Some features one would not expect in a book of this nature. Thats precisely what simon garfield explores in on the map. Simon garfield, whose book is subtitled how small things illuminate the world, casts a broad net in in miniature, which tells just a little about the models created by late architect. From oscar wildes unconventional method of using the mail to cycling enthusiast reginald brays quest to post himself, simon garfield uncovers a host of stories that capture the enchantment of this irreplaceable art with a supporting cast including pliny the younger, ted hughes, virginia woolf, napoleon bonaparte.
I have files full of letters written to me by friends and family which will someday be turned over to a library. Dec 11, 20 simon garfield s career journalism career has spanned a wealth of topics, from typography, to radio one. His bestselling books have explored the developments of maps in an age of gps on the map, the subtle impact of different type faces just my type, and most recently, the demise of written correspondence. This is a book about how the concept of precise time entered our lives. A mindexpanding exploration of the way the world looks, bestselling author simon garfield examines history through the stories behind some of the most importantand also some of the worst maps ever charted. Now garfield turns his attention to letters, yet another cultural form that. After reading this book i will never look at signs the same way again. In this wellresearched book, garfield takes a look back at the history of typefaces and. Like any good journey, the book is filled with lots of sidetrips covering topics such as the development of travel guidebooks, the role of the. Simon garfield is the author of fourteen acclaimed books of nonfiction including just my type and on the map. The new york times bestselling author of just my type and on the map offers an ode to letter writing and its possible salvation. From oscar wildes unconventional method of using the mail to cycling enthusiast reginald brays quest to post himself, simon garfield uncovers a host of stories that capture the enchantment of this irreplaceable art with a supporting cast including pliny the younger, ted hughes, virginia. Now garfield takes on a subject even dearer to our fanatical human hearts. Maps have the most amazing stories and simon garfield is the perfect author to tell them.
Some lay the blame upon the telephone, the typewriter, the telegraph, upon the railroad that benumbs a letterwriter with the knowledge that his letter, which should ripen in a postboys bag, will be delivered a thousand miles away at 2. With a letter, he suggests, you think a bit harder, write a bit slower and the result is a richer thing. In 2010 his book just my type was published, exploring the history of typographic fonts. There couldnt be anyone better to write about our love for maps than simon garfield, who is a master at unearthing strange facts and mixing them with a lively personal narrativefascinating. If anyone has taken anything positive from the recent apple maps disaster, its simon garfield. God has given me a new turkish colleague called mustapha. Garfields book serves an immense need, connecting the latest geocacher with both the ancient art. Every letter contains a miniature story, and here are some of the greatest. On the map arrived just as sat navs made battered azs redundant.
The new york times bestselling author of just my type and on the map offers an ode to letter writing and its possible salvation in the digital age. Simon garfields top 10 books with maps the guardian. He lives in london and st ives, with old maps lining the walls. The film opens with credits placed over a thicklined map of africa and the plodding blows of the marseillaise. Under normal circumstances, simon garfields chatty and informative excursion into the history of letterwriting would be a book to recommend. Typefaces are now 560 years old, but we barely knew their names until about twenty years ago, when the pulldown font menus on our first computers made us all the gods of type. A book about fonts by simon garfield is a nonfiction book about fonts. For another nonfiction author with a similarly readable style, and a book with a diverse collection of subjects, dont miss 42 douglas adams amazingly accurate answer to life, the universe and everything by peter gill. On the map by simon garfield by profile books issuu. In to the letter, garfield traces the fascinating history of letter writing from the love letter. Simon garfields book on mapmaking cements his role as the thinking grown.
And how everything always seems to get faster and faster. Simon garfield is to be congratulated and praised for his love letter about writing letters. Just my type by simon garfield is a brilliant little book on a topic you would think boring beyond belief. Simon garfield writes books that shine a light on aspects of the everyday world in order to reveal the charms and eccentricities hiding in plain sight around us. To the letter, by simon garfield the new york times. Thats precisely what simon garfield, who has previously explored how our modern obsession with maps was born, seeks to illuminate in to the letter. Anyone who loves to write and receive letters should give this book a permanent place on their bookshelf. Hes an award winning writer with a string of accolades to his name. A celebration of the lost art of letter writing by simon garfield. Few things are as excitingand potentially lifechangingas discovering an old letter. See all books authored by simon garfield, including just my type. Simon garfield books list of books by author simon garfield. After all, what better way to thrust cartography to which his new book is a love letter into the. Thousands of fonts are all around us and we are affected by them in an almost subliminal manner.
