The Book of Ornamental Alphabets, Ancient and Modern

from the Ninth to the Nineteenth Century; with numerals. Including Gothic; Church Text, Large and Small: German; Italian; Arabesque; Initials for Illumination; Rustic, Large and Small; Ornamental; and with An Analysis of the Roman and Old English Alphabets, (large and small,) for the use of Architectural and Engineering Draughtsmen, Masons, Decorative Painters, Lithographers, Engravers, Carvers, Schools, etc., etc. First edition, with errata tipped in at rear. Oblong 8vo. (3), 50 woodcut plates printed in a variety of color inks. Publisher's adverts to endpapers. A Very Good copy with light fingersoil, occasional pencil ghosts and a stray dash of colored pencil on plates 30 and 47. Stylish signature of William Bingham, Mansfield, dated 1859 opposite the title page. Binding with mild soil and rubbing, but tight and square. A rare copy of Delamotte's first collection of ornamental alphabets--the success of which would parlay into publishing 'Ornamental Alphabets, Ancient and Mediaeval..." and "Examples of Modern Alphabets" in 1859. Capitalizing on both a need in the industrual trades and the burgeoning hobbyist fashion, Delamotte published several alphabet collections within the last few years of his life (d.1862), with publishers continuing to print editions through the early 1900s.