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diff --git a/old/54365-0.txt b/old/54365-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 223b54d..0000000 --- a/old/54365-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,22786 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of A History of the Old English Letter -Foundries, by Talbot Baines Reed - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: A History of the Old English Letter Foundries - with Notes, Historical and Bibliographical, on the Rise - and Progress of English Typography. - -Author: Talbot Baines Reed - -Release Date: March 14, 2017 [EBook #54365] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF THE OLD ENGLISH *** - - - - -Produced by Chris Curnow, RichardW, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - -A HISTORY OF THE OLD ENGLISH LETTER FOUNDRIES. - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration: _A_ true & exact _Repreſentation_ of the _Art_ of -_Caſting_ & _Preparing_ Letters _for_ Printing. - -_Engrav’d for the Universal Magazine 1750 for I. Hinton at the Kings -Arms in S^t. Pauls Church Yard LONDON._ - -58. Interior of Caslon’s Foundry in 1750. From the _Universal -Magazine_. (The mould is described, p. 108).] - - - - - A HISTORY - OF THE - OLD ENGLISH LETTER FOUNDRIES, - - WITH NOTES, - Historical and Bibliographical, - ON THE - RISE AND PROGRESS OF ENGLISH TYPOGRAPHY. - - BY - TALBOT BAINES REED. - - LONDON: - ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. - 1887. - - [Illustration] - -{v} - - - - -PREFACE. - - -In this age of progress, when the fine arts are rapidly becoming -trades, and the machine is on every side superseding that labour of -head and hand which our fathers called Handicraft, we are in danger of -losing sight of, or, at least, of undervaluing the genius of those who, -with none of our mechanical advantages, established and made famous in -our land those arts and handicrafts of which we are now the heritors. - -The Art of Letter Founding hesitated long before yielding to the -revolutionary impulses of modern progress. While kindred arts—and -notably that art which preserves all others—were advancing by leaps and -bounds, the founder, as late as half a century ago, was pursuing the -even tenor of his ways by paths which had been trodden by De Worde and -Day and Moxon. But the inevitable revolution came, and Letter Founding -to-day bids fair to break all her old ties and take new departures -undreamed of by those heroes of the punch and matrix and mould who made -her what we found her. - -At such a time, it seems not undutiful to attempt to gather together -into a connected form the numerous records of the Old English Letter -Founders scattered throughout our literary and {vi} typographical -history, with a view to preserve the memory of those to whose labours -English Printing is indebted for so much of its glory. - -The present work represents the labour of several years in what may -be considered some of the untrodden by-paths of English typographical -history. - -The curious _Dissertation on English Typographical Founders and -Founderies_ by the learned Edward Rowe Mores, published in 1778, is, -in fact, the only work in the language purporting to treat of Letter -Founding as distinct from the art which it fosters. This quaint and -crabbed sketch, full of valuable but half-digested information, was -intended to accompany a specimen of the types of John James, whose -foundry had gradually absorbed all the minor English foundries, and, -after the death of its owner, had become the property of Mores himself. -The enthusiasm of the Oxford antiquary infused new life into the dry -bones of this decayed collection. Working backwards, he restored -in imagination the old foundries of the seventeenth and eighteenth -centuries, as they had been before they became absorbed in his own. He -tracked back a few famous historical types to their fountain-head, and -even bridged over the mysterious gulf which divided the early sixteenth -from the early seventeenth centuries of English letter-founding. - -Mores’ _Dissertation_ has necessarily formed the basis of my -investigations, and is, indeed, almost wholly incorporated in the -present volume. Of the additional and more anecdotal notes on the -later founders, preserved by Nichols and Hansard, I have also freely -made use; although in every case it has been my endeavour to take -nothing on report which it has been possible to verify by reference to -original sources. This effort has been rewarded by several interesting -discoveries which it is hoped may be found to throw considerable fresh -light on the history of our national typography. - -The first century of English letter-founding is a period of great -obscurity, to master which it is absolutely essential to have {vii} -unlimited access to all the works of all the printers whose books were -the only type specimens of their day. Such access it has been beyond -my power fully to secure, and in this portion of my work I am bound to -admit that I can lay claim to little originality of research. I have, -however, endeavoured to examine as many of the specimens of these early -presses as possible, and to satisfy myself that the observations of -others, of which I have availed myself, are such as I can assent to. - -In detailing the rise and progress of the various English Letter -Foundries, it has been my endeavour to treat the subject, as far as -possible, bibliographically—that is, to regard as type-specimens not -merely the stated advertisements of the founder, but also the works for -which his types were created and in which they were used. The _Catena -on Job_, Walton’s _Polyglot_, Boyle’s _Irish Testament_, Bowyer’s -_Selden_, thus rank as type specimens quite as interesting as, and -far more valuable than, the ordinary letter founders’ catalogues. -Proceeding on this principle, moreover, this History will be found -to embody a pretty complete bibliography of works not only relating -to, but illustrative of, English Letter Founding. At the same time, -the particular bibliography of the subject has been kept distinct, by -appending to each chapter a chronological list of the Specimen Books -issued by the foundry to which it relates. - -The introductory chapter on the Types and Type Founding of the First -Printers may be considered somewhat foreign to the scope of this -History. The importance, however, of a practical acquaintance with the -processes and appliances of the Art of Letter Founding as a foundation -to any complete study of typographical history—as well as the numerous -misconceptions existing on the part even of accepted authorities on the -subject—suggested the attempt to examine the various accounts of the -Invention of Printing from a letter founder’s point of view, in the -hope, if not of arriving at any very definite conclusions, at least of -clearing the question of a few prevalent fallacies. - -The two chapters on Type Bodies and Type Faces, although also -{viii} to some extent foreign, are considered important by way of -introduction to the history of English Letter Founding in which the -“foreign and learned” characters have so conspicuously figured. - -If this book—the imperfections of which are apparent to no one as -painfully as they are to the writer—should in any way encourage the -study of our national Typography, with a view to profit by the history -of the past in an endeavour to promote its excellence in the future, -the labour here concluded will be amply repaid. - - * * * * * - -The agreeable task remains of thanking the numerous friends to whose -aid and encouragement this book is indebted for much of whatever value -it may possess. - -My foremost thanks are due to my honoured and valued friend, Mr. -William Blades, to whom I am indebted for far more than unlimited -access to his valuable typographical library, and the ungrudging -use of his special knowledge on all subjects connected with English -typography. These I have enjoyed, and what was of equal value his -kindly advice and sympathy during the whole progress of a work which, -but for his encouragement from the outset, might never have been -completed. - -Another friend who, brief as was our acquaintance, had taken a genuine -interest in the progress of this History, and had enriched it by more -than one valuable communication, has been snatched away by the hand -of Death before the thanks he never coveted but constantly incurred -can reach him. In Henry Bradshaw the world of books has lost a -distinguished ornament, and this little book has lost a hearty friend. - -To Mr. F. Madan, of the Bodleian Library, Oxford, I owe much valuable -information as to early printing at that University; while to the -kindness of Mr. Horace Hart, Controller of the University Press, I -am indebted for full access to the highly interesting collection of -typographical antiquities preserved at that Press, as well as for the -specimens I am here enabled to show of some of the most interesting -relics of the oldest Foundry in the country. {ix} - -Mr. T. W. Smith has kindly given me similar facilities as regards the -archives and historical specimens of the venerable Caslon Foundry. - -Mr. Sam. Timmins most generously placed at my disposal much of the -information embodied in my chapter on Baskerville, including the -extracts from the letters forming part of his unique collection -relating to that celebrated typographer. - -To Mr. James Figgins I am obliged for many particulars relating to -the early association of founders at the commencement of the present -century; also for a specimen of one of the most noted founts of his -distinguished ancestor. - -Mr. Charles R. Rivington I have to thank for one or two valuable -extracts from the _Minutes_ of the Court of the Stationers’ Company, -relating to Letter Founders. - -To Messrs. Enschedé and Sons, of Haarlem, my thanks are also specially -due for giving me specimens of some of their most curious and ancient -types. - -It is also my pleasure, as well as my duty, to thank the Secretary of -the American Antiquarian Society for information regarding specimens -in his possession; my friend, Dr. Wright, of the British and Foreign -Bible Society, for free access to the highly interesting Library under -his care; Messrs. Tuer, Bremner, Gill, and others for the kind loan -of Specimens; the Librarian of the London Institution for permission -to facsimile portions of the rare specimen of James’ Foundry in that -Library; and the numerous other friends, who, by reading proofs and in -other ways, have generously assisted me in my labours. - -I also take this opportunity of thanking Mr. Prætorius and Mr. Manning -for the care they have bestowed on the preparation of facsimiles for -this work; and of expressing my obligations to the officials of the -British Museum and Record Office for their invariable courtesy on all -occasions on which their assistance has been invoked. - -LONDON, _January 1st, 1887_. - -{xi} - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - Introductory Chapter. THE TYPES AND TYPE FOUNDING OF THE - FIRST PRINTERS 1 - - Chap. 1. THE ENGLISH TYPE BODIES AND FACES 31 - - 〃 2. THE LEARNED, FOREIGN AND PECULIAR CHARACTERS 57 - - 〃 3. THE PRINTER LETTER-FOUNDERS, FROM CAXTON TO DAY 83 - - 〃 4. LETTER FOUNDING AS AN ENGLISH MECHANICAL TRADE 102 - - 〃 5. THE STATE CONTROL OF ENGLISH LETTER FOUNDING 123 - - 〃 6. THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY FOUNDRY 137 - - 〃 7. THE STAR CHAMBER FOUNDERS, AND THE LONDON POLYGLOT 164 - - 〃 8. JOSEPH MOXON 180 - - 〃 9. THE LATER FOUNDERS OF THE 17TH CENTURY 193 - - 〃 10. THOMAS AND JOHN JAMES 212 - - 〃 11. WILLIAM CASLON 232 - - 〃 12. ALEXANDER WILSON 257 - - 〃 13. JOHN BASKERVILLE 268 - - 〃 14. THOMAS COTTRELL 288 - - 〃 15. JOSEPH AND EDMUND FRY 298 - - 〃 16. JOSEPH JACKSON 315 - - 〃 17. WILLIAM MARTIN 330 - - 〃 18. VINCENT FIGGINS 335 - - 〃 19. THE MINOR FOUNDERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY 345 - - 〃 20. WILLIAM MILLER 355 - - 〃 21. THE MINOR FOUNDERS FROM 1800 TO 1830 357 - -{xiii} - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. - - - PAGE - 1.—Types cast from leaden matrices, _circ._ 1500 16 - - 2.—Specimen illustrating the variations in the face of type, - produced by bad casting 18 - - 3.—Type mould of Claude Garamond. Paris, 1540. From Duverger 23 - - 4.—Profile tracings from M. Claudin’s 15th century types 21 - - 5.—A 15th century type. From M. Madden’s _Lettres d’un - Bibliographe_ 24 - - 6.—A 15th century type. From _Liber de Laudibus...Mariæ_, - _circ._ 1468 24 - - 7.—Roman letter. From the _Sophologium_, Wiedenbach? 1465–70? 42 - - 8.—Roman and Black letter intermixed. From Traheron’s - _Exposition of St. John_, 1552 45 - - 9.—Robijn Italic, cut by Chr. van Dijk. From the original - matrices 52 - - 10.—Gothic Type or Lettre de Forme, _circ._ 1480. From the - original matrices 53 - - 11.—Philosophie Flamand engraved by Fleischman, 1743. From - the original matrices 54 - - 12.—Lettre de Civilité, cut by Ameet Tavernier for Plantin, - _circ._ 1570. From the original matrices 56 - - 13.—Blooming Initials. Oxford, _circ._ 1700 80 - - 14.—Pierced Initial. Oxford, _ante_ 1700 81 - - 15.—Caxton’s Advertisement, in his Type 3 _face_ 88 - - 16.—Caxton’s Type 4.* From the _Golden Legend_ _face_ 88 - - 17.—Black letter, supposed to be De Worde’s. From - Palmer’s _History of Printing_ 90 - - 18.—Pynson’s Roman letter. From the _Oratio in Pace - Nuperrimâ_, 1518 92 - - 18_a_.—Berthelet’s Black letter and Secretary type. From - the _Boke named the Governour_, 1531 95 - - 19.—Portrait of John Day, 1562. From Peter Martir’s - _Commentaries_, 1568 99 - - 20, 21, 22.—Day’s Saxon, Roman, and Italic. From the - _Ælfredi Res Gestæ_, 1574 _face_ 96 - - 23.—Letter Founding in Frankfort in 1568. From Jost - Amman’s _Stände und Handwerker_ 104 - - 24.—Letter Founding and Printing _circ._ 1548. From the - Harleian MSS. 105 - - 25.—Letter Founding in 1683. From Moxon’s _Mechanick - Exercises_ 109 - - 26.—Letter Founding in France in 1718. From Thiboust’s - _Typographiæ Excellentia_ 115 - - 27.—Colophon of the _Lyndewode_, Oxford, _n.d._ Showing - types [c], [d], [e], [f] _face_ 138 - - 28.—Greek fount of the Eton _Chrysostom_, 1613 _face_ 140 - - 29.—Greeks, Roman and Italic. From the _Catena on Job_, - 1637 _face_ 140 - - 30.—The Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford. From an old wood-block 153 - - 31.—The Clarendon Press, Oxford. From an old wood-block 156 - - 32.—Pica Roman and Italic, presented to Oxford by Dr. - Fell, 1667 152 - - 33.—Pica Roman and Italic, bought by Oxford University in - 1692 152 - - 34, 35, 36, 37, 38.—Hebrew, large and small, Coptic, - Arabic, and Syriac, presented to Oxford by Dr. Fell, 1667. - From the original matrices 147 - - 39.—Ethiopic, bought by Oxford University in 1692. From - the original matrices 154 - - 40.—Ethiopic of Walton’s _Polyglot_, 1657. From the - original matrices 174 - - 41.—Syriac of Walton’s _Polyglot_, 1657. From the - original matrices 174 - - 42.—Samaritan of Walton’s _Polyglot_, 1657. From the - original matrices 174 - - 43.—Specimen of Nicholas Nicholls, 1665. From the - original _face_ 178 - - 44.—Portrait of Joseph Moxon. From the _Tutor to - Astronomy and Geography_, 4th ed., 1686, _face_ 180 - - 45.—Moxon’s Irish type, 1680. From the original matrices 189 - - 46.—Dutch Initial Letters. From the original matrices 80 - - 47.—Nonpareil Rabbinical Hebrew in Andrews’ Foundry. From - the original matrices 194 - - 48.—Saxon, cut by R. Andrews for Miss Elstob’s _Grammar_, - 1715. From the original matrices 196 - - 49.—Old Dutch Blacks in R. Andrews’ Foundry. From the - original matrices 194 - - 50.—Alexandrian Greek in Grover’s Foundry. From the - Catalogue of James’ Sale, 1782 200 - - 51.—Scriptorial in Grover’s Foundry. From the original - matrices 204 - - 52.—Court Hand in Grover’s Foundry. From the original - matrices 204 - - 53.—Union Pearl in Grover’s Foundry. From the original - matrices 204 - - 54.—Walpergen’s Music type. Oxford, _circ._ 1675. From - the original matrices 208 - - 55.—Pictorial pierced Initial. From an 18th century - newspaper 81 - - 56.—Title-page of the Catalogue and Specimen of - James’ Foundry, 1782. From the original 226 - - 57.—Portrait of William Caslon. From Hansard _face_ 232 - - 58.—View of the Interior of Caslon’s Foundry in 1750. - From the _Universal Magazine_ _Frontispiece_ - - 59.—Pica Roman and Italic, cut by Caslon, 1720. From the - original matrices 236 - - 60.—Black letter, cut by Caslon. From the original - matrices 239 - - 61.—Arabic, cut by Caslon, 1720. From the original - matrices 235 - - 62.—Coptic, cut by Caslon, _ante_ 1731. From the original - matrices 236 - - 63.—Armenian, cut by Caslon, _ante_ 1736. From the - original matrices 239 - - 64.—Etruscan, cut by Caslon, 1738. From the original - matrices 240 - - 65.—Gothic, cut by Caslon, _ante_ 1734. From the original - matrices 239 - - 66.—Ethiopic, cut by Caslon. From the original matrices 240 - - 67.—Syriac, cut by Caslon II, _circ._ 1768. From the - original matrices 246 - - 68.—Portrait of Alexander Wilson. From Hansard _face_ 258 - - 69.—Greek, cut by Alex. Wilson, _ante_ 1768. From the - Glasgow _Homer_, 1768 262 - - 70.—Portrait of John Baskerville. From Hansard _face_ 268 - - 71.—Greek, cut by Baskerville for Oxford. From the Oxford - _Specimen_, 1768–70 _face_ 274 - - 72.—Roman and Italic, cut by Baskerville, 1758. From the - _Milton_, Birmingham, 1758 _face_ 276 - - 73.—Engrossing, cut by Cottrell, _circ._ 1768. From the - original matrices 289 - - 73a.—Silhouette Portraits of Joseph and Edmund Fry. From - the originals _face_ 298 - - 74.—Alexandrian Greek (formerly Grover’s), rejustified by - Dr. Fry. From the original matrices 304 - - 74a.—Hebrew, cut by Dr. Fry, _circ._ 1785. From the - original matrices 304 - - 75.—Portrait of Joseph Jackson. From Nichols’ _Literary - Anecdotes_ _face_ 316 - - 76.—Portrait of William Caslon III. From Hansard _face_ 326 - - 77.—Two-line English Roman, cut by Vincent Figgins, 1792. - From the original matrices 337 - - 78.—Samaritan, cut by Dummers for Caslon, _circ._ 1734. - From the original matrices 345 - -[Illustration] - -{1} - -[Illustration] - - - - -INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER - -THE TYPES AND TYPEFOUNDING OF THE FIRST PRINTERS. - - -For four centuries the noise of controversy has raged round the cradle -of Typography. Volumes have been written, lives have been spent, -fortunes have been wasted, communities have been stirred, societies -have been organised, a literature has been developed, to find an answer -to the famous triple question: “When, where, and by whom was found out -the unspeakably useful art of printing books?” And yet the world to-day -is little nearer a finite answer to the question than it was when Ulric -Zel indited his memorable narrative to the _Cologne Chronicle_ in 1499. -Indeed, the dust of battle has added to, rather than diminished, the -mysterious clouds which envelope the problem, and we are tempted to -seek refuge in an agnosticism which almost refuses to believe that -printing ever had an inventor. - -It would be neither suitable nor profitable to encumber an -investigation of that part of the History of Typography which relates -to the types and type-making of the fifteenth century by any attempt -to discuss the vexed question of the Invention of the Art. The man -who invented Typography was doubtless the man who invented movable -types. Where the one is discovered, we have also found the other. But, -meanwhile, it is possible to avail ourselves of whatever evidence -exists as to the nature of the types he and his successors used, and as -to the methods by which those types were produced, and possibly to {2} -arrive at some conclusions respecting the earliest practices of the -Art of Typefounding in the land and in the age in which it first saw -the light. - -No one has done more to clear the way for a free investigation of all -questions relating to the origin of printing than Dr. Van der Linde, -in his able essay, _The Haarlem Legend_,[1] which, while disposing -ruthlessly of the fiction of Coster’s invention, lays down the -important principle, too often neglected by writers on the subject, -that the essence of Typography consists in the mobility of the types, -and that, therefore, it is not a development of the long practised art -of printing from fixed blocks, but an entirely distinct invention. - -The principle is so important, and Dr. Van der Linde’s words are so -emphatic, that we make no apology for quoting them:― - -“I cannot repeat often enough that, when we speak of Typography and -its invention, nothing is meant, or rather nothing must be meant, but -printing with _loose_ (separate, moveable) types (be they letters, -musical notes, or other figures), which therefore, in distinction -from letters cut on wooden or metal plates, may be put together or -separated according to inclination. One thing therefore is certain: -he who did not invent printing with moveable types, did, as far as -Typography goes, invent nothing. What material was used first of all -in this invention; of what metal the first letters, the patrices -(engraved punches) and matrices were made; by whom and when the leaden -matrices and brass patrices were replaced by brass matrices and steel -patrices; . . . . . all this belongs to the secondary question of the -technical execution of the principal idea: multiplication of books by -means of multiplication of letters, multiplication of letters by means -of their durability, and repeated use of the same letters, _i.e._, -by means of the independence (looseness) of each individual letter -(moveableness).”—P. 19. - -If this principle be adopted—and we can hardly imagine it questioned—it -will be obvious that a large class of works which usually occupy a -prominent place in inquiries into the origin of Printing, have but -slight bearing on the history of Typography. The block books of the -fifteenth century had little direct connection with the art that -followed and eclipsed them.[2] In the one respect of marking the early -use of printing for the instruction of mankind, the block books and -the first works of Typography proper claim an equal interest; but, as -regards their mechanical production, the one feature they possess in -common is a quality shared also by the playing-cards, pictures, seals, -stamps, {3} brands, and all the other applications of the principle -of impression which had existed in one form or another from time -immemorial. - -It is reasonable to suppose that the first idea of movable type may -have been suggested to the mind of the inventor by a study of the -works of a xylographic printer, and an observation of the cumbrous and -wearisome method by which his books were produced. The toil involved -in first painfully tracing the characters and figures, reversed, on -the wood, then of engraving them, and, finally, of printing them with -the frotton, would appear—in the case, at any rate, of the small -school-books, for the production of which this process was largely -resorted to—scarcely less tedious than copying the required number -by the deft pen of a scribe. And even if, at a later period, the -bookmakers so far facilitated their labours as to write their text in -the ordinary manner on prepared paper, or with prepared ink, and so -transfer their copy, after the manner of the Chinese, on to the wood, -the labour expended in proportion to the result, and the uselessness -of the blocks when once their work was done, would doubtless impress -an inventive genius with a sense of dissatisfaction and impatience. -We can imagine him examining the first page of an _Abecedarium_, on -which would be engraved, in three lines, with a clear space between -each character, the letters of the alphabet, and speculating, as Cicero -had speculated centuries before,[3] on the possibilities presented by -the combination in indefinite variety of those twenty-five symbols. -Being a practical man as well as a theorist, we may suppose he would -attempt to experiment on the little wood block in his hand, and by -sawing off first the lines, and then some of the letters in the lines, -attempt to arrange his little types into a few short words. A momentous -experiment, and fraught with the greatest revolution the world has ever -known! - - * * * * * - -No question has aroused more interest, or excited keener discussion in -the history of printing, than that of the use of movable wooden types -as a first stage in the passage from Xylography to Typography. Those -who write on the affirmative side of the question profess to see in the -earlier typographical works, as well as in the historical statements -handed down by the old authorities, the {4} clearest evidence that -wooden types were used, and that several of the most famous works of -the first printers were executed by their means. - -As regards the latter source of their confidence, it is at least -remarkable that no single writer of the fifteenth century makes the -slightest allusion to the use of wooden types. Indeed, it was not -till Bibliander, in 1548,[4] first mentioned and described them, that -anything professing to be a record on the subject existed. “First they -cut their letters,” he says, “on wood blocks the size of an entire -page, but because the labour and cost of that way was so great, they -devised movable wooden types, perforated and joined one to the other by -a thread.” - -The legend, once started, found no lack of sponsors, and the -typographical histories of the sixteenth century and onward abound with -testimonies confirmatory more or less of Bibliander’s statement. Of -these testimonies, those only are worthy of attention which profess to -be based on actual inspection of the alleged perforated wooden types. -Specklin[5] (who died in 1589) asserts that he saw some of these relics -at Strasburg. Angelo Roccha,[6] in 1591, vouches for the existence -of similar letters (though he does not say whether wood or metal) at -Venice. Paulus Pater,[7] in 1710, stated that he had once seen some -belonging to Fust at Mentz; Bodman, as late as 1781, saw the same types -in a worm-eaten condition at Mentz; while Fischer,[8] in 1802, stated -that these precious relics were used as a sort of token of honour to be -bestowed on worthy apprentices on the occasion of their finishing their -term. - -This testimony proves nothing beyond the fact that at Strasburg, -Venice, and Mentz there existed at some time or other certain -perforated wooden types which tradition ascribed to the first printers. -But on the question whether any book was ever printed with such type, -it is wholly inconclusive. It is possible to believe that certain early -printers, uninitiated into the mystery of the punch and matrix, may -have attempted to cut themselves wooden types, which, when they proved -untractable under the press, they perforated and strung together in -lines; {5} but it is beyond credit that any such rude experiment ever -resulted in the production of a work like the _Speculum_. - -It is true that many writers have asserted it was so. Fournier, a -practical typographer, insists upon it from the fact that the letters -vary among themselves in a manner which would not be the case had they -been cast from a matrix in a mould. But, to be consistent, Fournier -is compelled (as Bernard points out) to postpone the use of cast type -till after the Gutenberg _Bible_ and Mentz _Psalter_, both of which -works display the same irregularities. And as the latest edition of -the _Psalter_, printed in the old types, appeared in 1516, it would -be necessary to suppose that movable wood type was in vogue up to -that date. No one has yet demonstrated, or attempted seriously to -demonstrate, the possibility of printing a book like the _Speculum_ -in movable wooden type. All the experiments hitherto made, even by -the most ardent supporters of the theory, have been woful failures. -Laborde[9] admits that to cut the 3,000 separate letters required for -the _Letters of Indulgence_, engraved by him, would cost 450 francs; -and even he, with the aid of modern tools to cut up his wooden cubes, -can only show four widely spaced lines. Wetter[10] shows a page printed -from perforated and threaded wooden types[11]; but these, though of -large size, only prove by their {6} “naughty caprioles” the absurdity -of supposing that the “unleaded” _Speculum_, a quarternion of which -would require 40,000 distinct letters, could have been produced in 1440 -by a method which even the modern cutting and modern presswork of 1836 -failed to adapt to a single page of large-sized print. - -John Enschedé, the famous Haarlem typefounder, though a strong -adherent to the Coster legend, was compelled to admit the practical -impossibility, in his day at any rate, of producing a single wood type -which would stand the test of being mathematically square; nor would it -be possible to square it after being cut. “No engraver,” he remarks, -“is able to cut separate letters in wood in such a manner that they -retain their quadrature (for that is the main thing of the line in -type-casting).”[12] Admitting for a moment that some printer may have -succeeded in putting together a page of these wooden types, without the -aid of leads, into a chase: how can it be supposed that after their -exposure to the warping influences of the sloppy ink and tight pressure -during the impression, they could ever have survived to be distributed -and recomposed into another forme?[13] - -The claims set up on behalf of movable wood types as the means by which -the _Speculum_ or any other of the earliest books was printed, are -not only historically unsupported, but the whole weight of practical -evidence rejects them. - -Dismissing them, therefore, from our consideration, a new theory -confronts us, which at first blush seems to supply, if not a more -probable, certainly a more possible, stepping-stone between Xylography -and Typography. We refer to what Meerman, the great champion of this -theory, calls the “sculpto-fusi” {7} characters: types, that is, the -shanks of which have been cast in a quadrilateral mould, and the -“faces” engraved by hand afterwards. - -Meerman and those who agree with him engage a large array of testimony -on their side. In the reference of Celtis, in 1502, to Mentz as the -city “quæ prima sculpsit solidos ære characteres,” they see a clear -confirmation of their theory; as also in the frequent recurrence of the -same word “sculptus” in the colophons of the early printers. Meerman, -indeed, goes so far as to ingeniously explain the famous account of -the invention given by Trithemius in 1514,[14] in the light of his -theory, to mean that, after the rejection of the first wooden types, -“the inventors found out a method of casting the bodies only (fundendi -formas) of all the letters of the Latin alphabet from what they -called matrices, on which they cut the face of each letter; and from -the same kind of matrices a method was in time discovered of casting -the complete letters (æneos sive stanneos characteres) of sufficient -hardness for the pressure they had to bear, which letters before—that -is, when the bodies only were cast—they were obliged to cut.”[15] - -After this bold flight of translation, it is not surprising to find -that Meerman claims that the _Speculum_ was printed in “sculpto-fusi” -types, although in the one page of which he gives a facsimile there are -nearly 1,700 separate types, of which 250 alone are _e_’s. - -Schoepflin, claiming the same invention for the Strasburg printers, -believes that all the earliest books printed there were produced by -this means; and both Meerman and Schoepflin agree that engraved metal -types were in use for many years after the invention of the punch and -matrix, mentioning, among others so printed, the Mentz _Psalter_, -the _Catholicon_ of 1460, the Eggestein _Bible_ of 1468, and even -the _Nideri Præceptorium_, printed at Strasburg as late as 1476, as -“literis in ære sculptis.” - -Almost the whole historical claim of the engraved metal types, indeed, -turns on the recurrence of the term “sculptus” in the colophons of the -early printers. Jenson, in 1471, calls himself a “cutter of books” -(librorum exsculptor). Sensenschmid, in 1475, says that the _Codex -Justinianus_ is “cut” (insculptus), and that he has “cut” (sculpsit) -the work of _Lombardus in Psalterium_. Husner of Strasburg, in 1472, -applies the term “printed with letters cut of metal” (exsculptis {8} -ære litteris) to the _Speculum Durandi_; and of the _Præceptorium -Nideri_, printed in 1476, he says it is “printed in letters cut of -metal by a very ingenious effort” (litteris exsculptis artificiali -certe conatu ex ære). As Dr. Van der Linde points out, the use of the -term in reference to all these books can mean nothing else than a -figurative allusion to the first process towards producing the types, -namely, the cutting of the punch[16]; just as when Schoeffer, in 1466, -makes his _Grammatica Vetus Rhythmica_ say, “I am cast at Mentz” (At -Moguntia sum fusus in urbe libellus), he means nothing more than a -figurative allusion to the casting of the types. - -The theory of the sculpto-fusi types appears to have sprung up on no -firmer foundation than the difficulty of accounting for the marked -irregularities in the letters of the earliest printed books, and the -lack of a theory more feasible than that of movable wood type to -account for it. The method suggested by Meerman seemed to meet the -requirements of the case, and with the aid of the very free translation -of Trithemius’ story, and the very literal translation of certain -colophons, it managed to get a footing on the typographical records. - -Mr. Skeen seriously applies himself to demonstrate how the shanks could -be cast in clay moulds stamped with a number of trough-like matrices -representing the various widths of the blanks required, and calculates -that at the rate of four a day, 6,000 of these blanks could be engraved -on the end by one man in five years, the whole weighing 100 lb. when -finished! “No wonder,” Mr. Skeen naïvely observes, “that Fust at last -grew impatient.” We must confess that there seems less ground for -believing in the use of “sculpto-fusi” types as the means by which any -of the early books were produced, than in the perforated wood types. -The enormous labour involved, in itself renders the idea improbable. -As M. Bernard says, “How can we suppose that intelligent men like -the first printers would not at once find out that they could easily -cast the face and body of their types together?”