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In scans of early printed books which use an italic type, I've sometimes seen an alternate letter form used at the end of a line where some extra space needs to be filled up. This alternate form ends with a long baseline swash to fill up the extra space. I can't find an example of this from an actual book, but these alternate characters look like this "m" from a sample of Cancelleresca Bastarda:

swash example

Is there a more specific name for this type of swash, which is more for filling up space than for ornamentation, which can extend a long distance when necessary, and which sticks to the baseline more than a decorative swash would?

1 Answer 1

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Terminal Swash

Initial swashes should only be used at the beginning of a line or word, while terminal swashes work best at the end of a line or word.

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Source creativepro.com

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Matahati Script Font from Behance

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