Language is devoted to articulation, but the inarticulate elements from which it is composed -- bare forked letters, decaying sounds -- have long teased the human imagination as something at once unnacountable and provocative: a threat of utter incoherence underlying all linguistic expression; a token of some final as yet undisclosed revelation. Drucker, an author of many accomplishments, a poet, novelist, art historian, and printer, has written a history of alphabetic forms and speculations. She limits herself to the West, but needless to say that still leaves a lot to consider. Uncials, historiated capitals, alchemical codes, and the Kabbalah are all here. This is a fine and suggestive survey, thoroughly researched, handsomely illustrated, somewhat detached in tone -- which is odd: the author loves her subject; she needn't have struggled so hard to hide it.
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