The symbol’s visual development is perhaps best documented in a formidable piece of typographical detective work carried out by one Jan Tschichold, a graphic designer born in Leipzig in 1902.[1] Famed as an iconoclastic rule-maker and breaker, Tschichold swung from extreme to extreme in a career which rewrote the rules of book design and typography. His 1928 manifesto Die neue Typographie[2] called for the abandonment of traditional rules of typesetting in favour of rigorous Modernism. Then, arrested by the Nazis in 1933 as a ‘cultural Bolshevik’,[3] Tschichold reacted strongly to his ill-treatment at the hands of the Third Reich and repudiated his earlier work, seeing ‘fascist’ elements in the strictures of Modernism. In the process, he earned the ire of his contemporaries as a betrayer of his own principles.[4] Despite this, his work remains influential even today.
Tschichold’s masterful contribution to the study of the ampersand came in 1953 in the form of a short booklet named Formenwandlungen der &-Zeichen,[5] or The ampersand: its origin and development,[6] as its English translation would have it. Drawing on earlier works by Paul Standard[7] and Frederick Goudy,[8] Tschichold collected hundreds of ampersands to chronicle the character’s evolution from 1st century Pompeiian graffiti, through medieval manuscripts, and finally to 19th century printed forms. Even a single page of Tschichold’s menagerie of ‘and’-signs contains an embarrassment of typographical riches:
Collected ampersands in Jan Tschichold’s The Ampersand: its origin and development (1957). Notable here are (1) Pompeiian graffiti; (8) an insular majuscule ampersand from the 7th century Book of Kells, and (13) an 8th century Merovigian ampersand, already recognisable as the modern ampersand form. (Image courtesy of Linotype GmbH.)
In its serried ranks of ampersands, Tschichold’s paper traces the divergent forms the ‘and’-sign had assumed by the time the printing press embossed them permanently in metal. Each of the main families of type — roman, italic and Gothic, or blackletter — boasted its own unique ‘and’-sign.
So-called ‘roman’ type — the familiar upright letterforms used almost universally to set long-form texts such as books, newspapers and websites — brings with it perhaps the most regular and recognisable ampersand (‘&’). Inspired by, and erroneously named for,[*] what was thought to be an old Roman script, the first roman typefaces were in fact based on the 9th century Carolingian minuscule of the monk Alcuin.[9] Marrying Alcuin’s elegant lower-case alphabet to the square, chiselled capitals beloved of ancient Roman stonemasons,[10] roman type imparted a lightness and readability previously absent from the dense blackletter of early printed documents. Like those officious Roman capitals, the ampersand which accompanies the roman alphabet is solid, well defined and recognisable.
Roman (top row) and italic (bottom row) ampersands. From left to right: Jonathan Hoefler’s Hoefler Text (Hoefler & Frere-Jones), Palatino by Hermann Zapf (Linotype), Frederick W. Goudy’s Goudy Old Style (URW) and Monotype’s Garamond revival.
In contrast, the ampersand associated with italic typefaces is a more playful symbol which wears its heritage as an et-ligature on its sleeve. Often thought of as ancillary to roman characters, italics originally comprised an entirely separate alphabet modelled on the fluid, informal handwriting of a Renaissance scribe and copyist named Niccolò Niccoli.[11] The sloping, condensed letterforms of the first italic typefaces made more efficient use of paper than their roman counterparts and due to this many early printed books were set entirely in italics.
Strange as it may seem now, the earliest italic fonts came with lowercase letters only; the solution was to set Italic Lowercase With Roman Capitals.[12] Not only that, but even after italics had acquired proper uppercase letterforms, the combination of roman and italic type in the same work — one for contrast or emphasis and the other for body text — did not become common until the 17th century.[13]
Italic letterforms diverge from their roman counterparts in small but noticeable ways: compare aefkpvwz with ‘aefkpvwz’, for example.[†] Though not all these variations are present in all italic alphabets, true italics (as opposed to sloped, or ‘oblique’ roman letterforms) will always display at least some of these distinguishing features. Similarly, the italic ampersand has become something of a playground for typographers, and many italic ampersands are intricately designed works of art when compared to their conformist roman counterparts.[14]
Lastly, and somewhat aberrantly, the Gothic, or blackletter style of writing — characterised by angular letterforms and densely packed text — more commonly forewent the ampersand altogether and instead made use of the Tironian et.
A bible written in Belgium in 1407, with the Tironian et visible in the second and sixth lines. Curiously, the word et is used in full at the end of the final line. (Public domain image taken by Adrian Pingstone and courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.)
