Part 5
Besides the foregoing, a smaller size than Diamond, called Brilliant, is now cast in the foundry of MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan of Philadelphia, the body of which is just one-half of Minion. Even this is surpassed in smallness by a music type cast in the same foundry, named Excelsior, which is precisely one-half the size of Nonpareil. Another size omitted in the list is Minionette, (equivalent to six of the Didot points,) which is next above Nonpareil.
Canon is conceded to have been first produced by a French artisan, and was probably used in some work relating to the canons of the church; to which the German title, Missal, alludes.
Two-line Great Primer, Two-line English, and Two-line Pica, owe their names to the respective bodies of which the depth of two em quadrates answers to one of the double sizes.
Paragon was probably first cut in France. It is known as Text by the Germans.
Pica is universally considered as the standard type, and by it furniture, quotations and labour-saving rules are graduated. A line 83 Pica ems long is equivalent to 35 centimeters. The twelfth part of Pica is the unit, called a Point, by which type-bodies are measured. MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan cast their new borders, ornaments, and job type on Pica, and its subdivisions of Nonpareil, (½ Pica,) and Excelsior, (¼ Pica,) and their multiples.
Great Primer, called Tertia in Germany, is one of the major sizes of type which were early used for printing considerable works, and especially the Bible; on which account some persons term it Bible Text. The French name is Gros Romain.
English is called Mittel by the Germans, and St. Augustin by the French and Dutch; the word Mittel (Middle) intimating that the former sizes of letter were seven in number, the centre of which was English, with Prima, Secunda, and Tertia on one side, and Pica, Long Primer, and Brevier on the other. The name St. Augustin was probably given because the writings of that Father were the first works done in that letter.
Pica is called Cicero by the French and Germans. As the preceding size was distinguished by the name of St. Augustin, so this has been honoured with that of Cicero, on account of the Epistles of that writer having been first done in letter of this size. It is doubtful whether the name was given by the French or the Germans.
Small Pica is a grade below Pica, and is now generally employed in octavo volumes, and is, indeed, almost the only size used for printing legal reports and other law books. The French call this letter Philosophie, which, however, is merely a Pica face on Small Pica body. The Germans call it Kleine Cicero.
Long Primer. Upon the supposition that some bodies of letter took their names from works in which they were first employed, we are induced to believe that the Germans gave the name of Corpus to this character on account of their Corpus Juris being first done in this size. The French call this letter Petit Romain.
Bourgeois is a very useful and convenient size of letter. It is frequently used in double-column octavo pages. The name indicates that it originated in France; although type of this body is now called Gaillarde by French printers. Two lines of this letter are equivalent to one line of Great Primer, or four lines of Diamond.
Brevier was first used for printing the Breviaries, or Roman Catholic Church books, and hence its name. The Germans call it Petit, and Jungfer (maiden letter). It is an admirable type, and cannot conveniently be dispensed with in any considerable printing-office.
Minion follows Brevier, and is commonly used for newspapers, and for notes and indexes in book-work. Its name is due probably to its being smaller than any type in use at the period of its invention. It fills a useful place in a printing-office.
Nonpareil came next in order; and its originator, supposing that he had reached the extreme of diminutiveness, gave it this triumphant title. It is extensively used, though mostly on newspapers, and for notes and indexes for duodecimo books and smaller. It is certainly the smallest type that should be allowed in book-work.
Agate probably arose from the necessities of newspaper publishers. As patronage increased, it became desirable to have a type less in size than Nonpareil, for the advertisements, shipping news, markets, &c.; and Agate was made to meet the emergency. It is now extensively used for pocket editions of the Bible and Prayer Books.
Pearl may be said to have been born of ambition. As punch-cutters became more expert, some one possessed of a keen eye and a delicate mechanical finger determined to surpass in smallness the achievements of his predecessors. Hence the origin of this type. This type is also employed in printing miniature volumes.
Diamond followed, as a matter of course; for human ingenuity, when provoked, seems determined to go to the utmost verge of possibility. This type is so minute that a pound of it will contain more than 3300 of the letter i; yet, to produce each letter of an alphabet, a steel punch has to be cut and a matrix made, in which the types are cast one by one, and, being set up in lines, are rubbed and dressed by the founder for the use of the compositor.
Brilliant. Expert penmen, it is said, have succeeded in writing the Lord’s Prayer upon the edge of a sheet of paper. A type-setter in Berlin, most surprisingly, has formed a type so minute as to be scarcely readable without a good magnifying glass. The type of this paragraph, though not so small as the microscopic letters produced in Prussia, is yet so diminutive that even Diamond is large by comparison. Of the letter i nearly 4600 go to a pound.
GRADATION OF TYPES.
