ABC of Bugs and Plants in a Northern Garden.

This double alphabet book is a recent addition to the Grolier Club Library’s small but select collection of lettering books. The geometrically formed capital letters entwined with plants and insects were designed by artist and gardener Judy Sgantas after classically inspired Renaissance models. The capital “M” (for Moth) shown in this opening closely recalls the character designed by Fra Luca Pacioli for his Divina proportione (Venice, 1509) and used for many years as the logo of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Sgantas’s drawings were digitally scanned and reproduced on sheets printed in letterpress by Claire Van Vliet of the Janus Press.