36.00 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING FREDERIC 'W' GOO0¥ College of Arohitectiiire Utjrary Comefl UKTereity ^3 a^atntll TMttttBtt^ ffithrarg Jlljata. »Mi ISort BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF HENRY W. SAGE 1891 Cornell University Library NK 3600.G72E3 Elements of lettering 3 1924 020 596 064 Cornell University Library 'Bo 8i The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924020596064 ELEMENTS OF LETTERING ^ AVRELIO AVG ' LIB APHRODISIO PROC ' AVG A ' RATIONIBVS S < P ' Q' L DEDIC'Q'VARINIO'Q'F MAEC'LAEVIANO'AED INSCRIPTION FROM BASE OF STATUE IN A ROMAN PALACE \r\'"')^>\ \i- ELEMENTS OF LETTERING [with XIII FULL'PAGE PLATEs] By FREDERIC W. GOUDY Author of The Alphabet. Editor, Ars Typographic a Text composed by Bertha M, Goudy in types designed by the Author NEW YORK : MITCHELL KENNERLEY 1922 QO'ULLL r-r .-7 774- COPYRIGHT 1922, BY FREDERIC W. GOUDY THE VILLAGE PRESS, FOREST HILLS GARDENS, NEW YORK PRINTED IN AMERICA To Professor C. Lauron Hooper his earliest associate in printing, this little volume is inscribed with the sincere regard of his friend, the author PREFATORY NOTE THIS manual, intended as a companion to the authors previous wor\ The Alphabet* which traces more com^ pletely the history and development of the Roman character than is contemplated here, has been prepared in response to many requests for some plain letterings that would illustrate a sujficient variety of styles to enable a craftsman to select just the }{ind of letter he requires for the particular wor\ he may have in hand. It aims only to present clearly {^from the view point of an actual wor\er in the craft] the fundamentals and essentials of letter^ forms — not how to draw them, but to con' sider what they are — their esthetic character rather than the story of their origin or progress. Good lettering must be founded on good models; for the use ofbeginners, they ought especially to be simple, dignified forms that have been divested of the archaisms and mannerisms of the scribes and exhibit the essentials of legibility, beauty and character in a high degree. In the examples shown herein, the writer has intended to provide typical letter^ forms only, show^ ing old-style, modern and italic types, blac\letter, stone^cut inscriptions, etc. He hopes that his selections will be found to answer every requirement. Each alphabet is shown in a size which exhibits clearly any peculiarities or subtleties of form in the individual letters. The beginner is urged not merely to copy them, but to familiarize *The Alphabet, xv Interjpretative Designs, arranged, with explanatory text, by Fred W 27 plates and many illustrations, drawn and Goudy. Pub. by Mitchell Keiwerley, 7S[. T. -i 5 J- -C6]- himself with them also, that he may acquire a proper tradition upon which to found new expressions of his own. Opposite each plate the writer has attempted briefly to ouP line the origin or history of that alphabet, or add some thought germane to the particular form shown which did not logically find place elsewhere. The author ta\es this opportunity to than\the American Type Founders Company forl^nd permission to showaspat^ tern letters the Caslon, Bodoni and Goudy types furnished by them for his use herein. He desires to extend his than\s also to Mr. Hal Marchban\s of The Marchban\s Press, who had arranged to publish this manual, but who very l^ndly aban^ doned the arrangement in order that it might be issued by the publisher of The Alphabet. Mr. Marchban\s interest and care in its production have been sincerely appreciated. The writer wishes primarily to help the studenPcraftsman and by precept and example return the art of lettering to its original purity of intention — to bring a great craft again to life; it is not his aim merely to exploit his own wor\. F. W. G. Forest Hills Gardens, N. Y. October, 1921 CONTENTS Frontispiece : Inscription set in Forum and Goudy O. S. Capitals Prefatory Note ....... 5 Regarding Letters IN General . . . .11 LETTER O AS CONSTRUCTED BY TORY letters from old ITALIAN WRITING BOOK CAPITALS A AND O BY DURER capitals r and d from roman forum Some Practical Considerations . . . 18 LOMBARDIC PAINTED CAPITALS LOMBARDIC TYPE CAPITALS Note ON THE Plates ....... 23 LOMBARDIC PEN'FORMS Plate I Forum Title ...... 24 capitals from TRAJAN COLUMN II Caslon Old Style . . . .26 III Caslon Old Style Italic .... 28 IV Kennerley Old Style . -30 V Kennerley Old Style Italic . 32 VI BoDONi 'Book' . . .34 baskerville types VII Goudy Old Style ..... 36 VIII GouDY Old Style Italic . 38 GOUDY ITALIC 'SWASh' LETTERS IX GouDY Modern ...... 40 GOUDY OPEN CAPITALS X GoudyBold ....... 42 GOUDY TITLE XI Lombardic Capitals ..... 44 LOMBARDIC TYPE'FORMS, CAXTON INITIALS XII Goudy Black . . .46 XIII Goudy Gothic ...... 