Arabic type-making in the machine age : the influence of technology on the form of Arabic type, 1908 - 1993

Arabic Type-Making in the Machine Age is an in-depth historical study of the evolution of Arabic type under the influence of changing technologies in the twentieth century. Intro -- Arabic Type-Making in the Machine Age: The Influence of Technology on the Form of Arabic Type, 1908-1993 -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Note on Typographical Conventions -- Note on Terminology -- List of Archives -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- Acknowledgements -- 1 Introduction -- Arabic Type in the New Millennium -- Situating this Book -- Aspects of the Arabic Script -- The Typographic Representation of the Arabic Script -- Arabic Publishing at the Turn of the Twentieth Century -- 2 Mechanical Composition of Arabic -- The Industrialisation of Printing -- The Beginning of Arabic Mechanical Composition -- Mergenthaler Linotype's First Arabic Linecaster Founts -- The Beginning of Arabic Type-Making at Linotype & Machinery -- The Arabic Typewriter -- Arabic Script Reform -- Nasri Khattar's Endeavours in Arabic Type Design -- Ahmed Lakhdar Ghazal and the Asv Codar Type -- The Printing Trade and the Middle East after the Second World War -- Simplified Arabic, Kamel Mrowa, and Al-Hayat -- Simplified Arabic: Proof of Concept -- Intertype Abridged Arabic -- A New Design: Series 8 with 9 -- Monotype Hot-Metal Composition -- Monotype's First Arabic Typeface: Series 507 -- A Design for Urdu -- A New Typeface for the Middle East -- Monotype Series 549, the Unwitting Mechanisation of Qurʾān Typography -- Monotype Series 589, Full Vocalisation -- The Beginning of Computer-Aided Arabic Composition -- The Development of Character Selection and Kashida Insertion Routines -- 3: Photocomposition: Towards Immaterial Type -- Beginnings of a New Technological Era -- Arabic on the Monophoto -- Expansion of Monotype's Arabic Type Catalogue -- Simplified Arabic for Monophoto -- Arabic on Linotype Photocomposition Machines -- Towards an Arabic Photocomposition Programme -- Arabic Type Developments by Linotype-Paul Ltd Arabic is the third most widely used script in the world, and gave rise to one of the richest manuscript cultures of mankind. Its representation in type has engaged printers, engineers, businesses and designers since the 16th century, and today most digital devices render Arabic type. Yet the evolution of the printed form of Arabic, and its development from metal to pixels, has not been charted before. Arabic Type-Making in the Machine Age provides the first comprehensive account of this history using previously undocumented archival sources. In this richly illustrated volume, Titus Nemeth narrates the evolution of Arabic type under the influence of changing technologies from the perspective of a practitioner, combining historical research with applied design considerations.