Massin, an influential French graphic designer, art director and typographer, notable for innovative experimentation with expressive forms of typographic composition. "Letter and Image", Translation: Caroline Hillier; Vivienne Menkes. 286 pp., Profusely illustrated throughout. From the dust jacket: "Here is an anthology, a catalog in text and illustration of two things: I. How man has used letters with other visual symbols in order to communicate. II. What men have written about letters and how (he) uses them. The book examines the letter within three contexts. The first of these is a long general discussion of the letter itself, and the letter as symbol, the fascinating chronology of the illuminated Massin, an influential French graphic designer, art director and typographer, notable for innovative experimentation with expressive forms of typographic composition. "Letter and Image", Translation: Caroline Hillier; Vivienne Menkes. 286 pp., Profusely illustrated throughout. From the dust jacket: "Here is an anthology, a catalog in text and illustration of two things: I. How man has used letters with other visual symbols in order to communicate. II. What men have written about letters and how (he) uses them. The book examines the letter within three contexts. The first of these is a long general discussion of the letter itself, and the letter as symbol, the fascinating chronology of the illuminated

Massin, an influential French graphic designer, art director and typographer, notable for innovative experimentation with expressive forms of typographic composition. "Letter and Image", http://www.razuitinterface.webs.com/: Caroline Hillier; Vivienne Menkes. 286 pp., Profusely illustrated throughout. From the dust jacket: "Here is an anthology, a catalog in text and illustration of two things: I. How man has used letters with other visual symbols in order to communicate. II. What men have written about letters and how (he) uses them. The book examines the letter within three contexts. The first of these is a long general discussion of the letter itself, and the letter as symbol, the fascinating chronology of the illuminated letter and the zoomorphic letter, many illustrations of initials intertwined with men, foliage, animals. The next section is a comprehensive anthology and discussion of figured verse and calligrams, shaped poetry and prose throughout history. The final section examines the use of letters in fine art. In text and illustration the book examines how the letter form has grown in importance throughout the history of art. The diverse illustrative materials are international in scope. Many of the works have never been published before. Designers, architects, decorators, all those who make professional use of the letter will find this text invaluable." "...this former designer for major French book clubs enlivened the publishing industry by testing the limits of typographic composition. He also reintroduced vintage and passé wood typefaces in totally novel ways, rooted in a Dadaist spirit. Although Massin and his typographic work have been little known over here, in the '70s his books on the history of quirky letter forms and odd compositions, notably "Letter and Image," were virtually required reading for designers." From New York Times Sunday Book Review, Steven Heller, "Holiday Visuals", December 2, 2007, in reference to Laetitia Wolff's, MASSIN, Phaidon, 2007

                                                                                                         
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