48 Elements of Lettering Whence did the wondrous, mystic art arise. Of painting speech, and speaking to the eyes? That we, by tracing magic lines are taught How to embody, and to colour thought? — Massey 1 8 POINT 'garamont' types, drawn by f. w. g. from types ATTRIBUTED TO CLAUDE GARAMONT [1540] , FOR LANSTON MONOTYPE MACHINE CO ELEMENTS OF LETTERING Cl[,Regarding Letters in General HE hypothesis that there is an ideally correct form for each letter of the alpha' bet is just as erroneous as Geofroy Tory's* simple assumption that there is a relation between the shapes of letters ' the human body; erroneous, because the shapes of letters have been in con' stant process of modification from their very beginnings. Indeed, the shapes of the letters in daily use are due entirely to a convention, so that in preferring one form rather than another, our only consideration need be for the convene tions now existing and the degree in which each satisfies our sense of beauty. It should be kept clearly in mind that "the perfed: model of a letter is altogether imaginary and arbitrary. There is a *GeofroyTory [i48o'I532], Imj;yrimeur sought to derive the capital letters from the du Roi, painter, engraver and author, in his Goddess lO, these two letters furnishing book Champfieury on the corred: propor' the perpendicular and circle from which all tions of letters, "at once the most useless, letters were to be formed to measurements mostcuriousworkonletteringinexistence," proportioned to the human body. -[12]- definite model for the human form. The painter, the sculps tor, the archited:, have their models in nature. But the man who sets himself to make an alphabet has no copy but 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 regarding the proportions of letters began as early as 1 509,first by Paciolus,t by Diirer [1525}, Tory ^1529}, Yciar [1548], and Moxon ^1676], down to the present, &> all with little practical or valuable re- sults.None of the drawings or writ' ings of these masters contain any practical hints or suggestions for use in designing new forms of let' ters. Rules or substitutes for the artist's hand must necessarily be inadequate, yet when set down by such men as Durer, Tory, Serlio and others, prob' ably do establish and iix canons of proportion or construe tion that may constitute a firm 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; therefore those letters that have *The proportion of its height to its width, weight of stem and hair'lines, etc. His own its serifs, its particular arcs and parallels, its eye must furnish the criterion. [Reed] LETTER 'O' AS CONSTRUCTED BY GEOFROY TORY fLucas Paciolus [Lucas de Bxirgo}, a Minor* ite friar, in 1494, published his important work, Summa de Arithmetica. Geometrica, Proportioni et Proportionalita. His writings no doubt exercised great influence on the mathematical researches of his friend, Leo' nardo da Vinci, when the latter was mak' ing his studies of letters and their design, based on the proportions of the human form combined with geometric figures, studies that later were still further developed by Albert Durer and Geofroy Tory. -[ 13 ]- these figures entire, or else properly mixt, so as the progress of the pen may best admit, may deserve the name of true shape.''' But these self-same curves, arcs of circles, straight lines, make up also letter^forms we do not always consider 'true shape'; nor is it possible to entertain the opinion that all let^ ters, 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 large^ ly be lost in the reproduction. The mere blending together of geometrical elements common to all letter^forms, good or bad, is not sufiicient; 'true shape' is something more sub^ tie than geometry. LETTERS SHOWING CONSTRUCTION, FROM AN OLD ITALIAN The three letters, n. o. p. , shown on this I I page, have been carefully redrawn from a sheet in possession of the writer, but whose work they are or from what book they are taken he does not know.* In drawing these letters, sim^ pie as they appear to be, the author found that it was neces- sary to do more than use straight edge, bow-pen, etc. ; some lines had to be shaped, as Diirer says in his description of *The gift of Mr. Harry Peach, Leicester, Eng., a courtesy the writer begs to acknowledge. -{14]- the letter O, "to a juster proportion," and this shaping"with your hand" is often the nub of the whole matter. "Now O you shall make this way in its square. Set in the square the diameter c. b. and bisect it in the point e., so that e. may form a middle I . PROPORTIONS OF ROMAN CAPITALS. FROM DRAWINGS BY DURER point between the two points f. and g. which are to be your two cen' tres; and from each let a circle be described touching two sides of the square; ^ where the circles cut one another, there with your hand you must shape the slender outline of the letter to a juster proportion." [Durer] The capitals R and D, shown on page 15, are carefully inked'in rubbings made by the writer in the Roman Forum and show clearly that the curves in them and in the capi' tals on the Trajan column which are similar in charadier, are not simple geometrical curves, but instead, are carefully considered quantities that impart a quality of