It appears on book covers by everyone from Jane Austen to William Faulkner to Martin Amis, but naming specific examples is a silly exercise. Walk into any bookshop and you’ll find that a good number of book covers feature Bodoni, a typeface created by Giambattista Bodoni in the late 18th century. If you read books, a piece of Bodoni is probably lurking on your shelf in gorgeous silence right now. Brand logos that either are Bodoni or owe a serious debt to it include Valentino, La Mer, Calvin Klein and Brookstone. A graphic designer seeking shorthand for “sophisticated” might reach for Bodoni or one of its relatives.

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Persons: Jane Austen, William Faulkner, Martin Amis, Giambattista Bodoni, Valentino, La Mer, Calvin Klein, Brookstone, Bruce Springsteen’s “, Gaga’s “, Bodoni Locations: U.S.A