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Design in Typography.
LV.
Rope Combinations.

Great as is the variety of type designs now in use, there are some promising fields as yet almost unoccupied. The rope or cable has long been a favorite pattern with draftsmen and lithographers; but the artist who will adapt the pattern to movable types has yet to come. This is strange, much more difficult and less suitable subjects having been taken in hand with a fair measure of success. It is true that an obstacle presents itself somewhat similar to that in the path of the designer of drapery or curtain patterns— it is not possible to follow the free and sweeping curves which are the delight of the draftsman unhampered by combinations of rectangles. At the same time, we feel sure that there are fine artistic possibilities in the subject, and that the Rope Combination of the future will be a popular one.

Experiments have certainly been tried, but very fitfully. The oldest we know (probably French) is double-pica border No. 55 in Caslon's specimen-book. It is a somewhat old-fashioned production, and appears to consist of five characters; an irregularly coiled corner, a knotted and looped centre-piece, a « bend, » and a pair of stiffly curled pieces carrying the pattern from the top to the bottom of the line. The rope is in good drawing, and the engraving is good. Some of our old books show a nonpareil rope, a running-piece and corner only. It is in straight stiff short lengths, and does not join well.

Caslon's Banner, in 1875, with its beautifully-engraved cord, drew some attention to this neglected design; and several combinations appeared with cords and tassels—none so good as the original. The cord in MacKellar's Drapery is thin and weak, that of the German Banner is heavy and stiff. Zeese & Co., in imitating the Scroll, added cords and tassels in the style of the Banner. Caslon, noting the value of the cord as an independent design, turned the suspending-piece into a corner by casting it to an angle of 45°, and issued the cords as separate borders.

It was in 1877, however, that the first and only Cord combination proper—Series 82 of the Johnson Foundry—appeared. It contained 24 characters, it was displayed over two quarto pages, and was both elaborate and disappointing, Its simplest form is of course the straight cord, and it may be set waved, either with or without knots. It may also be doubled in many ways. Another adaptation, shown in the specimen-book, is a rope-ladder.

This combination has found but little favor. Not only because its artistic merits are low; but on account of the trouble it gives the compositor in justification. For all the waved patterns, and in fact for any design which departs from the straight line, a double row of emerald middle-spaces (1½•) has to be set—first on one side, then on the other, of the waved characters. It is easy enough to pick up the required character; but to set a dozen little spaces sidewise for each piece of border, is a tax on both time and patience. The shading of the border is a mistake. It nearly doubles the number of characters, besides causing trouble to the compositor, who is always liable to invert the pieces. Reversible characters would have been simpler and more satisfactory. There is a general effect of stiffness and inelegance in the whole design, and especially in the rosette corners. The two corners for the single rope—especially the useful little knot on emerald body—are good; but artistically or mechanically, it is not a success.

We will detail some of the points, positive and negative, that a Rope Combination should possess. It should not be shaded on one side, but should be reversible. It should not have fancy rosettes and tassels—they are incongruous in association with a rope or cable. It should have a good variety of the standard knots—if all of them, so much the better. Any good nautical textbook has accurate diagrams of the principal knots, which are full of artistic suggestions. Instead of the fancy rosette at the corner, the rope might be reeved round a ring or eye. From the pendent cord, as a finishing-piece, a block with hook would be appropriate. It should be so arranged as to justify without the aid of thin spaces laid sidewise. The outline of the cord should not be a straight line, which has a painfully stiff appearance, but waved, the strands being distinctly marked, as in the case of Caslon's Banner. Should the characters multiply to an inconvenient extent, the combination might be split up into sections. When a cord border fulfilling these conditions makes its appearance, it will be one of the most popular combinations in the market.