Figure 240
Italic in Prefatory Address: Espinosa’s Murestras de los Caracters, etc., Madrid
From Providence Public Library Special Collections (scan)
1771
…shows a series of slightly condensed old style types which are remarkable in one respect—that roman characters in some cases, and italic in all, have an extraordinary quality of pen-work. The italic—i.e., that used in the prefatory address preceding the title-page…not altogether pleasant in effect, but they are among the most thoroughly calligraphic characters to be found in any existing specimen-book; and, too, they are very Spanish letters.