The lettering on lithographed music title pages of the

nineteenth century

Bart Blubaugh

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the

Master of Arts in Typeface Design, University of Reading, 2003

Fig. i. T. Bonheur, Cloudland (London: 1880s). Colour lithograph [publisher missing] 243 x 336 mm.

Abstract

Three groups into which the lettering on lithographed music title

pages can be separated are lettering that acts as an object within

the picture, lettering that exists without any picture, and lettering

that is ornamental without being representational. Drawn lettering

on lithographed music title pages of the nineteenth century first

imitates that seen on engraved music title pages. One artist who

freel experimented primarily with lettering on music title pages is

T.W. Lee. Rustic lettering used by Victorian illustrators is copied

by lithographers, and leads to further variations of the Rustic

letter. Ornamental typefaces influence and are influenced by the

designs of lettering used on these title pages. The advent of colour

lithography allows further experiment of how letters are presented

. Lithography also influences letterpress printing, particularly

the Artistic Printing movement. Artistic printing is marked by

an increase in ornament combined with type, and especially an

abundance of rules to separate elements.

2INTRODUCTION

Lithographed title pages for sheet music of the nineteenth century

exhibit a variety of expressive lettering unparalleled by other

graphic arts techniques. Investigating various influences on the

artists and delineators who created this lettering may help bring to

light this lettering developed

There are three basic categories of lettering. One: lettering that

is represented as if it were an object within the picture included on

the title page. The lettering may be covered with snow and icicles

within a winter scene, or falling from the sky as if pieces from a

toppled building. Two: lettering that is alone on the title page.

This lettering may simply be a drawn imitation of an ornamental

typeface, or it may be more decorative. It may exhibit the traits

of a three dimensional object existing in perspective and casting

a shadow. Three: lettering that is purely decorative in nature, and

not imitative of anything existing in nature, including ornamental

typefaces.

The earliest lithographed music title pages imitated the design

pattern developed for engraving, using the copperplate script

and calligraphic flourishes in tandem with a vignette. Eventually

lithographic artists break out of this mould and the artist

freely invents lettering associated only with the tools used for

lithography. One artist who explored a variety of lettering styles

was T.W. Lee.

Illustrators whose worked was reproduced with wood engraving

experimented with a kind of lettering grown from twigs and

branches. This Rustic lettering would also influence ornamental

typefaces. Rustic lettering was popular during the nineteenth

century, and it was used frequently in lithographed music title

pages. Branches or tree trunks could be bent, cut or grown to

form lettering unique to one single title page, unlike the Rustic

typefaces. Variations developed from this kind of lettering,

becoming flat instead of having form and shadow, acting more like

lightening than wood, as well as having carefully formed serifs.

Ornamented typefaces either provide material for the

lithographic artists to use, or they imitate the work of

lithographers. Tuscan, perspective, rustics, and Latin-Runics,

among other nineteenth century ornamented types, are all visible in

these lithographed title pages.

Lithography allowed word and picture to combine differently

than previous graphic arts processes, and colour lithography

offered even more opportunity for experiment to the lithographers.

3Colour was used in new ways to create visual interest and

relationships between the lettering and the picture. Letterpress

printing styles also followed lithographys lead, particularly in

Artistic Printing toward the last decades of the century.

Victorian book designers who experimented with lettering they

found in medieval manuscripts were influential to the lithographed

lettering of music title pages. Artists such as H.N. Humphreys, who

imitated Rustic lettering in his beautifully, illustrated gift books.

4CHAPTER 1

Nomenclature

There are two categories of nineteenth century English illustrated

music title pages, as defined by one author. One category includes

title pages that are ornamental or decorative in their design. These

cover designs do not often provide descriptive illustration of the

musics subject, but only a nice decoration that may be enticing

to a potential buyer. In general, this type of title page is for

serious music. The other category is pictorial, with imagery that is

representational and illustrative of the subject of the music. These

title pages use imagery that relates in some way to the music itself,

such as a scene describing the song, or a musical instrument. The

author who describes these two categories writes the true pictorial

music title page always owes its design to the nature of the music:

in decorative title pages, the connexion is of the slightest, if indeed

it exists at all (King 1950, p 263).

