51.—16th Centurydetails

A set of decorative initial letters from the sixteenth century; it is missing “J” “O” “W” “X” and “Z” so that there are only 21 letters here, although I have made a fake “J.” They have an appealing playfulness: A has a bird biting a moth; B has a king and a grotesque figure; C has a boar with a bird on its back; D has a log fire; E has a dragon with wings and a forked tongue; F has a flower (a Tudor Rose, perhaps) and a bird; G has a dog; H has an archer or a person walking with a stick; I has a dog biting a bone and also a lizard; J is a modern fake; K has faces sticking out tongues; L has a painter or writer licking a pencil; M has a lion and a thistle; N has a fish wearing a crown and a scarf; O is a modern fake; P has a pelican; Q has perhaps a peacock; R has a dog catching and eating a rat, or maybe a salamander; S has a king as a dinosaur; T has two phoenixes; U has a sun; V has a jester, I think; Y has maybe a tiny dancing dinosaur.

Decorative initials suitable for use as drop caps or initial caps. I will add more sizes on request; I have also split the letters into individual images, and made a free decorative initial font from the images. If you use the font, please ilnk back to this page.