[17] But admitting -the possibility of producing type in this manner, and the possible -obtuseness which could allow an inventor of printing to spend five -years in laboriously engraving “shanks” enough for a single forme, the -lack of any satisfactory evidence that such types were ever used, even -experimentally, inclines us to deny them any place in the history of -the origin of typography. - - * * * * * - -Putting aside, therefore, as improbable, and not proved, the two -theories of {9} engraved movable types, the question arises, Did -typography, like her patron goddess, spring fully armed from the brain -of her inventor? in other words, did men pass at a single stride from -xylography to the perfect typography of the punch, the matrix, and the -mould? or are we still to seek for an intermediate stage in some ruder -and more primitive process of production? To this question we cannot -offer a better reply than that contained in the following passage from -Mr. Blades’s admirable life of Caxton.[18] “The examination of many -specimens,” he observes, “has led me to conclude that two schools of -typography existed together . . . The ruder consisted of those printers -who practised their art in Holland and the Low Countries, . . . and -who, by degrees only, adopted the better and more perfect methods of -the . . . school founded in Germany by the celebrated trio, Gutenberg, -Fust, and Schoeffer.” - -It is impossible, we think, to resist the conclusion that all the -earlier works of typography were the impression of cast metal types; -but that the methods of casting employed were not always those of -matured letter-founding, seems to us not only probable, but evident, -from a study of the works themselves. - -Mr. Theo. De Vinne, in his able treatise on the invention of -printing,[19] speaking with the authority of a practical typographer, -insists that the key to that invention is to be found, not in the press -nor in the movable types, but in the adjustable type-mould, upon which, -he argues, the existence of typography depends. While not prepared to -go as far as Mr. De Vinne on this point, and still content to regard -the invention of movable types as the real key to the invention of -typography proper, we find in the mould not only the culminating -achievement of the inventor, but also the key to the distinction -between the two schools of early typography to which we have alluded. - -The adjustable mould was undoubtedly the goal of the discovery, and -those who reached it at once were the advanced typographers of the -Mentz press. Those who groped after it through clumsy and tedious -by-ways were the rude artists of the _Donatus_ and _Speculum_. - -In considering the primitive modes of type-casting, it must be frankly -admitted that the inquirer stands in a field of pure conjecture. He -has only negative evidence to assure him that such primitive modes -undoubtedly did exist, and he searches in vain for any direct clue as -to the nature and details of those methods. - -We shall briefly refer to one or two theories which have been -propounded, all with more or less of plausibility. - -Casting in sand was an art not unknown to the silversmiths and {10} -trinket-makers of the fifteenth century, and several writers have -suggested that some of the early printers applied this process to -typefounding. M. Bernard[20] considers that the types of the _Speculum_ -were sand-cast, and accounts for the varieties observable in the shapes -of various letters, by explaining that several models would probably be -made of each letter, and that the types when cast would, as is usual -after sand-casting, require some touching up or finishing by hand. He -shows a specimen of a word cast by himself by this process, which, as -far as it goes, is a satisfactory proof of the possibility of casting -letters in this way.[21] There are, indeed, many points in this theory -which satisfactorily account for peculiarities in the appearance of -books printed by the earliest rude Dutch School. Not only are the -irregularities of the letters in body and line intelligible, but the -specks between the lines, so frequently observable, would be accounted -for by the roughness on the “shoulders” of the sand-cast bodies.[22] - -An important difficulty to be overcome in type cast by this or any -other primitive method would be the absence of uniformity in what -letter founders term “height to paper.” Some types would stand higher -than others, and the low ones, unless raised, would not only miss the -ink, but would not appear at all in the impression. The comparative -rarity of faults of this kind in the _Speculum_, leads one to suppose -that if a process of sand-casting had been adopted, the difficulty -of uneven heights had been surmounted either by locking up the forme -face downwards, or by perforating the types either at the time of or -after casting, and by means of a thread or wire holding them in their -places. The uneven length of the lines favours such a supposition, and -to the same cause Mr. Ottley[23] attributes the numerous misprints of -the _Speculum_, to correct which in the type would have involved the -unthreading of every line in which an error occurred. And as a still -more striking proof that the lines were put into the forme one by one, -in a piece, he shows a curious printer’s blunder at the end of one -page, where the whole of the last reference-line is put in upside down, -thus:― - -[Illustration] - -{11} - -A “turn” of this magnitude could hardly have occurred if the letters -had been set in the forme type by type. - -Another suggested mode is that of casting in clay moulds, by a method -very similar to that used in the sand process, and resulting in similar -peculiarities and variations in the types. Mr. Ottley, who is the chief -exponent of this theory, suggests that the types were made by pouring -melted lead or other soft metal, into moulds of earth or plaster, -formed, while the earth or plaster was in a moist state, upon letters -cut by hand in wood or metal; in the ordinary manner used from time -immemorial in casting statues of bronze and other articles of metal, -whether for use or ornament. The mould thus formed could not be of long -duration; indeed, it could scarcely avail for a second casting, as it -would be scarcely possible to extract the type after casting without -breaking the clay, and even if that could be done, the shrinking of the -metal in cooling would be apt to warp the mould beyond the possibility -of further use. - -Mr. Ottley thinks that the constant renewal of the moulds could be -effected by using old types cast out of them, after being touched up -by the graver, as models. And this he considers will account for the -varieties observable in the different letters. - -In this last conjecture we think Mr. Ottley goes out of his way to -suggest an unnecessary difficulty. If, as he contends, the _Speculum_ -was printed two pages at a time, with soft types cast by the clay -process and renewed from time to time by castings from fresh moulds -formed upon the old letters touched up by the graver, we should -witness a gradual deterioration and attenuation in the type, as the -work progressed, which would leave the face of the letter, at the end, -unrecognisable as that with which it began. It would be more reasonable -to suppose that one set of models would be reserved for the periodical -renewal of the moulds all through the work, and that the variations -in the types would be due, not to the gradual paring of the faces of -the models, but to the different skill and exactness with which the -successive moulds would be taken.[24] {12} - -The chief objection urged against both the clay and sand methods as -above described is their tediousness. The time occupied after the first -engraving of the models in forming, drying and clearing the mould, in -casting, extracting, touching up, and possibly perforating, the types -would be little short of the expeditious performance of a practised -xylographer. Still there would be a clear gain in the possession of a -fount of movable types, which, even if the metal in which they were -cast were only soft lead or pewter, might yet do duty in more than -one forme, under a rough press, roughly handled. On the xylographic -block, moreover, only one hand, and that a skilled one, could labour. -Of the moulding and casting of these rude types, many hands could make -light work. M. Bernard states that the artist who produced for him -the few sand-cast types shown in his work, assured him that a workman -could easily produce a thousand of such letters a day. He also states -that though each letter required squaring after casting, there was no -need in any instance to touch up the faces. M. Bernard’s experience -may have been a specially fortunate one; still, making allowance for -the superior workmanship and expedition of a modern artist, it must -be admitted that, in point of time, cost and utility, a printer who -succeeded in furnishing himself with these primitive cast types was as -far ahead of the old engraver as the discoverer of the adjustable mould -was in his turn ahead of him.[25] - -There remains yet another suggestion as to the method in which the -types of the rude school were produced. This may be described as a -system of what the founders of sixty years ago called “polytype.” -Lambinet, who is responsible for the suggestion, under cover of a new -translation of Trithemius’s wonderful narrative, explains this to mean -nothing less than an early adoption of stereotype. He imagines[26] that -the first printers may have discovered a way of moulding a page of some -work—an _Abecedarium_—in cooling metal, so as to get a matrix-plate -impression of the whole page. Upon this matrix they would pour a liquid -metal, and by the aid of a roller or cylinder, press the fused matter -evenly, so as to penetrate into all the hollows and corners of the -letters. This tablet of tin or lead, being easily lifted and detached -from the matrix, would then appear as a surface of metal in which the -letters of the alphabet stood out reversed and in relief. These letters -could easily be detached and rendered mobile by a knife or other sharp -instrument; and the operation could be repeated a hundred times a day. -The metal faces so produced would be fixed on wooden shanks, type high; -and the fount would then be complete. {13} - -Such is Lambinet’s hypothesis. Were it not for the fact that it was -endorsed by the authority of M. Firmin Didot, the renowned typefounder -and printer of Lambinet’s day, we should hardly be disposed to admit -its claim to serious attention. The supposition that the Mentz -_Psalter_, which these writers point to as a specimen of this mode of -execution, is the impression, not of type at all, but of a collection -of “casts” mounted on wood, is too fanciful. M. Didot, it must be -remembered, was the enthusiastic French improver of Stereotype, and -his enthusiasm appears to have led him to see in his method not only a -revolution in the art of printing as it existed in his day, but also a -solution of the mystery which had shrouded the early history of that -art for upwards of three centuries. - -It may be well, before quitting this subject, to take note of a certain -phrase which has given rise to a considerable amount of conjecture and -controversy in connection with the early methods of typography. The -expression “_getté en molle_” occurred as early as the year 1446, in a -record kept by Jean le Robert of Cambray, who stated that in January -of that year he paid 20 sous for a printed _Doctrinale_, “_getté en -molle_.” Bernard has assumed this expression to refer to the use of -types cast from a mould, and cites a large number of instances where, -being used in contradistinction to writing by hand, it is taken to -signify typography.[27] - -Dr. Van der Linde,[28] on the other hand, considers the term to -mean, printed from a wooden form, _i.e._, a xylographic production, -and nothing more, quoting similar instances of the use of the words -to support his opinion; and Dr. Van Meurs, whose remarks are quoted -in full in Mr. Hessel’s introduction to Dr. Van der Linde’s _Coster -Legend_,[29] declines to apply the phrase to the methods by which the -_Doctrinale_ was printed at all; but dwelling on the distinction drawn -in various documents between “en molle” and “en papier,” concludes that -the reference is to the binding of the book, and nothing more; a bound -book being “brought together in a form or binding,” while an unbound -one is “in paper.” {14} - -It is difficult to reconcile these conflicting interpretations, -to which may be added as a fourth that of Mr. Skeen, who considers -the phrase to refer to the indented appearance of the paper of a -book after being printed. In the three last cases the expression is -valueless as regards our present inquiry; but if we accept M. Bernard’s -interpretation, which seems at least to have the weight of simplicity -and reasonable testimony on its side, then it would be necessary to -conclude that type-casting, either by a primitive or a finished process -(but having regard to the date and the place, almost certainly the -former), was practised in Flanders prior to January 1446. None of the -illustrations, however, which M. Bernard cites points definitely to -the use of cast type, but to printing in the abstract, irrespective of -method or process. “Moulées par ordre de l’Assemblée” might equally -well apply to a set of playing-cards or a broadside proclamation; -“mettre en molle” does not necessarily mean anything more than put into -“print”; while the recurring expressions “en molle” and “à la main,” -point to nothing beyond the general distinction between manuscript -and printed matter. In fact, the lack of definiteness in all the -quotations given by M. Bernard weakens his own argument: for if we are -to translate the word _moulé_ throughout in the narrow sense in which -he reads it, we must then believe that in every instance he cites, -figurative language was employed where conventional would have answered -equally well, and that the natural antithesis to the general term, “by -hand,” must in all cases be assumed to be the particular term, “printed -in cast metal types.” For ourselves, we see no justification for taxing -the phrase beyond its broad interpretation of “print”; and in this -light it appears possible to reconcile most of the conjectures to which -the words have given rise. - - * * * * * - -Turning now from the conjectured primitive processes of the ruder -school of early Typography, we come to consider the practice of that -more mature school which, as has already been said, appears to have -arrived at once at the secret of the punch, matrix and adjustable -mould. We should be loth to assert that they arrived at once at the -most perfect mechanism of these appliances; indeed, an examination of -the earliest productions of the Mentz press, beautiful as they are, -convinces one that the first printers were not finished typefounders. -But even if their first punches were wood or copper, their first -matrices lead, and their first mould no more than a clumsy adaptation -of the composing-stick, they yet had the secret of the art; to perfect -it was a mere matter of time. - -Experiments have proved conclusively that the face of a wood-cut type -may be without injury impressed into lead in a state of semi-fusion, -and thus produce _in creux_ an inverted image of itself in the matrix. -It has also been shown that a lead matrix so formed is capable, after -being squared and justified, {15} of being adapted to a mould, -and producing a certain number of types in soft lead or pewter -before yielding to the heat of the operation.[30] It has also been -demonstrated that similar matrices formed in clay or plaster, by the -application of the wood or metal models[31] while the substance is -moist, are capable of similar use. - -Dr. Franklin, in a well-known passage of his Autobiography, gives -the following account of his experiences as a casual letter-founder -in 1727. “Our press,” he says, “was frequently in want of the -necessary quantity of letter; and there was no such trade as that of -letter-founder in America. I had seen the practice of this art at the -house of James, in London; but had at the time paid it very little -attention. I, however, contrived to fabricate a mould. I made use of -such letters as we had for punches, founded new letters of lead in -matrices of clay, and thus supplied in a tolerable manner the wants -that were most pressing.”[32] M. Bernard states that in his day the -Chinese characters in the Imperial printing-office in Paris were cast -by a somewhat similar process. The original wooden letters were moulded -in plaster. Into the plaster mould types of a hard metal were cast, and -these hard-metal types served as punches to strike matrices with in a -softer metal.[33] - -In the Enschedé foundry at Haarlem there exists to this day a set of -matrices said to be nearly four hundred years old, which are described -as leaden matrices from punches of copper, “suivant l’habitude -des anciens fondeurs dans les premiers temps après l’invention de -l’imprimerie.”[34] By {16} the kindness of Messrs. Enschedé, we are -able to show a few letters from types cast in these venerable matrices. - -[Illustration: 1. Types cast from leaden matrices (_circ._ 1500?) now -in the Enschedé foundry, Haarlem.] - -Lead matrices are frequently mentioned as having been in regular use in -some of the early foundries of this country. A set of them in four-line -pica was sold at the breaking up of James’s foundry in 1782, and in the -oldest of the existing foundries to this day may be found relics of the -same practice. - -At Lubeck, Smith informs us in 1755,[35] a printer cast for his own -use, “not only large-sized letters for titles, but also a sufficient -quantity of two-lined English, after a peculiar manner, by cutting his -punches on wood, and sinking them afterwards into leaden matrices; yet -were the letters cast in them deeper than the French generally are.” - -When, therefore, the printer of the _Catholicon_, in 1460, says of -his book, “non calami styli aut pennæ suffragio, sed mirâ patronarum -formarumque concordiâ proportione ac modulo impressus atque confectus -est,” we have not necessarily to conclude that the types were produced -in the modern way from copper matrices struck by steel punches. Indeed, -probability seems to point to a gradual progress in the durability of -the materials employed. In the first instance, the punches may have -been of wood, and the matrices soft lead or clay[36]; then the attempt -might be made to strike hard lead into soft; that failing, copper -punches[37] might be used to form leaden matrices; then, when the -necessity for a more durable substance than lead for the letter became -urgent, copper would be used for the matrix, and brass, and finally -steel, for the punch. - -Of whatever substance the matrices were made, the first printers appear -early to have mastered the art of justifying them, so that when cast -in the mould they should not only stand, each letter true in itself, -but all true to one another. Nothing amazes one more in examining these -earliest printed works than the wonderful regularity of the type in -body, height, and line; and if anything could be considered as evidence -that those types were produced from matrices in {17} moulds, and not -by the rude method of casting from matrices which comprehended body -and face in the same moulding, this feature alone is conclusive. We -may go further, and assert that not only must the matrices have been -harmoniously justified, but the mould employed, whatever its form, -must have had its adjustable parts finished with a near approach to -mathematical accuracy, which left little to be accomplished in the way -of further improvement. - -Respecting this mould we have scarcely more material for conjecture -than with regard to the first punches and matrices. The principle of -the bipartite mould was, of course, well known already. The importance -of absolute squareness in the body and height of the type would demand -an appliance of greater precision than the uncertain hollowed cube of -sand or clay; the heat of the molten lead would point to the use of -a hard metal like iron or steel; and the varying widths of the sunk -letters in the matrices would suggest the adoption of some system of -slides whereby the mould could be expanded or contracted laterally, -without prejudice to the invariable regularity of its body and height. -By what crude methods the first typefounder contrived to combine these -essential qualities, we have no means of judging[38]; but were they -ever so crude, to him is due the honour of the culminating achievement -of the invention of typography. “His type mould,” Mr. De Vinne -remarks, “was not merely the first; it is the only practical mechanism -for making types. For more than four hundred years this mould has been -under critical examination, and many {18} attempts have been made to -supplant it. . . . But in principle, and in all the more important -features, the modern mould may be regarded as the mould of Gutenberg.” - -[Illustration: 2. Specimens illustrating the variations in the face of -type produced by bad casting.] - -It may be asked, if the matrices were so truly justified, and the -mould so accurately adjusted, how comes it that in the first books -of these Mentz printers we still discover irregularites among the -letters—fewer, indeed, but of the same kind as are to be found in -books printed by the artists of the ruder school? To this we reply, -that these irregularities are for the most part attributable neither -to varieties in the original models, nor to defects in the matrix or -the mould, but to the worn or unworn condition of the type, and to the -skill or want of skill of the caster. Anyone versed in the practice -of type-casting in hand-moulds, is aware that the manual exercise of -casting a type is peculiar and difficult. With the same mould and the -same matrix, one clever workman may turn out nineteen perfect types out -of twenty; while a clumsy caster will scarcely succeed in producing -a single perfect type out of the number. Different letters require -different contortions to “coax” the metal into all the interstices -of the matrix; and it is quite possible for the same workman to vary -so in his work as to be as “lucky” one day as he is unprofitable the -next. In modern times, of course, none but the perfect types ever -find their way into the printer’s hands, but in the early days, when, -with a perishable matrix, every type cast was of consequence, the -censorship would be less severe,[39] and types would be allowed to -{19} pass into use which differed as much from their original model -as they did from one another. Let any inexperienced reader attempt to -cast twenty Black-letter types from one mould and matrix, and let him -take a proof of the types so produced in juxtaposition. The result of -such an experiment would lead him to cease once and for all to wonder -at irregularities observable in the Gutenberg _Bible_, or the Mentz -_Psalter_, or the _Catholicon_. - -With regard to the metal in which the earliest types were cast, we have -more or less information afforded us in the colophons and statements -of the printers themselves; although it must be borne in mind that the -figurative language in which these artists were wont to describe their -own labours is apt occasionally to lead to confusion, as to whether the -expressions used refer to the punch, the matrix, or the cast types. -We meet almost promiscuously with the terms,—“ære notas,” “æneis -formulis,” “chalcographos,” “stanneis typis,” “stanneis formulis,” -“ahenis formis,” “tabulis ahenis,” “ære legere,” “notas de duro -orichalco,” etc. We look in vain for “plumbum,” the metal one would -most naturally expect to find mentioned. The word _æs_, though strictly -meaning bronze, is undoubtedly to be taken in its wider sense, already -familiar in the fifteenth century, of metal in the abstract, and to -include, at least, the lead, tin, or pewter in which the types were -almost certainly cast. The reference to copper and bronze might either -apply to the early punches or the later matrices; but in no case is it -probable that types were cast in either metal. - -Padre Fineschi gives an interesting extract from the cost-book of the -Ripoli press, about 1480,[40] by which it appears that steel, brass, -copper, tin, lead, and iron wire were all used in the manufacture of -types at that period; the first two probably for the mould, the steel -also for the punches, the copper for the matrices, the lead and tin for -the types, and the iron wire for the mould, and possibly for stringing -together the perforated type-models. - -It is probable that an alloy was early introduced; first by the -addition to the lead of tin and iron, and then gradually improved -upon, till the discovery of {20} antimony at the end of the fifteenth -century[41] supplied the ingredient requisite to render the types -at once tough and sharp enough for the ordeal of the press. There -is little doubt that at some time or other every known metal was -tried experimentally in the mixture; but, from the earliest days of -letter-casting, lead and tin have always been recognised as the staple -ingredients of the alloy; the hard substance being usually either iron, -bismuth, or antimony. - - * * * * * - -Turning now from type-casting appliances to the early types themselves, -we are enabled, thanks to one or two recent discoveries, to form a -tolerably good idea as to their appearance and peculiarities. We have -already stated that, with regard to the traditional perforated wooden -types seen by certain old writers, the probability is that, if these -were the genuine relics they professed to be, they were model types -used for forming moulds upon, or for impressing into matrices of moist -clay or soft lead. We have also considered it possible, in regard to -types cast in the primitive sand or clay moulds of the rude school, -that to overcome the difficulties incident to irregular height to -paper, uneven bodies, and loose locking-up, the expedient may have been -attempted of perforating the types and passing a thread or wire through -each line, to hold the intractable letters in their place. - -This, however, is mere conjecture, and whether such types existed or -not none of them have survived to our day. Their possessors, as they -slowly discovered the secret of the punch, matrix and mould, would -show little veneration, we imagine, for these clumsy relics of their -ignorance, and value them only as old lead, to be remelted and recast -by the newer and better method. - -But though no relic of these primitive cast types remains, we are -happily not without means for forming a judgment respecting some of the -earliest types of the more finished school of printers. In 1878, in the -bed of the river Saône, near Lyons,[42] opposite the site of one of -the famous fifteenth century printing-houses of that city, a number of -old types were discovered which there seems reason to believe belonged -once to one of those presses, and were used by the early printers of -Lyons. They came into the hands of M. Claudin of Paris, {21} the -distinguished typographical antiquary, who, after careful examination -and inquiry, has satisfied himself as to their antiquity and value as -genuine relics of the infancy of the art of printing. - -[Illustration: 4. _Profile tracings from M. Claudin’s Types. October -1883._] - -It has been our good fortune, by the kindness of M. Claudin, to have an -opportunity of inspecting these precious relics. The following outline -profile-sketches will give a good idea of the various forms and sizes -represented in the collection. There is little doubt that they were all -cast in a mould. The metal used is lead, slightly alloyed with some -harder substance, which in the case of a few of the types seems to be -iron. The chief point which strikes the observer is the variety in the -“height to paper” of the different founts. Taking the six specimens -shown in the illustration, it will be seen that no two of the types -correspond in this particular. No. 4 corresponds as nearly as possible -to our English standard height. No. 3 is considerably lower than an -ordinary space height. No. 2 approaches some of the continental heights -still to be met with, while Nos. 1, 5, and 6 are higher than any known -standard. It is easy to imagine that an early printer who cast his -own types would trouble himself very little as to the heights of his -neighbours’ and rivals’ moulds, so that in a city like Lyons there -might have been as many “heights to paper” as there were printers. It -is even possible that a printer using one style and size of letter -exclusively for one description of work, and another size and style for -another description, might not be particular to assimilate the heights -in his own office; and so, foreshadowing the improvidence of some of -his modern followers, lay in founts of letter which would not work with -any other, but which, as time went on, could hardly be dispensed with. -Then, when the days of the itinerant typesellers and the type-markets -began, he might still further add to his “heights” by the purchase of a -German fount from one merchant, a Dutch from another, and so on. - -The type No. 3, though lower than all the rest, has yet a letter upon -its {22} end. But it seems likely that the old printers cut down their -worn-out letters for spaces, not by ploughing off the face, but by -shortening the type at the foot. So that No. 3 (presuming the bodies to -have corresponded) might stand as a space to No. 4, or No. 4 to No. 1. -At the same time, the collection includes a good number of plain spaces -and quadrats (the latter generally about a square body), which may -either have been cast as they now appear, or be old letters of which -the face and shoulder have been cut off. - -The small hole appearing in the side of type No. 4 is a perforation, -and the collection contains several types, both letters and spaces, -having the same peculiarity. Whether this hole was formed at the -time of or after casting; whether the letters so perforated were -originally model-types only, or types in actual use; whether the hole -was intended for a thread or wire to hold the letters in their places -during impression; or whether, for want of a type-case, it was used -for stringing the types together for safety when not in use, it is as -easy to conjecture as it is impossible to determine. The perforated -types which we examined certainly did not appear to be older, and in -most cases appeared less old than those not perforated,—the outline of -type No. 4 itself shows it to be fairer and squarer than any of its -companions. - -Another peculiarity to be noted is the “shamfer,” or cutting away of -one of the corners of the feet of types 2, 5, and 6. This appears to -have been intentional, and may have served the same purpose as our -nick, to guide the compositor in setting. None of the types have a -nick, and types 1 and 3 have no distinguishing mark whatever. The two -small indentations in the side of type 2 are air-holes produced in the -casting. - -With regard to the faces of the types, there are traces in most of the -letters of the “shoulders” of the body having been tapered off by a -knife or graver after casting, so as to leave the letter quite clear on -the body. In most cases the letter stands in the centre of the body, -which is, as a rule, larger than the size of the character actually -requires. In point of thickness, however, the old printers appear -to have been very sparing; and a great many of the letters, though -possessing ample room “body-way,” actually overhang the sides, and -are what we should style in modern terminology “kerned” letters. The -difficulty, however, which would be experienced by printers to-day with -these overhanging sorts, was obviated to a large extent in the case of -the old printers by the numerous ligatures, contractions, and double -letters with which their founts abounded, and which gave almost all the -combinations in which an overhanging letter would be likely to clash -with its neighbour. - -One last peculiarity to be observed is the absence of what is known -as the “break” at the foot of the type. The contrivance in the mould -whereby the {23} foot of the type is cast square, and the “jet,” or -superfluous metal left by the casting, is attached, not to the whole -of the foot, but to a narrow ridge across the centre, from which it -is easily detached, was probably unknown to the fifteenth century -typefounders. Their types appear to have come out of the mould with -a “jet” attaching to the entire foot, from which it could only be -detached by a saw or cutter. The “shamfer” already pointed out in types -2, 5, 6, if produced in the mould, may indicate an early attempt to -reduce the size of the jet, which, if attaching to the entire square -of the foot of a type the size of No. 2, would involve both time and -labour in removal. M. Duverger, in his clever essay to the invention of -printing,[43] gives an illustration of the manner in which he imagines -the old types would be detached from their jets; and considers that -in the three points only of the want of a breaking “jet,” the want of -a spring to hold the matrix to the mould, and the absence of a nick, -the mould of the first printer differed essentially from that of the -printer of his day. - -[Illustration: 3. Type Mould of Claude Garamond. Paris, 1540. (From -Duverger.) - -_a._ The “body” in which the type is cast. _b_, _c_. The “jet,” or -mouthpiece, in which the fluid metal is poured. _d._ The type as cast.] - -Such are some of the chief points of interest to be observed in these -venerable relics of the old typographers. It is to be hoped that M. -Claudin may before long favour the world with a full and detailed -account of their many peculiarities. Yet, curious as they are, they -prove that the types of the fifteenth century differed in no essential -particular from those of the nineteenth. Ruder and rougher, and less -durable they might be, but in substance and form, and in the mechanical -principles of their manufacture, they claim kinship with the newest -types of our most modern foundry. {24} - -The old Lyonnaise relics are not the only guide we have as to the form -and nature of the fifteenth century types. - -M. Madden, in 1875, made a most valuable discovery in a book printed by -Conrad Hamborch, at Cologne, in 1476, and entitled _La Lèpre Morale_, -by John Nider, of the accidental impression of a type, pulled up from -its place in the course of printing by the ink-ball, and laid at length -upon the face of the forme, thus leaving its exact profile indented -upon the page. We reproduce in facsimile M. Madden’s illustration -of this type, which accompanies his own interesting letter on the -subject.