Hymnus tabaci
Hymnus tabaci is a Latin poem in praise of tobacco by Raphael Thorius, printed in London in 1626 by Joannis Waterson for a learned readership. The picture is a historiated woodcut initial N with interlaced strapwork, foliage and a small grape-like cluster, set beside lines of black-letter type. A designer might take from it the dense interlace of a Renaissance capital letter and its framing of text within a bordered block.
