E L E ME N TS O
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THE I N T E R N ATIO
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A T R E AT I S E
L ETTE R I N G
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PR E FAC E
.
bou nd volu m e s of our Cour s e s in Letteri ng have b ee n
p r epared o n s omew h at d i ff erent li nes fro m those of o u r oth er
Cour s e s B elie vi ng that th e plates would be of m ore value to
the stude nt if h e c ould handle ea ch o ne sep aratel y tha n if they
were bou nd t ogeth er in o ne large v olu m e we ha v e printed th e m
in folio for m with a p l ate o n o ne leaf a nd the I nstructio ns for
d rawi ng it o n t h e other
All t h e plate s belo nging t o e a ch
Course h a v e bee n pla c ed in a ha ndso m e and durab l e portfolio
whi ch is sent to th e s tudent instead of a bou nd volu m e Th e
s tude nt s in those Course s that give i nstru c tio n in Letteri ng
o nl y re c ei v e in a d ditio n to t h e plate s an I nstru c tio n Paper
“
with its a c c o m pany i ng ue s tio n Paper e nt itled E l e m e nt s of
Letteri ng
Th is Paper c o ntai ns th e i ns tru c tio n ne c essary to
e nabl e th e stud e nt to p r o p e rl vapply h is k nowledge of letters
a nd their fo r
m atio n to suit e v ery require m e nt both in tre a t
m e nt a nd m odifi c atio n a nd a l so in their v ariou s arrange m e nt in
all form s of i ns c riptio n a nd c o m bi natio n de s igns Thi s Paper
giv es a co m plete educatio n in the art of letteri ng in a l l it s
bra nch es wh erei n a k nowledge of c olor s is no t ne c e s s ar y Th e
pre s ent v o l u m e c o ntai ns thi s I ns t r u c tio n P a per
The s e Courses in Letteri ng h a v e bee n prepared by a gentle
m a n who h a s had a v er y wide e x perienc e in s tudyi ng the origi n
of letter form atio n and in tea chi ng t h e art of letteri ng a nd o ne
who is a thorough m as t er of th e s u bj e ct in a ll it s bra nch e s
G re a t c are h a s bee n exerc is ed in the sele c tio n of the plates
li c o nt aining the v arious s t y les of th e al p h abet"We feel
TH E
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P R E FACE
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o nfide nt th a t nothi ng equal to the s e plate s h a s e v
er bef o re
bee n pub l i s h e d The utm o s t pai ns hav e be e n take n to gi v e t h e
stude nt the true for m of the various sty le s of letters show n o n
the plates The Courses h ave bee n c arefully arranged to m eet
t h e require m ents of e v ery o ne e ngaged in a ny busi nes s wh a t
ever that d ema nds a k nowledge of letters a nd their c o nstru c tio n
O nly su ch i nstru ctio n a nd p l ates are gi v en a s ha v e a dire c t
c o nnectio n with the parti c ular Cour s e sele c ted by the stude nt
c
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TH E
INTE R NATI O NA L
CO R R E S P O N D E NCE S CH OO L S
.
CO N T E N T S
E L E ME NTS
OF
.
L E TTE R ING
I ntrodu c tio n
Hi s tor y of th e Alphabet
G e neral Rule s
Me cha ni c al a nd Freehand Letteri ng
C o m po ne nt P a rts of a Letter
Spa c i ng of Letter s
Pu nc tuatio n
Rules for P unc tuatio n
Shadi ng
nd Shadi ng
Letter Fa c e Lighti ng a
The Highlight
Cutti ng I n Letter s
Cla s s ifi catio n of Letter s
Or na m ent al Letter s
G rotesq u e Letters
I llu m i nated C apital s
Effec t s in Le tteri ng
Co nde ns i ng Elongati ng Teles c opi ng
Outli ni ng and Filli ng I n
D e s igni ng
Ribbo ns
Pa ne l s
I ns criptio n D e s ig ni ng
Ste nc il P atterns
Purpo s e of Ste ncil s
Materi a l for Ste nc il s
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I nterlaci ng
CO N TE N TS
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G eo m etri c al Figures
Triangle s
Circ les
Orna m e ntal Cur v es
Th e Ellipse
Modifi catio ns of the Fu nda m ental St y le s
Me cha nical Letteri ng
H o w the Work Should be S e nt
P l ates
ELEMENTS
I
LETTER I NG
or
NTR O
D
;
UC T I
ON
.
is the purpose of this
course of i nstructio n to co m bi ne the classi cal with th e practical
s o as to meet the needs of all stude nts desirous of studyi ng the
esthetic a nd antique as well as th e plai n and simple styles of
letteri ng The plates are therefore arranged and classified o n a
sim ple but progressive system calculated to lead th e student
gradually fro m the plai n and simple to the m e st di ffi c ult styles
but omitting from the course all such as are obsolete or no t in
co m m o n use
B efore requiri ng the student to apply hi m self to a k nowledg e
of the present form s a nd c lassific atio ns of th e letters of o u r
alph abet h e should becom e familiar with their history and th e
pri m itive forms of W riti ng H e should also note th e i m portant
natio nal changes that h av
e c a u s e d a tra nsitio n from o ne form
i nto another u ntil our present advanced era has bee n reached
with its gr e at variety of styles disti n ctiv el y d ifi e re nt in
character o ne from anoth er and each ar1 s 1 ng fro m some
i m portant period in th e world s history in whi c h the funda
mental o r parent style was closely allied to a correspo nding
style of archite c ture
I n order that the student may derive the greatest benefit from
this course in lettering he should no t rest co ntent with merely
readi ng this I nstruction Paper carefully o nce or twice but
should study its co ntents carefully throughout his entire cours e
I t is o nly by practice and steady p ro gre s s in acquiri ng a knowl
edge o f the styles and formatio n of letters that the real value
and importance of much of the i nstructio n give n in this Paper
an be rightly u nderstood a nd its full meani ng appreciated
c
1
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Pu r p o s e
o
f Th is C o
u rse
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21
ELEMENT S OF LETTE R I N G
H I S TO R
"
O F TH E
.
A L P H AB E T
.
Th e wo nderful a chie v
e m ents in the
arts of pri nti ng photo e ngra v i ng lithography e t c have bee n
the means of tra nsformi ng the letters of the alphabet i nto a
variety of forms or styles which m a y b e classified u nder three
genera l heads Plai n Or na m e ntal and G rotesqu e Th e hi s tory
of our alphabet a nd of th e for m s know n as th e fund am enta l
styles will be fou nd no t o nly of i ntere s t but also of great profit
to o ne who is to devote hi m self to the art of letteri ng The
degree of perfec tio n attai ned in th e alphabet no t o nl y in
pho netic value but also in si m plicity a nd complete ness makes
it a m o nument of th e i ntellec tual advanc e m ent of the present
—
day a co nditio n to which the people of all ages have c o ntrib
the reader may never have c o nsid ered its
u t e d — although
s our c e no r the m a ny changes necessary to its growth a nd per
f e ctio n
The twenty s ix signs or letters that w e c all th e
those represe nti ng no
a lp h a be t are separated i nto two classes
a nd
s yllabic sou nds in the m selves which are called co ns o na nts ;
those possessi ng two or m ore such sou nds c alled v
The
ow
e ls
l atter in som e c ases are s c arcely m ore than a breath sou nd but
each has a clear pho neti c value a nd fills a n i m porta nt pla c e in
our written languag e B y means of other c haracters placed
above th e vowels every word m a y be written to expre s s its
proper sou nds We are th erefore e nj oyi ng today th e fruits of
the achievem e nts of the human i ntellect through f orty ce nturies
of develop m ent ; for in tra c i ng the origi n of the alphabet a nd
the signs that l e d to it s c o nstru ctio n we are co m pelled to go
bac k to the dispersio n of the human race through a period of
over four thousand years each epo c h of which fur nishes i nter
I t will be
e sti ng d evelop m ents in th e growth of our letters
i m possible in this short treatise to fully co ns ider this i nteresti ng
history and growth or give more than a pa s si ng glance at the
world s primitive history ; although in it is to be fou nd the
source of the forms who se tra nsitio ns from o ne system of char
Nor ca n we
ac t e rs to a nother give u s our prese nt alphabet
dwell eve n o n the relatio n these characters bear to o ne a nother
The d egree of i ntellige nce attai ned in each period of huma n
2
Cl a s s ifi
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c a t io n
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§
ELEMENT S OF LETTE R I N G
1
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history is m arked by the progress made in the methods of
writing which e nabled its people to re c ord eve nts i m part
k nowledge and transmit messages to o ne another
,
,
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,
The Scriptures i nform us that when B aby
l o n a nd Ni neveh were built all people were of o ne la nguage a nd
the si m ilarity of the B abylo nian Egyptian a nd A s s yri an S i gn
la ngu ages gives so m e evidenc e of this fact The descendants of
Noah are supp osed to have occupied these localities after the
dispersio n Shem that of B abylo n a nd Eastwar d ; H am , North
eastern Afric a and Japheth Wester n Assyria and Asia Mino r
Each system of writi ng bega n with rud e pictures of obj e c ts
more or less conve ntio nal which gradually b ecame the r e p r e
e s of words afterwards becomi ng the sy m bols of letters
s e nt ativ
or ele mentary sounds We c a n therefore trace the tran
sitio n
fro m the id eo gr am or e x pressio n of thoughts by means of pic
tures t o the p h o no gr am or e x pressio n of so unds by means of
drawn or written symbol s Many ideogr am s are in commo n
u s e at th e prese nt day whi c h proves that th e Egyptia n m ethod
was no t without so m e merit For i nstance the sig n t is derived
from the mo nogram U S The barber s p o l e ét h e red stripe of
”
which s ym bolizes a i bl o o d letter ( a custom of past ages )
th e three balls used by the paw nbro k er the Ameri c an flag
the S ign per cent
the algebrai c signs a nd many others
are all ideograms
3
I d
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e o
g ra m
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m W
Cu n e
The letters of our alphabet are
th e outgrowth of th e ancient Hebrew alphabet and E gy p tian
hieroglyphi cs ( th e earliest form of writi ng ) as well as of the
Assyrian c u neifor m chara c ters I n traci ng to its origi n the
form of each letter we are surprised at the m ar v
elous trans
form atio ns these characters have u ndergo ne before reaching
the si m plicity that mark s their present co nstru c tio n While
alphabetic systems have beco m e si m plified the Chi nese system ,
hich is no t alphabetic has grow n m or e
o n the other hand w
ore complicated ; and aff ords an e x a m p l e o f how a people
a nd m
i s o lated for four thousand years from the rest of the world
were u nable to advance beyo nd th e an cie nt syste m of ideo
graphic writi ng The Chi nese system is evide ntly th e outgro wt h
4
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if o
r
r
it i n g
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ELEMENT S OF L E TTE R I N G
.
of the cu neiform chara cters which are wedge shaped and are
arranged in groups to express a thought Th e si m pli c ity of
our alphabet system compared with the Chi ne s e may be app re
ciat e d whe n we co nsider that a boy t e n years old in an Ameri
has acquired th e sam e fa c ility in r eadi ng a nd
c a n school
writi ng E nglish that would t ake a Chi nese stude nt twenty fi v
e
years to acco m pli s h in th e study of Chi nese c hara c ters
-
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Ar a b
R o a n N u m e r a ls
Without a
ge neral knowledge of anc ie nt history it is i m possible to form a
clear outline of the history of writing as o ne is i nseparable
from the other From the co nfusio n of to ngues to th e exodus
of the I sraelites from Egypt a period of several centuries we
know th at the three co nti nents of Europe Asia, a nd Africa
were largely peopl e d ; a nd though Chi nese legends point to
periods much earlier tha n this the System by whi c h they have
come t o us being based o n obj e ct pictures prod u c es no evi
dence a s to their reliab ility The Hebrew writi ng supposed
by so m e authorities to be th e outgrowth of th e s o called Semitic
writi ng does no t owe its origin to this e a rly period for there
is su ffi cient evidence to S how that th e Hebre walphabet did no t
co m e into e x i s tence u ntil later I n the middl e of this S emitic
period however occurs th e birth of I shmael from whom th e
Arabian race is des c end ed a nd to this race we are i ndebted for
our pres ent nu m eral char a c ters 1 2 3 etc The system k now n
as the R o ma n was in use much earlier and probably origi nated
Th e digits I II III IIII were ori gi
in ideographic writi ng
nally pictures of th e fi ngers ; th e V was show n by the whole
ha nd the fi ngers collected a nd the thu m b spread apart The
was expressed by both hands tog ether each bei ng in the
positio n used to i ndicate th e V The i ncrease or de c rease of
value was i ndicated by pla ci ng a digit before or after the V or
This system is still in u s e fo r certai n purposes o ne of
which is the nu m beri ng of the hours o n the clo ck d ial
5
Th
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a nd
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H b w Al p h a b e t
Th e
progress and develop
me nt of all systems of writi ng are marked by natio nal cha nges
therefore whe n e nteri ng o n a seco nd historical period of
and
about a thousa nd years begi nni ng with the exodus fro m Egypt
.
Th
e
e
re
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ELEMENTS OF LETTE R I N G
.
reac hi ng to the captivity of I s rael a nd Judah we fi nd a
000 peop l e leavi ng Egypt a nd after ward
natio n of at least
for m i ng a mo s t important elem ent of th e divisio ns of natio ns
To
and o ne stro ngly i nflue nci ng th e m any syste m s of writi ng
this great peo ple it is believed was gi v e n a n alphab e t a nd a
language in laws a nd c o m mand m e nts embodyi ng civil as well
as ec c lesiasti c al polity Th e purity of this alphabet h a s
remained to the pres e nt ti m e survivi ng thirty centuries the
o nly changes bei ng th e pre s ent Hebrew chara c ters w h ich
assu m e m ore of th e s quare co nstructio n tha n the originals
—
n
m
From this nat io n also spri ngs a other syste or alphabet that
—
of the Samaritans but before c o nsideri ng this let us turn our
attentio n to anoth er cou ntry and people the Phenicians The
I sraelites occupying P alesti ne were neighbors of this aggr es sive
a nd thrifty people a nd were brought i nto har m o nious relatio ns
with the m T he chief cities of Phe nicia Ty re a nd Sido n were
during th e reig n of Solomo n m ariti m e c enters of great ac tivity
I t is assu m ed therefore that th e G reek alphabet came directly
from the Hebrew and Pheni cian while the Pheni c ian in tur n
was evolved from the A s syrian Egyptian, and Moabitish
a nd
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Alph a b e t
W e fi nd that the Samari
t analph a bet h as Hebrew as a base with a stro ng i nte rspersio n
of A ssyrian and Chaldaic I srael about t h e m id d l e of this
period was divide d i n to two k i ngd oms th e t o tribes c o ns tit u
ti ng th e k ingdom o f Judah a nd the t e n tribes that of I srael
The latter as w ell as the Egyptians and Phenicians suf
fe re d s everel y fro m the Assyrian and B abylo nian i nva s io ns
These powerful eastern em pires took capti v e the t e n tribes of
I srael thereby cau sing their complete dow nfall and loss of
The M osaic laws pr e scribed that th e soul
natio nal ide nt ity
that did no t observe certai n ceremo nies after eight days would
be cut O ff fro m I srael ; the t e n tribes failed to observe these
ceremo nies as a natio n a nd therefore lo s t their ind e ntit y in the
Hebrew family They r eturned to Sa m aria subseque ntly how
—
ever a nd h e ld to a revised Pent a teuch he nce the lost t e n tribes
of I srael and their relatio n to th e Jews Me ntio n i s made of
this to a ssist the student in l o cating t h e origin of the Sam ari t an
7
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Th e
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Sa m
a ri t a n
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ELEMENT S OF LETTE R I N G
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alphabet w h i ch is s o m ade up of others that little or no
refere nc e is usually made in regard to its origi n beari ng as it
does so close a resem blanc e to the pri m itive Hebrew The
o nly exam ples of th e earliest alphabets are to be fou nd o n
m o nu m e nts or tabulated i ns c riptio ns o n coms a nd o n frag
m e nts of ut ensils
Amo ng th ese th e pri ncipal o nes duri ng this
period are the B aal Leba no n B owl l 0 th ce ntury B C ; th e
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F IG
1
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Moabite Sto n e 9 t h c e ntury B C ; a nd th e Siloam I ns c riptio n
7th ce ntur y B C
This period closes with th e c aptivity of the
re m ai ni ng mo tribes in B a bv
l o n 58 8 B C
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Al
b e t The Phe ni cian a s pre v i
o u s l vstate d is the sour c e of our pho netic alphabet
the
a
n
d
;
as c e ndency and decli ne of the G recia n e m pire a nd th e establi s h
m e nt of the Roma n marks a noth er period dur i ng which th e
alphabet cha racters attai ned their present d evelop m e nt a s
s how n by the i nscriptio n o n th e Ar c h of Titus built 70 A D
a c u t of which is sh ow n in Fig 1
I n recapitulati ng what h a s
8
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Th
P
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ni c ia n
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ELEMENT S OF LETTE R I N G
§
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1
characters of t h e first century are practi c ally th e sam e as the
o nes in u s e today know n by th e na m e of Egyptian A ntique
Egyptian and French Ro m an
,
,
—
R
n
i
n
e
Fro m th e beginni ng of the
Th e
e
c
a ssa
1 2
Christian era there seem s to have been no appar ent growth of
th e alphabet for many centuri es Th e dark ages were evide ntly
a ger m i nati ng or buddi ng period a nd u n til the 1 5th century
bri ngs us to a n era historically k now n as th e Renaissance or
r evival of art we fi nd no progress wh atever
About th e middle
o f this century ( 1 4 4 8 ) pri nti ng was i nv e nted , but it was ma ny
n
m
ears
before
this
importa
t
discovery
accomplished
uch
to
y
benefit mankind ; for it must be rem em bered there was no cheap
material o n which to pri nt the parch m ent used to e ngross o n
b ei ng far too expensive for th e purposes of pri nti ng
The
n
rocess
of
pri
ti
n
g
had
a
very
be
n
eficial
i
f
lue
n
e
the
c
n
o
n
p
m ethods of writi ng however and i nc ide ntal ly o n the alphabet
itself The letters had be c om e so elaborate by this t i m e as to
appear almost like ornam e ntal enig m a s The process of pri nt
ing necessarily re q uired for the sep arate types th e S i m plest
form s of charac ters and th e pri nters we re co m pelled therefore
to retur n to t h e forms used duri ng the first century the Latin
a nd Wester n Roman style s were therefore used
the former
bei ng known at th e present day as A ntique Egyptian a nd the
latter as Fre nch Ro m an
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I t should be borne in mi nd that ornamentation in
letteri ng such as marked th e period j ust prior to the 1 5th
century is no t a n m p r o v
e m e nt in style
The first principles to
be observed in formi ng letters is simplicity as the m ost impor
tant qualificatio ns of th e letters should b e their legibility
Or na m e ntatio n whe n resorted to is al w
ays an e v idence of
failure to produce the perfect letter for if the perfect is attai ned
the additio nal work is superfluous
1 3
.
