Bibliographies
A Bibliography on Writing and Written Language, edited by Konrad Ehlich, Florian Coulmas, and Gabriele Graefen. Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 1996. (Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs, 89). ISBN 3-11-010158-0.
Contains references to about 27,500 publications covering mainly 1930–1992.
Michael Everson’s Cool Bibliography of Typography and Scripts.
http://www.evertype.com/scriptbib.html
Translations
Unicode Consortium. The Unicode Standard, Version 5.0. Chinese Simplified language edition. Beijing: Pearson Education Asia Ltd. and Tsinghua University Press, 2010.
In Chinese, authorized partial translation of English language edition of The Unicode Standard, Version 5.0. Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley, 2007. ISBN 0-321-48091-0.
Selected Works on Scripts, Languages, and Writing
Allworth, Edward. Nationalities of the Soviet East: Publications and Writing Systems. New York: Columbia University Press, 1971. ISBN 0-231-03274-9.
The Alphabet Makers: A Presentation from the Museum of the Alphabet, Waxhaw, North Carolina. 2nd ed. Huntington Beach, CA: Summer Institute of Linguistics, 1991. ISBN 0-938978-13-6.
Alphabete und Schriftzeichen des Morgen- und Abendlandes. 2. übearb, u. erw. Aufl. Berlin: Bundesdruckerei, 1969.
Bergsträsser, Gotthelf. Introduction to the Semitic Languages: Text Specimens and Grammatical Sketches. Translated with an appendix on the scripts by Peter T. Daniels. [2nd ed.] Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1995. ISBN 0-931464-10-2.
Translation of Einführung in die semitischen Sprachen, 1928.
The Book of a Thousand Tongues, by Eugene A. Nida. Rev. ed. London: United Bible Society, 1972.
First ed. by Eric M. North, 1938.
The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World’s Ancient Languages, edited by Roger D. Woodard. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004. ISBN 0521562562.
Campbell, George L. Compendium of the World’s Languages. London: Routledge, 1990. ISBN 0-415-06937-6 (set); 0-415-06978-5 (v.1); 0-415-06979-3 (v.2).
Cleator, Philip Ellaby. Lost Languages, by P. E. Cleator. London: Day, 1959.
Also published: London: R. Hale, [1959]; New York: John Day Co., [1961]; [New York]: New American Library, [1962].
Comrie, Bernard, ed. The Languages of the Soviet Union. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981. ISBN 0-521-23230-9; 0-521-9877-6 (pbk.).
Comrie, Bernard, ed. The World’s Major Languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987. ISBN 0-19-520521-9; 0-19-506511-5 (pbk.).
Coulmas, Florian. The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, 1996. ISBN 0-631-19446-0.
Coulmas, Florian. The Writing Systems of the World. Oxford, New York: Blackwell, 1989.
Crystal, David. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. 2nd ed. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-521-55050-5; 0-521-55967-7 (pbk.).
Dalby, Andrew. Dictionary of Languages: The Definitive Reference to More Than 400 Languages. New York: Columbia University Press, 1998. ISBN 0231115687; 0231115695 (pbk.).
Daniels, Peter T. The World’s Writing Systems. (See World’s Writing Systems.)
DeFrancis, John. Visible Speech: The Diverse Oneness of Writing Systems. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1989. ISBN 0-8248-1207-7.
Diringer, David. The Alphabet: A Key to the History of Mankind. 3rd ed., completely rev. with the assistance of Reinhold Regensburger. New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1968.
Also published: London: Hutchinson. ISBN 0-906764-0-8.
Diringer, David. Writing. London: Thames and Hudson, 1962.
Also published: New York: Praeger.
Dixon, Robert M. W. The Languages of Australia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980. ISBN 0-521-22329-6.
Drucker, Johanna. The Alphabetic Labyrinth: The Letters in History and Imagination. London: Thames & Hudson, 1999. ISBN 0-500-28068-1.
Endo, Shotoku. Hayawakari chugoku kantai-ji. Tokyo: Kokusho Kankokai, Showa 61, [1986].
Faulmann, Carl. Das Buch der Schrift: enthaltend die Schriftzeichen und Alphabete aller Zeiten und aller Völker. 2. verm. und verb. Aufl. Wien: Kaiserlich-Königliche Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, 1880.
Reprinted as: Schriftzeichen und Alphabete aller Zeiten und Völker. Augsburg: Augustus Verlag, 1990. ISBN 3-8043-0142-8.
Reprinted as: Das Buch der Schrift: enthaltend die Schriftzeichen und Alphabete aller Zeiten und aller Völker des Erdkreises. Frankfurt am Main: Eichborn, 1990. ISBN 3-8218-1720-8.
Friedrich, Johannes. Extinct Languages. New York: Philosophical Library, 1957.
Translation of Entzifferung Verschollener Schriften und Sprachen. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1954.
Also published: London: Peter Owen, [1962]; Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, [1971, ©1957]. ISBN 0-8371-5748-X; New York: Dorset Press, 1989, ©1957. ISBN 0-88029-338-1.
Friedrich, Johannes. Geschichte der Schrift. Heidelberg: C. Winter, 1966.
Gaur, Albertine. A History of Writing. Rev. ed. New York: Cross River Press, 1992. ISBN 1-558-59358-6.
Also published: London: British Library. ISBN 0-7123-0270-0.
Gelb, Ignace J. A Study of Writing. Rev. ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1963. ISBN 0-226-28605-3; 0-226-28606-1 (pbk.).
Giliarevskii, Rudzhero Sergeevich. Languages Identification Guide, by Rudzhero S. Gilyarevsky and Vladimir S. Grivnin. Moscow: Nauka, 1970.
Gordon, Cyrus Herzl. Forgotten Scripts: How They Were Deciphered and Their Impact on Contemporary Culture [by] Cyrus H. Gordon. New York: Basic Books, [1968].
