The quick brown fox
October 21, 2006 12:24 PM Subscribe
Ancient Alchemical Alphabetologists. From the wonderful Giornale Nuovo: Basoli's fantastical architectural alphabet, Steingruber's blueprint alphabet, De Bry's Biblical decorative alphabet, and general figurative alphabets.
What a cool blog. Gorgeous images. The last link reminds me of the Codex Seraphinianus (linked a few times before).
posted by thermogenesis at 2:12 PM on October 21, 2006
posted by thermogenesis at 2:12 PM on October 21, 2006
I can accept, with difficulty, worshipping the Word, but this adoration of the alphabet is so strange to me. People must have spent years of their lives producing these amazing works, but to what end?
It would be great to have a sense of how these artists grasped the world, but I'm unable to begin-- it seems like an absolutely alien relationship to language.
posted by jamjam at 2:13 PM on October 21, 2006
It would be great to have a sense of how these artists grasped the world, but I'm unable to begin-- it seems like an absolutely alien relationship to language.
posted by jamjam at 2:13 PM on October 21, 2006
jamjam--
Typography is an addiction. That is how these baroque examples get produced. An innocent artist is asked to produce a few decorative initials. He is never heard from again. Years later, his body is found surrouned by reams of decorative initials.
A crude version of this happened to me many years ago. I was working on a CAD-CAM system and needed a vector-drawn alphabet to go with the product. Three weeks later I had about ten different ones, and I realized I was in trouble and cold-turkey-quit creating (what we now call) fonts. The product was released with, I believe, three of the sets.
posted by hexatron at 3:20 PM on October 21, 2006 [1 favorite]
Typography is an addiction. That is how these baroque examples get produced. An innocent artist is asked to produce a few decorative initials. He is never heard from again. Years later, his body is found surrouned by reams of decorative initials.
A crude version of this happened to me many years ago. I was working on a CAD-CAM system and needed a vector-drawn alphabet to go with the product. Three weeks later I had about ten different ones, and I realized I was in trouble and cold-turkey-quit creating (what we now call) fonts. The product was released with, I believe, three of the sets.
posted by hexatron at 3:20 PM on October 21, 2006 [1 favorite]
Such gorgeousness. Architecture and alphabets, a heady combination. Thank you, misteraitch.
posted by iconomy at 4:22 PM on October 21, 2006
posted by iconomy at 4:22 PM on October 21, 2006
Oh wow! I didn't realize it was a mefite. But then again, everything good on the web is connected to this site, right?
posted by Falconetti at 4:26 PM on October 21, 2006
posted by Falconetti at 4:26 PM on October 21, 2006
The many previous posts and comments relating to misteraitch and his luminous blog.
posted by briank at 4:42 PM on October 21, 2006
posted by briank at 4:42 PM on October 21, 2006
Granted, the site has been sourced before, but the alpha's are too cool to have not posted them. And yes, Giornale Nuovo is indeed one of the coolest sites on the web.
posted by dejah420 at 8:34 PM on October 21, 2006
posted by dejah420 at 8:34 PM on October 21, 2006
briank - I don't think you really meant to link to the front page of metafilter there, did you?
It would be really neat if Nuovo made the entire alphabets available, and then someone could whip up one of those "spell with images the phrase you entered" scripts, like the Flickr one that spells out stuff with random photos.
posted by Rhomboid at 9:36 PM on October 21, 2006
It would be really neat if Nuovo made the entire alphabets available, and then someone could whip up one of those "spell with images the phrase you entered" scripts, like the Flickr one that spells out stuff with random photos.
posted by Rhomboid at 9:36 PM on October 21, 2006
I think briank did mean to link as they did Rhomboid and I'm glad for it - led me circuitously to Daniel Mroz which has changed locations since vacapinta mentioned it.
To me, Giornale Nuovo is the best site on the internet. I have a search widget for the site in my browser as I consult with the back catalogue so often...not to mention bugging the learned and always patiently helpful misteraitch with regular email enquiries.
posted by peacay at 11:04 PM on October 21, 2006
To me, Giornale Nuovo is the best site on the internet. I have a search widget for the site in my browser as I consult with the back catalogue so often...not to mention bugging the learned and always patiently helpful misteraitch with regular email enquiries.
posted by peacay at 11:04 PM on October 21, 2006
Thanks Falconetti (& everyone else)! While perusing the Giornale's archives, the alphabetically-interested might also check out the entries mentioning the alphabets in James Bonaventure Hepburn 's Virga Aurea, the painted alphabet of Giovannino de' Grassi and Giuseppe Maria Mitelli's Alfabeto in Sogno.
posted by misteraitch at 11:10 PM on October 21, 2006
posted by misteraitch at 11:10 PM on October 21, 2006
That Mitelli image ('The world is for the most part, but a cage of fools') is how I've always envisioned Mefi.
posted by peacay at 11:40 PM on October 21, 2006
posted by peacay at 11:40 PM on October 21, 2006
Such beautiful letters.
I shall have to go back through the archives of this blog.
posted by elephantday at 2:04 AM on October 22, 2006
I shall have to go back through the archives of this blog.
posted by elephantday at 2:04 AM on October 22, 2006
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(The fact that two people have favourited this post, but without commenting in the thread, shows once more than sometimes the best posts elicit the fewest responses, because what is there to say other than thank you?)
posted by jokeefe at 1:35 PM on October 21, 2006