If you think you know your alphabet, think again. Drawing from mythology, cosmology, history, the Bible, literature, and esoteric and conventional sources, this book takes the reader on a tour of each of the twenty-six letters of the Roman alphabet. In chapters that are descriptive, illustrative and diverse, we are shown the history and development of every letter, how its shape evolved, how its characteristics were encoded, and how its history, attributes, and meanings were reflected in myth, literature, science and religion. Rich in surprises and serendipities, profusely illustrated with related drawings from ancient scripts to present-day digitised computer alphabets, and quoting sources as diverse as James Joyce, Rabelais, Dostoevsky, Mark Twain, Elmer Fudd and Bob Dylan, "The Alphabet" is a book for all those who know their abcs, but perhaps not as well as they imagined.

The story of one of civilisation's greatest inventions, the Roman alphabet. 'Firmage's is that rare thing, an intelligent book with decolletage' GUARDIAN 'Not since Monty Python built their ham-and-eggs sketch out of single-lettter dialogue have the building blocks of our vocabulary been so enthusiastically dusted off and examined' NEW STATESMAN

About the Author
Richard Firmage is an award-winning book designer and editor who has worked in publishing since obtaining an M.A. degree in history in 1975.


Book Information
ISBN 9780747552994
Author Richard A. Firmage
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Weight(grams) 260g