These two methods of defining title pages are adequate for

looking at the entire design: picture with words and decoration

with words. To categorize only the styles of lettering, the ways

in which the words are drawn, can result in a number of possible

definitions. Separating the display lettering of music title pages

into groups may provide an easier way of following the possible

influences on this type of lettering. In one group, the word is

1.1. L. Stern, The Catastrophe Galop (London: c. 1860). Colour lithograph [London: Augener & Co.] 255 x 331 mm.

1.2. W.T. Wrighton, The Wishing Cap (London: c. 1860). Colour lithograph [London: Robert Cocks & Co.] 250 x 349 mm.

5integrated into the image so that the letters become objects

subject to the environment of the cover illustration (fig. 1.1). These

letters may be involved in the illustrations drama in some way, or

they may be merely providing the verbal message while keeping a

distance from the focal point of the illustration, yet still affected by

the natural laws at work in the picture (fig. 1.2).

Another group includes the title pages that have lettering only

and no illustration. Sometimes the lettering is clearly imitating an

existing single typeface or category of typeface design (fig. 1.3,

1.4). Compare the top line of lettering in figure 1.4a with the two

line Tuscan typeface in figure 1.4b. Within this category are also

title pages with lettering that becomes a kind of illustration. Some

of these illustrated letters provide an interpretation of the meaning

of the words displayed (fig. 1.5). Others simply provide lettering

that steps out of the normal two dimensional plane writing is

accustomed to and perform as an illustration, although not an

illustration that provides any clues as to the content of the music

inside (fig. 1.6).

Another group contains lettering that is primarily decorative,

whether a picture is included or not (fig. 1.7, 1.8). This lettering

may be expressive of a mood or atmosphere, but it is separate

from any illustration present or it is not acting as a picture if there

is no other image.

1.3.. J. Pridham, Yorkshire bells (London: c. 1875). Lithograph [London: Brewer & Co].

1.4a. E. Waldteufel, Pluie dor valse (London: c. 1800s). Colour lithograph [London: Hopwood & Crew] 256 x 341 mm.

1.4b. English two-line Tuscan, Alexander Wilson & Sons 1843 (Gray, 1976, fig. 98).

61.5. A.P. Wyman, Silvery waves (c. 1800s). Lithograph [Reading: W. Hickie] 265 x 362 mm.

1.6. Calcott, All the rage (London: 1860s). Colour lithograph [London: Cramer & Co.] 255 x 348 mm.

1.7. P. Bucalosi, The Gondoliers (London: after 1857). Lithograph [London: Chappell & Co.] 240 x 330 mm.

1.8. O. Roeder, Fairy tales waltz (London: c. 1800s). Colour lithograph [London: Enoch & Sons] 254 x 337 mm.

7Among all these groups are letterforms imitative of typefaces.

Others go beyond mere type forms to become something not

available in metal or wood.

The earliest lithographed music title pages imitated the layout

form developed for engraving, which was typically English or

copperplate script with a word or two in caps, the whole thing held

together with calligraphic flourishes (Twyman 1996). The tools

for engraving were a graver that the artist would use to dig away

the surface of the plate, made of copper or other metal. For the

lithographic process, the tools held by the lettering specialist are

now a wax crayon or a steel pen or fine brush loaded with ink. The

surface is a smooth, polished stone.

Images become more important to the layout, possibly because

of the competition of increasingly popular music. Lettering also

becomes more fanciful. Mechanical type-making methods are

introduced late in the third decade and ornamental typefaces

become more prolific. This provides lettering artists with a greater

variety of letterforms to draw upon for inspiration and imitation

(Pearsall).

These title pages show lettering that is integrated into the

picture in a new way. Engraved music title pages demonstrate

considerable skill in combining calligraphic letterforms and

1.9. Jullien, lEcho du Mont Blanc (London: c. 1850s). Colour lithograph [London: Jullien & Co.] 239 x 328 mm.

1.10. A. Keller, Mistletoe galop (London: after 1849 ). Colour lithograph [London: Brewer & Co.] 264 x 363 mm.

1.11. M. Lindsay, When sparrows build, (London: c. 1895). Lithograph [London:Robert Cocks & Co.] 245 x 330 mm.

81.12. C. Coote Jr., Go Bang Galop (London: c. 1880). Colour lithograph [London: Ashdown & Parry] 240 x 324 mm.

91.13. Cotton polka (London: c. 1880). Colour lithograph [London: T. Broome] 235 x 310 mm.

10

flourishing with images, but they also follow an established pattern

of lettering and layout (Twyman 1996). Lithographed music title

pages go beyond that pattern into a new realm. The lettering may

still be separated from the image by some distance, but it now acts

as an object suspended in the space of the image. Snow piling on

top and icicles hanging from the bottoms of the letters become a

common element for winter scenes (figs. 1.9, 1.10).