[44] - -[Illustration: 5. From M. Madden’s _Lettres d’un Bibliographe_. Ser. -iv, p. 231.] - -[Illustration: 6. From _Liber de Laudibus ac Festis Gloriosæ Virginis_. -Cologne(?), 1468(?). Fol. 4 verso. (From the original.)] - -A similar discovery, equally valuable and interesting, was made not -many months ago by the late Mr. Henry Bradshaw, of Cambridge, in a copy -of a work entitled _De Laudibus Gloriosæ Virginis Mariæ_, _sine notâ_, -but printed probably about 1468 at Cologne.[45] We are indebted to -Mr. Bradshaw for the present opportunity of presenting for the first -time the annexed facsimile of this curious relic, {25} photographed -direct from the page on which it occurs.[46] These two impressions -are particularly interesting in the light of the old Lyonnaise types -still in existence. Like them, it will be seen they are without nick, -and tapered off at the face. They are also without the jet-break. -The height of both types (which is identical) is above the English -standard, and more nearly approaches that of No. 2 of the Lyons -letters; and M. Madden points out as remarkable that this height (24 -millimètres) is exactly that fixed as the standard “height to paper” by -the “réglement de la libraire” of 1723. The body of the types (assuming -the letter to be laid sideways, of which there can be little doubt) is -about the modern English, and so corresponds exactly to the body of the -text on which it lies. - -The chief point of interest, however, is in the small circle appearing -in both near the top, which M. Madden (as regards the type of the -_Nider_) thus explains: “This circle, the contour of which is exactly -formed, shows that the letter was pierced laterally by a circular hole. -This hole did not penetrate the whole thickness of the letter, and -served, like the nick of our days, to enable the compositor to tell by -touch which way to set the letter in his stick, so as to be right in -the printed page. If the letter had been laid on its other side, the -existence of this little circle would have been lost to us for ever.” -It would, however, be quite possible for a perforated type, with the -end of the hole slightly clogged with ink, to present precisely the -same appearance as this, which M. Madden concludes was only slightly -pierced; and were it not for the fact that the pulling-up of the letter -from the forme is itself evidence that the line could not have been -threaded, we should hesitate to affirm that either of the types shown -was not perforated. The sharp edge of the circumference in the type of -the _De laudibus_, leaving, as it does, in the original page, a clearly -embossed circle in the paper, makes it evident that the depression was -not the result of a mere flaw in the casting, although it is possible -(as we have satisfied ourselves by experiment) for the surface of the -side of a roughly-cast type to be depressed by air-holes, some of which -assume a circular form, and may even perforate a thin type. Indeed, at -the present day it is next to impossible to cast by hand a type which -is not a little sunk on some part of its sides; and this roughness of -surface we can imagine to have been far more apparent on the types {26} -cast by the earliest printers. We doubt, therefore, whether, in types -liable to these accidental depressions of surface, a small artificial -hole thus easily simulated would be of any service as a guide to the -compositor. A more probable explanation of the appearance seems to be -that the head of a small screw or pin, used to fix the side-piece of -the mould, projecting slightly on the surface of the piece it fixed, -left its mark on the side of the types as they were cast, and thus -caused the circular depression observable in the illustrations.[47] - -Before leaving this subject it may be remarked that the clear -impression of the printed matter, despite the laid-on types, which -must in either case have been a thin sort, is strong evidence of the -softness of the metal in which the fount was cast. The press appears to -have crushed the truant types down into the letters on which it lay, -and, unimpeded by the obstacle, to have taken as good an impression of -the remainder of the forme as if that obstacle had never existed. - - * * * * * - -The quantity of type with which the earliest printers found it -necessary to provide themselves, turns, of course, upon the question, -did the first printers print only one page at a time, or more? M. -Bernard considers that the Gutenberg _Bible_, which is usually collated -in sections of five sheets, or twenty pages, containing about 2,688 -types in a page, would require 60,000 types to print a single section; -and if sufficient type was cast to enable the compositors to set -one section while another was being worked, the fount would need to -consist of 120,000 letters. Others consider that two pages, requiring, -in the case of the Gutenberg _Bible_, only 6,000 types, were printed -at one time. But even this estimate has been shown to be opposed to -the evidence afforded by a considerable number of the incunabula, -respecting which it is evident only one page was printed at a time. -On this point we cannot do better than quote the words of Mr. Blades. -“The scribe,” he says, “necessarily wrote but one page at a time, -and, curiously enough, the early printers here also assimilated their -practice. Whether from want of sufficient type to set up the requisite -number of pages, or from the limited capability of the presses, there -is strong evidence of the early books from Caxton’s press having been -printed page by page. . . . . Instances are found of pages on the same -side of the sheet being out of parallel, which could not occur if two -pages were printed together. . . . A positive proof of the separate -printing of the pages may be seen in a copy of the _Recuyell of the -Histories of Troye_, in the Bodleian; {27} for the ninth recto of -the third quaternion has never been printed at all, while the second -verso (the page which must fall on the same side of the sheet) appears -properly printed.”[48] - -What is true of Caxton’s early works is also true of a large number of -other fifteenth century printed books. Mr. Hessels, after quoting the -testimony of Mr. Bradshaw of Cambridge, and Mr. Winter Jones of the -British Museum, refers to a large number of incunabula in which he has -found evidence that this mode of printing was the common practice of -the early typographers.[49] - -Assuming, then, that the first books were generally printed page by -page, it will be seen that the stock of type necessary to enable the -printer to proceed was but small. 2,700 letters would suffice for one -page of the forty-two-line _Bible_; and for the _Rationale Durandi_, -about 5,000 would be required. It is probable, however, that, as -Bernard suggests, the printers would cast enough to enable one forme -to be composed while the other was working, so that double these -quantities would possibly be provided. Nor must it be forgotten that -a “fount” of type in these days consisted not only of the ordinary -letters of the alphabet, but of a very large number of double letters, -abbreviations and contractions, which must have seriously complicated -the labour of composition, as well as reduced the individual number -of each type required to fill the typefounder’s “bill.” This feature, -doubtless attributable to the attempt on the part of the early printers -to imitate manuscript as closely as possible, as well as to the -exigencies of justification in composition, which, in the absence of a -variety of spaces, required various widths in the letters themselves, -was common to both schools of early typography. M. Bernard states that, -in the type of the forty-two-line _Bible_, each letter required at -least three or four varieties; while with regard to Caxton’s type 1, -which was designed and cast by Colard Mansion at Bruges, before 1472, -Mr. Blades points out that the fount contained upwards of 163 sorts, -and that there were only five letters of which there were not more -than one matrix, either as single letters or in combination. Speaking -of the _Speculum_, Mr. Skeen counts 1,430 types on one page, of which -22 are _a_, 61 _e_, 91 _i_, 73 _o_, 37 _u_, 22 _d_, 14 _h_, 30 _m_, 50 -_n_, 42 _s_, and 41 _t_; besides which there are no less than ninety -duplicate and triplicate characters, comprising one variation of _a_, -15 of _c_, 7 of _d_, 3 of _e_, 9 of _f_, 10 of _g_, 3 of _i_, 7 of -_l_, 2 of _o_, 3 of _n_, 2 of _p_, 10 of _r_, 9 of _s_, 9 of _t_, -varying in the frequency of their occurrence from once to eleven times, -leaving but 541 other letters for the rest of the alphabet, including -the capitals; {28} and of these last, from three to twenty would be -the utmost of each required. Altogether, calculating 138 matrices -(_i.e._, two alphabets of twenty-four letters each, and ninety double -and treble letters) to be the least number of matrices required to -make a complete fount,[50] the highest number of types of any one -particular sort necessary to print a single page would be ninety-one. -The average number of the eleven chief letters specified above would be -about forty-four, while if we take into calculation the minor letters -of the alphabet and the double letters, this average would be reduced -to little more than ten. It will thus be seen that the founts of the -earliest printers consisted of a small quantity each of a large variety -of sorts. Mr. Astle, in his chapter on the Origin and Progress of -Printing,[51] is, we believe, the only writer who has dwelt upon the -difficulty which the first letter-founders would be likely to encounter -in the arrangement of their “bill.” This venerable compilation -was, he considers, made in the fifteenth century, probably by the -ordinary method of casting-off copy. If so, it must have experienced -considerable and frequent change during the time that the ligatures -were falling into disuse, and until the printer’s alphabet had reduced -itself to its present limits. - - * * * * * - -Of the face of type used by the earliest printers we shall -have occasion to speak later on. Respecting the development of -letter-founding as an industry, there is little that can be gathered in -the history of the fifteenth century. At first the art of the inventor -was a mystery divulged to none. But the sack of Mentz, in 1462, and -the consequent dispersion of Gutenberg’s disciples, spread the secret -broadcast over Europe. Italy, Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, -Spain, England, in turn learned it, and after their fashion improved -it. Italy, especially, guided by the master-hands of her early artists, -brought it to rapid perfection. The migrations of Gutenberg’s types -among the early presses of Bamberg, Eltville, and elsewhere, have -led to the surmise that he may have sold matrices of his letter.[52] -In 1468, Schoeffer put forward what may be considered the first -advertisement in the annals of typography. “Every nation,” he says, in -{29} the colophon to _Justinian’s Institutes_, “can now procure its -own kind of letters, for he (_i.e._, Schoeffer himself) excels with -all-prevailing pencil” (_i.e._, in designing and engraving all kinds -of type).[53] For the most part printers were their own founders, and -each printer had his own types. But type depôts and markets, and the -wanderings of the itinerant typographers, as the demands of printing -yearly increased, brought the founts of various presses and nations -to various centres, and thus gave the first impulse to that gradual -divorce between printing and typefounding which in the following -century left the latter the distinct industry it still remains. - - * * * * * - -Such is a brief outline of the chief facts and opinions regarding the -processes, appliances and practices of the earliest typefounders. It -may be said that, after all, we know very little about the matter. -The facts are very few, and the conjectures, in many instances, so -contradictory, that it is impossible to erect a “system,” or draw any -but general conclusions. These conclusions we very briefly summarise as -follows. - -Accepting as a fundamental principle that the essence of typography -is in the mobility of the types, we dismiss, as beyond the scope -of our inquiry, the xylographic works which preceded typography. -Passing in review the alleged stepping-stones between the two arts, we -fail to see in the evidence adduced as to the use of movable wooden -perforated types anything to justify the conclusion that the earliest -printers printed books by their means. Such types may have been cut -experimentally, but the practical impossibility of cutting them square -enough to be composed in a forme, and of producing a work of the size -and character of the _Speculum_, is fatal to their claims. With regard -to the sculpto-fusi types—types engraved on cast-metal bodies—the -evidence in their favour is of the most unsatisfactory character, -and, coupled with the practical difficulties of their production, -reduces their claims to a minimum. The marked difference of style and -excellence in the typography of certain of the earliest books leads us -to accept the theory that two schools of typography existed side by -side in the infancy of the art—one a rude school, which, not having -the secret of the more perfect appliances of the inventors, cast its -letters by some primitive method, probably using moulds of sand or -clay, in which the entire type had been moulded. Such types may have -been perforated and held together in lines by a wire. The suggestion -that the earliest types were produced by a system of polytype, and -that the face of each letter, sawn off a plate resembling a {30} -stereotype-plate, was separately mounted on loose wooden shanks, we -dismiss as purely fanciful. - -Turning now to the processes adopted by the typographers of the more -advanced school, we consider that in the first instance, although -grasping the principle of the punch, the matrix and the adaptable -mould, they may have made use of inferior appliances—possibly by -forming their matrices in lead from wooden or leaden punches or -models—advancing thence by degrees to the use of steel punches, copper -matrices, and the bipartite iron mould. We hold that the variations -observable in the early works of this school are due mainly to uneven -casting and wear and tear of the types. As to the metal in which the -type was cast, we find mention made of almost every metal, several -of which, however, refer to the punches and matrices, leaving tin, -lead, and antimony as the staple ingredients of the type-metal. Of -the types themselves, we find these in most essential particulars to -be the same as those cast at a later date. We see, however, evidence -of perforated, mould-cast type, and, in the absence of a nick, a -“shamfer” at the foot, from which the jet appears to have been sawn or -cut, instead of being broken. We remark a great irregularity in the -heights of different founts, the average of which height is beyond any -modern English standard. The accidental impression of a type in two -early German books, proves that about the year 1476 types were made -differing only in the two points of the want of a nick and the want of -a jet-break from the types of to-day. The quantity of types required -by the earliest printers, we consider, would be small, since they -appear in most instances to have printed only one page at a time; but -the number of different sorts going to make up a fount would be very -considerable, by reason of the numerous contractions, double letters -and abbreviations used. - -Finally, we consider that the art of letter-founding rapidly reached -maturity after the general diffusion of printing consequent on the -sack of Mentz; and that when the writer of the _Cologne Chronicle_, in -the last year of the 15th century, spoke of “the art as now generally -used,” he spoke of an art which, at the close of the 19th century, has -been able to improve in no essential principle on the processes first -made use of by the great inventors of Typography. - -[Illustration] - -{31} - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -THE ENGLISH TYPE BODIES AND FACES. - - -We have laid before the reader, in the Introductory Chapter, such facts -and conjectures as it is possible to gather together respecting the -processes and appliances adopted by the first letter-founders, and -shall, with a view to render the particular history of the English -Letter Foundries more intelligible, endeavour to present here, in as -concise a form as possible, a short historical sketch of the English -type bodies and faces, tracing particularly the rise and development -of the Roman, Italic, and Black letters before and subsequent to -their introduction into this country; adding, in a following chapter, -a similar notice of the types of the principal foreign and learned -languages which have figured conspicuously in English typography. - - -TYPE-BODIES. - -The origin of type-bodies and the nomenclature which has grown around -them, is a branch of typographical antiquity which has always been -shrouded in more or less obscurity. Imagining, as we do, that the -moulds of the first printers were of a primitive construction, and, -though conceived on true principles, were adjusted to the various sizes -of letter they had to cast more by eye than by rule, it is easy to -understand that founts would be cast on no other principle than that of -ranging in body and line and height in themselves, irrespective of the -body, height and line of other founts used in the same press. When two -or more {32} founts were required to mix in the same work, then the -necessity of a uniform standard of height would become apparent. When -two or more founts were required to mix in the same line, a uniformity -in body, and if possible in alignment, would be found necessary. When -initials or marginal notes required to be incorporated with the text, -then the advantage of a mathematical proportion between one body and -another would suggest itself. - -At first, doubtless, the printer would name his sizes of type according -to the works for which they were used. His Canon type would be the -large character in which he printed the canon of the Mass. His Cicero -type would be the letter used in his editions of that classical author. -His Saint Augustin, his Primer, his Brevier, his Philosophie, his -Pica type, would be the names by which he would describe the sizes of -letter he used for printing the works whose names they bore. It may -also be assumed with tolerable certainty that in most of these cases, -originally, the names described not only the body, but the “face” of -their respective founts. At what period this confused and haphazard -system of nomenclature resolved itself into the definite printer’s -terminology it is difficult to determine. The process was probably a -gradual one, and was not perfected until typefounding became a distinct -and separate trade. - -The earliest writers on the form and proportion of letters,—Dürer[54] -in 1525, Tory[55] in 1529, and Ycair[56] in 1548,—though using terms -to distinguish the different faces of letter, were apparently unaware -of any distinguishing names for the bodies of types. Tory, indeed, -mentions Canon and Bourgeoise; but in both cases he refers to the face -of the letter; and Ycair’s distinction of “teste y glosa” applies -generally to the large and small type used for the text and notes -respectively of the same work.[57] - -In England, type-bodies do not appear to have been reduced to a -definite scale much before the end of the sixteenth century. Mores[58] -failed to trace them further back than 1647; but in a Regulation of the -Stationers’ Company, dated 1598,[59] Pica, English, Long Primer, and -Brevier are mentioned by name as apparently well-established bodies at -that time; and in a petition to the same Company in 1635,[60] Nonpareil -and “two-line letters” are mentioned as equally familiar. - -Moxon, our first writer on the subject, in his _Mechanick Exercises_, -in 1683, {33} described ten regular bodies in common use in his day, -and added to his list the number of types of each body that went to a -foot, viz.:― - - Pearl 184 to a foot - Nonpareil 150 〃 - Brevier 112 〃 - Long Primer 92 〃 - Pica 75 〃 - English 66 〃 - Great Primer 50 〃 - Double Pica 38 〃 - 2-line English 33 〃 - French Canon 17 1/2 〃 - -“We have one body more,” he adds, “which is sometimes used in England; -that is, a Small Pica: but I account it no great discretion in a -master-printer to provide it, because it differs so little from the -Pica, that unless the workmen be carefuller than they sometimes are, it -may be mingled with the Pica, and so the beauty of both founts may be -spoiled.” - -In this sentence we have the first record of the introduction of -irregular bodies into English typography, an innovation destined very -speedily to expand, and within half a century increase the number of -English bodies by the seven following additions: - - Minion 132 to a foot - Bourgeois 100 〃 - Small Pica 76 〃 - Paragon 46 〃 - 2-line Pica 37 1/2 〃 - 2-line Great Primer 25 〃 - 2-line Double Pica 19 〃 - -The origin of these irregular bodies it is easy to explain. Between -Moxon’s time and 1720 the country was flooded with Dutch type. The -English founders were beaten out of the field in their own market, -and James, in self-defence, had to furnish his foundry entirely with -Dutch moulds and matrices. Thus we had the typefounding of two nations -carried on side by side. An English printer furnished with a Dutch -fount would require additions to it to be cast to the Dutch standard, -which might be smaller or larger than that laid down for English type -by Moxon, and yet so near that even if it lost or gained a few types -in the foot, it would still be called by its English name, which would -thenceforth represent two different bodies. If, on the other hand, -a new fount were imported, or cut by an ill-regulated artist here, -which when finished was found to be as much too large for one regular -body as it was too small for another, a body would be found to fit it -between the two, and christened by a new name. In this manner, Minion, -Bourgeois, Small Pica, Paragon, and two-line Pica insinuated themselves -into the list of English bodies, and in this manner arose that -ancient anomaly, the various body-standards of the English foundries. -For a founder who was constantly called upon to alter his mould to -accommodate a printer requiring a special body, would be likely to cast -a quantity of the letter in excess of what was immediately ordered; and -this store, if not sold in due time to the person for whom it was cast, -would be disposed of to the first {34} comer who, requiring a new -fount, and not particular as to body, provided the additions afterwards -to be had were of the same gauge, would take it off the founder’s -hands. _Facilis descensus Averni!_ Having taken the one downward step, -the founder would be called upon constantly to repeat it, his moulds -would remain set, some to the right, some to the wrong standard, -and every type he cast would make it more impossible for him or his -posterity to recover the simple standard from which he had erred. - -Such we imagine to have been the origin of the irregular and ununiform -bodies. Even in 1755, when Smith published his _Printer’s Grammar_, the -mischief was beyond recall. In no single instance were the standards -given by him identical with those of 1683. Indeed, where each founder -had two or three variations of each body in his own foundry it is -impossible to speak of a standard at all. Smith points out that, in -the case of English and Pica alone, Caslon had four varieties of the -former, and the Dutch two; while of the latter, Caslon had three, and -James two. Nevertheless, he gives a scale of the bodies commonly in use -in his day, which it will be interesting to compare with Moxon’s on the -one hand, and the standard of the English foundries in 1841 as given by -Savage, on the other. - - +───────────────────+──────+──────────────+───────+────────+───────────+───────+ - │ │MOXON,│ SMITH, │CASLON,│FIGGINS,│THOROWGOOD,│WILSON,│ - │ │1683. │ 1755. │ 1841. │ 1841. │ 1841. │ 1841. │ - +───────────────────+──────+──────────────+───────+────────+───────────+───────+ - │Canon │17 1/2│ 18 and G. P. │ 18 │ 18 │ 18 │ 18 │ - │2-line Double Pica │ — │ 20 3/4 │ 20 3/4│ 20 3/4 │ 20 1/2 │ 20 3/4│ - │2-line Great Primer│ — │ 25 1/2 │ 25 1/2│ 25 1/2 │ 26 │ 25 1/2│ - │2-line English │ 33 │ 32 │ 32 │ 32 │ 32 1/4 │ 32 │ - │2-line Pica │ — │ 35 3/4 │ 36 │ 36 │ 36 │ 36 │ - │Double Pica │ 38 │ 41 1/2 │ 41 1/2│ 41 1/2 │ 41 │ 41 1/2│ - │Paragon │ — │ 44 1/2 │ 44 1/2│ 44 1/2 │ — │ 44 1/2│ - │Great Primer │ 50 │ 51 and an r. │ 51 │ 51 │ 52 │ 51 │ - │English │ 66 │ 64 │ 64 │ 64 │ 64 1/2 │ 64 │ - │Pica │ 75 │ 71 1/2 │ 72 │ 72 1/2 │ 72 │ 72 │ - │Small Pica │ — │ 83 │ 83 │ 82 │ 82 │ 83 │ - │Long Primer │ 92 │ 89 │ 89 │ 90 │ 92 │ 89 │ - │Bourgeois │ — │102 and space.│102 │101 1/2 │ 103 │102 │ - │Brevier │ 112 │ 112 1/2 │111 │107 │ 112 │111 │ - │Minion │ — │ 128 │122 │122 │ 122 │122 │ - │Nonpareil │ 150 │ 143 │144 │144 │ 144 │144 │ - │Pearl │ 184 │ 178 │178 │180 │ 184 │178 │ - │Diamond │ — │ — │204 │205 │ 210 │204 │ - +───────────────────+──────+──────────────+───────+────────+───────────+───────+ - -This list does not include Trafalgar, Emerald, and Ruby, which, -however, were in use before 1841. The first named has disappeared in -England, as also has Paragon. The _Printer’s Grammar_ of 1787 mentions -a body in use at that time named “Primer,” between Great Primer and -English. - -It is not our purpose to pursue this comparison further or more -minutely; nor does it come within the scope of this work to enter into -a technical {35} examination of the various schemes which have been -carried out abroad, and attempted in this country, to do away with the -anomalies in type-bodies, and restore a uniform invariable standard. -The above table will suffice as a brief historical note of the growth -of these anomalies. - -As early as 1725, in France, an attempt was made to regulate by a -public decree, not only the standard height of a type, but the scale -of bodies. But the system adopted was clumsy, and only added to the -confusion it was designed to remove. Fournier, in 1737, invented his -typographical points, the first successful attempt at a mathematical -systematisation of type-bodies, which has since, with the alternative -system of Didot, done much in simplifying French typography. England, -Germany, and Holland have been more conservative, and therefore less -fortunate. Attempts were made by Fergusson in 1824,[61] and by Bower -of Sheffield about 1840,[62] and others, to arrive at a standard of -uniformity; but their schemes were not warmly taken up, and failed. - -Before proceeding to a brief historical notice of the different -English type-bodies, we shall trouble the reader with a further -table, compiled from specimen-books of the 18th century, showing what -have been the names of the corresponding bodies in the foundries of -other nations,—premising, however, that these names must be taken as -representing the approximate, rather than the actual, equivalent in -each case[63]:― - - +────────────────────────+─────────────────────────────────────────+────────────────────+─────────────────────────────+ - │ ENGLISH. │ FRENCH. │ GERMAN. │ DUTCH. │ ITALIAN. │ SPANISH. │ - +────────────────────────+──────────────────────+──────────────────+────────────────────+───────────────+─────────────+ - │ 1. French Canon. │Double Canon. │Kleine Missal. │Parys Kanon. │Reale. │ .... │ - │ 2. 2-line Double Pica. │Gros Canon. │Große Canon. │Groote Kanon. │Corale. │Canon Grande.│ - │ 3. 2-line Great Primer.│Trismegiste. │Kleine Canon. │Kanon. │Canone. │Canon. │ - │ 4. 2-line English. │Petit Canon. │Doppel Mittel. │Dubbelde Augustyn. │Sopracanoncino.│Peticano. │ - │ 5. 2-line Pica. │Palestine. │Roman. │Dubbelde Mediaan. │Canoncino. │ .... │ - │ 6. Double Pica. │Gros Parangon. │Text or Secunda. │Dubbelde Descendiaan│Ascendonica. │Misal. │ - │ │ │ │ (or Ascendonica). │ │ │ - │ 7. Paragon. │Petit Parangon. │Parangon. │Parangon. │Parangone. │Parangona. │ - │ 8. Great Primer. │Gros Romain. │Tertia. │Text. │Testo. │Texto. │ - │ 9. (Large English.) │Gros Texte. │Große Mittel. │ .... │Soprasilvio. │ .... │ - │ 9. English. │St. Augustin. │Kleine Mittel. │Augustyn. │Silvio. │Atanasia. │ - │10. Pica. │Cicero. │Cicero. │Mediaan. │Lettura. │Lectura. │ - │11. Small Pica. │Philosophie. │Brevier. │Descendiaan. │(Filosofia.) │ .... │ - │12. Long Primer. │Petit Romain. │Corpus or Garmond.│Garmond. │Garamone. │Entredos. │ - │13. Bourgeois. │Gaillarde. │(Borgis.) │Burgeois or Galjart.│Garamoncino. │ .... │ - │14. Brevier. │Petit Texte. │Petit or Jungfer. │Brevier. │Testino. │Breviario. │ - │15. Minion. │Mignone. │Colonel. │Colonel. │Mignona. │Glosilla. │ - │16. Nonpareil. │Nonpareille. │Nonpareille. │Nonparel. │Nompariglia. │Nompareli. │ - +────────────────────────+──────────────────────+──────────────────+────────────────────+───────────────+─────────────+ - │17.│ Pearl. │Parisienne or Sedan. │Perl. │Joly. │Parmigianina. │ .... │ - │ │ │Perle. │ │Peerl. │ │ │ - + +────────────────────+──────────────────────+──────────────────+────────────────────+───────────────+─────────────+ - │ │ (Diamond.) │Diamant. │Diamant. │Robijn. │ │ │ - │ │ │ │ │Diamand. │ .... │ .... │ - +────────────────────────+─────────────────────────────────────────+────────────────────+─────────────────────────────+ - -{36} - -A few notes on the origin of the names of English type-bodies will -conclude our observations on this subject. - - -CANON.—The Canon of the Mass was, in the service-books of the Church, -printed in a large letter, and it is generally supposed that, this size -of letter being ordinarily employed in the large Missals, the type-body -took its name accordingly: a supposition which is strengthened by its -German name of Missal. Mores, however (who objects equally to the -epithets of Great or French as unnecessary and delusive), considers -this derivation to be incorrect, and quotes the authority of Tory, who -uses the term Canon to apply to letter cut according to rule—_lettres -de forme_—as distinguished from letters not so cut, which he terms -_lettres bastardes_. So that the _lettre qu’on dict Canon_ was -originally a generic term, embracing all the regular bodies; and -subsequently came to be confined to the largest size in that category. -The theory is ingenious and interesting; but it seems more reasonable -to lay greater stress on the actual meaning of a word than on its -equivocal interpretation. In other countries two-line Great Primer was -commonly called Canon, and our French Canon was called by the Dutch -Parys Kanon; by which it would seem that both England and Holland -originally received the body from the French. In modern letter-founding -the name Canon applies only to the size of the face of a letter which -is a three-line Pica cast on a four-line Pica body. - -Passing the next four bodies, which with us are merely -reduplications,[64] we note that― - - -DOUBLE PICA, which at present is Double Small Pica, was in Moxon’s -day, what its name denotes, a two-line Pica. When the irregular Small -Pica was introduced, Double Pica was the name given to the double of -the interloper, the double of the Pica being styled two-line Pica. -In Germany, Double Pica was called Text or Secunda—the former name -probably denoting the use of this size in the text of Holy Writ, while -the latter indicates that the body was one of a series, the Doppel -Mittel, corresponding to our two-line English, being probably the Prima. - - -PARAGON, the double of Long Primer, though a body unnamed in Moxon’s -day, was a size of really old institution; it having been a favourite -body with many of the earliest printers, and particularly affected -by Caxton in this country. Its name points to a French origin; and, -like most of the other fanciful names, proves that the appellation had -reference in the first instance, not to the depth of its shank, but -to the supposed beauty of the letter which was cut upon it. It was a -body which did not take deep root in this country, and for the most -part {37} disappeared with the first quarter of the present century. -It is noteworthy that Paragon and Nonpareil are the only bodies which -have preserved their names in all the countries in which they have been -adopted. - - -GREAT PRIMER.—For this body, Mores claims an indisputable English -origin. He considers it possible that it may date back to before the -Reformation, and that it was the body on which were printed the large -Primers of the early Church.[65] This derivation[66] would be more -satisfactory were it found that these works, or the school primers of a -later date, were, as a rule, printed in type of this size.[67] But this -is not the case. _Primers_, _Pyes_, and _Breviaries_ occur printed in -almost all the regular bodies. Great Primer was a favourite body with -the old printers, and having been adopted by many of the first Bible -printers, was sometimes called Bible Text. The French called it Gros -Romain; and the “Great Romaine letter for the titles,” mentioned in -Pynson’s indenture in 1519, may possibly refer to an already recognised -type-body of this size. In Germany it was called Tertia, being the -third of the regular bodies above the Mittel. In Holland, Italy, and -Spain it was called Text. - - -ENGLISH is also a body which undoubtedly belongs to us. Until the end -of last century the name served not only to denote a body, but the face -of the English Black-letter; and many of the old founts used in the law -books and Acts of Parliament were English both in body and face. As in -Germany, where it is called Mittel, English was the middle size of the -seven regular bodies in use among us: the Great Primer, Double Pica, -and two-line English (the Tertia, Secunda, and Prima of the Germans) -being on the ascending side, and Pica, Long Primer, and Brevier on the -descending. The French call it St. Augustin,[68] and the Spaniards -Atanasia, apparently from its use in printing the works of these -Christian Fathers. Although the middle body, its standard has been -subject to much variation, particularly in France and Germany, where -large and small English are two distinct bodies. {38} - - -PICA.—This important body, now the standard body in English typography, -presumably owes its name to its use in printing the ordinal of the -services of the early Church, and is coeval with Great Primer. “The -Pie,” says Mores, of which this is the Latin name, “was a table showing -the course of the service in the Church in the times of darkness.