Volume 12–4 (Low Res).pdf - U&lc

pages, the book was an encyclopedia
of engraving art.
But John Bergling wasn't interested
in helping only people in the field
of jewelry engraving. He wanted to
aid all designers and craftspeople
who worked with letterforms and
monograms, and artists of all styles.
Therefore, the book included style
samples of monogram and signet
designs as well as alphabet variations
on a theme—letters with filigree,
letters with leaf-and-vine
ornamentation, etc. It also incorporated
many entertaining drawings:
borders, mermaids, cowboys, birds,
gargoyles, lions, dragons, dolphins
and assorted flora.
He explained it best in his own
words, on the Introduction page:
" ... While this book is in no sense a
text book and does not partake of
any of the 'dryness' characteristic
of works of that kind, I have interpolated
into the subject-matter
many interesting things that will
make a study of its pages both pleasurable
and instructive. Students
will find it of inestimable value, for
the study of the severer part of the
lettering will inspire higher and
more artistic ideals."
John Bergling fully understood how
difficult and frustrating the work
with letterforms could be, especially
when a designer was faced with the
task of making specific letters work
together, such as in a monogram.
Over the course of the years to
follow, John Bergling produced
and published three other books
in addition to the first, as well as
monogram/signet letterform style
—sheets for engravers and other
craftsmen who worked with letters
in design.
Bergling's books are: Art Alphabets
& Lettering Art Monograms &
Lettering Ornamental Designs &
Illustrations and Heraldic Designs
& Engraving.
After his death in 1933, his daughter
Virginia continued to publish
and sell her father's books until
1977, when she sold the publishing
rights to a school specializing in the
jeweler's arts. The books are still
available.
A _J
John Bergling thought of himself as
a letterform "inventor." By publishing
his books he made his inventions
available to other designers
and engravers in the United States
and Europe, where he had numerous
ties, especially with engravers
in England.
It is possible that through this channel
he influenced the graphic designers
and artists who formed the
ground force in the emerging Art
Nouveau and Art Deco movements.
Art Nouveau in the early 1900s, and
Art Deco—which was officially
launched at the Paris Exposition in
1925—reflected the most modern
styles-in art,-architecture, and for
that matter, consumer products of
the time. Bergling's first book, published
in 1908, presented many
styles we would consider Art Nou-
veau and Art Deco—years before
public notice. It may have provided
designers in those other disciplines
with the very thrust they needed to
form their own bridges between
yesterday and tomorrow.
Now, years later, a question comes
to mind: what could this one man,
who was certainly a talented,
skilled example of pure Renaissance
Man at his best, have produced
if he had ever turned his
attention to areas of design completely
outside of letterforms and
alphabets, such as industrial design?
We could be driving a Bergling 8, or
jetting to London on a Bergling 757,
or rocking in a Bergling Bentwood.
For all we know, maybe we are!
As for John Bergling, the man, we
know that he loved plants and
flowers and animals. At night he
would study these beautiful examples
of design from nature, sketching
their delicate intricacies in order
to incorporate that beauty in his
work and preserve it for evermore.
And so he has. And so he has.
By Lee Sinoff
A. Art Monograms & Lettering-1950 Special Edition.
Originally published in 1908. Paper, 47 pages. Sold for
$2.50 _ _ _ _ _ _
B. Art Monograms and Lettering for the use of Engravers-
Artists-Designers and Art Workmen. Published in 1920,
paper, 96 pages. Sold for $3.75.
C. Art Monograms and Alphabets (For Embroidery,
Applique and Fancy Work). Published in 1938, paper,
16 pages. Sold for 81.25.