-
.
.
,
.
,
.
R e s u l t s o f t h e R e n a i s s a n c e — The G erm a ns duri ng
the 1 5th century then located in N orther n I taly were no t slo w
to become imbued with th e S pirit of this ne w developme nt in
art a nd Spai n Fra nce E ngla nd a nd in fact all Europe was
1 4
.
,
,
,
,
,
,
ELEMENT S OF LETTE R I N G
1
.
affected by the great i m pulse largely o n accou nt of the achieve
n a s th e M edici
ments of a n I talian fa mily kno w
Previous to
this the art of letteri ng was co nfi ned al m ost exclusively withi n
the mo nasteries The ecclesiastical devotees or m o nks were
skilful in the art of c alligraphy and e x h ibit e d wo nd e rfu l d ex
t e rit y in their wor k of d esig ni ng a nd illumi nati ng capit al l etters
o n their m anuscripts m a ny of which are extant today ; some
dati ng ba c k as far as th e 5 th or th e 6th century are especially
clever I t is to be regretted howe v er that thes e early mo nks
possessed a knowledge of ch em icals for removing the insc rip
tio ns from earlier ma nuscripts fro m which they copied thereby
depriving the world of records far more valuable than their
n
ow
D uri ng this whole period prior to pri nti ng t h ere were
many varieties or styles of th e alphabet origi nated Th e s t yl e
k nown at pr esent as th e Egyptian was origi nally know n as the
plai n Ro m an or the style in which the e arly G reek and Lati n
alphabets w ere written while the Ro m an l etter of th e present
day is al m o s t id enti c al with the M edieval Ro m an of th e period
i ndi c ated by its n a m e The G othic t h e earliest specime n of
whi ch dates to 1 34 9 A D was possibl y the next sty le a nd
d erived its origi n from the ogival or poi nte d ar c h c haracter
is tic of the G othic st y le cf a rchitecture
,
.
,
.
,
,
,
,
.
,
.
.
,
.
,
.
.
,
,
.
1 5
Th e
Old E nglish 1 4 00 A D ( specimens of which are
i nste r Abb ey ) was possibly t h e outgrowth of the
s till in West m
8 th ce ntury Romanesque the Old G erm an letters followi ng
closely o n the Old E ngli sh
T here are many of the G erman
a nd I t al ia n R e na is s anc e styles that still remai n
Th e Script
writing ( the ordi nary cursive ki nd ) out of which has developed
the most grac eful a nd c lassi c curves possible to produce was of
A nglo Saxo n origi n Th e style know n as French Roman
havi ng the horizo ntal st rokes co nsiderably narrower than the
vertical the extrem ities of these bei ng fi nishe d with a n antique
S pur were of fi rs t c e ntury origi n a nd were used by the Wester n
Rom
an provi nces The I tali c script is a modern i nterpretatio n
There are several form s of the
o f the Medie v al I talia n pri nt
Church Texts which originated from the Old G erma n as well
a s the Old E nglish
.
.
,
.
,
.
,
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‘
.
,
,
-
.
,
,
-
,
,
.
.
,
.
ELEMENT S
St y le s
L E TTE R I N G
O F
§
.
Oi
1
th e styles of more re c ent date
th e sty l e k now n a s Ru nd S chrif t ( rou nd writi ng ) whi c h is a n
adaptatio n of th e G er m an Renaissance was th e i nventio n of a
A s id e from this we name with mu c h prid e several
G erman
styles k now n t h e world over as A m erican writi ng ; these are
th e Full B lock Hal f B lo c k both p l ai n a nd a ntique Rai l road
B lock Rou nd Full B lock Spenc erian S cript a nd Shippers B o x
Marki ng These styles are u sed chiefly by letterers whil e t h e
varietie s in type whi c h a re of purely American origi n are s o
numerous that we would no t attempt to classify or na m e them
Th eir form a nd style are peculiarly i d e ntifi ed with pri nt ing
while to th e art o f
a nd are seldo m if ever u s ed by letterer s ;
pri nti ng u nder its many h eads is due al l progress made in th e
i nve ntio n of sty les of writi ng Si nc e the i 5th century
1 6
Mo d e
.
r
n
—
,
-
-
,
,
.
,
,
,
’
,
,
,
,
.
'
.
,
.
R UL E S
GE N E R AL
.
The few ge neral rules followi ng are very i m porta nt t o
the student a nd it is ne c e s s a ry t h e r e fo r e that t hey s hould be
c areful l y ob s erved a nd followed
1
D o no t a ttempt a ny for m or style of letter other tha n th e
st y l e furnished f o r ea c h le s so n
2
D o no t al l ow t h e e y e to dwell o n that which i s i nartisti c
”
“
for j ust as truly as evil associatio ns c o rru p t g o o d manners
j ust so surely does associatio n of th e ey e with that whi c h is out
of proportio n distorted or irregular l ea v e an i m pressio n which
is lasti ng in its e ffe c t o n a nd by no m ea ns easy to dispel from
the mi nd VVh e n the stude nt h a s a d v a nc ed to th e study of
i nscriptio n designi ng a nd or na m entati on he will better a p p re
c iate th e i m porta nce of this advice
D o no t be c o m e dis c oura ged if you do no t m ake a s rapid
3
progress as you should like to The a s s ertio n is ofte n mad e
“
that it is no t possible for o ne to be c ome a m aster of a n art
”
or professio n without a natur a l tale nt for it
this m ay be true
alo ng some li nes but it is no t true in regard to letteri ng
especially if behi nd the e ff ort there is persiste nt will power a nd
a patie nt deter m i natio n to suc c ee d
Co nc e ntratio n of though t
a nd co nsta nt pra c tice must of neces s ity follo wthese qualities
1 7
.
,
,
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,
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.
—
.
fl
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,
,
,
,
,
,
,
-
.
,
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,
,
,
.
.
,
ELEMENTS OF LETTE R I N G
G ive as mu c h tim e to pra c tice as possible ; do no t be
satisfied to make a l etter several ti m es o nly but p racti c e each
letter u ntil you have mastered it and have l e arne d p e rfe c tl y
all th e rules governi ng its c o nstructio n in every chara c teri s tic
li ne a nd strok e
5
B e sure you thoroughly u nderstand all of the i nst inc tio n
pertai ni ng to ea c h plate before be gi nni ng t o pra c tice Study
the i nstructio ns c arefully with the p l ate b efore you
S tri e t o e x ce l ; d e s p ise m e d io c r it y
The advantages o ffered in this c ourse shoul d i ndu c e every
student to aim above a general knowledge of letters o nly a nd
to seek to attai n a pos ition equal to that o cc up i ed by t h e few
that fully u nderstand th e m any form s of alphabetic chara c ters
a nd all th eir applica tio ns
4
.
,
‘
,
.
.
.
v
.
.
,
-
.
l s R e qu i
When practici ng in the e v e
ni ng u s e a good steady light a nd pla c e this dire c tly in the
rear of the table o n which you are worki ng and from 1 2 to 1 8
i nch es above th e work while th e eye s S hould always be pro
Th e stude nt will
t e ct ed fro mit by mea ns of a n eye shade
need th e followi ng m aterial s
1 8
Ma t e
.
r
ia
re
d
—
.
,
,
,
,
.
"
wing inst um e nts
ing b o a d 1 6 in
aw
D ra
r
Dr
r
Ts
qu
a re
,
2 2 % inc h
2
tr iangle s
1
s ca e
l
doz
.
,
,
45
°
2 1 in
.
.
}
es
and
7
60
°
th u m b t acks
wing p e nc il
1 % o z b o t t le w
at e rp
.
2
ro o
f d ra
D r afts m e n
ve lve t
r
p o ve d
doz
.
er
b
Fa
.
ru e
"
W h at m a n
1 2 in
l
1
;
er s
im
d ra
wing
ink e ra se r
’
s
_
1 9 in ;
ro
.
"
b r u sh e s , N o s 3
r e d s ab l e
1 p ad
wing ink
bb
ru
sh e e t s
p ap e r ,
S iz e
D ra
1 9
1
’
.
d p ap e r , 2 in
.
a nd
yal
4
7 in
.
a nd
other student s i nterested in a si m ilar
c lass of work will fi nd the s e tools su fficie nt for pr actice a nd
speci m en work B u t for the benefit of the students that wish
to apply a knowledge of letteri ng t o S ign pai nti ng w e would
advise that the pra c ti c e work be do ne o n cardboard or M anila
pattern paper u s i ng a c amel s hair bru sh a nd c ard blac k the
preparatio n of which will be gi v e n hereafter B y this process
the letters c an be mad e a ny si z e but the plate sent in for
i
n
1
5
i
n
n
c orrectio n must i nvariably be 8A
i
side
the
border
;
l i nes whi c h are 1 3 i nches from th e edge of the paper
.
.
’
-
,
,
,
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,
.
"
,
.
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,
.
.
ELEMENTS OF LETTE R I N G
TH E
D R AW I N G
ME
20
CH AN I CA L
I ns t r u m
.
e
nt a
l
a
L E TTE R S
F R E E HAN D
AN D
nd
.
Fre
e
h
.
L E TTE R I N G
and
D
ra
wi n g
.
D
e
fi
is th e art of representi ng obj e c ts o n a
co nve nie nt surface such a s paper by means o f li nes or colors
or bo th The representatio n of a n obj e c t in this m anner is
called a d ra w
ing
I f th e penc il brush p e n or mar k er by
which a drawi ng is m ade is guided wholly or partly by ins tru
ments as for exam p l e by a straightedge or by co m passes the
drawi ng is c alled a n ins tru menta l or mech a nica l drawi ng I f no
i nstru m ents are used the li nes draw n by th e fr ee hand a nd all
dim ensio ns laid O R by eye o nly the drawi ng is called a fr ee
mg
A preli m inary rough or u nfi nished d ra w
h a nd drawi ng
is usually called a s ke tch
nit io ns
—
.
D rawi ng
,
,
,
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,
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,
~
,
,
,
,
,
,
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,
,
,
.
.
21
P
p
w
The purpose of a drawing
is either to assist th e m e m ory or to c o nvey to others a n idea of
t h e S hape , size co m bi natio n form color or appeara nce of some
obj ect D raw ings also aid us in perfecti ng id eas when we are
designing or i nve nti ng
The practic e of freehand drawi ng
trains both the hand a nd th e eye I t e nables o ne to estimate
distances a nd lay them o ff o n a drawi ng correctly a nd to co m
pare the relative sizes of angles li nes and figures in general
I t thus trai ns t h e hand to draw quicker and b etter with ins tru
me nts Th e ability to dra w well freehand is o ne of th e most
useful of accomplish m ents
.
u r
o se
o
f a D
ra
,
,
,
—
ing
,
.
.
.
,
,
.
,
-
.
.
22
There are but two plates or st y les in this course that
are in the true sense mecha ni c al styles that is m ade exclusively
with th e aid of a straightedge a nd other i nstru m e nts These
are the Full B lo c k Plate a nd the Half B loc k Plate The
others are made u p of straight li nes and curves These curves
though sligh t in ma ny cases are all drawn by the free use of
th e hand a nd therefore s o lo ng as freeha nd drawi ng e nters i nto
their co nstru c tio n we ha v e c hose n to classify the m u nder this
head We advise th e u s e of th e straightedge however in
.
,
,
.
-
-
.
,
.
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
ELEMENTS O F LETTE R I NG
.
maki ng all straight li nes whether in m e chanical or freeha nd
style s but do no t re c om m end th e use O f th e compas s es in
m aki ng curves in freeh and letter sty l e s u nle s s a perfe c t circle
is required
,
,
,
.
O MP ONE N T
C
23
St
P AR TS
O F
A
L E TTE R
.
The stroke is the term applied to the width
between the outli nes formi ng the letter ; when appli ed to
letters possessi ng more than o ne width betwee n its outli nes it
always refers to the greatest width and usuall y the vertical
”
“
portio n O f the letter as distinguished fro m th e fi ne li ne
.
ke
r o
—
,
,
.
,
.
Th e fi ne l i ne 1 s the li ne co nne c ti ng the
strokes or line s attached to the m for m i ng a part of th e letter
a nd is u s ually a horiz o ntal li ne
24
L in e
F in e
.
—
.
,
,
.
25
Sp u n
The spur is a s m all proj ectio n from th e
extremity of a letter a nd exis t s in severa l varieties a c cording
to t h e style of letter o n whi c h it is used
.
—
,
.
26
The fa c e of a letter usually i ncludes all the
spa c e form i ng a rectangle enclosi ng th e extr em ities of th e
letter but is O ft e n app l i e d to the surface withi n the outline
of the letter
Face
.
—
,
.
27
S
This term is used to describe the treatment
or fi nish O f a letter a nd is appli ed to a lette r to give it t h e
appearance O f reli ef fro m the backgrou nd ; also to cause o ne
art
of
the
stroke
to
appear
proj
ected
or
depressed
from
p
the sur face
.
h
ad
e
—
.
,
.
—
k
o
B
l
c
This is similar to the shade in e ff ect and is
28
used to give a letter t hickness or as its n am e expresses to give
it a solid block effect in whi c h case th e S hade also is sometimes
u s ed beyo nd th e block in the form of a natural shado w
.
.
,
,
,
,
,
.
The o utli ne O f a letter is th e line that
forms the letter leavi ng the body O f the stroke O pen
29
O
.
u
l
t in e
—
,
.
The width O f letters always applie s to the
S pa c e o c cupied between the verti cal li nes to th e extrem e right
a nd left a nd never refer s to th e height
30
W id t h
.
,
—
.
.
ELEMENT S O F LETTE R I N G
.
B a c kg r o u n d
The ba ckgrou nd is th e surfa c e o n
whi c h t h e letteri ng i s p l a c ed ; it is also so m eti m es c alled the
u
n
d
or
ld
ro
e
fi
g
31
—
.
.
.
,
—
i
n
d
n
n
C
Co ndensi ng is a term applied to th e
o
e
s
32
g
closer spaci ng O f the letter s or to m aki ng the m narrower than
norm al width
.
.
,
.
lo
Elo ngati ng is th e ter m applied whe n
th e letters are draw n out to a greater width than th e nor m al
This term should no t be co nfused with th e appeara nc e of a co n
d e ns e d letter wi th the relatio n of its h eight to its width
33
.
E
n g a t in g
—
.
.
.
,
The c y m a is a c haracter e m ploy ed to equalize
the spa ci ng of irregular letters by pla ci ng it where th e spa c e is
open and requires somethi ng m ore t han th e plai n letter to
make the word appear solid This character derives its name
from th e G reek its u ndulating form resem bli ng a wave The
cy m a I s usually atta ched to th e letters A L M \V e t c ; it is
used in but few styles O f letteri ng ,while in so m e styles it forms
a par t of the letter i t self
34
.
Oy
in a
—
.
.
,
.
,
,
,
,
.
.
NG O F L E T T E R S
o f
Sp a c i n g Next
S P AC I
35
.
importanc e to
t h e form atio n O f letters stands the art O f arra ngi ng them in
words in a way c alculated to make t h e word no t o nly legible
Nothi ng wil l d e s tro y
but sy m m etri c al this is called sp a cing
the ha rm o ny of a li ne O f perfe c tly form ed letters m ore e ff ect
iv
e l y tha n a di s regard O f this ar t
Asid e from a fe wgeneral
n good j u d g m e nt a nd
rules th e l e tt e ize r m ust d epe nd o n h is o w
cultivate th e ability to proportio n all spaces a c c ordi ng to the
co m bi natio ns O f letters I rregu l ar co m bi natio ns occur in many
ways but true proportio n must always reign in a word a c c u
rat e l y spaced s o that it s regularity is appare nt to th e eye a t a
gla nce To ac c omplish this special atte ntio n m u s t be give n to
th e followi ng ru l e s
.
I m p cr t a n c e
-
.
I
n
'
.
.
,
,
.
,
,
.
