⏳ PRINTED ON DEMAND — Please allow 3–4 weeks for delivery

This book is printed one copy at a time when you order it. There is no warehouse shelf of these — your copy goes on the press after you check out. Hardcover binding takes longer than paperback. Please allow 3–4 weeks from order to delivery.

About this book

Lawrence E. Blair believed a card writer needed principles, not just alphabets — and his 1922 Principles and Practice of Show-Card Writing delivers both. This vintage show card manual pairs the theory behind effective cards — layout, letter proportion, color harmony — with the hands-on practice of brush lettering that turns theory into finished work.

Blair's two-part approach is what sets the book apart. The principles sections teach the card writer to think: how to compose a card so the eye lands where it should, how colors work together on the card, how letterforms relate to each other in a line. The practice sections put brush to board with alphabets and exercises built on those principles. It is the closest thing the 1920s trade had to a design education for card writers.

For serious students of show card writing, hand letterers, and sign painters, this 1922 manual rewards study beyond mere copying. The layout and color principles apply to chalkboards, menus, and modern hand-lettered signage as directly as they did to 1920s counter cards. Collectors of antique sign painting books will value its thoughtful, teacherly voice.

Whether you're learning the craft or refining it, Blair's Principles and Practice is the thinking card writer's manual. Theory you can letter by.

Details: 6×9" hardcover (case laminate), black and white interior, cream paper.

⚠️ Please read before ordering — about print quality

This is a print-on-demand reprint of a scanned historical document. The pages were scanned from an original 1922 printing, and the print quality of your book reflects the condition of that original scan.

What that means in plain terms: you may see faded text, uneven inking, age spots, show-through from the back of pages, and other imperfections that were in the 1922 original or introduced by the scanning process. These are preserved as-is — they are not printing defects, and they are not something we can fix.

We are not responsible for the condition of the original source material. If you want a pristine modern typeset book, this isn't it. If you want the actual 1922 book with all its character intact, you're in the right place.

Printed on demand by IngramSpark. One copy at a time — no inventory, no waste.