Authors in Type

50 Portraits Worth a Thousand Words

Contributors

By James Cook

Formats and Prices

On Sale
Oct 27, 2026
Page Count
128 pages
Publisher
Union Square & Co.
ISBN-13
9781454956105

Price

$25.00

Price

$33.00 CAD

Format

Hardcover

Format:

Hardcover $25.00 $33.00 CAD

James Cook is a young artist who creates portraits—but not with brushes or pencils. Rather, he uses a typewriter. Each drawing is meticulously hand-typed, keystroke-by-keystroke, from thousands of letters, numbers, and punctuation marks. Specially commissioned for this book are 50 of Cook’s astounding portraits of beloved authors, poets, and playwrights—including Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Charles Dickens, Stephen King, Arundhati Roy, William Shakespeare, and Virginia Woolf. Many of his portraits conceal a typewritten message, such as the names of the author’s most significant works, in addition to hidden facts and insightful reflections for viewers to discover. Also included are mini biographies of each author, a description of the typewriters used for each portrait and why, and a time-lapse sequence showing how Cook creates a portrait.


James Cook

About the Author

James Cook is a typewriter artist living in London. He has collaborated with everyone from Tom Hanks to corporations such as Disney, Hyundai, and WIRED magazine. His work has been featured in newspapers such as the Daily Mail, Yahoo News, and the Evening Standard, and on the TODAY show, GMA, and The Kelly Clarkson Show.

Learn more about this author