[69] -It was called the Pie because it was written in letters of black and -red; as the Friars de _Pica_ were so named from their party-coloured -raiment, black and white, the plumage of a magpie.” “The number and -hardness of the rules of this Pie” is referred to in the preface -to our Prayer-book; and it will be remembered that Caxton’s famous -advertisement related to “Pyes of Salisbury use.” But as a larger -type-body than Pica was generally used to print these, it is possible -the name may refer to nothing more than the piebald or black-and-white -appearance of a printed page. Some authorities derive Pica from the -Greek πίναξ, a writing tablet, and, hence, an index. The name was, in -fact, applied to the alphabetical catalogue of the names and things in -rolls and records. In France and Germany the body was called Cicero, on -account of the frequent editions of Cicero’s Epistles printed in this -size of letter.[70] It was the Mediaan body of the Dutch. - - -SMALL PICA, as already stated, was an innovation in Moxon’s day, and -was probably cast in the first instance to accommodate a foreign-cut -letter, too small for pica and too large for long-primer. It -subsequently came into very general use, one of the first important -works in which it appeared being Chambers’s _Cyclopædia_, in 1728. The -French called it Philosophie, and appear to have used it as a smaller -body on which to cast the Cicero face. The Germans called it Brevier, -the Dutch (it being one body below the Mediaan) called it Descendiaan, -and the Italians, when they had it, followed the French, and called it -Filosofia. - - -LONG PRIMER, Mores suggests, was another of the old English bodies -employed in liturgical works. He explains the use of the word Long to -mean that Primers in this size of type were printed either in long -lines instead of double columns, or that the length of the page was -disproportionate to the width, or more probably, that they contained -the service at full length a long, or without contraction.[71] These -_Primers_, however, are rarely to be met with in this body. The French -named the body Petit Romain, preserving a similar {39} relationship -between it and their Gros Romain, as we did between our Long Primer -and Great Primer. The other countries evidently attributed the body -to France, and named it after Claude Garamond, the famous French -letter-cutter, pupil of Tory, one of whose Greek founts, cut for the -Royal Typography of Paris, was on this body. The Germans, however, also -called the body Corpus, on account of their _Corpus Juris_ being first -printed in this size. - - -BOURGEOIS.—This irregular body betrays its nationality in its name, -which, however, is probably derived, not from the fact that it was used -by the bourgeois printers of France, but from the name of the city -of Bourges, which was the birthplace of the illustrious typographer, -Geofroy Tory, about the year 1485. Tory originally applied the term -_bourgeoise_ to the _lettre de somme_, irrespective of size,[72] -as distinguished from the _lettre Canon_. The French call the body -Gaillarde, probably after the printer of that name,[73] although it is -equally possible the name, like Mignon or Nonpareille, may be fanciful. -As a type-body, Bourgeois did not appear in England till about 1748, -and Smith informs us that it was originally used as a large body on -which to cast Brevier or Petit. - - -BREVIER.—The smallest of the English regular bodies claims equal -antiquity with Great Primer, Pica, and Long Primer. The conjecture that -it was commonly used in the _Breviaries_ of the early Church is not -borne out by an examination of these works, most of which are printed -in a considerably larger size.[74] The name, like the French and German -“Petit,” may mean that, being the smallest body, it was used for -getting the most matter into a brief space. The Germans, when they cut -smaller-sized letters, called the Petit Jungfer, or the Maiden-letter. - - -MINION, a body unknown to Moxon, was used in England before 1730; -and, like the other small fancifully named bodies, appears to have -originated in France. The Dutch and Germans call it Colonel, and the -Spaniards Glosilla. - - -NONPAREIL, now an indispensable body, because the half of Pica, was -introduced as a peerless curiosity long before Moxon’s day, and has -preserved its name in all the countries where it has gone. It is said -first to have been cut by Garamond about the year 1560. Mores supposes -that, because the Dutch founders of Moxon’s day called it “Englese -Nonpareil” in their specimens, the {40} body was first used in this -country. The Dutch name, however, evidently refers to the face of the -letter, cut in imitation of an English face, or adapted to suit English -purchasers. Paulus Pater[75] says that on account of its wonderful -smallness and clearness, the Dutch Nonpareil was called by many the -“silver letter,” and was supposed to have been cast in that metal. - - -PEARL, though an English body in Moxon’s day, appears to have been -known both in France and Holland at an earlier date. In the former -country it was celebrated as the body on which the famous tiny editions -at Sedan were printed. The Dutch Joly corresponded more nearly to our -modern Ruby than to Pearl. But Luce, in 1740, cut the size for France, -and provoked Firmin Didot’s severe criticism on his performance—“Among -the characters, generally bad, which Luce has engraved, . . . is one -which cannot be seen.” - - -DIAMOND was unknown in England until the close of last century, when -Dr. Fry cut a fount which he claimed to be the smallest ever used, and -to get in “more even than the famous Dutch Diamond.” This Dutch fount -was of some antiquity, having been cut by Voskens about 1700. Previous -to this, Van Dijk had cut a letter on a body below Pearl, called -Robijn, a specimen of which appears on Daniel Elzevir’s sheet in 1681. -M. Henri Didot, however, eclipsed all these minute-bodied founts by a -Semi-nonpareil in 1827. - - * * * * * - -It now remains to trace briefly the origin and development of the -leading type-faces used in English Typography. - - -I.—ROMAN. - -To trace the history of the Roman character would almost require a -_résumé_ of the works of all the greatest printers in each country -of Europe. It must suffice to point out very briefly the changes it -underwent before and after reaching England. - - -ITALY.—The Italian scribes of the fifteenth century were famous for -their beautiful manuscripts, written in a hand entirely different -from the Gothic of the Germans, or the Secretary of the French and -Netherlands calligraphers. It was only natural that the first Italian -printers, when they set up their press at Subiaco, should form their -letters upon the best model of the national scribes. The _Cicero de -Oratore_ of 1465[76] is claimed by some as the first book {41} printed -in Roman type, although the character shows that the German artists who -printed it had been unable wholly to shake off the traditions of the -pointed Gothic school of typography in which they had learned their -craft. The type of the _Lactantius_, and the improved type of the works -subsequently printed by Sweynheim and Pannartz at Rome, as well as -those of Ulric Hahn, were, in fact, Gothic-Romans; and it was not till -Nicholas Jenson, a Frenchman, in 1470, printed his _Eusebii Præparatio_ -at Venice, that the true Roman appeared in Italy, which was destined to -become the ruling character in European Typography. Fournier and others -have considered that Jenson derived his Roman letter from a mixture -of alphabets of various countries;[77] but it is only necessary to -compare the _Eusebius_ with the Italian manuscripts of the period, to -see that no such elaborate selection of models was necessary or likely. -The claims of Italy in the matter of Roman type have of late years -been somewhat seriously challenged by the researches of M. Madden, who -in a series of remarkable studies on the typographical labours of the -Frères de la Vie Commune at Wiedenbach, near Cologne, contends that the -Roman type known as the fount of the “[symb] bizarre,” on account of -the peculiar form of that capital letter, was used in that monastery -in 1465[78]; and that among the typographical fugitives from Mentz at -that time dwelling in Cologne, there is little doubt that Jenson was -here initiated into the art which he subsequently made famous. The -close resemblance between the Roman of the Wiedenbach monks and that of -the _Eusebius_ is, M. Madden considers, clear evidence that the same -hand had trained itself on the one for the marvellous perfection of -the other.[79] Jenson’s fount is on a body corresponding to English. -The form is round and clear, and differing in fashion only from its -future progeny. The capital alphabet consists of twenty-three letters -(J, U, and W not being yet in use); the “lower-case” alphabet is the -same, except that the “u” is substituted for the “v,” and in addition -there is a long ſ, and the diphthongs æ and œ. To complete the fount, -there are fifteen contractions, six double letters, and three points, -the . : ? making seventy-three punches in all.[80] Jenson’s Roman -letter fell after his death into the hands of a “firm” of which Andrea -Torresani was head. Aldus Manutius subsequently associated himself {42} -with Torresani, and, becoming his son-in-law and heir, eventually -inherited his punches, matrices, and types. The Roman founts of Aldus -were eclipsed by his Italic and Greek, but he cut several very fine -alphabets. Renouard[81] mentions eight distinct founts between 1494 and -1558. - - -GERMANY.—Whether the fount of the Wiedenbach monks was the progenitor -of the Venetian Roman, or whether each can claim an independent origin, -there seems little doubt that the fount of the “[symb] bizarre” is -entitled to rank as the first Roman letter in Germany. The accompanying -facsimile from the _Sophologium_ will give a good idea of the form and -size of this most interesting fount, and will at the same time show how -slightly the form of the Roman alphabet has changed since its first -introduction into Typography. - -[Illustration: 7. From the _Sophologium_ “à l’[symb] bizarre.” -Wiedenbach (?), 1465–70.] - -Roman type was adopted before 1473 by Mentelin of Strasburg, whose -beautiful letter placed him in the front rank of German printers. -Gunther Zainer, who settled at Augsburg in 1469, after printing some -works in the round Gothic, also adopted, in 1472, the Roman of the -Venetian School, founts of which he is said to have brought direct from -Italy. The German name of Antiqua, applied to the Roman character, has -generally been supposed to imply a reluctance to admit the claim of -Italy to the credit of introducing this style of letter. As, however, -the Italians themselves called the letter the “Lettera Antiqua tonda,” -the imputation against Germany is unfounded.[82] The French, Dutch, and -English called it “Roman” from the first. {43} - - - -FRANCE.—The French received printing and the Roman character at the -same time, the first work of the Sorbonne press in 1470 being in -a handsome Roman letter about Great Primer in size, with a slight -suggestion of Gothic in some of the characters. Gering, a German -himself, and his associates, had learned their art at Basle; but cut, -and probably designed, their own letter on the best available models. -Their fount is rudely cast, so that several of their words appear -only half-printed in the impression, and have been finished by hand. -It has been stated erroneously, by several writers, on the authority -of Chevillier, that their fount was without capitals. The fount is -complete in that respect, and Chevillier’s expression, “lettres -capitales,” as he himself explains, refers to the initial letters for -which blank spaces were left to be filled in by hand. Besides the -ordinary capital and “lower-case” alphabets, the fount abounds in -abbreviations. This letter was used in all the works of the Sorbonne -press, but when Gering left the Sorbonne and established himself at -the “Soleil d’Or,” in 1473, he made use of a Gothic letter. In his -later works, however, new and greatly improved founts of the Roman -appear. Jodocus Badius, who by some is erroneously supposed to have -been the first who brought the Roman letters from Italy to France, -did not establish his famous “Prelum Ascensianum” in Paris till about -1500, when he printed in Roman types—not, however, before one or two -other French printers had already distinguished themselves in the same -direction. - - -NETHERLANDS.—The Roman was introduced into the Netherlands by Johannes -de Westfalia, who, it is said, brought it direct from Italy about -the year 1472. He settled at Louvain, and after several works in -semi-Gothic, published in 1483 an edition of _Æneas Silvius_ in the -Italian letter. His fount is elegant, and rather a lighter face than -most of the early Roman founts of other countries. This printer -appears to have been the only one in the Low Countries who used this -type during the fifteenth century; nor was it till Plantin, in 1555, -established his famous press at Antwerp, that the Roman attained to -any degree of excellence. But Plantin, and after him the Elzevirs, -were destined to eclipse all other artists in their execution of this -letter, which in their hands became a model for the typography of all -civilisation. It should be mentioned, however, that the Elzevirs are -not supposed to have cut their own punches. The Roman types which -they made famous, and which are known by their name, were cut by {44} -Christopher Van Dijk,[83] the form of whose letter was subsequently -adopted by the English printers. - - -SWITZERLAND early distinguished itself by the Roman letter of Amerbach -of Basle, and still more so by the beautiful founts used by Froben of -the same city, who between 1491 and 1527 printed some of the finest -books then known in Europe. His Roman was very bold and regular. -Christopher Froschouer of Zurich, about 1545, made use of a peculiar -and not unpicturesque form of the Roman letter, in which the round -sorts were thickened, after the Gothic fashion, at their opposite -corners, instead of at their opposite sides. - - -ENGLAND.—The Roman did not make its appearance in England till 1518, -when Richard Pynson printed Pace’s _Oratio in Pace Nuperrimâ_, in a -handsome letter, of which we show a facsimile at p. 93. This printer’s -Norman birth, and his close relationship with the typographers -of Rouen, as well as his supposed intimacy with the famous Basle -typographer Froben, make it highly probable that he procured his letter -abroad, or modelled it on that of some of the celebrated foreign -printers of his day. The fount is about Great Primer in body, and -though generally neat and bold in appearance, displays considerable -irregularity in the casting, and, like most of the early Roman founts, -contains numerous contractions.[84] - -[Illustration: 8. From Traheron’s _Exposition of St. John_. Wesel (?), -1557. Showing Roman and Black-letter intermixed.] - -The Roman made its way rapidly in English typography during the first -half of the sixteenth century, and in the hands of such artists as -Faques, Rastell, Wyer, Berthelet, and Day, maintained an average -excellence. But it rapidly degenerated, and while other countries were -dazzling Europe by the brilliancy of their impressions, the English -Roman letter went from good to bad, and from bad to worse. No type is -more beautiful than a beautiful Roman; and with equal truth it may be -said, no type is more unsightly than an ill-fashioned and ill-worked -Roman. While Claude Garamond[85] in France was carrying out into noble -practice the theories of the form and proportion of letters set out -by his master, Geofroy Tory; while the Estiennes at Paris, Sebastian -Gryphe at Lyons, Froben at Basle, Froschouer at Zurich, and Christopher -Plantin at Antwerp, were moulding and refining their alphabets into -models which were to become {45} classical, English printers, manacled -body and soul by their patents and monopolies and state persecutions, -achieved nothing with the Roman type that was not retrograde. For a -time a struggle appears to have existed between the Black-letter and -the Roman for the mastery of the English press, and at one period the -curious spectacle was presented of mixed founts of the two. We present -our readers with a specimen of English printing at a foreign press in -this transition period, as illustrative not only of the compromise -between the two rival characters, but of the average unappetising -appearance of the typography {46} of the day. Always impressionable -and unoriginal, our national Roman letter, in the midst of many -admirable models, chose the Dutch for its pattern, and tried to imitate -Plantin and Elzevir, but with very little of the spirit of those -great artists. No English work of the time, printed in English Roman -type, reproduces within measurable distance the elegant _embonpoint_, -the harmony, the symmetry of the types of the famous Dutch printers. -The seeker after the beautiful looks almost in vain for anything to -satisfy his eye in the English Roman-printed works of the sixteenth and -seventeenth centuries. A few exceptions there are[86]; and when the -English printers, giving up the attempt to cut Roman for themselves, -went to Holland to buy it; or when, as in the case of Oxford and Thomas -James, the English foundries became furnished with Dutch matrices, our -country was able to produce a few books the appearance of which does -not call forth a blush. - -The first _English Bible_ printed in Roman type was Bassendyne’s -edition in Edinburgh, in 1576. We have it on the authority of -Watson[87] that, from the earliest days of Scotch typography, a -constant trade in type and labour was maintained between Holland and -Scotland; and he exhibited in his specimen pages the Dutch Romans which -at that day were the most approved letters in use in his country. - -Utilitarian motives brought about one important departure from the -first models of the Roman letter in the different countries where -it flourished. The early printers were generous in their ideas, -and cut their letters with a single eye to artistic beauty. But as -printing gradually ceased to be an art, and became a trade, economical -considerations suggested a distortion or cramping of these beautiful -models, with a view to “getting more in.” In some cases the variation -was made gracefully and inoffensively. The slender or compressed Roman -letters of the French, Italian, and in some cases the Dutch printers, -though not comparable with the round ones, are yet regular and neat; -but in other cases, ours among them, there was little of either -delicacy or skill in the innovation. The early part of the seventeenth -century witnessed the creation abroad of some very small Roman faces, -foremost among which were those of the beautiful little Sedan editions -of Jannon,[88] which gave their name to the body of the microscopic -letter {47} in which they were printed. Van Dijk cut a still smaller -letter for the Dutch in Black-letter, and afterwards in Roman; and -for many years the Dutch Diamond held the palm as the smallest fount -in Europe. England followed the general tendency towards the minute, -and though it is doubtful whether either Pearl or Diamond were cut by -English founders before 1700, an English printer, Field, accomplished -in 1653 the feat of printing a 32mo Bible in Pearl.[89] Among English -printers in the seventeenth century who did credit to their profession, -Roycroft is conspicuous, especially for the handsome large Romans in -which he printed Ogilby’s _Virgil_,[90] and other works. Yet Roycroft’s -handsomest letter—that in which he printed the Royal Dedication to -the _Polyglot_ of 1657—was the fount used nearly a century before by -Day,[91] whose productions few English printers of the seventeenth -century could equal, and none, certainly, could excel. Of Moxon’s -attempt in 1683 to regenerate the Roman letter in England, we shall -have occasion to speak elsewhere. His theories, as put into practice -by himself, were eminently unsuccessful; and though the sign-boards of -the day may have profited by his rules, it is doubtful if typography -did. His enthusiastic praise of the Dutch letter of Van Dijk may have -stimulated the trade between England and Holland; but at home his -precepts fell flat for lack of an artist to carry them out. - -That artist was forthcoming in William Caslon in 1720, and from the -time he cut his first fount of pica, the Roman letter in England -entered on a career of honour. Caslon went back to the Elzevirs for -his models, and throwing into his labour the genius of an enlightened -artistic taste, he reproduced their letters with a precision and -uniformity hitherto unknown among us, preserving at the same time that -freedom and grace of form which had made them of all others the most -beautiful types in Europe. Caslon’s Roman became the fashion, and -English typography was loyal to it for nearly 80 years. Baskerville’s -exquisite letters were, as he himself acknowledged, inspired by those -of Caslon. They were sharper and more delicate in outline, and when -finely printed, as they always were, were more attractive to the -eye.[92] But what they gained in brilliance they missed in sterling -dignity; they dazzled the eye and fatigued it, and the fashion of the -{48} national taste was not seriously diverted. Still less was it -diverted by the experiments of a “nouvelle typographie,” which Luce, -Fournier, and others were trying to introduce into France. The stiff, -narrow, cramped Roman which these artists produced scarcely finds a -place in any English work of the eighteenth century. The Dutch type was -now no longer looked at. Wilson, whose letter adorned the works of the -Foulis press, and Jackson, whose exquisite founts helped to make the -fame of Bensley, as those of his successor Figgins helped to continue -it, all adhered to the Caslon models. And all these artists, with -Cottrell, Fry, and others, contributed to a scarcely less important -reform in English letter-founding, namely, the production by each -founder of his own uniform series of Roman sizes,—a feature wofully -absent in the odd collections of the old founders before 1720. Towards -the close of the century the Roman underwent a violent revolution. -The few founders who had begun about 1760 in avowed imitation of -Baskerville, had found it in their interest before 1780 to revert to -the models of Caslon; and scarcely had they done so, when about 1790 -the genius of Didot of Paris and Bodoni of Parma took the English -press by storm, and brought about that complete abandonment of the -Caslon-Elzevir models which marked, and in some cases disfigured, the -last years of the eighteenth century. The famous presses of Bensley and -Bulmer introduced the modern Roman under the most favourable auspices. -The new letter was honest, businesslike, and trim; but in its stiff -angles, its rigid geometrical precision, long hair-seriffs, and sharp -contrasts of shade, there is little place for the luxuriant elegance -of the old style.[93] In France, the new fashion, even with so able an -exponent as Didot, had a competitor in the Baskerville type, which, -rejected by us, was welcomed by the French _literati_. Nor was this the -only instance in which the fashion went from England to France, for in -1818 the Imprimerie Royale itself, in want of a new _typographie_ of -the then fashionable Roman, came to London for the punches. - -The typographical taste of the first quarter of the present century -suffered a distinct vulgarisation in the unsightly heavy-faced Roman -letters, which were not only offered by the founders, but extensively -used by the printers; and the date at which we quit this brief -survey is not a glorious one. The simple uniformity of faces which -characterised the specimens of Caslon and his disciples had been -corrupted by new fancies and fashions, demanded by the printer and -conceded by the founder,—fashions which, as Mr. Hansard {49} neatly -observed in 1825, “have left the specimen of a British letter-founder a -heterogeneous compound, made up of fat-faces and lean-faces, wide-set -and close-set, proportioned and disproportioned, all at once crying -“Quousque tandem abutêre patientia nostra?” - -Some of the coarsest of the new fashions were happily short-lived; and -it is worth transgressing our limit to record the fact that in 1844 the -beautiful old-face of Caslon was, in response to a demand from outside, -revived, and has since, in rejuvenated forms, regained both at home and -abroad much of its old popularity. - -It will not be out of place to add a word, before leaving the Roman, -in reference to letter-founders’ specimens. When printers were their -own founders, the productions of their presses were naturally also the -published specimens of their type. They might, like Schoeffer, in the -colophon to the _Justinian_ in 1468, call attention to their skill -in cutting types; or, like Caxton, print a special advertisement in -a special type; or, like Aldus, put forward a specimen of the types -of a forthcoming work.[94] But none of these are letter-founders’ -specimens; nor was it till letter-founding became a distinct trade -that such documents became necessary. England was probably behind -other nations when, in 1665, the tiny specimen of Nicholas Nicholls -was laid under the Royal notice. It is doubtful whether any founder -before Moxon issued a full specimen of his types. He used the sheet -as a means of advertising not only his types, but his trade as a -mathematical instrument maker; and his specimen, taken in connection -with his rules for the formation of letters, is a sorry performance, -and not comparable to the Oxford University specimen, which that press -published in 1693, exhibiting the gifts of Dr. Fell and Junius. Of the -other English founders before 1720, no type specimen has come down to -us; that shown by Watson in his _History of the Art of Printing_ being -merely a specimen of bought Dutch types. Caslon’s sheet, in 1734, -marked a new departure. It displayed at a glance the entire contents -of the new foundry; and by printing the same passage in each size of -Roman, gave the printer an opportunity of judging how one body compared -with another for capacity. Caslon was the first to adopt the since -familiar “Quousque tandem” for his Roman specimens. The Latin certainly -tends to show off the Roman letter to best advantage; but it gives -an inadequate idea of its appearance in any other tongue. “The Latin -language,” says Dibdin, “presents to the eye a great uniformity or -evenness of effect. The _m_ and _n_, like the solid sirloin upon our -table, have a substantial appearance; no garnishing with useless {50} -herbs . . to disguise its real character. Now, in our own tongue, by -the side of the _m_ or _n_, or at no great distance from it, comes a -crooked, long-tailed _g_, or a _th_, or some gawkishly ascending or -descending letter of meagre form, which are the very flankings, herbs, -or dressings of the aforesaid typographical dish, _m_ or _n_. In short, -the number of ascending or descending letters in our own language—the -_p_’s, _l_’s, _th_’s, and sundry others of perpetual recurrence—render -the effect of printing much less uniform and beautiful than in the -Latin language. Caslon, therefore, and Messrs. Fry and Co. after -him,”—and he might have added all the other founders of the eighteenth -century,—“should have presented their specimens of printing-types in -the _English_ language; and then, as no disappointment could have -ensued, so no imputation of deception would have attached.”[95] Several -founders followed Caslon’s example by issuing their specimens on a -broadside sheet, which could be hung up in a printing-office, or inset -in a cyclopædia. Baskerville appears to have issued only specimens of -this kind; but Caslon, Cottrell, Wilson and Fry, who all began with -sheets, found it necessary to adopt the book form. These books were -generally executed by a well-known printer, and are examples not only -of good types, but of fine printing. Bodoni’s splendid specimens roused -the emulation of our founders, and the small octavo volumes of the -eighteenth century gave place at the commencement of the nineteenth to -quarto, often elaborately, sometimes sumptuously got up. Mr. Figgins -was the first to break through the traditional “Quousque tandem,” -by adding, side by side with the Latin extract, a passage in the -same-sized letter in English. But it has not been till comparatively -recent years that the venerable Ciceronian denunciation has finally -disappeared from English letter-founders’ specimens. - - -ITALIC. - -The ITALIC letter, which is now an accessory of the Roman, claims -an origin wholly independent of that character. It is said to be -an imitation of the handwriting of Petrarch, and was introduced by -Aldus Manutius of Venice, for the purpose of printing his projected -small editions of the classics, which, either in the Roman or Gothic -character, would have required bulky volumes. Chevillier informs -us that a further object was to prevent the excessive number of -contractions then in use, a feature which rendered the typography of -the day often unintelligible, and always unsightly.[96] The execution -of the Aldine Italic was entrusted {51} to Francesco da Bologna,[97] -who, says Renouard, had already designed and cut the other characters -of Aldus’ press. The fount is a “lower-case” only, the capitals being -Roman in form. It contains a large number of tied letters, to imitate -handwriting, but is quite free from contractions and ligatures. It -was first used in the _Virgil_ of 1501, and rapidly became famous -throughout Europe. Aldus produced six different sizes between 1501–58. -It was counterfeited almost immediately in Lyons and elsewhere. The -Junta press at Florence produced editions scarcely distinguishable -from those of Venice. Simon de Colines cut an Italic bolder and larger -than that of Aldus, and introduced the character into France about -1521, prior to which date Froben of Basel had already made use of it -at his famous press. Plantin used a large Italic in his _Polyglot_, -but, like many other Italics of the period, it was defaced by a strange -irregularity in the slopes of the letters. The character was originally -called Venetian or Aldine, but subsequently took the name of Italic -in all the countries into which it travelled, except Germany, which, -acting with the same independence as had been displayed towards the -Roman, called it “Cursiv.” The Italians also adopted the Latin name, -“Characteres cursivos seu cancellarios.” - -The Italic was at first intended and used for the entire text of a -classical work. Subsequently, as it became more general, it was used to -distinguish portions of a book not properly belonging to the work, such -as introductions, prefaces, indexes, and notes; the text itself being -in Roman. Later, it was used in the text for quotations; and finally -served the double part of emphasising certain words[98] in some works, -and in others, chiefly the translations of the Bible, of marking words -not rightly forming a part of the text. - -In England it was first used by De Worde, in _Wakefield’s Oratio_, -in 1524. Day, about 1567, carried it to a high state of perfection; -so much so, that his Italic remained in use for several generations. -Vautrollier, also, in his _New Testaments_, made use of a beautiful -small Italic, which, however, was probably of foreign cut. Like the -Roman, the Italic suffered debasement during the century which followed -Day, and the Dutch models were generally preferred {52} by English -printers. These were carried down to a minute size, the “Robijn Italic” -of Christopher Van Dijk being in its day the smallest in Europe. - -[Illustration: 9. Robijn Italic, cut by Chr. van Dijk. (From the -matrices in the Enschedé foundry.)] - -It is not easy to fix the period at which the Roman and Italic became -united and interdependent. Very few English works occur printed wholly -in Italic, and there seems little doubt that before the close of the -sixteenth century the founders cast Roman and Italic together as one -fount. The Italic has undergone fewer marked changes than the Roman. -Indeed, in many of the early foundries, and till a later date, one face -of Italic served for two or more Romans of the same body. We find the -same Italic side by side with a broad-faced Roman in one book, and a -lean-faced in another. Frequently the same face is made to serve not -only for its correct body, but for the bodies next above or below it, -so that we may find an Italic of the Brevier face cast respectively -on Brevier, Bourgeois, and Minion bodies. These irregularities were -the more noticeable from the constant admixture in seventeenth and -eighteenth century books of Roman and Italic in the same lines; the -latter being commonly used for all proper names, as well as for -emphatic words. The chief variations in form have been in the capital -letters, and the long-tailed letters of the lower-case. The tendency -to flourish these gradually diminished on the cessation of the Dutch -influence, and led the way to the formal, tidy Italics of Caslon -and the founders of the eighteenth century, some of whom, however, -consoled themselves for their loss of liberty in regard to most of -their letters, by more or less extravagance in the tail of the [*Q] -which commenced the _Quousque tandem_ of their specimens. As in the -case of the Roman, Caslon cut a uniform series of Italics, having due -relation, in the case of each body, to the size and proportions of the -corresponding Roman. The extensive, and sometimes indiscriminate, use -of Italic gradually corrected itself during the eighteenth century; and -on the abandonment, both in Roman and Italic, of the long ſ and its -combinations,[99] English books were left less disfigured than they -used to be. {53} - - -BLACK LETTER. - -[Illustration: 10. Gothic type, or “Lettre de Forme,” said to have been -engraved _circa_ 1480. - -(From the original matrices in the Enschedé foundry.)] - -The Gothic letter employed by the inventors of printing for the -_Bible_, _Psalter_, and other sacred works, was an imitation of the -formal hand of the German scribes, chiefly monastic, who supplied -the clergy of the day with their books of devotion. This letter, -as a typographical character, took the name of LETTRE DE FORME, as -distinguished from the rounder and less regular manuscript-hand of the -Germans of the fifteenth century, which was adopted by Schoeffer in -the _Rationale_, the _Catholicon_, and other works, and which became -known as LETTRE DE SOMME. The pointed Gothic, or LETTRE DE FORME, a -name[100] generally supposed to have reference to the precision in the -figure of the old ecclesiastical character (although some authorities -have considered it to be a corrupt, rather than a standard form of -handwriting), preserved its character with but little variation in -all the countries to which it travelled. It is scarcely necessary to -detail its first appearance at the various great centres of European -typography, except to notice that in Italy and France it came later -than the Roman.