21 MARCH 1903, Page 23

Lettering in Ornament. By Lewis F. Day. (Batsford. 5s.) —In

all ages lettering has taken a prominent part in decorative art, and few things will spoil otherwise good ornament so quickly as badly designed letters. Nor is the designing of the letters all; the spacing and proportions 'are equally important. Mr. Day teaches not only theoretically, but by a large number of examples drawn with catholieity of taste from a great variety of sources. The Gothic artists seem to delight in the fantastic shapes their letters take so easily, while the Italians like to make their inscriptions clear and yell balanced. where is a beautgul example of this given from Luca della Robbie.