life &" freedom no mechanical construction can ever give. Drawn freely, untrammeled by straight edge or rule, in the'pursuit of dis- tinction and style, each new line leads on to new difficulties to master, to new subtleties of form, and to constant variety by each change of taste or fancy. [Trajan capitals, pg. 24] Letters are simple forms defined by means of line. From their primitive hieroglyphic originals to their present arbi- trary and fixed shapes centuries have passed ; yet even these abstract forms, now classic because fixed, are subject to all -Ci5]- the subtle variations of taste. Although they may permit thatpersonalsingularity of individualitywhich will endow them with character 5? distind;ion, it must not be forgotten LAPIDARY CAPITALS FROM ROMAN FORUM. ORIGIKALS 5 I '4 INCHES HIGH that they are classics and to be tampered with only within the limits that a just discretion will allow. The alphabet is a system and series of symbols represent' ing collectively the elements of written language; letters are the individual signs that compose the alphabet, each signifying primarily but one thing, what letter it is, i.e. its name. It does, however, have a secondary function, the part it plays in a word, i.e. its sound; but as this second office is not aifecfted by any peculiarity of form or by its legibility or lack of legibility, it is a function we need not consider here, as we are more concerned with the form a letter takes than with its sound. "An individual letter, standing by itself, like a solitary note in music, has no meaning, both acquiring significance only upon association with other characters -[i6]- whereby a relationship is established." It may, therefore, theoretically, be discussed independently, but practically, only as a part of the alphabet to which it belongs. Collecftions of alphabets removed from their original habitats [early stone^cut inscriptions, manuscript books, etc.] do not always present adaptable forms upon which to found an individual style. Such letters while entirely suit^ able for use for some specific place or purpose might mislead the beginner, until he has learned something of the history and development of letters, into mistaking mannerisms of the scribe for the essentials of structure. For this reason, the pattern alphabets presented here, for the most part, are type forms, since they are the natural and inevitable ma^ terialized letters of the scribes, that is, handwriting divest' ed of the scribe's vagaries and whimsicalities, conceived as forms cut in metal, simplified and formali2;ed to meet new requirements and new conditions of use. They are simple shapes to be modified and given new expressions of beauty just as they themselves were adapted and simplified from the forms of far-off times. And as nearly all lettering is in- tended to be used as type or in conned:ion with types, hand-lettering comes, therefore, to a considerable degree within the limitations imposed by type. Lettering based on or suggested by accepted type-forms does not deny the artist ample opportunity to shape his let- ters more freely or space them more precisely than fixed and implacable metal types allow, as he may, by slight ad- justment or modification of the shapes of his model letters, persuade his forms to accommodate themselves to each other in a manner almost impossible withready made types. The use of these type models as a foundation tends also -[I?]- to free the craftsman s rendition of them from any excres- cences, meaningless lines or additions not necessary to their fundamental or essential elements; neither will their use as patterns, in any way preclude the thought of beauty to be attained by the perfed:ly legitimate variations that good taste and common sense may did:ate. Well selecfted and carefully drawn type-forms, copied without radical changes of shapes, will be found to appeal to the artistic sense and add to the decorative value of the page where used, to a degree not airways attained by prim types, since the artist's handling of line will give variety, a quality of life and a freedom seldom found in types ready to one's hand. Yet slavish copying of the examples given is not recom^ mended [except as far as is necessary to familiarizie one's self with their strud:ure]; they are patterns to be studied, that the principles of construction and form underlying each specimen maybe discovered. Each letter drawn ought to convey one clear idea, and one idea only — ^what letter it is — that the eye need not stop to disentangle the essen^ tid form from any eccentricities of handling nor be drawn to the conceit of a craftsman intent on a display of his own skill at the expense of the work he is expected to embellish. It is the personal quality he injed:s into his work, not freak- ish variations or unnecessary additions to his pattern let- ters, that will determine its charaAer. There may be times when the decorative quality of a line of lettering is of greater value than easy legibility, but this