[101] In England it appears first in Caxton’s type No. -3,[102] and figures largely in nearly all the presses of our early -printers. De Worde was, in all probability, the first to cut punches -of it in this country, and to produce the letter which henceforth -took the name of “English,” as being the national character of our -early typography. De Worde’s English, or as it was subsequently -styled, Black-letter, was for two centuries and a half looked upon -as the model for all his successors in the art; indeed, to this day, -a Black-letter {54} is held to be excellent, as it resembles most -closely the character used by our earliest printers. The Black being -employed in England to a late date, not only for Bibles, but for -law books and royal proclamations and Acts of Parliament, has never -wholly fallen into disuse among us. The most beautiful typography of -which we as a nation can boast during the sixteenth and seventeenth -centuries, is to be found in the Black-letter impressions of our -printers. The Old English was classed with the Roman and Italic by -Moxon as one of the three orders of printing-letter; and in this -particular our obligations to the Dutch are much less apparent than in -any other branch of the printing art. Indeed, the English Black assumed -characteristics of its own which distinguished it from the LETTRE -FLAMAND of the Dutch on the one hand, and the FRACTUR of the Germans -on the other. It has occasionally suffered compression in form, and -very occasionally expansion; but till 1800 its form was not seriously -tampered with. Caslon was praised for his faithful reproduction of the -genuine Old English; other founders, like Baskerville, did not even -attempt the letter; the old Blacks were looked upon as the most useful -and interesting portion of James’s foundry at its sale[103]; and the -Roxburgh Club, those Black-letter heroes of the early years of this -century, dismissed all the new-fangled founts of modern founders in -favour of the most venerable relics of the early English typographers. -Of these newfangled Blacks, it will suffice to recall Dibdin’s outburst -of righteous indignation—“Why does he (_i.e._, Mr. Whittingham), and -many other hardly less distinguished printers, adopt that frightful, -gouty, disproportionate, eye-distracting and taste-revolting form of -Black-letter, too frequently visible on the frontispieces of his books? -It is contrary to all classical precedent, and outrageously repulsive -in itself. Let the ghost of Wynkin de Worde haunt him till he abandon -it!”[104] - -[Illustration: 11. Philosophie Flamand, engraved by Fleischman, 1743. -(From the matrices in the Enschedé foundry.)] - -The LETTRE DE SOMME of the Germans, which, as we have seen, was adopted -by Schoeffer in 1459, became in the hands of the fifteenth century -printers a rival to the Gothic. Whether, as some state, it was derived -from the Gothic, or was a distinct hand used by the lay scribes, we -need not here discuss. Its name has been generally supposed to owe -its origin to the fact that among the earliest works printed in this -character was the _Summa fratris S. Thomas de Aquino_.[105] {55} -Others derive the name from the carelessly formed letters used in -books of account. This letter developed in considerable variety among -the early presses of the fifteenth century. Its main characteristics -being that of a round Gothic,[106] or at least of a Gothic shorn of -its angles, it lent itself readily to the influence of the Roman, -and we find it, as in the case of the first Italian books, merging -into that character; while in the case of many of the German and -Netherlands presses we find it occasionally absorbing that character, -adopting its form frequently in the capitals, and “Gothicising” it in -the lower-case. But to arrive at an accurate idea of the changes and -varieties of the LETTRE DE SOMME, it is necessary to study carefully -the productions of the various presses and schools of typography in -which it was used. In England it appeared, as might be expected, in -some of the early works of the first Oxford press,[107] whither it -was brought from Cologne. But it never took root in the country, and -was speedily rejected for the national Gothic, only to reappear as an -exotic or a curiosity. - - -SECRETARY. - -The SECRETARY, or GROS-BÂTARDE, was the manuscript-hand employed by -the English and Burgundian scribes in the fifteenth century. It was, -therefore, only natural that Caxton, like his typographical tutor, -Colard Mansion of Bruges, should adopt this character for his earliest -works, in preference to the less familiar Gothic, Semi-Gothic, or Roman -letter. The French possessed a similar character, which, according to -Fournier, was first cut by a German named Heilman, resident in Paris -about 1490. But several years before 1490 the Gros-Bâtarde was in use -in France; in some cases the resemblance between the French and English -types being remarkable. The Rouen printers, who executed some of the -great law books for the London printers early in the sixteenth century, -used a particularly neat small-sized letter of this character. Like -the Semi-Gothic, the Secretary, after figuring in several of the early -London and provincial presses, yielded to the English Black-letter, and -after about 1534 did not reappear in English typography. It developed, -however, several curious variations; the chief of which were what Rowe -Mores describes as the SET-COURT, the BASE SECRETARY, and the RUNNING -SECRETARY. Of the first named, James’s foundry in 1778 possessed two -founts, come down from Grover’s[108]; but as the old deformed Norman -law hand which they represented was abolished by law in 1733, the -matrices, which at no time appear to have been much used, {56} became -valueless. The name COURT HAND has since been appropriated for one of -the modern scripts. Its place was taken in law work by the ENGROSSING -hand, which Mores denominates as Base Secretary. Of this character, -the only fount in England appears to have been that cut by Cottrell -about 1760.[109] The RUNNING SECRETARY was another law hand, described -by Mores as the law Cursive of Queen Elizabeth’s reign. It was similar -to the French Cursive, of which Nicolas Granjon in 1556 cut the first -punches at Lyons. Granjon’s letter at first was called after its -author, but subsequently became known as LETTRE DE CIVILITÉ, on account -of its use, so Fournier informs us, in a work entitled _la Civilité -puerile et honnête_, to teach children how to write. Plantin possessed -a similar character in more than one size, which he made use of in -dedications and other prefatory matter. The English fount in Grover’s -foundry appears to have been the only one in this country. - -[Illustration: 12. Lettre de Civilité, cut by Ameet Tavernier for -Plantin, _circa_ 1570. (From the matrices in the Enschedé foundry.)] - -The SCRIPT, by which is meant the conventional copy-book writing hand, -as distinguished from the Italic on the one hand and the law hand on -the other, is another form of the Bâtarde, and is supposed to have -originated with Pierre Moreau of Paris, whose widow in 1648 published -a very curious _Virgil_, the first volume of which is printed in this -character, in four or five sizes. The Dutch founders copied it, and the -curious founts in Grover’s foundry were probably most of them of Dutch -origin.[110] About 1760 Cottrell and Jackson both cut improved founts -of this character. The Script, which the French have called LETTRE -COULÉE and LETTRE DE FINANCE, and the Germans GESCHREVEN SCHRIFT, has -undergone a good many changes, especially during the present century. -M. Didot in 1815 introduced a series of ligatures, or connectors, which -had the effect of making the letters in each word join continuously; -and at the same time cast his letters on an inclined body, so as to -fit closely together, and be self-supporting. His system, however, -involved a large number of combination-letters and ligatures, which -rendered it generally impracticable; and it was eventually replaced -by a square-bodied Script, contrived to unite all the advantages, and -obviate all the disadvantages, of his ingenious system. - -{57} - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -TYPE FACES (CONTINUED). - -THE LEARNED, FOREIGN, AND PECULIAR CHARACTERS. - - -GREEK. - -Greek type first occurs in the _Cicero de Officiis_, printed at -Mentz in 1465, at the press of Fust and Schoeffer. The fount used is -exceedingly rude and imperfect, many of the letters being ordinary -Latin.[111] In the same year Sweynheim and Pannartz at Subiaco used a -good Greek letter for some of the quotations occurring in _Lactantius_; -but the supply being short, the larger quotations were left blank, to -be filled in by hand. The first book wholly printed in Greek was the -_Grammar of Lascaris_, by Paravisinus, in Milan, in 1476, in types -stated to be cut and cast by Demetrius of Crete. The fount (about -a Great Primer in body) is a curious one, and contains breathings, -accents and a few abbreviations. The headings to the chapters are -wholly in capitals, which are very bold.[112] It is to the glory -of Milan that not only was the first Greek book printed within its -walls, but also the first Greek classic and the first portion of the -Greek Scriptures. The former was the _Æsop_, printed, it is supposed, -in 1480, but without printer’s name. The resemblance, however, {58} -between the fount of this work and that of the _Lactantius_ is so -close that there seems much reason for crediting Paravisinus with the -performance. The Greek of the _Psalter_ of 1481 is very different, the -lower-case being larger, and remarkably bold and compact in appearance. -The capitals generally resemble the _Lactantius_ fount. - -Jenson, at Venice, appears to have cut Greek type as early as -about 1470. In 1486 two Cretan printers produced respectively -a Greek _Psalter_, with accents and breathings, and Homer’s -_Batrachomyomachia_. It was, however, reserved to Florence to boast -of the first complete edition of _Homer_, which was printed in that -city in 1488. This work, one of the most glorious monuments of -the typographic art, appears in a beautiful Great Primer type, of -remarkable elegance and neatness, with few abbreviations. The printer -was Demetrius of Crete. - -But it was at Venice that Greek printing was destined to reach its -greatest excellence in the fifteenth century, at the press of Aldus, -who in 1495 produced his famous _Aristotle_, in a beautiful letter -which eclipsed all its predecessors. His fount was about a Double Pica -in body, and much bolder and more imposing than any which had yet -appeared, as well as being better cast and justified. The splendid -Greek impressions of the elder Aldus are too well known to need further -notice here. Renouard mentions nine separate founts used at this press. - -The fame of the Italian Greek presses early roused emulation in France. -Among the first printers of Paris, however, the Greek quotations and -words introduced in their works were scanty and indifferent. Gering -used but a very few letters, and Jodocus Badius, in 1505, excused the -poverty of his _Annotationes in Nov. Testamentum_, by pleading the -paucity of his types. The early works of the first Henri Estienne -were similarly defective. In 1507, however, Greek punches were cut -and matrices struck by Gilles de Gourmont, and the first wholly Greek -work was printed at his press in this year, being a Greek _Alphabet_, -with rules for pronunciation and reading. In the same year he also -printed the _Batrachomyomachia_. Greek printing, once started in Paris, -made rapid progress. Jodocus Badius, Vidouvé, Colinæus, and Christian -Wechel, all distinguished themselves. Geofroy Tory contributed largely -to the improvement in the form of the character. But it was not till -Robert Estienne, with the title of “Regius in Græcis Typographus,”[113] -commenced his career, that Greek printing reached its greatest -perfection in France. On the establishment of an Imprimerie Royale -by Francis I,[114] Claude Garamond, the first typographical artist -of his day, {59} was entrusted with the care of engraving punches -and preparing matrices for three founts of Greek, about an English, -Long Primer, and Double Pica in body, which henceforth became famous -throughout Europe as the “Characteres Regii.”[115] These characters, -modelled as to their capitals on the alphabet of Lascaris, and as -to their “lower-case” and abbreviations from the beautiful Greek -calligraphy of Angelus Vergetius of Candia, first appeared in the -_Eusebius_, printed, in 1544,[116] by Robert Estienne, to whom the -use of the types was, by virtue of his office, conceded, and who -employed them in the production of some of the most brilliant Greek -impressions Europe has ever seen.[117] During the seventeenth century -the Royal Greek punches and matrices lay for the most part idle; but -in 1691, Anisson, Director of the Imprimerie Royale, rescued them from -obscurity, and caused new punches to be cut and matrices struck, to -supply what were missing, by Grandjean, the famous Parisian founder. - -In the Low Countries, as early as 1501, Thierry Martens, at Louvain, -had Greek types with which he printed occasional words. He produced -an edition of _Æsop_ in 1513, and in 1516 a _Grammar_ of Theodore -de Gaza’s, and a little book of _Hours_, in Greek. The latter is -considered an excellent piece of typography. Greek printing attained -to considerable celebrity in the Low Countries. The Greek fount used -in Plantin’s _Polyglot_, in 1569–72, is said to have been cut by the -famous French founder and engraver, Le Bé. - -Spain claims a prominent place in the history of early Greek -printing in Europe, as it was at Alcala in that country that the -famous _Complutensian Polyglot_ of Cardinal Ximenes was printed in -1514–17,[118] including the entire text of the Bible in Greek. The -fount employed in the New Testament is very grand and imposing, and is -said to have been cut specially for the work on the models of Greek -manuscripts of the eleventh or twelfth century. - -Before the completion of this great work, Germany had secured the -honour of producing the first entire _Greek Testament_ at the press -of Froben of Basle. Froben’s Greek is somewhat cramped and stiff. -Oporinus, who printed in the {60} same city in 1551, besides using a -fount identical with that of Froben, introduced a smaller and much -neater letter at the same time. Numerous printers produced Greek works -in Germany at this period, perhaps the most famous being Andrew Wechel, -who began at Paris with types inherited from his father, but in 1573 -established himself at Frankfort, where he printed several very fine -works in a new and most elegant Greek, said to have been acquired from -the Estiennes, to whose letter it bears the closest resemblance. - -The first appearance of Greek type in England is observed in De Worde’s -edition of _Whitintoni Grammatices_, printed in 1519, where a few words -are introduced cut in wood. Cast types were used at Cambridge in a book -entitled _Galenus de Temperamentis_, translated by Linacre, and printed -by Siberch in 1521. Siberch styles himself the first Greek printer in -England; but the quotations in the _Galenus_ are very sparse, and he -is not known to have printed any entire book in Greek. In 1524, Pynson -also used some Greek words and lines, without accents or breathings, -in Linacre’s _De emendatâ structurâ Latini sermonis_; but added an -apology for the imperfections of the characters, which he said were but -lately cast, and in a small quantity. The first printer who possessed -Greek types in any quantity was Reginald Wolfe, who held a royal patent -as printer in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, and printed, in 1543, _Two -Homilies of Chrysostom_, edited by Sir John Cheke, the first Greek -Lecturer at Cambridge. Eight years later, in the first volume of Dr. -Turner’s _Herbal_, printed at Mierdman’s press in London, the Greek -words were given in Black, and quotations in Italic. In Edinburgh, in -1563, and as late as 1579, the space for Greek words was left blank -in printing, to be filled in by hand. The Oxford University press, -re-established in 1585, was well supplied with Greek types, which were -used in the _Chrysostom_ of 1586, and the _Herodotus_ of 1591. The -beautiful Greek fount used in the Eton _Chrysostom_[119] in 1610–12—a -work which takes rank with the finest Greek impressions in Europe—is -supposed to have been obtained from abroad, probably from Paris or -Frankfort. Its similarity to the Greek of the Estiennes is remarkable. -Indeed, the “characteres regii” of France were at that time, and for -long afterwards, the envy and models for all Europe. The Eton Greek -types, of which probably the matrices were not in England, were -acquired by the Oxford University, to which body, in 1632, application -was made by Cambridge for the loan of a Greek fount to print a _Greek -Testament_, the sister University possessing no Greek types of her -own. A Greek press was established in London in 1637, under peculiar -circumstances, which are detailed in our account of the Oxford press. -There is every reason to suppose that of the handsome Greek letter -provided {61} for this press,[120] not only the types, but the -matrices were acquired. After this, Greek printing became general in -London and Oxford. The various typefounders all provided themselves -with a good variety of sizes, some of which were very small and neat. -There was a very fine Brevier Greek in Grover’s foundry in 1700, and a -Nonpareil in that of Andrews in 1706; but for minute Greek printing, -England could produce nothing to equal the Sedan _Greek Testament_, -printed by Jannon in 1628. - -As was the case with the Roman letter, many of our printers at the -close of the seventeenth century preferred the Dutch Greeks, which -at that time were good, particularly those cut by the Wetsteins. -Thomas James, in 1710, brought over the matrices of four founts from -Vosken’s foundry at Amsterdam. In 1700, Cambridge University, still -badly off for Greek, made an offer for the purchase of a fount of the -King’s Greek at Paris; but withdrew on the French Academy insisting -as a condition that every work printed should bear the imprint, -“Characteribus Græcis e Typographeo Regio Parisiensi.” The large number -of ligatures and abbreviations in the Greek of that day made the -production of a fount a serious business. The Oxford Augustin Greek -comprised no fewer than 354 matrices, and the Great Primer as many as -456, and the Pica 508; Fournier, however, went beyond all these, and -showed a fount containing 776 different sorts! The impracticability of -such enormous founts brought about a gradual reduction of the Greek -typographical ligatures—a reform for which the Dutch founders, under -the guidance of Leusden, deserve the chief credit. Fournier, in 1764, -stated that for some years previously, in Holland, Greek printing had -been carried on with the simple letters of the alphabet. Wilson’s -beautiful Double Pica Greek,[121] used in the Glasgow _Homer_ of 1756, -was in its day the finest Greek fount our country had ever seen. A -new departure, however, was initiated by the production, in 1763, of -Baskerville’s Greek fount[122] for the Oxford _New Testament_. The -letter is neat, but stiff and cramped, and apparently formed on an -arbitrary estimate of conventional taste, and without reference to -any accepted model. The fount was praised, and provoked imitation. -Baskerville’s apprentice, Martin, produced a letter still less Greek -than his master’s, and the general tendency was countenanced by the -form of Bodoni’s types, which were so much admired in this country -at the close of the century. A reaction, however, had begun before -Bodoni’s time. The Glasgow Greek kept its place in Wilson’s specimens; -and Jackson, encouraged by the younger Bowyer’s remark, that the Greek -types in common use “were no more Greek {62} than they were English,” -cut a beautiful Pica about 1785 for his rising foundry. Early in the -nineteenth century, a new fashion of Greek, for which Porson was -sponsor and furnished the drawings, came into vogue, and has remained -the prevailing form to this day. It may be doubted if the Porsonian -letter would be recognised by an ancient Greek scribe as the character -of his native land; but at any rate it is neat, elegant, and legible, -and dispenses with all useless contractions and ligatures. In taking -leave of this subject, it would be an omission not to mention the most -beautiful little fount in which Pickering printed his _Homer_, in 1831. -Probably no finer masterpiece of minute Greek printing exists anywhere. - - -HEBREW. - -The first Hebrew types are generally supposed to have appeared in 1475, -in a work printed by Conrad Fyner, at Esslingen in Wirtemburg, entitled -_Tractatus contra perfidos Judæos_. In Pheibia, in Austrian Italy, -also in 1475, a Hebrew work in four folio volumes, entitled the _Arba -Turim of Rabbi Jacob ben Ascher_, is stated by De Rossi[123] to have -been printed; while in the same year, a few months earlier, at Reggio -in Italy, appeared Salamon Jarchi’s _Commentary on the Pentateuch_, -by Abraham ben Garton ben Isaac. The type of this last-named work -(which Schwab[124] considers without doubt to be the first Hebrew book -printed) is in the Rabbinical character, somewhat rudely cut, but neat. -Numerous other Hebrew works followed, earlier than 1488, at which date -the first entire Hebrew _Bible_ was printed at Soncino, by a family -of German Jews. This rare Bible is printed with points, and is neat -and regular in appearance. The volume itself is highly decorative, and -shows a considerable amount of typographical skill on the part of its -Jewish printers. - -Hebrew printing did not spread very rapidly. De Rossi mentions several -works printed at Constantinople during the fifteenth century, as also -in the Italian towns to which the family of Soncino printers carried -the art. Aldus was possessed of some rude Hebrew characters; but it was -Bomberg, who established his Hebrew press in Venice in 1517, who raised -the fame of that already famous city by the excellence of his types -and workmanship. But as late as 1520, at Naples, in a treatise on the -Hebrew, Greek, and Latin letters, by De Falco, the Hebrew words, for -lack of types, were written in by hand. - -In Western Europe, France was next to Italy in producing Hebrew type. -Mention is made of an _Alphabetum Hebraicum et Græcum_, printed by -Gilles de Gourmont in 1507; and in 1508 that able typographer, whose -distinction as {63} the first cutter of Greek type in France we have -already noticed, produced, under the conduct of his patron, Tissard, -a Hebrew _Grammar_, together with the _Oratio Dominica_, and other -passages in the sacred language. The types made use of were ill-formed -and imperfect. Although thus early initiated, Hebrew printing made -little or no progress for some years. Jodocus Badius showed a few -lines in 1511; and in 1516 Gourmont printed an _Alphabetum Hebraicum -et Græcum_. In 1519, Augustino Giustiniani, a native of Genoa, who -had already distinguished himself by superintending the production of -Porrus’ _Polyglot Psalter_ at that city in 1516, being invited to Paris -by the King, caused new punches and matrices of the Hebrew to be made -by Gourmont. The work took a year and a half to complete; when, in -1520, was published the _Grammar_ of the Rabbi Moses Kimhi, the first -wholly printed Hebrew work produced in Paris. From this time Hebrew -printing made steady progress in France. Most of the printers possessed -types, the Wechels and the Estiennes being the most distinguished in -their use of them. - -In Spain the printers of the _Complutensian Polyglot_ made use of a -fine Hebrew fount in 1514–17. - -In Germany, as early as 1501, in a book supposed to have been printed -at Erfurt, Hebrew letters occur, cut rudely on wood; and at Basle, -Strasburg, and Augsburg a similar primitive method was adopted, as it -was also in the case of the _Hebrew Grammar_ printed at Leipsic in -1520. In 1512, however, at Tübingen in Wirtemburg, the _Septem psalmi -pœnitentiales_ were printed in cast metal type. In 1534, at Basle, -the first _Hebrew Bible_ printed by a Gentile was produced at the -press of Bebel. Froben’s _Bible_, in the same town, in 1536, is in a -type inferior to that of Bomberg. The running titles are all in the -Rabbinical character. In 1587, Elias Hutter printed at Hamburg a Hebrew -_Bible_ in large type, in which the “radical” letters appear black in -the usual way, and the “serviles” are open, or in outline, while the -“quiescents” are in smaller solid letters placed above the line. This -Bible was reprinted in 1603, and is a typographical curiosity. - -In the Low Countries, Hebrew words, probably cut in wood, occur in -the _Epistola apologetica Pauli de Middleburgo_, printed at Louvain -in 1488; and Gand[125] gives 1506 as the probable date of a _Hebrew -Dictionary, sine notâ_, but attributed to Martens. This, however, -appears doubtful, as in 1518 Martens first announced his intention -to print in Hebrew. His first-dated Hebrew work was a _Grammar_, in -1528; though Schwab considers that the Dictionary above referred to -properly belongs to the year 1520. Martens’ earliest founts were a -large Hebrew with vowel points, and a small, without. Hebrew printing -was also practised at {64} Leyden in 1520. The splendid type cut by -Le Bé, the Frenchman, for Plantin’s _Polyglot_, printed at Antwerp in -1569–72, placed the Netherlands in the front rank of Hebrew typography. -Amsterdam, during the seventeenth century, excelled all other cities in -its Hebrew printing. Abraham and Bonaventura Elzevir printed here in -Hebrew about 1630, and the Hebrew _Bibles_ of Janson in 1639, Athias in -1667, and Van der Hooght in 1705, are justly regarded as masterpieces -of Hebrew typography. - -The first specimen of Hebrew printing in England occurs in Wakefield’s -_Oratio de laudibus et utilitate trium linguarum_, printed by De -Worde in 1524, where a few words appear, rudely cut on wood. In the -same work the author complained that he was compelled to omit a third -part, because the printer had no Hebrew types. Hebrew words cut in -wood are also used in Humfrey’s _Life of Bishop Jewell_, printed by -John Day in 1573; and Todd, in his _Life of Walton_, mentions a work -of Dr. Peter Baro on _Jonah_, printed at the same press in 1579, in -the preface to which occur several verses of Hebrew. As late as 1603 -Dibdin points out that in a poem, published at Oxford, composed by -Dr. Thorne, Regius Professor of Hebrew at that University, a phrase -in Hebrew is added, with the remark, “Interserenda hoc in loco . . . -sed enim Typographo deerant characteres.” Todd, however, mentions a -work printed at Oxford in 1597, in which Hebrew type is used, while -a translation from _S. Chrysostom_, of John Willoughbie, printed by -Barnes in 1602, shows two distinct founts in use. The first English -book in which any quantity of Hebrew type was made use of was Dr. -Rhys’s _Cambro-brytannicæ Cymræcæve linguæ institutiones_, printed -by Thomas Orwin in 1592. Minsheu’s _Ductor in Linguas_, in 1617, -printed by John Browne, shows Hebrew which serves not only for its own -language, but also for the Syriac. And in 1621 John Bill used a newer -and better letter for printing Dr. Davies’s _Antiquæ linguæ Britannicæ -. . rudimenta_. The Hebrew fount made use of in Walton’s _Polyglot_ -in 1657 was probably the first important fount cut and cast in this -country; and, as we shall have occasion to notice, was found fault with -by the critics of that great undertaking. Oxford received a great and -small Hebrew[126] among the matrices presented to her by Dr. Fell; and -both there and in London several Hebrew works were printed at the close -of the seventeenth century, although none of striking importance. It -is significant of the superior reputation of the Oxford Hebrew, that -the Hebrew and Chaldæan versions in the _Oratio Dominica_ of 1700 were -among the versions printed for the London publisher of that work in the -University types. Thomas James, although he visited Amsterdam in 1710, -at that time the centre of the best {65} Hebrew printing in Europe, -failed to secure any matrices; and most of those which subsequently -were added to his foundry appear to have been cut by English founders. -Among them were four founts of Rabbinical Hebrew,[127] for which -character there existed no matrices in England in Walton’s time, as he -was compelled to cut the alphabet shown in his Prolegomena in wood. -Mores counted as many as twenty-three different founts in James’s -foundry in his day, eight of which were with points, the remainder -without. For those without points it was early the practice to cast -points on a minute body, to be worked in a separate line below the -letter. Caslon cut several good founts of Hebrew (one of which was of -the open or outline description first introduced by Hutter); and during -the eighteenth century the character became a necessary part of the -stock of every founder. It would be difficult, however, to point to -any striking achievement in Hebrew typography earlier than Bagster’s -_Polyglot_ in 1817–21, in which the Hebrew text is printed in a very -small and beautiful type cut by Vincent Figgins, which in its day had -the reputation of being the smallest Hebrew with points in England, and -of equalling in size and exceeding in beauty even the elegant letter of -Jansson of Amsterdam, two centuries before. - - -ARABIC. - -The first book printed in Arabic types is supposed to be a _Diurnale -græcorum Arabum_, printed at Fano in Italy, in 1514. Two years later, -Porrus’ _Polyglot Psalter_, comprising the Arabic version, was printed -at Genoa; and two years later still, a _Koran_ in Arabic is said to -have been printed at Venice. Thus, says De Rossi, while no Arabic types -were to be found in any other part of Europe, three towns of Italy -possessed, and were making use of them at the same moment. - -In 1505 an _Arabic Vocabulary_ at Granada had the words printed in -Gothic letter with the Arabic points placed over them; and in other -presses where there were no Arabic types, the language was expressed in -Hebrew letters or cut in wood. De Guignes and others mention a fount -of Arabic used by Gromors in Paris, in 1539–40, to print Postel’s -_Grammar_, and add that the fount subsequently disappeared and was -lost; and as late as 1596, in a book printed at Paris, the Arabic words -had to be rendered in Hebrew. In 1591 the Vatican press had a fine -fount of Arabic, a specimen of which is given by Angelo Roccha in his -_Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana_, printed at that press. The Medicean -and Borromean presses also had founts; and at Leyden, Raphlengius and -Erpenius {66} were both celebrated for their Arabic letter. In 1636 -the foundry of the Propaganda showed specimens of Arabic, previous to -which date Savary de Brèves had had cut in Constantinople, and finished -by Le Bé of Paris, the famous Arabic founts which were used to print -the _Psalter_ at Rome in 1614, and subsequently were purchased by Vitré -for the French king,[128] and used in Le Jay’s magnificent _Paris -Polyglot_ of 1645. The punches and matrices of these founts still -exist. Cotton mentions an Arabic press in Upsala in 1640. - -In England it was not till early in the seventeenth century that Arabic -printing began to be practised. In Wakefield’s _Oratio de laudibus . . -trium linguarum, Arabicæ, Chaldaicæ et Hebraicæ_, printed by De Worde -in 1524, a few rude Arabic letters are introduced, cut in wood. In -Minsheu’s _Ductor in Linguas_, 1617, the Arabic words are printed in -Italic characters. Laud’s gift of Oriental MSS. to Oxford in 1635, and -the appointment of an Arabic lecturer, was the first real incentive -to the cultivation of the language by English scholars. Previous to -this, it is stated that the Raphlengius Arabic press at Leyden had been -purchased by the English Orientalist, William Bedwell; but if brought -to this country, it does not appear that it was immediately made use -of.[129] The Arabic words in Thomas Greave’s oration, _De Linguæ -Arabicæ Utilitate_, printed at Oxford in 1639, were written in by hand; -and the same author, when publishing his _Elementa Linguæ Persicæ_ at -the press of James Flesher at London, in 1649, explained in his preface -that his work had been ready for publication nine years before, but -having no types with which to print it, it had been delayed. A year -earlier, in 1648, Miles Flesher, predecessor to James and one of the -Star Chamber printers, had published in the same type, and at the same -press, a work entitled _De Siglis Arabum et Persarum Astronomis_. James -Flesher was the printer who printed in his own types the original -specimen-page of the London _Polyglot_ in 1652. His Arabic, however, -is a smaller character than that subsequently made use of by Roycroft -for this grand work. Dr. Fell’s gift of matrices to Oxford in 1667 -included a fount of Arabic,[130] which appeared in the specimen of the -foundry, and was used also in the _Oratio Dominica_ of 1700. Prior to -this, however, Pocock’s _Carmen Tograi_ was printed at Oxford by Hall -in 1661, “Typis Arabicis Academicis,” in a letter differing both from -Flesher’s {67} and Dr. Fell’s. In 1721, William Caslon cut for the -Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge the fount of Arabic for the -_Psalter_ of 1725, and the _Testament_ of 1727. This fount,[131] with -those of Oxford and the _Polyglot_, shared among them nearly all the -Arabic printing in England for about a century later, when new faces -began to be cut or imported. The _Polyglot_ Arabics passed through -Grover’s foundry into that of Thomas James, at the sale of which, in -1782, they were bought in an imperfect state by Dr. Edmund Fry for -the Type Street foundry. Mores mentions three other Arabic founts cut -by English founders, but includes them among the lost matrices in his -collection. - - -SYRIAC. - -Syriac type, probably cut in wood, first appeared in Postel’s -_Linguarum xii Alphabeta_, printed in Paris in 1538; but the characters -are so rude in form and execution as to be scarcely legible. In 1555, -however, Postel assisted in cutting the punches for the famous Syriac -Peshito _New Testament_, printed at Vienna, in two vols. 4to, the first -portion of the Scriptures, and apparently the first book printed in -that language. In 1569–72 Plantin at Antwerp included the Syriac New -Testament in his _Polyglot_, and reissued it in separate form in 1574. -The Vatican press had a good fount in 1591, which appears in Roccha’s -_Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana_. Mores mentions a _Nomenclature_ -by Ferrarius at Rome in 1622 with Syriac type. In 1636 the press -of the Propaganda issued a specimen of the Estranghelo and Syriac -alphabets, and in the same year Kircher’s _Prodromus Coptus_, published -at the same press, contained passages in both these characters, and -in Heraclean. A Syriac _Testament_ was printed at Cothon, in Upper -Saxony, in 1621, and at Hamburg in 1663; and later, Gutbier printed -the same work in several editions. In France, after the disappearance -of Postel’s types, there was no Syriac printing for nearly a century. -Henri Estienne printed his Syriac _New Testament_ in 1539, in Hebrew -characters; and in Cajetan’s _Paradigmata de iv lingis_, which appeared -in 1596, the Syriac character was cut on wood, and longer passages -expressed in Hebrew type. In 1614 Savary de Brèves brought Syriac -matrices along with those of other Oriental characters to Paris, and -these were made use of by Vitré, in 1625, to print a _Syriac and Latin -Psalter_, and appeared subsequently in the great _Polyglot_ of Le Jay. - -Syriac did not make its appearance in England till the middle of -the seventeenth century. The language was usually expressed in the -earlier works in Hebrew characters. A letter of Bishop Usher’s, in -1637, mentions a project to {68} purchase Syriac type abroad, and -negotiations appear to have been made both in Paris (where the Bishop’s -correspondent informed him there were at that time three or four -founts) and at Geneva, with a view to procuring the characters.