Of The Just Shaping Of Letters - free ebook by Albrecht Dürer

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Of The Just Shaping Of Letters

Albrecht Dürer

25 chapters

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25 chapters

ALBRECHT DÜRER TO WILIBALD PIRCKHEIMER HIS PATRON AND VERY GOOD FRIEND GREETING:

ALBRECHT DÜRER TO WILIBALD PIRCKHEIMER HIS PATRON AND VERY GOOD FRIEND GREETING:

In our Germany, most excellent Wilibald, are to be found at the present day many young men of a happy talent for the Art Pictorial, who without any artistic training whatever, but taught only by their daily exercise of it, have run riot like an unpruned tree, so that unhesitatingly and without compunction they turn out their works, purely according to their own judgment. But when great and ingenious artists behold their so inept performances, not undeservedly do they ridicule the blindness of su

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OF THE JUST SHAPING OF LETTERS

OF THE JUST SHAPING OF LETTERS

FROM THE APPLIED GEOMETRY OF ALBRECHT DÜRER BOOK III. Now , since architects, painters &amp; others at times are wont to set an inscription on lofty walls, it will make for the merit of the work that they form the letters correctly. Accordingly I am minded here to treat briefly of this. And first I will give rules for a Latin Alphabet, and then for one of our common Text: since it is of these two sorts of letters we customarily make use in such work; and first, for the Roman letters: Draw fo

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Another method.

Another method.

Or you may make your B in this fashion: Let the side a. c. of the square be divided into nine equal parts, and cut off the four superior parts by the horizontal line e. f. Then erect your vertical limb as described above; and the superior curved limb you shall make between a. b. and e. f.; the inferior between e. f. and c. d. Now divide a. b. into nine equal parts, and cut off four parts towards b. in the point g.; then divide c. d. into five equal parts, and the last, towards d. mark off in the

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Another method.

Another method.

Or, secondly, you may make the letter C thus: Draw in the square a diagonal c. b.; set the leg of your compass on its middle point i. and with the other leg describe the exterior circle as before, terminating it above at the diagonal c. b.; but below, make your circle pass a little beyond the former sweep. Then set the leg of your compass, but without changing its gauge, as far above i. in the diagonal as the letter's greatest width, and describe your inner circle; and, as though made with a pen

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Another method.

Another method.

You may make the round limb of the same D in another fashion; namely, as a pen naturally would, broader above than below. For this, draw the diagonal c. b. and describe your exterior arc as before; but to describe the interior, in the line c. b. take a point m. lower down than i. and distant from it the width of the broader limb, and without altering your compass describe an interior line; but where the limb must needs be narrower, there you are to accommodate it with your hand, both below and a

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THE LETTER E.

THE LETTER E.

The letter E you shall form in its square thus: Draw a transverse line e. f. bisecting a. b. and c. d. in e. and f.; then draw the great vertical limb of the letter, to the left, as you did for D . Next draw also an upper transverse limb of narrower dimensions, parallel to a. b. and in length six-tenths minus one-third of one-tenth of the length of a. b.; and the end of this bend downwards one-tenth of the length of a. b. and use this as the diameter of the circle with which you round out the in

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THE LETTER F.

THE LETTER F.

The letter F you are to form in the same manner as E ; except that you shall omit the lower limb altogether, and, in its place, round out the letter on both sides below, as you did E on one side only, as I have shown you below....

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THE LETTER G.

THE LETTER G.

Likewise the letter G you are to make as you did C , before described; this, however, excepted: that in front (that is, to the left) of the line g. h. is to be erected the broad limb of the letter, upwards from the curve to the line e. f., and above it is to be rounded to a point, on either side, as before was said; but below, both angles are to remain. Or, you shall form G in the following fashion in the said square, divided as before: Draw the diagonal c. b. and set your compass with one leg o

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THE LETTER H.

THE LETTER H.

The letter H is to be formed of two broad, great, &amp; vertical limbs of the height of the square, in such fashion that their extremities, being produced exteriorly, shall touch the four angles of the square, a. c. and b. d. respectively. Now in what fashion the projections of the broader limbs of letters are to be rounded out at top and bottom and on either side, you have been instructed; for in any letter you please, any broad and vertical limb is to be depicted at top and bottom thrice a

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THE LETTER I.

THE LETTER I.

The letter I you are to make of a single broad vertical tract in the midst of its square, touching the latter top and bottom; and of this, at both ends, and on either side, you are to round out the productions or projections as below is shown....

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THE LETTER K.

THE LETTER K.

Now for K: You are to make the first tract vertical, in the same manner as you formerly did for H ; then draw another narrower limb from the broader and erect one, so that it may, at its lower end, impinge obliquely on the transverse line e. f. and above may ascend to the right till it meet the line a. b., taking care to make it parallel to the diagonal c. b.; and this, at the top, you are to produce in both directions so that each production may represent a tenth part of the line a. b. The hith

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THE LETTER L.

THE LETTER L.

As for the letter L, you shall make it by a combination of parts of two of the preceding letters: namely, you shall make the first vertical broad limb, as you did a while back in I ; and to this join a foot as you did at the bottom of E , when you made it. Such is L depicted below. The letter M you shall form in two ways within its square. In the first, draw the narrower limb of the letter vertical, to the right of a. c., distant from a. one-tenth of the distance a. b.: draw the other, &amp;

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Another method.

Another method.