,
—
r
r
n
a
d
I
n
r
o
r
e
c
t
c
o
t
S
i
n
C
e
c
a
c
Make the i nter
36
p
g
S paci ngs equal to o ne a noth er or a s nearly s o as poss i ble TO
do this may require the S horte ni ng of so m e exte nded letters
a nd th e spreadi ng apart of letter s havi ng vertical or parallel
.
,
.
,
ELEM E NTS O F LETTE R I N G
.
the right L a nd the stroke of the N The lett ers therefore
with whi c h we shall experienc e the most di fficulty in spacing
a nd the pro
are the slanti ng s tr o ke l e tte rs A K V W and
n
i
e
c
t
j
g letters F J L , a nd T
"
.
,
-
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
Ro m a n
When Spacing such
styles as th e Full B lo c k and Ro m an O bserve the followi ng
ru l es
When two letters havi ng spurs co m e tog e ther as
37
.
Fu
ll B l o c k
a nd
—
.
,
leave t h e width O f the stroke O f th e l etter between the spurs
Whe n a spur and a plain stro k e letter co m e together as
.
-
,
w
leave 1 % width O f stro k e bet een body or stroke
W hen two sp urless letters , as
letters
Of
.
”
"
o m e together leave space of o ne stroke between them Slant
ing stroke letters su c h as t h e W a nd th e
le ave the half stroke
S pa c e between the spurs a nd the same spa c e if the next letter
be a S purless letter
c
,
-
,
.
-
,
,
'
.
p t i a n , Ha lf B l o c k
R o m a n — The
Egyptian Half B lo c k a nd Frenc h Roman c a n be S pac ed by the
followi ng rules
Leave width O f stroke bet wee n a l l parallel
strok e letters a nd o ne half this width between proj ecti ng letters
B etwee n rou nd letters comi ng together o n rou nd ed S ide s as
Eg y
"
,
n
d
a
,
.
F
r e
nch
.
,
-
,
.
,
leave 5 stroke
.
B etwee n
words
never
allow less than the space
E L EMENT S OF LETTE R I N G
.
of a full s ized letter i ncludi ng S purs ; and i f possible , leave
Never allow letters to tou c h each other except
1 % s paces
shaded letters a nd no t the n u nless it is u navoidab l e Tw
o
rou nd letters co m i ng together su c h as
-
,
,
,
.
.
,
,
co ndensed styles havi ng no S purs m a y be allowed to almost
tou c h ea c h other without havi ng the effect O f d o I ng s o ; whil e
su c h letters as
in
,
,
produce the effect
O
f
bei ng c loser together th an they really
are
.
Care m ust always b e exercised i n selecti ng a style O f
letter to suit a space as well a s a word The pla c ing of a word
in a given space no t appropriate to it will cau s e the letters to
be either S O separated by s paces or s o c onde nsed for want of
S pa c e a s to m ak e th e m u nSigh t l y and di fficult to read Under
”
“
the heading of
Ins c riptio n D esigni ng
the s ubj e c t of the
39
.
.
'
fi
.
,
F IG
.
6
.
elec tio n O f styles to m e e t all requir em ent is fully treate d
The appearance O f th e S pa ci ng of letters i s si m ilar to that of a
co m pa ny of soldiers I f a portio n of the company b e separated
by a S pac e greater than the m anual pres cribes it h as th e
appearanc e of a separate detach m ent a nd is noti c eable at a
glance I n the sa m e m anner if a word is S pa c ed properly
throughout with b u t o ne exceptio n it h as th e appearance O f
tw
o w
ords For exam ple take the word S ena te show n in
Fig 6 where th e spa c e b e twee n th e N a nd th e A gives it th e
effec t of two word s
s
.
.
,
.
,
,
.
.
,
,
.
ELEMENTS O F LETTE R I N G
P
U
.
N C T U A T I ON
There is seldo m S u fl
i cie nt atte ntio n paid to thi s i m por
tant subj ect a m o ng letterers as m a y be O bserved o n the S i gns
o n alm ost a ny public street
‘
40
.
,
.
Ap o s t r o p h e
The apostroph e is fre
que ntly m i s pla c ed in the plural p ossessive case To fully
u ndersta nd the rule governi ng the posses s ive case and the
i
f
n
st
n
O
the
mar
k
used
to
de
n
te
po
s
ses
s
io
we
S
hould
fir
o
g
k now that the apo s troph e is used to i ndicate that so m ethi ng
has been omitted I f we S hould loo k o n the fly leaf of som e
very O l d book w e would se e the name of the ow ner
Joh n
"
”
”
“
S m ith a nd u nderneath th e words his book which was
the early for m of expressi ng th e p o s s e s s we
Later it becam e a
custo m to co ntract the name and arti c le p ossessed thus
“Joh n S m ith s book ” and to i nsert the apostroph e to i ndi
”
“
cate that the his was o m itted B y beari ng in mi nd this
S i m ple custo m o ne ca n always lo c ate th e proper plac e for the
apostrophe a cc ordi ng to the locatio n O f th e pro nou n
To
“
further illustrate take for exa m ple the words m en s a nd
”
boys c lothi ng
To u s e th e m ethod of our ancestors we
“
would express it
m e n their clothi ng a nd boys th eir c loth
”
”
“
ing
A c cor d i ng to the rule the apostrophe a nd fi nal 8
S h o u l d be s u bsti tuted fo r the pro nou n maki ng the phrase read
“m en s and boys c loth ing ” Thu s t h e letter s would no t
be ne c ess ary after th e apost roph e in t h e word
as the
“
”
”
“
is used ; but for
pro nou n their
whi c h has no fi nal S
”
“
eupho ny o r to obviate harsh ness of sou nd th e s is ofte n
ad d ed after m a ny words a nd also o m
itted fro m words e ndi ng
with s for the sa m e reaso n
4 1
O
.
r
ig in
o
f th
—
e
.
.
,
.
l
'
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
—
,
’
—
,
.
,
.
,
’
,
,
,
’
.
,
,
,
.
,
,
'
,
’
’
.
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
42
Co
the
The c o m m a is frequently u s ed where
m ark required
th e period is
For i nsta nc e the word s
”
m ake two c o m plete a nd i nde
Joh n Smith L a w O ffi c e
pe nde nt state m e nts a nd each s hould be term i nated by a
“
period However if the wor d s used were Joh n S m ith
”
Lawyer the cas e would ha v e been di ff ere nt a s th ere is but
o ne s tate m e nt w
hi ch S hould be term i nated by the period
Th
.
m m
e
a
—
.
.
.
,
.
,
,
.
.
,
,
,
.
ELEMENTS OF LETTE R I N G
UL
R
Pe r i o d
E S
FO R
P
UN
C T UAT I
ON
.
.
Th e period is put at the e nd of e v ery
word p hrase or sentenc e that is c o m plete by its elf a nd
no t i nterrogati ve or excla m ator y
I t is also placed af ter
all abbreviatio ns
Th e M D a d d re s s e d h is l e t t e r t o J a m e s
u it y o u r s e lve s lik e m e n
Ho war d L L D
43
.
,
—
.
,
,
'
"
.
.
.
.
,
.
.
.
Co lo n
Th e colo n is an i ntermediate poi nt b etween
the s e m icolo n a nd th e period and is used as follow s
1
Aft er words that pro m ise a series or statem e nt of so m e
thing important
H is a c co m p lis h m e nt s h e s a id we r e no t m a ny a s t o u t h e art a fi rm
fi ft y ce nt s
re s o l ve a nd
44
—
.
.
,
.
.
,
,
,
—
,
.
i m portant re m ark added to a sente nc e e s pe
c ial l y when it s u m s up the s e nte nc e o r prese nt s the m eani ng
in another form
Avo id e vil d o e rs in s u c h s o c ie t y an h o ne s t m an m a y be co m e
2
B efore
.
an
,
-
,
"
.
as h am e
d
O
l
f h im s e f
.
lo n
The sem i c olo n is used to separate
that are them sel v es di vided by the co m m a or that
c lause s
requi re a point greater than a c o m m a a nd less than a c olo n or
to separate the parts of a loo s e series
4 5
Th e S
.
e
m ic o
—
.
_
,
.
He
e
qu
was
al s
c o u rt e o u s ,
a nd
no t
kind , b u t
c r ing ing ,
no t
co
to
s u p e r io rs
nd e s ce nd ing
bl
ili u
affa
o r s up e rc
e,
o
l
no t fam i iar , t o
s,
t o infe r io rs
.
Co m m a
The co m m a is the m o s t frequently used O f
46
all the pu nctuatio n m arks The chief purposes for whi c h it is
used are the followi ng
-
.
.
.
separate the term s of a closely related series or two
such ter m s when the co nnective is o m itted
H e d ge s gro ve s g ar d e ns
It w
a s a d ar k d e s o lat e r e g io n
1
TO
.
,
.
,
,
.
,
.
separate ter m s that are co ntr a
sted or otherwi s e d is
t ingu is h e d and term s of whi c h a part in o ne m ight be referred
i m properly to the other
f
2
.
TO
,
.
H e is p o o r , b u t h o ne s t
.
ELEMENTS OF LETTE R I N G
.
To s e t O ff a word , phrase or clause th at i s paren
theti c or
that comes betwee n other parts and breaks their co nnectio n
ill th e n h o w
ou w
e ve r be i n no b e tt e r c o nd it io n
3
.
,
"
,
.
.
,
,
To s e t o ff a modifyi ng Word phrase or clause that is no t
closely co nnected with what it m odifies or that is rem oved fro m
it by i nversio n
h ic h blo o m a nd d ie B y
Be h o ld t h e e m ble m o f t h y s t at e in fl
ow
e rs w
Am e ricans ge ne rally t h e h e ro O f t h e Battle o f Manila B a y is be lo ve d
4
.
,
,
,
.
,
.
,
To s e t
absolutely
5
O
.
ff
.
words or phrases u s ed i ndepende ntly or
.
R is t al fo , give m e
wh at
is m ine ,
a nd
t h at
r ig h
t
qu ickly
.
To separate the predicate from its subj e c t when the
subj ect is very lo ng and has a clause or c o nsists of pu nctu
ated p arts
m a ke s h im m o re
Th e fac t th at h e is a llo w
e d t o g o u np u nis h e d
ins o le nt t h an e ve r
6
.
,
,
,
,
.
,
.
7
separate clauses t h at are
loosely co nnected
TO
.
neither
very closely
no r
very
.
Th e re m o u nt a ins
r is e
,
ling iv
a nd c ir c
r
e rs
fl
o w
.
Short s i m ple sentences or c lauses seldom require a p oi nt
withi n the m a nd phra s es or clauses that stand in close connec
tio n with that o n whi c h they depend seldom require a point
before the m
8
.
“
.
wh e n it wa s t h at
Te l l m e
4 7
wh im
yo u
sa
Po i n t
—
a ft e r
he
r e t u rne d
.
The i nterrogatio n poi nt is
placed after every c o m plete direct questio n whether it form s a
complete sentenc e or o nly a part of a sente nce
W h at m e an s t t h o u by th at
Me nd m e t h o u s au c y fe llo w
.
I nt e
r ro
g
at
io n
.
"
,
"
’
.
,
J
4 8
la m a t i o n Po i n t
u lius
Cae sar
.
The exclamatio n point is
pla c ed after a word phrase clause or sentence that i ndicates
great surprise grief j oy or other emotio n in the S peaker
W o e u nt o t h e e Ch o raz in
W o e u nto t h e e Be th s a id a
.
Ex
c
,
,
,
,
,
,
49
.
urposes
p
-
.
The dash
"
.
,
D ash
—
,
is
chiefly used for the followi ng
ELEMENT S OF LETTE R I N G
1
To S how
.
O
Ca ssiu s
m issio n
"
l
caused by i nterruptio n
et
.
F o r in t h e ingra ft e d
Cae s ar
B r u tu s
Ala s
.
.
o
.
I fe ar h im
ve
he
be
to
ar s
th ink O f h im
g o o d Ca s s iu s , d o no t
.
To s h ew e m p ha s is or suppre s sed feeling or to
u nexpe c ted turn in tho ught or style
He ave n give s t o it s favo rit e s— e arly d e ath
2
.
,
Sh
o wan
.
.
To s e t O ff a parentheti c al phrase especially when
emphatic or w
hen there are other poi nts withi n it
To re nd e r t h eCo ns titu t io n p e rp etu al— w
h ich G o d gr ant it m a y be
it is ne ce s s ar y t h at it s b e ne fi t s s h o uld be p ra c t ica l l y fe l t b y a l l p ar t s O f
3
.
,
.
th e
4
c o u nt r y
é—D
.
W e bs ter
B efore
.
“that
echoes or where the words
”
namely
are u nderstood
Th e f o u r gr e ate s t nam e s in E ng l is h p o e t r y ar e alm o s t
—
m
co
e to
Ch au ce r S p e nce r S h ak e s p e are and Milt o n
.
,
is
‘
01
’
.
,
fi r st
we
.
,
,
th e
s use d to enclose
so m e i ncidental re m ark or explanatio n that breaks th e regular
co nstructio n O f the sente nce and c an b e omitted without inj u r
ing the gra m mati cal sense
50
.
Pa
re
nt h e
s
is
—
.
Th e parenthes i s
1
’
'
.
Kno wt h e n th is tru th ( e no ugh
"
V
ir tu
fo r m a n t o k no
"
e l
a o ne is h app ine s s b e l o
w
—
P op e
w)
,
.
uotatio n mark s are used to
e nclose words taken fro m the saying or writi ng of another person
51
u o
t at io n
Ma r
ks
—
.
Th e d o cto r
mad e t h e
s ag
e rem ar k
wh ile t h e
,
’
re s
l ife ,
t h e re
’
s
h ope
.
Ap o s t p
The apostrophe is used to denote the
o missio n of o ne or m ore letters
52
h e
ro
.
—
.
.
’
t
Tis p l e as an
A bo o k
’
s a
,
s ur e ,
bo o k ,
to
se e o
lth
o u gh
a
.
ne s nam e
’
th
’
e re s
n p r i nt
no t h ing in
I
t
—
.
Ch a tterto n
.
Hy p
The hyphen
is us e d ( 1 ) at the close
o f a syllable that ends a li ne whe n the remai ni ng part O f the
word must be carried to th e next li ne ( 2 ) to j oin the parts O f
c ompou nd words
53
.
h
e
n
.
—
.
ELEMENTS
54
D it t
.
o
th e repetitio n
LETTE R I N G
OE
.
The ditto marks
are used to avoid
of the word or expressio n directly above the m
M a r ks
—
.
.
Un d e r s c o r e
The u nderscore is a li ne draw n u nder
words in m anus cript or copy to give the m spe c ial em phasis
showi ng that they are t o be pri nted in I talic o r c apitals o ne
li ne denoti ng I tali c two li nes denoti ng s m all capitals and three
li nes large capitals
55
—
.
.
,
,
,
,
.
IN G
S H AD
S
.
S
Shading is used to
cause the letter to appear in relief a nd thereby take away th e
flat or plai n appeara nc e Shadi ng may be placed o n the t 0 p
botto m or ei ther sid e of a let ter but it should at first always
be p l a ced o n th e bottom a nd left side ; as for several reaso ns
it is best no t to try to shad e a letter o n the right side u ntil the
stude nt i s familiar with the l e ft as he will u s e this side for all
pra c tical purposes Th e reaso ns for gi v
i ng this side the prefer
n
h
e nc e are
1
Regularity
a
d
sy
m
etry
of
t
shad
e
o
urs
m
e
c
c
( )
56
.
h a d ing
o
n
th
e
L
e
ft
id
e
—
.
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
F IG
.
FIG
7
.
in m ore
.
8
.
of the letters W he n shaded o n the left side su c h a s the
S E C R e t c Fig 7 illu s trates thi s advantage and shows th e
si ngle stroke o n the left at ( a ) a nd th e broke n shad e from the
2
stroke o n the right sid e at ( b)
( ) B y shadi ng to the left
the lette rer c an ac c o m plish m ore in a give n le ngth of time a nd
produ c e a better e ffect in his work when fi nished
The
8
( )
maj ority of strokes in shadi ng to the left are draw n towards
th e letterer W hile in shadi ng o n the right th e brush is pushed
to the right which in itself is a stro ng argume nt in favor
of the form er
,
,
,
,
.
,
.
,
,
.
,
,
.
,
,
.
ELEMENT S O F LETTE R I N G
.
letter the appearance of standi ng upright either o n a level or
o n a s l anti ng surface
The top of the shade i s o n a li ne about
o ne fi ft h of the height of the letter belo wthe top
The shade
is mad e o n a n angle of 80 to the left the point resti ng o n the
,
.
-
.
°
,
F IG.1 1
.
lower left c orner of the letter as in Fig 1 1 where ( at) shows
the letter with a block shade and cast shadow and ( b) shows
the si m ple outlined letter and cast shadow T he shade is
so m etimes used by duplicati ng the letter in th e form of a
shadow c ast o n th e backgrou nd o ne fifth of the height of the
letter b elow the tO p , and o n the same angle
as the
regular s ha d e as shown in Fig 1 2
.
,
,
,
.
-
,
.
.
,
60
.
R e li e f S h
space betw een
.
Relief shad e is obt ai ned by lea vi ng a
the letter a nd the shade o n th e sa m e angle a s
F IG
a
.
d
12
e
-
.
FIG
.
.
13
.
the shade as show n in Fig 1 8 maki ng th e space a nd shade of
u niform width Wh e n used in co nnectio n with block shade
it is often of th e nature of the natural shade a nd is added to
The
th e block shadi ng withou t a ny li ne or space betwee n
,
,
,
.
