A System of Easy Lettering

The formality of a description may seem scarcely necessary for the selling of a book with a system as simple and comprehensible as the one herewith presented. We have but to divide any surface we may wish to letter into squares (or parallelograms as the case may be), in pencil lines; form the required letters, in ink or paint, and according to the style chosen; erase the pencil lines, and the lettering is complete. But let us say this: This book is bonkers. First published in 1887, it predates later, more recognizable attempts at grid-based lettering by many decades. Old as it may be, some of these examples are as fresh as the these first few weeks of the second Trump administration have been loaded with reckless actions. And speaking of reckless actions, allow us to put a completely uninformed idea out there: You know the data portraits by W. E. B. Du Bois? Take a look at the lettering. Do you think maybe he’d been looking at this book? His lettering is not a perfect match, but there are some striking similarities.