Disquisitio physico-mathematica de presbytis et myopibus ...
A 1693 Latin dissertation on near- and far-sightedness by Johann Jakob Scheuchzer, printed at Altdorf for a scholarly readership of physicians and mathematicians. The single picture is a decorative woodcut initial N, with a foliated border, a small figure in its upper counter, and a sprig of scrollwork running down the stem, showing how early modern printers built letters out of vines and putti. A designer could take from it the idea of a historical capital built from interlaced foliage and small figures inside a letterform.