The following specimen shows the proportion which one size of type bears to another in _width_; but it is necessary to observe that it must be taken with certain limitations, because each founder has letter of every size that will either drive out or get in with others of the same body, some faces being more extended and others being more condensed than the standard width of type. The scale contains thirteen sizes in order of gradation, viz., Great Primer, English, Pica, Small Pica, Long Primer, Bourgeois, Brevier, Minion, Nonpareil, Agate, Pearl, Diamond, and Brilliant.
POINT SYSTEM OF TYPE-BODIES.
In 1882, MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan began to make type on the proportional system of bodies. The Pica em, being the eighty-third part of thirty five centimetres, was divided into twelve parts, or points. This system of exact proportional type-bodies was approved of and adopted by the American type-founders generally. It has been favourably received by printers in this country, and all printing offices will in due time be fully equipped with types of this description.
The standard for the height of type was fixed at 2⅓ centimetres.
In some European countries printing offices had their types cast to a height to suit the proprietor’s whim. Some of the foreign founders have sent young men to Philadelphia to be educated in the American system of heights and bodies, and at least two foundries in Germany have adopted the American plan.
The following table shows the systematic gradation of bodies and position of nicks in the point system, one point being equivalent to 1/12 of a Pica em.
A BILL OF PICA.
The following is reckoned by the founders a regular fount, complete in all its sorts:—
A BILL OF 800 LBS. OF PICA.
a 8500 b 1600 c 3000 d 4400 e 12000 f 2500 g 1700 h 6400 i 8000 j 400 k 800 l 4000 m 3000 n 8000 o 8000 p 1700 q 500 r 6200 s 8000 t 9000 u 3400 v 1200 w 2000 x 400 y 2000 z 200 & 200 ff 400 fi 500 fl 200 ffl 100 ffi 150 æ 100 œ 60
— 150 ⸺ 90 ⸻ 60
, 4500 ; 800 : 600 . 2000 - 1000 ? 200 ! 150 ’ 700 ( 300 [ 150 * 100 † 100 ‡ 100 § 100 ∥ 100 ¶ 60
1 1300 2 1200 3 1100 4 1000 5 1000 6 1000 7 1000 8 1000 9 1000 0 1300
é 200 à 200 â 200 ê 200 All other accents, each. 100
A 600 B 400 C 500 D 500 E 600 F 400 G 400 H 400 I 800 J 300 K 300 L 500 M 400 N 400 O 400 P 400 Q 180 R 400 S 500 T 650 U 300 V 300 W 400 X 180 Y 300 Z 80 Æ 40 Œ 30
(Transcriber’s Note: the following were printed as small capitals.)
A 300 B 200 C 250 D 250 E 300 F 200 G 200 H 200 I 400 J 150 K 150 L 250 M 200 N 200 O 200 P 200 Q 90 R 200 S 250 T 326 U 150 V 150 W 200 X 90 Y 150 Z 40 Æ 20 Œ 15
_Spaces._
Thick 18000 Middle 12000 Thin 8000 Hair 3000 Em Quads 2500 En Quads 5000 Large Quadrates, about 80 lbs.
_Italic, one-tenth of Roman._
Owing to the varying styles of authors and the diverse subjects of books, some letters will now and then run short in a fount, whatever the proportions may have been at first. A new fount of type may run evenly on a work in general literature written in the third person, while a novel filled with dialogues in the first person will rapidly exhaust certain letters, and require sorts to render the fount serviceable to its full general capacity. So with scientific and other books. Even in the case of two authors writing on the same subject, there is no certainty that the fount will run alike. The master-printer, therefore, to keep the entire letter in use, is compelled to order sorts, and his fount is thus constantly growing larger.
A FOUNT OF TYPE.
A complete fount of type may be comprised under the following heads:—
_CAPITALS._
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Æ Œ &
_SMALL CAPITALS._
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Æ Œ &
_LOWER CASE._
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z æ œ ff fi ffi fl ffl
_ITALIC CAPITALS._
_A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Æ Œ &_
_ITALIC LOWER CASE._
_a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z æ œ ff fi ffi fl ffl_
_FIGURES AND FRACTIONS._
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 ¼ ½ ¾ ⅓ ⅔ ⅛ ⅜ ⅝ ⅞
_POINTS AND REFERENCES._
, ; : ? ! - ’ ( ) [ ] * † ‡ § ∥ ¶
_BRACES, DASHES AND COMMERCIAL SIGNS._
$ £ ° ` ´ [symb] [symb] [symb] - – — ⸺ ☞ ☜ @ ⅌ ℔
Four kinds of spaces; en, em, two and three em quadrates.
Accents.
These are the ordinary sorts cast to a fount, and are classified by founders as long, short, ascending, descending, kerned, and double letters.
