Swash (typography)

Swashes marked with red color

A swash is a typographical flourish, such as an exaggerated serif, terminal, tail, entry stroke, etc., on a glyph.^[1]^[2]^[3] The use of swash characters dates back to at least the 16th century, as they can be seen in Ludovico Vicentino degli Arrighi's La Operina, which is dated 1522. As with italic type in general, they were inspired by the conventions of period handwriting.^[4] Arrighi's designs influenced designers in Italy and particularly in France.^[5]

^ Henry, Frank S (1917). Printing: A Textbook For Printers' Apprentices, Continuation Classes, And For General Use In Schools. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p. 82.
^ Schwartz, Christian. "Back with a flourish". Eye Magazine. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
^ Tracy, Walter (1991). "The Alternatives". Bulletin of the Printing Historical Society (30).
^ Adobe Type Library Reference Book (3 ed.). Adobe Systems. 2007. ISBN 9780132701365.
^ Lawson, Alexander (1990). Anatomy of a Typeface. David R. Godine. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-87923-333-4.

[1] Henry, Frank S (1917). Printing: A Textbook For Printers' Apprentices, Continuation Classes, And For General Use In Schools. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p. 82.

[Back_with_a_flourish_intro-2] Schwartz, Christian. "Back with a flourish". Eye Magazine. Retrieved 31 March 2018.

[Tracy_BPHS-3] Tracy, Walter (1991). "The Alternatives". Bulletin of the Printing Historical Society (30).

[4] Adobe Type Library Reference Book (3 ed.). Adobe Systems. 2007. ISBN 9780132701365.

[5] Lawson, Alexander (1990). Anatomy of a Typeface. David R. Godine. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-87923-333-4.

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