The standard advise for the ampersand is “Use with caution, too many look sloppy”. I agree, the best use for this glyph, which is a direct stand in for “And”, (and who’s shape is derived from Latin word for such “et”), is in headlines and other places where space is both at a premium and the type is large enough to allow the shape of this symbol to be fully enjoyed by an expectant audience.

This is not a joke. Drawn well, the ampersand is the most gorgeous glyph in English orthography surpassing by far even the scionic letters, uppercase “Q”, “J” and “R”. Beautiful though they may be the ampersand, it must be stressed, is like a vision of Aphrodite herself.

In serif faces an ampersand is formal, stately, statuesque yet alluring. All the grandeur of the Old World, the tradition and the classic ideals. In sans-serif faces she is reinvented! modern and flirtatious yet classy and refined.

The ampersand comes into her own when rendered by a master typographer in a lush, extravagantly vivacious form. The modern ampersand does not readily show the heritage of E, her mother and T, her father; the most luscious are obtained with display renderings that show the E and the T clearly.

The practice of replacing this treasure with an E on a stick must stop. Likewise the modified plus-sign-with-the-looped-left-stroke must be put to the sword. These ugly hags cannot be allowed to usurp the throne nor attack the beauty of the ampersand.

The Ampersand is the face that launched a thousand headlines. Long live The Ampersand.