LONG LETTERS fill the whole depth of the face of the body, and are both ascending and descending, such in the Roman as Q and j, and in the Italic _f_.
SHORT LETTERS have the face cast on the middle of the body, (by founders called shank,) as a, c, e, m, n, o, r, s, u, v, w, x, z, all of which will admit of being bearded above and below the face, both in Roman and Italic.
ASCENDING LETTERS are all the Roman and Italic capitals; in the lower case, b, d, f, h, i, k, l, t.
DESCENDING LETTERS are g, p, q, y, in Roman and Italic.
KERNED LETTERS are types that have part of the face hanging over either one or both sides of the body. In Roman, f and j are the only kerned letters; but, in Italic, _d_, _g_, _j_, _l_, _y_ are kerned on one side, and _f_ on both sides of its face. Most Italic capitals are kerned on one side of the face.
The DOUBLE LETTERS in modern use are ff, fi, ffi, fl, ffl; and these are so cast to prevent the breaking of the beak of the f when used before a tall letter. The diphthongs æ and œ may be classed among double letters.
Printers divide a fount of letter into two classes.
1. _The upper case_ } _sorts._ 2. _The lower case_ }
The upper case sorts are capitals, small capital letters, references, dashes, braces, commercial signs and fractions.
The lower case consists of small letters, double letters, figures, points, spaces and quadrates.
CAPITALS.
Lindley Murray gives the following judicious directions in regard to the use of capital letters:—
It was formerly the custom to begin every noun with a capital; but as this practice was troublesome, and gave the writing or printing a crowded and confused appearance, it has been discontinued. It is, however, very proper to begin with a capital,—
1. The first word of every book, chapter, letter, note, or any other piece of writing; and,
2. The first word after a period; and, if the two sentences are _totally independent_, after a note of interrogation or exclamation. But if a number of interrogative or exclamatory sentences are thrown into one general group, or if the construction of the latter sentences depends on the former, all of them, except the first, may begin with a small letter: as, _How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning? and fools hate knowledge?_—_Alas! how different! yet how like the same!_
3. The appellations of the Deity: as, _God_, _Jehovah_, _the Almighty_, _the Supreme Being_, _the Lord_, _Providence_, _the Messiah_, _the Holy Spirit_.
4. Proper names of persons, places, streets, mountains, rivers, ships: as, _George_, _London_, _the Strand_, _the Alps_, _the Thames_, _the Seahorse_.
5. Adjectives derived from the proper names of places: as, _Grecian_, _Roman_, _English_, _French_, _Italian_.
6. The first word of a quotation, introduced after a colon, or when it is in a direct form: as, _Always remember this ancient maxim: “Know thyself.”_—_Our great Lawgiver says, “Take up thy cross daily, and follow me.”_ But when a quotation is brought in obliquely after a comma, a capital letter is unnecessary: as, _Solomon observes, “that pride goes before destruction.”_
The first word of an example may also very properly begin with a capital: as, _Temptation proves our virtue_.
7. Every substantive and principal word in the titles of books: as, _Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language_; _Thomson’s Seasons_; _Rollin’s Ancient History_.
8. The first word of every line in poetry.
9. The pronoun _I_ and the interjection _O_ are written in capitals: as, _I write: Hear, O earth!_
Other words, besides the preceding, may begin with capitals when they are remarkably emphatical, or the principal subject of the composition.
The method of denoting capital letters in manuscript is by underscoring them with _three distinct lines_.
SMALL CAPITALS.
Small Capitals are in general cast to Roman founts only, and are used for the purpose of giving a stronger emphasis to a word than that conveyed by Italic. They are likewise used for running heads, heads of chapters, &c. The first word of every section or chapter is commonly put in small capitals; but when a two-line initial letter is used, the remainder of the word should be in capitals.
The small capitals C, O, S, V, W, X, Z so closely resemble the same letters in the lower case, that care is required to prevent intermixing.
In manuscript, small capitals are denoted by _two lines_ drawn under the words.
Italic words are designated by a _single stroke_ underneath.
POINTS.
Points consist of a comma, semicolon, colon, period or full-point, mark of interrogation, and mark of admiration. Shortly after the invention of printing, the necessity of stops or pauses in sentences for the guidance of the reader produced the colon and full-point. In process of time, the comma was added, which was then merely a perpendicular line, proportioned to the body of the letter. These three points were the only ones used till the close of the fifteenth century, when Aldo Manuccio gave a better shape to the comma, and added the semicolon; the comma denoting the shortest pause, the semicolon next, then the colon, and the full-point terminating the sentence. The marks of interrogation and admiration were introduced many years after.