fad: should not be made an excuse to deform letters for the sake of expediency nor to produce any of unusual or un- familiar shape without exceptional artistic warrant. :Qcrn PAINTED LOMBARDIC CAPITALS. ['S' WAS PAINTED IN RED AND BLUe] CtSome Practical Considerations IN THE construAion of a letter the artist should first de- termine just what is the intrinsic shape of his model — that is. in ^at~degf6e-8tf=6 Ae4mes, curves and angles, or the directions the lines take that compose it, fixed or absolutely necessary to that particular letter. His next thought must be for form, which includes proportion and beauty, and the particular form suitable to the place and purpose for which it is intended. His decision here will largely deter- mine the measure of his ability and taste. A letter should possess an esthetic quality that is organic, an essential of the form itself and not the result of mere additions to its fun- damental form nor to meaningless variations of it. These points also, must be kept clearly in mind: First, what the purpose of the lettering is, whether for a title- page, a book-cover, a line or more for an advertisement, a Doster ^vhere probably it must harmonizie with a picfture neither overriding nor in turn being robbed of its own value}. Second, the right letter to use for a given purpose, not only suitable to that purpose but practicable for exe- cution in the material employed. A letter drawn with a broad pen and suitable enough on smooth paper might be entirely out of place if cut in brass and stamped in gold or color on the cloth covering of a book. Third, the selec- tion of letters that will combine well with each other and -[i8]_ with the matter with which they are to be used. Some letters, like the Lombardic [plate XI, pg. 45] used generally as initials or as capitals with Gothic lower-case, and entirely pleasing when so used, are yet ordinarily quite incompat- ible for the formation of words. Even in Roman alphabets the power of combination may be lost by careless handling ; certain letters coming next to others of the same family HOB ~~'-'~ LOMBARDIC TYPE CAPITALS. [aI^^ — ' may require slight modifications to bring them into har- mony with those of less sympathetic form in order that the eye may be carried easily to its neighbor. Fourth, the rela- tive sizie of the letters. This point may require experiment to determine the limits of variety permissible without sac- rificing beauty or effed:iveness of arrangement. Pleasing legibility is the great desideratum. Beauty, too, is desirable, but beauty does not in any way require a sacrifice of easy readability. Beauty is the inherent characteristic of simplicity, dignity, harmony, proportion, strength — quali- ties alw^ays found in an easily legible type; yet legibility is seldom secured by a predetermined effort to produce it.The attempt consciously to give a specific character or beauty to a letter is too frequently, also, to exhibit the intellectual process by which it is sought; its character seems to have been thought in and does not appear to be the outcome of a subtle and indefinable taste that makes it delightful and seemingly the obvious and inevitable thing. Beauty of a letter depends on the harmonious adaptation of each of its parts to every other in a well proportioned -C20]- manner, so that their exhibition as a whole shall satisfy our esthetic sense, a result gained only by blending together the fine strokes, stems and swells in their proper relations. • a • • The archited: is bound by the laws of strud:ure; the ar" tist and craftsman are bound too, by laws more mental than physical, yet none the less real or binding. While certain fundamental forms seem to demand certain necessary se^ quences, the excellence of the final produd; depends entirely on the fertility of the artist's mind. As in other forms of de- °^ ffffri thf l^rnr^ff"^^ JiJ* "n Wl m in M 1 7rct^r>«L3 no^ tho torhi^i^ cal limitations of the craft in which he works, to its own advantage. He should not endeavor by mere trickery to obtainresultsinonematerialormethod that byright belong to other materials and other methods. Nor should he at- tempt to master that which in the nature of things is not to be overcome; he should, however, endeavor to express all that belongs to his particular work, yet not attempt also that which can be expressed properly only by other and quite different means — drawing in line to imitate the tech- nique of a woodcut; designing a type that is to give the ef" fed: of a letter engraved on copper; or drawing letters that are to be reproduced by process to simulate a manuscript book'hand, etc. The very limitationsimposed uponacrafts- man free from whims, who understands fully the necessity for diredness, will add beauty to all good work produced by him within those limitations. THE PLATES 3DeD LOMBARDIC PEN'FORMS. [13TH CENTURY] THE PLATES PLATES I, II, IV, VII, X, are printed from actual types. Plates III, V, VI, VIII, IX are printed from process hloc}{s enlarged