Typography was also a
predecessor to
ASCII art. Here is an example from the 1865 book,
Alice in Wonderland, by
Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson). The following tail of a mouse is from Chapter III, "A Caucus Race and a
Long Tale":
"It _is_ a long tail, certainly," said Alice, looking
down with wonder at the Mouse's tail; "but why do you
call it sad?" And she kept on puzzling about it while the
Mouse was speaking, so that her idea of the tale was
something like this:----"Fury said to
a mouse, That
he met in the
house, `Let
us both go
to law: _I_
will prose-
cute _you_.--
Come, I'll
take no de-
nial: We
must have
the trial;
For really
this morn-
ing I've
nothing
to do.'
Said the
mouse to
the cur,
`Such a
trial, dear
sir. With
no jury
or judge,
would
be wast-
ing our
breath.'
`I'll be
judge,
I'll be
jury,'
said
cun-
ning
old
Fury:
`I'll
try
the
whole
cause,
and
con-
demn
you to
death'."