Aldo Novarese, Alfa – Beta, 2020

The first edition of Alfa-Beta, was published in 1964 by Progresso Grafico and distributed by G.B. Paravia & C. The cover price was 5,000 Italian liras. This book is a testament to Aldo Novarese’s overall work and design ethos. It is a highly specific vision of the discipline, written by a practitioner, describing the evolution of writing. He stakes no claim on completeness or scientific rigor, but rather outlines the field in a highly functional way, justifying the forms and typographic styles of the time. Therefore, in addition to being one of very few textbooks on the theory and practice of type design written by an Italian, Alfa-Beta also presents the history of typography from an original, dynamic perspective that remains a noteworthy source of inspiration.