Signs of the Times is the most graphically ambitious of the books submitted. The illustrations are a very important part of the overall effect. The type is very carefully set. It is curious that the typographer chose to use eighteenth-century decorative ligatures, "st" and "ct" ligatures, for example, and yet could not be bothered to find a decent set of text figures. While the type and the images seem to us well chosen, they do not always seem to be balanced against one another or integrated with one another. The elements sometimes seem out of scale with the page and with the book.

The cover is disappointing. There is, however, some sophisticated and intriguing typographic play inside the book. Whether or not there is any real relationship between this typographic play and the content of the poetry is not quite clear. The illustrations seem to be graphic interruptions more than they are graphic amplifications or additions to the text.

This has one of the best covers we saw in this category. The letterspacing of the capitals is well done. The typography, otherwise, is undistinguished. The book was set without ligatures, which it does need. There is, however, adequate spacing between and around the lines, which helps considerably to make a book inviting to read. More attention to typographic detail would have been very welcome.

A pleasant little book, handsomely diminutive in size. The typographer has gone to the trouble of getting real musical symbols where they were required. The justification, however, is poor. This is a difficulty because this book of poetry is written almost entirely in prose.