from tyj[)e impres" sions in the largest sizes available, while plates XI, XII, XIII, are printed from blocks reduced from drawings by the author. The writer would urge the user of this manual to study the letters shown in the plates until the essential forms can be reproduced without conscious effort; he may then safely modify and give new expressions of beauty to them,. He should realize that in lettering there is very little scope for origi" nality, since the fundamental forms are now fixed; nor should he attempt to design letters, as design implies invention and that which already ex" ists cannot be invented. There are so many varieties ofletter-'models ready to ones hand, that require only slight changes to present new expressions, and upon which endless variations may be played, that the beginner will find it more profitable to devote his efforts to the artistic arrangement of freely drawn simple forms than to attempt the invention of moc\ forms. Mere copies involve loss of vitality — every real wor\ofart, even the humblest, is inimitable. i^i} Plate I ^ FORUM TITLE Forum Title, des^ned by the writer, is the first type ever cast that renders the spirit of the classic Roman lapidary characters of the first centuries of the Christian Era. Lettering, the universal and most fundamental of the arts of design, may be said to have its beginnings in the stone^cut inscriptions of the Greeks. The first Roman inscriptions came into existence about 2500 years ago and are almost identical with tlie Greek forms, although not as primitive in idea nor as monumental in characfter.They reached their full development some five centuries later, and it is from these later forms that the letters employed by the scribes as well as the type letters of the printed books of tO'day are derived. There is a profound consistency in the Romian alphabet as a whole, a close relationship between the individual letters that compose it. The early stonecutter produced letters as of forms already established, and under his hand they gradually developed by imperceptible refinements into shapes especially suited to the cutting tool, but without material change of their original or generic charadters. The inscription at the base of the Trajan Column at Rome [cut about A. D. 114] the writer thinks is the finest in character of any example ABDEGNRS STONE'CUT CAPITALS FROM THE TRAJAN COLUMN [a. D. 1 14] now remaining to us, and as far as we to'day are concerned is primal. It is on letters of such inscriptions that Forum Title was based, although comparison with the Trajan inscription will disclose many differences in the forros of individual letters. The designer's attempt was merely to present his forms in the spirit of the classicist, as a Greek or Roman would have rendered them, with entire freedom from whims and a full understanding of the necessity for direcftness. _{ .4 ]- BEAUTY IS THE VISIBLE EXPRESSION OF MAN'S PLEASURE IN LABOR to: CDGJKa wz & 1234567890 Plate II - C ASLON OLD STYLE When first cut, this letter presented the perfection of unassuming crafts- manship without any artistic pretensions. It was cut in 1 720 by William Caslon, an engraver of the ornamentation of gun barrels, and occasion- ally of bookbinders' stamps and letters. It is straightforward and legible, possessing a quality of quaintness and even beauty, and a character that makes its use well-nigh universal. It is the writer's personal opinion that Caslon had no thought of origi- nating or designii^ a new letter, but that he used simply a good Dutch type £Dutch types predominated in England at that time] with which he was familiar, as a model, and which he carried out with greater skill due to his long experience as an engraver. The 72 pt. size shown oppo- site was not cut by Caslon himself, but has been added by the American Type Founders Co., following rather closely the design of the earlier cutting of the smaller si^jes. Caslon threw into his work the genius of taste; his skill enabled him to reproduce the Dutch characters with a precision and uniformity that his models lacked, while preserving in them greater freedom and grace of form. Caslon O. S. is the first type of any distinction to be used in Eng- land and is to-day more generally known by name to those using types than any odier letter. In England it is known as "Caslon Old Face." {26> PACK MY BOX WITH FIVE DZEN LQUORJGS (& The quick brwnfxjumps over the lazy dgi23456789o Plate III - CASLON OLD STYLE ITALIC Plate III shows Gaslon Italic [enlarged from 36 point to a si2ie corres' ponding to the Roman]. It is more formal than its model, Dutch italics showing a tendency to extravagant flourishes. The inclination is much greater than that of Aldus' Italic and in the case of A.V.W. not well LWAP handled; the inclination of the letters is that of the stems instead of be- ing equally distributed on the line of inclination, as shown by the draw ings of W. and A., the line H.W.I A. showing them as they are cut, the line L. W. A. P., as the