Appendix E — Appendix E: Further Reading and Bibliography
The works listed here informed or directly influenced the content of this book. They are grouped by subject; within each group, the most essential starting points are marked with a dagger (†). The bibliography that follows contains full details in alphabetical order.
E.1 Typography and type design
† Bringhurst, R. (2012). The Elements of Typographic Style (4th ed.). Hartley & Marks.
The fundamental text on Western typography. Covers the history and classification of typefaces, the principles of spacing, the conventions of page layout, and the relationship between typography and language. Every serious practitioner of document production should own a copy and consult it regularly. The book itself is a specimen of fine typography.
Hochuli, J. (2008). Detail in Typography. Hyphen Press.
A short, precise study of the smallest typographic decisions: letter spacing, word spacing, line spacing, and the relationship between them. Written with the authority of a practicing typographer. Essential for understanding why microtypographic adjustments matter.
Tracy, W. (1986). Letters of Credit: A View of Type Design. David R. Godine.
A thoughtful account of what makes typefaces legible and why different designs suit different purposes. Technically rigorous but readable. Invaluable for making informed typeface choices.
Lupton, E. (2010). Thinking with Type (2nd ed.). Princeton Architectural Press.
An accessible, visually rich introduction to typography for designers. Less concerned with fine detail than Bringhurst or Hochuli, but excellent at conveying the visual logic of typographic decisions.
Spiekermann, E., & Ginger, E. M. (2002). Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works (2nd ed.). Adobe Press.
A concise and opinionated introduction to typography from the designer of Meta and the redesign of the Economist’s typeface. Good on the pragmatics of choosing and using typefaces.
E.2 TeX and LaTeX
† Knuth, D. E. (1984). The TeXbook. Addison-Wesley.
The definitive reference for TeX. Knuth wrote both the program and the book describing it, and the book is as carefully crafted as the software. Essential reading for understanding how TeX actually works. The “Dangerous Bend” sections cover advanced usage; a reader working through the main text gains a thorough understanding of the TeX model.
† Lamport, L. (1994). LaTeX: A Document Preparation System (2nd ed.). Addison-Wesley.
The original LaTeX manual, by the system’s creator. Still a clear and concise introduction to LaTeX. The third edition of The LaTeX Companion (below) covers the current state of the ecosystem more thoroughly, but Lamport’s book is shorter and often clearer on fundamentals.
Mittelbach, F., Gossens, M., & contributors. (2023). The LaTeX Companion (3rd ed., 2 vols.). Addison-Wesley.
The comprehensive reference for LaTeX package usage. Over 1,000 pages covering virtually every aspect of the LaTeX ecosystem: fonts, tables, mathematics, graphics, bibliographies, internationalisation, and more. The 3rd edition was substantially updated to cover contemporary packages and LaTeX3.
Oetiker, T., Partl, H., Hyna, I., & Schlegl, E. The Not So Short Introduction to LaTeX2e.
The standard free introductory guide. Regularly updated. Available as PDF from CTAN: ctan.org/pkg/lshort. A good starting point before tackling The LaTeX Companion.
Tantau, T. (2024). The TikZ and PGF Manual.
The complete reference for TikZ, the LaTeX diagram package. Over 1,200 pages. Available from CTAN and via texdoc pgf. A model of technical documentation.
E.3 Pandoc and Markdown
MacFarlane, J. Pandoc User’s Guide. pandoc.org/MANUAL.html.
The complete reference for Pandoc. Exhaustive and accurate. The best way to learn a Pandoc feature is to read its section in the manual.
Gruber, J. Markdown. daringfireball.net/projects/markdown.
The original Markdown specification and philosophy. Short and worth reading to understand what Markdown was and was not designed to do.
Beber, A., & Lamire, C. (2022). The Quarto Guide. quarto.org/docs/guide.
The official guide to Quarto. Covers reproducible research, computational documents, and multi-format publishing.
E.4 Document engineering and build systems
Mecklenburg, R. (2004). Managing Projects with GNU Make (3rd ed.). O’Reilly.
The thorough reference for GNU Make. Free online edition available from the GNU project. Covers pattern rules, automatic variables, and the features needed for complex document build systems.
Kernighan, B. W., & Plauger, P. J. (1976). Software Tools. Addison-Wesley.
Classic book on the Unix philosophy of composable tools. The mindset it describes applies directly to the CLI document production workflows in this book.
Kernighan, B. W., & Pike, R. (1984). The Unix Programming Environment. Prentice-Hall.
A clear and elegant account of the Unix philosophy and its tools. Still valuable despite its age. The principles of pipeline composition and small, focused programs are directly applicable.
E.5 Web typography and CSS
Cederholm, D., & Ethan Marcotte. CSS Typography. A Book Apart.
