Hermann Zapf

Biography

Calligrapher, type designer, typographer, historian, teacher. Born 8 November 1918 in Nuremberg. Self-taught artist, inspired by the work of Rudolf Koch whose lettering Zapf saw at Koch’s 1935 memorial exhibition, Nuremberg. Edward Johnston’s Writing and Illuminating, and Lettering was a later influence, leading Zapf away from the influence of Koch’s Fraktur forms to traditional letterforms. 1934-8: retoucher at Karl Ulrich & Co. 1938: moved to Frankfurt a.M. to work for several months in Paul Koch’s printing workshop, Haus zum Fürsteneck, which received commissions for song books and calligraphy. 1939: commissioned to design a typeface by Gustav Mori of the Stempel Typefoundry (Frankfurt); the result was called Gilgengart (completed in two versions: the initials were cut by the punchcutter August Rosenberger, but not released until after the war; the Fraktur did not go into production because of the Nazi prohibition of Fraktur in January 1941).

1942-5: military service; trained at Jüterborg as a cartographer, then stationed at Dijon and Bordeaux. ‘I had a reasonable amount of free time in Bordeaux and was able to do some work in my sketch books. In 1944 I wrote out Hans von Weber’s “ Junggesellentext ”, which would be reproduced in its original size over 50 years later in the Linotype showing of my Zapfino type….At the end of the war I was held by the French as a prisoner of war in a field hospital in Tübingen. I was treated very well, and they even let me keep my drawing instruments ….Since I was in very poor health, the French sent me home just four weeks after the end of the war. I first went back to my parents in my home town of Nuremberg, which had suffered terrible damage ….I gave my first calligraphy lesson in Nuremberg in 1946. There were hardly any teachers in Nuremberg who were politically untainted. The lessons were part of a program aimed at building the German Federation of Trade Unions. We wrote out our letters in an old school building under very primitive circumstances. The classroom had almost no glass in the windows, some of which had merely been papered over, so we had to work by artificial light. The light bulbs had to be returned to the caretaker after each lesson ….In 1947 I went back to Frankfurt, where the Stempel type foundry had offered me a position as artistic head of their in-house printshop….I was not asked for qualifications, journeyman’s certificates, or references. All I had to do was show them my three sketch books from the war, which contained my drawings and writings…’. (Zapf, Grolier Club exh . cat., 2000).

1947-56: co-art director, Stempel Typefoundry. 1948-50: taught lettering at Offenbach Werkkunstschule. 1950: travels in Italy led to his designs of the typefaces Michelangelo, Optima, Sistina . 1948-50: lecturer in lettering at the Offenbach Werkkunstschule. 1950s: book designer for publishers including Suhrkamp and Insel. 1951: married the type-designer and bookbinder Gudrun von Hesse. 1957-74: design consultant to Merganthaler Linotype Company, New York. 1960: guest professor at Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh. 1964: jury member, Typomundus 20. 1968-73: design consultant, Hallmark Cards, Inc., Kansas City, Missouri. 1972-81: instructor of typography at Technische Hochschule, Darmstadt. 1976: co-founder of Design Processing International, with Aaron Burns and Herb Lubalin , developing menu-based typographic computer programs (to 1982). 1977: Vice-President, Design Processing International Inc., New York. 1977-87: taught at Rochester Institute of Technology, New York, as first professor for Typographic Computer Programs. 1977: founded, with Aaron Burns and Herb Lubalin , Design Processing International Inc., New York (to 1986). 1979-81: consultant to Xerox Corporation, Rochester, New York, for digital alphabet developments. 1985: co-founded Zapf, Burns & Company, New York (to 1991).

As a fine book designer, he has worked for numerous publishers, including Suhrkamp, Insel, and the Book Guild Gutenberg in Frankfurt. Besides designing many typefaces, Zapf has designed and lettered a vast number of book-jackets and calligraphic works, and has lectured throughout the world.

Designer of over 180 alphabets for handcomposition , for the Linotype typesetting machine, and for photocomposition and digital laser systems. For full list (to November 1986), see Hermann Zapf and His Design Philosophy, pp. 125-42. A brief selection: Gilgengart , Palatino (1950), Michelangelo (1950/51), Sistina (1951), Melior (1952/3), Virtuosa (1952/3), Saphir (1952), Kompakt , Linotype Aldus (1954), Optima (1958), Hunt Roman (1962), Comenius (1976), Marconi (1976), ITC Zapf Book (1976), ITC Zapf Chancery (1979). ITC Zapf Book (1979), Zapfino Script (1998), Zapf Essentials (2002). In 2005 Linotype issued Palatino nova, extra styles of Palatino: Aldus nova, Palatino Sans and other variations: see . Google entries, May 2011 : 588 ,000 entries.

Many international exhibitions, memberships and design awards, including –

Awards: Silver Medal, Brussels (1962), Gold medal, Type Directors Club of New York (1966); Biennale Brno (1966); Frederic W. Goudy Award (Rochester, NY, 1969); Gold Medal, International Book Exhibition, Leipzig (1971); Gutenberg Prize, Mainz (1974); Gold Medal, Parma (1975); Honorary Royal Designer for Industry, London (1985); Robert Hunter Middleton Award, Society of Typographic Arts, Chicago (1987); Lifetime Achievement Award, Friends of Calligraphy, San Francisco (2001);

Honorary President of the Edward Johnston Foundation, Ditchling, England.