,
.
ELEMENT S OF LETTE R I N G
.
relief shade when used as a natural shade o n a white or tinted
grou nd is m ade t o represent the strength of the shadow c ast
from an obj ect o n the grou nd o n whi ch the letters are placed
This shade is produ c ed with th e p e n by means of lines but
m ore effectivel y by the brush and transparent c olor
’
.
,
.
L E T T E R - F AC E
S HAD
L I G HT I N G A N D
I N G
.
The treatm ent of th e face
of the letter is a very important co nsideratio n Th e letterer
often fi nds hi m self co nfro nted with a line of extremely plai n let
tering that eve n after it is shaded re m a ins fl
a t a nd u ns a tis
e c t c a n sometimes be overco m e by the additio n
factory This e fl
of lights and shades placed directly On the letter face itself
The face of the letter may b e V ariegated or blended from a l ight
to a dark shade in which cas e a sharp ou t li ne mu s t surrou nd
the e ntire letter as show n in Fig 1 4
Lighting and shadi ng
61
p
I m
.
o rt anc e
o
S u bj e c t
f
'
—
.
.
‘
,
,
.
.
,
,
FI G 1 4
.
.
FIG
.
.
.
FI G 1 6
15
.
.
.
are u s ed with best re s ults o n heavy faced letters as all treat
m ent of th e fa c e of a lett e r by shadi ng h a s the te ndenc y to
considerably reduce the apparent width of the strok e
-
,
.
P
A nother e fi e ct is produced by
ru nni ng bars of color ac ross th e center of the letter and dimi n
is h ing these bars in width to a poi nt midway from ce nter to top
D imi nishi ng cir cles are also used o n
a nd bottom as in Fig 1 5
letters of lighter face such as th e Roman a nd c a n b e made to
oc cupy the e ntire face or as is show n in Fig 1 6 term i nating at
a give n poi nt which m ust b e regularly observed throughout the
li ne of letters
62
.
E ff
e c
ts
ro
d
u ce
d
—
.
,
.
,
.
,
,
,
.
,
,
.
,
ELEMENT S OF LETTE R I N G
He a
The h eavy hig hlight is used in
the treatm e nt of the face of the letter by m aki ng th e upper half
of the letter a u niform tint ei ther by li ni ng as show n in
Fig 1 7 or W l th co l o rs f Th e darker shade b is pla c ed o n t h e
lower half of th e letter allowi ng a highlight o n this equal in
strength to a or the upper h alf The highlight c o n th e upper
half of th e letter is left white B y a co m binati o n of th e shades
of colors m any beautiful e ffects c a n be p roduced by this m eans
u si ng su c h colors for a as blue gree n gray or gold color the
last of which co m bi nes with s ienna for the lower portio n a nd
with cream c olor for th e upper highlight B lue or green when
used should have ti nt a nd shade of th e sam e c olor
63
v y I I ig h l ig h t
.
—
—
.
.
,
,
.
,
,
.
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
.
B e ve l e
a d ing
Shadi ng o n the face of a letter to
repre s ent a be v eled appe a ra nc e is another treatm ent that gi v e s
a li ne of lettering a fi nished a nd plea s i ng eff e c t I n this
64
d Sh
.
—
.
‘
.
F IG
.
F IG
17
.
.
18
.
pro c e s s it is ne c e s s ary o nly to observe th e rules of light a nd
shadow a s show n in Fig 1 8 by shadi ng th e letter o n the left
a nd bottom sides fro m a li ne draw n through th e ce nter of the
face of the letter This form of shadi ng is often used o n a
gold or silver letter by th e u se of transpare nt colors su c h as
varnish s tai ned with a sphaltu m which is u s ed o n gold a nd
varnish darkened with lampbla c k is u sed o n silver letters
There are ma ny other m ethods of treati ng the fa c e of letters by
the u s e of ornam ent whereby it loses its ide ntity a s a plai n
a nd becomes a n or name nted letter
.
,
,
.
,
,
.
,
.
ELEMENT S O F LETTER I N G
HI
TH E
65
As its
na m e
G HL I G HT
.
.
i ndicates the highlight is u s ed to il l um i
nate or light up a letter which it does with wo nderful e ffe c t
The highlight is pla c ed o n the edge of the letter opposite the
shade or o n th e right and top of th e s trokes I t is a l ays a
fi ne li ne of eith er g old silver white or cr e a m accordi ng to t h e
colo r of th e l etter on whi c h it is to be placed I f the letter is a
colored letter gold or silver c an be used I f th e l etter is g old
nothi ng will serve th e purpose of a highlight s o well as crea m
or white O n silver or alumi nu m whi t e o nly ca n b e used
To b e most effe c tual this highlight must b e a fi ne e v en line
The h ea v y highlight is u s ed in letter face lighti ng a nd shadi ng
a nd is explai ned u nder that head
.
,
.
,
,
‘
.
,
,
,
w
,
,
.
‘
,
.
.
,
.
,
.
,
-
,
.
CUT T I
L ET T ERS
N G I N
.
—
s
f
u
I
o
U
e
s
C
t
n
L
e
t
t
e
r
s
This term is applied to
66
that style of treatm ent Wherei n the letters are draw n in out l ine
a nd t h e backgrou n d is filled in arou nd the m ;
I n i ns c ri ptio n
designi ng this m eth o d is r e s o rt e d to frequently I n order to
-
.
.
,
,
F IG
.
19
.
break the m o noto ny of s e v eral li nes o f plai n lettering The
”
i nsertio n of a panel or ribbo n o n whi c h the letters are cut in
provides a colored backgrou nd agai nst which the letter s are
outli ned a l l o w1 ng th e sam e c olor for the letters as the m ai n
grou nd of th e i ns c riptio n design as show n in Fig 1 9 Th e
c olor of th e pan el a nd backgrou nd will gover n very largely th e
character of letter to b e cut in I f the general grou nd is white
e ry
or any ligh t color a nd t h e cutti ng in o r outli ne c olor is v
d ark a h eavy faced letter may b e used without causi ng a ny
.
,
,
,
,
.
,
.
’
.
-
,
-
,
,
,
,
ME N TS
ELE
LETTER I N G
OF
§
.
1
appearanc e of clumsi ness or ill proportio n B ut should the
letters b e in gold a much lighter fa c e d letter woul d be ne ce s
sary as the effe c t of the gold luster is to make the letter appear
larger tha n it actually is A very fi ne li ne of gold o n a bla ck
ground c an be re adily disti nguished eve n at a great distance
.
-
,
,
.
.
,
F IG
.
20
.
a white letter o n a blue grou nd c an be read at a greater
di s tance than any other c o m bi natio n of c olors
a nd
.
67
Po i n t s
bs e v e d
th e pra c tice of cutting
in letters th e stude nt should b egi n o n t h e plai ner styles su c h as
the Full B lock Half B lock etc b efore e ndeavori ng to execute
th e Ro man or Script Fig 1 9 shows th e letters in outline
a nd also with th e bac k gro u
nd filled in
I n order to i nsure
u niformity of width in th e h orizo ntal ele m e nts of the letters
fai nt lines may be draw n through the e ntire word by means of
a thread or stri ng charged with c harc oal c halk or other material
that afterwards m ay be readily dusted o ff Cut in letters may
.
t
o
b
O
e
r
—
.
In
,
,
.
,
.
,
.
,
.
,
‘
,
F IG
.
21
"
,
-
.
usually be per m itted to sta nd closer than oth er styles of work
a s they are seldo m shaded tho u gh wh e n they a r e shaded t h e
regular spaci ng should be used
,
,
,
.
68
cut
I
.
in
o
n
rre
an
g
u
l
a
r
-
S
u rfa ce
L
e
tte
r
ing
—
Wh
irregular surface such as a ribbo n
,
,
ere letters are
a s in Fig 2 0
.
,
§
ELEMENTS OF LETTER I N G
1
.
they m ust be mai ntai ned at a u niform angle and no t c hanged
to suit t h e angle of th e ribbo n as at a Th e importance of this
will b e co nsidered more fully later o n but it s c o nnectio n with
the subj ect no w u nder discussio n m ust no t be overlooked
When letters are cut I n o n an i nc lined panel or ribb on th e let
ters should be mai ntai ned in a vertical positio n as in Fig 2 1
or perpendi c ular to the li nes of th e panel as in Fig 2 2
.
,
,
.
.
,
.
,
CL AS S I
FI
CAT I
ME
O R NA
69
.
Sc o p e
o
f th
e
Su
O N
NTA
O F
L E T T ER S
L LE TTE R S
bj e c t
—
,
.
.
.
The p lai n letters i nc lude
a ll
alphabets in whi c h no line
or curve enters that is no t
absolutely ne c essary to
show their form or outline
a line thus added may
pla c e them am o ng th e orna
mental letters Although
it will b e i m possible to go
over the e ntire ground
covered by this subj e ct
as there are endless vari
F IG 23
e t ie s of ornam e ntal letters
There
th e styles fou nd to b e m ost essential will b e c o ns idered
are m a ny letters into which
ornam ental
co nstru c tion
enters but s l ightly while
others are co m posed e n
t ir e l y of ornam ent al form s
The ornamental letters of
most value to the student
are those o n the face of
which th e ornament ap
FI G 24
pears either in th e form
of relief scrolls geom etrical figures or designs in arabesque
.
,
.
.
,
.
,
.
°
,
,
,
.
ELEMENTS OF LETTER I N G
7O
l
.
Letters c las sified a s o rna m e n
tal are o f s o great a variety that su c h as are u s ed I n c onne c tio n
with th e shade to produ c e
a bent or rounded e ff e ct ,a s
—
show
n in Figs 2 8 2 4 might
w
b e clas sed with this style
Fig 2 3 sho w
s th e grou nd
t o b e a pla ne surfa c e and
th e letter bent or warped
while Fig 2 4 shows th e
t e r to b e p e r f e c t l y
l
e
t
F IG 2 5
straight , a nd fa s tened with
s c rew s while the grou nd h a s the eff e c t of being be nt or warped
O
.
r
na m e nt a
F
o r
m
s
—
.
-
‘
.
,
.
.
,
.
.
.
.
,
71
.
A letter that in itself
b y ornam entatio n as show n
,
perfe c tly plai n but surrou nde d
in Fig 2 5, is called a n or na
is
F IG
.
26
.
mental letter also though as a
m a y be perfe c tly plai n
.
m atter
,
of fa c t the letter it s elf
.
O ther orna m e ntal form s are a s fol
lows The relief orname nt letters
show n in Fig 2 6 c an be made in
v arious ways The whol e form
of the letter m a y be treated in
this manner a s at ( a ) or by
si m ply suggesti ng it in the m iddle
or edge of the letter a s in ( b)
FI G W
a
n
d
A
letter mav b e
c
d
( )
( )
plain s o far a s its fa c e is co ncerned but o n accou nt of its
72
.
O th
e r
F
o
rm
s —
-
.
.
,
,
,
,
'
.
,
,
,
’
ELEMENTS OF LETTER I N G
§
.
1
great skill in their arrangem ent And while the y m a y b e
pleasing to th e eye they are of no prac tical im porta nce to th e
stude nt in the study of the form s of the letters as their pro
portio ns are purely arbitrary Fig 30 shows the forms of
.
,
,
,
.
F IG
.
.
30
.
so m e of the grotesque letters in which ( a ) is form ed by a
hu m an fi gure ( 6) by broken boards a nd ( c ) with a pie c e of
rope Any alphabet may b e co nstru c ted of the s e form s a s t h e
fancy of a ny artist may di c tate eve n tho u gh h e m ay be
ignorant of th e tru e form or proportio n of the si m ple s t sty l e
of th e alphabet
,
,
,
'
.
,
.
IL
74
H i s t cr y
LUMI N ATE D
C AP
l
L
ITA S
Us e
The m o nks of th e
Middle Ages were the first to m ake u s e of this art many
specim ens of whi c h woul d i ndicate that they must have spe nt
days in desig ni ng a nd exe c uti ng a si ngle letter I n treati ng
this subj e c t here our purpose is simply to c all atte ntio n to th e
most si m plified form s of illumi nati ng e s p e c ia l l vthose form s
designed for th e use of the average letterer The pra c tical use
of this art is no wco nfi ned t o lithographi ng e ngrossi ng c ard
work and e c clesia s tic al decoratio ns The pri nti ng and litho
graph i ng artists have displayed wo nderful skill in rece nt years
in illu m i nated wor k espe c ially o n S how bill designs
The use
of colors to ligh t up the c apital letter gives a surprisi ng effect
to a co m plete li ne of letteri ng a nd is d o ne by a simple co m bi
natio n of desig ns of m ost har m o nious colors with th e letter
executed a nd by usi ng colors of striki ng co ntra s t to the ti nts
used to form the ba ckgrou nd Su c h colors a s ca n b e c o m
bine d to give a brilliant e ff ec t are used in th e form of a plaque
.
a
nd
Ge n e
r a
—
.
,
.
,
,
.
,
,
,
.
.
‘
-
,
.
,
,
.
,
ELEMENTS OF LETTER I N G
.
part panel or bo th o n whi c h th e l etter is bro ught out m o s t c o n
as show n in Fig 3 1
Th e illu m i natio n p ra c ti c ed
S p ic u o u s l y
by e ngro s s ers is u s ually o f su c h a nature as to produ c e a
Th ere
fi niSh e d a nd p l e a s m g e ff e c t without re s orti ng to c olors
ma ny w ays by whi c h this c a n be a cc o m pli s hed O ne
a re
m ethod i s S i m ply by t h e us e of a p e n a nd bla c k ink a sShow n
in Fig 32 outli ni ng the letter fi rs t th e n m aki ng th e or na
,
_
.
.
,
'
.
.
,
.
.
,
,
FIG
.
31
.
surrou nding I t c o nfor m to a ny d e s I r e d de s ig n
thereby g iv i ng the letter pro m i nenc e G reat care should b e
taken that the or nam e ntatio n is no t m ade m ore pro nou n c ed
than th e letter but rather that the for m er is u s ed a s a m eans to
bri ng out or illu m i nate th e letter
m e ntatio n
,
.
,
.
75
Ca r d
tals gi v es to ne
.
W
o
a nd
For c ard work t h e illu m inati ng of c api
fi ni s h a nd rel ie v e s a show car d of extrem e
rk
—
.
,
,
EL E MENTS OF LETTER I N G
.
er
plai nne s s Fo r prac ti c al purpo s es su ch as attra c ti v e a d v
the illu m i nati ng of capital s will be
t is ing c ards ba nners e tc
fou nd to h old a n i m portant pla c e a nd is c o m i ng i nto fa v or a nd
more general u s e
There are also
many form s a nd des igns e m ployed
as a pan el o n whi c h illu m i nated
in a solid or
c apitals are place d
outli ned letter ; th e outli ne letter
however b ei ng the most co nvenient
is mos t frequentl y used espe c ially
when either the panel or th e letter
or both are to b e treated in wa t er
Th e l etter outli ned is so m e
c olor s
ti m es filled in wi th carm i ne or other
FIG 32
bright c olor while th e panel s u r
rou nds it with a ti nt of c rea m w h i te yellow or green Two or
three shade s of color a r e so m eti m es u s ed either v
a rI e ga t e d or in
t h e for m of li ne work o n top of ti nt as in Fig 3 3
,
.
.
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
.
.
,
-
.
,
,
,
.
,
76
le s ia s t i
l
.
For e c cles ia s ti c al
de c oratio ns su c h as wall panels c o ntai ni ng i ns c riptio ns which
.
Ec c
ca
D
e co ra
t io ns
—
,
,
F IG
.
33
.
are u s ually in the Old E ngli s h G othic or Chur c h Text style of
l etter a s well as for di s play m ottoe s in s chool s hall s etc where
the Old E ngl ish or other suitable letteri ng is u sed the first
,
,
,
,
,
,
ELEMENTS OF LETTER I N G
.
capital ( a nd so m eti m e s all capital s ) is illu m i nated either o n
a panel of gold s ilver or c olor I n all c ases the pan el is made
,
,
.
,
F IG
.
34
.
to c o nform in a gener al way to th e letter as Fig 34 shows I f
gold or silver is used for a grou nd the letter mu s t b e a dark
color I f a col o red grou nd ( whi c h is preferable ) is used a
gold or silver letter will b e
fou nd to l ight up with c olor s
and
produce a m o s t sati s
fa ctory result
.
,
.
,
.
,
.
H e r ald i c S h i e ld
Ah he raldic shield is ofte n
brought i nto use o n wh ich the
illuminated c ap it al is place d
There are many d es igns or
F
35
for m s of thi s shield whi ch
c a n be c hanged to suit a n
m
for
of
a
letter
as
S
how
n
y
77
.
.
,
.
IG
,
,
EF F E CT S
CO
ND
E
N S IN
G
5
E
I N
L E T T E RI N G
L O N G ATI N G
,
TE L E
I N T E R L A CI N G
SCO P
in
Fig
.
35
,
.
IN G
,
AN D
.
I n c o nform i ng letter s to fill
Co n d e n s in g L e t t e r s
a required spa ce we are often co m pelled to re s ort to vari ous
means of acco m pli shi ng our purpos e without m aki ng the
i nsc riptio n appear di s torted or out o f proportio n When
t h e pa nel or space to be lettered is m uch shorter tha n would
ad m it of a regularly proportio ned letter we are co m pelled to
resort to the c o ndensing of the letters observing generally the
78
—
.
,
,
.
