The Alphabet and Elements of Lettering by Frederic W. Goudy
Chapter 3: Letters in General
THE HYPOTHESIS that there is an ideally correct form for each letter of the alphabet
is just as erroneous as Geofroy Tory's simple assumption that there is a relation between
the shapes of letters and the human body; erroneous, because the shapes of letters have
been in constant process of modification from their very beginnings. Indeed, the shapes
of the letters now in daily use are due entirely to a convention, so that in preferring
one form to another our only consideration need be for the conventions now existing and
the degree in which each satisfies our sense of beauty.
It should be kept clearly in mind that "the perfect: model of a letter is altogether
imaginary and arbitrary. There is a definite model for the human form. The painter,
the sculptor, the architect, have their models in nature. But the man who sets himself
to make an alphabet has no copy except that left him by former artists. . . . On all
matters which pertain to the fashion* of his letter he has no absolute standard."
Semi-scientific discussions concerning the proportions of letters began as early
as 1509, first by Paciolus,** by Durer 1525, Tory 1529, Yciar 1548, and Moxon 1676,
and have continued down to the present - all with little practical or valuable result.
None of the drawings
* The proportion of its height to its width, its serifs, its particular arcs &
parallels, its weight of stem and hairlines, etc. His own eye must furnish the
criterion.[REED]
** Paciolus [Lucas de Burgo], a Minorite friar, in 1494, published
his important work, Summa de Arithmetica, Geometrica, Proportioni et Proportionalita.
His writings no doubt exercised a great influence on the mathematical researches
of his friend. Leonardo da Vinci, when the latter was making his studies of
letters & their design, based on proportions of the human form combined with
geometric figures, studies that later were further developed by Albrecht Durer
and Geofroy Tory.
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or writings of these masters contain any practical hints or suggestions for use
in designing new forms of letters. Rules or substitutes for the artist's hand must
necessarily be inadequate, yet when set down by such men as Durer, Tory, Serlio,
and other famous masters, probably do establish and fix canons of proportion or construction
that may constitute a well-laid basis upon
which to found new expressions. Moxon said of letters that they "were originally
invented and contrived to be made and consist of circles, arches of circles, and
straight lines; and therefore those letters that have these figures entire, or else properly mixt,
so as the progress of the pen may best admit, may deserve the name of true shape."
Figure 8. LETTER 'O' AS CONSTRUCTED BY
GEOFROY TROY.
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But these selfsame curves, arcs of circles, straight lines, also make up letter forms
that we do not always consider to be of "true shape"; nor is it possible to entertain
the opinion that all letters, although actually composed of these very elements, will
necessarily submit to analysis or be reducible to set rules of formation that will
make easier the creation of new forms. Such an analysis can, at best, only fix and
permit the reproduction of the same form at another time;
and even then the quality of life and freedom in the original will be
in large part lost in the reproduction. The mere blending together of geometrical
elements common to all letter forms, good or bad, is not enough; 'true shape' is
something more subtle than geometry. The three letters, n, 0, and p, shown on the
next page, have been carefully
redrawn from a sheer* in the possession of the writer,
Figure 9. LETTERS, SHOWING
CONSTRUCTION, FROM AN OLD ITALIAN WRITING BOOK.
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but whose work they are or
from what book they are taken he does not know. In drawing these letters, simple as
they appear to be, the author found that it was necessary to do more than use
straightedge, bow pen, or other such instrument; some lines had to be shaped, as Durer
says** in his description of the letter 0, "to a juster proportion," and this shaping
"with your hand" is often the nub of the whole matter.
Continue to page 2
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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
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