Honorary memberships: Wynkyn de Worde Society, London; Double Crown Club, London; Society of Scribes and Illuminators, London; Letter Exchange, London; Type Directors Club, New York; The Typophiles, New York; Society of Scribes, New York; Goudy International Center, Rochester, New York; Gamma Epsilon Tau, Rochester Institute of Technology, New York; Society of Typographic Arts, Chicago; Caxton Club, Chicago; Chicago Calligraphers Cooperative; Honorary Curator of Computer Museum, Boston; Society of Printers, Boston; Typographers International Association, Washington, D.C.; Washington Calligraphers Guild; Society of Calligraphy, Los Angeles; Friends of Calligraphy, San Francisco; Monterey Calligrapher’s Guild, California; Association of Stanford Universities, California; Art Directors Club of Kansas City; Society of Graphic Designers Canada, Toronto; Alcuin Society, Vancouver, Canada; Bund Deutscher Buchkünstler, Offenbach a.M. ; Dante e.V. (German TEX Group), Heidelberg; Société Typographique de France, Paris; Grafiska Institutet, Stockholm; Brno Biennale Association; Alpha Beta Club, Hong Kong; Eesti Kalligraafide Koondis, Tallinn, Estonia;

Named Honorary Citizen of the State of Texas, 1970. In September 2001, a Zapfest, a celebration of the work of Gudrun and Hermann Zapf, was held in San Francisco; 2 September was declared by special Proclamation of the Mayor ‘Hermann and Gudrun Zapf Day’.

