Via Steven Heller I learned that typographer and type collector Dan X. Solo has passed away. His name was immediately familiar from the Dover editions of his collections of vintage typefaces (see below). Working on the reference desk at SVA we get a steady stream of typography questions, and Solo’s works have supplied many researching students with the inspiration and guidance they needed to create something new on the foundation of the old.
Heller: You became a typographer. What is the difference between a printer and a typesetter and a typographer?
Solo: The typesetter knows how to operate the equipment, and the typographer is not concerned with the equipment, he is concerned with the aesthetics. Moreover, typographers are all interested in the history of printing type.
MyFonts – Dan X. Solo:
>>In 1974, I began to supply Dover Publications with mechanicals for books of 100 alphabets on a particular theme. I did 30 of these books over the years, and 30 more of printers’ ornaments, borders, and so forth.<<
In the library:
Art deco display alphabets : 100 complete fonts / selected and arranged by Dan X. Solo – NK3625.A7 A7 1982
Art nouveau display alphabets : 100 complete fonts / selected and arranged by Dan X. Solo – Z250 .A77 1976
Art Nouveau typographic ornaments / selected and arranged by Dan X. Solo- Z250.3 .A78 1982
Classic type faces and how to use them : including 91 complete fonts / J.I. Biegeleisen ; foreword by Dan X. Solo. – Z250 .B56 1995
Solotype catalog of 4,147 display typefaces / Dan X. Solo – Z250.5.D57 S654 1992
