Typography Tuesday
These woodcut historiated initials were designed by the Flemish artist Pieter Van der Borcht (c. 1530-1608) and cut by Anton Van Leest in 1571 for the famed Antwerp printer Christophe Plantin (c. 1520-1589), and first used in a luxurious Missal of the composer and choirmaster Georges de la Hèle (1547-1586) in 1578.
These images are from Ornamental Initials, The Woodcut Initials of Christopher Plantin by the American type designer and stonecutter Stephen Harvard, published in 1974 by the American Friends of the Plantin-Moretus Museum in New York, and printed at the Stinehour Press with design and lettering by Stephen Harvard. About these initials, Harvard notes:
Each letter has an intricate border of the typical sixteenth-century Netherlands grotesque, a jungle of convoluted strapwork and scrollwork inhabited by fantastic beasts and swags of fruit. The central portion contains an illustration from scripture appropriate to the letter: C for Christopher, D for Daniel, E for Esau, and so forth. This was a recurring feature of Renaissance woodcut initials of all countries and is traceable to a similar practice in illuminated manuscripts.
Our copy of Ornamental Initials is a donation from our friend Jerry Buff.
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