Design in Typography
LIII.
The Cartouche Border.

Evolution of typographical designs does not proceed in direct lines, and the germs of the fine « Cartouche » border, brought out four or five years ago by Schelter & Giesecke, may be found not only in the various curtain and drapery designs already described, but possibly also in the rough and inartistic « Ragged-edge » combination of the Cleveland Foundry, which is not in any sense a drapery design, but is merely intended to represent a torn and frayed sheet of paper, with holes (or blots on the surface—for either interpretation may be placed on certain characters.) With this design, the Cartouche has just two points in common—four or five of its smaller characters represent a torn edge, and the design is enforced by a solid background. The German combination, which is both artistic and ingenious, contains 36 characters, as shown below. Considerable care is necessary in composing this border, as certain sorts can only be properly used at the top and bottom, and others are specially designed for the sides. Those intended for the sides are set vertically in our synopsis; though some may be used interchangeably for side or foot.

There is in this design a happy blending of the realistic and conventional. The general effect is that of a curtain, a pole at the top sustaining its weight. The scrolled ornaments at sides and corners are conventionalized in heraldic style, and the foliage introduced to relieve otherwise stiff portions of the design, is entirely conventional. The border is almost too heavy for black printing; but in color or gold, with an outside finish of plain rule or heavy border, it presents a very fine appearance. The designer had to contend with the difficulty which arises in every design of the curtain order—the creases and folds running from sides and corners towards the centre. He has dealt with this problem in an original and very successful manner. Instead of the deep and strong folds characteristic of the Drapery and Arcade designs, which are cut off abruptly and awkwardly, leaving a very unfinished appearance, the wrinkles in the Cartouche are confined to small puckerings along the whole edge, which are softened off in a very natural manner. An illustration on a small scale cannot do justice to the design, which is seen to best advantage on a quarto page.

Soon after its appearance, the success of the design induced the founders to produce it for two printings, the solid ground for one color, and the design for the other. This latter series worked by itself in black, has a very light and pretty effect; and when the ground is added in color, is exceedingly rich.

The « Ragged-edge » already referred to, is not a combination of so much importance that we are likely to revert to it, especially as we described it on its first appearance. We may note that it seems to have suggested the design No. 98 of the Johnson Foundry—a decided improvement, the solid ground being replaced by very pretty ornamental groundwork. But we have no pleasure in ragged patterns, and we consider the « stipple » letter and ornaments, and the three corresponding borders to belong to a retrogressive movement in type-patterns. The Ragged-edge and the Cartouche may fairly stand as typical respectively of some of the latest American and Continental methods of design, and the comparison is all in favor of the German combination.