An Alphabet of capital letters : selected from the illuminations of Italian choral books of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries ; engraved in outline, with one letter printed in colours
An 1862 London alphabet published by the Arundel Society, reproducing capital letters taken from fifteenth and sixteenth century Italian choral service books and engraved in outline, with one letter printed in colour, aimed at artists and craftsmen. The single picture shows a large illuminated initial F filled with a small scene of a standing figure beside a tree, framed by scrolling acanthus leaves, berries and jewel-toned flourishes. A designer could take from it the way an ornamental letter can hold a miniature scene within its stroke, and the dense, curling foliage that fills the borders.
