The typographic book, 1450-1935
Stanley Morison's book, 1450-1935, as its title suggests, covers the chronology of typography, from Gutenberg's 42-line Bible to the Times Roman. With numerous illustrations spanning each era, it feels like a museum of typography. Rather than a book on type, this book is more a resource for typeset styles. The Incunabula also featured numerous styles from each century, and tracing these with a computerized typesetting system allows one to truly appreciate the dedication typesetters of the past put into ensuring the perfection of their printed works.
Even when I was studying at school, I tended to look at symmetry typesetting with a biased eye, but I think it was probably the bias of those who had never encountered such a beautiful symmetry typesetting.