A humanist sans accompanies three circles arranged to suggest street lights. But look closely: They’re not perfect circles. Made by hand, they are as irregular and human as Gill Sans.

This Dutch edition of Feux rouges (English: Red Lights) was published in the Zwarte Beertjes series in 1964.

Van aardse smetten vrij (“Without worldly blemishes”) is a compilation of short stories by Robert Sheckley, originally published in 1954 as Untouched by Human Hands. The Dutch version was translated by Henk Bouwman and published by A.W. Bruna & Zoon in 1968.

The cover is one of approximately 2,000 book cover designs by Dick Bruna who, instead of succeeding his father as a head of his publishing house, ultimately became world famous for his drawings and books about a rabbit named Nijntje (Miffy).

The cover typography and title page use a typeface used more often by Bruna – it’s Kaart-Antieke, set in all caps.

Griezelverhalen uit Japan is a Dutch edition of Japanese horror stories written by Tarō Hirai (平井 太郎, 1894–1965), better known by the pseudonym Edogawa Ranpo (江戸川 乱歩) which is often romanized as Edogawa Rampo. Edited by Havank, it was published in 1961 as number 437 in the Zwarte Beertjes paperback series by A.W. Bruna & Zoon.

For the cover art, Dick Bruna used his signature illustration style – here with a character that is scarier than his famous Miffy, but only slightly so. Bruna combined it with Reiner Script. This unconnected script typeface with angular letterforms of condensed proportions was designed by Imre Reiner and first cast by Lettergieterij Amsterdam in 1951. Its E looks a little like a screaming face in profile, and the dog sequence seems to echo the angled eyes of the monster. Tobias Frere-Jones made a digital interpretation of Reiner Script in 1993, adding a second bold weight.

The design of the current edition from 2008 doesn’t quite have the same allure.