Lettres decoratives: a century of French sign painters' alphabets

Abstract

A kaleidoscopic survey of letterforms from nineteenth- and twentieth-century France, Lettres Décoratives includes more than 150 plates from grand lithographic albums printed at the height of the sign painter's craft. Originally made to demonstrate styles and inspire artists to decorate cities with increasingly colorful, adventurous, and refined forms, these portfolios preserve a rich visual history of urban alphabets. An introduction by practitioner Morgane Côme explores the story of French sign painting and its historic albums, while additional texts shed light on their contents. Featuring dozens of monumental alphabets, Lettres Décoratives is a portal to the past, as well as a valuable resource for contemporary sign painters and designers today. --Publisher's website.

Contents

Rediscovering a two-hundred-year-old craft / by Morgan Côme -- Modèles de lettres: Extrait des vingt premières années du journal-manuel de peintures = Model letters: Extracts from the first twenty years of the journal-manual of painting -- Modèles de lettres, deuxième série: Extrait des deuxième et troisième séries du journal-manuel de peintures = Model letters, volume 2: Extracts from the second and third volumes of the journal-manual of painting -- Modèles de lettres sur vingt tons de fonds différents = Model letters on twenty different background tones -- Nouveaux modèles de lettres = New model letters -- Modèles de lettres pour peintre en bâtiment: Fantaisie et perspective = Model letters for building painters: Fancy and perspective -- Nouvel album de lettres peintures = New album on painted letters -- Lettres et enseignes Art Nouveau = Art Nouveau letters and signs -- Décorations peintes pour devantures et intérieurs de magasins = Painted decorations for shop fronts and interiors -- Lettres et enseignes, deuxième série = Letters and signs, volume 2 -- Nouveau recueil pratique de lettres modernes à l'usage des peintres = New practical collection of modern letters for painters -- Nouveau recueil pratique d'enseignes décoratives à l'usage des peintres = New practical collection of decorative signs for painters -- Modèles de lettres modernes = Models of modern letters.