writer thinks they should be. The italic character, now an accessory of the Rpman letter, is wholly independent of the Roman as to its origin, [see pg. 32] At first intended and used for the entire text of classical works, it later came to be used more generally to distinguish such portions of a book as the introduc tion, preface, index, notes, etc., the text being in Roman. Still later it found place in the text for quotations, and finally, to emphasise certain words or phrases. John Day, the first English type founder, carried italicHo a high sjtate of perfection, but in the 17th century, italic types, like the Roman, suf' fered debasement, and Dutch models were generally preferred. Caslon cut a series of italic uniform with and in due relation to the corresponding sizes of his Roman letter. i^l PJCKMTBX WirU FIVE D OZEN LI^ UOR JUGS 1234567890 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog Plate IV ^ KENNERLEY OLD STYLE Kennerley Old Style [designed by the writer] is the type employed for the text of this volume. Just as William Caslon made use of a Dutch model for his famous fount, the designer of Kennerley found his inspi' ration in the Dutch type imported by Bishop Fell about 1667 ^^ Ox' ford University Press. As me writers taste leans rather toward the Italian fonns of the Renaissance, his drawings soon drew away from his pattern letters, and as finally produced, Kennerley Old Style exhibits few of the characteristics of the face that first su^ested it; in fad; "this type is not in any sense a copy of early letter" — -it has no prototype among type designs. Kennerley Old Style type illustrates what the writer has endeavored to set forth in the text of this manual, that old types may be utilized as "simple shapes to be modified and given new expressions of beauty, just as they themselves were adapted and simplii&ed from the forms of far' off times.'' The ascenders and descenders are of sufficient length to insure a clear lane of white between each line. Such letters as m. n. o. are normally ex' tended, the serifs are strong, each character is boldly drawn, every stroke instantly visible, and in composition, Kennerley Old Style makes a solid, compact page. -[30]- PACK MY BOX WITH FVE DOZEN LQUR JUGS the quick brwn fox jumps over the la^y dog : d: 1 234567890 1 Plat^V - KENNERLEY OLD STYLE ITALIC Kennerley Italic [enlarged from 2,4 point] was designed by the writer to accompany Kennerley O. S. It is used in the large 18 point face for the Prefatory Note to this volume. Note the slight degree of inclination. In this respect it is similar to the italic of Aldus Manutius who first used a letter of this character in 1501 |^said to be modeled on the handwrit- ing of Petrarch] which Aldus had cut for him by Francesco de Bologna. His type, known as Aldine, lacked inclined capitals. When capitals were required he introduced the upright Roman forms. It is surmizied that his respect for the monimiental Roman majuscules was too great to per- mit his tampering with their classic forms, although he felt entirely free to do so with the lower case letters. Italic.types have undergone fewer radical changes than Roman. In the days of their first use, one italic served for two or more Roman faces of the same body, and in many 17th and i8th century books there is a constant admixture of irregular italic and Roman types, both as to si2;e and color, in the same lines. The chief variations in form are in the capi' tals and certain long-tailed lower-case letters.Aldus used Roman small capitals but little taller than his lower-case m. Claude Garamond was the first to use inclined capitals of full height; he filled the gaps made by the inclination with flourishes. Such flourished characfters are known as 'swash' letters. [See pg. 38.] Of Kennerley Italic, a well-known English bibliophile writes: "The italic quite takes my fancy, the best I have ever seen, and the most legi- ble — ^not too much like script." u^y •^ PACK MT BOX WITH FIVE DOZE?i L^R JGS &' The quic\ brown fox jumps over the lazy dog ififfflffifflin Plate VI ^ BODONI 'BOOK' BoDONi 'Book,' a type-face for which the writer cannot develop any en- thusiasm, is a reproduction of type cut originally by Giambattista Bodoni 'born at Salu2;2;o, Italy, in February, 1740], the son of a printer. The etter as cut by Bodoni, introduced a new and characteristic style in type feces, a style we now call 'Modern.' He established himself as a printer at Parma, at first using the types of Fournier ; but soon he set up a type foundry of his own. His first attempts differed little firom the de- signs of Fournier, although they later developed a distinct character of their own. Bodoni finally produced types that brought about a complete innovation in the forms of Roman charadters. He made his hair lines and serifs thinner and his stems thicker than ever before attempted. His use of good ink, wide leading, and the elegance of his type, gave his pages the brdliancy of a fine engraving. The writer dislikes