Simon garfields new book is a rollicking sweep through map history, packed with curiosities and written with verve. He is a trustee of mass observation, and is the editor of several books of diaries from the archive, including our hidden lives and a notable woman. The letter is dead, long live the letter brain pickings. A book about fonts by simon garfield and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Dec 19, 2012 simon garfields past work includes a whole book about the color mauve and last years delightful just my type, an ebullient survey of facts about fonts and typography. On the map simon garfield ebok 9781847658555 bokus. On the map timothy nation, whose real name was malcolm gladwell, the writer not yet known for his books the tipping point and blink, then examined a famous experiment conducted at columbia. The largest atlas ever published was so big it required its own plane for delivery to buyers, simon garfield tells us in on the map. Simon garfield is a writer with a keen sense of the nearimperceptible shifts in society, and a deft skill for weaving seemingly disparate trends and observances into a narrative. Simon garfield embarks on a mission to answer these questions and more, and reveal what may be the very best and worst fonts in the world. Yes, all of those fonts form the beginning of printing to the present are indeed present in simon garfields just my type but instead of a study book of fonts, this is a commentary on the history of fonts that is tremendously entertaining as well as informative. Oct 21, 2010 yes, all of those fonts form the beginning of printing to the present are indeed present in simon garfields just my type but instead of a study book of fonts, this is a commentary on the history of fonts that is tremendously entertaining as well as informative.
Oct 30, 2012 if anyone has taken anything positive from the recent apple maps disaster, its simon garfield. This is a book that will inspire mapophiles but engage even those of us who stare blankly at an os pathfinders hieroglyphs. Simon garfields just my type illuminated the world of fonts and made everyone take a stand on comic sans and care about kerning. And while etiquette books still extol the practice, letter writing seems to be disappearing amid a flurry of emails, texting, and tweeting. His latest book, to the letter, is a nostalgic and fretful look at the lost art of letter writing. But you would be wrong, for there is a lot to learn about how fonts and type sets affect the way we read and think. Simon garfield is the author of more than a dozen acclaimed books of nonfiction, including the international bestseller, just my type. Simon garfield s top 10 books with maps from winnie the pooh to grayson perry, the author charts the best writing about the indispensable tools for reading the world simon garfield. Simon garfields past work includes a whole book about the color mauve and last years delightful just my type, an ebullient survey of. He told me about selling some of the letters sylvia plath wrote to ted hughes, and how he still occasionally opens an old book to find a personal letter from. There couldnt be anyone better to write about our love for maps than simon garfield, who is a master at unearthing strange facts and mixing them with a lively personal narrative. After beguiling fans with books about everything from typography to time, from historic maps to the color mauve, hes found his most delightful topic yet.
Simon garfield he is the author of an appealingly diverse and unpredictable canon of nonfiction, including the bestsellers mauve, just my type and on the map. A mindexpanding exploration of the way the world looks uk. How one man invented a color that changed the world, and more on. On the map, by simon garfield new history puts cartographers art on the map maps do more than help us get around, simon garfield makes evident in his tour through the history. Simon garfields career journalism career has spanned a wealth of topics, from typography, to radio one. His passion for the graphic carries the reader along on the map offers a world of revelation. A mindexpanding exploration of the way the world looks by simon garfield gotham, 464 pp.
Nov 11, 2012 the largest atlas ever published was so big it required its own plane for delivery to buyers, simon garfield tells us in on the map. For the most part, garfield a british journalist whose previous books include studies of fonts and mapmaking steers clear of contrasting the. Garfields book serves an immense need, connecting the latest geocacher with both the ancient art and modern science of the cartographer. The map dissolves and is replaced by a globe spinning in clouds. Garfield predicates his love letter to the letter on the assumption that there is something intrinsically superior about committing your thoughts to paper rather than pinging them through the web. Jan 03, 20 thats precisely what simon garfield explores in on the map. Garfield appeared on 25 february 20 episode of the colbert report to discuss why he wrote on the map.
Just my type a book about fonts, first edition abebooks. But this being wartime, the maps also set harsh limits. The new york times bestselling author of just my type and on the map. Stuffed with marvelous anecdotes, fascinating historical tidbits and excerpts. On the map will inspire you to take a trip to somewhere new, buy an antique globe to chart the rise and fall of empires, or just dig out a tatty orange ordnance survey explorer map and let its filigree of contour lines. Oct 18, 20 on the map timothy nation, whose real name was malcolm gladwell, the writer not yet known for his books the tipping point and blink, then examined a famous experiment conducted at columbia. Simon garfield s new book is a rollicking sweep through map history, packed with curiosities and written with verve. A celebration of the lost art of letter writing public library a quest to understand what we have lost by replacing letterwriting with emailtyping and relinquishing the post, the. They chart our understanding of the world and they log our progress, but above all they tell our stories. On the map is a wonderful, rambling tour through the world of maps, focusing on major events in mapmaking history as well as the various social and cultural functions maps have played over time. Nov 15, 20 thats precisely what simon garfield, who has previously explored how our modern obsession with maps was born, seeks to illuminate in to the letter. Download simon garfield on the map ebook pdf mobi epub.
Simon garfield is the author of fourteen acclaimed books of nonfiction. And while etiquette books still extol the practice, letter writing seems to be disappearing amid a flurry of emails, texting. A book about fonts, and a trilogy of edited diaries from the mass observation archive, which includes the bestselling our hidden lives. The birth of our modern obsession with maps brain pickings. The guardian books podcast letters of hemingway and isherwood. Praise for on the map simon garfield is charming company. Giles foden, conde nast traveller uk praise for simon garfields just my type. In recent years this author has produced eloquent and witty accounts of his fascination for maps and for typefaces.