A newly launched archive called Garden of Flowers is preserving a forgotten art form: pictures built entirely from metal type, ornaments, and rules, some created as early as the 1600s. The project began with its creator's 2015 BA thesis on Amiga ASCII art, which sparked a deeper curiosity about text art's historical roots. After eight years of obsessive collecting, the database now holds roughly 2,500 images from public digital collections.
Unlike the more commonly cited typewriter art and shaped poetry, the archive focuses on letterpress techniques that predate ASCII art by centuries. Many of these works were scattered across obscure keywords and languages, making them difficult to find through conventional searches. The creator argues that this overlooked practice deserves recognition as a precursor to modern text-based art forms.
The collection draws primarily from the Internet Archive, national libraries, and other public digital repositories. Most images are displayed without explicit permission, though the site frames this as educational use. Each image includes a link to its original source, and the creator has pledged to remove or correct any disputed material upon request.
The archive remains incomplete and is known to contain some errors and misattributions. The creator actively welcomes corrections and leads on uncatalogued works, noting that the practice remains poorly documented across languages. This crowdsourced approach may help fill gaps in the historical record over time.
While visually striking, the project's reliance on unlicensed third-party images could raise copyright questions. The educational-purpose defense may not shield the archive in all jurisdictions, a risk the creator acknowledges openly.