UPDATE Congratulations to Lauren winning with a 4 vote difference!
& then there was a battle to end all battles. Harkening back to the ampersand’s history we have devised a hand-lettered battle between Lauren McGhee and Elizabeth Lockhart. No computers except to scan! Who did it better?
Ampersand History, courtesy of retinart.net:
Originally a shorthand mark for et, Latin for and, the ampersand has a very traceable and visible evolution. Simply put, the & is not much more than e and t coming together. The ampersand is a marriage of the two letters, which came about through rushed writings and abbreviation starting at its birth around 45AD.
Through time the symbol has changed to the point where most ampersands are distant cousins of the original et. But there are a few typefaces that have more of a distinct features relating to its ancestry.
An example of the evolution of the Ampersand. (via wikipedia)
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