This site may be going away; please consider donating.
A huge thank you to all who donate; 2026 October hosting: 26%


Alphabets & Numbers of the Middle Ages (page 4/5)

details...

Some images from Alphabets and Numbers of the Middle Ages by Henry Shaw, 1845. I have a fac simile of this out-of-copyright work, and the fac simile is itself out of copyright.

This book is also online (with a much lower-quality scan) at Google Books; if you see a page you would like me to scan from my fac simile copy, let me know. Unfortunately, the colour printing in the fac simile uses the four-colour screening process, so I cannot provide high-resolution scans for some of the colour images, although they will be fine for Web or print use in most cases.

See also Symms on Illuminating for some beautiful colour decorative initials, and Delamotte on Alphabets for some beautiful alphabets.

Title: Alphabets & Numbers of the Middle Ages

Author: Shaw, Henry

City: London

Date: 1845

Total items: 41

Out of copyright (called public domain in the USA), hence royalty-free for all purposes usage credit requested, or as marked.

[picture: clipart: initial letter C from beginning of the 16th Century]

clipart: initial letter C from beginning of the 16th Century

Wood-cut image of a decorated initial letter “C” (e.g. for a drop cap or ornamental capital letter), from the beginning of the 16th Century. There is a calligraphic capital C with interwoven stylized acanthus leaves on [...] [more...] [$]

[picture: clipart: initial letter D from beginning of 16th Century]

clipart: initial letter D from beginning of 16th Century

Wood-cut image of a decorated initial letter “D” (e.g. for a drop cap or ornamental capital letter), from the beginning of the 16th Century. There is a calligraphic capital D with interwoven stylized acanthus leaves on [...] [more...] [$]

[picture: clipart: initial letter E from beginning of 16th Century]

clipart: initial letter E from beginning of 16th Century

Wood-cut image of a decorated initial letter “D” (e.g. for a drop cap or ornamental capital letter), from the beginning of the 16th Century. There is a calligraphic capital D with interwoven stylized acanthus leaves on [...] [more...] [$]

[picture: clipart: initial letter J from beginning of the 16th Century]

clipart: initial letter J from beginning of the 16th Century

Wood cut of a decorated initial letter “J” (e.g. for a drop cap or ornamental capital letter), from the beginning of the 16th Century. There is a calligraphic capital “J” with interwoven leaves and flowers [...] [more...] [$]

[picture: clipart: initial letter R from beginning of the 16th Century]

clipart: initial letter R from beginning of the 16th Century

Wood cut of a decorated initial letter “R” (e.g. for a drop cap or ornamental capital letter), from the beginning of the 16th Century. There is a calligraphic capital [...] [more...] [$]

[picture: clipart: initial letter S from beginning of the 16th Century]

clipart: initial letter S from beginning of the 16th Century

Wood cut of a decorated initial letter “S” (e.g. for a drop cap or ornamental capital letter), from the beginning of the 16th Century. There is a white calligraphic capital “S” with interwoven leaves, on a [...] [more...] [$]

[picture: clipart: initial letter T from beginning of the 16th Century]

clipart: initial letter T from beginning of the 16th Century

Wood cut of a decorated initial letter “T” (e.g. for a drop cap or ornamental capital letter), from the beginning of the 16th Century. There is a white calligraphic capital “T” with interwoven leaves, on a [...] [more...] [$]

[picture: clipart: initial letter U from beginning of the 16th Century]

clipart: initial letter U from beginning of the 16th Century

Wood cut of a decorated initial letter “U” (e.g. for a drop cap or ornamental capital letter), from the beginning of the 16th Century. There is a white calligraphic capital “U” with interwoven leaves, on a black ground with white dots, known as a criblĂ© effect. [...] [more...] [$]

[picture: clipart: initial letter W from beginning of the 16th Century]

clipart: initial letter W from beginning of the 16th Century

Wood cut of a decorated initial letter “W” (e.g. for a drop cap or ornamental capital letter), from the beginning of the 16th Century. There is a calligraphic [...] [more...] [$]

[picture: clipart: initial letter X from beginning of the 16th Century]

clipart: initial letter X from beginning of the 16th Century

Wood cut of a decorated initial letter “X” (e.g. for a drop cap or ornamental capital letter), from the beginning of the 16th Century. There is a calligraphic capital “X” with interwoven [...] [more...] [$]

[picture: clipart: initial letter Y from beginning of the 16th Century]

clipart: initial letter Y from beginning of the 16th Century

Wood cut of a decorated initial letter “Y” (e.g. for a drop cap or ornamental capital letter), from the beginning of the 16th Century. There is a calligraphic capital “Y” in an Uncial form, with interwoven leaves and flowers [...] [more...] [$]

[picture: clipart: initial letter Z from beginning of the 16th Century]

clipart: initial letter Z from beginning of the 16th Century

Wood cut of a decorated initial letter “Z” (e.g. for a drop cap or ornamental capital letter), from the beginning of the 16th Century. There is a calligraphic capital letter “Z” with interwoven leaves and flowers [...] [more...] [$]


Note: If you got here from a search engine and don’t see what you were looking for, it might have moved onto a different page within this gallery.