In the second half of the century, images conquer the entire

title page. The picture is the most important element, and it is now

covering the entire page bleeding off on all the edges.

Towards the end of the century, lettering becomes dominant

again, and ornament replaces representational images.

Most of the lettering artists are not know to us. There is little

material available to trace their footsteps. The production staffs

of the music printing industry, which may have included lettering

specialists, are commonly called delineators in early twentieth

century literature on music title pages. In Imesons book for

collectors, he writes, Many of the music-title delineators were the

mere journeymen of art, though their work may lack neither merit

nor interest. Little is known concerning them. Mostly Bohemian in

their habits they were hardly the men likely to leave much in the

way of written records. They lived freely and had their day then

1.15. C. Coote Jr., The Eclipse Galop (London: 1865). Colour lithograph [London: Hopwood & Crew] 250 x 347 mm.

1.16. Rosalind, Try Again (London: c. 1867). Colour lithograph [London: Hopwood & Crew] 247 x 338 mm.

1.14. Twelve lines Perspective, Bower & Bacon 1837 (Gray 1976, fig. 79).

11

passed into oblivion (Imeson, 1912).

One artist about whom some information is available is Thomas

Wales Lee (1833-1910). Lee worked with another artist, highly

regarded by collectors of music-title pages, Alfred Concanen. Lees

covers rely heavily on creating visual interest through fanciful

treatment of the words on the page. Able to take advantage of

chromolithography, Lee used colour to create letters that imitated

perspective ornamented typefaces, or he created lettering that

would bend and bow unlike anything available in metal or wood

type.

Lees lettering is the kind of letterform that becomes an object,

but not an object that necessarily conveys a semantic meaning

related to the words those letters form. Figures 1.15 and 1.16 show

covers by Lee from about 1865. Some lettering clearly imitates the

perspective letters available in metal since a few decades previous

(fig. 1.14), while other letters mimic a flexible material that has

been tacked to the surface of the title page.

By the frequency of different music title pages that use this

similar style, it is possible that this peculiar treatment of the letters

was particularly popular among the music publishers whom Lee

worked for, and that Lee was known for it.

1.18. C. Coote Jr., Roulette Galop (London: 1860s). Color litho-graph [London: Hopwood & Crew] 264 x 367 mm.

1.19. W.H. Callcot, Rock of ages (London: c. 1870). Lithograph [publisher missing] 215 x 282 mm.

12

Lee worked with several music title-page artists, whose work

is highly collectable, including T. Packer and A. Concanen. He

was sought after for his fancy letter style of decorative lettering

on title pages, and was given the name fancy-title Lee by his

colleagues (Imeson 1912).

13

CHAPTER 2

Contemporary Letter Design

The Landscape Alphabet, published between 1830-31, is an

alphabet book in which each illustrated letter is built from elements

in a landscape, such as trees, foliage, and architectural ruins. It was

lithographed by the early English lithographer Charles Hullmandel.

The idea is linked to the Picturesque art movement. This was

the English taste for vignettes of landscape scenes depicting

popular subjects such as gothic ruins. The Landscape Alphabet

is exactly this, with 26 vignettes of gothic ruins or vegetation

contorted into the shape of each letter in the alphabet. It may have

been influenced by an aquatint from the title page of an 1812

book, The Tour of Doctor Syntax, in Search of the Picturesque. A

Poem. This poem poked fun at the ideas of the Picturesque itself,

and the title page depicted a few letters formed from elements

within a landscape (Twyman 1987).