,
,
ELEMENTS O F LETTER I N G
rules of their
be co nde nsed
exclu s ively for
.
l l styles of letter s c a n
proportio nate width A
e xc ept Railroad B lock which was i nvented
the oppo s ite purpose To illustrate m ore fully
.
,
,
.
F IG
36
.
.
the word Co mp a ny is u s ed to show the two form s of c o ndens ing
as well a s th e two for m s of elo ngati ng
,
.
le
I h Fig ; 36 is
Co n d e
e
shown the co ndensed form a s m ay be se e n by c o m paring
the p rO p o rtio ns of the le tters with tho s e of the Hal f B lo ck
Plate
The letterer m ay co ndens e
h is letters to th e width of those of
Fig 36 and fi nd they are still too
large for th e required spac e ; the
verti c al s t rokes c a n the n b e reduced
to o ne half th e regul a r width a nd
F IG 37
th e hori z o ntal stroke s m ai ntai ned at
the regular or e v e n greater width a nd less spa c e allowed
betwee n letters as in Fig 37
Thi s reduce s the word to
al m ost o ne third that of Fig 36
79
.
Ex a m p
o
ns e d
f
L
tte
r
—
.
,
.
.
,
'
-
,
.
.
,
,
,
.
.
,
-
.
80
l
.
elo ngate th e sa m e word in
the sa m e style of l e tter m ake the height for co nve nience o ne
half that of Fig 3 6 ; thus it will be ob s erved that if this
elo ngated letter were twice the h eight it is in Fig 38 it would
.
E
o
n g a t ing
L
e
t te
rs
—
.
.
TO
,
,
,
.
.
F IG
.
38
.
o cc upy a spa c e al m o s t four t i m e s th a t of Fig
elo ngate thi s word revers e the rules of Fig
,
,
.
.
36
.
3 7,
To f urther
by redu ci ng
ELEMENTS O F LETTER I N G
.
the horizo ntal strokes o ne half the regular width keepi ng th e
verti c al strokes regular wi d th ; or these may be i ncreased to
twi c e th eir regular width if de s ired also givi ng m ore space
betwe en the letters as s h ow n I n Fig 39 B y thi s mea ns a word
-
,
,
.
.
,
F IG
39
.
.
be m ade to fill a s pa c e m u c h too lo ng for
proportio n gi v en thi s s t y le of letter
c an
th e
regular
.
T e le s c
—
Tele s c opi ng i s no t o f s o mu c h p ra c
ti c al a dvant a ge a s c o nde ns i ng or elo ngati ng a nd is u s ed mostly
1 ng th e letters
to produ c e a relief effe c t This is do n e by g1 v
the appearanc e of overlappi ng o ne a nother a s show n in Fig 4 0
81
.
o
p in g
—
,
.
.
,
FI G
40
.
.
.
Every alternate l e t t e r is drop p ed e nough below th e li ne to
pre v ent co nfu s io n of horizo ntal li nes a nd t o preserve the c o m
l
The
s e letter s c a n b e sha d ed o n th e
e t e id e nt it y of ea c h
p
bac kgrou n d but no t o n t h e fa c e as this would te nd to de s troy
their legibilit y
“
‘
'
.
“
,
.
la c i n g
Interla ci ng to it s full e s t e x t e nt e nt e rs
i nto t h e c o nstru ctio n of a mo nogra m ; but the form of i nter
laci ng at pres ent u nder co nsideratio n is so m ewhat differ ent
a nd i nc ludes the i nterla c i ng of a n e n tire word
This is very
often resorted to by the designer e s pe c iall y in the u s e o f
e ccentric letter s whi c h are made t o extend far bey o nd th e
li m its of the fu ndam e ntal style s from whi ch th ey are derived
as show n in Fig 4 1
82
.
I nt e
r
—
‘
,
.
,
,
’
,
.
.
ELEMENTS O F LETTER I N G
O
UT L
I N IN G
AN D
F
I
LL IN G
I N
.
.
—
C
l
Water c olors ar e u s e d for all c lasses
r
W
o o
s
83
of de s ig ni ng a nd especially in commercial adverti si ng work as
a s m all qua ntit y o f lithographic o r p rint e d wor k executed in
bla c k ou tli ne c a n be very e c o no m i c ally colored or filled in with
A k nowledge of th e ha ndli ng of water
W ater colors by ha nd
colors is therefore a ne c essity to th e letterer D ry c olor in
powdered for m 1 s used whe n large areas of bl ended c o l or are
required This is applied with a wad of cotto n with whi c h the
at e r
.
_
,
,
°
“
.
.
,
,
,
.
FIG
.
41
.
dry c olor is spread eve nly over th e surface by ge ntle rubbing
The outli ne of the design is th e guide for all water color work
in letter ing pane l s floral d cs 1 gns etc
Th e wider this outli ne is
made t h e e a sier will be th e work of flowi ng th e color eve nly
a nd th e less t h e liability of ru nni ng o v er the li ne
th
e
fi
n
e
;
outli ne however is u s ed in m a ny places e s pe cial ly for
floral d esigns e tc
.
-
-
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
C l
Water c olors a re u s ed to th e
bes t adva ntage o n white show car d s havi ng a dull fi ni s h whi c h
readily absorb the m oisture
The out l i ne is m ade with the
glossy black to whi c h th e water c olor will no t adhere but flows
to th e edge a nd s te p s B y this outli ne method beautiful
d esig ns in flo w
ers a nd highly illu m i nated e ffe c ts c a n be pro
d u ce d
Water c olors also serve the purpose of shadi ng or
84
.
Us e
o
f W
a
te
o
r
o rs —
,
,
.
,
.
.
,
ELEMENTS OF LETTER I N G
§
.
1
Next in i m portance is th e co m pou nd curve or ogee which is
used whe n th e i ns c riptio n is co m posed of two wor d s of about
equal length as in Fig 4 3 Here two ogee c urves are used
,
,
,
F IG
.
42
,
.
.
F IG
.
.
43
F IG
.
.
44
.
u nder a si ngle curve and above a straight li ne Where o ne
word o ccurs w e u s e the double ogee whi c h is m ade by u niti ng
two ogee c urves as show n in Fig 4 4
I n ma ny de s igns th e i ncli ned str aight li nes are used as
show n in ( a ) of Fig 4 5 or di m i ni s he d in wid t h from the
outside to the cent e r of the i nscriptio n a s s how n in ( b) of
th e sa m e fi gure
While th es e and m a ny oth er li nes a nd c urve s are u s ed in
designi ng an i ns c riptio n several s traight li nes of letteri ng
.
,
,
,
.
.
,
,
.
,
,
.
,
FIG
.
45
(b)
.
require a great amou nt of skill in equalizi ng a nd arra ngi ng
them properly even in straight li nes I n su c h designs o nly
o ne style of letter ( but m ad e of various sizes as th e arrange
m e nt m ay require ) is often u sed thro u ghout th e i nscriptio n
.
,
,
.
R
Ri
bb
IB
BO N S
.
Th e ribbo n is used in ma ny form s
a nd c an be made to suit al m ost a ny style of i ns criptio n by
foldi ng or exte ndi ng Wh en folded the part representi ng the
b ack of the ribbon is called th e r e turn and must be show n by
color or shadi ng The ribbo n is made either in a regular curve
or w
ith irregular a nd broke n edges Fig 4 6 shows the ribbon
in som e of its ma ny for m s of whi c h th e na m e s of its co m po ne nt
parts are as follows a th e bow ; b the broke n band ; c the
regular band ; d the retur ni ng ba nd ; e the strea m er ; a nd
the
roll
f
87
.
Th
e
o
n
—
.
,
.
,
,
.
.
"
,
,
,
.
.
,
,
,
,
ELEMENTS OF LETTER I N G
.
The ribbo n is used also in a square or geo m etric al form in
h case th e gra c eful a nd natural wave does no t e nter a s
Wt
show n in Fig 4 7 This form of ribbo n s erve s its pla c e in c o n
e nt io na l or s e t desig ns
v
,
,
.
.
.
FIG
.
46
.
The ribbo n 1 s u s ed also in the sam e for m as the double ogee
a nd whe n thus used it m u s t be made s y m m etrical o n both e nds
The fo l d c an also b e made in m iddle of ogee a s shown in
Fig 4 8 without distorti ng its sy m m etri c al e fi e ct but r ather
,
.
,
.
,
,
FIG
.
47
.
givi ng it eas e a nd gra c e which
of th e designer
s
,
hould alwa y s be th e
mm
.
88
.
m a ke it
‘
Ri bb o n
I n shadi ng a ribbo n to
appear natural always observe the law cf light a nd
Sh
a
d ing
th
—
e
.
F IG
.
48
,
.
shad e I f the light sh ould strike o n o ne part of t h e ribbo n
t h e oppo s ite sid e c orre s po ndi ng with it m u s t ne c es s arily be
in shadow
Th e stud y of l ight a nd sha d e is the first p rinc ip l e o f des ig n
.
,
.
*
,
ELEMENTS OF LETTER I N G
.
has been co nsidered with refere nc e to i ndi vidual letters
”
“
u nder the head of Shadi ng
I n d esig ni ng as in drawi ng
fro m nat ure stri c t adh erence to this law i s absolutely ne c essary
as the slightest disrega rd of it is noticeable to th e skilled eye
We have see n th e advantage of shadi ng si ngle letters to the left
a nd it is well to practi c e the shadi ng of desig ns o n the left also
in order to avoid su c h m istakes a s are likely to o c cur by S how
ing a shade o n two opposite sides of an
ob j ect or of several obj e ct s when they are
c o m bi ned to for m o ne si ngle d esig n
a nd
,
.
,
,
.
,
'
,
,
,
.
—I
fl
i
t
d
h
t
R
e
e
c
e
L
n th e s h a
89
g
di ng o f ribbo ns or any rou nded obj e c t there
o c c urs what is c alled th e r e e cte d l igh t
I t sho s th e edge or li ne whi c h w1 t h o u t
th e obser v ance of this pri nciple would
F IG 4 9
otherwise be lost where the darkest s haded
part s co m e together Fig 4 9 s ho w
s this pri nciple of refle c ted
light the greate s t stre ngth of t h e shade being so m ewhat re m oved
fro m th e extre m e e d ge of the obj e c t as at a while t h e shadow
cast b y th e obj e c t itself is s tro nges t agai nst th e edge at b
.
.
fl
w
,
.
,
,
°
.
.
,
,
.
,
.
P
90
.
Re
c
t a ng
tha n th e ribbo n
,
u
l a r Pa n e l s
a nd
is
LS
ANE
.
Th e panel h as m ore form s
m ade to serve m a ny purpose s
The
—
.
F IG
.
50
.
si m plest form is that of a rec ta ngl e withi n whi c h is so m eti m es
draw n a n i nner pa nel of th e sa m e or di ff erent S hape show n
in Fig 50
Th e su rrou ndi ng s of th e pa nel c an be m ade either
,
,
.
.
,
ELEMENTS OF LETTER I N G
.
i m ple or elaborate a s th e m aterial at hand in thi s style of
design is i nexhaustible O ne of th e m any form s of th e exterior
of the panel is s u c h a s shown in Fig 5 1
Thi s work may be
s
,
.
.
FIG
.
51
.
.
elaborated that th e i nner panel o n whi c h our letteri ng is to
be pla c ed beco m e s of m i nor i m porta nce a s show n in Fig 52
This of c our s e is no t su c h a d e s ign as s hould b e used to dis
play a c o ns pi c uou s ins c riptio n
e m u s t therefore keep in
so
,
“
,
.
,
.
T
.
F IG
.
m i nd
52
,
,
.
the fa c t that the I ns c ri ptio n if i m p ortant is of greater
value th a n the or nam entatio n th e latte r b ei ng em ployed o nly
to em belli s h it without d etrac ti ng from its pro m i ne nc e
,
,
,
,
.
ELEMENTS OF LETTE R I N G
Pa r t Pa n e l s
.
A nother form of panel is that which
is co m bi ned with so m e other desig n in whi c h the panel is no t
in th e foregro u nd of our d esig n as s how n in Fig 53
When
the p anel is left u nfi nished 0 1 1 o ne e nd a s in Fig 53 it is
k nown as a part panel a nd m a ny beautiful eff e c ts c a n be
produ c ed by its u s e
I n this t h e da m as k pri nciple is used the
panel bei ng ble nded into the grou nd by m eans of c olor or with
the p e n Th e l etteri ng is al s o blended ; the extrem e of light
est part of the panel
c olor is thus c o ntrasted agai ns t t h e d a rk
91
.
—
,
.
,
.
.
,
,
,
,
.
.
,
FIG
dark letteri ng
outside of the panel
a nd
th
‘
e
is
c
.
53
.
o nti nued
on
the light grou nd
.
ll i p t i c a l
Pa n e l s
Ro u n d
Elliptical a nd
"
rou nd pa nels are als o u s ed a nd c a n be m ade extrem ely or na
me ntal A tou c h o f S I m p l e orna m e nt in a desig n will often
cou nterbala nc e a qua ntity of p l ai n work a nd give a general
e ffe c t of or na m e ntatio n throughout Fig 54 shows a n e llip
ti cal desig n with si m ply a fra m e of ornam e ntatio n which is
su ffi cie nt for th e p u rpose of orname nti ng a desig n when su c h
work is pla c ed o n other plai ner m aterial in a desig n it giv e s
the whole the appearance of c o m plete ness
92
E
.
a nd
—
.
,
.
.
,
,
,
.
Ro c o c o P
l s A nother style of panel tha t h a s
no t o nly is
c o m e i nto our moder n d esig ns is the ro c o c o pa nel
the scrollwork used for th e pa nel itself but it is freque ntly
app l ied to t h e e m bellish m e nt of m a ny parts of the d esign
93
.
.
a ne
—
.
,
.
§
ELEMEN TS
1
Fig 55 shows
panel as s u m es
o ne
.
as
,
OF
LETTER I N G
.
of th e great variety of shapes the ro c oco
this s tyle c an be m ade to c o nform to the
li nes of a ny i ns c riptio n or to for m a part of nearly a ny
style of a design
Th e sam e style of scroll i s frequently used for the purpo s e of
filli ng up a n ope n spa c e in a de s ign although thi s is do ne also
through the e m p l o ym e nt o f natural forms su c h a s palm s olive
or laurel branches fl
ow
ers leaves and c o nv
en
t io nal
obj ects
vases
lam p s lio ns griffi ns etc
and
in fact a ny obj ect
pertai ni ng to or in h ar
mo ny with th e ins crip
tio n I f the i nscriptio n
of a de s ign pertai ns to
m usic the lyre may b e
used to embellis h the
de s ign ; I f it pertains to
the trades such tools as
are ide n tified with the
F I G 55
trades m ay appear in th e
design I f literature or s cie nce is the subj e c t s y m bolic obj ects
,
.
,
'
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
.
,
,
.
.
.
,
ELEMENTS OF LETTER I N G
.
b e u s ed in a variety of ways A large co l le c tio n of c hoice
d esigns shoul d al w
ays be o n hand for reference from a review
of whi ch a suggestio n may often be obtai ned tha t leads the
desig ner s tho u ght i nto a n origi nal c ha nnel w
hi ch as we have
stated before is the c hief a im of the de s ig ner
c an
.
,
’
,
.
,
D E S IG
I N S GR I P TI O N
P
,
N IN G
A piece
of lettere d work no m atter how
artisti c or elaborate it m a y b e in itself iS no t sati s fa c tory if
i m properly proportio ned or balanc e d The te ndency I n d esign
94
.
r o
p
o r
t io n
—
.
,
,
.
ER
MAN E NT
C H I CA G
F IG
.
O
.
56
.
to di s tribute th e stre ngth over the e ntire surfa c e I f we
keep in m i nd th e l a w of art in a pi cture it will h elp u s in
desig ni ng Th e fo r egro u nd should b e th e stre ngth of a picture
ing is
.
,
.
,
ELEMENTS OF LETTER I N G
S T EN
P
S
UR
CI
L
O F
P O SE
l
PA T T E R N S
S TE
NC I L S
.
.
.
The letterer is so m etimes forc ed
i nto co m petitio n with th e pri nter especially whe n handli ng a
large order for advertisi ng signs ; the method o f hand work
therefore must b e laid aside for somethi ng th at will have the
effe c t of ha nd work a nd still be accomplished with m ore
rapidity observing at th e sam e time cleanli ness and fi nish
when the wor k is completed The stencil p attern most e ff e ct u
ally fills this place and is mad e to st e ncil eith er the letter or
the backgrou nd The stencil f o r the former purpose is made by
cutting out of paper or other material the greater portio n of the
letter but a l l o wing p art s called ties to remain a s the s e tie
th e insid e of the l etter a nd p arts likely to c url up whe n in use
A seco nd ste ncil is also req uired whi c h i s laid over the work
do ne by the fir s t ste nc il whe n it has dried thereby c overi ng up
the spaces left by the ties a nd thus m
aki ng a solid a nd c o m
h
l
T
m
i
n
letter
sa
e
rule
is
observed
regard
to
the
cut
e
t
e
e
p
ting in stencil s whi c h are used to mak e t h e backgrou nd and
leave the letters the origi nal color of the surface o n whi c h the
color is S p read Large ties are used for cutti ng in ste ncils
reachi ng from the letter to the edge of th e stencil or border
A seco nd ste ncil so cut as to o v erlap the edges of the ties is
also used thereby co m pleti ng th e entire backgrou nd leavi ng
the letter clear and di s tinc t
95
L
.
e
tt
e r
t e nci s
—
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
,
.
,
,
.
,
,
,
.
