It can all be traced back to a remark by Robert Bringhurst in his influential book "The Elements of Typographic Style" in which he suggests that in titles it is

It can all be traced back to a remark by Robert Bringhurst in his influential book "The Elements of Typographic Style" in which he suggests that in titles it is worth using the most decorative & sign we have (some fonts have different variants available) or even use the italic ampersand in roman context, because the italic & is often more decorative (ultimately they all come from a stylized "et"). I think many have taken it too far and the results sometimes look pretentious. An example still on the safe side (IMHO) is in pg's book: http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR2J5Pw_xUwVNxV_z504PGH5Sc6-E_b2E5RladQpfGPcDCS_t-9hw http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR2J5Pw_xUwVNxV_z504... And the typograhy book (highly recommended): Non-affiliate: http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Typographic-Style-Robert-Bringhurst/dp/0881791326 http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Typographic-Style-Robert-Brin... Affiliate: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0881792063/mybookbox-20 http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0881792063/mybookbox-...