АЛФАВИТ. Портреты, люди и звери в старинных каллиграфических буквах

СТАРИННЫЕ АЛФАВИТЫ.

'A Booke of Diverse Devices and Sorts of Pictures With the Alphabets of Letters.. (created: 1585-1598, 1622) by Thomas Fella и портреты в буквах 17-18 веков.








Bust portrait of William III and Mary in state robes, in two ovals facing towards each other, printed within calligraphic flourishes; a cutting of the top left corner from a official legal document. 1690s Engraving printed from a single plate on vellum" by William Elder.



"Bust portrait of Queen Anne in state robes, with hair piled high, in an oval, printed within calligraphic flourishes; a cutting of the top left corner from a official legal document. 1704/14 Engraving printed from a single plate on vellum" (Anonymous).


Bust portrait of Charles I in state robes
Bust portrait of [King] Charles I in state robes, with garter chain, in an oval facing right, printed within calligraphic flourishes; a cutting of the top left corner from a official legal document. 1630s Engraving printed from a single plate on vellum with some colouring" (Anonymous).

Bust portrait of William III in state robes

Bust portrait of William III in state robes (a)
Bust portrait of William III in state robes, with garter chain, in an oval facing left, printed within a second plate with calligraphic flourishes; a cutting of the top left corner from a official legal document. 1690s Engraving printed from two plates on vellum" (Anonymous).



Portrait of Charles II in penmanship (Sneddon)
Portrait of Charles II in penmanship, drawn in an oval with calligraphic flourishes on all sides, printed on the Thames in the Frost Fair of 1684 Engraving"
The bust of Charles is composed of calligraphic flourishes. John Seddon was the leading calligrapher of the time, and master of Sir John Johnson's Free Writing School in Priest's Court, Foster Lane. His portrait was drawn by William Faithorne (Vertue I 140), and was engraved by John Sturt as the frontispiece for his copy-books, such as 'The Ingenious youth's companion' of c.1690 and 'The pen-man's paradise' of c.1695.



These were engraved after his work by others. This print declares that it was the first plate he engraved himself, and it probably remained the only one."


Bust portrait of Charles II in state robes


Bust portrait of Charles II in state robes

Bust portrait of [King] Charles II in state robes, with garter chain, in an oval, printed within a second plate with calligraphic flourishes; a cutting of the top left corner from a official legal document. 1660s Engraving printed from two plates on vellum" (Anonymous).

'Jean Guttenberg de Mayence Inventeur de l"Imprimerie. 1436 à Strasbourg'
[Johannes Gutenberg of Mainz, inventor of the Printing Press]
"Lithograph. Portrait by Simon fils [c. 1836], calligraphic border executed by Ald. Berliner. Printed on wove paper
All but the last of the above images were found in the marvellous British Museum Prints Database.
http://bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/2008/04/calligraphy-portraits.html

------------БУКВЫ-ЛИЦА-ЛЮДИ-ЗВЕРИ----------A Booke of Diverse Devices ---------------------


Thomas Fella






















The images above come from the amazing 'A Booke of Diverse Devices and Sorts of Pictures With the Alphabets of Letters..' [Shelfmark V.a. 311.] (created: 1585-1598, 1622) by Thomas Fella (d. 1637).

There is very very little background information available online about this remarkable pen and ink manuscript. Thomas Fella was born at Bramfield, near Halesworth, in Suffolk and was a successful draper and merchant and an "enthusiastic writer and artist who has left two historically important manuscripts with unique and fascinating illustrations.[..] One manuscript is deposited in the Lowestoft Record Office and the other is in America."

Described, at times, as a commonplace book (and also as an emblem book), some of the illustrations - shearing/rural scenes - appear in histories recording agricultural practices in Elizabethan times. Fella created the manuscript as some sort of private instructional or devotional work, combining religious or didactic verse*, idiosyncratic 'natural history' sketches, highly decorative - and likely copied - historiated alphabet letters, with occasional dedications to Queen Elizabeth I. It is a most extraordinary document, without precedent that I can recall offhand.

Еще очень интересные каллиграфические люди и звери: http://marinni.livejournal.com/260212.html

http://www.folger.edu/imgdtl.cfm?imageid=3437&cid=3077
http://bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/2009/03/booke-of-diverse-devices.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bibliodyssey/sets/72157604692086046/