Excerpt from Elements of Lettering and Sign Painting: A Treatise on the History, Classification, and Practical Application of the Various Styles of Letters of the Alphabet Before requiring the student to apply himself to a knowledge of the present forms and classifications of the letters of our alphabet, he should become familiar with their history and the primitive forms of writing. He should also note the important national changes that have caused a transition from one form into another, until our present advanced era has been reached with its great variety of styles, distinctively different in character one from another, and each arising from some important period in the world's history in which the funda mental or parent style was closely allied to a corresponding style of architecture. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.