The Potomac Canal is a history of one of the nation’s first transportation systems—a waterway that preceded the C&O Canal alongside the Potomac River. The idea of using the Potomac River to connect the eastern colonies with the western territories was formulated in 1754 by 22-year-old George Washington, who later became the major proponent behind the creation of the canal. The book is intended for scholars of history, architecture and engineering, as well as to serve as a guide for visitors to the Potomac Canal region.

The principal design objective was to create as much visual impact as possible from a relatively limited number of illustrations in a largely text-driven book. Because of budgetary constraints, color was restricted to one side of the sheet in each signature. Extracts from period newspapers were reproduced as facsimiles to retain historic period flavor. The book’s typesetting challenges included tables, graphs, numerous extracts and extensive notes. The titling type used on the cover and title page is a custom design based on the lettering of Albrecht Durer. The text was set in Robert Slimbach’s Adobe Jenson.

A dense collection of text, imagery and data deftly handled within a single, gracefully executed book.