Writings by

  • limited edition (’…[N]o book in the last hundred years shows a comparable perfection of printing.’ Jan Tschichold quoted by Paul Standard in Kredel/Zapf Cooper Union exh . cat., 1951]
  • Das Blumen-ABC (with August Rosenberger , engraver), privately printed, 1948
  • William Morris/Sein Leben und Werk in der Geschichte der Buch- und Schriftkunst (monograph), Berlin: Blanckertz, 1949
  • Feder und Stichel (book design and lettered examples by Zapf, cut in metal by August Rosenberger
  • first showing of Zapf’s Palatino
  • later printings), Frankfurt a.M. : Stempel, 1949 ( Fabriano edition, Stempel, 1950
  • For additional lists see Ein Arbeitsbericht, 1984 (to 1984), and Hermann Zapf and His Design Philosophy, pp. 113-18 (to 1986).
  • 1939: Brahms, Vier ernste Gesnge, Op. 121 [QUERY] (‘ nach einer Handschrift von Hermann Zapf…’), Frankfurt am Main, Maximilian Gesellschaft. First published work?
  • ‘Neuzeitlicher Schriftlehrgang: “Medici”, eine italienische Kursiv’, Die zeitgemässe Schrift, Berlin/Leipzig: Verlag für Schriftkunde Heintze & Blanckertz., Oct. 1942
    • comments on the subject ‘Gutenbergs Werk und die Wissenschaftlich-technische Revolution’ (with other designers), Papier und Druck, 1968, 1
  • Trajanus Presse, Stempel, 1952) (Pen and Graver, New York: Museum Books, 1952, preface by Paul Standard)
  • Gutenberg Jahrbuch, 1950, first showing of Linotype Palatino
  • ‘Zur Stilgeschichte der Druckschriften’, Imprimatur, 1950/51, pp. 83-108
  • ‘Zur Stilgeschichte der Druckschriften’, Form und Technik, 1952, pp. 475-81, and 1953, pp. 71-6
  • design of, and introduction to Notenschreibbchlein (a homage to Paul Koch), Wolfenbttel: Mseler, 1953
  • ‘Vom Formgesetz der Renaissance-Antiqua’, Gutenberg Jahrbuch, 1953, pp. 11-15 (also published in Der Polygraph, 5 Nov. 1953, supplement)
  • ‘Letter from Germany’, Printing & Graphic Arts, Dec. 1953, pp. 82-5
  • ‘Vom Formgesetz der Renaissance-Antiqua’, Gutenberg Jahrbuch, 1953, pp. 11-15
  • ‘Die Unterscheidungsmerkmale der Antiquaschriften’, Der Polygraph, 20 April 1954, supplement
  • ‘Printing types and books: an expression of their times’, Penrose Annual, 1962, pp. 47-53
  • ‘Schrifttypen und Bücher als Ausdruck ihrer Zeit’, Gutenberg Jahrbuch, 1962, pp. 68-75
  • Stempel ad for Optima, Gutenberg Jahrbuch, 1962
  • Über Alphabete, Frankfurt a.M. : Stempel, 1963
  • Typographische Variationen (introductions by G.K. Schauer, Paul Standard, Charles Peignot), Frankfurt: Stempel, 1963 (English ed.: Museum Books, New York, 1964
  • French ed.: Paris: Hermann, 1965)
  • 1965-74: ‘The birth of a type’, pp. 19-24, in Jack Stauffacher, Hunt Roman: The birth of a type, Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Bibliophiles, 1965
    • Manuale Typographicum (II), Frankfurt a.M. : Z-Presse, 1968 Manuale Typographicum (I), Frankfurt a.M. : G.K. Schauer, and New York: Museum Books, 1954, 1968, Cambridge, Mass., and London: MIT Press, 1970
  • ‘Die Stilgruppen der Antiqua und ihre charakteristischen Elemente’, Gutenberg Jahrbuch, 1954, pp. 9-15
  • 1955-9: Die Schrift im Buch, Frankfurt a.M. : Stempel, 1955
  • ‘Gedanken zur heutigen Situation der Typographie’, Gutenberg Jahrbuch, 1956, pp. 368-73
  • Kleine Autobiographie in Lettern von Hermann Zapf, (text extracted from preface to Manuale typographicum), Der Druckspiegel, Nov. 1956, supplement
  • ‘Die Wechselbeziehungen von Handschrift und Drucktype’, Imprimatur, 1956/57, pp. 150-57
  • ‘Gedanken und Probleme beim Entwurf von Werkschriften’, Philobiblon, Nov. 1958, pp. 315-30
  • ‘Zur Klassifikation der Drucktypen’, Form und Technik, Feb. 1959, pp. 87-8
  • ‘Änderungsvorschläge zum NAGRA-Entwurf’, Form und Technik, July 1959, pp. 302-3
    • ‘Autobiography in type’, Motif 3, London, Sept. 1959, pp. 33-48
  • 1960-64: About Alphabets (1960, New York: The Typophiles
  • rev. ed. MIT Press, 1970
  • Über Alphabete, Frankfurt a.M. : Stempel, Linotype GmbH and G.K. Schauer, 1960)
  • Gedanken und Anmerkungen beim Schriftentwerfen, Frankfurt a.M. : Stempel, 1961
  • ‘Zur Pflege der Schreibkunst – Zwei Hinweise’ (book reviews: two by, about, Berthold Wolpe ), Imprimatur, 1958/60, pp. 220-21
  • Introduction to Raúl M. Rosarivo, Divina proportio typographica (tr. from the Spanish), Krefeld: Scherpe, 1961
  • Principles of Freedom, Pliladelphia: Scott Paper Co., 1962
  • ‘Das neue Manuale Typographicum’, Philobiblon, Nov. 1968, pp. 231-51
  • ‘Book design in the past and future’, in Frederick B. Adams, Jr. and others, Homage to the Book, New York: Westvaco, 1968
  • ‘Fraktur und Schwabacher 1968’, Schätze der Typographie: Gebrochene Schriften, Frankfurt a.M. : Polygraph, 1968, p. 66 (see also Healy, March-April 2009)
  • ‘Die Probleme der Typographie in der Zukunft’, Gutenberg Jahrbuch, 1968, pp. 35-9
  • ‘Die klassische Typographie und die Photosatz-Programme von morgen‘, Gutenberg Jahrbuch, 1969, pp. 29-31
  • ‘Die Veränderung der Schriftform durch die technische Entwicklung’, Polygraph Jahrbuch, 1969, pp. 9-19
  • About Alphabets (Paul Standard, tr.
  • enlarged edition), 1971
  • ‘Der elektronische Bildschirm und das Buch‘, Gutenberg Jahrbuch, 1971, pp. 305-7
  • Schrift und Buch in der Welt von morgen, Mainz: Gutenberg-Gesellschaft, c1971
  • ‘The expression of our time in typography’ in Heritage of the graphic arts, New York/London: R.R. Bowker, 1972
  • 1975-84: contribution in Georg Kurt Schauer, Die Einteilung der Druckschriften, Munich: Moos, 1975
  • Nachahmungen von Drucktypen in der Vergangenheit und in der Gegenwart, Gutenberg Jahrbuch, 1975, pp. 63-6
  • ‘Schrift in der Öffentlichkeit’, Gutenberg Jahrbuch, 1976, pp. 388-91
  • ‘The brotherhood of calligraphers’, in With respect…to RFD ( Raimond Franklin Da Boll), Freeport, ME: TBW Books, 1978
  • Orbis Typographicus: Thoughts, words and phrases on the Arts and Sciences, Prairie Village, KA: Crabgrass Press, 1980
  • ‘A master of punch-cutting’ (Victor Hammer), in Caroline Hammer (ed.), Victor Hammer/Artist and printer, Lexington, KY: Anvil Press, 1981
  • ‘In memoriam Giovanni Mardersteig’, in Giovanni Marderstieg & Hermann Zapf, New York: Kelly/Winterton Press (originally appeared in Gutenberg Jahrbuch, 1978, pp. 14-17), 1983
  • ‘Is creative art in design really needed in this day of electronics?’, 1983 ( repr . in R. McLean, ed., Typographers on Type, London: Lund Humphries, 1995)
  • Ein Arbeitsbericht, Hamburg: Maximilian-Gesellschaft, and Darmstadt: Technische Hochschule, 1984
  • Andrée Simons, Hermann Zapf, Paris: TypoGabor, 1984
