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Design in Typography. Line Ornaments.

In our last article, we placed the Typographic Flourish in the category of Line Ornaments; but the term is generally limited to a very useful and effective class of decoration introduced by the Johnson Foundry ten years ago, and which has since that time come into general use. In the Typographic Advertiser in 1887, there appeared in four sizes a style of letter entitled

—one of the most original as well as beautiful of the productions of that celebrated house. Few designs ever attained such immediate and general popularity. The special characteristic of the style was that the small caps were made to run from the centre of the initials, and that a series of ornaments, to break the abruptness of the transition, was supplied with each fount. With the largest size, twenty-four pieces were supplied, as shown below, and these formed the first series of what were afterwards known as « Line Ornaments »:—

The popularity of these designs was owing to their supplying a want. It was soon found that the ornaments could be effectively employed with other faces of type, and that they rendered possible a new style of display, lighter and less formal than could be attained with previous typographic resources. The twenty-four pieces, however, did not afford a very wide scope, and the original designers soon followed up the idea by series 5, 6, and 7–1 to 4 representing the four sizes of Filigree aforesaid. The new combinations showed some improvements—the chief being that all the pieces were east to nonpareil lengthwise as well as bodywise, which was not the case with series 2 and 4. Each of the new series had its own character, while all might be worked in combination with good effect. Series 5 consisted of fine lines with solid ornaments, and contained 36 pieces, including some neat corners.

Series 6, containing 25 characters, consisted entirely of open ornaments, without heavy lines:

Series 7, containing 24 characters, approximated more closely to the original Filigree, the ornaments being shaded with parallel lines:

With these five series (two of the Filigree sets, pearl and bourgeois, do not combine with the others), an inexhaustible variety of ornament seemed possible; but this kind of decoration, being subject to none of the arbitrary rules or limitations or ordinary type ornaments, may be carried to any extent. Other foundries had by this time taken up the idea, and carried it out with varying success. In 1879 MacKellar came out with two new and very beautiful sets, 8 and 9. Both of these corresponded with series 5, there being no outline ornaments nor half-tones. The characters were more numerous than in former series. No. 8 contained 48:—

The special character of series 9, containing 37 characters, was, that it introduced pieces on curved bodies, on the system already adopted by the same house in its « Elliptical » combination border.

In 1880 followed two series, 10 and 11, on oblique bodies. Series 10, consisting of 10 characters, has nothing in common with the others, and its deficiency in rectangular pieces makes it a very imperfect combination. We would welcome about twenty additional pieces, on square and curved bodies. This is all there is of it:

Series 11, 28 characters, corresponds with the others, except that the design is slightly heavier. Series 11 and 12 may be effectively used where there is plenty of space—the latter especially, as any of the former series will combine with it.

In the combinations of other founders, there is little that is not in one or other of the series shown above. Otto Weisert, by whom these designs were brought out in Germany, with the national taste for running borders, added a few cornel-pieces, to correspond with the sorts shown below, thus the easing the adaptability of the ornaments.

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No more series have been brought out by the Johnson Foundry; but to several recent founts, such as the « Queen Bess » script, « Trojan » (a modification of the Filigree), « Lady Text, » « Mortised, » and « Artistic, » ornaments have been added carrying out the same idea. It will be noted that the ornamentation throughout is entirely conventional, there being no attempt (as in the « Arboret ») to represent foliage or other objects. Various arbitrary names have been assigned to combinations of this class—among others, « Word Ornaments, » « Card Ornaments, » and « Typographic Charms; » but throughout these articles they will be described as « Line Ornaments. »