Typographic Ornaments (page 1/2)

See all the images…

stock block: Terrier woodcut

This woodcut of a Scottish cairn terrier, or similar dog, is an example of a stock block (or stock cut): an illustraiton sold to printers on a stereotyped copy of [...] [more...] [$]

Chapterheads with cherubs, dragons, fish, neptune, flowers

Three separate chapterheads: one with two cherubs, or naked boys, each holding one end of a rope, or a pipe with a bulb on the end, perhaps about to squirt some giant flowers; one with a Greek male head (possibly neptune) in a circle with large fish all round; one with two dragons or wyverns having the [...] [more...] [$]

Index, pointing hand, or manicule

Drawings of hands, often with arms attached, were added to mediæval manuscripts by people who used them; the hands were used to draw attention to particular passages of interest. [more...] [$]

stock block: scales, or equal-arm balance.

In an equal arm balance like this one you can compare the weights of things in the two pans; often you use a set of standardized weights in one pan and add them until the lever at the top is level, [...] [more...] [$]

Stock block: Child kneeling in a circular vignette

This Victorian engraving shows a boy (probably) kneeling within a circular border; he holds a boquet of flowers in one hand as he gazes at a butterly perched on his other hand. There’s a circle of [...] [more...] [$]