Another important part of book decoration is the initial letter. As mentioned in the previous chapter on the illumination of the printed book, these should be of the Roman type. Gothic initials should never be employed with modern type. Above all, the initial letter should always be distinct. A puzzle is all right in its place, but this is not the place for it.
In [Fig. 52] some examples are given of bad forms for the student to avoid. It would have been easy to have filled quite a large number of pages with letters of this character. The letter A shown here is a type of initial that was very familiar in books about fifty years ago. Occasionally one sees it now, but not often. Most of these bad forms arise from a misconception as to the nature of the letter. A letter is simply a sign intended to convey a meaning to the reader; there is no reason why it should pretend to be something else. The sign may certainly be a thing of beauty, but surely making it look as if it is formed with branches like a rustic bridge is not making it beautiful.
Another bad type of letter is shown in the initial B. This form of letter is largely used by sign-writers even in the present day. In this case the letter is apparently conceived as a solid block, which is drawn in false perspective so that it may throw a meaningless shadow.
Types of Initials to avoid.
Fig. 52.
Sometimes the surface of the letter is broken up, as in the letter C. In the case of a stencilled letter, breaking the surface of the letter is, of course, unavoidable (although even in this case it would not be broken up like this example), but for a printed letter, where there is no necessity, it is extremely foolish.
The other C is another example sometimes seen, formed with a coil of rope.