  • 1985-8: Creative Calligraphy (Kreatives Schreiben), Hamburg: Rotring-werke Riepe KG, 1985
  • ‘Hans Schmoller zum Gedächtnis’, Philobiblon, March 1986, pp. 46-8
  • ‘Keeping the standards of quality’ (speech to Composition ’86 conference, Chicago, May 1986), in ABC-XYZapf, 1989
  • ‘Designer recognition’, American Printer, Aug. 1986, p. 83
  • contribution in The Monotype Recorder: Hans Schmoller, April 1987, p. 24
    • ‘Autobiography in Type’, Hermann Zapf and His Design Philosophy, Chicago: Society of Typographic Arts, and Yale University Press, New Haven, 1987 (originally appeared in Motif 3, London, Sept. 1959, pp. 33-48)
  • Walter Amstutz (ed.), Who’s Who in Graphic Art, 2nd ed., Dübendorf, 1982., 1982
    • ‘The Influence of calligraphy today and tomorrow’ (Keynote address delivered to Letterforum, International Calligraphy Conference, Washington, D.C.), Norman, OK: Calligraphy Review, Winter 1988, v. 6, no. 2, pp. 6-14
  • Die Kalligraphie heute und morgen, Hardheim: Kalligraphie, 1988
  • ‘Max Caflisch und das “Ideal Buch”’, in Philipp Luidl, Max Caflisch. Typographia Practica, Hamburg: Maximilian-Gesellschaft, 1988
  • 1989: John Dreyfus and Knut Erichson (eds.), ABC-XYZapf: Fifty Years in Alphabet Design, London: Wynkyn de Worde Society, and Offenbach: Bund Deutscher Buchkünstler, 1989. Several HZ texts included within the contributors’ texts: ‘Keeping the standards of quality’ (speech to Composition ’86 conference, Chicago, May 1986), pp. 208-11
  • ‘Some notes by the juror – and to save his life’, New York: Association of American University Presses, 1988, pp. 190-94
  • ‘Feststellungen und Anmerkungen’, pp. 95-109 (See also under ‘Lit’ below.)
  • 1989-94: ‘Karlgeorg Hoefer and his calligraphy courses’, in Gottfried Pott and Herbert Maring (eds.), Schriftkunst Letter Art: Karlgeorg Hoefer, Hardheim: Die Kalligraphe Edition, 1989
  • AMS Euler – A new typeface for mathematics (with Donald E. Knuth), Toronto: Scholarly Publishing, April 1989
  • ‘Freedom in text face design’ (alternative characters in HZ’s Renaissance Antiqua), Graphic Repro, Aug. 1989, p. 10
  • Ludwig Oehms, Schwarze Kunst Farbig/Die Druckerei Oehms, Amorbach im Odenwald: Hermann Emig, 1989, esp. pp. 9-11, 60-62
    • obituary of Guillermo Rodriguez-Benitez, Calligraphy Review, 1990, v. 7, no. 4, pp. 15-16
  • ‘Gustav Stresow’, Philobiblon, Sept. 1990, pp. 236-43
  • introduction in Rose Folsom, The Calligraphers’ Dictionary, London: Thames & Hudson, 1990
    • ‘Karlgeor Hoefer and his calligraphy courses’, Calligraphy Review, 1990, v. 8, no. 1
  • ’Joseph Blumenthal and Germany’, Joseph Blumenthal, The Typophiles, New York, N.Y., 1990, pp. 22-3 (Typophile Monograph New Series No. 7)
  • Classical Typography in the Computer Age (with John Dreyfus), New Castle, Delaware: Los Angeles: University of California, 1991 (papers presented at Clark Memorial Library seminar, 27 Feb. 1988)
  • Poetry through Typography, New York: Kelly-Winterton Press, 1993
  • Calligraphic salutations (letters to Paul Standard), Rochester, NY.: Rochester Institute of Technology, 1993 (privately printed)
  • Types best remembered/Types best forgotten, Kirkland/Washington: Parsimony, 1993
  • ‘About micro-typography and the hz-program’, Electronic Publishing, Sept. 1993
  • ‘Hat Schriftdesign eine Zukunft?’ (interview), Polygraph, 5 Feb. 1994, pp. 32-3
  • ‘Has type design any future?’, Typographers International Association Bulletin, Feb. 1994
  • A tribute to Edward Johnston/Sharpness, unity and freedom [ QUERY] , Cambridge (UK): Calligraphic Enterprises, 1994
  • foreword in Peter Karow, Digital Typefaces, Berlin/London: Springer, 1994
    • ‘Call for foundation of a “Sir Francis Drake Society”, Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons, Electronic Publishing/Origination, Dissemination and Design, vol. 7, Dec. 1994, pp. 261-3
  • 1995-2000: contribution in Gottfried Pott, Schrift Klang Bild: The music of lettering, Mainz: H. Schmidt, 1995
  • New Age typography, Cape Town: International Design Indaba, 1995
  • August Rosenberger 1893-1980, Melbert B. Cary Jr. Graphic Arts Collection, Rochester Institute of Technology, NY, 1996
  • ‘Greek letters/From tablets to pixels’, in The development of Greek typefaces, Athens: Greek Font Society
  • 1996
  • ‘Laudatio auf den Gutenberg-Preisträger 1996, John G. Dreyfus’, Gutenberg Jahrbuch, 1997, pp. 17-22
  • ‘Vom Stempelschnitt zur Digitalisierung von Schriftzeichen. Die technischen Veränderungen der Schriftherstellung’, Gutenberg Jahrbuch, 2000, pp. 302-16
  • ‘Calligraphy and typeface design’, in Patricia Lovett, The British Library Companion to Calligraphy, Illumination and Heraldry, London: British Library, 2000, pp. 141-8
  • ‘The World of Fritz Kredel’, in Kredel, 2000
  • ‘The Life Story of Hermann Zapf’ (autobiographical essay), in The Fine Art of Letters, The Work of Hermann Zapf ( exh . cat.), New York: The Grolier Club, 2000
  • 2001-present: The world of alphabets by Hermann Zapf (CD-ROM and booklet), Rochester (Institute of Technology), NY: Cary Graphic Arts Collection, and Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel, Germany, 2001
  • Back to the sources/Some reflections on calligraphic types/Calligraphic type design in the digital age, Corte Madera, CA: Gingko, 2001
  • Ein Gespräch eines Schülers mit Johannes Neudörffer im Jahr 2002 (in exh . cat.: Meister der Schrift), Nuremberg: Stadtbibliothek, 2002
  • ‘In memoriam John G. Dreyfus’, Gutenberg Jahrbuch, 2003, p. 327
  • introduction to Jerry Kelly, Gotthard de Beauclair ( exh . cat.), New York, NY: Grolier Club, 2006
  • Alphabet Stories. A Chronicle of Technical Developments by Hermann Zapf, Bad Homburg: Mergenthaler Edition, Linotype GmbH, and Rochester, NY: RIT, Cary Graphic Arts Press, 2007
  • Fraktur und Schwabacher (tr. Richard Healy), Right Hand Press, Southbourne-on-Sea, U.K., 2009 (original 1968).
  • 1940-54: ‘Neuzeitlicher Schriftlehrgang: Johann Neudrffer, eine Kanzleischrift’, Die zeitgemässe Schrift, Berlin/Leipzig: Verlag für Schriftkunde Heintze & Blanckertz., Jan. 1941
  • ‘Kommentare zur zchweizerischen Buchprämiierung’, Typographische (or Typografische) Monatsblätter (journal), St Gallen: 1952-93, Zurich: 1994-present., Nov. 1956, pp. 618-19
  • ‘Typography in the age of the computer’, Gebrauchsgraphik (International Advertising Art), Berlin: Phönix Illustrationsdruck und Verlag GmbH (later: ‘Gebrauchsgraphik’ Druck und Verlag GmbH), 1933-71. Published from Munich from 1950., Nov. 1969, pp. 44-50