Perhaps there never existed on any subject a greater difference of opinion among men of learning than on the true mode of punctuation. Some sprinkle the page with commas almost as promiscuously as if from a pepper-box, and make the pause of a semicolon where the sense will bear only a comma; while others are extremely careless, and omit points even when they are needed to give the true sense of a passage at the first reading.
The lack of an established practice is much to be regretted. The loss of time to a compositor occasioned by altering points arbitrarily is a great hardship. Manuscripts are often placed in the printer’s hands without being properly prepared: either the writing is illegible, the spelling incorrect, or the punctuation defective. Unless the author will take entirely on himself the responsibility of the pointing, it will be better to omit every point in the copy, except at the end of a sentence, rather than confuse the mind of the compositor by commas and semicolons placed indiscriminately, in the hurry of writing, without any regard to propriety.[10]
The COMMA [,] divides the clauses of a long or involved sentence, and commonly marks the shortest pause in reading.
Commas are used to denote extracts or quotations from other works, dialogue matter, or passages or expressions not original, by placing two of them inverted before the first word of the passage quoted, the ending being denoted by two apostrophes. A thin space is used to keep the inverted commas free from the matter. The method of running them down the sides to the end of the quotation has been found inconvenient, especially where a quotation occurs within a quotation, or a speech within a speech: the proper method of distinguishing these is by placing a single inverted comma before the extra quotation, and concluding with a single apostrophe. Where both quotations end together, put three apostrophes, observing after the first to place a thin space.
Inverted commas were first used by Guillemet, a Frenchman, to supersede the use of Italic letter in emphasized words. As an acknowledgment, his countrymen call them after his name. French founders cast them double, thus [«»]. MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan, Philadelphia, furnish them in this way when desired.
A single comma inverted is improperly used as an abbreviation of the word Mac, as in M’Gowen: c is preferable, as McGowen.
The SEMICOLON [;] denotes a pause greater than that of a comma, and is used between dependent clauses of compound sentences.
The COLON [:] is employed in a sentence between clauses less connected than those which are divided by a semicolon, but not so independent as separate, distinct sentences.
The PERIOD or FULL-POINT [.] serves to indicate the end of a complete sentence. When used in abbreviations, it has no effect as a full stop in the punctuation, unless at the end of a sentence. In some works this point is discarded as a mark of abbreviation, as in Mr Dr &c.
Full-points are sometimes used as leaders in tables of contents, figure-work, &c.; but dotted rules or leaders are more economical for this purpose, as they save considerable time in the composition.
The sign of INTERROGATION [?] is used to denote a question. Every interrogation or question should begin with a capital letter, (unless several questions follow one another in connected succession,) according to the method observed in the Bible, where questions and responses, and the beginning of sayings, &c. are denoted by a capital letter.
The sign of ADMIRATION or EXCLAMATION [!] denotes surprise, astonishment, rapture, and other sudden emotions of the mind, whether of joy or sorrow. This sign is put after the interjections Ah! Alas! Oh! &c.; but there are exceptional cases, as, Ah me! Alas the day! &c.
All the points, except the comma and the period, should be preceded by a hair-space; the comma and full-point do not require any space to bear them off.
The em dash [—], though not ranked as a point, is often used by careless writers as a substitute for a comma or semicolon. It may be properly employed in parenthetical sentences, and in rhapsodical writing abounding in disconnected sentences.
A dash stands for a sign of repetition in catalogues of goods, where it implies _ditto_; and in catalogues of books, where a dash signifies _ejusdem_, instead of repeating the author’s name with the title of every separate treatise of his writing. A sign of repetition should never appear at the top of a page, but the name of the author, or of the merchandise, should be set out again at length.
A dash likewise stands for _to_; as, chap. xvi. 3-17; that is, from the third to the seventeenth verse inclusive. At other times it serves for an index, to give notice that what follows it is a corollary of what has preceded; thus:—
APOSTROPHE.
The apostrophe [’] is a comma cast on the upper edge of a type, and is used as a sign of contraction or abbreviation of words in poetry or familiar conversation, as _We’re_, _o’er_, _don’t_, &c. In poetry, it should not be employed where the verb ends with e, as _love_, _change_, &c., but only in cases where the verb concludes with a consonant, as, _reign_, _obtain_, &c. It also marks the elision of a vowel at the beginning of words, as, _’scape_, or of a syllable, as, _’prentice_.
The monosyllables _though_ and _through_ are sometimes shortened to _tho’_ and _thro’_, but very improperly, as they retain the same sound, and the abbreviation cannot in the slightest degree assist the versification.
Words in the possessive case are generally known by having _’s_ for their termination.
All quotations which are denoted at the beginning by inverted commas are closed with apostrophes. There is no space required between the apostrophe and the matter.
HYPHEN.
A hyphen is a sign of connection, and denotes that the part of a word at the end of a line belongs to the portion at the beginning of the next line.