1

I saw this brewery the other day and have never seen a letter 'w' like it (in the word 'brewing'). Why does the left half of the letter not resemble the 'u' of which this letter is a double?

image of a brewery logo

5
  • Could ask them: lincolngreenbrewing.co.uk it seems to be present on all their packaging. But I can't find any viable reference for "brerving" - Closest I could find is it may be a substitute glyph since the old Irish alphabet had no actual w in it.
    – Scott
    Aug 25, 2022 at 23:10
  • @Scott Irish? There’s nothing Irish about this – they’re in Notthinghamshire, and the font is quite English. It’s just a variant glyph shape, and not all that rare in blackletter scripts, including many still used for Ye Olde English look (cf. this Walbaum Fraktur alphabet sample from Wikipedia). The typeface used here is clearly not traditional blackletter, but it’s clearly based on it – the designer probably just thought the top-joining w was a neat feature that they liked and therefore included. Aug 26, 2022 at 15:34
  • I was reaching @JanusBahsJacquet - I realize it's a blackletter. I could find no references for that particular glyph anywhere,
    – Scott
    Aug 26, 2022 at 15:37
  • .. also.. most often in Old English blackletter the w is simply broken or suffers from a lighter tail on that first stroke. The "rv" isn't technically a glyph. It's a result of poor reproduction. The sign above, isn't using an overly ornate blackletter, so there's little reason the glyph should be "broken".
    – Scott
    Aug 26, 2022 at 15:50
  • Not sure what font this is, it looks like some of the late-nineteenth century Künstlerschrift (artistic writing) types that tried to fuse roman and blackletter type characteristics. This form of w is unusual, but definitely not unknown. Most common in German blackletter and in copperplate handwriting. Textura, the style of blackletter which was the norm in Britain before being brought over to America, often didn't use it.
    – Copilot
    Aug 27, 2022 at 20:37

1 Answer 1

3

That type of broken lower case w design is not unknown in gothic/black letter scripts. Not going to say it's common, but it's not hard to find other examples.

For example here are a few I found on 1001fonts.com

enter image description here

Also I think I have managed to locate a very similar font, if not identical. It's called Augusta, on Dafont.com

enter image description here

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.