D. Eras. Roterodami de duplici copia verborum ac rerum commentarii duo ; Eras. de laudibus literariae societatis, reip. ac magistratuum urbis Argentinae, epistola ad Jacobum Wimphelingum plane Erasmica
A 1521 Latin treatise on rhetoric and style by the humanist Desiderius Erasmus, printed at Strasbourg by Johann Schott for scholars and students of Latin. Its decorative initials are woodcut letters built from black ground with pale foliage, flowers, and scrollwork knocked out of the field. A designer could draw on their dense, carved contrast between light letterform and dark patterned ground, with acanthus leaves and vine tendrils that suit historical display type and ornamental capitals.