Blackletter shares a common ancestor with roman type: while the typecutters of the Italian Renaissance reproduced the original 9th century letterforms of Carolingian minuscule in their ‘roman’ typefaces, blackletter instead represents the evolution of Alcuin’s alphabet as it continued in daily use.[15] Most prevalent in Germany and Northern Europe, when Johannes Gutenberg printed his forty-two-line bible in 1455, intended to mimic a handwritten manuscript, blackletter was the obvious alphabet in which to set it.[16]
The Tironian et garners a scant forty-eight entries in Tschichold’s taxonomy (most of them in blackletter) compared to over two hundred ampersands, and this is symptomatic of its ultimate marginalisation in the ill-fated blackletter alphabet. While the ampersand went from strength to strength, providing a canvas on which calligraphers and typographers could indulge their artistic proclivities, the Tironian notes suffered near-extinction in the Middle Ages, victim of a curious linguistic witch hunt. The secrecy and cipher-like nature of both traditional runic writing and shorthand did not sit well with the distrust of witchcraft and magic prevalent in those times, and Tiro’s system fell out of use.[17] Briefly revived in the 12th century, and later inspiring a series of copycat notations in English and other languages,[18] the notae Tironianae were nevertheless a spent force. The Tironian et was the sole survivor, soldiering on in blackletter type until it too fell out of use in the mid 20th century.[19] Ironically, this supremely Germanic alphabet was finally banished by a 1941 Nazi decree condemning it as Judenlettern, or ‘Jewish characters’,[20] and today it appears mainly in newspaper mastheads and the occasional document intended to convey a Teutonic flavour.
Today, the ampersand reigns almost supreme, with the Tironian et surviving in the wild only in Irish Gaelic:
An Irish Gaelic road sign showing Tironian et and ampersand. (Image courtesy of Stan Carey.)
Like this road sign, the Tironian et showed the way, but the ampersand was the real destination.
-
[1] J. Tschichold and R. McLean, “Introduction to the English Language Version,” in The New Typography: A Handbook for Modern Designers, University of California Press, 2006, p. xv. <http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=MmeGat6tJiAC> Bibtex
@inbook{tschichold2006new-xv,
author = {Tschichold, J. and McLean, R.},
booktitle = {The New Typography: A Handbook for Modern Designers},
citeulike-article-id = {9421799},
citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=MmeGat6tJiAC},
keywords = {ampersand, shady\_characters},
pages = {xv+},
posted-at = {2011-06-16 14:05:00},
priority = {2},
publisher = {University of California Press},
series = {Weimar and now},
title = {Introduction to the English Language Version},
url = {http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=MmeGat6tJiAC},
year = {2006}
} -
[2] J. Tschichold, Die neue Typographie : ein Handbuch für zeitgemäss Schaffende., Bildungsverband der Deutschen Buchdrucker, 1928. <http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/473208365> Bibtex
@book{JT1928,
author = {Tschichold, Jan},
citeulike-article-id = {9428666},
citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/473208365},
keywords = {ampersand, shady\_characters},
posted-at = {2011-06-18 15:26:15},
priority = {2},
publisher = {Bildungsverband der Deutschen Buchdrucker},
title = {Die neue Typographie : ein Handbuch f\"{u}r zeitgem\"{a}ss Schaffende.},
url = {http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/473208365},
year = {1928}
} -
[3] “Jan Tschichold (German typographer and author),” in Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2011. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/607663/Jan-Tschichold> Bibtex
@electronic{JTGTEB2011, citeulike-article-id = {9428671},
citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/607663/Jan-Tschichold},
day = {18},
journal = {Encyclopaedia Britannica},
keywords = {ampersand, shady\_characters},
month = jun, posted-at = {2011-06-18 15:33:00},
priority = {0},
publisher = {Encyclopaedia Britannica},
title = {{Jan Tschichold (German typographer and author)}},
url = {http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/607663/Jan-Tschichold},
year = {2011}
} -
[4] O. Aicher, “Typographical Warfare,” in Texts on type : critical writings on typography, Heller, S. and Meggs, P. B., Eds., Allworth Press, 2001. <http://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9781581150827> Bibtex
@inbook{PBM2001-157,