A concise guide to typographic decisions in CSS. Part of the A Book Apart series on web design and development.
Mozilla Developer Network. CSS Fonts. developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/CSS/CSS_fonts.
The complete reference for CSS font properties, including font-feature-settings, font-variation-settings, and the full @font-face syntax.
W3C. CSS Fonts Module Level 4. w3.org/TR/css-fonts.
The formal specification for CSS font properties. More authoritative than any tutorial, and often clearer than tutorials on the exact behaviour of edge cases.
E.6 History of printing and typography
McMurtrie, D. C. (1943). The Book: The Story of Printing and Bookmaking. Oxford University Press.
A comprehensive history from clay tablets to twentieth-century printing technology. The chapters on incunabula and early type design are particularly valuable for understanding where typographic conventions come from.
McLean, R. (1997). The Thames and Hudson Manual of Typography. Thames & Hudson.
A practical and historical account of typography from hot metal to early digital. Good on the transition between technologies and what was gained and lost at each stage.
Loxley, S. (2006). Type: The Secret History of Letters. I.B. Tauris.
An accessible popular history of type design with engaging character portraits of type designers and their influences.
E.7 Online resources
CTAN — Comprehensive TeX Archive Network. ctan.org
The repository for all TeX and LaTeX packages. Every package mentioned in this book is available here. Use texdoc packagename to read the documentation for any installed package.
TUG — TeX Users Group. tug.org
The user organisation for TeX. Publishes TUGboat, a journal that has been running since 1980. Conference proceedings, technical articles, and a community of advanced users.
TeX Stack Exchange. tex.stackexchange.com
The Q&A site for LaTeX and TeX questions. An enormous archive of solved problems. The most reliable source for specific LaTeX troubleshooting.
Pandoc Discussion. github.com/jgm/pandoc/discussions
The official forum for Pandoc questions and feature discussions.
The Typst Forum. typst.app/forum
The community forum for Typst, with templates, packages, and troubleshooting.
Google Fonts Knowledge. fonts.google.com/knowledge
A well-written set of guides on type terminology, pairing, and best practices. Produced by Elliot Jay Stocks and others.
E.8 Bibliography
Bringhurst, R. (2012). The Elements of Typographic Style (4th ed.). Hartley & Marks.
Duffner, G., & Pardo, O. EB Garamond. GitHub. github.com/octaviopardo/EBGaramond
Gruber, J. (2004). Markdown. daringfireball.net/projects/markdown
Hochuli, J. (2008). Detail in Typography. Hyphen Press.
Hosny, K. Amiri. GitHub. github.com/alif-type/amiri
Knuth, D. E. (1984). The TeXbook. Addison-Wesley.
Knuth, D. E. (1986). TeX: The Program. Addison-Wesley.
Lamport, L. (1994). LaTeX: A Document Preparation System (2nd ed.). Addison-Wesley.
Loxley, S. (2006). Type: The Secret History of Letters. I.B. Tauris.
Lupton, E. (2010). Thinking with Type (2nd ed.). Princeton Architectural Press.
MacFarlane, J. (2006–). Pandoc: a universal document converter. pandoc.org
Maclennan, C. Libertinus fonts. GitHub. github.com/alerque/libertinus
McLean, R. (1997). The Thames and Hudson Manual of Typography. Thames & Hudson.
McMurtrie, D. C. (1943). The Book: The Story of Printing and Bookmaking. Oxford University Press.
Mecklenburg, R. (2004). Managing Projects with GNU Make (3rd ed.). O’Reilly.
Mittelbach, F., Gossens, M., Braams, J., Carlisle, D., & Rowley, C. (2023). The LaTeX Companion (3rd ed.). Addison-Wesley.
Mozilla Foundation. CSS Fonts. Mozilla Developer Network. developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/CSS/CSS_fonts
Oetiker, T., Partl, H., Hyna, I., & Schlegl, E. (2023). The Not So Short Introduction to LaTeX2e. ctan.org/pkg/lshort
Posit PBC. (2022–). Quarto: an open-source scientific and technical publishing system. quarto.org
Prokopov, N. Fira Code. GitHub. github.com/tonsky/FiraCode
SIL International. Gentium Plus. software.sil.org/gentium
SIL International. Charis SIL. software.sil.org/charis
Spiekermann, E., & Ginger, E. M. (2002). Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works (2nd ed.). Adobe Press.
STI Pub Companies. (2021). STIX Two fonts. GitHub. github.com/stipub/stixfonts
Tantau, T. (2024). The TikZ and PGF Manual. ctan.org/pkg/pgf
Tracy, W. (1986). Letters of Credit: A View of Type Design. David R. Godine.
Typst GmbH. (2023–). Typst documentation. typst.app/docs
W3C. (2021). CSS Fonts Module Level 4. w3.org/TR/css-fonts