Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Puglia Italy - Matera
Italy • 8 days, 7 nights
Southern Italy: Castles, Caves & Coastal Treasures in Puglia
from
Turkmenistan Gates of Hell Darvaza crater
Turkmenistan • 10 days, 9 nights
Turkmenistan & the Gates of Hell
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Pinal Airpark
Note the chrysanthemum crests.
Hachiman Bridge
Clarendon War Memorial.
Clarendon War Memorial
This fried chicken is one of Bangkok’s most famous.
Gai Tord Jae Kee
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
Everything at Li’l Dizzy’s Cafe is served in takeout containers.
Li’l Dizzy’s Cafe
The fried green tomato sandwich comes on jalapeño cornbread toast.
Café Reconcile
BBQ shrimp braised in beer are a popular menu item.
High Hat Cafe
The pastries at Lagniappe Bakehouse are worth waking up for.
Lagniappe Bakehouse
Peter Vazquez has been quietly making a name for himself for years.
The Appetite Repair Shop
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
Haleakalā National Park’s summit region, shrouded in the pre-dawn fog.
Beware the Legends Behind These National Park Souvenirs
22 days ago
For Aguilar-Carrasco, nature is a powerful reminder of the interconnectedness of all life.
How Can National Parks Be Made Accessible to All? AO Wants to Know.
23 days ago
Podcast: Finding ‘The Great Gatsby’ in Louisville
24 days ago
Here’s which treats you can safely lug home without risking a fine.
Dear Atlas: What International Food Can I Legally Bring Into the U.S.?
25 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States California San Francisco Letterform Archive

Letterform Archive

A library and museum dedicated to typography.

San Francisco, California

Added By
Molly McBride Jacobson
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
A sampling of the material shown to visitors on a regular basis.   stewf / Atlas Obscura User
A sampling of the material shown to visitors on a regular basis.   stewf / Atlas Obscura User
Joaquim Carneiro da Silva’s “Breve Tratado Theorica las Letras Typograficas”, 1803.   Letterform Archive
Letterform Archive reading room.   Letterform Archive
Aldo Novarese’s debut of the Estro font, 1961.   Letterform Archive
Jan Tschichold’s “Schriftschreiber für Setzer”, 1931.   Letterform Archive
Jan van den Velde’s “Spieghel der Schrijfkonste”, 1605.   Letterform Archive
Hand-painted OJ label by Lehmann Printing, c. 1930.   Letterform Archive
Founder Rob Saunders presents on typographer Ernst Schneidler.   Type@Cooper/CC BY-ND 3.0
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

A tiny library to cheer on the obscured beauty of type design, the Letterform Archive began as typography enthusiast Rob Saunders' labor of love. He decided to open his collection to the public, and it only proliferated from there.

Tucked into an airy San Francisco loft, the Archive invites design lovers to come celebrate the art of handwriting throughout history. It's a collection of over 30,000 artifacts of typography, calligraphy, and graphic design, spanning from ancient times to modern-day.

The Archive is equal parts museum, art gallery, and reference library. There are postcards, books, posters, newspapers, drawings, and of course, letters, as well as practically any other written format imaginable. 

The collection as a whole interrogates design in writing, both man- and machine-made. A 19th-century Korean family tree in Kanji script on yellowed parchment lives next to a 1960s concert handbill with drippy psychedelic font. Man Ray's scintillating book of poetry and nudes, Facile, sits adjacent to a Victorian children's penmanship primer.

To truly understand the scope of the project, it has to be seen in person. The painstaking care put into a hand-painted frozen orange juice label from the turn of the century, or the spiderweb-thin lines of ink in an illuminated manuscript give a whole new appreciation for the stylization that went into designing standard fonts. The world of design can be inaccessible by its very nature (it's not meant to stand out), but luckily for us, Letterform Archive has made its collection and discourse very open to the public.

In 2019, the archive digitized more than 1,000 items, which are available online to members.

Update as of August 2020: Letterform Archive has moved to a new and improved location and will be open again to the public once city officials deem it safe.

Related Tags

Design Art Art Libraries Libraries Collections Museums And Collections Archive

Know Before You Go

Check out the Letterform Archive website for visiting information. They regularly host workshops, lectures, exhibitions, and public events. They have also uploaded images of many artifacts to their website for your viewing pleasure.

Community Contributors

Added By

Molly McBride Jacobson

Edited By

stewf, namekelly, katie c5d08947

  • stewf
  • namekelly
  • katie c5d08947

Published

September 9, 2016

Updated

September 3, 2020

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Letterform Archive
2325 3rd St
Floor 4R
San Francisco, California, 94107
United States
37.760134, -122.388261
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

San Francisco Center for the Book

San Francisco, California

miles away

Vermont Street

San Francisco, California

miles away

'Gods and Goddesses of Baseball'

San Francisco, California

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of San Francisco

San Francisco

California

Places 217
Stories 50

Nearby Places

San Francisco Center for the Book

San Francisco, California

miles away

Vermont Street

San Francisco, California

miles away

'Gods and Goddesses of Baseball'

San Francisco, California

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of San Francisco

San Francisco

California

Places 217
Stories 50

Related Places

  • Inside the museum.

    Cuernavaca, Mexico

    Museo Robert Brady

    An incredible little museum of interior design full of artifacts collected from around the world.

  • Clown Egg Register

    London, England

    Clown Egg Register

    An archive of ceramic eggs painted to record clowns' personal makeup designs.

  • Cuypers Library

    Amsterdam, Netherlands

    Cuypers Library

    This gorgeous reading room houses the oldest and largest art history library in the Netherlands.

  • Día de Muertos Offering.

    Metepec, Mexico

    Museo del Barro (Museum of Clay)

    A collection of incredible clay crafts, complete with earthen skeletons and mermaids.

  • The museum entrance.

    Mexico City, Mexico

    Museo Dolores Olmedo

    This extraordinary art museum is like a secret world on the edge of Mexico City.

  • The Matenadaran and statue of Mesrop Mashtots.

    Yerevan, Armenia

    The Matenadaran

    This medieval manuscript collection has some of the most obscure and ancient texts in the world.

  • Tobacco boxes

    Mexico City, Mexico

    Franz Mayer Museum Silver Collection

    A shining treasure trove of fine Mexican silver dating back to the 15th century.

  • Huastec votive offerings depicting fertility goddesses.

    Oaxaca, Mexico

    Rufino Tamayo Museum of Pre-Hispanic Art

    An incredible collection of Mesoamerican art assembled by one of Mexico's great artists.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.