Oscar Ogg (1908–1971)

This has now gotten a bit dated and a bit simplistic, but nonetheless it's a nicely designed and still mostly useful introduction to the historical development of the alphabet.

This short, beautifully illustrated book from 1961 tells the story of the development of the Roman alphabet in short, breezy prose. Could be a kid's book, but it isn't, really. I read it in about two hours and learned tons. It's an excellent jumping-off point for anyone interested in the topic. The development of printed lettering is described as well.

Finished April 21, 2011.

Librarything prediction: LibraryThing thinks you will love The 26 Letters (prediction confidence: low) (+1)

A rather short and simple overview of the development of the English language alphabet. It's primary advantage is that the author is a calligrapher and therefore has illustrated the book profusely with examples of different fonts to illustrate his points.

Beautifully illustrated by the author.