Ballantine Cover Font?

[GHL&G RR]

Hi Folks,

Here's an obscure trivia question I haven't been able to track down on the web:

Does anyone know the font used for the distinctive covers of the 1973 Ballantine paperbacks? Is there a Mac version, or a close approximation available?

This will help us do lettering for signs on our model railroad -- The Grey Havens, Lorien & Gondor

Thanks,
Maureen

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

This may not be the exact font used by Ballantine, but I think you'll agree that it's fairly close.

tolkien.ttf (http://ateliercalligraphie.free.fr/fonts/TOLKIEN.TTF)

Alternatively, a number of Tengwar fonts (http://home.student.uu.se/j/jowi4905/fonts/annatar.html) are available, which are only a disadvantage in that they're illegible to anyone who isn't a Tolkien fan. The Quenya version is available from the main Barrow-Downs site (see here (http://www.barrowdowns.com/scriptor.php) and possibly here (http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=1642))

I'm more intrigued than any well-balanced person should be by the name of Ballantine's font, so I'm still trying to track it down. I'll edit to include it if I manage to do that.

[GHL&G RR]

Thanks, that will be helpful.

The Tolkien.ttf is not at all Ballantine's cover font. It looks like the font used by the bootleg US paperbacks and related posters of the 60's/70's. However, we'll still find uses for that on our train layout (set in the early steam age of ME, shortly after the invention of the Iron Warg :smokin: )

Meanwhile, to keep hunting for Ballantine's font....

[Roa_Aoife]

It would be helpful if there was a picture available. I can't seem to find one on the web.

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

Quite a few of the American paperback editions are here (http://users.telerama.com/~taliesen/tolkien/oop-lotr.html).

On a second examination, that font isn't terribly close, although it does have a similar 'e'. I don't have any American editions, but I'm sure that someone does. Perhaps the font is mentioned somewhere in the publication details (I seem to remember that my GA&A editions list the printer and typeface, but that might not be an international standard).

[Estelyn Telcontar]

I own the red-boxed 1973 Ballantine paperbacks (with Tolkien's own drawings on the covers) and have checked out the info inside - alas, no mention is made of the font used. I will attempt to make time to search the fonts I have to compare them, but it may take awhile...

[Bêthberry]

Good quality paperbacks often list the font name at the back of the book, on a separate page, if it isn't given on the frontispiece with the publishing data.

Sometimes books do name the typesetting company, though, with that data. Could one do a net search for typesetting company name and contact them? Just a suggestion.

[GHL&G RR]

Last week I sent an email query to Ballantine, but haven't heard back.

I also asked them about their 1965 cover font too.

[GHL&G]

Hi,

Doing my own thread necromancy here since I finally found an answer to my question!

(My old log-in wasn't working for some reason, so had to create a new similar one.)

I recently found the website, http://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/
Scanned in one of the 1973 Ballantine book covers, and that site quickly identified a number of possible matches.

The ones I like the best are:
Tribunus SG Roman
Tribunus SG Bold

Also, following in order of my preference:
Cadmus
Hadrian
Linotype Trajanus Roman

Thought I'd tidy up this thread in case anyone else is searching later.

Cheers,
Maureen