Rich compendium of decorative capitals from British humor magazine. Historic calligraphy; topical, literary, political allusions; animals, plants, more by Tenniel, Leech, Doyle, other masters.

The illuminated letters in this volume by the great Victorian designer Owen Jones, many taken from an illustrated edition of The Psalms of David, represent popular alphabet motifs that have been copied by artists and designers for more than a century throughout Europe and North America. Each page of this versatile archive contains approximately 40 magnificently embellished individual letters of the alphabet. (There's also an additional page of equally attractive Arabic and Roman numerals.) Foliated and filigreed designs — ranging from small to large, simple to spectacular — display the meticulous craftsmanship and attention to detail that have become synonymous with Victorian design. Commercial artists, graphic designers, and craftspeople will find this elegant and versatile treasury of copyright-free decorative letters an excellent and indispensable sourcebook for graphic projects calling for old-fashioned Victorian charm.

Illustrates 110 complete alphabets in various type styles in capital letters, and includes sixteen complete lower case alphabets, and seventy sets of numbers and other symbols.

The English humour magazine Punch, or the London Charivari, which first appeared in 1841, quickly became something of a national institution with a large and multi-layered readership. Though comic in tone, Punch was deeply serious about upholding high literary and artistic standards, about dealing with serious subject-matter, and about attempting to nurture its readers' appreciation of the national drama and of Shakespeare's plays in particular. The author's detailed examination of Punch's constant advocacy of Shakespeare reveals telling new evidence concerning the ubiquitous presence of Shakespeare within Victorian culture. New research in the Punch archives and elsewhere also reveals the identities of many of the Punch authors and artists. The author shows how those who worked for Punch often subsumed their collective identities within the single persona of Mr. Punch, a fictional creation who repeatedly presents himself in both texts and graphics as a close friend and admirer of Shakespeare, a man able to remind Victorian readers constantly of the supreme literary and moral values represented by Shakespeare's works.

Richly detailed compendium offers glimpses of social history as reflected by historical periodicals, trade catalogs, architectural graphics, William Morris patterns, Crystal Palace exhibits, and many other sources. Includes color and black-and-white images, detailed bibliographies, and artist biographies.

This comprehensive, well-illustrated volume ranges from the earliest pictographs and hieroglyphics to the work of 20th-century designers. Subjects include early writing forms; Roman lettering; runes and medieval hands; the Carolingian minuscule and derivative types; humanistic writing and derivative fonts; and much more. 89 complete alphabets and more than 165 additional specimens.

Convenient, comprehensive selection of monograms. Over 1300 royalty-free designs. Each letter of the alphabet is combined with every other letter in multiple type and spacing variations. Perfect for logos, menus, posters, invitations, etc. 1310 black-and-white illustrations.