America by Andy Warhol
First edition in hardcover with dust jacket.
Drawing of Viafont, filed for a patent by Harry L. Preble of Viatron in 1970.
A hard-to-find book, America is a photo-diary, a tour of America by Andy Warhol — the artist who, arguably most embodies the spirit of the American Dream — revealing a country of enormous contradictions. From the private worlds of the very rich and very famous; to ordinary people; and the homeless and destitute, Warhol’s trusty polaroid camera reveals a touching and astonishing portrait of modern life. And while the photos themselves are strangely beautiful and often poignant, it’s Warhol’s words that are the most intoxicating. If you’ve long written him off as say (as one description amusingly put it): “a mirror, a spinning disco ball reflecting the superficiality and pathos of human existence”, this book will change everything. Deeply personal, it shows Andy at his funniest and most touching — Big Ego Books
Designed by Barbara Richer, the cover and interior section heads use a very distinctive typeface with a very 1970s-tech look (a la OCR-A, Moore Computer, and Amelia). It’s not clear if this is phototype or simply reproduced lettering, but the origin of the style is Viafont, an OCR typeface created by computer manufacturer Viatron in 1970. Viatron’s product was discontinued within a year of its release, but the type lived on through this cover (with modifications to ‘A’, ‘I’ and ‘R’) and Buzzer Three, a digital font released ten years later.
Later edition in wrappers.
