An overview of Bauer’s Cómo se forma la letra de imprenta and the German originals

This article proposes a review of the editions of Cómo se forma la letra de imprenta, booklets published by Bauersche Giesserei and distributed through its Barcelona branch, Fundición Tipográfica Neufville, between the late 1920s and 1950s, as Spanish versions of the German originals Wie ein Druck-Buchstabe entsteht and Wie eine Buchdruckschrift entsteht. The first volumes were printed versions of a documentary film; the following could be considered originals in their own right, but still relied on material from the preceding booklets. They were all of an informative nature and, essentially, offer elements of interest for the historical and disciplinary knowledge of typefounding and typography.To this end, the article provides the basic data of the booklets and summarizes their particular structure, sections, text and figures. This paves the way to addressing the contents and associated figures related to the production sequence of printing type – the drawing of the letter, the making and justification of matrices, etc. These aspects are reviewed in order to appreciate the similarities and differences between the editions and versions that, more or less clearly, reflect the circumstances of each period.