[132] -But it was not till the prospectus and preliminary specimen of Walton’s -_Polyglot_ were issued in 1652 that we find Syriac type in use in this -country. The _Polyglot_ contains the entire Bible in Syriac. In 1661 -there was a fount at Oxford, which appears in Pocock’s _Carmen Tograi_, -and differs from the fount subsequently presented by Dr. Fell,[133] -which was used in the _Oratio Dominica_ of 1700, and other Oriental -publications of the University. The _Polyglot_ fount[134] found its -way to Caslon’s foundry, who added two new founts of his own cutting. -In 1778 Mores noted six founts altogether in the country. A fresh -interest was taken in Syriac printing by the exertions of Dr. Claudius -Buchanan, who, in 1815, had the _Gospels and Acts_ printed in types cut -and cast under his supervision by Vincent Figgins. After his death, -his work fell into the hands of Dr. Lee to complete, who, objecting to -the omission of the vowel points, printed the entire _New Testament_ -in 1816. In 1825 Dr. Fry produced the beautiful Nonpareil Syriac -for _Bagster’s Polyglot_, and in 1829 Mr. Watts cast the fount of -Estranghelo for the edition of the _Bible_ published that year, which -at the time was the only Syriac Bible in Nestorian characters printed -in this country. - - -ARMENIAN. - -The press of the Vatican at Rome possessed a good fount of this -character in 1591, when Angelo Roccha showed a specimen in his -_Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana_. Previous to this a _Psalter_ is -said to have been printed at Rome in 1565, and Rowe Mores mentions -doubtfully a _Liturgy_ printed at Cracow in 1549. In 1662 the Armenian -Bishops applied to France for assistance in printing an Armenian Bible, -but being refused, although Armenian printing had been practised in -Paris in 1633, went to Rome, where, as early as 1636, the press of -the Propaganda had published a specimen of its Armenian matrices. -The Patriarch, after fifteen months’ residence in Rome, removed to -Amsterdam, where he established an Armenian press, and printed the -_Bible_ in 1666, followed, in 1668, by a separate edition of the _New -Testament_. In 1669 the press was set up at Marseilles, where it -continued for a time, and was ultimately removed to Constantinople. - -In England the first Armenian types were those presented by Dr. Fell -to {69} Oxford in 1667. In the Prolegomena of Walton’s _Polyglot_, the -alphabet there given had been cut in wood. In 1736 Caslon cut a neat -Armenian[135] for Whiston’s edition of _Moses Chorenensis_, and these -two were the only founts in England before 1820. - - -ETHIOPIC. - -The earliest type of this language appeared in Potken’s _Psalter and -Song of Solomon_, printed at Rome in 1513. The work was reprinted at -Cologne in 1518, in Potken’s polyglot _Psalter_. In 1548 the _New -Testament_ was printed at Rome by some Abyssinian priests. The press -of the Propaganda issued a specimen of its fount in 1631, and again -in Kircher’s _Prodromus Coptus_ in 1636. Erpenius at Leyden had an -Ethiopic fount, which in 1626 was acquired by the Elzevirs. Usher -attempted to procure the fount for this country, but his attempt -failing, punches were cut, and matrices prepared by the London founders -for the _London Polyglot_, which showed the Psalms, Canticles, and -New Testament in the Ethiopic version. Various portions of Scripture -were printed at Leyden and Frankfort about the same time, of which the -most important work was the _Psalter_, etc., of Ludolfus, printed at -the latter place in 1701, in a letter bolder and larger than either -the Vatican or London fount. The Oxford press possessed a fount of -Ethiopic[136] prior to 1693, which appears, with the other Oxford -Orientals, in the _Oratio Dominica_ of 1700 and 1713—the Amharic being -in the same character. Chamberlayne’s _Oratio Dominica_, printed at -Amsterdam in 1715, shows these versions in copperplate. Mores mentions -a second English fount in his list of the matrices of the “Anonymous” -foundry, besides the fount cut by Caslon[137] for his foundry. There -were thus four founts in England in 1778. The Polyglot fount[138] and -that of the anonymous founder came into the possession of James, and at -the sale of his matrices in 1782, were acquired by Dr. Fry. The reprint -of Ludolfus’ _Psalter_ by the Bible Society in 1815 was in the latter -type. But the Ethiopic _Gospels_ printed by the same society in 1826 -were in a fount of types cast from the matrices presented by Ludolfus -to the Frankfort Library in 1700. No new fount of Ethiopic in England -had been added to the four already named, when Hansard wrote in 1825. - - -COPTIC. - -Of this character the press of the Propaganda possessed a fount, of -which a specimen was issued in 1636, in which year also Kircher’s -_Prodromus Coptus_ {70} appeared at the same press. No fount, however, -appeared in England till 1667—the alphabets shown in the Introduction -and Prolegomena to the London _Polyglot_ in 1655 and 1657 being cut on -wood. In 1667 Dr. Fell presented Coptic matrices[139] to Oxford, and -it was from these that the types were cast for David Wilkins’ edition -of the _New Testament_, printed in 1716. In 1731 the same scholar -published an edition of the _Pentateuch_, this time at the press of -Bowyer, in types specially cut by William Caslon.[140] Mores further -mentions a Coptic fount cut by Voskens of Amsterdam; and abroad, -besides the fount at Rome, there was one (or more) at Paris. A specimen -is shown in Fournier; and in 1808, in Quatremère’s work on the Language -and Literature of Europe, considerable portions of Scripture in Coptic -were included. In our own country the Oxford and Caslon founts were the -only two in 1778, when Mores wrote, nor had the number been increased -when Hansard compiled his list of foreign founts in 1825. - - -SAMARITAN. - -Samaritan type appears to have followed closely on the purchase of -the celebrated MS. of the Samaritan Pentateuch, which was deposited -in the Oratory at Paris in 1623. The press of the Propaganda had a -fount in 1636, and the Paris Polyglot, completed in 1645, contained -the entire _Pentateuch_ in type of which the punches and matrices had -been specially prepared under Le Jay’s direction. The fount used in the -London _Polyglot_ in 1657 is admitted to be an English production,[141] -and was probably cut under the supervision of Usher, who between 1620 -and 1630 was most active in procuring Samaritan MSS. for this country. -Samaritan type was used in Scaliger’s _De emendatione temporum_, -printed at Geneva in 1629; also in Leusden’s _Schola Syriaca_, at -Utrecht, in 1672; besides which, Mores mentions a fount neatly cut by -Voskens of Amsterdam. Another fount was included in Dr. Fell’s gift -to Oxford in 1667, and this appears in the _Oratio Dominica_ of 1700. -The Polyglot Samaritan passed into Grover’s hands, thence to James, -at whose sale it was bought, together with another fount of the same -character, by Dr. Fry. The Leusdenian fount belonging to Andrews -also came to James’s foundry, but was there lost. Caslon had a fount -cut by Dummers,[142] which, with those of James and Oxford, were the -only founts in the country in 1778.[143] In Hansard’s list of learned -founts in 1825, these four founts were still the only Samaritans in the -country. {71} - - -SCLAVONIC. - -Types in this character existed at an early date, a _Psalter_ having -been printed at Cracow in 1491, and reprinted at Montenegro in 1495. -In 1512 the _Gospels_ were printed at Ugrovallachia, and again in -1552 at Belgrade, and in 1562 at Montenegro. There was, in 1553, a -Sclavonic press established by the Czar Ivan Vasilievitch at Moscow, -whence, in 1564, appeared the _Acts and Epistles_, a volume which has -the distinction of being the first book printed in Russia. The type and -material for this press are said to have been brought from Copenhagen. -The first Russian printers were persecuted, but succeeded in producing -several other works in Sclavonic type. In 1581 the first _Bible_ in -that language was printed at Ostrog, and after that printing became -more general. The second Moscow press, established in 1644, was famous -for its excellent typography; the second edition of the _Bible_, in -1663, is a splendid performance. Sclavonic printing appears to have -been but little practised out of Russia, yet we find matrices with -Voskens of Amsterdam about 1690; from which, probably, the improved -types introduced into the Moscow press in 1707 were cast. - -The only Sclavonic fount in England was that given by Dr. Fell to -Oxford, and this, Mores states, was replaced in 1695 by a fount of -the more modern Russian character, purchased probably at Amsterdam. -The _Oratio Dominica_ of 1700 gives a specimen of this fount, but -renders the Hieronymian version in copperplate. Chamberlayne’s _Oratio -Dominica_ at Amsterdam in 1715 does the same; but the Cyrillian type -differs from that of Oxford. The press of the Propaganda showed founts -both of Cyrillian and Hieronymian in 1753, and founts occur in nearly -all the Polyglot specimens of the chief European foundries. - -The MODERN SCLAVONIC, better known to us as RUSSIAN, is said to have -appeared first in portions of the _Old Testament_, printed at Prague in -1517–19. Ten years later there was Russian type in Venice. A Russian -press was established at Stockholm in 1625, by order of Gustavus -Adolphus, and in 1696 there were matrices in Amsterdam, from which came -the types used in Ludolph’s _Grammatica Russica_, printed at Oxford in -that year, and whence also, it is said, the types were procured which -furnished the first St. Petersburg press, established in 1711 by Peter -the Great. At Amsterdam, also, a second attempt to translate and print -the _Bible_ into Russian, begun about 1698, was frustrated by the loss -of the MSS. and library of Ernest Gluck, the editor and translator, -at the siege of Marienburg, in 1702. The presses at St. Petersburg -increased, and it is probable that on the establishment of the press in -connection with the Academy of Sciences, in 1727, Russian types were -cast in that city. Breitkopf of Leipsic {72} had matrices prior to -1787; Fournier, at Paris, in 1766, showed a specimen of a fount in his -foundry; Marcel, in his _Oratio Dominica_, 1805, showed another; and -Bodoni of Parma, in his _Manuale Tipografico_, 1818, had no less than -twenty-one sizes. - -The Emperor Alexander, in 1813, promoted the publication of a Bible -by the Russian Bible Society, which resulted in the printing of the -_Gospels_ in 1819, and of the entire _New Testament_ in 1823. - -In England, Mores notes that in 1778 there was no Russian type in -the country, but that Cottrell was at that time engaged in preparing -a fount. It does not appear that this project was carried out, and -the earliest Russian we had was cut by Dr. Fry from alphabets in the -_Vocabularia_, collected and published for the Empress of Russia in -1786–9. This fount appeared in the _Pantographia_ in 1799. About 1820 -Thorowgood procured matrices in two sizes from Breitkopf, and these -three founts were the only ones enumerated by Hansard in 1825. - - -ETRUSCAN. - -The fount of this character cut by William Caslon[144] about 1733 for -Mr. Swinton of Oxford was apparently the first produced. Fournier, -in 1766, showed an alphabet engraved in metal or wood. In 1771 the -Propaganda published a specimen of their fount, and Bodoni of Parma, in -1806, exhibited a third in his _Oratio Dominica_. The character is one -rarely used, and prior to 1820 it is doubtful whether there were more -than the three founts above mentioned in existence. - - -RUNIC. - -Types of this character were first used at Stockholm in a Runic and -Swedish _Alphabetarium_, printed in 1611. The fount, which was cast at -the expense of the king, was afterwards acquired by the University. -About the same time Runic type was used at Upsala and at Copenhagen. -Voskens, at Amsterdam, had matrices about the end of the century, -and it was from Holland that Junius is supposed to have procured the -matrices which in 1677 he presented to Oxford. This fount appears in -the _Oratio Dominica_ of 1700, and in Hickes’ _Thesaurus_, 1703–5. -Mores mentions a second fount, incomplete, in James’s foundry, which, -however, was lost; so that the Oxford fount remained the only one in -the country. Fournier and Fry show the alphabet engraved. {73} - - -GOTHIC. - -Matrices of this language were presented to Oxford by Junius in 1677. -There appear to have been other matrices in Holland, as the neat Gothic -type used in Chamberlayne’s _Oratio Dominica_ at Amsterdam in 1715 -differs from the Oxford fount which had appeared in the edition of -1700, as well as in Hickes’ _Thesaurus_. Mores speaks of another fount -in James’s foundry, whither it had come from the “Anonymous” foundry. -But the matrices were lost. Caslon, however, cut a fount,[145] which -appeared in his first specimen in 1734. This and the Oxford fount were -the only two in England in 1820. - - -ICELANDIC, SWEDISH AND DANISH. - -Founts of these characters were also included in Junius’ gift to -Oxford in 1677, and were probably specially prepared in Holland. The -first-named is shown in the _Oratio Dominica_ of 1700, and in Hickes’ -_Thesaurus_. Printing had been practised in Iceland since 1531, when a -_Breviary_ was printed at Hoolum, in types rudely cut, it is alleged, -in wood. In 1574, however, metal types were provided, and several -works were produced. After a period of decline, printing was revived -in 1773; and in 1810 Sir George McKenzie reported that the Hoolum -press possessed eight founts of type, of which two were Roman, and the -remainder of the common Icelandic character, which, like the Danish and -Swedish, bears a close resemblance to the German. - - -SAXON. - -The first type for this language was cut by John Day in 1567, under -the direction of Archbishop Parker, and appeared in _Ælfric’s -Paschal Homily_ in that year, and in the _Ælfredi Res Gestæ of Asser -Menevensis_, published in 1574. Parker, in his preface to the latter -work, makes mention of Day as the first who had cut Saxon characters. -This interesting fount[146] is rather less than a Great Primer in body, -and in general appearance is handsomer than many of its successors. -Day used the type in several other works, and added another fount on -Pica body. Saxon type was used by Browne in 1617, in Minsheu’s _Ductor -in Linguas_; and Haviland, who printed the second edition of that work -in 1626, had in 1623 already made use of the character in Lisle’s -edition of _Ælfric’s Homily_. Another fount was used by Badger in 1640 -for Spelman’s _Saxon Psalter_, {74} so that, as Mores points out, at -that date there were already four founts in the country. Hodgkinson, -one of the Star Chamber printers, had a Pica Saxon, which was used -in _Dugdale’s Monasticon_, 1655; and Mores mentions two founts, a -Great Primer and a Pica, in use at Cambridge in 1644, in Wheelock’s -edition of _Bede_. In 1654 Francis Junius had a fount of Saxon “cut, -matriculated, and cast,” at Amsterdam, which, after printing _Cædmon’s -Paraphrase of Genesis_ in 1655, and some other works in that town, he -brought over to England, and in 1677 presented to the University of -Oxford. As early as 1659 the University had possessed a Saxon fount, -and a second had been included among the purchases made, probably, -about the year 1672. Junius’ fount was used in Hickes’ _Thesaurus_, -1705, and his Saxon _Grammar_ in 1711, but was not employed by the -printer of the _Oratio Dominica_ of 1700, where a different fount -appears—the same, apparently, which in 1709 Bowyer used to print -Miss Elstob’s _Homily on the Birthday of St. Gregory_. The Amsterdam -printers of the _Oratio Dominica_ of 1715 used a handsome fount of -their own. The great interest taken in the study of the Northern -languages at this period in England produced many Saxon works, and -some of our scholars devoted themselves to the study of the most -beautiful of the old manuscripts, with a view to the improvement of the -character in print. But the failure of the typefounder Robert Andrews -to do justice to Humphrey Wanley’s drawings, in cutting the punches -for Bowyer’s new fount in 1715,[147] apparently discouraged further -endeavours. Miss Elstob’s _Anglo-Saxon Grammar_ was printed in that -year in the new type, the matrices of which were subsequently presented -to Oxford, where they still remain. - -Voskens, the Dutch founder, had Anglo-Saxon matrices at the beginning -of the eighteenth century, but, except in England and Holland, the -character was not used. Caslon and most of his successors cut Saxon -founts. Mores noted eleven different founts existing in England in -1778. This number was afterwards increased by numerous new founts cut -by Fry, Figgins, and Wilson; and Hansard enumerated twenty-three in -1825. - -The Anglo-Norman Saxon character in which the _Domesday Book_ was -written, was twice imitated in type during the eighteenth century, -once by Cottrell, whose attempt was not wholly successful, and again -by Joseph Jackson, under the supervision of Abraham Farley, in 1783. -Jackson’s types were used in the facsimile printed by Nichols in that -year, and the matrices, it is stated, were deposited with the British -Museum. {75} - - -IRISH. - -The first fount of this character was that presented by Queen Elizabeth -to O’Kearney in 1571, and used to print the _Catechism_, which appeared -in that year in Dublin, at the press of Franckton. The fount, which is -on English body, is only partially Irish, many of the letters being -ordinary Roman or Italic. Its general appearance is, however, neat. It -was used in several works during the early years of the seventeenth -century, notably in the Daniel’s _New Testament_, printed by Franckton -in 1602, and the _Common Prayer_, issued from the same press in 1608. -This interesting fount was stated by some to have been secured by the -Jesuits, and transferred by them to one of their seminaries abroad; -but there appears to be no foundation for such a statement. As late as -1652 it was used in Godfrey Daniels’ _Christian Doctrine_, printed in -Dublin; and still later occasional words mark its gradual extinction. -The Irish seminaries abroad, meanwhile, were better supplied with Irish -type than our countrymen. At Antwerp, in 1611, O’Hussey’s _Catechism_ -was printed in an Irish fount, which subsequently reappeared in 1616 at -Louvain, and was afterwards used to print a number of works published -by the Irish College in that place. In 1645 a second and larger Irish -fount appeared at Louvain, in Colgan’s _Acta Sanctorum Hiberniæ_. In -1676 the press of the Propaganda at Rome published Molloy’s _Lucerna -Fidelium_ in a handsome and bold character, Great Primer in body, -which was used again in the following year in Molloy’s _Grammar_, and -in 1707 for the _Catechism_ of O’Hussey. Previous to this, however, -Irish printing had revived in England, and Moxon, in 1680, had cut -the curious fount of Small Pica Irish,[148] used in Boyle’s _New -Testament_, printed by Robert Everingham in 1681, followed by Bedell’s -_Old Testament_ in 1685, and in several further publications from -the same press. Until the year 1800 this fount was the only Irish in -this country. Abroad, a new fount appeared at Paris in 1732, where -it was used in McCuirtin’s _Dictionary_, and in 1742 in Donlevey’s -_Catechism_, printed by Jas. Guerin. The matrices for this fount appear -to have been held, if not prepared, by Fournier, as in the _Manuale -Typographique_ (ii, p. 196), issued by him in 1766, a specimen of it -appears among the foreign founts of his foundry. The fate of this fount -is a matter of uncertainty. After 1742 a general cessation of Irish -typography at home and abroad took place; and the few Irish works which -appeared between that date and 1800 were for the most part in Roman -type (like O’Brien’s _Dictionary_, Paris, 1768), or with the Irish -{76} characters in copperplate (like Vallancey’s _Grammar_). In 1804, -however, a revival took place, beginning in Paris, where Marcel, being -at that time in possession of several of the founts belonging to the -press of the Propaganda, which Napoleon had impounded for the use of -the press of the Republic, repaired and re-cast the Irish founts of -the _Lucerna Fidelium_, and issued a short sketch of the character and -language, illustrated with readings in this type. In his beautiful -_Oratio Dominica_, printed in 1805 in presence of Napoleon, the same -type is used. “Strikes” of these founts were retained in Paris, and -the letter has reappeared in specimens issued in 1819 and 1840. The -matrices probably remain part of the stock of the Imprimerie Nationale -to this day. The revival in our kingdom was more rapid. Moxon’s fount, -which had passed through the hands of Robert Andrews, came in 1733 -into the foundry of Thomas James, at the sale of which, in 1782, the -punches and matrices were purchased in a somewhat defective condition -by Dr. Fry. A specimen was shown in Dr. Fry’s specimen of 1794, and in -his _Pantographia_, 1799, after which the fount occasionally reappeared -until 1820, when it was last seen in O’Reilly’s _Catalogue of Irish -Writers_, printed in Dublin in that year. By this time, however, there -were some six new founts in the country. _Neilson’s Grammar_, printed -at Dublin in 1808, appeared in a type apparently privately cut, as -it is not found in the specimens of any of the British founders. -Vincent Figgins cut an elegant fount after the copperplate models -in _Vallancey’s Grammar_; Dr. Fry, under the inspection of Thaddeus -Conellan, cut a Long Primer, Small Pica, and Pica, and Watts shortly -afterwards added three others. - - -MUSIC. - -The earliest specimen of music-type occurs in Higden’s _Polychronicon_, -printed by De Worde at Westminster in 1495. The square notes appear to -have been formed of ordinary quadrats, and the staff-lines of metal -rules imperfectly joined. In Caxton’s edition of the same work in 1482 -the space had been left blank, to be filled up by the illuminator or -scribe. In other countries music was occasionally shown, but not in -type. The plain chant in the _Mentz Psalter_ of 1490, printed in two -colours, was probably cut on wood. Hans Froschauer of Augsburg printed -music from wooden blocks in 1473, and the notes in Burtius’ _Opusculum -Musices_, printed at Bologna in 1487, appear to have been produced in -the same manner[149]; while at Lyons, the _Missal_ printed by Matthias -Hus in 1485 had the staff only printed, the notes being intended to -be filled in by hand, {77} either with a pen or by means of an inked -stamp or punch. About 1500 a musical press was established at Venice -by Ottavio Petrucci, at which were produced a series of _Mass-books_. -In 1513 he removed to Fossombrone, and obtained a patent from Leo X -for his invention of types for the sole printing of figurative song -(_cantus figuratus_). Petrucci’s notes were lozenge-shaped, and each -was cast complete, with its correspondent proportion of staff-lines. -Before 1550 several European presses followed Petrucci’s example, -and music-type, among other places, was used at Augsburg in 1506 and -1511, Parma in 1526, Lyons in 1532, and Nuremburg in 1549. In 1525 -Pierre Hautin cut punches of lozenge-shaped music at Paris. Round -notes were used at Avignon in 1532, and Granjon cut this kind at Paris -about 1559. In 1552, Adrian Leroy, musician to Henri II of France, and -Robert Ballard were appointed King’s printers for music. Their types -are said to have been engraved by Le Bé. In England, after its first -use, music-printing did not become general till 1550, when Grafton -printed Marbecke’s _Book of Common Prayer_, “noted” in movable type; -the four staff lines being printed in red, and the notes in black. -There are only four different sorts of notes used,—three square and -one lozenge. The appearance of the music is very bold and distinct. -Day, Vautrollier, and East, all printed with music-type, which was -of the kind generally used during the sixteenth century in Italy, -Germany and France. Vautrollier was the printer for Tallis and Bird, -who obtained a patent from Elizabeth for the sole printing of music. -After the expiration of their patent, and another granted to Morley -in 1598, music-printing was exercised (as Sir John Hawkins states) by -every printer who chose it. A larger variety of founts appeared, and -in some works two or more founts of music appear mixed in the same -work. About 1660 the detached notes hitherto used began to give place -to the “new tyed note,” by which the heads of sets of quavers could -be joined. But at the close of the seventeenth century music-printing -from type became less common, on account of the introduction of -stamping and engraving plates for the purpose. There was music-type in -Aberdeen in 1666 at the press of Forbes. Oxford University possessed -music matrices, some apparently presented by Dr. Fell about 1667, and -others cut by Walpergen. The punches and matrices of the latter are -still preserved,[150] and are very curious; many of the matrices being -without sides in the copper, and justified so that the mould shall -supply the side, and the lines thus be cast so as to join continuously -in the composition. Grover’s foundry also had a Great Primer music, -and Andrews had matrices of several sizes of the square-headed or -plain chant character. Caslon possessed a set {78} of round-headed -matrices in two sizes, which came to him from Mitchell’s foundry. In -1764 Breitkopf of Leipsic succeeded in casting a music-type, in which -the notes were composed of several pieces, which were “built up” by -the compositor. Fleischman cut an improved music on the same principle -for the Enschedés at Haarlem. Rosart of Brussels, and Fournier of -Paris, succeeded in reducing the number of pieces of a fount to three -hundred and one hundred, respectively. Henry Fought, in our own country -in 1767, invented sectional types, which divided so as to admit the -staff lines. The principal improvements after Fought’s time aimed at -overcoming the hiatus caused by the joining of the lines. Attempts -were made to cast the notes separately from the lines, or to adopt a -logographic system of casting several notes in one piece. After the -beginning of the present century the production of music-type was left -in the hands of specialists, amongst whom Mr. Hughes, as late as 1841, -had the reputation of possessing the best founts in the trade. Of the -plain chant and psalm music, both Dr. Fry and Hughes had matrices in -several sizes. - - -BLIND. - -Printing for the blind was first introduced in 1784, by Valentin Haüy, -the founder of the Asylum for Blind Children in Paris. He made use of a -large script character, from which impressions were taken on a prepared -paper, the impressions so deeply sunk as to leave their marks in strong -relief, and legible to the touch. Haüy’s pupils not only read in this -way, but executed their own typography, and in 1786 printed an _Essai_ -giving an account of their institution and labours, as a specimen of -their press.[151] - -The first School for the Blind in England was opened in Liverpool -in 1791, but printing in raised characters was not successfully -accomplished till 1827, when Mr. Gall, of the Edinburgh Asylum, printed -the Gospel of St. John from angular types. Mr. Alston, the Treasurer of -the Glasgow Asylum, introduced the ordinary Roman capitals in relief, -and this system was subsequently improved upon by the addition of the -“lower-case” letters by Dr. Fry, the type-founder, whose specimen -gained the prize of the Edinburgh Society of Arts in 1837. - -A considerable number of rival systems have competed in this country -for adoption, greatly to the prejudice of the cause of education among -the blind. The most important of these we here briefly summarize: {79} - -1. LUCAS SYSTEM. The letters were represented by curves and lines, -having no connection with the form of the characters they denoted. In -this type the Scriptures occupied about 36 volumes. - -2. FRERE’S SYSTEM. Wholly phonetic, the sounds being represented by -circles, angles, and lines. These symbols were cut in copper wire, and -soldered upon sheets of tin. From this form a stereotype-plate was -taken. - -3. MOON’S SYSTEM. Based upon the two preceding, but professed to be -alphabetic. Nearly each symbol represents the form of a portion of the -Roman letter it denotes. The plates were prepared by Frere’s method. - -4. BRAILLE’S SYSTEM. A series of dots in various combinations, designed -as a universal system. This system was introduced in the “Institution -pour les jeunes aveugles” in Paris, in place of the alphabetical system -which had prevailed since Haüy’s time. - -5. CARTON’S SYSTEM. Also arbitrary, though following somewhat the form -of the lower-case alphabet. - -6. ALSTON’S SYSTEM. This great improvement consisted in the rejection -of all arbitrary symbols, and the adoption of the plain Roman alphabet -of capitals. In addition to the simplicity both to the teacher and -the scholar, its adaptability to typography was obvious. Instead of -soldering the wire outlines on to tin, the letters were now cut and -cast by the ordinary process of typefounding. - -The subsequent alphabetical systems have all been modifications of or -attempted improvements on that of Alston, as perfected by Dr. Fry, -and there seems every probability that this system will eventually -become the recognised method of printing for the blind in all European -countries. - - -INITIALS. - -[Illustration: 46. Dutch Initial Letters used in Boyle’s Irish -_Testament_, 1681. From the original matrices in the Enschedé foundry, -Haarlem.] - -[Illustration: 13. Blooming Initials, at the Oxford University Press. -_Circa_ 1700.] - -In the earliest printed books, with the exception of the _Mentz -Psalter_, where engraved letters are undoubtedly used, a blank space -was left for initial letters, which were inserted by hand. A small -index-letter, indicating what the letter was to be, was generally -printed or written in the space by the printer before handing the -work over to the illuminator. The trouble and cost involved by this -system early suggested the use of wood-cut initials, and Erhard -Ratdolt of Venice, about 1475, is generally supposed to have been the -first printer to introduce the “Literæ florentes,” which eventually -superseded the hand-painted initials. These ornamental initials, called -also _lettres tourneures_, or sometimes _typi tornatissimi_, were -not generally adopted till the close of the century, by which time, -however, they had found their way to England, where, in 1484, Caxton -had introduced one or two kinds. The more elaborate initials, such as -{80} that used in the _Mentz Psalter_, and the later beautiful letters -used by Aldus at Venice, by Schoeffer at Mentz in 1518, by Tory and -the Estiennes at Paris, by Froben at Basle, and by the other great -printers of their day, were known as _lettres grises_. Besides these, -the ordinary “two-line letters,” or large plain capitals, came into -use; and these were generally cast—the ornamental letters being for the -most part engraved on wood or metal, and shifted about from one forme -to another. The general debasement of artistic taste in the latter -half of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries is very apparent in -the initial letters, particularly in England. Large black-letters were -frequently used as initials to books in Roman type, the large plain -caps appear to have been most rudely cut and cast, and when pictorial -letters were made use of, the effect was not infrequently grotesque. -Dutch initials found their way into this country in large numbers. They -were, as a rule, heavy and indistinct, and lacked the elegance of the -letters which, even as late as 1650, characterised some of the best -printing in France. The best initial letters we had were those used at -Oxford, and these were for the most part copperplate, and engraved by -an artist specially retained by the University for the purpose. The -“Dutch Bloomers” shown by Watson in 1711 probably represented the _ne -plus ultra_ of typographical ornament at that day. With Bible printers -it was not uncommon to use appropriate pictorial {81} letters, and -we frequently find in their works, both sacred and profane, the -initial “I” of Genesis representing the Creation, the “D” representing -David playing on his harp, the “P” representing the conversion of -St. Paul, and so on. Armorial initials were also occasionally used, -and sometimes letters embodying portraits or landscapes. About the -beginning of the seventeenth century, pierced initial ornaments—that -is, wood block devices, in which a space is pierced out to admit of -any letter—came into use. The great letter-founders of the revival, -Caslon, Baskerville, and their immediate successors, confined their -attention to the large plain initials, uniform in shape and design with -their Roman letters; and it was not till a taste for fancy type arose, -early in the present century, that founders cut punches for and cast -ornamental initials. {82} - -[Illustration: 14. Pierced Initial, at the Oxford University Press. -_Ante_ 1700.] - -[Illustration: 55. Pierced Initial. London, _circa_ 1700.] - - -TYPE ORNAMENTS AND FLOWERS. - -These began, like the initials, with the illuminators, and were -afterwards cut on wood. The first printed ornament or vignette is -supposed to be that in the _Lactantius_, at Subiaco, in 1465. Caxton, -in 1490, used ornamental pieces to form the border for his _Fifteen -O’s_. The Paris printers at the same time engraved still more elaborate -border pieces. At Venice we find the entire frame engraved in one -piece; while Aldus, as early as 1495, used tasteful head-pieces, cut in -artistic harmony with his _lettres grises_. Of the elaborate woodcut -borders and vignettes of succeeding printers we need not here speak. As -a rule, they kept pace with the initial letters, and degenerated with -them. Early in the sixteenth century we observe detached ornaments and -flourishes, which have evidently been cast from a matrix, and the idea -of combining these pieces into a continuous border or head-piece was -probably early conceived.