-
,
,
-
.
,
.
,
,
,
,
.
96
St e n c i le d
The
grou nd havi ng bee n prepared a nd the I ns cri ptio n designed
—
n
the spaces o c cupied by ea c h li e of letters ca n be blended a
pro c ess know n a m o ng letterers as v
This is
a r iega te d s tenciling
acco m pli s h ed by layi ng various colors o n a grou nd and blend
As colors are too stro ng for thi s purpose
ing th e m together
two or three delicate ti nts are used a nd are laid o n hori
z o nt a l l
n
d
a
without
regard
to
where
th
e
color
is
placed
y
except where the letters show I n all cases th e selectio n o f
V
.
ar
ie g
at e
d Gr o
u
nd s fo
r
L
e
tte
rs
—
,
.
,
.
,
,
,
,
-
.
,
§
ELEM E N T S OF LETTER I N G
1
.
.
the ti nts u s ed to variegate the letters should be governed by the
a c cord ing to the rules of
c olor to be used for the backgrou nd
harmo ny a nd co ntrast
,
.
MAT E
Pa p e
R
IA L
S TE
FO R
NC I L S
.
The toughe s t mediu m weight Manil a paper
r
97
should be used for s tencils oiled thoroughly with boiled li nseed
oil and allowed to stand at least twe nty four hour s before
coati ng both side s thi nly with orange shel l ac
I f a light
quality o f fiber board is u sed no preparatio n is neces s ary A
S heet of glas s laid o n a perfectly eve n table provides a surface
steel knife
o n which the ste nci l c a n b e cut with a good
sharpened to a thi n poi nt I t is well to m ark th e ties with
so m e bright c olor to avoid c utti ng through them as a si ngl e tie
cut through destroys the whole stenc il and an I m perfe ct ste ncil
will cause m ore bother in its u s e than it is worth
I t is best
therefore never to u s e a pat ch ed or repaired stencil
.
—
-
.
,
-
,
.
,
.
—
.
.
-
,
,
,
.
,
98
,
.
l S t e nc i l s
Tin
foil stencils for glass sign
pri nting are de s igned a nd c u t in the same way as the paper
A roller o nly is used in o p e rating th is stencil while either brush
or roller can b e used with the paper stencil A large soft
brush will produ c e better results than a sti ff bru s h and be less
likely to destroy the pattern I n dippi ng the brush in color
"
great care should be used to rub it out well so that bu t little
rem ai ns before applyi ng to the stencil This is the secret of
c leanli ness in stenc ili ng
T in F
-
.
o
i
—
.
-
.
i
,
.
,
.
,
.
,
.
.
C
S
l
Figs 5 8 a nd 59 S how o ne m e th o d
Firs t Fig 5 8 shows the stenc il that m akes
o f c utti ng stenc il s
the letter allowi ng ties to remai n where most strength is needed
for th e preservatio n of the stencil This stencil being com
m
n
i
s cut in each cor ner show n at a
l
t
e
d
a
s
all
tria
gle
cal
ed
e
l
p
the r egister or gu ide by which the stencil can always b e pla c ed
in p roper positio n
This stencil is placed o n material prepared
fo r th e N o 2 ste ncil as S how n in Fig 59
Letters are either
ma rked or ste nciled with a brush wh ich s hould b e almost free
from color s o that the seco nd stencil for the ties c an be cut out
99
u
.
t t in g
t e nci s
—
.
-
.
,
.
,
"
.
,
,
,
,
,
.
.
,
.
.
,
,
,
ELEMENTS OF LET TER I N G
.
allowing enou gh lap to fully i nsure its coveri ng th e open spa c e
as show n in Fig 59 Regist e r or guide marks are c u t in this
ste ncil also though th ese marks are neve r used except where a
bord er color is to be p laced afterwards a nd serve o nly for
,
.
.
,
,
,
,
F IG
.
58
F IG
.
.
59
.
a se c o nd ste nc il The edge or corner of a S ign will in m ost
cases serve as a guide in ste nc ili ng Ties should always be cut
so as to do away wit h poi nts or proj ectio ns as well as to secure
s tre ngth where ne eded I f thes e rules are no t followed serious
di fficulty will b e experienc ed when using a stencil a nd m ay
necessitate t h e m a k i ng of a ne wste ncil before the first o ne h a s
been made to fully serve its purpo s e
.
,
.
,
.
,
,
-
.
1 00
.
B a c kg r o u n d S
l
te nci s
—
To
m ake
ste ncils for back
reversed fro m th e firs t
form The letters m ust
be covered a nd all ties
o u t s o a s to k eep these
letters w h e r e they
belo ng I f a border is
required we must treat
it the sam e as a letter
The ties m u s t be cut
wider o n border edge
as they thereby gi v e
m ak i ng this stencil it is
.
,
.
,
.
F IG
,
.
60
.
more stre ngt h where
needed
.
§
ELEMENTS O F LETTER I N G
1
.
better to have too m a ny ties tha n leave o ne pla c e weak
The general t e ndency is to leave o ne or more such pla c es
in this form of ste nc il
Fig 60 shows two letters R O a nd
the ties necessary for stre ngth a nd prote ction Fig 6 1 shows
th e No 2 s t e nc il or th e o ne to be used to cover spaces left
by th e ties of No 1 the parts to be c u t o ut are repr es e nted by
the shaded spaces
.
”
.
.
,
.
.
.
,
,
.
.
S t e n c i li n g
Stenc iled s igns are ofte n r elieved
by a few tou c hes of hand work eith er in outli ni ng the letters
or by artistically usi ng so m e bright colori ng that produces th e
effe c t of study and labor This is often acco m plished by shadi ng
or ornamentatio n For ste ncil work a col o r m ust be used of a
slow dryi ng nature otherwise th e stencil will soo n become
cl hgg e d a nd more liable to beco me broke n
There I s also
danger of u s i ng color too thi n a nd thus causi ng it to fl
ow
u nderneath the edge of the letter thereby destroying th e
cleanli ness of th e work
1 01
.
S ig n
—
.
,
.
.
,
-
,
.
,
,
.
1 02
C l e a ni n g
ls
The ste nc il m ust be c leaned
ofte n w
hen in u s e
Not m ore tha n fi v e or s ix signs should be
stenciled befor e c l e ani ng t h e s te ncil whi c h m a y b e do ne by
layi ng it fac e down o n
a clean board or other
surface a nd rubbi ng well
o n bac k with a c loth
rolled in ball shape
The stenc il m u st be
t horoughly c leaned with
be nzi ne after usi ng and
never put away with
n
m
n
on
color
re
ai
i
g
an
y
it This if neglected
F IG 61
will either cause th e
st encil to break easily or the c olor to fl
o wu nder neath by the
extra thi c knes s of the dried color
Co l or left to dry o n
the ste ncil often warps it s o as to render it pra c ti c ally useless
or cause the letterer much u nneces s ary trouble
.
St
e
nci
—
.
,
“
.
,
.
.
.
,
.
,
.
ELEMENTS OF LETTER I N G
GE O
ME T R I C A L
FI G
LE S
T r i a n g le
T R IAN G
1 03
D
.
fi nit i o n
e
o
f
figure havi ng three a ngles
1 04
two
I
.
so sce
a nd
sides
e qu a l
le s
a nd
T ri a n g
two
e
l
u
a
q
U RE S
.
.
.
—
.
A t rI angl e
three straight side s
1
s a closed
’
.
isosceles triangle has
a ngles ( Fig
The l ength of
l
—
e s
An
.
a
F IG
.
62
F IG
.
.
63
.
th e third S ide is usually di ff ere nt fro m that of the two equal
ides a nd is called th e ba s e
a pplied without disti nctio n to
s upposed to sta nd
s
,
Th e
.
a ny
term base is howeve r
sid e o n whi c h a triangle is
,
,
.
—
i
A
l
u
d
Whate v er S id e i s take n as the ba s e of a
t t
e
1 05
triangle th e al titu de or height of the tria ngle is the p e rp e n
'
.
.
,
,
F IG
64
FIG
.
.
65
.
distance fro m the ba s e to the verte x of the O pposite
That v ertex is also called the ap e x of the tria ngle
d ic u l a r
angle
.
,
.
.
—
d
i
m
n
t
e
e
n th e height of a n
A
l
r
I
Whe
n
u
a
1 06
g
j
iso s c eles tria ngle is short in compariso n with th e base the
triangle is called a n a ngular pediment ( Fig
.
.
,
.
gable is a n isos c eles triangle wh ose equal
si d es di ff er but l ittl e f ro m the third side ( s e e Fig
G a ble s
however may also have th e shape of Fig 65
1 07
Ga
.
bl e
—
A
.
,
.
.
,
ELEMENTS OF LETTER I N G
qu i l a t e
l
le
.
Ah
equ ilateral triangle
has three equal side s a nd three a ngles as in Fig 66 whi c h is
m ade up of equilateral tria ngles
1 08
E
.
ra
T r ia ng
—
.
,
,
.
1 09
Ri g h
.
t
-
An g l e d
le
A
right angled t riangle
is o ne havi ng o ne right angl e
Fig
The
side
opposite
the
(
right angle is t h e lo ngest a nd is
called the h yp o tenu se
T r ia n g
—
.
-
,
.
,
.
F IG
F I G 66
.
.
.
67
.
A triangle c annot have m ore than o ne right angle no r m ore
than o ne obtuse angle ; that is if o ne of th e angles is either
right or obtu s e th e others m ust be acute
,
,
,
.
C IR C
1 1 0
LE S
le
.
A
is a closed figure
all the poi nts of whose outli ne are at th e s am e distanc e fro m a
Th e term cir cle is
point withi n c alled the center ( Fig
appli ed both to the cur v ed outli ne o f th e figure a nd to the
spa c e e nc losed by it ; but th e curved outli ne
is m er e c o m m o nl y c alled the cir cumfer ence of
the c ircle
D
.
e
fi nit io n
o
f
Cir c
—
.
‘
Cl I CJ e
,
.
.
Ra d i u s a n d D i a m e t e r
The d is
tance fro m th e c e nter of a c ir cle to a ny poi nt
o n the c ir c umfere nce is c alled th e r a d iu s of
F IG 68
th e circle
A li ne through th e c e nter of a circle a nd havi ng its ends
I n Fig 69 0 is the
o n the circu m fere nce is called a d ia m e ter
cent er of the circle O B
0 A a nd o c are radii A B and
C D are diameters
1 1 1
.
.
.
.
,
.
,
,
.
,
,
.
,
,
ELEMENTS O F LETTER I N G
.
Every di am eter is equal to two radii and divides th e circle
i nto two equal parts or s emi ci r cle s a nd the circ u m ferenc e i nto
two semi cir cumfer ences
Tw
o dia m eters per pe ndicular to ea c h other a s A B a nd C D
divid e the c ir c u m ference I nto four equal parts called q ua dr a nts
,
,
,
-
.
,
,
.
1 1 2
.
A
Cu
r
ve
v
or a curv
e
is a li ne no
part of which is straight ; it m a y be
i m agi ned to be form ed by the bending
of a straight li ne Any portion of a
curve is c al led a n a r e
—
.
A
line ,
cu r e d
,
.
.
A C i r cu l a r A r c — A circular
arc is a ny part of a cir cu m ference
Circular arcs havi ng the sam e ce nter
but differe nt radii are called p a r a lle l arc s
They are i ns ide o ne a nother They are
”
“
whi ch means with the sa m e center
1 1 3
.
.
.
,
F IG
.
,
.
69
.
.
al s o
c
alled
co nce ntr ic .
O R
1 1 4
havi ng
NA ME NTA L
.
,
C UR V E S
An ogee I s a
An O g e e
appro x i m ately , th e form of
—
.
FI G
.
70
.
.
li ne cur v
ed in two
th e letter S either
,
FI G
.
71
.
w
ay
s,
in
its
.
po s itio n as in Fig 70 or turned over a s in Fig 71
two parts of a n ogee m a y be c ircular arcs but ar cs of other
natural
Th e
.
,
,
.
,
.
,
F IG
FIG
.
73
.
72
.
F IG
.
cur v e s gi v e a better e ff e c t
a nd is c alled a s w
e ll l ine
.
.
Fig
.
72 is m ade
up
.
74
.
of two ogee s
,
ELEMENTS
LETTER I N G
or
arc s with co m pass fro m a to
upper a nd lower li nes fro m a to
,
a
§
.
fro m the poi nt s
a nd b to b
1
de sc ribe
c,
.
A nother sim ple form of the ellipse is made by
describi ng t wo c irc le s whi ch
together form the length
of the ellipse a nd drawi ng
a horizo ntal line t hrough
the ce nters of both c ircles
as in Fig 77 ; each s em i
c ir cl e is t h e n divided i nto
three equal parts as at
a
a
a
a
a nd
a li ne is
d raw n f r o m eac h through
F IG 76
the c enter of eac h circle
meeti ng at the point I) ; from this poi nt des c ribe the c urve
fro m a to a top and bot
the res ulti ng
to m
a nd
figure will be a n a p p r o xi
m ate ellipse
The ellipse
is so meti m es S poke n o f a s
an o v
al
Th is wor d how
ever is a mis n omer as the
oval deri v
es its nam e fro m
th e Lati n o v
meani ng
um
”
a n egg
a nd
its shape
is th e outli ne of a n egg
N ever refer to the oval there
F
IG
77
fore as a n e gg s h ap e d oval
for the statem ent would be equivalent to S p e aki ng of a
rou nd cir c le
1 1 9
.
,
,
,
.
'
,
,
,
‘
,
,
.
,
,
.
,
'
,
,
.
.
,
,
,
,
,
.
.
s
,
.
MO D I F I
CA T I
O N S O F TH E
F
UN
D
AME N
T AL
ST
"
L ES
.
Th e various styles of alphabet i nc l uded I n this course
are k now n as the fund a menta l styles f ro m which arise other
s t y les that though they rese m ble th e above so m ewhat have s o
little characteristic modificatio n that they are scarcely worth
our present co nsideratio n Moreover th ese alphabets are of
1 20
.
,
,
,
,
.
,
ELEMENTS O F LETTER I N G
.
little advantage to the student but to avoid the danger of c o n
fusio n we will briefly refer to a few of the principal varieties
,
,
.
Ro m a n
The c harac teristi c feature of the
origi nal Lati n Ro m an alphabet was its irregularity whi c h is
plai nly S how n o n th e Arch of Titus Fig 1
No S pace is
allowed bet ee n the words th e separation bei ng i m plied by a
dot o n a line with the center of the letter The tail of the R
ofte n proj ects the full width of th e letter The
a nd the
letter V was also em ployed to express the s o u nd of U but its
modern use in that capacity by so m e designers is erro neous
Th e other sou nd of this c hara c ter in Latin rese m bles that of
our W having somewh at th e sou nd of the V i nstead of th e
o t derived from
U Hence the origi n of the W which is n
U but from V and origi nally writte n V V expressed by two
separate characters
1 21
.
L
at
in
—
.
,
w
‘
.
,
"
.
,
}
.
.
,
,
.
,
,
,
.
,
,
.
The A ncie nt Ro m an is the
R
an
prototype of our present French Ro m a n but in many ways is
s o departed fro m in moder n pra c ti c e that so m e of the modified
forms of letters have beco m e m ore fam iliar than the o rI gI nal s
1 22
.
An c i e n t
o
m
—
.
,
.
F IG
78
.
.
Thi s can be readily seen in the letter A Fig
the original form and ( b) the m o difi c atio n
,
78 ,
.
where ( a ) is
.
An t i qu e E g y p t i a n
Th ere are several form s of
ea ch letter of the A nti qu e Egyptian whi c h if see n by the
student in co nne ctio n with the regular or nor m al letter would
t e nd t o co nfuse h im or at least cause him to i nquire why
he should observe any sy s tem or regularity of for m
Th e law
of u niform ity is in letteri ng what the o r d er is in ar chitecture
each m ust be closely followed or to the S killed e y e the wor k is
subj ect to criti c is m T hese styles therefore m us t no t be c o n
fused I f o ne form i s adopted there must be stri c t adherence
1 23
—
‘
.
.
"
'
,
'
,
‘
.
,
,
,
.
.
,
,
ELEMENTS OF LETTER I N G
.
to that for m throughout the letteri ng of th e desig n This m a y
be m ore c learly show n by two or three of these forms of the
letters and their correspo ndi ng lower case When
c apital
th e
s la nti ng
stroke is
u s ed in such letters a s
H M N and V it also
o ccurs in m any of the
F IG 79
lower case letters as a d
h m n a nd u a s the letters N a d in Fig 79 will S how
The letter 0 is so m eti m es used in t h is style as here shown
a nd the letter t is c rossed above the li ne
.
.
,
,
,
,
.
.
.
-
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
.
,
.
,
,
,
.
An t i q u e E g y p t i a n
A n0 ther
1 24
form of the A ntique Egyptian style is S how n in th e curved
stroke in pla c e of th e horizo ntal middle stroke of m any capital
.
O th
F
e r
o r
m
s
o
f
—
‘
.
,
,
‘
FI
GZ
sI
.
lower case l et ters as in th e E a nd t in Fig 80 ; while a
change in the spur of t h e horizo ntal s trokes c hange s th e c hara c
ter of the e ntire letter a s shown in th e letters L a nd T Fig 8 1
Th ere are m any oth er S light d epartures
fro m the nor m al style o ne o f which occurs
in th e m iddl e bar of the A a nd H a s
S how n in Fig 8 2
There is still a noth er form of letter that
belo ngs to th e P la in E gyp tia n style This
form is si m ple in its c o nstructio n a nd does
F
IG
82
no t bear su fficie nt di s ti nctio n to c lassify it
with the fu nda m e ntal styles ; but in o ne re s pect thi s form of
letter is c lo s ely allied to th e Fre nc h Ro m a n a nd th e S i m il a rity
is sho w
n in it s havi ng th e hea v y a nd light li ne a s show n
in Fig 83
a nd
‘
-
,
.