author = {Aicher, Otl},
booktitle = {Texts on type : critical writings on typography},
citeulike-article-id = {9428711},
citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9781581150827},
citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN9781581150827},
citeulike-linkout-2 = {http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?keywords=9781581150827\&index=books\&linkCode=qs},
citeulike-linkout-3 = {http://www.librarything.com/isbn/9781581150827},
citeulike-linkout-4 = {http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45799415},
editor = {Heller, Steven and Meggs, Philip B.},
isbn = {9781581150827},
keywords = {ampersand, shady\_characters},
posted-at = {2011-06-18 15:43:40},
priority = {2},
publisher = {Allworth Press},
title = {Typographical Warfare},
url = {http://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9781581150827},
year = {2001}
} -
[5] J. Tschichold, Formenwandlungen der &-Zeichen., Frankfurt am Main: D. Stempel AG, 1953. <http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/472882333> Bibtex
@book{JT1953, address = {Frankfurt am Main},
author = {Tschichold, Jan},
citeulike-article-id = {9428713},
citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/472882333},
keywords = {ampersand, shady\_characters},
posted-at = {2011-06-18 15:46:05},
priority = {2},
publisher = {D. Stempel AG},
title = {Formenwandlungen der \&-Zeichen.},
url = {http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/472882333},
year = {1953}
} -
[6] J. Tschichold and F. Plaat, The Ampersand: Its origin and development, London: Woudhuysen, 1957. <http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/721129570> Bibtex
@book{JT1957, address = {London},
author = {Tschichold, Jan and Plaat, Frederick},
citeulike-article-id = {9428714},
citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/721129570},
keywords = {ampersand, shady\_characters},
posted-at = {2011-06-18 15:48:43},
priority = {0},
publisher = {Woudhuysen},
title = {{The Ampersand: Its origin and development}},
url = {http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/721129570},
year = {1957}
} -
[7] P. Standard and N. Y. ). Typophiles (New York, The ampersand : sign of continuity, George Grady Press, 1936. <http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/41033164> Bibtex
@book{PS1936,
author = {Standard, Paul and {Typophiles (New York, N.Y.)}},
citeulike-article-id = {9428749},
citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/41033164},
keywords = {ampersand, shady\_characters},
posted-at = {2011-06-18 16:44:18},
priority = {2},
publisher = {George Grady Press},
title = {The ampersand : sign of continuity},
url = {http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/41033164},
year = {1936}
} -
[8] F. W. Goudy and F. W. Goudy Collection Library of Congress, Ands & ampersands, from the first century B.C. to the twentieth A.D., Typophiles, 1936. <http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1584342> Bibtex
@book{FG1936,
author = {Goudy, Frederic W. and Goudy Collection Library of Congress, Frederic W.},
citeulike-article-id = {9428752},
citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1584342},
keywords = {ampersand, shady\_characters},
posted-at = {2011-06-18 16:46:15},
priority = {2},
publisher = {Typophiles},
title = {Ands \& ampersands, from the first century {B.C}. to the twentieth {A.D}.},
url = {http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1584342},
year = {1936}
} -
[9] C. U. Clark, “How Our Roman Type Came to Us,” The North American Review, vol. 195, iss. 677, pp. 546-549, 1912. Bibtex
@article{clark1912our,
author = {Clark, C. U.},
citeulike-article-id = {9428758},
journal = {The North American Review},
keywords = {ampersand, shady\_characters},
number = {677},
pages = {546--549},
posted-at = {2011-06-18 17:00:53},
priority = {2},
publisher = {JSTOR},
title = {How Our Roman Type Came to Us},
volume = {195},
year = {1912}
} -
[10] R. Bringhurst, “7.2.1 The Renaissance Roman Letter,” in The Elements of Typographic Style : verson 3.2, Hartley and Marks, Publishers, 2008, pp. 122-123. Bibtex
@inbook{RB2008-ROMAN,
author = {Bringhurst, Robert},
booktitle = {{The Elements of Typographic Style : verson 3.2}},
citeulike-article-id = {9428833},
keywords = {ampersand, shady\_characters},
pages = {122--123},
posted-at = {2011-06-18 18:14:45},
priority = {0},
publisher = {Hartley and Marks, Publishers},
title = {{7.2.1 The Renaissance Roman Letter}},
year = {2008}
} -
