Unpretentious Elegance

I went to a library sale today and as in the past I came away with an armfull of great books. I almost passed on this little pamphlet, innocuous and unobtrusive. Then I gave it a second glance. Ok, I thought, for $0.50 just grab it. It slowly began to dawn  on me that this was a finely crafted bit of work and poring over it at  dinner I was convinced that it was the buy of the day. It's a 1951 U.S. Geodetic Survey guide ( aka chart # 1) to reading their nautical charts. What struck me was the simple elegance of its design, which looks fresh today, it's  half century plus notwithstanding. It reminded that as an art student I had purchased nautical charts and incorporated them into my work for the beauty I saw in them.  The  clean typeface choices, the often subtle graphics, but bold when called for, the straightforward delivery of vital information clearly and concisely add up to an elegant and eloquent document. Pretty close to my definition for a work of art.