2.1. J. Ruskin, The King of the golden river (Sunnyside: 1888). Lithograph [Sunnyside: George Allen].

14

Artists using objects from nature to create letterforms for title

pages and illustration continued into the development of the Rustic

typeface. The Rustic typeface is based on a simple formula: bend,

prune and chop trees, branches and twigs into the shape of each

letter in the alphabet. Richard Doyles title page for Ruskins The

King of the golden river is an example of engraved lettering which

influenced the Rustic style of typeface (fig. 2.1).

Engravers working in wood pioneered the rustic letterform, and

then typeface manufacturers cut it into wood and metal type (Gray,

1976). Victorian illustrators Doyle and Henry Noel Humphreys both

created rustic letterforms.

Rustic lettering, and variations derived from it, appears

frequently in music title pages (fig. 2.22.9). It was certainly

popular, and must have offered lithographic artists an acceptable

formula for creating lettering that would gather attention. It also

continued to be used late into the nineteenth century (fig. 2.3).

Rustic lettering has influenced a number of variations, from

the most representational and detailed lettering (fig. 2.4), to the

more quickly rendered lettering of Jules Chert (fig. 2.5). Cherts

lettering captures the essence of rustic forms, and blends into

the image, allowing the illustration to take the most prominent

place. Other rustic derivatives hint at sticks with twig-like growths

2.2. C. Marriott, The urchin schottische (London: c. 1860). Litho-graph [London: Addison, Hollier & Lucas] 336 x 255 mm.

2.3. T. Bonheur, High jinks quadrilles (London: 1890s). Colour lithograph [publisher cropped] 331 x 230 mm.

15

2.6. C. DAlbert, Rip Van Winkle lancers (London: 1880s). Colour lithograph [publisher missing] 236 x 331 mm.

2.7. C.H.R. Marriott, Leap for life (London: c. 1871). Colour lithograph [London: Cramer Wood & Co, Lamborn Cock & Co.] 221 x 358 mm.

2.5. J.P. Clark, The witches own galop (London: 1880s). Colour lithograph [London: Cramer & Co.] 349 x 255 mm.

2.4. M. Hobson, The sunflower schottische (London: c. 1800s). Colour lithograph [London: Hopwood & Crew] 363 x 268 mm.

16

protruding from the letterforms, all of it flattened instead of using

form and shadow (fig. 2.6, 2.7).

Rustic typefaces begin to appear in the specimen books in the

1840s (Gray, 1976; Twyman, 1987). Typefaces can only offer a

limited number of letter shapes, and repeating letters in word or

line must then look alike. Shadows and shadow outlines are added,

as well as vertical serifs (fig. 2.2). Lithographic artists are able to

transform their lettering into multiple shapes, each one unique in 2.4b. Two-line pica rustic no. 1. Figgins c. 1846 (Gray 1976, fig. 88).

2.8. W. Macfarlane, Echoes from the pantomime, Babes in the wood quadrille (1877). Colour lithograph [publisher missing] 240 x 335 mm.

2.9b J.F. Mitchell Gilhooleys supper-party (London: c. 1880s). Lithograph [London: Francis Bros. & Day] 238 x 338 mm.

2.9a. J.F. Mitchell Gilhooleys supper-party (London: c. 1880s). Lithograph [London: Francis Bros. & Day] 238 x 338 mm.

2.4a. Three lines long primer rustic, two-line small pica rustic. Figgins, 1845 (Gray 1976, figs. 86, 87).

17

its appearance, as well as create an envelope to shape an entire line

or word appropriate to the frame devised for the title-page.

Similar expressive lettering found in Doyles illustrations for

The King of the Golden River is that used for the calling card of one

of the books characters (fig. 2.2). The Victorian illustrator George

Cruickshank (Phiz), who also illustrated a few music title pages,

uses a similarly expressive letter on the cover of Better late than

never! (fig. 2.3).

Cruickshanks lettering, with its overlapping of outlined

strokes, bears similarities with the kind of sign-writing described

by Callingham in his 1871 book Sign writing and glass embossing.

Callingham provides an exercise for the sign-writer apprentice. An

example of the word LAND is shown with drawn letterforms that

overlap in places. The student is to use this lettering as an example

and to create an entire alphabet that will match the example given

(Callingham 1871).