[11] B. L. Ullman, “A Rival System – Niccolò Niccoli,” in The Origin and development of humanistic script, Ed. di storia e letteratura, 1974, pp. 59-77. <http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=NE7hMosYD_YC> Bibtex
@inbook{ullman1974origin-niccoli,
author = {Ullman, B. L.},
booktitle = {The Origin and development of humanistic script},
chapter = {3},
citeulike-article-id = {9429657},
citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=NE7hMosYD\_YC},
keywords = {ampersand, shady\_characters},
pages = {59--77},
posted-at = {2011-06-19 18:39:26},
priority = {2},
publisher = {Ed. di storia e letteratura},
series = {Storia e Letteratura},
title = {A Rival System - Niccol\`{o} Niccoli},
url = {http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=NE7hMosYD\_YC},
year = {1974}
} -
[12] R. Bringhurst, “7.2.2 The Renaissance Italic Letter,” in The Elements of Typographic Style : verson 3.2, Hartley and Marks, Publishers, 2008, pp. 124-125. Bibtex
@inbook{RB2008-ITALIC,
author = {Bringhurst, Robert},
booktitle = {The Elements of Typographic Style : verson 3.2},
citeulike-article-id = {9429653},
keywords = {ampersand, shady\_characters},
pages = {124--125},
posted-at = {2011-06-19 18:23:52},
priority = {2},
publisher = {Hartley and Marks, Publishers},
title = {{7.2.2 The Renaissance Italic Letter}},
year = {2008}
} -
[13] R. Bringhurst, “3.4 Tribal Alliances and Families,” in The Elements of Typographic Style : verson 3.2, Hartley and Marks, Publishers, 2008, p. 57. Bibtex
@inbook{RB2008-OBLIQUE,
author = {Bringhurst, Robert},
booktitle = {The Elements of Typographic Style : verson 3.2},
citeulike-article-id = {9452128},
keywords = {ampersand, shady\_characters},
pages = {57},
posted-at = {2011-06-23 23:39:41},
priority = {0},
publisher = {Hartley and Marks, Publishers},
title = {{3.4 Tribal Alliances and Families}},
year = {2008}
} -
[14] Hoefler, Jonathan, “Our Middle Name.” New York: Hoefler and Frere-Jones, 2008. <http://www.typography.com/ask/showBlog.php?blogID=98> Bibtex
@electronic{HFJ-AMPERSAND, address = {New York},
author = {Hoefler, Jonathan},
citeulike-article-id = {9452160},
citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://www.typography.com/ask/showBlog.php?blogID=98},
day = {28},
keywords = {ampersand, shady\_characters},
month = apr, posted-at = {2011-06-24 00:37:22},
priority = {0},
publisher = {Hoefler and Frere-Jones},
title = {Our Middle Name},
url = {http://www.typography.com/ask/showBlog.php?blogID=98},
year = {2008}
} -
[15] B. Bischoff and U. O. Cambridge., “Latin handwriting in the Middle Ages,” in Latin Paleography : Antiquity and the Middle Ages, Cambridge University Press, 1995, pp. 127-136. <http://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780521367264> Bibtex
@inbook{BB1995-TEXTURA,
author = {Bischoff, Bernhard and Cambridge., University Of},
booktitle = {Latin Paleography : Antiquity and the Middle Ages},
chapter = {B.II},
citeulike-article-id = {9452139},
citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780521367264},
keywords = {ampersand, shady\_characters},
pages = {127--136},
posted-at = {2011-06-24 00:00:07},
priority = {0},
publisher = {Cambridge University Press},
title = {{Latin handwriting in the Middle Ages}},
url = {http://www.worldcat.org/isbn/9780521367264},
year = {1995}
} -
[16] “The Appearance of the Bible.” 2011. <http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/permanent/gutenberg/html/6.html> Bibtex
@electronic{HRC2011-GUTENBERG, citeulike-article-id = {9452142},
citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/permanent/gutenberg/html/6.html},
day = {24},
keywords = {ampersand, shady\_characters},
month = jun, posted-at = {2011-06-24 00:13:24},
priority = {2},
school = {Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin},
title = {The Appearance of the Bible},
url = {http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/permanent/gutenberg/html/6.html},
year = {2011}
} -
[17] “History and development of shorthand,” in Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2011. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/541788/shorthand/53186/History-and-development-of-shorthand#ref512802> Bibtex
@electronic{HDSEB2011, booktitle = {shorthand},
citeulike-article-id = {9389650},
citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/541788/shorthand/53186/History-and-development-of-shorthand\#ref512802},
day = {7},
journal = {Encyclopaedia Britannica},
keywords = {ampersand, shady\_characters},
month = jun, posted-at = {2011-06-07 21:52:52},
priority = {2},
publisher = {Encyclopaedia Britannica},
title = {History and development of shorthand},
