A Book of Medieval Fonts From the Victoria Era
I downloaded and printed, then made a box to keep them in.
A True Typographical Treasure Find…
I happened upon this digitized book of Medieval Alphabets in display or decorative fonts while searching for something else. Isn’t that often the case?
In this instance, it was one of the best things I’ve ever found. And if you’re a lover of typography, beautiful fonts or Medieval design, I’m sure you’ll agree.
I Compiled a Set…
I downloaded this antique book,Ornamental Alphabets, Ancient and Medieval from the Internet Archive. It was originally compiled and engraved by an F. Delamotte and apparently there were 5 editions. It includes a treasure trove of decorative type sets, along with some numbers and icons and motifs.
It has been re-printed, I saw it featured when I was looking up the site link, but it appeared out of stock at Rizzoli. On Amazon, you can find it as a used book here.
These are a just a few of the many medieval fonts.
I Recommend Printing Yourself…
However, if you want to print it yourself, for free, use the first title link above.
I set my book to print 2-up (meaning two alphabets per page) and then cut the 8.5 × 11 sheets in half. I also printed on good cardstock and did not bind them in any way so that I could pull them out and use them flat.
As you can see, I made a little box holder for them:)
I used this set to create a monogram - AR.
From Early to Late Medieval…
The sets range in date origin from around 7-17th centuries. The above is from the 14th c. It’s one of my favorites, it has a very whimsical, storybook appeal.
I’ve started using the deck to create monograms which I color with fountain ink and will digitize.
And yes, in case you’re wondering, I could just trace these on my computer and use photoshop to color them, but there is nothing more relaxing (to me) then spending an afternoon with good music and letting one’s mind wander as you ink.
Very meditative and the result is usually quite satisfying.
More from the book.
Alphabets from Westminster Abbey…
On the title area of the alphabets, there’s notations such as the year the alphabet came from and sometimes where it was found. For example, Westminster Abbey, Church Text, British Museum etc.
A thick stack…
I didn’t count how many alphabet sets there are, but it’s something like 50 plus a few extra pages of initials and motifs.
The above image shows the complete deck, and you can see it’s substantial.
Find It, Print It, Use It…
So, that’s the book. Obviously, I can’t show all the alphabets here, so be sure and see it for yourself. I’ll include the link again, below.
It’s well worth printing out, and I think having a set of flat cards is even better than having it in book format! I’m using these for a number of upcoming projects.
Link to book HERE.