Il fvrbo : comedia
A 1606 Italian comedy printed in Venice by Alessandro Vecchi, held by the Getty Research Institute, with decorative initial letters for a general reading public. The two pictures are printed initials: a woodcut of a lion or wolf-like beast framed in a circle beside a large letter O, and a letter N inside a border of black scrolled foliage and fleur-de-lis ornament. A designer could take from them the compact system of a framed capital letter set against a dense decorative border, a model for monograms and drop caps.
