Compositor

https://compositor.bham.ac.uk

Compositor is a database of eighteenth-century printers’ ornaments. Eighteenth-century books were highly decorated and decorative. Their pages were adorned with ornaments that ranged from small floral embellishments to large and intricate head- and tailpieces, depicting all manner of people, places, and things. Compositor includes ornaments cut by hand in blocks of wood or metal, as well as cast ornaments, engravings, and fleurons (ornamental typography).

Partners

University of Birmingham, UK
Visual Geometry Group, University of Oxford, UK
INSTITUT D'HISTOIRE DES REPRESENTATIONS DANS LES MODERNITES, France
LabHC Laboratoire Hubert Curien, France

Project Team

Hazel Wilkinson, University of Birmingham, UK

Funders

Arts and Humanities Research Council, UK
Bibliographical Society, UK
University of Cambridge, UK