Designed by Richard Smith of MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan — patented February 25, 1879 — the «Combination Book Border (Series 87)» is a superb example of Victorian typographic skeuomorphisms.
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The Illimitable Border
The self-evidently named «Illimitable Border.» displayed in H. W. Caslon & Co.’s 1915 «Specimens of Types & Borders and Illustrated Catalogue of Printers’ Joinery and Materials» consists of 39 combinable units — a dot matrix design on a 4 × 4 grid — enabling the compositor to form pixel-like decoration of varying complexity. The catalogue showcases a selection of these inexhaustible permutations aside the respective elements in use.
Book Border Absurdism — part 1
