Alphabet Patterns

This beautiful alphabet specimen is a fine example of the sort of decorative letterforms familiar to many needlework specialists. Over 100 illustrated alphabets and monograms were traced and possibly gathered from printed source material, and then assembled into this bound volume sometime between 1860 and 70. It very likely may have originated in Germany, since a newspaper clipping from Der Bazar—dated March, 20th, precisely 143 years ago today—is glued to the fly-leaf of the book. This one-of-a-kind book is happily shared as a full download here. I've taken the liberty to color correct and display a number of my favorite alphabet examples for a sneak preview.