Writings about

  • Meggs, 1998
  • Major references are Hermann Zapf and His Design Philosophy, Chicago: Society of Typographic Arts, 1987
  • Fine Print (closure of typefoundries), July 1986, pp. 132-3
  • Sammlung Hermann Zapf, Wolfenbüttel: Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel, 1991, 1993 (intro.: Georg Ruppelt)
  • The Fine Art of Letters, The Work of Hermann Zapf ( exh . cat.), New York: The Grolier Club, 2000, and Hermann Zapf’s autobiography, Alphabet Stories, 2007 (see below).
    • See also John Prestianni, ‘Hermann Zapf, a biographical portrait’, Scripsit (Washington [D.C.] Calligraphers Guild), vol. XI, no. 3, 1987. See also WWGA, 1962, 1982.
  • For list (to 1985), see Hermann Zapf and His Design Philosophy, pp. 119-24.
  • showing of Zapf’s Michelangelo and Palatino in Stempel ad at end of Gutenberg Jahrbuch, 1950
  • Paul Standard, brief description of HZ‘s work in Kredel / Zapf, Cooper Union exh ., October 1951
  • Paul Standard, ‘Here is Germany’s Hermann Zapf’, American Printer, Jan. 1952, pp. 20-21, 64-5
  • HS, 1952
  • Georg Kurt Schauer, review of Feder und Stichel, in Der Druckspiegel, July 1953, pp. 354-60
  • ‘Palatino – Die Schrift für das Buch von Heute’, Der Druckspiegel, July 1953, 8-page supplement between pp. 384/5
    • Paul Standard, ‘The restoration of calligraphy’, Graphis 50, 1953, pp. 428-43, 492-4 note on Feder und Stichel, in Graphis 50, 1953, p. 503
  • review of Pen and Graver, in Printing & Graphic Arts, Dec. 1953, p. 79
  • Kurt Luther, ‘Junges schriftkünstlerisches Schaffen, der Schriftkünstler Hermann Zapf, Nürnberg’, Die zeitgemässe Schrift, Berlin/Leipzig: Verlag für Schriftkunde Heintze & Blanckertz., Oct. 1940
  • brief review of HZ’s William Morris, in Schweizer Graphische Mitteilungen (journal), to 1951. See also Typographische Monatsblätter . , Feb. 1951, p. 91
  • Anton Sailer, note on Palatino, Gebrauchsgraphik (International Advertising Art), Berlin: Phönix Illustrationsdruck und Verlag GmbH (later: ‘Gebrauchsgraphik’ Druck und Verlag GmbH), 1933-71. Published from Munich from 1950., Nov. 1953, p. 59
  • Bertold Hack, ‘Funf Bücher über Schrift’ (review of Feder und Stichel), Imprimatur, 1954/55, pp. 173-80
  • 1955-9: ‘Sechzig Jahre im Dienste der Lettern’ (Stempel), Form und Technik, Feb. 1955, p. 79
  • note on Attika-Einfassungen (borders), Form und Technik, 1955, p. 312
  • note on HZ’s Die Schrift im Buch, in Form und Technik, 1955, p. 400
  • JR and GKS, ‘Schrift als Bild’, Der Druckspiegel, Nov. 1955, supplement
    • note on Manuale Typographicum, in Graphis 62, 1955, p. 548
  • Liber Librorum project, Form und Technik, 1956, pp. 389-404
  • Gerda Finsterer-Stuber, Marken und Signete, Stuttgart: Julius Hoffmann, 1957
  • ‘Das Alphabet des Monats’ (Michelangelo), Typographische (or Typografische) Monatsblätter (journal), St Gallen: 1952-93, Zurich: 1994-present., Jan. 1956, pp. 4-5
  • ‘Das Alphabet des Monats’ ( Sistina ), Typographische (or Typografische) Monatsblätter (journal), St Gallen: 1952-93, Zurich: 1994-present., March 1956, pp. 140-41
  • note on HZ’s Palatino and Aldus, Gebrauchsgraphik (International Advertising Art), Berlin: Phönix Illustrationsdruck und Verlag GmbH (later: ‘Gebrauchsgraphik’ Druck und Verlag GmbH), 1933-71. Published from Munich from 1950., March 1956, p. 61
    • Fritz Genzmer, ‘The expression of the spirit in writing’ (comments on and extracts from HZ’s Feder und Stichel), Archiv für Druck und Papier, 1955-65; then Archiv für Drucktechnik, 1965-7; then Druck, 1968-73. , 1957, v. 1, pp. 58-64
  • ‘Das Alphabet des Monats’ ( Halbfette Melior ), Typographische (or Typografische) Monatsblätter (journal), St Gallen: 1952-93, Zurich: 1994-present., June/July 1957, pp. 446-7
  • ‘Das Alphabet des Monats’ ( Schmalfette Melior ), Typographische (or Typografische) Monatsblätter (journal), St Gallen: 1952-93, Zurich: 1994-present., Dec. 1957, p. 753
  • Modern German Book Design , 1959, p. 25
    • G.K. Schauer, ‘Hermann Zapf, calligrapher and book designer’, Book Design and Production, 1959, 4, pp. 25-32 Hans Schmoller, ‘Hermann Zapf, type designer’, Motif, 1959, 3, pp. 49-50
  • Noel Martin (intro.), Hermann Zapf, calligrapher, type-designer and typographer ( exh . cat.), Cincinnati Art Museum (and others), 1960 (includes list of type faces and brief chronology)
  • Calligraphie et typographie de Hermann Zapf, Allemagne ( exh . cat.), Brussels: Bibliothèque Royale de Belgique, 1962
  • ‘L’Exposition Hermann Zapf à Bruxelles’, Nouvelles Graphiques, Feb. 1962
  • ‘Schrifttypen und Bücher als Ausdruck ihrer Zeit’, Gutenberg Jahrbuch, 1962, pp. 68-75
  • GKS, 1962
  • ‘Optima’ (showing), Print in Britain, Nov. 1963, between pp. 32/33
  • Rudolf Koch…Hermann Zapf ( exh . cat), Nuremberg, 1963
  • Kurt Weidemann, ‘Schriftkunst – Schriftguss – Schriftsatz’, Der Druckspiegel, Jan. 1964, pp. 1-8 (part 2: Feb. 1964, pp. 81-90
  • part 3: March 1964, pp. 173-8)
  • G.K. Schauer, ‘Stuttgarter Bibeltypografie’ (Liber Librorum project), Der Druckspiegel, June 1964, pp. 361-78
  • note of HZ’s USA exhibition (7 cities) and exh. cat., Gebrauchsgraphik (International Advertising Art), Berlin: Phönix Illustrationsdruck und Verlag GmbH (later: ‘Gebrauchsgraphik’ Druck und Verlag GmbH), 1933-71. Published from Munich from 1950., Nov. 1960, p. 64
  • showing of Melior, Typographische (or Typografische) Monatsblätter (journal), St Gallen: 1952-93, Zurich: 1994-present., Aug./Sept. 1963, p. 505
