A history of alphabets from around the world
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A history of alphabets from around the world | |
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The Alphabet and Elements of Lettering by Frederic W. Goudy Introduction 
THE number of books dealing with lettering is now fairly large, some going more or
less deeply into the history and development of letter forms while others principally
present models or facsimiles of existing alphabets for suggestion or copying.
The student-craftsman will do well to possess, and use, the volumes by Strange,
Day, Brown, Johnston, and Stevens, together with the several portfolios of alphabets
[Rhead, Smith, Johnston], as they contain matter not within the scope of this work.Naturally, the author who attempts a contribution in a field already well cultivated should either offer new material or present in a novel and undeniably useful way what he has garnered here and there. For the present essay the writer claims no fresh discoveries in paleography; but he does wish to present his material in a distinctive and helpful form. As to the text, he has taken his own wherever he has found it, and has incorporated the conclusions drawn from nearly forty years of work and study. He has not attempted to do more than outline briefly the results of his experience and explain the examples given; nor has he endeavored to produce a handbook of paleography. He trusts, however, to find his account with the artist and craftsman who has real need in his work for letters that are legible and correctly drawn and that possess character and dignity as well as beauty. Not all the letters shown here have been selected from the same sources; but where composite forms are given he has endeavored to bring them into exact harmony with the family into which they have been introduced. They serve also to trace the development of lettering, although there has been no intention of presenting the forms in exact chronological order. They indicate, further, how letters have been influenced by the tool used in producing them, and should suggest some of the endless variations which the craftsman may give without departing too far from traditional outlines. Among the designs are free renderings of letters from sources not easily available to many who require to use lettering in their work. No attempt has been made to present quaint or peculiar forms, but rather to select the most legible and characteristic, those which will readily lend themselves to the needs of designers who wish to develop their lettering on a sound basis. The author has not always been able to find forms sufficiently legible or decorative, or easily adaptable to the student's use, and to meet the lack he has not hesitated to interpolate his own conception of the characters, reserving to himself, as it were, the same rights that the early artists exercised. Continue to page 2 of the Introduction |
The Alphabet and Elements of Lettering by Frederic W. Goudy Introduction What Letters Are Letters in General The Development of the Roman Capital Letters Before Printing The National Hands The Development of Gothic The Beginnings of Types The Qualities of Lettering Some Practical Considerations Notes on the Plates |