Letters & Lettering

Frank Chouteau Brown's Letters & Lettering is subtitled A Treatise with 200 Examples and carries the date 1921. Its note says the book is meant for those who need a varied collection of alphabets of standard forms, arranged for convenient use, and that most of them are shown so that the reader can also see how the letters compose into words. It also says the book favors illustrative examples over history.

The list of illustrations gives a sense of its range: an Italian Renaissance panel above the door of the Badia in Florence, Anglo-Saxon capitals from the 6th century, Spanish pen-drawn letters by Francisco Lucas from Madrid in 1577, Italian small letters by J. F. Cresci from Rome in 1560, and English 17th century letters incised in slate from tombstones. The commentary also discusses lettering by J. W. Simpson, William Nicholson and Gordon Craig, and the index covers topics such as Round Gothic, rubbings from inscriptions and the ruling pen.