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Leonard Cohen lyrics booklet

Contributed by Matthijs Sluiter on May 3rd, 2019. Artwork published in
circa 1971
.
Leonard Cohen lyrics booklet 1
License: Public Domain.

A mysterious and modest flea market find – a booklet (150×243 mm) containing the lyrics of three Leonard Cohen albums: Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967), Songs From a Room (1969) and Songs of Love and Hate (1971). Other than a thank you to “Hank of Casterun”, there is no information included about publisher or a publication date.

The title is set with Signal or – more likely – the printer used Lettergieterij Amsterdam’s version named Sirene. For some reason, the letters are slightly disconnected. The interior uses another Lettergieterij Amsterdam release: Hollandse Mediaeval, designed by Sjoerd Hendrik de Roos in 1912.

Table of contents, with CBS Records release code for each album. A odd numbering is used for the list of songs: 1, 2, 4, 4, 6, 6, 7, 8, 8, 9 etc.
License: Public Domain.

Table of contents, with CBS Records release code for each album. A odd numbering is used for the list of songs: 1, 2, 4, 4, 6, 6, 7, 8, 8, 9 etc.

Leonard Cohen lyrics booklet 3
License: Public Domain.
Detail. Zooming in on the type reveals small imperfections: for instance, most lowercase o’s have a bit of dirt on the right side.
Photo: Matthijs Sluiter. License: Public Domain.

Detail. Zooming in on the type reveals small imperfections: for instance, most lowercase o’s have a bit of dirt on the right side.

Typefaces

  • Signal (Berthold)
  • Hollandse Mediaeval

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2 Comments on “Leonard Cohen lyrics booklet”

  1. Lovely! The thin lines between bold script letters were a common issue in letterpress printing, see also the second image in this previous post featuring a similar typeface, Mammut. Especially when the type became worn and the edges round, the ink spread often wasn’t enough anymore to bridge the gap.

  2. I see. It adds to the charm, the printer trying to make the best of his worn-off letter sorts,

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