2.10. J. Ruskin, The King of the golden river (Sunnyside: 1888). Lithograph [Sun-nyside: George Allen].

2.11. C. Glover, Better late than never! (London: c. 1860). Colour lithograph [London: Addison, Hollier & Lucas] 214 x 328 mm.

18

Ornamented typefaces often either mimicked or influenced the

lettering in lithographed music title pages. A number of authors

suggest that nineteenth century type designers looked toward

the lettering of lithography and sign writing for their designs

(Callingham 1871, Gray 1976). Ray Nash (Gray, 1976) provides

a quote from the Electrotype Journal of July, 1874 indicating the

influence lithographic lettering had on type design in the USA:

Many and strenuous efforts have been made in late years by

artistic printers to reproduce in certain contingencies the graceful

effects of lithography. These efforts have been largely seconded

on the part of type founders and others by the introduction of

beautiful arrays of script and ornamental type, graceful brass and

metal flourishes, brass curves, and other devices (Gray 1976, p

122).

One form of ornamented typeface from the Victorian era is the

Tuscan. Serifs that split the stroke at the terminals mark the Tuscan

letter. In addition, a bulge, pointed or not, is sometimes added to

the center of the letter. The typeface examples in figure 2.12 are

2.13. W. Keller, The Czars marche (London: 1880s). Colour lithograph [London: Brewer & Co.] 225 x 344 mm.

2.14. A.S.E. Rae, The America (London: 1851). Lithograph [Lon-don: C. Lonsdale] 229 x 312 mm.

2.12. Three-line pica Lord Mayor and Pretty Face, Woods Typographical Advertiser, 1862 (Gray 1976, figs. 139, 137).

19

both from 1862 (see also figure 1.4b), but the Tuscan style appears

throughout the nineteenth century (Gray 1976).

The Czars March (fig. 2.13) shows a clear Tuscan letterform,

the vertical strokes becoming two separate lines splitting once

in the center of the letters to form a diamond shaped opening,

and again at the terminals. The America (fig. 2.14) title page

2.16b. J. Coward, Romah waltz (London: 1870s). Colour lithograph [London: Charles Seaton] 241 x 338 mm.

2.15. Five lines and four lines Latin condensed, Stephenson Blake c. 1875 (Gray 1976, fig. 163).

2.16a. J. Coward, Romah waltz (London: 1870s). Colour litho-graph [London: Charles Seaton] 241 x 338 mm.

2.17. A.E. Godfrey, The Piccaninnies (London: c. 1895). Colour lithograph [London: Robert Cocks & Co.] 228 x 322 mm.

20

shows Tuscan inspired lozenge in the center, but with a sans-serif

terminal. This example is from 1851.

Another variety of ornamented typeface seen in music title

pages is the Latin-Runic (fig. 2.7). This style is marked by a

triangular or swelling serif ending that has a flat cut across the

stroke terminal, or a concave indent (Ovink 1972).

Romah (fig. 1.16a, 1.16b) is one possible example of the Latin-

Runic family influencing a lithographed letterform. This title page

dates from the 1870s, and the typeface example (fig. 2.15) is from

the Stephenson, Black type specimen of 1875 (Gray 1976).

Towards the end of the century, there are typefaces and

lettering styles that show a calligraphic influence. The typeface

Rhodesian appears in 1895 (fig. 2.18) and Graphic in 1896 (fig.

2.19). The music title page for The Piccaninnies (fig. 2.17) is dated

the same year as Rhodesian. Rhodesian, Graphic and the lettering

for The Piccaninnies all share the swelling of the stroke near the

terminal, where the stroke ends with a smooth cut or a rough edge

as if a thick brush loaded with paint had formed the letter. The

strokes of the letters themselves follow a curving path many times

in places where a straight line is expected.

2.18. Graphic, Stephenson, Blake 1896 (Gray 1976, no. 431).

2.19. Two-line double pica Rhodesian, Figgins 1895 (Gray 1976, fig. 217).

21

CHAPTER 3

Printing techniques & contemporary art movements

Intaglio printing techniques, such as engraving on copperplates,

were used mostly for reproducing imagery. Relief printing, such

as letterpress with wood and metal type, was used primarily for

words. Lithography eventually provided a reproduction process

wherein writing and drawing could be combined more easily than

either of the two other printing techniques, and with the popularity

of sheet music in the nineteenth century, this combining of writing

and image became more important (Twyman, 2001).

