DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.28460#0146
124
Early German ancl Flemish Woodcuts. — Part I.
A 131.
GROTESQUE ALPHABET, 1464.
Sclir. 1998. W.—D 21
The coraplete Alphabet should consist, as is proved hy the copies, of 23 letters
(omitting J, U, and W), followed hy a design of ornamental foliage. In the present
example, the only one known to exist, the letter S is wanting entirely, whilst of A, T,
and Y only fragments remain. In several of the letters the border is imperfect, but H
is the only other case in which any portion of the letter itself is lost.
Each letter is surrounded by a frame of which the outer portion is supposed to be
flat and seen only from the front, while the inner portion recedes, and is drawn in per-
spective from the right, being shaded in every case at the top and on the left side. The
groups of flgures which form the letters are supposed to stand out in relief within the
recess of the frame, but they occasionally come so far forward as to pass the inner limits
of the frame, and appear against its outer surface. Occasionally, as in F and I, the
figures appear to be actuallv standing on the lower cross-bar of the frame; they are
more often raised above it, standing apparently on nothing. The background in every
case is left white, and there is nothing to indicate that the back of the frame is filled
in. A similar frame, drawn in perspective from the left, surrounds the illustrations of
the editio princeps of the “ Ars Moriendi,” but in that work the figures always remain
set back behind the frame. The ornament at the end of the alphabet has a double
border, not drawn in perspective but regarded as flat.
The average dimensions of the letters, measured from the outer lines of the frame
are 117 x 9075 mm.
The dimensions of the several letters (omitting the fragments) are as foilows :—
B.
118
X
90
G.
115
X
90
M.
117
X
90
R.
115
X
91
C.
117
X
90
H.
115
X
90
N.
119
X
93
X.
119
X
90
D.
117
X
93
I.
116
X
90
O.
119
X
90
Y.
117
X
90
E.
116
X
91
Iv.
117
X
90
P.
120
X
90
Z.
117
X
90
F.
115
X
91
L.
117
X
91
Q.
119
X
93
Ornament. 116
X
91
Before the sheets were cut up tlnre appears to have been an interval of 20 mm.
between each row of letters. This interval was divided, half-way across, by a single
horizontal line, and it was along this line, sometimes including it on one side or the
otlier, sometimes cutting exactly through it, tliat the letters were cut off. Those letters
accordingly, which are hounded either at the top or the bottom by this line, accordingly
as they originally stood above or below it, have a margin in that direction of 9-11 mm.,
whilst in the other direction, towards the outside of the sheet, the margin amounts to
as much as 20 mm. No letter has a margin of more than 6 mm. (usually 3-4 mm.) at
the side, so it is possible that the letters were placed close to one another within the
row. Idowever, as those letters whicli seem to have stood at the end of each slieet
have no more margin than the rest, it may be that they were cut closer at the sides
than at the top and bottom, and that the interval was originally larger.
Thereconstruclion of the three original sheetsliy Sotheby (“Principia Typographica,”
i, 122) in a diagram which is repeated by Willshire (“ Descriptive Catalogue,” i, 208) is
no doubt correct. It is based upon the position of the watermark, an inverted anchor
with a cross over it, which occurs three times on tlie paper of the alphabet. The upper
portion appears in the letters (A, now lost) E and I; the lower portion iu the letters
N, R and X. Each pair of ietters thus indicated would have formed tlie left-hand
portion of one of the three sheets. When the three sheets were joined together, end to
end, the wiiole alphabet would have run consecutively iu two rows, from A to M and
from N to Z. Tliere are two pieces of strong contirmatory evidence for this reconstruc-
tion, wliich were overlooked by Sotlieby and (in part) by Willshire:—
1. The first part of the alphabet, A-M, the upper portion of the three sheets in
Sotheby’s scheme, Jias in fact its wide margin at tlie top, and is bounded at the bottom
by the line of partition, while the letters N-Z and the ornament, forming the lower portion
of the three sheets, have their wide margin towards tlie bottom, and are bounded at the
top by the line of partition. It will always be found that where a letter which Sotheby
place's in the top row carries this line of partition witli it, the letter which should come
underneath has in fact a narrower margin, cut short of this line. This can be seen most
clearly in tlie last slieet; the letters I K L have more tlian their fair share of margin,
including the wliole of tlre line, and the letters X Y Z proportionately less, whereas iu
the case of M, while the greater part of the line goes with that letter, a thin strip of it
may be seen above the ornament.