url = {http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/541788/shorthand/53186/History-and-development-of-shorthand\#ref512802},
year = {2011}
} -
[18] B. Bischoff and U. O. Cambridge., “Latin script in antiquity,” in Latin Paleography : Antiquity and the Middle Ages, Cambridge University Press, 1995, pp. 80-82. Bibtex
@inbook{BB1995-TACHYGRAPHY,
author = {Bischoff, Bernhard and {Cambridge., University Of}},
booktitle = {Latin Paleography : Antiquity and the Middle Ages},
chapter = {B.1},
citeulike-article-id = {9452150},
keywords = {ampersand, shady\_characters},
pages = {80--82},
posted-at = {2011-06-24 00:24:38},
priority = {0},
publisher = {Cambridge University Press},
title = {{Latin script in antiquity}},
year = {1995}
} -
[19] T. Rosendorf, “Blackletter,” in The Typographic Desk Reference, 1st ed., Oak Knoll Press, 2009, p. 100. Bibtex
@inbook{TR2009-BLACKLETTER,
author = {Rosendorf, Theodore},
booktitle = {{The Typographic Desk Reference}},
chapter = {Classification and Specimens},
citeulike-article-id = {9452180},
edition = {1st},
howpublished = {Hardcover},
keywords = {octothorpe, shady\_characters},
pages = {100+},
posted-at = {2011-06-24 00:59:12},
priority = {0},
publisher = {Oak Knoll Press},
title = {Blackletter},
year = {2009}
} -
[20] G. Reuveni, “From Reading Books to Consumption of Books and Back Again,” in Reading Germany: literature and consumer culture in Germany before 1933, Berghahn Books, 2006, p. 206. <http://books.google.com/books?id=4KNdCjZ4OZgC> Bibtex
@inbook{reuveni2006reading-judenlettern,
author = {Reuveni, G.},
booktitle = {Reading Germany: literature and consumer culture in Germany before 1933},
citeulike-article-id = {9456745},
citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://books.google.com/books?id=4KNdCjZ4OZgC},
keywords = {ampersand, shady\_characters},
pages = {206+},
posted-at = {2011-06-26 20:03:49},
priority = {2},
publisher = {Berghahn Books},
series = {Berghahn Series},
title = {From Reading Books to Consumption of Books and Back Again},
url = {http://books.google.com/books?id=4KNdCjZ4OZgC},
year = {2006}
}
19 Comments
Another tour de force. Thanks so much. (Noticing the distinction between roman and italic “g” and “a” was a big part of my becoming infatuated with lettering as a young lad.)
Hi MK,
Even after having been quite thoroughly educated by Bringhurst’s Elements of Typographic Style, the roman/italic distinction that still occasionally fazes me is that they’re considered to be separate ‘alphabets’. It’s a matter of degrees, I suppose; on its own, any one of sloping versus upright letterforms, transitive versus reflexive serifs or ‘a’ versus ‘a’ probably wouldn’t be enough to qualify, but the combination does yield something quite distinct.
Thanks for the comment!
Hi Keith,
Another excellent Shady Characters post, thanks! However, where’s the promised discussion of ‘rote learning and the use of “and per se and” ’ (http://www.shadycharacters.co.uk/2011/06/the-ampersand-part-1-of-2/#comment-729). Please could you considering add a Adams-istic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy#Novels) part 3 of 2 to cover the etymology of the word “ampersand”?
Cheers,
Andy.
Ah, just noticed, that you’ve said that there’s more to come (http://twitter.com/#!/shadychars/status/85080680391913472).
Looking forward to it!
Hi Andy,
There will indeed be a part 3 of 2, or perhaps a part 2½ of 2. The discussion of the ampersand’s name didn’t quite fit in with the rest of my notes about its visual development, and so I’ll talk a little about it next weekend.
Thanks for the comment!
Not to venture too far afield, but did you run across anything in your research about handwritten ampersands? Growing up in the second half of the 20th c. in the American midwest, we were all taught D’Nealian script, which AFAICT has no ampersand. My own attempts at handwritten ampersands always turned into treble clefs (and sometimes vice versa), but I recall a sort of “vernacular ampersand”* showing up in the handwriting of my contemporaries that seemed to me to come out of nowhere. I was half expecting to see its historical antecedent among the numerous examples in this post.
* I can only describe it as a sort of backwards-3 or large lowercase epsilon, with a short vertical bar centered on the x-height.
Yep, I know that symbol. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it in a font though, only in handwriting.
There’s a nice collection of handwritten ampersands here (http://tinge.net/work/), which also includes various versions of the epsilon-with-a-line-through-it that you mentioned.
