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Jaro Springer's Index of Gothic Alphabets (1897)

  • Writer: Giuseppe Cavaleri
    Giuseppe Cavaleri
  • Mar 31
  • 4 min read

"If the Renaissance and the Humanities opened out a 'a fresh world of thought to man, creating a new heaven and new earth,' they also gave him a new medium for the sumptuous expression of the new thought both in type and manuscript-- a new ABC." - Jaro Springer (1897)


I'm drawn to unique and impractical letterforms. When I saw this post on Twitter attributing a Gothic Alphabet to Jaro Springer from the very late 19th century I had to know more. It seemed like it might help situate my own type family in a continuum of experimentation and play, however that's not what I found. Despite the Twitter posts claim, Jaro Springer didn't devise this typeface. Springer published an overview of copper plates in 1897. He only noted its existence. The introduction to the overview is rather short. And the section specifically about this gothic architecture set about 1.5 admittedly large pages. In it, he hints this set may be significantly older.


On page 6 while commenting on the masterwork of the engraver he notes: "No instance has yet been discovered of the practical application of this alphabet in manuscripts, or of its imitation in the initials of printed books." Some printed proofs exist and carry a watermark that might be a triple mountain crowned by a cross that leads him to believe these copper plates might come from The Netherlands. A similar mark exists in one edition of the xylographic Ars Moriendi published in approximately 1480. He adds, "But the science of watermarks is a delusive branch of learning, the results of which are not always to be relied on."


The plates were known to exist and scattered around Europe in the early 19th century. Primarily Germany, Spain, and Italy. In 1838 six plates were sold to a count in Germany. Cited in the margins is the auction catalog. I like to think that somewhere out there more examples exist.


His descriptions are a delight to read rich with character and detailing. Excerpts in italics below:


The architectonic letters ... are sedate conceptions such as a Gothic craftsman, imbued with the solemnity of cathedral work, may have produced. The letters are formed of the familiar elements of ecclesiastical Gothic, and are made up of the buttresses and pointed arches, moldings and fillets, finials and pinnacles. The construction is firm and correct; some slight violence is done to the architectural forms in adapting them to the letters, but not more than Master E.S. and other designers of fanciful alphabets...


Anatomy of an "A":

Looks like Gothic Cathedral windows with vines covering 1/4th of the upper left.

The letters r, f, m, o, q are severely architectural in character; in others, architectonic motives are combined with conventional foliage of the kind peculiar to late Gothic decoration. The familiar bramble-leaf appears in the letters d, e, g, but the motive that recurs oftenest is a voluted, fibrous leaf with strongly marked ribs and a rounded tip, as in a, b, h, k, l, s, l, v.


The two forms are combined in the n. In some instances, the leaf has a constructive function, and is used to mark the lines of the letter itself, as in a, e, g, k: in others, it is a mere decorative adjunct, and structurally superfluous, as in b, d, h, l, n, s, t, v.


The small right limb of the r is formed of a curving, voluted leaf with a bud on a long wiry stalk, bent downwards. A long stalk passes through the vertical architectonic line of the x, terminating above in a fibrous leaf, below in a little bud.

Complete letterforms A-Z. With minor details for A-J on line 2. Major details line 3 for letters A-E.

In the central division, two lobed and notched caryophyllaceous leaves, with two small grapes, are introduced. The three letters i, y and z are formed entirely of leaves. The i consists of a voluted leaf with strongly marked ribs, terminating in a trefoil. The long right stroke of the y is a slender stalk with an indented leaf above, attached on the left to a voluted leaf with rounded and pointed tips.


The z is made up of two indented leaves, connected, in a very inorganic fashion, by a stem which belongs to neither.

Isolated leaf ornaments

Isolated architectural influenced detailing.
Isolated spire and buttress details.

See the original publication from 1897 at the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/gothicalphabets00spri/mode/2up?view=theater


While the Twitter posts narrative didn't help anchor my fonts story in the continuum of design, this was a fun diversion.


My font is inspired by a single letterform in an early pixel display patent from 1898. Had the Twitter posts narrative been true looking into this font would have provided a bearing on how to succinctly sum up it's uniqueness. Something like how it's "'one of many examples of experimentation as printing presses became more automated." but alas, that's not true. The truth is more compelling.

In a future post I'll share more about Phosfor, my font. The first attempt at ad copy and featured collateral is a little flat. Inching towards a new one I'm pleased with. Here's a preview including a diagram from the 1898 device patent.


Inset lightbox diagram for early modular type machine. This spread appears like an old green CRT computer screen with low resolution graphics. Art nouveau frame. Includes descriptions of the Phosfor type family: Raw. Real. Imperfect. Experimental. Early.
Phosfor Type Family: Social media post draft example

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