Early German ancl Flemish Woodcuts. — Part I.
A 131.
GROTESQUE ALPHABET, 1464.
Sclir. 1998. W.—D 21
The coraplete Alphabet should consist, as is proved hy the copies, of 23 letters
(omitting J, U, and W), followed hy a design of ornamental foliage. In the present
example, the only one known to exist, the letter S is wanting entirely, whilst of A, T,
and Y only fragments remain. In several of the letters the border is imperfect, but H
is the only other case in which any portion of the letter itself is lost.
Each letter is surrounded by a frame of which the outer portion is supposed to be
flat and seen only from the front, while the inner portion recedes, and is drawn in per-
spective from the right, being shaded in every case at the top and on the left side. The
groups of flgures which form the letters are supposed to stand out in relief within the
recess of the frame, but they occasionally come so far forward as to pass the inner limits
of the frame, and appear against its outer surface. Occasionally, as in F and I, the
figures appear to be actuallv standing on the lower cross-bar of the frame; they are
more often raised above it, standing apparently on nothing. The background in every
case is left white, and there is nothing to indicate that the back of the frame is filled
in. A similar frame, drawn in perspective from the left, surrounds the illustrations of
the editio princeps of the “ Ars Moriendi,” but in that work the figures always remain
set back behind the frame. The ornament at the end of the alphabet has a double
border, not drawn in perspective but regarded as flat.
The average dimensions of the letters, measured from the outer lines of the frame
are 117 x 9075 mm.
The dimensions of the several letters (omitting the fragments) are as foilows :—
B.
118
X
90
G.
115
X
90
M.
117
X
90
R.
115
X
91
C.
117
X
90
H.
115
X
90
N.
119
X
93
X.
119
X
90
D.
117
X
93
I.
116
X
90
O.
119
X
90
Y.
117
X
90
E.
116
X
91
Iv.
117
X
90
P.
120
X
90
Z.
117
X
90
F.
115
X
91
L.
117
X
91
Q.
119
X
93
Ornament. 116
X
91
Before the sheets were cut up tlnre appears to have been an interval of 20 mm.
between each row of letters. This interval was divided, half-way across, by a single
horizontal line, and it was along this line, sometimes including it on one side or the
otlier, sometimes cutting exactly through it, tliat the letters were cut off. Those letters
accordingly, which are hounded either at the top or the bottom by this line, accordingly
as they originally stood above or below it, have a margin in that direction of 9-11 mm.,
whilst in the other direction, towards the outside of the sheet, the margin amounts to
as much as 20 mm. No letter has a margin of more than 6 mm. (usually 3-4 mm.) at
the side, so it is possible that the letters were placed close to one another within the
row. Idowever, as those letters whicli seem to have stood at the end of each slieet
have no more margin than the rest, it may be that they were cut closer at the sides
than at the top and bottom, and that the interval was originally larger.
Thereconstruclion of the three original sheetsliy Sotheby (“Principia Typographica,”
i, 122) in a diagram which is repeated by Willshire (“ Descriptive Catalogue,” i, 208) is
no doubt correct. It is based upon the position of the watermark, an inverted anchor
with a cross over it, which occurs three times on tlie paper of the alphabet. The upper
portion appears in the letters (A, now lost) E and I; the lower portion iu the letters
N, R and X. Each pair of ietters thus indicated would have formed tlie left-hand
portion of one of the three sheets. When the three sheets were joined together, end to
end, the wiiole alphabet would have run consecutively iu two rows, from A to M and
from N to Z. Tliere are two pieces of strong contirmatory evidence for this reconstruc-
tion, wliich were overlooked by Sotlieby and (in part) by Willshire:—
1. The first part of the alphabet, A-M, the upper portion of the three sheets in
Sotheby’s scheme, Jias in fact its wide margin at tlie top, and is bounded at the bottom
by the line of partition, while the letters N-Z and the ornament, forming the lower portion
of the three sheets, have their wide margin towards tlie bottom, and are bounded at the
top by the line of partition. It will always be found that where a letter which Sotheby
place's in the top row carries this line of partition witli it, the letter which should come
underneath has in fact a narrower margin, cut short of this line. This can be seen most
clearly in tlie last slieet; the letters I K L have more tlian their fair share of margin,
including the wliole of tlre line, and the letters X Y Z proportionately less, whereas iu
the case of M, while the greater part of the line goes with that letter, a thin strip of it
may be seen above the ornament.