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So I'm aware that \& can be used to produce the traditional ampersand symbol, however I would like to use the type of ampersand symbol which looks something like a cursive E, here is a picture:

enter image description here

Does anyone know a package which has this symbol? Thanks.

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  • 1
    Have you tried \textit{\&}?
    – Mico
    May 27, 2014 at 20:30
  • @Mico, That just slants it.
    – Set
    May 27, 2014 at 20:31
  • I just did, is there a particular font you're using where that works?
    – Set
    May 27, 2014 at 20:33
  • 1
    Try {\usefont{OT1}{cmtt}{m}{it} \&} or {\usefont{OT1}{cmr}{m}{it} \&}. May 27, 2014 at 20:35
  • 1
    @banned there is no way of knowing unless you know the font, it is just a feature of the font like knowing whether g has a closed loop or any other letter shape, generally "italic" fonts are more likely to use the more open shape but it's up to the font designer May 27, 2014 at 20:40

2 Answers 2

19

You've indicated in a comment that you use Times (New) Roman as your text font. Most Times Roman-like fonts do not provide a "swashy" ampersand character, but the newtx font package does. :-) The following MWE shows both the italic and "normal" form of the character that's produced by this font family:

enter image description here

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{newtxtext,newtxmath}
\begin{document}
\textit{\&} vs.\ \&
\end{document}

Addendum If the character shown above is not "swashy" enough for your taste you could try a font such as Palatino or Caslon. (The screenshot you provided in your posting would seem to come from the font Adobe Caslon Pro.) Note that some of the swashy ampersands employ a fancy combination of an uppercase E and a lowercase t, whereas others consist of an equally fancy combination of a lowercase e and a lowercase t.

enter image description here

% !TEX TS-program = lualatex
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{fontspec}
\begin{document}
\setmainfont{Latin Modern Roman} \textit{\&}
\setmainfont{Palatino nova} \textit{\&}
\setmainfont{TeX Gyre Pagella} \textit{\&} % a Palatino clone
\setmainfont{Adobe Caslon Pro} \textit{\&}
\setmainfont{EB Garamond} \textit{\&}

\setmainfont{Garamond Premier Pro} \textit{\&}
\setmainfont{ITC Galliard Std} \textit{\&}
\setmainfont{Junicode} \textit{\&}
\end{document}

(To compile the preceding MWE use either XeLaTeX or LuaLaTeX; pdfLaTeX won't work. Of course, you'll also have to have the various fonts installed on your system.)

And, if you have access to Zapfino you can choose from seven [7!] different variants of &:

% !TEX TS-program = xelatex
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{fontspec}
\setmainfont{Zapfino}
\begin{document}
\addfontfeature{Variant=1} \&
\addfontfeature{Variant=2} \&
\addfontfeature{Variant=3} \&
\addfontfeature{Variant=4} \&
\addfontfeature{Variant=5} \&
\addfontfeature{Variant=6} \&
\addfontfeature{Variant=7} \&
\end{document}

enter image description here

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    For no less than 52 Goudy ampersands, see Goudy Aries; Goudy needed them for a study he wrote on the ampersand.
    – Thérèse
    May 27, 2014 at 21:47
  • @Thérèse - That's a really good one! And I thought Zapfino was overdoing it a wee bit by offering seven different ampersands...
    – Mico
    May 27, 2014 at 21:54
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Next to Mico's great answer, I just would like to show you the closest to your picture in pure pdfLaTeX. Your symbol is an Adobe Caslon Italic which has to be purchased. The most similar to get really easy would be EB Garamond which you may use like:

% arara: pdflatex
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{ebgaramond}
\begin{document}
\textit{\&}
\end{document}

enter image description here

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