Book List of the Week: Calligrapher “Alice”
The creator of the Morgan Library & Museum’s celebrated signage picks 5 favorite books and gets a book dedicated to her own career.
By Stephanie Salomon July 19, 2016
For more than three decades, beginning in 1967, the calligrapher “Alice” (Alice Koeth— she dropped her last name professionally early on) designed and lettered the iconic and highly praised signage for New York’s Morgan Library & Museum. A founding member of the Society of Scribes (SOS), she is one of the most respected calligraphers in the world today, whose work has influenced generations of scribes.
Her keen understanding of the craft, respect for its tools, and interest in historical calligraphic forms come across clearly in the list of five books she recommends— all explorations of the written form of symbols, letters, and numbers. These range from the 1930 classic The Book of Signs by Rudolf Koch, to The Calligrapher’s Handbook by Heather Child (“a bible,” says Alice), to a catalogue of the work of Rudo Spemann, who, while imprisoned during World War II, Alice notes, “wrote the most wonderful small pages by candlelight.”
Up to now, though, she has never had a book devoted to her own extraordinary work, A currently running Kickstarter*, created by Jerry Kelly of The Kelly-Winterton Press, to publish a book on Alice’s calligraphy, aims to change that.
The book will feature 140 illustrations, showing the depth and breadth of Alice's artistry over her more than 60-year career. In addition to her celebrated posters for the Morgan Library & Museum (many not seen for decades), the book contains charming early works from the 1950s, as well as several sketches and preliminary layouts which offer a rare glimpse into Alice’s working process.
You can support the “Alice” Kickstarter through July 30! *Updated, August 1: the Kickstarter has been successfully funded!
Announcements
Louis Kahn: Architecture as Philosophy by John Lobell
Louis Kahn: Architecture as Philosophy
By John Lobell
Publisher: The Monacelli Press
Published: June 2020
Noted Louis I.Kahn expert John Lobell explores how Kahn’s focus on structure, respect for materials, clarity of program, and reverence for details come together to manifest an overall philosophy.
Our Days Are Like Full Years: A Memoir with Letters from Louis Kahn by Harriet Pattison
Our Days Are Like Full Years: A Memoir with Letters from Louis Kahn
By Harriet Pattison
Publisher: Yale University Press
Forthcoming: October 2020
An intimate glimpse into the professional and romantic relationship between Harriet Pattison and the renowned architect Louis Kahn. Harriet Pattison, FASLA, is a distinguished landscape architect. She was Louis Kahn’s romantic partner from 1959 to 1974, and his collaborator on the landscapes of the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, and the F.D.R. Memorial/Four Freedoms Park, New York. She is the mother of their son, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Nathaniel Kahn.
Five Oceans in a Teaspoon by Dennis Bernstein and Warren Lehrer
Five Oceans in a Teaspoon
Poems by Dennis Bernstein
Visualizations by Warren Lehrer
Introduction by Steven Heller
Publisher: Paper Crown Press
Published: September 19, 2019
“From a kidnap note for a world held hostage by an A-bomb, to a Holocaust survivor’s tattooed arms where the numbers just don’t add up, Five Oceans in a Teaspoon re-envisions a poetry memoir via a textual kaleidoscope... Bernstein and Lehrer are the Rodgers and Hart of Visual Poetry.” — Bob Holman, poet, poetry activist and chronicler, and founder of the Bowery Poetry Club
Ballpark: Baseball in the American City by Paul Goldberger
Ballpark: Baseball in the American City
By Paul Goldberger
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Published: May 2019
An illustrated, entirely new look at the history of baseball: told through the stories of the vibrant and ever-changing ballparks where the game was and is staged, by the Pulitzer Prize-winning architectural critic.
Charleston Fancy by Witold Rybczynski
Charleston Fancy: Little Houses and Big Dreams in the Holy City
By Witold Rybczynski
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: May 2019
Charleston, South Carolina, which boasts America’s first historic district, is known for its palmetto-lined streets and picturesque houses. The Holy City, named for its profusion of churches, exudes an irresistible charm. Award-winning author and cultural critic Witold Rybczynski unfolds a series of stories about a group of youthful architects, builders, and developers based in Charleston: a self-taught home builder, an Air Force pilot, a fledgling architect, and a bluegrass mandolin player.
Teaching Graphic Design History by Steven Heller
Teaching Graphic Design History
By Steven Heller
Publisher: Allworth Press
Published: June 2019
An examination of the concerted efforts, happy accidents, and key influences of the practice throughout the years, Teaching Graphic Design History is an illuminating resource for students, practitioners, and future teachers of the subject.
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