[152] Mores states that ornaments of this kind -were common before wood-engraved borders were adopted, and Moxon speaks -of them in his day as old-fashioned. In Holland, France, Germany and -England, however, these “type-flowers” were in very common use during -the eighteenth century, and almost every foundry was supplied with a -considerable number of designs cast on the regular bodies. Some of the -type-specimens exhibit most elaborate figures constructed out of these -flowers, and as late as 1820 these ornaments continued to engross a -considerable space in the specimen of every English founder. - -[Illustration] - -{83} - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -THE PRINTER LETTER-FOUNDERS, FROM CAXTON TO DAY. - - -In taking a brief survey of that early period of English Typography -when printers are assumed to have been their own letter-founders, -we shall attempt no more than to gather together, as concisely as -possible, any facts which may throw light on the first days of English -letter-founding, leaving it to the historian of Printing to describe -the productions which, as we have already stated, must be regarded, not -only as the works of our earliest printers, but as the specimen-books -of our earliest letter-founders. Mores and other chroniclers are, as -we conceive, misleading, when they single out half a dozen names from -the long list of printers between Caxton and Day, as if they only had -been concerned in the development of the art of letter-cutting and -founding. It is true that these names are the most distinguished; but -it is necessary to bear in mind that the most obscure printer of that -day, unless he succeeded in purchasing his founts from abroad, or in -obtaining the reversion of the worn types of another printer, probably -cast his letter in his own moulds, and from his own matrices. - -Respecting many of our early printers, our information especially with -regard to their mechanical operations, is extremely meagre. But the -researches of Mr. William Blades[153] have thrown a stream of light -upon the typography of {84} Caxton and his contemporaries, of which we -gladly avail ourselves in recording the following facts and conjectures -as to the letter-founding of the period in which they flourished. -Adopting as a fundamental rule “that the bibliographer should make -such an accurate and methodical study of the _types_ used and _habits -of printing_ observable at different presses, as to enable him to -observe and be guided by these characteristics in settling the date of -a book which bears no date upon the surface,” Mr. Blades has succeeded -not only in establishing a precise chronology of the productions of -the first English printer, but an exhaustive catalogue of his several -types, such as has never before been successfully accomplished. - -Previous writers, many of them practical printers, have all failed in -this particular. Most of them lacked the patience or the opportunity to -make a systematic study of the specimens of Caxton’s press, and have -been content to perpetuate the account of others who, like Bagford, -Ames, Herbert and Dibdin, had ample opportunity for such a study, -but failed to bring to bear upon their investigations that practical -experience which would have saved them from the inaccuracies with -which their descriptions abound. Among such writers few have been more -unfortunate than Rowe Mores, whose account of Caxton’s types (although -endorsed by the authority of his editor, John Nichols) is as misleading -as it is meagre. - -As we are concerned with Caxton only in his capacity as letter-founder, -we must refer the reader for all details respecting his life and -literary industry to Mr. Blades’ admirable biography; merely stating -here that he made his first essay at printing in the year 1474–5, in -the office of Colard Mansion at Bruges; that in 1477, if not earlier, -he settled as printer at Westminster, where he remained an industrious -and prolific worker until the year of his death in 1491. - -As we have already observed, the history of the introduction of -printing into England differs from that of its origin in most other -countries in this important particular, that whereas in Germany, -Italy, France and the Low Countries letter-founding is supposed to -have preceded printing, in our own country it followed it. Caxton had -already run through one fount of type before he reached this country, -and it appears to be quite certain that his Type No. 2, with which he -established his press at Westminster, was brought over by him from -Bruges, where it had been cast for him, and already made use of by -his preceptor, Colard Mansion. The English origin of his Type No. 3 -is also open to question. There seems, however, reasonable ground for -supposing that Type No. 4 was both cut and cast in England; so that -Caxton had probably been at work for a year or two in this country -as a printer, before he became a letter-founder. It must be admitted -that any conclusion we may come to as to {85} Caxton’s operations as -a letter-founder are wholly conjectural. In none of his own works (in -several of which he discourses freely on his labour as a translator -and a printer) does he make the slightest allusion to the casting of -his types, nor does there remain any relic or contemporary record -calculated to throw light on so interesting a topic. - -That Caxton made use of cast types, it is hardly needful here to -assert. Even admitting the possibility of a middle stage between -Xylography and Typography, the general identity of his letters, the -constant recurrence of certain flaws among his types, and the solidity -of his pages, may be taken as sufficient evidence that his types were -cast, and not separately engraved by hand. - -It is scarcely likely that during his residence at Bruges, where, as he -himself states in the prologue to the third book of the _Recuyell_, “I -have practysed and lerned at my grete charge and dispense to ordeyne -this said book in prynte,” he would omit to make himself acquainted -with the methods used in the Low Countries for the production and -multiplication of types; and it is at least reasonable to suppose -that, once established in this country, and removed from the source -of his former supplies, he would put into practice this branch of his -knowledge, and produce for himself the remaining founts of which he -made use. - -As to the particular process he employed, we have, as Mr. Blades points -out, only negative evidence on which to rely. The frequent unevenness -and irregularity of his lines, as well as the variations of the letters -themselves, lead to the conclusion that the method employed was a rude -one, inferior not only to that now in use, but even to that adopted -by the advanced German School of Typography of his own day. Rude, -however, as his method may have been, we are not disposed to allow -that Caxton could have produced the types he did without the use of -a matrix and an adjustable mould. Despite his rough workmanship, his -types are as superior to those of the _Speculum_ and _Donatus_ as they -are inferior to those of the _Mentz Bible_ and the _Catholicon_; and we -consider it out of the question that works like the _Dictes_, or the -_Polychronicon_, or the _Fifteen O’s_, could have been produced from -types cast by a clay or sand process, which we have elsewhere described -as possibly employed in the most primitive practice of the art. - -It is more probable that both Colard Mansion and Caxton, possessing the -principle of the punch, matrix and adjustable mould, but ill-furnished -with the mechanical appliances for putting that principle into -practice, made use of rough and perishable materials in all three -branches of the manufacture. Some such rough appliances we have -already suggested in our introductory chapter. . His {86} punches, -as Mr. Blades has pointed out, were, in the case of at least two of -his founts, touched-up types of a fount previously in use. A matrix -formed from such a punch, either in soft lead or plaster, could not -be anything but rough and fragile; and such a matrix, when justified -and applied to a mould of which the adjustable parts may have lacked -mathematical finish and accuracy, could scarcely be expected to produce -types of faultless precision. - -As we have freely admitted, it is impossible on this subject to go -beyond the regions of speculation, but we decidedly incline to the -opinion that the irregularities and defects of Caxton’s types may be -accounted for in the way here suggested, rather than by the assumption -that he made use of a method of casting differing wholly in principle -from that which was presently to become the universal practice. - -We shall now briefly follow Mr. Blades’ chronological summary of -Caxton’s six types, with a view to point out such particulars -respecting them as may have special bearing on the object of this work. - -TYPE 1.—This type, as already pointed out, was never used in England, -but appears in the works of the Bruges press between the years 1472 and -a date later than 1476. Bernard considers that it was modelled on the -handwriting of Colard Mansion. Although this type was chiefly used by -Mansion, Caxton appears to have used it in at least two English books -printed under Mansion’s roof, the _Recuyell_ and the _Chess Book_, the -former of which was the first book printed in the English language. The -body of the type corresponds to the present Great Primer; and a fount -comprised 163 sorts, of which a considerable number were varieties of -the same letters, “there being only five sorts for which there were not -more than one matrix, either as single letters or in combination.” - -TYPE 2 was the fount with which Caxton printed, in 1477, at -Westminster, the _Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers_. Although -this is the first dated book printed in England, there is some reason -for supposing that the undated _Jason_, and possibly some of the small -quarto poems, printed in the same type may have preceded it. The -fount was cut probably by Colard Mansion, in imitation of the Gros -Bâtarde type already in use at his press, but in a smaller size; and -it is supposed that before Caxton brought it over to England it had -been used at Bruges to print _Les Quatre Derrenieres Choses_. Twenty -works in all are known to have been printed in Type 2, which is on a -body equal to two-line Long Primer, or “Paragon,” and consists of 217 -sorts. The capital letters are extremely irregular, not only in size -but in design, some being of the simplest possible construction, while -others have spurs, lines and flourishes. It was used from 1477 to -1479, when, on its becoming worn out, selected letters were trimmed up -with a graver, new matrices formed, and a recasting made. {87} This -recasting, known as Type 2*, is the same body as Type 2, but in all -cases the letters are slightly thinner, while in the case of ascending -and descending types it is found that the process of trimming has -resulted in the amputation of certain portions of the letters. There -are also some thirty-seven sorts more in the second fount, consisting -largely of double and compound letters, which do not appear in the -first. To Type 2* belongs the honour of being in all probability the -first fount _cast_ in England. It was used from 1479 to 1481, and -nine books are known to have been printed in it, including the second -edition of the _Game and Play of the Chesse_, from which Mr. Vincent -Figgins[154] in 1855 took the models for his facsimile of the “Caxton -Black.” - -TYPE 3.—This handsome fount appears to have been used from about 1479 -to 1483, chiefly for head-lines, although one or two small church -books, as well as Caxton’s _Advertisement_, were printed entirely in -it. The body is the same as that of Type 2, with which it is sometimes -used, to distinguish proper names. The fount consists of 194 sorts, of -which the points are remarkable as being smaller than those of Type -2. It is the first appearance of the “Lettre de Forme” in English -typography; although, as Mr. Blades has pointed out, this character -belongs only to the “lower-case” letters, the capitals partaking more -of the features of Mansion’s “Gros Bâtarde”. The fount possesses a -special interest in being the first letter put forward as an English -printer’s Type-specimen. In the _Advertisement_, which we reproduce -in facsimile (No. 15), Caxton calls attention to the fact that he is -prepared to sell cheap copies of the Pica or Ordinary of the Salisbury -service, printed in the same type as the specimen shown, to anyone, -spiritual or temporal, who may come to his shop at the Red Pale, -Westminster. There is nothing to show whether this fount was brought -by Caxton from Bruges, or whether it is entitled to the distinction of -being the first fount wholly cut and cast in this country. The German -cut of the “lower-case,” as well as the slight use which Caxton made -of it, would almost suggest that it was not the product of his own -genius. On the other hand, the frequent use which De Worde made of the -fount after his master’s death, seems to point to the existence of the -matrices, as well as the types, in this country. - -TYPE 4.—This letter was in use by Caxton from 1480 to 1484, and there -is strong reason for believing that (whatever may have been the case -with Type 3) it was both cut and cast in this country. That Caxton -possessed punches of it {88} appears highly probable from the fact -that in the recasting of the fount as Type 4* we do not find the face -of the old letters to have been trimmed up, as was the case with Type -2*. On the contrary, as far as face is concerned, the two founts are -identical—a result which could hardly be expected had the matrices for -the second fount been produced by any means but a re-striking of the -original punches. The fount is smaller in size than Type 2, though the -design is similar. It consists of 194 sorts, of which seven were not -re-struck for 4*. Ten works were wholly printed in Type 4, and two -partly in 4 and 4*. The one difference between the first and second -fount is, that whereas Type 4 is very close to English body, Type -4* is cast on a body equal to two-lines Minion; or more precisely, -nineteen types of Type 4* are equivalent to twenty types of Type 4. -It appears, therefore, that, either purposely or accidentally, Caxton -shifted his mould between the two castings. It is easy to imagine that -his supply of moulds might be very limited; and even that it might be -limited to but one mould capable of being varied in “body,” as well -as in “thickness,” which he would adapt as necessity required to cast -any size of letter; so that if, for instance, after casting Type 4, he -had had occasion to “break” his mould in order to cast some additional -letters in Type 3, he might easily fail to readjust it to the precise -body of his former fount, particularly if he used a worn or foul type -by which to “set” it. The fact that in the _Confessio Amantis_, and -the _Knight of the Tower_, both castings are used, shows at least that -4* was intended to supplement, rather than replace its predecessor. -Besides the two partly printed works, sixteen entire works were printed -in Type 4* between 1483–85, from one of which, the _Golden Legend_, our -facsimile, No. 16, is taken. - -TYPE 5.—In this fount the “Lettre de Forme,” first introduced with Type -3, reappears in a smaller, but very similar form. Eleven books were -printed in it between about 1487–91, the majority of which were Latin -works of devotion. The body is rather larger than two-line Brevier, -and the fount consists of only 153 sorts, there being very few double -letters. With this fount is a set of bold Lombardic capitals, cast full -on the body, and used as initials. These Caxton afterwards cut down for -quadrats, shortening them, as was usual at that time, at the foot-end -of the type, and so not destroying the face. - -TYPE 6.—This fount was for the most part produced from matrices formed -from trimmed-up letters of Types 2 and 2*, supplemented by a few new -letters and some from other founts. The body on which it is cast is -considerably smaller than Type 2, being nearly a Great Primer as -against a two-line Long Primer. This reduction in size necessitated the -compression of a number of full-faced letters of the original founts, -some of which have been forcibly squeezed into the compass and others -truncated. The fount comprises only 141 sorts, {89} and has a set of -Lombardic capitals. It was used by Caxton between 1489 and the time of -his death in 1491, during which period eighteen works were printed in -it. In the _Treatise of Love_, printed in the same type, and supposed -to have been produced by De Worde after his master’s death, appears -an initial line in a new type, which might be reckoned as Type No. 7; -although, if the work was wholly posthumous, its claim to be included -as one of Caxton’s founts holds only as regards the cutting and -founding of it. - -[Illustration: 15. Advertisement of William Caxton. Type 3.] - -[Illustration: 16. From the _Golden Legend_. Westminster, 1482. Caxton -Type 4*.] - - * * * * * - -Such is a brief summary of the types of our first printer. It would -be interesting, were it possible, to continue in an equally detailed -manner an examination of the types of all the early English printers. -But the rapid increase of printing which followed Caxton’s death would -render such a task one of great labour and difficulty. We shall content -ourselves with collecting such references to typefounding as may throw -general light on the progress of the art during the first century of -its existence. - -We have elsewhere stated our reasons for supposing that the first -Oxford press was commenced with types brought from abroad. Of the St. -Alban’s printer and his contemporaries, Lettou and Machlinia, in the -city of London, we know very little. The types of both presses were -extremely rude, and might therefore suggest that an attempt was made to -produce them by untrained English artists, or, as is equally probable, -that the old and worn-out soft lead types of an earlier printer were -made use of. - - * * * * * - -WYNKYN DE WORDE was the most brilliant, as he was the most prolific, -English printer of the fifteenth century. Inheriting some, if not all, -of his master Caxton’s matrices, he cut a large number of new letters -for himself, and appears in the execution of these founts to have -perfected the manual processes of the manufacture, so as to leave no -doubt that his types were produced in true adjustable moulds, out of -durable matrices, impressed with hard metal punches. His letters are -clear and regularly cast; indeed, his English or Black-letter was so -excellent that it became a model for all future letter-cutters, and was -closely imitated, not only in England, but, apparently, abroad. Some -writers have considered that De Worde supplied duplicate matrices of -his Black-letter to some of his contemporaries, or else cast founts -from his own matrices for the trade. The close resemblance between -some of his founts and those of other English printers of the period, -seems to give colour to such a suggestion, although the probability -is that his old discarded types occasionally found their way into the -provinces, where (as at the press of Goes of York) they appeared during -the lifetime of their original founder. Palmer (or Psalmanazar) makes -the following {90} note on this subject: “There is one circumstance,” -he says,[155] “that induces me to think he was his own letter-founder; -which is, that in some of his first printed books, the very letter he -made use of, is the same used by all the printers in London to this -day; and, I believe, were struck from his puncheons. The first is the -two lin’d Great Primmer Black, the next is the Great Primmer Black.” -Of each of these two founts he shows a specimen (a facsimile of which -is here given), which, as Rowe Mores explains, were taken from the -matrices at that time (1732) in Grover’s foundry, where they were -reputed at one time to have belonged to De Worde.[156] - -[Illustration: 17. Black Letter, supposed to be from De Worde’s -matrices. (From Palmer’s _General History of Printing_.)] - -This piece of evidence is not very convincing. It is more to the point -that some of his early types are not to be observed in books from the -press by any foreign printer at that time; which could scarcely have -been had he, along with other English printers, purchased founts from -some of the foreign founders at that time carrying on a brisk trade -with this country. It is, however, to be borne in mind that every -printer cut or provided himself with Black as regularly as with Roman -and Italic; and the Black-letter, especially in the large sizes, -being easy to imitate, the general resemblance among the founts of -that period may mean nothing more than that De Worde’s models were -faithfully copied by his imitators. - -De Worde introduced a larger variety in body than Caxton, and in some -of {91} his works, as in the _Whitintoni Lucubrationes_, in 1527, used -a very small Black-letter, apparently, as Herbert remarks, because -he had no Roman or Italic small enough. In his Black founts he used -a large number of abbreviations, though not so many as were at that -time used by printers abroad. He has been erroneously credited by some -writers with having been the first to introduce the Roman letter into -this country. It appears, however, that he closely followed Pynson in -this innovation[157]; and, in his later works, made considerable use of -that character, both for printing entire books, and for distinguishing -remarkable words or quotations in his Black-letter text. - -Although characterised as a better printer than scholar, he was the -first to introduce letters of some of the learned languages into his -books. In 1519, in _Whitintonus de concinitate grammatices_, he used -some Greek words, the first in England, cut in wood. Later, in 1524, in -_Wakefield’s Oratio_,[158] printed in Roman characters with marginal -notes in Italic,[159] he printed some Greek words in movable types, and -showed Arabic and Hebrew cut in wood, the first used in this country. -The Hebrew is Rabbinical, and the author complains that he has been -obliged to omit a third part, because the printer lacked Hebrew types. -As early as 1495, moreover, De Worde, as we have elsewhere noted, in -his edition of the _Polychronicon_, used the first music-types known in -typography. - -He died in 1534, after printing upwards of 400 books. - - * * * * * - -His contemporary, PYNSON, who also acknowledged Caxton as his -“Worshipful Master,” appears to have been in regular correspondence -with the typographers of Rouen, one of whom printed in his name.[160] -It is also supposed that he was on friendly terms with Froben of -Basle, whose woodcut designs occasionally figure in his works. It is, -therefore, probable he may have imported some of his founts, including -the Roman, which he had the honour of first introducing into England -in 1518, from abroad. His first types, which appeared in the _Dives -and Pauper_, printed by him in 1493, were extremely rude; but in this -particular he seems to have made rapid progress, and some of his -later {92} works are distinguished as fine specimens of typography. -Mores’ account of Pynson’s types is incomplete, and in one particular -at least, that of the Roman letter in 1499, incorrect. He says: “His -types in the year 1496 were Double Pica, Great Primer and Long Primer -English (_i.e._, Black-letter), all clear and good; a rude English -English, an English and a Long Primer Roman in 1499 (_sic_), an English -and a Pica Roman with which was printed Bishop Tonstal’s book, _De -Arte Supputandi_, in 1522. They are thick, but they stand well in line -. . . He had another and better fount of Great Primer English, with -which was printed the _Gallicantus_ of Bishop Alcock . . . in 1498.” -The pretty Secretary letter, which Mores mentions as having been used -in _Statham’s_ and _Fitzherbert’s Abridgments_ belonged to Le Tailleur, -the Rouen printer, whom Pynson employed to print several law books, -on account, it is supposed, of the greater correctness of the Norman -compositors in setting the law language of the day. “However,” says -Ames, “he had such helps afterwards that all statutes, etc., were -printed here at home.” - -In 1518 he printed his first work in Roman type, the _Oratio in Pace -nuperrimâ_,[161] by Richard Pace. Only one fount is used throughout -this interesting little work, of which we here reproduce the colophon. - -[Illustration: 18. From the _Oratio in Pace nuperrimâ_. Printed by -Pynson, 1518.] - -A document still preserved in the Record Office, dated June 28, 1519, -contains an interesting mention of Pynson’s types. It is an indenture -between Wm. Horman, Clerk and Fellow of the King’s College at Eton, -and Pynson, for printing 800 copies of such _Vulgars_ as be contained -in the copy delivered to him, “in suffycient and suyng stuff of papyr, -after thre dyverse letters, on for the englysh, an other for the laten, -and a thyrde of great romayne letter for the tytyllys of the booke.” -{93} - -In 1524 Pynson possessed a fount of Greek which he used in _Linacre’s -De Emendatâ Structurâ_.[162] This is of special interest, since the -preface contains the first distinct reference to letter-founding -which occurs in any English book. The Greek accents and breathings, -it appears, were not sufficient for the whole of the quotations in -the book, and their paucity is made the subject of the following -interesting apology: “Lectori. S. Pro tuo candore optime lector -æquo animo feras, si quæ literæ in exemplis Hellenissimi vel tonis -vel spiritibus vel affectionibus careant. Iis enim non satis erat -instructus typographus videlicet _recens ab eo fusis characteribus -græcis_, nec parata ea copia, quod ad hoc agendum opus est.”[163] The -_Linacre_ is printed in a good Great Primer Roman type, with which the -Greek ranges fairly. The letters of the latter character are cast wide, -so that each letter stands apart from the next, instead of joining -close. - -A further mention of Pynson’s types occurs in a Latin letter of his -own, printed at the end of the _Lytylton Tenures_ of 1527, in which he -thus inveighs against the piracy of his rival and contemporary, Robert -Redman: “Richard Pynson, the Royal printer, salutation to the Reader. -Behold, I now give to thee, candid Reader, a Lyttleton corrected (not -deceitfully), of the errors which occurred in him; I have been careful -that not my printing only should be amended, but also that with a more -elegant type it should go forth to the day: that which hath escaped -from the hands of Robert Redman, but more truly Rudeman, because he is -the rudest out of a thousand men, is not easily understood.” - -The new fount here referred to must have been among the latest -productions of this printer’s industrious labours, as he ceased -printing in 1528, having issued upwards of 210 works. - - * * * * * - -WILLIAM FAQUES, another contemporary of De Worde’s, who printed in -London between 1504 and 1511, appears to have had a more direct -connection with the Norman typographers than any of his fellow -printers. He learned his art at Rouen with Jean le Bourgeois, and -probably came over to this country furnished with types, if not with -matrices, from that market. He is praised with justice as an excellent -workman, and some of his Black-letter founts are described by Mores as -equalling in beauty any which were to be found in {94} England as late -as his day (1778). It is supposed that De Worde became possessed of -some of these letters after Faques’ death, which occurred in 1511. - - * * * * * - -With Faques and Pynson early English Typography seems to have reached -for a time its high-water mark. A slow deterioration set in, probably -consequent on the withdrawal of the foreign trade in type, and the -necessity thereupon for every printer to become his own punch-cutter -and typefounder. - -Mores, in passing, is careful to rescue a few names from reproach. -“COPLAND THE ELDER,” he says, “(who had been servant to De Worde) and -WYER and REDMAN, had founts of two-line Great Primer, the letter good -and beautiful. . . WILL. RASTEL used Italic in 1531. . . Redman[164] -used a Secretary type in the edition of _Rastell’s Grete Abridgement_, -printed in the year 1534, which Secretary is the last Secretary we -remember. BERTHELET had a fount of English Roman with a face as thick -as English” (Black-letter), “but pretty.” - -[Illustration: 18A. From the _Boke named the Governour_. Printed by -Berthelet, 1531.] - -We annex a specimen of the curious semi-Gothic fount used by this -last-named printer in 1531 for printing Sir Thomas Elyot’s _Boke named -the Governour_. The face is of rare occurrence in English typography, -and was probably procured {95} from abroad. The small Secretary type -mixed with it is doubtless English, and was one of the latest founts of -its kind used in the country. - -There appears to be no special reason, as we have stated, why the names -and types of any particular printers at this period should be selected -to the exclusion of others who equally with them produced types for -their own use. We may, however, mention REYNOLD WOLFE, who in 1543 held -the first patent as printer to the king in Latin, Greek and Hebrew, and -printed the first entire Greek and Latin book in England, being Sir -John Cheke’s edition of _Chrysostom’s two Homilies_.[165] He appears, -however, to have printed nothing in Hebrew. - - * * * * * - -JOHN DAY occupies an important place in the history of early English -letter-founding. What is mainly conjecture with regard to most of -his predecessors we are able to state on the authority of historical -records with regard to him, namely, that he was his own letter-founder; -and from his day English letter-founding may be said to have started on -a separate career. - -He was born in 1522, and began business about 1546, in St. Sepulchre’s -parish. In 1549 he removed to Aldersgate, where he continued until -1572. The persecutions of Queen Mary’s reign caused him to seek refuge -abroad, but he returned in 1556, in which year he was the first person -admitted to the livery of the Stationers’ Company, newly incorporated -by the charter of Philip and Mary. On the accession of Queen Elizabeth -he became an important printer, and was chosen Warden of the Company in -1564 and three subsequent years, and Master in 1580. - -Early in the Queen’s reign he found a generous patron in Archbishop -Parker, under whose auspices he cut some of his most famous founts. One -of the earliest of these was the fount of Saxon, which appeared first -in Ælfric’s Saxon Homily, edited by the Archbishop under the title of -_A Testimonie of Antiquitie_, and printed in 1567. It was used again in -Lambard’s _Archaionomia_ in the following year, in the _Saxon Gospels_, -printed in 1571, and subsequently in the Archbishop’s famous edition of -Asser Menevensis’ _Ælfredi Res Gestæ_ in 1574.[166] - -This last-named work, which may be regarded as one of the first -historical monuments of English letter-founding, contained a preface -by Parker, in which {96} Day’s performance in cutting the punches is -thus particularly alluded to:—“Jam vero cum Dayus typographus primus -(et omnium certè quod sciam solus) has formas æri inciderit; facilè quæ -Saxonicis literis perscripta sunt, iisdem typis divulgabuntur.”[167] - -The Saxon fount, as will be seen by the facsimile, is an English in -body, very clear and bold. Of the capitals, eight only, including two -diphthongs, are distinctively Saxon, the remaining eighteen letters -being ordinary Roman; while in the lower-case there are twelve Saxon -letters as against fifteen of the Roman. The accuracy and regularity -with which this fount was cut and cast is highly creditable to Day’s -excellence as a founder.[168] He subsequently cut a smaller size of -Saxon on Pica body. - -The typography of the _Ælfredi_ is superior to that of almost any -other work of the period. Dibdin considered it one of the rarest and -most important volumes which issued from Day’s press. The Archbishop’s -preface is printed in a bold, flowing Double Pica Italic, and the Latin -preface of St. Gregory at the end in a Roman of the same body, worthy -of Plantin himself. It is at least a curious circumstance, pointing -to a community of founts among printers even at that day, that in -Binneman’s[169] edition of Walsingham’s _Historia_, bound up with Day’s -_Asser_ and the _Ypodigma Neustriæ_, this same large Roman and Italic -is made use of. - -Respecting an Italic fount cut by Day in 1572, several interesting -particulars are preserved, which tend to throw further light on our -printer’s operations as a punch-cutter and letter-founder. - -[Illustration: 20. Day’s Saxon Fount. (From the _Ælfredi Res Gestæ_, -1574.)] - -[Illustration: 21. Day’s Double Pica Roman. (From the _Ælfredi Res -Gestæ_, 1574.)] - -[Illustration: 22. Day’s Double Pica Italic. (From the _Ælfredi Res -Gestæ_, 1574.) - -(The extract is Parker’s reference to Day as a letter-founder.)] - -It appears that in that year, at the time when Day removed his shop -from {97} Aldersgate to St. Paul’s Churchyard, Archbishop Parker was -engaged in providing replies to a Popish polemic of Nicholas Sanders, -entitled _De Visibili Monarchia_. Dr. Clerke of Cambridge was selected -for the task, and his _Responsio_ was entrusted to Day to print. In a -letter to Lord Burleigh, dated December 13, 1572, the Archbishop thus -refers to the typography of the forthcoming work[170]: - -“To the better accomplishment of this worke and other that shall -followe, I have spoken to Daie the printer to cast a new Italian -letter, which he is doinge, and it will cost him xl marks; and loth he -and other printers be to printe any Lattin booke, because they will -not heare be uttered and for that Bookes printed in Englande be in -suspition abroad.” - -Strype, referring to the transaction, adds a note: “For our Black -English letter was not proper for the printing of a Latin Book; and -neither he (Day) nor any one else, as yet had printed any Latin -books.”