Lettering in the 'Age of Ugliness'

A flood of primarily lithographic lettering artists' model books came on the market beginning in the 1830s. This article gives the first overview of what has been published in the Netherlands during the nineteenth century in this genre. It emphasizes model books for drawn lettering rather than writing. Publications of this sort were important not only for lithographers, but also for sign painters, letter cutters and others who were active professionally with lettering. The Dutch lettering model books leaned heavily on foreign examples, even if a few designers displayed a more individual, natio... Mehr ...