Beginning in the 1840s, chromolithography allowed writing to

be integrated into the printing process in ways not evident in other

printing techniques.

Figure 3.1 shows the title Skating Polka stopped out, possibly

with gum arabic, on the stone that carried black ink. A brown tint

was allowed to print in the same area where the black was stopped

out. This allowed an interesting way to achieve lettering in a color

that is lighter in value than the area surrounding it. It creates

enough contrast to allow the title to be read, and it allows the

picture to be the first thing a viewers eyes are drawn to.

Figure 3.2 shows a similar technique, except all the colours

3.2. L.A. Jullien, The cricket polka (London: 1840s). Colour litho-graph [London: ullien] 206 x 299 mm.

3.1. G. Alary, Skating polka (London: 1800s). Colour lithograph [publisher missing] 199 x 298 mm.

22

have been stopped out to allow the lettering to be entirely white. In

accordance with the humorous nature of the image the lettering is

bolder by way of the stark contrast.

In another title page by T. W. Lee, color has been used to give

the lettering the same pattern found on the figure (fig. 3.3). The

lettering is filled with the same red and black tartan Rob Roy is

wearing in the illustration.

In figures 3.4 and 3.5 one colour has been used to overprint

another, to take advantage of either transparent ink or space within

the letterforms through which the color underneath is visible.

The decade of the 1840s was an important one for display

lettering. More new ornamented typefaces appear during this

decade than had occurred yet within the nineteenth century (Gray

1976).

3.3. J.H. Tully, New Rob Roy quadrille (London: 18??). Colour lithopgraph [London: Hutchings & Romer] 355 x 255 mm.

23

3.6. A. Macey, Mischief schottische (London: 1800s). Lithograph [London: W.H. Boone] 355 x 265 mm.

3.7. W. Williams, Vivacit lancers (London: 1880s). Colour litho-graph [London: R. Maynard] 339 x 240 mm.

3.4. J. Arnold, Timbres poste polka (London: c. 1875). Colour lithograph [Schott Frres] 337 x 242 mm.

3.5. Kalozdy, The Times galop (London: c. 1853). Colour litho-graph [London: H. Distin] 339 x 250 mm.

24

The Gothic revival has left behind the contrivances of the

picturesque, and become not a style but a language; like scholastic

philosophy, a world in which the mind could freely move (Gray

1976, p 49). It allowed

Gray writes It is a significant point that by 1840 letters had so

far become a medium to the Victorians that they were able to catch

this spirit of the time of passion and fantasy without resorting to

Gothic models; the first new black letter type after 1815 was not till

November 1847 (Gray 1976, p 50).

This is the decade perspective (fig. 1.16) and rustic (see Chapter

2) letters appear, as well as Tuscan (fig. 1.4b, 2.12).

During this time also the Grecian types appear. These are

characterized by cutting off the corners of the letters. The Rounded

is a sans serif with the corners missing, but smoothed into a

semicircle rather than a straight cut (Gray 1976).

3.8. P. Bucalosi, The Mikado lancers (London: 1880s). [London: Chappell & Co.] 338 x 238 mm.

25

Towards the close of the nineteenth century, advances in the

graphic arts gave rise to artistic printing. The jobbing platen and

the point system together provided printers the opportunity to

combine complicated patterns of ornament with type. Artistic

printing also helped them to compete with lithography (Ridler

1948).

Ruskin also encouraged the use of ornament: It seems to

me also that a lovely field of design is open in the treatment

of decorative type not in the mere big initial in which one

cannot find the letter but in the delicate and variably fantastic

ornamentation of capitals and filling of blank spaces or musically-

divided periods and breadths of margin (Ridler, 1948).

In figures 1.7 and 3.5 there are examples of lettering

that becomes very ornamental. Figure 3.6 continues this in

chromolithography. The strokes or serif-like terminals in Vivacit

curl, twist and grow outward. The lettering itself is not confined

to a box as metal type might be. It floats along a moving line, like

something resting on the surface of water.

