Ithell Colquhoun. Genius of the Fern Loved Gully by Amy Hale
Genius of The Fern Loved Gulley is Amy Hale’s biography of Ithell Colquhoun (1906–1988). It was published by Strange Attractor Press in August 2020:
After decades of neglect, the British Surrealist and occultist Ithell Colquhoun’s unique vision and hermetic life have generated enormous interest amongst historians and practitioners of art and magic. In this, the first in-depth biographical study of Colquhoun and her work, Amy Hale examines the magical and cultural confluences that shaped her imaginative life and artistic vision.
The typeface family used for the book’s typography is Gerard Unger’s Alverata (TypeTogether, 2014). Alverata comprises three subfamilies; Regular, Informal, and Irregular, each of which comes in six weights. The latter is inspired by Romanesque inscriptions from around the 12th century – a topic that Unger explored in his doctoral thesis at the Leiden University. It is this variety that was chosen for the cover. Alverata Irregular is distinguished by curved capitals including unfamiliar forms like an asymmetrical T, a symmetrical Q, or a round uncial E. Designer Tihana Šare utilized some of the alternate glyphs to reinforce the arcane qualities of the typeface. Alverata Irregular is a great fit for Colquhoun and her work.
The body copy is set in plain Alverata. It’s less attention-grabbing, yet perfectly harmonizes with the titling face.
While the difference between Alverata (line 1) and Alverata Informal (2) is largely limited to the forms for a e g, Alverata Irregular (3) is a very different beast. Line 4 shows Alverata Irregular with some of its alternate forms.
