11 beautiful alphabets from ancient and medieval times

From simple to ornate, from angular to curvy, from lines to ribbons and animal heads, go way beyond Helvetica with these 11 samples from The Book of Ornamental Alphabets.

1. Eighth and ninth centuries. Anglo-Saxon.

2. 10th century. British Museum.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

3. 11th century, and numerals.

4. 13th century, from Latin MS.

5. 14th century. Date about 1340.

6. 15th and 16th centuries. Ornamental Riband.

7. 16th century. Henry the Eighth. MS.

8. 16th century. Gothic. MS.

9. 16th century. Gothic. MS.

10. 17th century. MS.

11. 16th century.