Long s
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The long s, ⟨ſ⟩, also known as the medial s or initial s, is an archaic form of the lowercase letter ⟨s⟩, found mostly in works from the late 8th to early 19th centuries. It could replace one or both
An italicized long s used in the word "Congress" (as "Congreſs") in the United States Bill of Rights
Fifth edition of Encyclopædia Britannica, 1817, top, compared to the sixth edition of 1823; the only change (aside from the elimination of the ⟨ct⟩ ligature, as in "attraction") was the removal of the long s from the typeface.
A sign bar for a shop in Berlin (2002), written in a Fraktur typeface
Title page of John Milton's Paradise Lost, featuring an ſt ligature and a nub on the long s
Swash (typography)
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A swash is a typographical flourish, such as an exaggerated serif, terminal, tail, entry stroke, etc., on a glyph. The use of swash characters dates back to at least the 16th century, as they can be s
Long s
…but never "poſſeſſ"). The modern ⟨s⟩ letterform is known as the "short", "terminal", or "round" s. In typography, the long s is known as a type of swash letter, commonly referred to as a "swash s". As with other letters, the long s may have a variant appearance depending on typeface: ſ, ſ, ſ, ſ. In some…
Extensive use of swashes in a 1560 edition of Calvin. Swashes are used on capitals throughout and on many letters at the end of words too. This use would probably now be considered excessive.
Helvetica Flair, a redesign of the sans-serif font Helvetica with swashes