Michael Harvey: Mostly Early Letters

Michael Harvey (1931–2013) was an English designer and teacher specializing in hand-lettering, type design, and the carving of letters into stone. His work appears in cathedrals throughout England—and on over 1,500 book covers and dust jackets. Although he knew how to use a computer, the overwhelming majority of his work was carried out with simple methods and tools developed over centuries. In fact, of the forty-one pieces by Harvey in this show—each loaded with words—we count only two lines of mechanically-set type. (See if you can find them.) All of the other letters were drawn entirely by hand. This exhibition features Harvey’s original studies, proposals, final artworks, and printed dust jackets, mostly from the 1950s and ’60s. It’s a chance not only to see work that largely did not make it to the United States, but also how letters and dust jackets were designed and made before we started making them with zeroes and ones.