On Today’s Typography Lesson

It has only taken twenty years, but I have finally found the font I wanted.

In the mid-1980s, Del Rey used a distinctive typeface for the tables of contents or chapter headings of many of their science fiction novels. Foundation and Earth. The Songs of Distant Earth. The Integral Trees. Robots and Empire. A really distinctive typeface. A really classy typeface.

I didn’t know what it was.

I do now.

Peignot.

It’s used a fair bit now. I see it on signs a lot.

Here’s an example:

I especially like the way Peignot handles lower-case letters. They have super high ascenders.

Twenty years or more I’ve wanted to know what this typeface was. I look at it, at words formed in it, and I get a sense of nostalgia. It’s a nice feeling, that.

Now I know.

Peignot.

Who knows? Someday I may even put this useless knowledge to use. 😆