Editorial design and typesetting for "Scienti fata libellorum", a 420-page jubilee volume dedicated to Shimon Iakerson.
Language: English, Hebrew, Russian
Editorial design and typesetting for "Scienti fata libellorum", a 420-page jubilee volume dedicated to Shimon Iakerson, one of the leading scholars of Hebrew manuscripts and early printed books. The square-format publication brings together 22 contributions in Russian, English, and Hebrew, combining long-form academic texts, archival images, tables, footnotes, and right-to-left typography within one coherent system.
Scienti fata libellorum* is a jubilee volume published in Jerusalem to mark the seventieth birthday of Shimon Iakerson, an internationally recognised scholar of Hebrew manuscripts and incunabula.
My task was to develop the layout and typeset a 420-page scholarly publication containing 22 contributions in Russian, English, and Hebrew. The content ranges from text-heavy research papers and extensive footnotes to manuscript facsimiles, archival photographs, comparative tables, and right-to-left sections.
The design is intentionally restrained. A clear grid, generous white space, quiet running heads, and a consistent hierarchy allow very different kinds of material to coexist without competing with the objects being studied. The square 210 × 210 mm format gives the publication a distinctive presence while providing enough width for detailed images and multilingual composition.
The result is a calm, tactile book in which contemporary editorial clarity supports the material history of writing, manuscripts, and early printed books.
The publication’s visual character brings together artwork and illustrations by Pinchas Fishel and calligraphy by Anna Zakai. Proofreading was carried out by Anna Nikitina and Lyuba Klyukin.
Book design · Editorial design · Typesetting · 210 × 210 mm · Softcover · 420 pages · Russian / English / Hebrew · Jerusalem, 2026
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