Malcolm X. By Any Means Necessary (Pathfinder Press)
Pathfinder Press, 1972, featuring Jay Gothic. The same design was still used in 1987 and in 1991.
By Any Means Necessary is a collection of the last speeches, interviews, and a letter by Malcolm X (1925–1965). The book was edited by George Breitman and first published by Pathfinder Press, New York, in 1970. The imprint was established shortly before, in 1969, as a successor to Merit Publishers. In fact, the spine still shows the old name.
The cover for the first edition pairs Compacta and all-caps Futura Display. In 1972, the cover was revised. All type now is set in Jay Gothic, an uncommonly seen face that merges features of the two previously used typefaces: It has some of Compacta’s tightness and the squarish shapes with rounded corners of Futura Display, which are also found back in the frame.
Jay Gothic was designed by Jay H. Schechter and released by VGC in the mid 1960s. With its squircle basis, it looks a bit like Eurostile, but with compact proportions that resemble Steile Futura – Futura Display’s lighter and more sophisticated cousin – in some letters. Most strikingly, though, Jay Gothic is spurless: letters like m n r have smooth tops without protruding bits. This genre was popularized two decades later by Hans Reichel and others.
First hardcover edition, Pathfinder Press, 1970.
First trade paperback edition, Pathfinder Press, 1970.
