L'Astrée
L'Astrée is a 1625 pastoral romance by Honoré d'Urfé, with continuation by Balthasar Baro, printed in Paris by Pomeray for a courtly reading public. Its pictures are decorative initial letters, the large capitals opening chapters: an ornate L, a stylised I, a C in looping scrollwork, and an S beside an 'AV' opening word set in roman capitals. A designer could take from them the scale and rhythm of framed letterforms, with dense black foliate scrolls against open paper.
