The Crystal Goblet: Sixteen Essays on Typography

Admit it: You’ve never read Beatrice Warde’s seminal essay. You’ve maybe skimmed a blog post in which some blowhard postulates that “The Crystal Goblet” is ill-conceived. But what that blowhard (and most blowhards) miss is the subtlety in the essay. It’s not meant to be taken literally. It’s not the Bible. It’s not filled with laws. It lays out some rules that upon understanding you are free to break. But you may as well know what the rules are so you can be a better rule-breaker. And you should just read it yourself so you can make up your own mind.

Anyway, this is a good and useful book. Be be forewarned: It’s a reader, not a looker. It’s a good-looking book, nicely set in Bembo, but there aren’t a lot of pictures. Take it to the beach (We did.) but if you need pretty things to look at, take a look around you.