  • Melior halbfette showing, Typographische (or Typografische) Monatsblätter (journal), St Gallen: 1952-93, Zurich: 1994-present., Dec. 1963, p. 749
  • ‘Hermann Zapf als Schrift- und Buchgestalter’, Georg Kurt Schauer, Deutsche Buchkunst 1890 bis 1960, Hamburg: Maximilian-Gesellschaft, 1963., 1963, pp. 32, 264-9
  • Berthold Hack, ‘Die schönsten Deutschen Bücher 1963’ (juror), Der Druckspiegel, Sept. 1964 (16-page supplement)
  • Leschinkohl, brief biography, Der Druckspiegel, Sept. 1964, p. 69
  • 1965-74: Paul A. Bennett, ‘Report on a visit: Hermann Zapf: Calligrapher, Type Designer, Master of Book Arts’, Publisher’s Weekly, 4 Jan. 1965, pp. 72-85
  • Erik Lindegren, ABC of Lettering and Printing Types, Askim (Sweden): Lindegren, 1964/5 (3 vols.)
  • G.K. Schauer, ‘Anruf und Selbstbenennung’, Polygraph Jahrbuch, 1965, pp. 29-39
    • note on HZ’s Typographische Variationen, in Graphis 117, 1965, p. 86 note on HZ’s Typographic Variations, in Graphis 118, 1965, p. 271
  • WM, 1966
    • Adolf Meuer, ‘A.Typ.I.’ (10th Congress, Paris), Graphis 134, 1967, pp. 570-73
  • K. Weidemann, ‘Hermann Zapf’, Papier und Druck, August 1966, pp. 169-80
  • ‘Die Probleme der Typographie in der Zukunft’, Gutenberg Jahrbuch, 1968, pp. 35-9
  • ‘Hermann Zapf fünfzig Jahre’, Form und Technik, 1968, p. 700
  • Hermann Zapf ( exh . cat.), Hague: Rijksmuseum, Museum van het Boek, 1968
  • ‘Die klassische Typographie und die Photosatz-Programme von morgen’, Gutenberg Jahrbuch, 1969, pp. 29-31
    • ‘Hermann Zapf 50 Jahre’, Graphik, 2, 1969, p. 58
  • review of Manuale Typographicum, in Form und Technik, 1969, p. 56
  • ‘US-Preis für Hermann Zapf’, Form und Technik, 1969, p. 639
  • ‘Der elektronische Bildschirm und das Buch’, Gutenberg Jahrbuch, 1971, pp. 305-7
    • Monotype Newsletter 93, Nov. 1972 (showings of Melior, Optima, Sistina) (award of Gutenberg Prize), Graphik, 1974, 8, p. 63
  • 1975-84: Giovanni Mardersteig, ‘Laudatio auf Hermann Zapf’ (a talk given 24 June 1974, Mainz, on the occasion of the awarding of the Gutenberg Prize to HZ), Mainz: Gutenberg Gesellschaft, 1975 (also in Giovanni Mardersteig & Hermann Zapf, New York: Kelly/Winterton Press, 1983)
  • ‘Nachahmungen von Drucktypen in der Vergangenheit und in der Gegenwart’, Gutenberg Jahrbuch, 1975, pp. 63-6
  • G.K. Schauer, Klassifikation, Darmstadt: Technische Hochschule, 1975
  • G.K. Schauer, ‘Garant des Schriftwesens’ (from the speech given at the award of the Gutenberg Prize to HZ, Mainz, 1974), Von den Herbergen des Geistes, Krefeld: Scherpe, 1976
  • Virginia Smith, ‘Hermann Zapf’, Artograph, New York: Baruch College, Sept. 1977
    • Edward Russell Jr., The printing salesman’s herald book 39, New York: Champion Papers, 1978
  • G.K. Schauer, ‘Gegenwart und Zukunft unserer Buchkultur’, Philobiblon, March 1978, pp. 6-18
  • Kris Holmes, ‘ITC Zapf Chancery’, Fine Print, Jan. 1980, pp. 26-30
    • Herbert Lechner, ‘Von der Steglitzer Werkstatt zum Kathodenstrahl’, Graphik, 1980, 7, pp. 37-42
  • Hermann Rapp, ‘Hermann Zapf’, Typos (London College of Printing), Summer 1981, pp. 5-11
  • review of Orbis Typographicus, in Fine Print, Oct. 1981, pp. 123-4, 126
  • Gunnlaugur SE Briem, Living letters ( exh . cat.), Pascar, Iceland: College of Arts and Craft, 1982
  • David Ashley, ‘Two weeks with Hermann Zapf’, Colorado Calligraphers’ Guild Newsletter, Winter 1984
  • Jerry Kelly and Kit Currie, ‘The book typography of Hermann Zapf’, Fine Print, Oct. 1984, pp. 164-7, 183
  • Jerry Kelly and Kit Currie, The book typography of Hermann Zapf, New York: Typophiles, 1984
  • 1985-88: Robert Wernick, ‘Hermann Zapf/Wizard of the alphabet’, Reader’s Digest, 1985/6
  • Paul Hayden Duensing, ‘A New Civilité’, Fine Print, Jan. 1985, pp. 35-41
  • Julian Waters, review of Hermann Zapf: Ein Arbeitsbericht, in Fine Print, Oct. 1985, pp. 196-8
  • Dennis Mason, ‘Hermann Zapf’, Studio (Toronto), June 1986
    • note on HZ’s Ein Arbeitsbericht, in Graphis 244, July/Aug. 1986, p. 81
  • Michael Freitag, ‘Von der Liebe zu den Letters’, Frankfurter Allgemeine Magazin, 7 Nov. 1986
  • Pfäfflin, 1986
  • SC, 1987
    • John Prestianni, ‘Hermann Zapf, a biographical portrait’, Scripsit (Washington [D.C.] Calligraphers Guild), vol. XI, no. 3, 1987
  • N.F., The Philip Hofer Bequest, Harvard University, 1988, pp. 200, 201
  • Richard Southall, review of Hermann Zapf and His Design Philosophy, in Fine Print, April 1988, pp. 84, 87-8
  • 1989: John Dreyfus and Knut Erichson (eds.), ABC-XYZapf: Fifty Years in Alphabet Design, London: Wynkyn de Worde Society, and Offenbach: Bund Deutscher Buchkünstler, 1989 (English and German texts). Many contributors including Max Caflisch, Jerry Kelly, G.K. Schauer, Paul Standard. Contributions (which may have appeared in modified versions in earlier journals) include: Georg Trump, ‘Wie man mit 80 Schriftcharakteren zaubert’, pp. 77-8, and Hans Schmoller, ‘Type designer’, pp. 167-70
    • 1990-94: Robert Williams, review of ABC-XYZapf, in Calligraphy Review, 1990, v. 8, no. 1, p. 4
  • L’opera di Hermann Zapf (preface: Bruno Munari), Verona: Valdonega, c1991
  • Sammlung Hermann Zapf, Wolfenbüttel: Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel, 1991, 1993 (intro.: Georg Ruppelt)
  • Philobiblon, March 1992
  • ‘Collections: Jerry Kelly, New York City’, Bookways, Jan. 1993, pp. 32, 38, 41
  • Arlene E. Karsh, URW’s hz-Program: Bringing top quality composition to OEM’s, Media, PA: Seybold, Feb. 1993
  • Julian Waters, ed., Lettering Arts in the Zapf Tradition, Washington (D.C.): Washington Calligraphers Guild, 1993
  • 1995-2004: Zapf’s Civilité disclosed, Northampton, MA: Gehenna Press, 1995
