“A rather original alphabet used by the Chiswick Press.” — C. P. Hornung: Early Advertising Alphabets, Initials and Typographic Ornaments. Made in c. 1855 [Alter Littera]. A subset is shown in “Some English Decorated Initials”, an article by A. F. Johnson in Alphabet and Image No. 7, May 1948. The full set (no ‘J‘) is shown in Decorative Alphabets and Initials by Alexander Nesbitt, Dover 1959.

Formatt offered a dry-transfer version as Thomas Gothic Initials. Various digital interpretations, including the freebies Nouveau Drop Caps (2000), Gloucester Initialen (2001) and Gotische Initialen (2002, all by Dieter Steffmann), Chiswick Press Gothic Initials (2007, by Dick Pape based on the Dover showing). Gerald Giampa’s LTC Jacobean Initials (Lanston Type Company, 2004, used for the sample) and David Kettlewell’s Chiswick Illuminated Caps (New Renaissance Fonts, 2009) are commercial multilayer versions. Alter Littera is working on another digital interpretation, announced as Initials New Chiswick.