,
.
,
.
’
,
,
.
.
.
,
'
.
,
,
,
.
.
.
.
ELEMENTS O F LETTER I N G
.
A fe w letters O f this styl e are therefore show n to gi v e t h e
s tude nt a n id ea of th e co m parat iv e width of th e stroke a nd
fi ne li ne
Th e latt e r s hould no t ex c eed 45 that of th e stroke
There is al m o s t u nli m ite d licens e granted in f or m i ng these
.
.
.
F IG
.
83
.
letters as show n in th e t wo letters T a nd E I n m aki ng
the s e letters never plac e a S pur o n a ny part of th e letter as thi s
l
at o nc e throws th e c h ara c t e ris tic feature of th e style in fa v or of
the Frenc h Ro m an ; and t o w iden th e fi ne line to nearly that
of th e s tr Oke bri ngs it within cla s sificatio n li m its O f the
Egyptia n Never S how a S ugges tio n of a Straigh t li ne o n
the i ns ide o f th e rou nd letters but al ways m ake a p erf ect ellip s e
"
or a sy m m etrical c urve This letter h ol d s an i m port ant place
with our modern designers but a knowledge of th e Egy ptian
a nd Fre nc h Ro m an g nl y is ne c essary to produ c e this m o d ifi
This is likewise true o f all letters u s ed B y a thorough
c atio n
know l edge O f th e few fu ndame ntal style s the stude nt c a n readily
tra c e all variatio ns ari s i ng fro m these to their parent s t y le
.
,
,
‘
.
"
.
,
.
,
,
.
.
,
.
B
R
Th e B osto n Ro m an has a slight
variatio n fro m th e norm al form show n in
Plate 1 4 whi c h occ urs in t h e Sp u r O nly
but whi ch gi v es it a marked di fferenc e in
appearance fro m th e regular style Th e
S pur i nstead O f bei ng fi nish ed o n th e e nd
F
IG
84
a s S how n in Plate e ntitl e d B osto n Ro m a n
as S how n in Fig 8 4
I S cut
o ff o n a n a ngle of about
1 25
.
o s
t
o
n
o
m
an —
.
‘
,
.
,
,
.
.
,
.
.
— A third style k no
f
A
n
i
q
u
H
a
l
B
l
o
k
t
e
c
wn a s the
1 26
Antique Half B lo c k has two or three varietie s
Such of
t h e c apital s as well a s th e s m all letter s as po s se s s a m iddle
stro k e have this s troke changed t o an a ngle O f
I n o ne
.
.
,
,
,
.
,
ELEMENTS OF LETTER I N G
§
.
1
variety the S hort strokes O f the lower c ase letters are c u t o n the
same a ngle a s th e mid d le stroke as s how n in Fig 8 5 the angl e
"
-
,
F IG
f th e
.
,
F IG
85
.
.
86
.
bei ng directly O pposite A nother variety of this letter
is the sam e as Fig 85 ex c ept that the S hort strokes are altered
in appearanc e a nd are fi nished wi t h a fi ne li ne a nd a dot a s
O
8
.
.
,
,
,
FIG
.
87
.
sho wn in Fig 8 6 T his form of le t ter c an be spaced more
a nd
c losely tha n th e regular s tyle used in co n de nsed spa c es
th e variety show n in Fig 8 7 requires even l e s s spa c e than either
.
.
,
.
of the others ; a nd a s the cor ners are no t cut o ff the letter
pos s esses a sq u are c ompa c t appeara nc e so m ewhat relie v ed of
severity by th e fi nishi ng o f th e cor ners with a S light spur The
,
,
,
,
.
ELEMENTS O F LETTER I N G
.
sam e rule of form atio n applies to c apital s a s well a s to lower
ca s e letters except the m iddle bars of E a nd F whi c h are
al ways horizo ntal
,
,
.
—
R
m
n
The Fr ench Ro m a n I s also in
o
a
1 27
turn slightly changed gi v i ng rise to several distinc t varietie s as
"
show n in F ig 88 I n th e letter E shown at ( a ) th e o nly
diff erenc e fro m the Anc ient Ro m an style
is the S pur that pr oj ects at a right a ngle
fro m t h e horizo nta l li nes top a nd botto m
I n the letter shown at ( b) the spur s
are the sam e as at ( a ) ex c ept those of
the main upright strokes whi c h are
fini s hed wit h a flat e nd The rou nd
letter of this style is show n at ( c)
—
Th e F le m i s h
Th e Flem ish
1 28
or D utch ,s o closely resem bling th e G er
F
IG
89
m an Text is a nother style that will no t
be co nsidered in this c ourse The chara c teri s ti c feature of this
alphabet is th e diam o nd dot a nd plain vertical s tro k e a nd fi ne
li ne as S how n in Fig 8 9 its other features bei ng practi c ally the
sam e as the G e rm ans tyl e I n th e lower c ase very littl e change
.
F
re
nc h
.
.
,
,
“
.
.
,
,
.
,
,
.
.
.
.
.
“
.
,
.
,
,
,
,
.
-
.
F IG
.
90
occurs except the ball which is add ed to
stroke letter s as shown in the figure
,
,
1 29
m any
of th e l o ng
.
There are s o m any styles of letters
arisi ng from so m e si m ple idea that a ny student of lettering may
app l vto a fu ndam e ntal style
a nd such ideas are s o nu m erou s
that I t will be i m possible to c all atte ntio n to m ore than o ne or
two of th e s e in c o nclusio n
.
V
ar
ia t i o ns
—
,
,
,
.
EL E MENTS OF LETTER I N G
§
.
1
urved stro k e is o ne such style and is show n by the
A noth er of th ese styles is pro
D R , U G in Fig
The
letters
c
,
,
,
.
,
F IG
.
91
.
by curvi ng the sp ur a nd horizontal stroke s form i ng
"
blo ck l e tt e rs e s p ecial l y the full block as sh own in Fig
d u ce d
,
.
,
,
th e
91
.
N O TE — Th e m o d ifi ca tio ns co nsid ere d in th e f o r ego ing p a g es of th is I ns tru o
i
t
h
t
l
a
n
u
n
tio n P a
r
r
u
n
d
a
m
e
a
l
s
es
m
i
h
t
h
t
d
n
t
w
ll no t h a t e
e
re
e
o
o
c
e
s
e
t
,
f
y
y f
p
f
ith u ntil
o cca s io n to r ef er to , o r ma k
e co mp a ris o ns w
ell a d v
a nce d in h is
i se , th er ef o r e , th a t a s tu d y o f th ese v
a ria tio ns be d e ferr e d
e
o u ld a d v
co u rs e , w
e d , a nd th e fu nd a
e be e n r e ceiv
u ntil th e p l a tes m entio ne d in th is co nnectio n h a v
e be co m e f a miliar to th e s t ud e nt
enta l s tyl es h a v
w
.
w
m
w
.
ME C H A N I
CA L
L E TTE R I N G
.
'
1 30
.
c o mpas s es
m e ch a nica l
as the T square tria ngles
used to e x ecute letteri ng it is called
e t c are
l e tter ing as disti nguis h ed from free h a nd l e tter ing
When
,
ins tr u m e nt s
s uch
.
,
,
,
,
,
F IG
.
92
.
whi c h is executed with th e p e n or brush u naided by a nythi ng
except th e j u d gme nt O f th e eye
.
ELEMENTS OF LETTER I N G
.
board as sho w
n in Fig 94
The upper ed ge 0 o f th e blade B
is brought very near to the poi nt through which it is desired to
pass the li ne so that the straight e d ge 0 of t h e blad e may be
.
,
.
,
FI
G
.
94
u s ed as a guide for the p e n or pencil I t is evide nt that all
lines draw n in this m anner will b e parallel
Vertical lines are draw n by means of triangles T h e triangles
most ge nerally used are shown in F igs 95 and 9 6 Each has
in t h e figures
Fig 9 5 h as two
o ne right a ngle m arked 9 0
.
.
.
.
.
,
°
,
FIG
.
.
.
95
FIG
.
.
96
.
angles of 4 5 each a nd Fig 96 o ne of 60 a nd o ne of
They are called 4 5 a nd 6 0 tria ngles respectively To draw a
vertical li ne place the T square in positio n to draw a horizo ntal
li ne a nd lay the triangle agai nst it so as to form a right angle
°
°
.
,
°
°
,
.
,
,
,
.
ELEMENTS O F LETTER I N G
.
Hold both T square a nd tri angle lightly with the left ha nd s o
a s to k eep the m fro m slip pi ng a nd draw the li n e with the p e n
or p enc il held in t h e right ha nd a nd agai nst t h e edge of the
triangle Fig 9 7 shows the
triangles a nd T square in
positio n
,
,
,
.
.
.
1 33
For drawi ng par
allel lines that are ne ither
verti c al no r horizo ntal t h e
si m plest a nd best way
when the li nes are near
together is to plac e o ne
F IG 97
edge of a triangle as a b
Fig 98 o n th e given li ne c d and lay th e other triangle as B
against o ne of the two edges holdi ng it fast with the left hand
th en m ove the triangle A al ong the edge of B The edge a b will
be parallel to the li ne e d ; a nd whe n th e edge a b reaches the
p o i nt g through whi ch it is desired t o d rawth e parallel li ne
hold both triangles statio nary with th e left hand a nd draw the
li ne cf by passing th e pencil alo ng the edge a b Should
.
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
,
.
.
,
,
,
.
,
,
,
.
FI G
.
98
.
triangle A extend too far beyo nd the edge of the triangle B
af ter a nu m ber of li nes have been draw n hold As t a tio nary with
th e left hand a nd shift B alo ng th e edge of A with the right
ha nd and th e n proceed as before
th e
,
,
.
oE
ELEMENTS
1 34
LETTER I N G
.
A li ne may b e draw n at right a ngles to another li ne
.
whi c h is neither v erti c al no r horizo ntal as illustrated in Fig 99
Let 0 d be the given li ne ( sh o wn at th e left ha nd side )
Place
o ne of the shorter edges as a b of the tria ngle B so that it will
c o m cid e with th e li ne e d ; the n k eepi ng th e tria ngl e in this
n
n
n
ositio
place
the
tria
gle
A
so
that
its
lo
g
edge
will
come
p
agai nst t h e lo ng e d ge of B
Now h oldi ng A securely in p lace
with the left hand slide B alo ng th e edge of A ith th e right
ha nd w h e n th e li nes h i m n e t c m a y be draw n perpendi c ular
to c d a lo ng th e edge bf of the triangle B
The dotted li nes
.
,
-
.
.
,
,
,
,
.
w
,
,
,
,
.
,
.
F IG
.
99
.
sho w th e po s itio n of the triangle
edge of A
B
when
m oved
alo ng the
.
1 35
Th e r ght ha nd portio n of Fig 99 shows another
m eth o d of a cc o m plishi ng the sa m e result a nd illu s trates how
the triangles may be used for drawi ng a recta ngul ar figure
whe n the sides of th e figure make a n a ngle with the T square
su c h that th e latter cannot b e u s ed
Let the sid e 0 d of th e figure b e given Pla c e the lo ng side of
the tria ngle B s o a s to coi ncide with the li ne c d a nd bri ng the
triangle A i nto positio n agai nst th e l ower side of B as shown
Now h o ldi ng the tria ngle A in place with th e left ha nd re v olve
B s o that its other short edge will rest a gai nst the lo ng edge A
.
i
-
.
,
,
.
.
,
,
,
.
,
,
ELEM ENTS OF LETTER I N G
.
the d otted positio n at B
The parallel li ne s c c
a nd d f m a
n
s c and d by slidi ng
be
draw
n
through
th
e
poi
t
n
o
w
y
th e tria ngle B o n the tr iangle A as described in c o nnectio n
with Fig 98 Mea s ure o fi the required width of the figure o n
t h e li ne 0 e rever s e the t ria ngl e B agai n to its origi nal positio n
st ill holdi ng the triangle A in a fixed positio n with th e left
hand a nd s lid e B u po n A u ntil th e lo ng edge of B passe s
through e D ra w the line e f through th e poi nt e and e f will
be parallel to e d T he s tudent should pra c ti c e with h is
triangle s before b eginni ng drawing
as
show n
in
’
.
,
.
.
,
,
,
.
,
.
.
l
The c o m p a s s e s next to the T square and tria ngles
are
used more than a ny other
i nstru m ent A pencil a nd a p e n
poi nt are provided a s show n in
Fig 1 00 either of hich may be
inserted i nto a so c ket in o ne leg
of th e i ns tru m ent for the draw
ing of circles in pe ncil or ink
The oth er leg is fitted with a
ne e dle point which acts as th e
center about which t h e ci rcle is
drawn I n all good i nstru m ent s
th e needle poi nt itself is a sepa
rat e pie c e o f rou nd steel wire
held in pla c e in a so c ket pro
id e d at the e nd of th e leg
v
The wire should h a v e a square
shoulder at its lower e nd below
whi c h a fi ne ne e dle l ike poi nt
proj ect s The length ening bar also
shown in the figure is used t o
extend the leg c arryi ng the p e n
and th e pe ncil poi nt s whe n c ircle s
1 00
of large radii are to be draw n
The j oi nt at th e top of the co m passes should hold the legs
firm ly in any po s itio n a nd at the sa m e ti m e s hould perm it th eir
bei ng ope ned or c losed with o ne ha nd Th e j oi nt m a y be
1 36
,
.
,
.
w
,
.
,
,
.
,
.
,
,
.
,
-
,
.
,
,
.
.
,
.
ELEMENTS
or
LETTER I N G
§
.
1
tightened or loosened by m eans of a screwdriver or wrench
which accompanies the co m passes
I t will be noticed in Fig 1 00 that each leg of the c ompasses
i s j oi nted
this is do ne s o th at th e compass poi nts m a y always
be k ept perpendicular to the paper when drawi ng cir cles as in
Fig 1 0 2
,
.
‘
.
,
.
1 37
.
T he followi ng suggestio ns for handli ng the c o m passes
.
should b e c arefully observed by those that are be gi nnI ng the
subj ect of drawi ng
Any drafts m an or letterer that h a ndles
his i nstrum e nts awk wardly will create a bad i m pressio n no
,
.
,
F IG
.
1 01
.
matter how good a work m a n he may be The te nde ncy of all
b e gi nners is to use b o th hands for operati ng the compasses
This is to be avoided Th e student should learn at the start to
O pe n and clos e them with o ne h and holdi ng them as show n in
Fig 1 0 1 with th e needle poi nt leg re sti ng between th e thu m b
and the fourth fi nger and t h e other leg betwee n th e middle
fi nger and the forefi nger Whe n d ra i ng circles hold the
c ompasses lightly at the top betwee n the thu m b a nd forefi nger
or thumb forefi nger and middle fi nger a s in Fig 1 0 2 A nother
case wh ere both hands should no t be used is in locati ng the
needle poi nt at a poi nt o n the drawi ng about which the circle is
to be draw n u nless t h e left h a nd i s used merely t o steady the
needle poi nt
Hold th e compasses as shown in Fig 1 0 1 a nd
.
.
.
,
-
.
,
w
,
.
,
,
,
,
,
.
.
,
.
.
,
ELEMENTS OF LETTER I N G
.
i ncli ne the m u ntil the u nder side of the ha nd re s ts upo n the
paper This will steady the hand so that the needle poi nt c a n
be brought to exactly th e right place o n th e d rawi ng Havi ng
placed th e needle at the desired poi nt and with it still resti ng
o n th e paper th e p e n or pe ncil poi nt may be moved out or in
to any d e s ired radius as i ndi c ated in Fig 1 0 1
When the
lengthening bar is u sed both hands m u s t be e m ployed
.
.
‘
'
,
,
.
,
.
,
.
The co m pa s ses m u s t be handled in su c h a m anner
that th e needle p o i nt will no t dig large holes in th e p ap e r
1 38
'
.
'
.
F IG
.
1 02
.
Keep the needle poi nt adj u s ted s o t h a t it will b e perpendicular
to the paper wh en drawi ng cir c le s a nd d o no t be a r up o n it A
ut
s light
r e ss u r e w
n
b
il
n
be
e
essary
th
e
or
pe
cil
poi
t
l
n
n
c
o
n
e
p
p
‘
,
.
,
,
no t
on
“
th e nee d le
p
o int
.
"
1 39
The d i vi d e r s , show n in Fig 1 0 8 , are used for layi ng
o ff dista nces upo n a drawi ng , or for dividi ng straight li nes or
.
e ry
circ les i nto parts The poi nts of the dividers should b e v
sharp so that they will no t pu nch holes in the paper larger
.
,
ELEMENTS OF LETTER I N G
t ha n
.
is abs olutely necessary to be seen Compasses are some
times furnis h ed w
ith two steel divider point s besides the p e n
and pe ncil poi nts so that the i nstrum e nt m a y be used either as
compasses or dividers This is the kind ill u s trate d in Fig 1 08
When usi ng the dividers to space a li ne or circ l e i nto a number
of equal part s hold them at the top betwee n th e thu m b a nd the
forefinger as when usi ng the co m passes a nd step o ff th e spaces
turni ng th e i nstrument alternately to th e right a nd left I f th e
li ne or circle does no t space exactly vary th e distance between
th e divider poi nt s and try agai n so co nti nue u ntil it is spaced
equally Whe n spaci ng in thi s manner great care must be
exerci s ed no t to press th e divider poi nts i nto the paper for if
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F IG
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1 03
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the poi nts enter the paper th e spaci ng c an never b e ac curately
do ne The stude nt should satisfy himself of the truth of this
stateme nt by actual trial
,
.
