The first Italic type letter was derived, it is said, from the handwriting of Petrarch, and several admirable examples of the style, variously treated, have come down to us. As far as construction goes Italic is, theoretically, only the exact Roman form sloped, and with such changes as are necessitated by the sloping of the letters. Practically, however, it will be found that certain alterations in the outlines of the Roman letters must be made after giving them a slope in order to adapt them to their new requirements of inter-juxtaposition; and, by a reflex action, when words in Italic capitals are used in the same panel with upright Roman letters, certain variations must be made in the latter, such as accenting the Roman O in the same fashion as the Italic O is accented, an altered treatment of serifs, and other changes in detail.
The Script form of letter was developed out of the running or writing hand, and still retains a cursive tendency in the linking together of its letters; although in some forms it so closely approximates to Italic as to be almost
indistinguishable from it. Script lettering came into its greatest vogue during the Georgian period in England and at the same time in France; and was extensively employed, usually in conjunction with the upright Roman, in carved panels of stone or wood, and in engraving. The Script forms are well worthy of the attention of modern designers since they offer unusual opportunities for freedom and individuality of treatment; and because of this vitality and adaptility to modern uses the present chapter will be devoted largely to the illustration of Script examples.
The old Spanish and Italian writing-books (referred to in a previous chapter), which in a measure took the place filled so much less artistically to-day by our modern school copybooks, contain many specimens of beautiful Script, both capitals and small letters. Figures [193] to [196] show pages from such books published in Spain.
