Universal Stencil Plate

The Plaque Découpée Universelle or Universal Stencil Plate was created by the engineer Jonathan A. David in 1876 and sold at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1878, hence the French name. This lettering stencil was designed to draw all upper and lower case letters as well as all possible ornaments one can imagine using its numerous lines.

The scope of the project, shown in general public main events, suggests that it was made by someone who wasn’t a type designer and therefore perhaps not in dialogue with the type world of his time. This may explain why it was long forgotten until Eric Kindel’s 2007 article on how he came across it.

antoine lefebvre reprinted the original broadsheet with which it was sold, trying to recreate the entire typographic composition with today’s means. 

Plaque Découpée Universelle, 2023 (1876)
Jonathan A. David
antoine lefebvre editions, 2023

103 x 180 mm for the plate & 475 x 662 mm for the broadside
Keaycolor 450g cardstock lasercut & digital newsprint.