The Designer and the Grid by Lucienne Roberts and Julia Thrift begins with a history of grid layout and places its conception in about 1450 following the introduction of printing from moveable type in Europe. Grids were born from necessity, pages needed structure and multiple pages needed consistency.

Roberts and Thrift explain that the grid can be considered a foundation for great design or a noose inhibiting creativity. I agree with both comments but only the former in more recent years when I have designed websites as a professional in the field.

The book applies the concept of the grid to a wider context like music and architecture, an interesting idea and it does flow nicely into digital design.

Roberts, L. and Thrift, J. (2002) The Designer and the Grid. Sussex: RotoVision.