So I am basing my ISTD Connections/Journey brief on the Development of the Ampersand.
The ampersand is a conjunction sign that connects word.
On this post is the research.. each image is reference with the website it came from below it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/angelakeocharoen/282114267/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahfrance/2538338721/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ricknunn/3522992506/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelplump/2938475413/
http://ampersand.gosedesign.net/
http://ampersand.gosedesign.net/
http://ampersand.gosedesign.net/
http://www.adobe.com/type/topics/theampersand.html
When creating a new typeface, a designer can inject the most artistic flair into the ampersand character. The term ampersand, as Geoffrey Glaister writes in his "Glossary of the Book," is a corruption of and (&) per se and, which literally means "(the character) & by itself (is the word) and." The symbol & is derived from the ligature of ET or et, which is the Latin word for "and."
One of the first examples of an ampersand appears on a piece of papyrus from about 45 A.D. Written in the style of early Roman capital cursive (typical of the handwriting of the time), it shows the ligature ET. A sample of Pompeian graffiti from 79 A.D. (fig. 1) also shows a combination of the capitals E and T, and is again written in early Roman script. Later documents display a more flowing, less formal Roman lowercase cursive, which evolved into our italic, and the appearance of a ligature et (fig. 2) becomes more frequent. While the connection between the capital letters E and T was initially formed by writing quickly, later calligraphic manuscripts show the middle part of the E, consisting of semicircles, joined to the T by a more intentional, flowing horizontal line. Eventually, this tight combination began to look like one symbol (fig. 3). By the time scribes developed Carolingian minuscule about 775 A.D., the ligature had become a standard part of their repertoire (fig. 4). Depending on the writing speed or the calligrapher's concern for perfection, from the eighth century on, the combination of the letters E and T resembled the ligature that was adopted with the invention of printing in the early 15th century (fig. 5).
http://www.adobe.com/type/topics/theampersand.html
http://www.buzzfeed.com/awesomer/history-of-the-ampersand
The ampersand can be traced back to the first century AD. It was originally a ligature of the letters E and T (”et” is Latin for and). If you look at the modern ampersand, you’ll likely still be able to see the E and T separately.
The first ampersands looked very much like the separate E and T combined, but as type developed over the next few centuries, it eventually became more stylized and less representative of its origins.
You can see the evolution of the ampersand below (1 is like the original Roman ligature, 2 and 3 are from the fourth century, and 4-6 are from the ninth century).
The modern ampersand has remained largely unchanged from the Carolignian ampersands developed in the ninth century.
http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2010/01/the-history-of-the-ampersand-and-showcase/
The word “ampersand” was first added to dictionaries in 1837. The word was created as a slurred form of “and, per se and”, which was what the alphabet ended with when recited in English-speaking schools. (Historically, “and per se” preceded any letter which was also a word in the alphabet, such as “I” or “A”. And the ampersand symbol was originally the last character in the alphabet.)
http://www.neatorama.com/2010/01/14/a-brief-history-of-the-ampersand/
Because "et" is the Latin word for "and," silly. Writing "&" instead of "and" saved a lot of ink and toil for all of those medieval monks who had to copy Latin documents by hand.
Until the mid-1800s, most British and American students recited an alphabet not of 26 characters, but of 27. The 27th character was, you guessed it, "&," which was simply called, well, "and."
When students reached the last character of the alphabet -- "&" - - they would say, "And; and per se and" (meaning the character "&" by itself means "and").
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/760322481.html?dids=760322481:760322481&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Dec+10%2C+2004&author=ROB+KYFF&pub=Hartford+Courant&desc=UNDERSTANDING+AMPERSAND+SYMBOL+%26+ITS+HISTORY&pqatl=google
A HEATED DEBATE recently broke out on the popular new graphic-design weblog Design Observer over a little-noted but apparently urgent matter -- the impending extinction of the ampersand.
Earlier this month, in a foreboding posting titled "The DNA of AND," Design Observer cofounder Jessica Helfand (whose book "Reinventing the Wheel" was recently noted in this space) suggested that the evolution of the ampersand -- that elegant symbol used to signify "and" in the names of law firms and telecoms -- may have run its course. If the history of typography has been a centuries-long quest to render ideal letterforms into print, she wondered, will designers in a postmodern era that mistrusts such pursuits still continue to tinker with the ampersand, or has the squiggle reached the end of the line?
Not so fast, wrote designer Tom Gleason, who asked whether typographic idealism has truly been lost "when everything we say, do, and design seems to be a longing for it, even still." A French software exec chimed in that the esperluette (ampersand) is a poetic holdout in an increasingly technologized era. Needham-based graphic designer Julie Teninbaum agreed, calling the ampersand "a break from the monotony of type that plays by the rules, a creative doodle amongst measured letterforms.
"But Dmitri Siegel, publisher of the design journal Ante, suggested that the ampersand still had a useful role to play. "In film credits, & represents a closer collaboration [between individuals] than and," he noted. What's more, Siegel suggested, the world needs more single-letter character signs -- starting with one for the humble "the," if only for efficiency's sake -- not less. To join the discussion, visit www.designobserver.com.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2004/03/28/the_evolution_of_the_ampersand/