  • David Consuegra, Hermann Zapf/Calígrafo, Diseñador de Caracteres y Tipógrafo ( exh . cat.), Bogota, Colombia: Univesidad Nacional de Colombia, 1996
    • Jerry Kelly, ‘The Dust-jacket Designs of Hermann Zapf’, Matrix 17, Winter 1997, pp. 72-7
  • Satwinder Sehmi, ‘Professor Hermann Zapf’, London: The Edge, Spring 1999, pp. 8-13
  • J. Kelly (intro.), The Fine Art of Letters, The Work of Hermann Zapf ( exh . cat.), New York: The Grolier Club, 2000
  • Gottfried Pott, ‘Schriftkunst’, Gutenberg Jahrbuch, 2000, pp. 231-56
  • John Prestianni, ed., Calligraphic type design in the digital age. An exhibition in honor of the contributions of Hermann and Gudrun Zapf, San Francisco: Gingko Press, 2001
  • ‘Zapfest’, The Scribe, Winter 2001
  • Sumner Stone, ‘The Zapfest exhibition’, The Scribe, Winter 2001
    • work in Letter Arts Review, 2002, v. 17, no. 4
  • Alexandra Foghammar, ‘Mit Schwung und Federstrich’, Nürnberg Heute, Winter 2002/3, pp. 36-43 (calligraphy collection of the Stadtbibliothek, Nuremberg)
    • Sebastian Carter, ‘The Incunabula of the Rampant Lions Press’, Matrix 22, Winter 2002 Type & Typography, West New York, NJ: Mark Batty, 2003 (reproduces Jerry Kelly, Matrix 17, Winter 1997: see above)
  • RK, 2004
  • 2005-present: John Neilson, review of Alphabet Stories, in Forum (journal of Letter Exchange, London), Sept. 2007, pp. 22-3
  • Patricia Lovett (‘Hermann Zapf. Alphabet Stories’) (review), The Edge (Calligraphy and Lettering Society, UK), Autumn 2007, pp. 4-5
    • Jerry Kelly (‘Hermann Zapf. Alphabet Stories’) (review), Matrix 27 (Winter 2007), pp. 190-92
  • Jerry Kelly, Spend your Alphabets Lavishly. The Work of Hermann Zapf and Gudrun Zapf, Cary Graphic Arts Press, Rochester Institute of Technology, 2007
    • Jerry Kelly, ‘Hermann Zapf. A survey of his early books’, Parenthesis 16, Feb. 2009, pp. 12-15 (includes a checklist of HZ- designed books, 1938-53) Sebastian Carter, ‘Hunt Roman’, Matrix 29 (Summer 2010), pp. 82-7
  • www.schriftenservice-d-stempel.de (Stempel history).
  • showing of Virtuosa, Gebrauchsgraphik (International Advertising Art), Berlin: Phönix Illustrationsdruck und Verlag GmbH (later: ‘Gebrauchsgraphik’ Druck und Verlag GmbH), 1933-71. Published from Munich from 1950., March 1954, p. 52
  • 1939-54: E. Hlscher, ‘Ausstellung “Junges deutsches Schriftschaffen“’, Die zeitgemässe Schrift, Berlin/Leipzig: Verlag für Schriftkunde Heintze & Blanckertz., April 1939, pp. 8-19 (HZ mentioned p. 19
  • Paul Koch, ‘Zwei Notenhandschriften von Hermann Zapf’, Die zeitgemässe Schrift, Berlin/Leipzig: Verlag für Schriftkunde Heintze & Blanckertz., July 1940
  • showing of Palatino, Gebrauchsgraphik (International Advertising Art), Berlin: Phönix Illustrationsdruck und Verlag GmbH (later: ‘Gebrauchsgraphik’ Druck und Verlag GmbH), 1933-71. Published from Munich from 1950., June 1953, p. 54
  • showing of Attika borders (Stempel), Gebrauchsgraphik (International Advertising Art), Berlin: Phönix Illustrationsdruck und Verlag GmbH (later: ‘Gebrauchsgraphik’ Druck und Verlag GmbH), 1933-71. Published from Munich from 1950., Sept. 1955, p. 54
  • Eberhard Hölscher, ‘Hermann Zapf. Manuale Typographicum’ (review, and pages from book), Gebrauchsgraphik (International Advertising Art), Berlin: Phönix Illustrationsdruck und Verlag GmbH (later: ‘Gebrauchsgraphik’ Druck und Verlag GmbH), 1933-71. Published from Munich from 1950., Oct. 1955, pp. 42-9
  • Eberhard Hölscher, note on HZ’s Manuale Typographicum, in Gebrauchsgraphik (International Advertising Art), Berlin: Phönix Illustrationsdruck und Verlag GmbH (later: ‘Gebrauchsgraphik’ Druck und Verlag GmbH), 1933-71. Published from Munich from 1950., Jan. 1956, p. 60
  • ‘Das Alphabet des Monats’ ( Virtuosa ), Typographische (or Typografische) Monatsblätter (journal), St Gallen: 1952-93, Zurich: 1994-present., May 1956, pp. 296-7
  • ‘Das Alphabet des Monats’ ( Melior ), Typographische (or Typografische) Monatsblätter (journal), St Gallen: 1952-93, Zurich: 1994-present., April 1957, pp. 268-9
  • showing of Optima, Gebrauchsgraphik (International Advertising Art), Berlin: Phönix Illustrationsdruck und Verlag GmbH (later: ‘Gebrauchsgraphik’ Druck und Verlag GmbH), 1933-71. Published from Munich from 1950., Oct. 1958, p. 56
  • 1960-64: ‘Kräftige Virtuosa’ ( Virtuosa showing), Typographische (or Typografische) Monatsblätter (journal), St Gallen: 1952-93, Zurich: 1994-present., Feb. 1960, p. 97
  • Erich Pfeiffer-Belli, ‘The advertising book-jacket’, Gebrauchsgraphik (International Advertising Art), Berlin: Phönix Illustrationsdruck und Verlag GmbH (later: ‘Gebrauchsgraphik’ Druck und Verlag GmbH), 1933-71. Published from Munich from 1950., Sept. 1960, pp. 8-17
  • note about Gedanken…Schriftentwerfen, in Gebrauchsgraphik (International Advertising Art), Berlin: Phönix Illustrationsdruck und Verlag GmbH (later: ‘Gebrauchsgraphik’ Druck und Verlag GmbH), 1933-71. Published from Munich from 1950., June 1961, p. 64
  • G.K. Schauer, ‘The advertising book-jacket 1962’, Gebrauchsgraphik (International Advertising Art), Berlin: Phönix Illustrationsdruck und Verlag GmbH (later: ‘Gebrauchsgraphik’ Druck und Verlag GmbH), 1933-71. Published from Munich from 1950., Oct. 1963, pp. 8-19
  • Kurt Weidemann, ‘The advertising book-jacket, 1963’, Gebrauchsgraphik (International Advertising Art), Berlin: Phönix Illustrationsdruck und Verlag GmbH (later: ‘Gebrauchsgraphik’ Druck und Verlag GmbH), 1933-71. Published from Munich from 1950., Sept. 1964, pp. 8-23