I’d be interested to know whether it has a proper name or digital version too.
Noting also that the vertical line does not always go all the way through it—sometimes it’s just short vertical lines above and below.
Then there’s the use of ‘+’ instead of ‘&’, a use which could stem from the Tironian et, given the form used in the Belgian bible excerpt.
The + is generally thought to indeed stem from the Tironian et, which became crossed (and then doublecrossed) over the course of the Middle Ages.
I’d suspected that might be the case, and the Tironian et in the Belgian bible image would seem to be a plausible intermediate step along the way.
Thanks for all the commentary on this!
my sense is that they’re all transcriptions of the letters e and t, whatever they look like . the crossed-epsilony-thing—which i handwrite myself—seems to be a monogram, the two letters overlapped . the italic ampersands are clearly e and t in lowercase and the roman ampersand is a capital e followed by a lowercase t, somewhat tangled . so—if we were being logical about this—since we like to mix caps and lowercase*—each case should have its own ampersand : a cap-height one as generally provided with the roman, and a median x-height one much like the traditional italic . but we’d then need not only the belated addition of the missing ampersand to every font ( a lowercase for every roman, a cap for many italics ) but probably also a revised keyboard for this, with a new key for ampersand and shift-ampersand . and maybe that’s asking rather a lot
* yeah, i know
Hi Andrew,
Given that OpenType allows for contextual alternatives, it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s already possible to support different ampersands in different contexts. Whether that could be extended as far as uppercase and lowercase-specific ampersands, I’m afraid I don’t know! Perhaps any typographers reading Shady Characters might want to weigh in.
I am madly keen to know the origin of the ampersand used in Adobe’s “Bickham Script.”
It doesn’t seem to belong in the Roman or Irish tradition at all. Did George Bickham ever really use it? Did Adobe make it up? Is it indigenous to America, or does it hark back to that Greek shorthand which started Cicero wanting similar for Latin?
Also – where can I find information about the classical Greek shorthand (if there is any), or indeed any scribal shorthand meant for writing Greek?
All this because, quite independently in researching another medieval ms, I decided that a particular form probably meant something like “etcetera, etcetera”.. and behold, it’s pretty well exactly the same sign that Adobe has used for an ampersand in its “Bickham script”!!
Hi Diane,
Thanks for the comment! I’m afraid my knowledge of ancient Greek shorthand is limited to Cicero’s interest in it, which in turn comes from the references in The Ampersand, part 1. Sorry I can’t be of more help!
hi diane,
i don’t think the bickham script ampersand form is so rare—it’s just that it is most often found in signwriting, especially on old company windows and letterheads, rather than in fonts . it is really a swashed amplification of the standard form and—perhaps because the ampersand is so frequently found at the visual centre of a company name ( as in Something & Somebody ) and hence invites a signwriter’s elaboration—the forward swash is sometimes looped completely round the character anticlockwise, or it may be that the tail swash is taken for most of a clockwise circuit round the back, or there is even the possibility of tangling both of them in a fancy knot . this sort of swash-play comes from the model of the excesses of eighteenth century penmanship, and engraving, of which bickham himself was both a showman and a master, and survives today in almost all banknote figuring and financial marks . the sign you mention for etcetera—&c—is also a common eighteenth century handwritten form, especially in business ledgers, and took many idiosyncratic forms ( the more swashed it looks, perhaps the more sighing with exhaustion it should sound in the mind )
as for the ancient greeks, their alphabetic script was, for them, a cleverly abbreviated and fairly recently adopted shorthand in itself, which is to say that it was a lot shorter to write than the rather involved and far from memorable syllabaries they had inherited, so they probably felt they were using a pretty streamlined hand as it was . but it’s not impossible that the greeks too had devised a real shorthand of their own, given that many of their surviving philosophies are recorded as transcribed conversations : certainly the need for fast transcription must always have been felt, throughout the history of the written word, when speech flies too fast for the writer of a documentary account, and perhaps also when secrecy of note-taking is desirable . but i don’t know of an instance of ancient greek shorthand myself
For anyone in any doubt as to the magnificence of Adobe’s Bickham Script swash ampersand, take a look here. As Andrew suggests, it would look particularly grand in a “Somebody & Somebody” nameplate.
Very informative Keith. I do suggest that in your attributions you name the designer(s) of the typeface in addition to or instead of the companies that now happen to sell them.
Hi Sumner — that’s a great idea, thanks! I’ll update the post accordingly.