A stunning tribute to the experimental letterpress prints of the
revered scholar-printer and AIGA medalist Jack Stauffacher
Created in his off-hours on the weekend and in part inspired by the
modern artists of his day, Jack Stauffacher's exquisite prints
demonstrate what wood type can do when released from its role in
traditional communication and instead used to explore letters as pure
form. In the resulting abstract, dynamically composed, often lushly
layered prints, Stauffacher reclaims typography as a subject fit for the
gallery wall.
Featuring 500 images (most of which have never appeared in a publication
before) and essays by collaborators from the worlds of art and
typography, Only on Saturday is the first trade book to document the
work of one of the past century's great typographers and printers--and
offer the compelling backstory behind its creation.
Born in 1920 in San Mateo, California, Jack Stauffacher was a
printer, typographer and fine-book publisher whose delicate yet graphic
sensibility landed his work first in library rare book collections and
then in museums such as SFMOMA and LACMA, who sought out his typographic
prints. A printer of exceptional skill who began his apprenticeship at
the age of 16, Stauffacher created books for his Greenwood Press off and
on for eight decades. He taught typography at Carnegie Mellon and the
San Francisco Art Institute, and served as typographic director at
Stanford University Press. But it was his later wood type prints that
ushered his career into the realm of fine art. Stauffacher created these
innovative and elegant prints from 1966 until his death in 2017 at the
age of 96. In recognition of his contributions to typography and design,
he was awarded an AIGA Medal in 2004.