Bodoni's types, because none of them seem free from a feeling of artificiality, although his later productions do possess considerable life and freedom; he feels, however, that they present good models upon which to base drawn lettering for use with matter set in a modern type face, and with which the drawn characters should be in complete harmony. Bodoni introduced into the forms of printing types a new and char- acteristic style, closely related to the thought and feeling of his times. A B C D E F G Tandem aliquando TYPES OF BASKERVILLE In England,John Baskerville, typefounder and printer[i752], was called the "English Bodoni" ; it would be fairer, however, to speak of Bodoni as the "Italian Baskerville." -[ 34-]- PACK MY BOX WITH FIVE DOZ ENLQUORJUGS 1234567890 & The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy do Plate VH/ GOUDY OLD STYLE GouDY Old Style, produced by the American Type Founders Co. from drawings made by the writer, is an individual design, neither the pro' tot5^e nor an adaptation of any other type hitherto offered. It is the result of an attempt to realize in one type a versatile face adapted either to classic or commercial requirements. The capitals w^ere based on, or rather were suggested by some capi' tals introduced into a portrait painted by Hans Holbein, but soon drew away from the pattern in the process of making, finally exhibiting a char^ acter more nearly that of the monumental square capitals deri^d^ by the early scribes from the best lapidary inscriptions of the first century. The next problem was to devise a lower case alphabet that would harmonise with them; difficult, because lower case forms came into existence ceh' turies after the capitals whose forms had been accepted by the first print' ers without alteration. Our alphabet consists of twentysix chafadters, each represented by two forms, capitals and lower'case letters; m some instances [Aa, Dd, Gg, Rr, etc.} the majuscule and minuscule/orms 6f the same letter differ so greatly that it is necessary to learn each form individually, eight only bdng so similar in shape, that to learn the capital form is to know aiso its minuscule form. If Caesar were to appear on the scene to'day, he would find Httle difficulty in reading Latin words in our capitals, but would fail utterly even to recognise the majority of our lower-case forms or to read words of his own tongue printedf in them. . . ., With the exception of a few minor details the FoiMidry rS;ridered fair' ly the writer's design; but he feels, however, thst die slight changes t|iat were made do not in any degree add to the beauty of the fo,ce. A type designer who knows his business is certainly a better judge of what he wishes to express than the mechanical executor of the design. on ^ PACK MY BOX WITH FIVE DOZEN LIQUOR JGS ([THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER A LAZY DOG pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs & 1^34567890 Plate X ^ GOUDY BOLD GouDY Bold is derived from an earlier type designed by the writer for the American Type Founders Co, He had nothing to do with the actual production of Goudy Bold, a face which seems to be more successful than he could have anticipated. By enlarging the small capitals of Goudy O. S. to 'cap' height a new type called Goudy Title, in which the weight was sightly greater than Goudy O. S., was produced. Mr. Morris Benton of the American Type Founders Co., using Goudy Title as a foundation letter, increasing the PACK MY BOX WITH FIVE DOZ'N LIQUOR JUGS 36 POINT GOUDY TITLE [gOUDY OLD STYLE SMALL'CAPITALS ENLARGED] we^ht slightly and adding a lower-case corresponding in color but with as little change from the original Goudy O. S. design as possible, created Goudy Bold shown in Plate X. It is the writer's contention that simply thickenii^ or thinning an ex- Jstihg type, or making it wider or narrower, is not real des^n. A letter should be thought of at the outset as possessing a particular character in which we^ht and widths are mere details in its representation, al' though necessary to the development of that character; its design should be organic. In this case it was the founder's intention to produce a letter with more color, but in complete harmony with the Goudy Old Style. {Pg. 37} This letter will be found useful and appropriate to employ with almost any good old style letter where emphasis is desirable. For adver- tisers' uses it seems to fill certain requirements and illustrates, too, one way of securing a new effect from an older design.The Company is to be congratulated on its successful rendering of this useful letter. -{4-]- PACK MY BOX WITH FIVE DZEN LIQUR JGS 1234567890 & The quick brwn fx jmps over th lazy dig Plate XI ^ LOMBARDIC The Lombardic Capitals opposite show a useful and interesting, style that is less formal in character than the Roman. There are many varia' tions of the Lombardic letters as developed in different countries by the scribes with whom it was the favored form for painted