Another way is thus: Divide the side a. b. of the square into six equal parts &amp; mark off the two extreme parts, one at either end, by the points f. and g.; then draw the inner and broader limb, with its point at e. as above; and to this, in an upward direction, a narrower one, so that between f. g. be left a vacant space, and so more readily the letter slope forward. Then you are to draw the two lateral and vertical limbs—the near and slender, and the farther broad one—at the top, indeed

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THE LETTER N.

THE LETTER N.

Likewise the letter N you shall make in its square thus: First you are to draw two standards vertical and slender, so that at top &amp; bottom they may touch the square, &amp; that being produced, the nigh one at the bottom, and the farther at the top, they may touch the angles at c. and b. Now join these two by a broad oblique limb, running from the angle a. to the point e., by which is denoted the remote side of the farther limb, where you shall allow the acute angle to remain; but at

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THE LETTER O.

THE LETTER O.

Now O you shall make this way in its square. Set in the square the diameter c. b. and bisect it in the point e., so that e. may form a middle point between the two points f. and g. which are to be your two centres; and from each let a circle be described touching two sides of the square; &amp; where the circles cut one another, there with your hand you must shape the slender outline of the letter to a juster proportion, as below is shown....

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THE LETTER P.

THE LETTER P.

P you shall make in its square in this wise. Divide the square a. b. c. d. by the median horizontal line e. f.; then divide a. e. &amp; b. f. equally by the line g. h. Next draw, first the broad vertical limb for this letter P, as you did a short while ago for K , and afterwards erect the line i. k. the distance of its own breadth to the right of your vertical limb; (here you must ever observe that in a lettered square we speak of the angle a. as the “hither” angle, that is, to the left; &am

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THE LETTER Q.

THE LETTER Q.

Make your Q in its square in the self-same manner as was prescribed for O ; but add to it its tail thus: Draw a diameter of the square, the line a. d., about which, starting from the curved outline, begin to draw a long tail, producing it through the angle d. in such fashion that d. may be in the middle of the thickest part of the tail; but where the tail begins let it be a little narrower than in the angle d., where it should attain its real thickness. Then let it be drawn out, beyond the angle

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THE LETTER R.

THE LETTER R.

Moreover R you must make in its square just as was directed for P ; but then erect a right line q. r. through the middle point of the square, &amp; let it cut the exterior arc of the rounded limb in s., from which point, downwards towards the angle d., let there be drawn a broad tract, almost equal to that which you made above for the letter K. , but this is to be somewhat bent in, and so shaped by your hand that its tip, well formed, may arrive directly on the angle d. Or make R in such fas

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Another method.

Another method.

Yet another way may you make the letter S. In the square a. b. c. d. bisect the horizontal line e. f. in the point m.; then set one leg of your compass upon the mid-point between g. and m. &amp; with the other describe a segment of a circle in the direction of a. e. passing through the points m. and g.; next, set your compass upon the mid-point between m. and h. and describe a segment of a circle through m. and h. in the direction of f. d. The two arcs will touch above, in front, and below,

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Another method.

Another method.

Or you make T thus in its square: Take your point e. as before, to the right of a., and cut your transverse limb diagonally, as before, yet so that the projection be dimidiated to the right, and at top the angle remain as it falls; and so at the other extremity, only the point f. must be moved as near again to b., the cutting line to be a little more erect, &amp; the projection formed a trifle broader than at the hither end; otherwise shall everything remain as before; as I have delineated f

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THE LETTER V.

THE LETTER V.

V you shall thus make in its square: Bisect c. d. in the point e.; then set the point f. one-tenth of the whole line a. b. beyond a., and in like fashion g. to the hither side of b. Then draw the broad limb of your letter downwards from f. to e. and sharpen it; &amp; thence draw upwards your slender limb to g.; and at the top produce it in either direction, as you did before at the bottom of A ; just as you see it shown below....

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THE LETTER X.

THE LETTER X.

X you shall form thus: Draw two vertical lines e. f. and g. h. distant respectively one-tenth part of the line a. b. from the sides a. c. and b. d. Then draw the two limbs intersecting one another in the form of a cross—the broad one so that at top, &amp; with its hither side it shall touch e., &amp; at the bottom, and with its farther side h.; but the narrow limb so that at top, and with its farther side it may touch g., &amp; at bottom, with its hither side f. Then add its projecti

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THE LETTER Y.

THE LETTER Y.

Y you shall achieve in the midst of its square, as far as its lower half is concerned, after the instructions before given for I ; but its upper part you shall divide so that its hither limb shall contain two-thirds, and its farther one-third of the broad standard; and let them slope to either side so that produced they may touch the two angles a. and b.; and the greater circles, by which you are to round out their obtuse or greater angles, make of a diameter as great as a containing side of the

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THE LETTER Z.

THE LETTER Z.

Z you shall make thus: Set upon either side, both beneath &amp; beyond the angle a., two points e. &amp; f., each at a distance of the tenth part of a. b.; so also, set two other points g. and h. both before and above the angle d. and with right lines join e. f. and g. h.; then draw your narrower transverse limb, beneath a. b. backwards as far as the angle b.; from thence draw your broad limb diagonally to c.; and then again a narrower one from c. to g.; and with your hand round out the

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DIRECTIONS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE TEXT OR QUADRATE LETTERS

DIRECTIONS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE TEXT OR QUADRATE LETTERS

The letters which are usually called “text,” or quadrate, it was formerly customary so to write, although they are now imitated by the new art, as presently I shall show below. Although the alphabet begins with the writing of A, yet shall I (not needlessly) in the first place undertake to draw an I; because almost all the other letters are formed after this letter, although always something has to be added to it or taken away. First make your I of equal squares, of which three are properly set o

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