The Gospel in Many Tongues: Specimens of 875 Languages ... London: British and Foreign Bible Society, 1965.
Gregersen, Edgar A. Language in Africa: An Introductory Survey. New York: Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, 1977.
Haarmann, Harald. Universalgeschichte der Schrift. Frankfurt: Campus Verlag, 1990. ISBN 3-593-34346-0.
Habein, Yaeko Sato. The History of the Japanese Written Language. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1984. ISBN 0-86008-347-0; 4-13-087047-5.
Healey, John F. The Early Alphabet. Berkeley: University of California Press; [London]: British Museum, 1990. (Reading the Past, 9). ISBN 0-520-07309-6.
British Museum Publications edition has ISBN 0-7141-8073-4.
A History of Writing: From Hieroglyph to Multimedia, edited by Anne-Marie Christin. Paris: Flammarion; London: Thames & Hudson, 2002. ISBN 2-08-010887-5.
Ifrah, Georges. The Universal History of Numbers. Volume 1: The World’s First Number-Systems. Volume 2: The Modern Number-system. Translated from the French by David Bellos, E. F. Harding. Sophie Wood, and Ian Monk. London: Harvill Press, 2000. ISBN 1-86046-790-3, ISBN 1-86046-791-1.
Isaev, Magomet Izmailovich. Sto tridtsat’ ravnopravnykh: o iazykakh narodov SSSR. Moskva: Nauka, 1970.
Jensen, Hans. Sign, Symbol and Script: An Account of Man’s Efforts to Write. New York: Putnam, 1969.
Translation of Die Schrift in Vergangenheit und Gegenwart (Berlin: Deutscher Verlag, 1969). Also published: London: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 0-04-400021-9.
Katzner, Kenneth. The Languages of the World. New ed. London: Routledge, 1995. ISBN 0-415-11809-3.
Lyovin, Anatole. Introduction to the Languages of the World. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-19-508115-3; ISBN 0-19-508116-1 (pbk.).
Mafundikwa, Saki. Afrikan Alphabets: The Story of Writing in Afrika. West New York, NJ: Mark Batty, 2007.
Malherbe, Michel. Les Langages de l’humanité: une encyclopédie des 3000 langues parlées dans le monde. Paris: Laffont, 1995. ISBN 2-221-05947-6.
Muller, Siegfried H. The World’s Living Languages: Basic Facts of Their Structure, Kinship, Location, and Number of Speakers. New York: Ungar, 1964.
Musaev, Kenesbai Musaevich. Alfavity iazykov narodov SSSR. Moskva: Nauka, 1965.
Naik, Bapurao S. Typography of Devanagari. 1st ed., rev. Bombay: Directorate of Languages, Govt. of Maharashtra, 1971.
Nakanishi, Akira. Writing Systems of the World: Alphabets, Syllabaries, Pictograms. Rutland, VT: Tuttle, 1980. ISBN 0-8048-1293-4; 0-8048-1654-9 (pbk.).
Revised translation of Sekai no moji.
Nida, Eugene A. The Book of a Thousand Tongues. (See Book of a Thousand Tongues.)
Pavlenko, Nikolai Andreevich. Istoria pis’ma. 2. izd. Minsk: Vysshaia Shkola, 1987.
Ramsey, S. Robert. The Languages of China. 2nd printing with revisions. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989. ISBN 0-691-01468-X.
2nd ed. published London: Gollancz, 1974. ISBN 0-575-01758-9.
Robinson, Andrew. The Story of Writing. London: Thames and Hudson, 1995. ISBN 0-500-01665-8.
Ruhlen, Merritt. A Guide to the World’s Languages, volume 1: Classification, with a Postscript on Recent Developments. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1991. ISBN 0-8047-1894-6 (v. 1).
Also published: London: Arnold. ISBN 0-340-56186-6 (v.1).
Sampson, Geoffrey. Writing Systems: A Linguistic Introduction. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1985. ISBN 0-8047-1254-9.
Also published: London: Hutchinson. ISBN 0-09-156980-X; 0-09-173051-1 (pbk.).
Sekai moji jiten / Kono, Rokuro; Chino, Eiichi; Nishida, Tatsuo. Tokyo: Sanseido, 2001. (Gengogaku daijiten = The Sanseido Encyclopaedia of Linguistics, 7). ISBN 4-385-15177-6.
Senner, Wayne M. The Origins of Writing. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1989. ISBN 0-8032-4202-6; 0-8032-9167-1 (pbk.).
Shepherd, Walter. Shepherd’s Glossary of Graphic Signs and Symbols. Compiled and classified for ready reference by Walter Shepherd. New York: Dover, 1971. ISBN 0-486-20700-5.
Also published: London: Dent. ISBN 0-460-03818-4.
Shinmura, Izuru. Kojien / Shinmura Izuru hen. Dai 4-han. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1991.
Passage cited in Section 18.1, Han is from the 1983 edition, translated from the Japanese by Lee Collins.
Stevens, John. Sacred Calligraphy of the East. 3rd ed., rev. and expanded. Boston: Shambala, 1995. ISBN 1-570-62122-5.
Suarez, Jorge A. The Mesoamerican Indian Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983. ISBN 0-521-22834-4; 0-521-29669-2 (pbk.).
von Ostermann, Georg F. Manual of Foreign Languages. 4th ed., revised and enlarged. New York: Central Book Company, 1952.
Wemyss, Stanley. The Languages of the World, Ancient and Modern: The Alphabets, Ideographs, and Other Written Characters of the World in Sound and Symbol. Philadelphia: 1950.
The World’s Writing Systems. Edited by Peter T. Daniels and William Bright. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. ISBN 0-19-507993-0.