. I think about that when I see things like this.
October 22, 2025 at 9:53 AM
When I was a student I applied a couple times for jobs at the university library; never got one, the feedback was I shouldn’t say how much I like books, because as a library worker they might as well be cans of beans. I think about that when I see things like this.
If you need cheering up and/or extreme office/life-choice jealousy, here’s a dreamy photo of Giovanni Mardersteig’s Officina Bodoni in Verona
(From: www.tipoteca.it/en/evento/of...)
(From: www.tipoteca.it/en/evento/of...)
October 21, 2025 at 12:34 PM
If you need cheering up and/or extreme office/life-choice jealousy, here’s a dreamy photo of Giovanni Mardersteig’s Officina Bodoni in Verona
(From: www.tipoteca.it/en/evento/of...)
(From: www.tipoteca.it/en/evento/of...)
From the same book: the perfect Q?
#typography
#typography
October 21, 2025 at 9:34 AM
From the same book: the perfect Q?
#typography
#typography
So many different ampersand designs on a single page &&&
#bookhistory #typography
(Barthelemy Germain, 1578)
#bookhistory #typography
(Barthelemy Germain, 1578)
October 21, 2025 at 9:17 AM
So many different ampersand designs on a single page &&&
#bookhistory #typography
(Barthelemy Germain, 1578)
#bookhistory #typography
(Barthelemy Germain, 1578)
Bluesky is almost universal horror this morning, as per; here’s a nice sixteenth-century title page 🤷♂️
#bookdesign #typography
#bookdesign #typography
October 15, 2025 at 8:46 AM
Bluesky is almost universal horror this morning, as per; here’s a nice sixteenth-century title page 🤷♂️
#bookdesign #typography
#bookdesign #typography
Startlingly modern borders in this Caslon type specimen from 1785. I'd love to know if these were ever actually used in any books.
#bookdesign #typography
Source: archive.org/details/spec...
#bookdesign #typography
Source: archive.org/details/spec...
October 8, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Startlingly modern borders in this Caslon type specimen from 1785. I'd love to know if these were ever actually used in any books.
#bookdesign #typography
Source: archive.org/details/spec...
#bookdesign #typography
Source: archive.org/details/spec...
When you’ve bought a really nice set of woodcut initials and you just want to use them at every opportunity
(Florence, 1481)
#bookdesign #typography
(Florence, 1481)
#bookdesign #typography
October 5, 2025 at 2:43 PM
When you’ve bought a really nice set of woodcut initials and you just want to use them at every opportunity
(Florence, 1481)
#bookdesign #typography
(Florence, 1481)
#bookdesign #typography
Who needs notepaper?
October 4, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Who needs notepaper?
When you really want people to know who it was that designed the title-page decorations
(1540)
(1540)
October 3, 2025 at 8:25 PM
When you really want people to know who it was that designed the title-page decorations
(1540)
(1540)
Happy Satan with similarly happy crotch-critter (1561) 😊
October 3, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Happy Satan with similarly happy crotch-critter (1561) 😊
October 3, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Beautifully crisp textura (Paris, 1544)
Freshly cast type, good ink, good presswork
#typography #type
Freshly cast type, good ink, good presswork
#typography #type
October 1, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Beautifully crisp textura (Paris, 1544)
Freshly cast type, good ink, good presswork
#typography #type
Freshly cast type, good ink, good presswork
#typography #type
We’ve all had days like this eh
October 1, 2025 at 9:33 AM
We’ve all had days like this eh
A beautifully printed early sixteenth-century (1526) Roman de La Rose
#bookdesign #typography #bookhistory
archive.org/details/cyes...
#bookdesign #typography #bookhistory
archive.org/details/cyes...
October 1, 2025 at 9:32 AM
A beautifully printed early sixteenth-century (1526) Roman de La Rose
#bookdesign #typography #bookhistory
archive.org/details/cyes...
#bookdesign #typography #bookhistory
archive.org/details/cyes...
More Arrighi (I think). We could publish books that looked like this today if we wanted to 💁♂️
September 27, 2025 at 1:04 PM
More Arrighi (I think). We could publish books that looked like this today if we wanted to 💁♂️
September 27, 2025 at 1:01 PM