From the PREFATORY NOTE.THIS manual, intended as a companion to the author's previous work The Alphabet which traces more completely the history and development of the Roman character than is contemplated here, has been prepared in response to many requests for some plain letterings that would illustrate a sufficient variety of styles to enable a craftsman to select just the kind of letter he requires for the particular work he may have in hand. It aims only to present clearly [from the viewpoint of an actual worker in the craft] the fundamentals and essentials of letterforms - not how to draw them, but to consider what they are - their esthetic character rather than the story of their origin or progress. Good lettering must be founded on good models; for the use of beginners, they ought especially to be simple, dignified forms that have been divested of the archaisms and mannerisms of the scribes and exhibit the essentials of legibility, beauty and character in a high degree. In the examples shown herein, the writer has intended to provide typical letter forms only, showing old-style, modern and italic types, black-letter, stone-cut inscriptions, etc. He hopes that his selections will be found to answer every requirement. Each alphabet is shown in a size which exhibits clearly any peculiarities or subtleties of form in the individual letters. The beginner is urged not merely to copy them, but to familiarize himself with them also, that he may acquire a proper tradition upon which to found new expressions of his own. Opposite each plate the writer has attempted briefly to outline the origin or history of that alphabet, or add some thought germane to the particular form shown which did not logically find place elsewhere. The author takes this opportunity to thank the American Type Founders Company for kind permission to show as pattern letters the Caslon, Bodoni and Goudy types furnished by them for his use herein. He desires to extend his thanks also to Mr. Hal Marchbanks of The Marchbanks Press, who had arranged to publish this manual, but who very kindly abandoned the arrangement in order that it might be issued by the publisher of The Alphabet. Mr. Marchbanks' interest and care in its production have been sincerely appreciated. The writer wishes primarily to help the student-craftsman and by precept and example return the art of lettering to its original purity of intention-to bring a great craft again to life; it is not his aim merely to exploit his own work.