In the Leicester Free style is an artistic printing formula

that utilizes rules, whether straight, bent or curved, and words

positioned so that they have little relationship to one another. The

use of the rules seems a logical attempt to simulate the kind of

ornament seen in music title pages like figure 3.5.

In the second half of the century, there is also an interest in

things Asian. Lettering like that for The Mikado (fig. 3.6) and

Constantinople (fig. 3.7) is obvious in its attempt to simulate

script other than the Latin alphabet. Ornament becomes not

just decorative, but language. Not a real language that can be

understood by anyone, but an imitation of the kinds of marks used

to form these non-Latin scripts.

26

CHAPTER 4

Influence of Victorian book design

In Ruari McLeans work on books created during the Nineteenth

century in England he makes the following statement: The

enthusiasm for the art of illumination generated by Owen Jones,

Noel Humphries, and their assistants and imitators created a small

body of informed but largely antiquarian taste. It did not have

much influence on the art of lettering as practiced up and down the

country: no artist of originality made lettering his special field or

made any important contribution to formal lettering or type design

in Britain until William Morris, aided by Emery Walker, founded the

Kelmscott Press in 1891 (McLean 1963, p 62).

McLean may not have thought the lettering found on music

sheet covers of enough import to consider how they the work of

Noel Humphreys and Owen Jones could have been influenced their

lettering. The Rustic letters of the Nineteenth century, though, are

certainly linked with a popular interest in medieval illumination,

and therefore with the Victorian books that dealt with the subject.

Rustic lettering, whether freely drawn or made into type, appears

throughout the whole of the century. A style that continues for

such a long period of time should not be brushed aside without

some investigation.

In fact, McLean mentions one connection between popular

music sheets and the more expensive books of antiquarian taste.

John Brandard (1812-63), a lithographic artist who designed many

music sheet covers, worked for the publisher Joseph Cundall on at

least one occasion. Brandard provided the decorative borders for

A Booke of Christmas Carols, published in 1845 (McLean 1963).

Although the lettering was type, it shows that some artists working

for music publishers were also involved with book publishing, and

possibly exposure to the illuminated works of Owen Jones and Noel

Humphreys.

The illuminated books mentioned by McLean are gift books,

commonly of verses from the Bible, with decoration either copied

from or at least inspired by that found in medieval manuscripts.

There were also the books whose designers wished to reproduce

this medieval decoration and did so with varying degrees of

fidelity, but with scholarly intentions (McLean 1963, p 61). Of

the latter category there are books by Henry Shaw, Henry Noel

Humphreys and Owen Jones. McLean provides the most concise

description of each artists work.

Henry Shawwas essentially a scholar and antiquarian; in all

his works he was trying to portray accurately the arts of the past.

27

Owen Jones was a designer, concerned with utilizing the arts of

the past in a scholarly way for the embellishment of the present.

Noel Humphreyswas a popularizer, with an astonishing gift for

absorbing the art of the illuminated manuscriptsand recreating

out of them modern pages which were not direct copies yet were

full of vitality and richness (McLean 1963, p 62).

It is about the fourth decade of the Nineteenth century that

chromolithographed books of medieval illumination begin to

appear in England, and it is about this time that alphabets formed

from vegetation, trees or sticks of wood, such as the rustic

typefaces, begin to appear.

In Noel Humphreys The Poets Pleasaunce (1847) there are

initial capitals which carry the natural scenery of flowers, sticks

and insects found in the borders into the text. The initial caps are

made of the same sticks and leaves found in the border, and even

connect or grow out of those in the border. There are numerous

4.1. C.H.R. Mariot, Champagne Charlie galop (London: c. 1870). Colour lithograph [London: Siebe & Burnett]. 324 x 236 mm.

4.2. J. Pridham, Yorkshire bells (London: c. 1875). Lithograph [London: Brewer & Co].

28

examples of this kind of lettering found in the illuminated

gift books such as in The Miracles of Our Lord (1848), also by

Humphreys, Floriated Ornament (1849) by A.W. Pugin, and the

Victoria Psalter (1861) by Owen Jones.

It is evident that the lettering of these Victorian artists

influenced that used in the music title pages of their century. There

are the most obvious rustic forms shown in chapter 2, but there

are also the forms seen in figure 4.1. The lettering here is flat with

bulbous growths that really do seem like knobs on an old gnarled

tree. Figure 4.2 shows a detail from Yorkshire Bells (fig. 1.3). One

word, not very prominent, yet it follows the same formula as the

title lettering for Champagne Charlie, only now in monoline.

