Oracle of the Thousand Hands by Barry N. Malzberg
Book jacket (front)
A two-color use of Hermann Zapf’s ornamented Saphir, paired with Bodoni Black (roman caps and italic) and an ominous Rorschach test, for the jacket of Oracle of the Thousand Hands. This edition of the early novel by Barry N. Malzberg was “published by arrangement with the Traveller’s Companion, Inc. and the Olympia Press, Inc.” and “has been especially designed and bound for the members of the Olympia Book Society”.
The title page shown below features another of Zapf’s typefaces: it’s Palatino-Kursiv, used with its swash capitals. The author name and the title are entirely set in italic swash caps. Generally considered a typographic faux pas, this stylistic device here acquires a different quality. In combination with the sumptuous frame, it passes as a nod to elaborate title pages from Renaissance book printing. Note the use of the swash J in place of F. In the German tradition, this character often has a crossbar. In North America, such a shape is understood as a script F, with all or most of the roof to the left of the stem. See the cursive models used in schools and also the script typefaces by ATF.
Title page, signed by the author