Collections

  • Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel
  • Germanisches National Museum, Nuremberg
  • Stadtbibliothek Nuremburg
  • Gutenberg Museum, Mainz
  • Klingspor Museum, Offenbach a.M.
  • Buch- und Schriftmuseum, Leipzig
  • Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, Albert I, Brussels
  • Grafiska Institutet, Stockholm
  • Pierpont Morgan Library, New York
  • Philip Hofer Coll., Houghton Library, Cambridge, Mass.
  • Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
  • Newberry Library (Wing Foundation), Chicago
  • Humanities Research Center, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
  • Richard Harrison Collection, San Francisco Public Library
  • Melbert B. Cary, Jr., Graphic Arts Collection, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, N.Y.
  • La Casa del Libro San Juan, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
  • Cooper Union, New York, 1951 (with Gudrun Zapf von Hesse)
  • Grafiska Institutet, Stockholm, 1952
  • San Francisco and Los Angeles, 1954
  • Cincinnati Art Museum, 1960/61 (travelled to Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh
  • AIGA, New York
  • Boston Museum of Fine Arts
  • Society of Typographic Arts, Chicago
  • San Francisco Museum of Art
  • Cooper and Beatty, Toronto)
  • Bibliothèque Royale, Brussels, 1962
  • Museum Plantin-Moretus, Antwerp, 1962
  • Nuremberg, 1963
  • École Estienne, Paris, 1963
  • Klingspor Museum, Offenbach a.M. , 1968
  • Rijksmuseum, Hague, Dec. 1968-Feb. 1969
  • ITC Center, New York, 1985/6
  • Strathmore Hall, Bethesda, Maryland, 1993
  • Bogota, Colombia, 1996
  • Grolier Club, New York, 1987, 2000/01
  • Kunstarchiv, Darmstadt, 1998/9
  • Herzog-August-Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel (permanent exhibition)
  • San Francisco Public Library, 2001 (with Gudrun Zapf-von Hesse)
  • Stadtbibliothek, Nuremberg, 2002
  • Klingspor Museum, Offenbach a.M. , 2008.