initials, and ver^ sals, occasionally whole words, in manuscripts. The solid strokes and strong contrasts offer an opportunity to obtain a decorative effect and richness difficult to secure with other forms.For ecclesiastical work these, capitals are particularly suitable. Those shown on page 45 have been sc lected with, a view to their occasional use for reproduction by process. Wherever Latin was in use, the Roman form of writing was em' ployed as a matter of course, whether written by an Italian, Gaul, Span' iard or Briton, and remained a Roman script. With the advance of independent paths of civili2iation, the hands assumed gradually distinc tive characteristics and took on in each country the complexion of its surroundii^s and varying conditions, developing the national hands. The hand we call 'Lombardic' was a development by the Italians, of the old Roman cursive, more especially restricted to its development in the south, although the title is applied generally to all the writing of Italy in the middle ages, where it prevailed from the 8th to the i ith centxiry, ^ and is a further transition of the square capitals and rounder pen'forms. Types based on the Lombardic capitals, which at their best preserve much of the feeling of the uncials of the 6th and 7th centuries, seldom CAXTON INITIALS, [f. W^. G. FOR A. T. F. CO.] retain the freedom of the painted letter and are usually too stiff and for' mal to grace tiie page where used. Those on page 19, are very good. Lombardic forms are capable of beautiful treatment; that they may be treated freely is an obvious convenience, but may prove, also, not a real advantage. Taste and judgment for their best use is imperative. The earlier forms were simple and beautiful pen shapes, that after die 14th century were often fattened vulgarly 6? overburdened with ornament, losing many of their essential characteristics. As painted, they take on a somewhat different aspect than the pen drawn forms. [See page 18] -[44}- Bct)r> oDcmo Plate XII ^ GOUDY BLACK GoudyBlack is a freely rendered Gothic letter,a composite from various sources. This kind of letter, being less perfed: in form than the Roman characfter, lends itself to a greater variety in design. Originally written with single strokes of a slanted pen, it kept a round, open appearance that gave way later, for greater economy in space, to more angular, stiffer and narrower forms, until finally the written page consisted largely of rows of perpendicular thick strokes connected at top and bottom by oblique hair lines. The types of Gutenberg and his associates as well as those of his immediate successors, were founded on the Gothic medi" aeval minuscule of Germany, a hand that stood apart from the writings of other countries; indeed, it never attained the beauty of other national hands. In Italy the traditional roundness was preserved, €?* while never acquiring entirely the angularity of its northern neighbors it was, never' theless, somewhat aflfecfted by the "Gothic" tendency. abcMjghiikln moptirstu))^ to2UHT678Q0 [46]- SJBCD^f Vk ^(5^ Plate XIII ^ GOUDY GOTHIC GouDY Gothic, from the original drawings by the writer, is included among the specimens given to show how a letter more pleasing than the printer's 'lining Gothic' type can be produced with very slight modifi' cations in form and detail. The name 'Gothic' is misleading — ^it properly belongs only to older forms of black-letter. It probably is called 'Gothic' because usually as bold and black as the Gothic black'letters of early manuscript hands. English founders more corredly call it 'sans-serif.' Gothic lettering became a distind: style in the 12th century; but the term 'Gothic' when applied to a style which belongs not to one, but to all the Germanic tribes, is purely a misnomer. In fadt the title did not come into existence until centuries after any people called Goths had passed from the earth. Moreover, 'Gothic' was at first a mere random expression of contempt, a title of depreciation and scorn. Everything not of the classical Italianforms j^whichaloneseemed worthy of admira- tion] critics called 'Gothic,' meaning rude and barbarous thereby. Printers 'Gotiiic' is a rude imitation of classic Greek and Roman lapi- dary capitals. Its lack of grace and unpleasing monotony when used in a succession of lines make it unsatisftidtory except for a single word or a line where greater blackness is desired than is possible with the usual Roman forms. Its use is occasional, and some real demand for a letter of this character should be clearly evident, since it possesses very little grace or beauty. It must be spaced carefrilly to avoid awkward gaps be- tween irregular letters. -[48]- PACK MY BOX WITH S'*'-'4:' DZEN & FV LQR JUGS 1234567890 THIS manual has been set by Bertha M. Goudy at the Village Press, Forest Hills Gardens, New York, with types designed by the author, and printed under his supervision atTHE Marchbanks Press, New York City, in May, 1922. Published by Mitchell Kennerley, New York,