The series of articles "The history of the design of a contemporary typeface" in which Albert-Jan Pool published many of his findings on the history of the typefaces of DIN 1451 is a vault of references on this subject. The series was published in the e-magazine 'Encore', issues 13-15, 17-18. These are direct links to the article which were reprinted in modified form in Made with FontFont
Blackwell, Lewis. 20th Century Type. Yale University Press: 2004. ISBN0-300-10073-6.
Friedl, Friedrich, Nicholas Ott and Bernard Stein. Typography: An Encyclopedic Survey of Type Design and Techniques Through History. Black Dog & Leventhal: 1998. ISBN1-57912-023-7.
Jaspert, W. Pincus, W. Turner Berry and A.F. Johnson. The Encyclopædia of Type Faces. Blandford Press Lts.: 1953, 1983. ISBN0-7137-1347-X.
Macmillan, Neil. An A–Z of Type Designers. Yale University Press: 2006. ISBN0-300-11151-7.