Il Saggiatore, “I Maestri dell’Architettura Contemporanea” book series

The “I Maestri dell’Architettura contemporanea” series of architectural monographs was launched in 1960 by Milanese publisher Il Saggiatore in collaboration with New York-based George Braziller, Inc. It ran until 1964, totalling 16 titles all designed by the outstanding Anita Klinz (1923–2013) using Nebiolo’s Cairoli (the Tonda Nerissima weight, all in lowercase) as well as Simoncini Garamond (a staple of Italian publishing, then as now) in all-caps.

Cairoli was Nebiolo’s name for a typeface design that originated at the German punchcutting firm Wagner & Schmidt – which sold matrices to various European foundries. It was cast by Ludwig Wagner as Neue moderne Grotesk in four weights, with the boldest one also known as Reichs-Grotesk. Other names include Aurora-Grotesk by Weber and Accidenz-Grotesk by Haas.

See Luca Pitoni’s wonderful book Ostinata bellezza. Anita Klinz, la prima art director italiana (2023) for more on Klinz’s remarkable life and career.