29

CONCLUSION

After leaving the traditions formed by engravers working in copper

and other metals for intaglio printing, lithographers have formed

their own tradition of lettering that. Taking what was advantageous

from engravers, lithographers have used their reproduction process

to enrich the history of lettering.

Victorian illustrators who experimented with lettering provided

lithographers with a way to begin experimentation. The Rustic

letters offered them an opportunity to see how the lithographic

process could combine picture and word into one unit. Throughout

the nineteenth century, ornamented typefaces have influenced, and

been influenced by, the freely drawn lettering found in these music

title pages.

Lithography has helped to increase the variety of letterforms

available to the graphic arts by encouraging experimentation. The

lettering found on nineteenth music title pages, whether woven

seamlessly into a picture, intertwined with ornament, or used as

means of creative experiment itself offers a springboard for further

experiment.

30

Fig. ii. H.J. Tinney, Fizz galop (London: 1870s). Colour lithograph [London: Hopwood & Cres] 252 x 349 mm.

31

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Callingham, J. The painters and grainers handbook. a complete

illustrated guide to painting, graining, distempering, sign-writing,

gilding and glass embossing, with instructions for using the patent

graining rollers, also specimens of alphabets. With numerous useful

recipes for painters and decorators. 1871

Gray, N. Nineteenth century ornamented type & title pages Faber &

Faber, London 1976

Gray, N. Lettering as drawing Oxford University Press, London

1971

Humphreys, C. & W. C. Smith Music publishing in the British Isles

from the beginning until the middle of the ninteenth century Basil

Blackwell, Oxford 1970

Imeson, W. E. Illustrated music-titles and their delineators. A

handbook for collectors Printed for the author, London 1912

King, A. H. Some victorian illustrated music titles Penrose Annual

Vol 46 pp43-5 1952

King, A. H. English pictorial music title-pages 18201885. Their

style, evolution and importance The Library fifth series Vol iv no 4

pp 262-72 1950

McLean, R. Victorian book design & colour printing Faber & Faber,

London 1963

Neighbor & Tyson English music publishers plate numbers in the

first half of the nineteenth century Faber & Faber, London 1965

Pearsall, R. Victorian sheet music covers David & Charles Limited,

Newton Abbot 1972

Poole, H. E. A day at a music publishers: a description of the

establishment or DAlmaine & Co. Journal of the Printing Historical

Society no 14 pp 59-81 1979/80

Porzio, D., ed., Lithography 200 years of art history & technique.

Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 1982

Ridler, V. Artistic printing: a search for principles Alphabet and

image: 6 pp 4-17 January 1948

31

32

Spellman, D. & S. Victorian music covers Evelyn, Adams & Mackay,

London 1969

Spellman collection of Victorian music covers 14 August 2003

Twyman, M. Early lithographed books Farrand Press & Private

Libraries Association, 1990.

Early lithographed music Farrand Press, London 1996

Lithography 1800-1850 Oxford University Press, 1970.

Printing 1770-1970 : an illustrated history of its development

and uses in England The British Library, London 1998

Introduction The landscape alphabet Hurtwood Press, Silversted

1987

The Panizzi Lectures 2000. Breaking the mould: The first

hundred years of lithography The British Library, London 2001

Weber, W. History of lithography. Thames & Hudson, 1966.

Winter, M. H. Art score for music The Brooklyn Institute of Arts &

Sciences, New York 1939

SOURCES FOR MUSIC TITLE PAGES

University of Reading Library, Spellman collection of Victorian

music covers digital archive, figures i, ii, 1.1, 1.2, 1.9, 1.12, 1.13, 1.15,

1.16, 1.18, 1.19, 2.2, 2.3, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8, 2.9ab, 2.11, 2.13, 2.14, 2.16ab,

2.17, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.7, 3.8, 4.1

Twyman, M., Private collection, figures 1.4a, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8,

1.10, 1.11, 2.4, 2.5, 3.6

Blubaugh, B., Private collection, figures 1.3, 4.2