Initial Letter A · Y90s Database of Ornament

Title

Initial Letter A

Subject

Inhabited Initial Letter
Foliated Grotesque
Foliated Cherub

Description

Initial letter A is capitalized. The letter is framed within a double-lined square. The letter is white on a black background, the background is studded with white dots. The top of the letter is notched. The letter is composed of two straight vertical lines that meet at a sixty degree angle at the top. The right line is twice the width of the left; both have flared bases. The two lines are joined by a horizontal line two thirds of the way up. A grotesque face with a bald head, visible only from the neck up, rests under the horizontal bar of the letter. A symmetrical leaf covers where the figure’s torso would typically be. The figure has thin leaves draped over their temples. This ornament, dating back to classical times, is known as a “foliated cherub” or “foliated grotesque.” There are leaves, flowers, and vines behind the initial letter and spread out throughout the innermost box of the square.

Source

Savoy Volumes at Yellow Nineties 2.0

Publisher

Leonard Smithers

Date

Volume Two: April 1896
Volume Three: July 1896
Volume Four: August 1896
Volume Five: September 1896
Volume Six: October 1896

Rights

Public Domain
Toronto Metropolitan University Library Archives & Special Collections

Relation

Savoy Digital Edition, edited by Christopher Keep and Lorraine Janzen Kooistra, Yellow Nineties 2.0, Toronto Metropolitan University Centre for Digital Humanities, 2019.

Format

jpg

Type

Initial Letter

Identifier

Volume Two
SAVOYV2o_initA_p13
SAVOYV2o_initA_p56
SAVOYV2o_initA_p97
SAVOYV2o_initA_p99
SAVOYV2o_initA_p147
SAVOYV2o_initA_p173

Volume Three
SAVOYV3o_initA_p7
SAVOYV3o_initA_p15
SAVOYV3o_initA_p100

Volume Four
SAVOYV4o_initA_p25
SAVOYV4o_initA_p91

Volume Five
SAVOYV5o_initA_p36
SAVOYV5o_initA_p75

Volume Six
SAVOYV6o_initA_p55
SAVOYV6o_initA_p75