Old Babylonian (c. 1850 bce)in Akkadian. The world's oldest cookbook, a collection of recipes for dishes for the royal palace or the temple.
Johann Gutenberg, pages 146 and 147 from the Gutenberg Bible, 1450–55. The superb typographic legibility and texture, generous margins, and excellent presswork make this first printed book a canon of quality that has seldom been surpassed. An illuminator added the red headers and text, initials, and floral marginal decoration by hand.
Jules Chéret, "Palais de Glace, Champs-Èlysées" (Ice Palace, Champs-Èlysées), 1893. Parisian elegance, a carefree grace, and astounding technical mastery are present. The figures create a lively play of angles, linking the top and bottom lettering. As with many of Chéret's larger posters, it was necessary to print "Palais de Glace" in two sections.
A. M. Cassandre, poster for the train Express Nord, 1927. The spirit of art deco is clearly expressed by the image of the locomotive.
Herbert Matter, catalogue cover for an Alexander Calder exhibit, 1964. The letters of Calder's name hang from the sky as pieces of sculpture.
Milton Glaser, Bob Dylan poster, 1967. Transcending subject and function, this image became a symbolic crystallization of its time.
Reza Abedini, film poster for Rêves de sable, 2003. The sable cloak is created from a collage of Farsi lettering.
Jennifer Morla, poster for AIGA/Landor Associates, 2003. Morla expresses the diversity of the AIGA with an explosion of images and textures.