.
1 40
wi n g
Pa p e r
Pe n c i ls
The drawi ng
paper re q u ire d fo r this series of lesso ns is W h a tm a n s hot
—
n
k
R
2
n
i
i
oyal
the
size
of
which
is
n
I
t
takes
1
i
1
ressed
9
p
well a nd withstands co nsiderable erasi ng
The paper is
secured to the dra i ng board by means of th um bta cks Four
—
u
ffi
i
n
o ne at each cor ner of the sheet
are usually s
Place a
c e t
piec e of pape r o n th e drawi ng board a nd press a thumbta c k
thro u gh o ne of th e c orners about 111 o r g of a n i nch fro m each
edge Place th e T s q u a re in positio n for drawi ng a horizo ntal
li ne as before explai ned a nd straighten th e paper so that its
upper edge will be parallel to the edge of the T square blade
Pull the cor ner diago nally opposite that in whic h the thumb
tack was placed s o as to stretch th e paper slightly and push in
another thumb tack D o the sam e with the remai ni ng two
corners For d rawi ng in penci l a D ixo n s Artis t s H pe ncil
No 2 1 7 ( commo nly called a No 4 D ixo n s Arti s ts ) may be
D
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é
ra
a
nd
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’
E LEMENTS
LETTER I N G
or
§
.
1
b e ragged o n th e edge where the blade does no t bear
W hen
h eld at right a ngles to the paper as in Fig 1 05 however
both blades will rest o n the paper a nd if the p e n is in good c o n
ditio n smooth li nes will result The p e n m ust no t be pressed
agai nst the edge of the T squar e or triangle , as th e blades will
the n c lose together maki ng the line u neven The edge should
serve simply as a guide
I n drawi ng c ir c les with the co m pass p e n the sam e care
should be t ak en t o keep th e blades perpe ndi c ul a r to the paper
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F IG
by
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1 05
.
m eans
of th e adj ustment at th e j oint I n both the ruli ng
n
h
n
a
n
e
n
a
th
e
o
m
pass
n
widt
h
of
th
e
li
es
be
altered
d
c
e
t
e
c
p
p
by means of the s c re wwhi c h holds the blad es together
.
,
.
1 43
wi n g
D
ra
I nk
.
The
ink used
’
should be Higgins
waterproof liquid I ndia ink A quill is attached to th e c ork of
every bottle of this ink by means of which th e p e n may be
filled D ip the quill i nto the ink and then pass th e e nd of it
betwee n the blades of the drawi ng p e n D o no t put too much
ink in the p e n no t more than e nough to fill it for a quarter of
a n i nch alo ng the blades otherwise th e ink is liable to drop
Many draftsmen prefer to use stick I ndia ink; a nd for letteri ng
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,
§
ELEMENTS OF LETTER I N G
1
.
purposes this is to be preferr e d t o th e prepared liquid ink
reco m m ended a bove
I n case th e stick ink is bought put
enough water in a shallo wd ish ( a commo n i ndividual butter
plate will do ) to m ake e nough ink for th e drawi ng th en place
o ne e nd of the sti c k in the water a nd gri nd by givi ng the s t ick
a circular motio n D o no t b ear hard upo n the stick Test the
ink oc c asio nally to see if it is bla c k
D raw a fi ne li ne wit h the
n
a nd hold the paper in a stro ng li ght
I
f
it
sho
w
s
brow
n
e
p
n
n
n
n
K
n
or
gray
gri
d
a
whil
lo
ger
te
t
agai
eep
gri
di
g
n
e
a
s
d
(
)
u ntil a fi ne li ne shows bla ck which will u suall y take from
fiftee n minutes to half a n hour dependi ng o n the quantity of
water u sed The ink s h ould always b e k ept well covered with a
at plate of so m e k i nd to k eep out th e dust a nd p reve nt e v
ap o
fl
ratio n Th e drawi ng p e n m a y be filled by dippi ng an ordi nary
w riti ng p e n i nto the inka nd drawi ng it through th e blades as
previously described wh en usi ng the quill I f Higgi ns ink is
u sed all th e l i nes o n a l l th e d rawi ngs will b e of th e sa m e color
I f stic k ink is used it is
a nd no ti m e will b e lost in gri ndi ng
poor e c o no m y to buy a cheap stick A sm all stick of th e best
quality costi ng say a dollar wil l la s t as long p erhaps as five
dollars worth of liquid ink Th e o nly reaso n for u s i ng liquid
ink is that all l ine s a re then sure to be of equal bla c k ness a nd
time is saved in gri ndi ng
Trouble will probably be caused by the ink dryi ng between
th e blades a nd refusi ng to flow especiall y wh en drawi ng fi ne
li nes The o nly re m edy is t o wipe out the p e n frequently with
a w et cloth D o no t lay th e p e n dow n for any great le ngth of
time when it co ntai ns ink ; wipe it out first Th e ink may
so m e ti m es b e started by moisteni ng the e nd of the fi nger and
touching it to the point or by drawi ng a slip of paper between
the ends of the blade Alwa ys ke ep th e bottle co r ke d
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1 44
Sh
pe n
.
w
When the
ruling or co m pass p e n becomes badly worn it must be sharp
e ned For this purpo se a fi ne oilst o ne should be used I f an
oilsto ne I s t o b e purchased a s mall fi a t clo se gra i ned sto ne
should be obtai ne d those h a v i ng a triangular se c tio n bei ng
preferable as the narrow edge c an b e used o n th e i nside of the
.
To
ar
th
e
D
ra
ing
F
,
,
e
m
—
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-
,
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,
ELEMENTS OF LETTER I N G
§
.
1
blades in cas e th e latter are no t made to swi ng apart s o as to
permit the use of a thicker edg e
Th e first s tep in sharpeni ng is to scre wthe blades together
a nd holdi ng the p e n perpe ndicular to th e oilsto ne to draw it
bac k a nd forth over the sto ne chan gi ng the slope of the p e n
from downward a nd to the right to downward and to th e lef t
for each moveme nt of the p e n to the right a nd lef t The obj ect
of this is to bri ng the blades to exactly th e sam e length a nd
shape a nd to rou nd them nicel y at the p oi nt
This pro c ess of course makes th e edges even duller than
before To sharpe n sep arate th e p o m ts by means of the screw
a nd rub o ne of th e blades to a nd fro m the operator in a straight
li ne givi ng the p e n a slight twisting motio n at the sa m e time
with the face of the
a nd holdi ng it at a n a ngle of about 1 5
Repeat th e process for th e oth er blade To be in good
Sto ne
co nditio n the e d ges should be fairly sharp and smooth but no t
sharp e nough to cut th e paper All th e sh arp ening mus t be d o ne
The I ns i d e of the blades should be
o n th e o u ts id e of th e bl a d e s
r ubbed o n th e sto ne o nly e nough to remove any burr that may
have bee n form ed A nythi ng more th an this will be lik ely to
I nj ure the p e n
The whole operatio n must b e do ne very
c arefully be ari ng o n l ightly as it is ea s y to spoil a p e n in the
pro c ess Exami ne th e poi nts frequently a nd k eep at work
u ntil th e p e n will draw both fi n
e li nes a nd s mo o th heavy li nes
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HO W
1 4 5
TH E
WV O R K
S H O UL D B E S E N
T
.
For the letter p lates of this Course Copies of the
plates will be se nt you as you need them The tube we se nd
you with this Paper should be used by you for sendi ng us your
drawi ng of Plate I upo n fi nishi ng it Se nd o ne plate to u s at
a time Thus after you fi nish the first plate se nd it t o us and
the n start o n th e seco nd plate I n th e m ea ntime we will
return the first plate to you O n your receivi ng back the firs t
plate from u s you should carefully note all correctio ns a nd
suggestio ns that may be sent with it a nd observe them when
drawi ng the succeedi ng plates O n no accou nt send us the
s eco nd p l ate u ntil y o u have received t h e first o ne bac k
Upo n
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§
ELEMENTS OF LETTER I N G
1
.
fi nishi ng the seco nd plate send this t o us and start o n the third
plate a nd in the meantime w e will retur n th e seco nd plate to
you D o this with all the drawi ng plates in th e Course
I t is very esse ntial that you strictly co m ply with these d ire c
tio ns ; si nce otherwise it will be impossible for us to poi nt out
your mistakes to you This procedure should be strictly adhered
to while you are drawi ng the first plates of th e Course— it will
enable you to mak e rapid progress D o no t be dis c ouraged if
there are a large nu m ber of corrections o n your early pla tes ;
we are merely pointi ng out ways in which the drawi ng or letter
ing can be improved so that your later plates m ay be as nearly
perfect as they c a n be made No o ne can attai n proficie ncy
u nless the work is c riti c ized a nd we are doi ng our best to help
you to succeed We should no t be doing our d uty if we did
no t poi nt out the defects
The num ber of correctio ns is no
i ndicatio n of our appreciatio n of the m erits of the drawing
O n all plates that you send to us , write your name and
address in full in lead pe ncil o n the bac k of th e plates T his
should in no c a s e b e omitted as delays in the return of y our
work will otherw i se surely o c cur
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PL
1 46
P l
AT E
"
S
.
Th e siz e of each plate
1 85 in
over all will be 1 1 5 in
Whe neve rany dime nsio ns are
specified they should be laid o ff as accurately as possible All
drawi ngs should b e m ade as neat as possible and the penc ili ng
e ntirely fi nished before i nki ng in a ny part of it The ha nds
should be perfectly clean a nd should no t touch the paper
ex c ept whe n ne c essary N o li ne s should be erased ex c ept
whe n a bso lu te ly necessary ; for whenever a line has o nce been
erased the dirt flying aro und in the air a nd co nstantly falli ng
o n t h e drawi ng will stic k to a ny spot where a n er a sure h a s
bee n mad e and re nder it very diffi cult if no t impossible to
entirely remove it For thi s reaso n all co nstructio n li nes that
are to be rem oved or that are liable to be c hanged should b e
draw n lightly that th e fi nish of the paper may no t be d estroyed
whe n erasi ng them
re
.
im in a r y D i r e
.
c t io ns
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-
,
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ELEMENTS OF LETTER I N G
0
2
( )
§
.
1
What styles of letters are best adapted for ill u mi nated
capitals
2
1
(
cutti ng stencil p atter ns what m etho d is safest to
order to avoid th e possibility of c utti ng o ff ties
In
)
follo win
,
"
’
How is th e desig n for th e se c o nd stencil p la c ed o n th e
first to i nsure ac c urac y
m
m
2
What
alphabet
is
the
other
of
all
oder
tyles
8
n
s
( )
of writi ng
h
m
n
n
m
n
2
4
About
o
a
y
sig
s
a
b
e
s
te
iled
before
th
e
w
c
( )
y
stencil pattern should be clea ned
n
what part of the letter s h o uld the highlight be
2
5
O
( )
pl a ced
( 2 6 ) How was the letter W expre s sed when first i ntro
d u c e d i nto the alphabet
( 2 7) Whe n letters are placed o n a n i nc lined pa ne l what
positio n Sh ould they be give n
8
m
n
2
What
is
ea
t
by
the
term
co
n
d
e
n
i
n
s
( )
g
n
n
2
i
f
m
n
What
the
di
fere
ce
betwee
e
ha
i
al
free
9
c
c
a
n
s
d
( )
hand letteri ng
“
a
i
n
n
0
Wh
t
are
the
ties
ste
cil
patter
n
s
8
( )
1
I
n
8
what
way
did
the
I
n
v
e
n
tio
n
of
th
e
pri
n
ti
n
g
pres
s
( )
dire c tly be nefit the art of writi ng
n
2
n
8
what
a
gle
should
the
s
h
ade
of
the
letter
be
p
l
a
ed
O
c
)
(
m
n
n
88
Of
what
i
porta
c
e
is
letter
face
S
hadi
g
( )
“
”
8
4
i
What
s
th
e
spur
of
a
letter
( )
8
5
Where
would
you
place
the
pos
s
essive
apostrophe
i
n
)
(
”
the followi ng
Me ns a nd B oys Clothi ng
( 8 6 ) How is the blo c k shade plac ed o n a letter
8
m
n
How
a
forms
has
the
cast
S
h
a
ow
d
7
( )
y
88
What
are
th
e
three
hief
lassifi
atio
n
s
of
letters
c
c
c
( )
8
n
9
Whe
are
c
olors
applied
i
n
their
dry
tate
s
( )
4
m
m
h
0
Na
e
so
e
of
e styles of letter s k now n exclusi v ely
t
( )
“
as
Ameri c a n writi ng
1
4
i
n
For
wha
purpose
the
ste
n
cil
patter
used
t
s
( )
(22 )
"
.
"
"
"
"
,
"
"
‘-
"
-
"
.
"
"
"
"
"
" "
"
"
IN D E
ph b
Al
i
f
o
anti
qu
a
o
o
ih
nc h R
em s
re
o
f
G re e
La
o
o
ar
m an
,
M di fi t i
ca
o
a
M d ifi
et,
o
a
a
o
,
h lf bl ck M d ifi c t i
Apo t ph O igin f
App n f p c i ng
A bi nu m l
a
o
,
o
nd e ns e
o
dl
nd n i ng
e
o
ns o na nt s
p
art s o
e t te r
pl
e o
f
s
u ne
in
if m wi t i ng
ur
e
ur
l
a
E x am
e tte r,
o rr e c t and
v
v
f
c o rr e c t s
or
n n n
a
r
n
n n n
n n
n
n n n n
n n
O r nam e nt a
e s,
p c ing
l et t
e rs ,
l
P i nt
s
Us e
f
o
e
o
to be
o
b ve d
se r
e rs
c
s
a
n
D as
l i ti l
D fi ni t i n f i l
t i ngl
D ig ni ng i n
ip t i n
Sc p nd i m po t
Di m t
f i l
D it t m
k
D
wi ng b d
i
c at o n
on o
h
D e c o ra t
e
i
E cc
o ns ,
o
e s as
f
es
e
scr
Ar c
f
r ance o
c rc e
e er o
ar
o
s
o
e a
o
a
ca
c rc e
o
r a
e ra s
c
ne nt
o
u
a
s
p
C t t ing in l t t
t n il
C ym
f
o
r
ce o
e ar a
ra
o
,
o
c ati o
e
a
m
a
s
a
e
o
s e
p di m nt
E gypt i n lph b e t M difi
e
n
o
a
a
mpa s s e s
-
r a
o
s ro
ca t io n
c a
a
ue
o
o
Cu t l n
.
e
u ar
n
re
Ph ni i n
S m it n
Al t i t u d f t i ngl e
An i nt R m n lph b
Ang l
A nt iq
o
k
R
f
M difi
m an,
b w
t in
He
o
ca
o
.
of
Fl
F
c e
ca
o
o
a
o
,
.
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
ca
,
.
n
o
a
B o s to n
o
ca
o
gypt i n Mo d i fi
f
ti n
h lf bl c k M d ifi
f
ti n
R m n M difi t i
E
e
o
e o
M difi ti
R o m an
e t , anc e nt
a
P ag e
"
s
o ar
ra
ink
kg nd
t n il
B v l d h di ng
Bl
k
B ac
s e
e
14
ro u
e e
oc
s
50
s
26
a
s
h d
a
B o s to n R
c
e
o m an a
13
lph b e t M dific t i
a
,
o
a
23
o
nbf
59
E
E cc
f
l i
e s as ti c a
E f e c t s inl
as
s
rc e
a
e
,
D
e
o
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diu
o
n of
s o
as s
ea
ca
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f
a
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e
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qu il
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e t t e rs
l t i ngl
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m pl
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at e r a
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e r- a e
e
f
Ci l
Cl ifi t i n f l
C l ni ng t n il
r c u a r a rc
e t t e r ing
ns
se
am e t e r o
Ra
i
e co ra t o
o
o
p d u d by l t t f c light i ng
nd h di ng
k and F n h R m n
E gyp t i n h lf bl
f L t t i ng
E l m nt
E llip
l nd u nd p n l
E llipt i
E l ng t i ng
a
C t hdw
Ci l D fi nit i
ld
.
e s
a
a
a
c
o
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I N DE
Fac e o f l e tt e
Light ing
r,
h di ng
a nd s
i
.
a
e
a
r
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re e
a
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a
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Fu ll bl c k nd R
Fu nd m nt l t yl
s
ra
s ru
.
e
er
s
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-
ca
o
ns
o
e rs ,
f
bl
G e ne r a
l
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r c
G re
G ro
G ro
l
m e t i al fig u s
e k alph b t
t e s q u l tt
u nd
f
t n il l
V
i e g at e d
a
e
s
e
or s e
c
ar
e
,
a
t t e rs
a
or
o
I d e o gr a m s
at e d
I ll u m i n
e ra
l
u se o
Im po rt a nc e
k
s
Ins c r ipt io n
Int e r
a nd
F
hR
o
ma n 1 6
4
0
0
o
o
ar s
o
n n n n
o
o
o
o
n n n
o
o
27
us e o
a
e
or
o
o
o
o
n n
o
n
n
o
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o
o
o
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o
o
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a
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e
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