[171] This misleading statement is corrected by Herbert,[172] -who points out that many Latin books had been printed, few of which, -after 1520, had been in Black-letter, and he believed none at all after -1530. Moreover, many English books had long before 1572 been printed -in Roman or Italic, and even such as had generally been printed in -Black-letter usually had the notes and quotations in Roman or Italic. - -It is singular that, after this announcement by the Archbishop, -neither of the replies to Sanders was printed in Italic type. Clerke’s -_Responsio_,[173] in 1573, appeared in a new Great Primer Roman type, -with the quotations only in Italic, the headings being set in the -large Italic afterwards used in the _Asser_. Acworth’s _De Visibili -Romanarchia_,[174] another rejoinder, in the same year, was in an -English Roman, with a corresponding Italic and Greek. In Parker’s -great work, however, _De Antiquitate Britannicæ Ecclesiæ_,[175] -published the year before (1572), and supposed by some to have been -printed by Day at a private press of the Archbishop’s at Lambeth, the -entire text, consisting of 524 pages, was in the English Italic, which -Dibdin describes as “a full-sized, close, but flowing Italic letter.” -The preface only to this work was in Roman; the various titles and -sub-titles being in the larger founts of the _Responsio_ and _Asser_. - -Day was among the first English printers who cut the Roman and Italic -to range as one and the same fount. Hitherto the two letters had -been but seldom {98} intermixed, and when they were, they frequently -exhibited a disparity in size and an irregularity in line which was -disfiguring.[176] Day, however, cut uniform founts. - -In addition to the characters already mentioned, he greatly improved -the Greek letter of the day. The _Christianæ Pietatis Prima -Institutio_, printed by him in 1578, is in a beautiful type, which -is considered to be equal to that of the great Greek typographers of -Paris—the Estiennes. - -Among his further enterprises in letter-cutting may be mentioned -the Hebrew words, cut in wood, which he used in Humphrey’s _Life of -Jewell_, in 1573, and in Baro’s _Readings on Jonah_, in 1579; and the -musical notes which he introduced into his editions of the metrical -_Psalter_. These notes are chiefly lozenge-shaped and hollow, differing -from those used by Grafton in 1550, in Merbecke’s _Booke of Common -Praier_, _noted_, which are mostly square and solid. He also, as he -himself stated in a book printed in 1582, “caused a new print of note -to be made, with letters to be joined to every note, whereby thou -mayest know how to call every note by its right name.” Besides these, -he made use of a considerable number of signs, mathematical and other, -not before cast in type; while his works abound with handsome woodcut -initials, vignettes and portraits, besides a considerable variety of -metal “flowers.” Of the disposal of Day’s punches and matrices after -his death we have no precise information, but the reappearance of -the beautiful Double Pica Roman and Italic of the _Ælfredi_, in the -_Bibles_ printed by the Barkers, in Young’s _Catena on Job_ in 1637, -in Walton’s _Polyglot_ in 1657, and other works, most of them executed -by the royal printers, suggests that these founts at any rate were -retained (probably under archiepiscopal control), and handed down for -the service of the privileged presses. - -[Illustration: 19. Portrait of JOHN DAY, 1562. (From the Colophon to -Peter Martir’s _Commentaries on the Romans_, 1568.)] - -In Strype’s _Life of Parker_, already quoted, is preserved an -interesting account of Day’s business, with which we close this short -notice: “And with the Archbishop’s engravers, we may joyn his -printer Day, who printed his _British Antiquities_ and divers other -books by his order . . . for whom the Archbishop had a particular -kindness . . . Day was more ingenious and industrious in his art and -probably richer too, than the rest, and so became envied by the rest of -his fraternity, who hindered, what they could, the sale of his books; -and he had in the year 1572, upon his hands, to the value of two or -three thousand pounds worth, a great summ in those days. But living -under Aldersgate, an obscure corner of the city, he wanted a good vent -for them. {101} Whereupon his friends, who were the learned, procured -him from the Dean and Chapter of St. Pauls, a lease of a little shop -to be set up in St. Pauls Churchyard. Whereupon he got framed a neat -handsome shop. It was but little and low, and flat-roofed and leaded -like a terrace, railed and posted, fit for men to stand upon in any -triumph or show; but could not in anywise hurt or deface the same. -This cost him forty or fifty pounds. But . . . his brethren the -booksellers envied him and by their interest got the mayor and aldermen -to forbid him setting it up, though they had nothing to do there, but -by power. Upon this the Archbishop brought his business before the Lord -Treasurer, and interceded for him, that he would move the Queen to set -her hand to certain letters that he had drawn up in the Queen’s name to -the city, in effect, that Day might be permitted to go forward with his -building. Whereby, he said, his honour would deserve well of Christ’s -Church, and of the prince and State.”—P. 541. - -Day died in 1584, aged 62, and was buried at Bradley Parva. He -published about 250 works. “He seems indeed,” says Dibdin, “(if we -except Grafton) the Plantin of Old English Typographers; while his -character and reputation scarcely suffer diminution from a comparison -with those of his illustrious contemporary just mentioned.” - -[Illustration] - -{102} - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -LETTER-FOUNDING AS AN ENGLISH MECHANICAL TRADE.—1477–1830. - - -It will be convenient, now that we have reached a point at which -letter-founding enters upon a new stage as a distinct trade, to take -a brief survey of its progress as a mechanical industry; availing -ourselves of such records and illustrations as may be met with, to -trace its development and improved appliances during the period covered -by this narrative. - -As has already been stated, the reticence of our first printers leaves -us almost entirely in the dark as to the particular processes by which -they produced their earliest types. Mr. Blades leans to the opinion -that Caxton, in his first attempts at typefounding, adopted the methods -of the rude Flemish or Dutch School, of whose conjectured appliances -we have spoken in the introductory chapter. “The English printers,” -he says, “whose practice seems to have been derived from the Flemish -School, were far behind their contemporaries in the art. Their types -show that a very rude process of founding was practised; and the use -. . . of old types as patterns for new, evinces more of commercial -expediency than of artistic ambition.” - -At the same time, there seems reasonable ground for inferring, from -the peculiarities attending the re-casting of Caxton’s Type 4 as -4*, to which allusion has already been made, that at least as early -as 1480 Caxton was possessed of the secret of the punch, and matrix -and adjustable mould; while the {103} excellent works of De Worde -and his contemporaries demonstrate that, however rudely, the art may -have begun, England was, in the early years of the sixteenth century, -abreast of many of her rivals, both as to the design and workmanship of -her founts. - -The frequent indications to be met with of the transmission of founts -from one printer to another, as well as the passing on of worn types -from the presses of the metropolis to those of the provinces, are -suggestive of the existence (very limited, indeed) of some sort of -home trade in type even at that early date. For a considerable time, -moreover, after the perfection of the art in England, the trade in -foreign types, which dated back as early as the establishment of -printing in Westminster and Oxford, continued to flourish. With -Normandy, especially, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, a -brisk commerce was maintained. Not only were many of the English -liturgical and law books printed abroad by Norman artists, but Norman -type found its way in considerable quantities into English presses. -M. Claudin, whose researches in the history of the early provincial -presses of France entitles him to be considered an authority on the -matter, states that Rouen, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, -was the great typographical market which furnished type not to England -only, but to other cities in France and to Switzerland. “It evidently -had special typographical foundries,” he observes. “Richard Pynson, a -London printer, was a Norman; Will Faques learned typography from J. -le Bourgeois, a printer at Rouen. These two printers had types cast -expressly for themselves in Normandy. Wynkyn de Worde must have bought -types in Normandy also, and very likely from Peter Olivier and Jean -de Lorraine, printers in partnership at Rouen.”[177] And with regard -to the first printer of Scotland, M. Claudin has no doubt that Myllar -learned his art in Normandy, and that the types with which his earliest -work was printed were those of the Rouen printer, Hostingue. - -It is reasonable to suppose that English printers would endeavour, -if possible, to provide themselves, not with types merely, but with -matrices of the founts of their selections; and, indeed, we imagine -some explanation of the marked superiority of our national typography -at the close of the fifteenth century over that of half a century -later, is to be found in the fact that, whereas many of the first -printers used types wholly cut and cast for them by expert foreign -artists, their successors began first to cast for themselves from -hired or purchased matrices, and finally to cut their own punches and -justify their own matrices. Printing entered on a gloomy stage of its -career in England after Day’s time, {104} and as State restrictions -gradually hemmed it in, crushing by its monopolies healthy competition, -and by its jealousy foreign succour, every printer became his own -letter-founder, not because he would, but because he must, and the art -suffered in consequence. - -[Illustration: 23. From Jost Amman’s _Stände und Handwerker_. -Frankfurt, 1568.] - -[Illustration: 24. Letter-founding and Printing, _circa_ 1548. (From -the cut in the Harleian MSS.)] - -Of the operations of a sixteenth century letter-foundry, we are -fortunately able to form some idea from the quaint engraving preserved -to us by Jost {105} Amman in his _Book of Trades_[178] in 1568, and -reproduced here. The picture represents the Frankfort founder seated at -his small brick furnace, casting type in a mould. This mould differs -from the modern hand-moulds in being pyramidical in shape, and holding -the matrix as a fixture in its interior. One of the moulds on the -shelf shows a hole in the side, into which the matrix was probably -inserted. From the manner in which the caster is grasping the mould, -it would seem that it was bipartite, and needed the two halves holding -together during casting. The cast types lying in the bowl have “breaks” -attached to them, which at that date were in all probability cast so -as to be easily detached. Behind the caster are some drawers, probably -intended to contain matrices, of which one or two lie on the top -waiting their turn for use. On the lower of the two shelves above the -furnace are some crucibles, in which the metals would be mixed before -filling up the casting-pan. On the upper shelf, besides three more -moulds, are some sieves, suggestive of the use of sand, either for -moulding large letters, or, as Mr. Blades suggests, for running the -small ingots of metal into for use in the melting-pot. The small room -in which this caster is operating in all probability formed part of a -printing-office; and another interesting engraving of perhaps a still -earlier date, which we here reproduce from the original in the British -Museum,[179] shows the two departments of the typographer’s art going -on in {106} adjoining apartments. In this case, as in the Frankfort -cut, the caster is sitting; but his mould, large as it is, appears -to be furnished with a spring at the bottom, more like the later -hand-moulds. - -In the lines accompanying Amman’s picture the founder is made to say -that he casts types made of “Bismuth, Tin and Lead,” a statement which, -if correct, shows that the Frankfort types of that day must have been -cast in terribly soft metal, of about the substance and durability of -modern solder. The presence of the crucibles, however, points to the -use of some fourth metal, of sufficient hardness to require a violent -heat to fuse it. The founder also states that he can correctly justify -his letters, which may refer either to the dressing of the types after -casting, or the more important justification of the matrix to adapt it -to the mould. - -Another interesting memorial of a sixteenth century foundry is to be -met with in a visit to the once famous printing-office of Christopher -Plantin at Antwerp.[180] The foundry of the great Netherlands -“Archi-typographus,” which is still preserved in its pristine -condition, was on the upper floor of his house, and consisted of two -rooms, one devoted wholly to the casting, the other being a store-room -for types awaiting use at the press. In the casting-room is still to -be seen a large brick furnace covered with an earthenware slab. To -the right of this is a smaller furnace, surmounted by the metal pot, -which even yet contains some of the old type-alloy. On the walls hang -tongs, ladles, knives and moulds. In a box are preserved small parcels -of pattern-types for setting the moulds by, among which the visitor is -shown three or four types of silver.[181] In another box are a {107} -large number of punches[182] and moulds of all sizes. A bench extends -along one side of the room, doubtless for the use of the dressers or -rubbers. - -In all these points we recognise that even in Plantin’s day the -general appointments of a letter-foundry differed very little from -those of the modern foundry before the introduction of machinery. -Although we have no description of any English foundry before Moxon’s -time, we know that the processes in use among us boast a much earlier -origin. Moxon described no new method, but the old-established -practice which had obtained, if not from the infancy of the art, at -least from the commencement of that gradual divorce between printing -and letter-founding which led, about 1585, to the establishment of -foundries for the public use. We have no reason to suppose that the -foundries connected with the presses of Day, Wolfe and others differed -in practice from those of their Frankfort and Antwerp contemporaries, -or that when, in 1597, Benjamin Sympson, a letter-founder, gave bond to -the Stationers’ Company not to cast type for the printers without due -notice, he, or the founders who followed him, knew any other methods of -producing their type than those already familiar to every printer at -home and abroad. - -Turning now to Moxon’s account of English letter-founding as it was -in his day, we find no lack of detail as to every branch of the art -and every appliance in use by the artist. It is not our purpose here -to follow these descriptions further than as they give a general idea -of the practice and method of letter-founding two centuries ago,—a -practice and method which, as we have said, existed long before his -day, and were destined to be in common use for nearly a century and -a half after. We shall best indicate the processes and appliances he -describes by giving a brief analysis of that portion of his book which -is {108} devoted to the mechanics of letter-founding,[183] reserving -for a later chapter a general summary of the complete work. - -Naturally beginning with punch-cutting, he first describes in detail -the various tools made use of by the engraver, viz., the forge, the -using file, the flat gauge, the sliding gauges, the face gauges, the -Italic and other standing gauges, the liner, the flat table, the tach, -and other furniture of the bench. Every one of these tools is to be -found in the punch-cutter’s room of the present day, scarcely changed -in form or use from the woodcuts which illustrate Moxon’s description. - -Turning from the tools to the workman, Moxon next proceeds to describe -his choice of steel for the punches; the making and striking of the -counter-punches on the polished face of the punch; the “graving and -sculping” of the insides of the letters; together with certain rules in -the use of the gravers, small files, etc., employed in this delicate -operation. - -With regard to the process described as counter-punching, it is -necessary to admit that this constituted a refinement of the art of -punch-cutting apparently unknown to the first printers. The freedom -of their letters, consequent on the imitation of handwriting, which -served as their earliest models, makes it evident that they cut by eye, -rather than by mathematical rule. But as typography gradually made -models for itself, the best artists, particularly those who aimed at -producing regular Roman and Italic letters, discovered the utility and -expediency of arriving at uniformity in design and contour, by the use -of these counter-punches, which stamped on to the steel the impress of -the hollow portions of the letters they were about to cut, leaving it -to the hand of the engraver to cut round these hollows the form of the -required character. - -The punches being cut, finished and hardened, Moxon next deals with the -various parts of the type-mould, describing in turn the “Making” of -the mould: The Carriage,[184] (a); the Body, (b); the Male Gauge, (c); -the Mouthpiece, (d e); the Register, (f i); the Female Gauge, (g); the -Hag, (h); the Bottom Plate, (_a_); the Wood, (_b_); the Mouth, (_c_); -the Throat, (_d_); the Pallat, (_e_ _d_); the Nick, (_f_); the Stool, -(_g_); the Spring, (_h_). - -[Illustration: 25. Letter-founding in 1683. (From Moxon’s _Mechanick -Exercises_.) - -A. Ladle. B. Leather mould-guard. _a, b, c, d._ Furnace-top. _e._ Pan. -_f._ Funnel. _g._ Stoke-hole. _i._ Air-hole. _k._ Ash-hole. ] - -Here again we have described, with scarcely a difference, the mould in -which scores of men yet living have in their day cast types for the -trade. The {111} justification of the mould is then described; after -which the important operation of striking the steel punch into copper, -and forming and justifying the matrix, is treated of, with instructions -for “botching” matrices in the event of a mistake in the latter -process. The matrices being thus ready, the founder is instructed -how to adjust them to the mould in preparation for casting,—a solemn -process which may be best described in the writer’s own language:― - -“Wherefore, placing the under-half of the Mold in his left hand, with -the Hook or Hag forward, he clutches the ends of its Wood between -the lower part of the Ball of his Thumb and his three hind-Fingers. -Then he lays the upper half of the Mold upon the under half, so as -the Male-Gages may fall into the Female Gages, and at the same time -the Foot of the Matrice place itself upon the Stool. And clasping his -left-hand Thumb strong over the upper half of the Mold, he nimbly -catches hold of the Bow or Spring with his right-hand Fingers at the -top of it, and his Thumb under it, and places the point of it against -the middle of the Notch in the backside of the Matrice, pressing -it as well forwards towards the Mold, as downwards by the Sholder -of the Notch close upon the Stool, while at the same time with his -hinder-Fingers as aforesaid, he draws the under half of the Mold -towards the Ball of his Thumb, and thrusts by the Ball of his Thumb the -upper part towards his Fingers, that both the Registers of the Mold -may press against both sides of the Matrice, and his Thumb and Fingers -press both Halves of the Mold close together. Then he takes the Handle -of the Ladle in his right Hand, and with the Boll of it gives a Stroak -two or three outwards upon the Surface of the Melted Mettal to scum or -cleer it from the Film or Dust that may swim upon it. Then he takes up -the Ladle full of Mettal, and having his Mold as aforesaid in his left -hand, he a little twists the left side of his Body from the Furnace, -and brings the Geat of his Ladle, (full of Mettal) to the Mouth of the -Mold, and twists the upper part of his right-hand towards him to turn -the Mettal into it, while at the same moment of Time he Jilts the Mold -in his left hand forwards to receive the Mettal with a strong Shake -(as it is call’d) not only into the Bodies of the Mold, but while the -Mettal is yet hot, running swift and strongly into the very Face of the -Matrice to receive its perfect Form there as well as in the Shanck.” - -This done, the mould is opened, and the type released; Moxon adding -that a workman will ordinarily cast 4,000 such letters in a day. - -Then follow rules to be observed in breaking off, rubbing, kerning, -setting-up and dressing, with descriptions of the dressing-sticks, -block-groove, hook, knife and “plow.” That these operations, as well -as the casting, had undergone no alteration nearly a century after -Moxon’s day, may be judged from the fact that Moxon’s descriptions are -used verbatim to accompany the view of the {112} interior of Caslon’s -foundry, shown in the _Universal Magazine_ of 1750, where all these -operations are exhibited in active progress. - -With regard to the preparation of the type-metal, Moxon’s account is -minute and a trifle peculiar. This metal was, according to his account, -made of lead hardened with iron.[185] Stub-nails were chosen as the -best form of iron to melt, and the mixture was made with the assistance -of antimony, of which an equal amount with the iron was added to the -lead, in the proportion of 3 lb. of iron to 25 lb. of lead. The great -heat required to melt the iron necessitated open furnaces of brick, -built out of doors, in a broad, open place, well exposed to the wind, -into which the iron and antimony mixture was put in pots surrounded -with charcoal. After half an hour’s time the metal men were to “lay -their Ears near the Ground and listen to hear a Bubling in the Pots,” -which is the sign that the iron is melted. They then were to erect -another small furnace, “on that side from whence the Wind blows,” which -was to contain the large pot full of lead. The lead being melted, they -were to carry it at a great heat, with a “Labour would make Hercules -sweat,” to the open furnace, filling up the pots of iron and antimony -with the lead, and stirring at the same time. The open furnace was -to be then demolished, and the mixed metal left to cool in the pots. -And “now,” says Moxon, “(according to Custom), is Half a Pint of Sack -mingled with Sallad Oyl provided for each Workman to Drink; intended -for an Antidote against the Poysonous Fumes of the Antimony, and to -restore the Spirits that so Violent a Fire and Hard Labour may have -exhausted.” - -Such is a brief account of the practice of typefounding in Moxon’s -time. Of the trade customs of the day our author also presents us with -a curious picture, in his account of the Chapel. - -“A Founding-House,” he says, “is also call’d a Chappel: but I suppose -the Title was originally assum’d by Founders to make a Competition with -Printers. The Customes used in a Founding-House are made as near as -maybe those of a Printing-House; but because the Matter they Work on -and the manner of their Working is different, therefore such different -Customes are in Use as are suitable to their Trade, as:― - - “First, To call Mettle Lead, a Forfeiture. - - “Secondly, A Workman to let fall his Mold, a Forfeiture. - - “Thirdly, A Workman to leave his Ladle in the Mettle Noon or - Night, a Forfeiture.” {113} - -We are given to understand that in the case of other offences, common -to both printing and typefounding, such as swearing, fighting, -drunkenness, abusive language, or giving the lie in the chapel, or -the equally heinous offence of leaving a candle burning at night, the -journeyman founder was liable to be “solaced” by his fellow-workmen, -in the same hearty and energetic way which characterised the -administration of justice among the printers. - -After Moxon’s time we meet with numerous accounts of foundries and -their appointments. The interesting inventory of the Oxford foundry, -appended to the specimen of the press in 1695, gives a good idea of -the extent of that establishment. There were apparently two casters, -two rubbers, and two or three dressers, and the foundry possessed -twenty-eight moulds. The punches were sealed up in an earthen pot, -possibly to protect them from rust or injury; or possibly, because -having once served their purpose in striking the matrices, they were -put aside as of little or no use. The small value put upon punches -after striking is constantly apparent about this period. Very few -punches came down with the foundries which were absorbed by that of -John James; and of those that did, the greater portion were left -to take their chance among the waste as worthless. The small value -set upon the punches of Walpergen’s music, in the inventory of his -plant,[186] shows that they were considered the least important of his -belongings. Matrices did not wear out in the old days of hand-moulds -and soft metal, as they do now under steam machines and “extra hard”; -but the liability to loss or damage, and the importance of protecting -and preserving the steel originals of their types, can hardly have been -less with the founders of a century and a half ago than it is to-day. - -The entertaining letters of Thomas James from Holland, in 1710,[187] -point to a curious practice in that country, which we believe has never -obtained in this. We refer to the habit of lending casters and matrices -by one founder to another. In each of the two foundries he visited -there were places for four casters; but in one case only one man was -at work, and in the other no one was to be found, for this reason. -This system of interchange is hardly consistent with the jealousy and -suspicion shown by the same Dutch founders towards their English rival -in his endeavours to procure sets of matrices from their punches. In -this endeavour, however, he succeeded, much to his own satisfaction. -He also purchased moulds, which, like all the other Dutch moulds he -saw, were made of brass. Voskens’ foundry, which he visited, appears -to have been “a great business, having five or six men constantly at -the furnace, besides boys to rub, and himself and a brother {114} to -do the other work.” He also found artists who, like Cupi and Rolij, -were punch-cutters only, not attached to any one foundry, but doing -work for founders generally. Van Dijk was a cutter only, who kept a -founder of his own named Bus, and this founder cast, not at his own -or Van Dijk’s house, but at the house of Athias, by whom probably he -was also engaged. The Voskens, who succeeded Van Dijk, did their own -casting, but their punches and matrices were supplied them by Rolij, -who, as an independent artist, was free to sell duplicate matrices of -his letters to James. This division of letter-founding into one or more -trades, though common abroad, was never a common practice in England, -where jealousy and lack of enterprise conspired to keep each founder’s -business a mystery known only to himself.[188] - -In the course of this book we shall have constant occasion to point -out the intimate relations which existed at the beginning of the -eighteenth century between English printers and Dutch founders. There -was probably more Dutch type in England between 1700 and 1720 than -there was English. The Dutch artists appeared for the time to have the -secret of the true shape of the Roman letter; their punches were more -carefully finished, their matrices better justified, and their types of -better metal, and better dressed, than any of which our country could -boast. Nor was it till Caslon developed a native genius that English -typography ceased to be more than half Dutch. - -Thiboust’s quaint Latin poem on the excellence of printing,[189] -though throwing little new light on the practice of the art, is -worth recording here, not only for the description it gives of -letter-founding in France at the time, but for the sake of the curious -woodcut which accompanies it. The latter represents a round furnace in -the centre of a room, surmounted by a metal pot, at which two casters -are standing, with ladle and mould in hand. The moulds, of which a -number are to be seen in a rack against the wall, are almost cubic in -shape, and apparently without the hooks shown in Moxon’s illustration. -One of the casters is holding his mould low, as in the act of casting. -A workman sitting on a stool is setting up in a stick the newly-cast -type from a box on the {115} floor—possibly breaking them off at the -same time. Beyond is a dresser grooving out the break in a stick of -types. - -[Illustration: 26. Letter-founding in France in 1718. (From Thiboust’s -_Typographiæ Excellentia_.)] - -Of the portion of the poem devoted to letter-founding,[190] we venture -to give the following rough translation:― {116} - - “The founder see, whose molten metal glows - Above the blazing furnace. From the pot - His ladle nimbly feeds the curious mould, - Whence straight the type in perfect fashion falls. - The willing servant, he, of all the Schools, - Whether in Latin they would write, or Greek, - Or in the Hebrew tongue their minds disclose, - Or in the German. He, for all prepared, - Skilful, for each his character provides. - See with what art the several types are cast, - Each from its parent matrix; see how bright, - Trimmed by the dresser’s cunning knife, they lie. - He the redundant metal first breaks off, - Then on the stick in order sets the type, - And with his plane their equal height assures. - Such is the founder’s craft, whose arduous round - Of toil ’midst ardent heats is daily found.” - -A still more satisfactory view of an eighteenth century foundry is -to be found in the _Universal Magazine_ of 1750. This engraving, of -which our frontispiece is a facsimile, represents the interior of -Caslon’s foundry, with the processes of casting, breaking-off, rubbing, -setting-up, and dressing, all in operation. The casting is specially -interesting, in the light of Moxon’s graphic account of the attitudes -and contortions of the caster. Unlike their French brethren, each of -Caslon’s casters stands partitioned off from his neighbour, with a -furnace and pan to himself. One of them is dipping his ladle in the pot -for a new cast; the next holds his mould lowered, at the commencement -of a “pour”; the third has evidently completed the upward jerk -necessary to force the metal into the matrix; and the fourth, with his -mould again lowered, is apparently throwing out the type and preparing -for the next casting. - -A set of three views of the interior of a French foundry, from an -_Encyclopædia_[191] of about this date, presents a few interesting -points of contrast between foreign and English methods. In the first -view the process of punch-cutting is displayed.[192] One man is -finishing a punch with his file; another is striking a counter-punch -(with perhaps undue energy) into the steel face of a punch; while the -third, at a large forge, is hammering a piece of steel in readiness -for the engraver. The second view shows metal making, casting, -breaking-off, and {117} rubbing, in operation. There are two men at -the large furnace, one watching the melting of antimony in a crucible, -the other pouring off the mixed metal into ingots. At the small metal -pot with three divisions, in the centre of the room, are three casters, -one of whom is about to cast, another has finished his “throw,” and the -third is loosening his spring so as to open the mould. At the table in -the rear sit two girls, one breaking off, the other rubbing. The third -view represents a dressing-room, where a girl is setting up the rubbed -types on a stick. The dresser is ploughing the “break” from the foot of -a stick of types, which is placed in the blocks, not lengthways along -the bench, but across it. An apprentice sitting at the table completes -the dressing, holding one end of the stick tilted while he passes -his scraper over the front and back of the row of types. Drawings of -all the tools and parts of tools used in typefounding complete the -illustration. - -Fournier, the French Moxon, in 1764 devoted the latter part of vol. i -of his _Manuel Typographique_[193] to the appliances and instruments -used in type-casting. His work enters in detail into the form and use -of every tool used in every department of the trade, from the cutting -of the punch to the storage of the finished types, giving careful and -accurate woodcuts of each. Allowing for a few national peculiarities, -and certain improvements in casting, there is scarcely anything but -the date of the book to distinguish it from a mechanical handbook to -typefounding in the middle of the nineteenth century. - -The operations of punch-cutting and justifying appear to have been -kept a mystery from the earliest days of the trade. To lay minds, -the one work of the founder was to cast types; but the preliminary -operations on which his whole reputation as a founder depended, were -little understood by any but the founder himself. And even he, as in -the case of the first two Caslons, carried on this part of the mystery -stealthily, and with closed doors even against his own apprentices. In -many cases, especially with the originators of the great foundries, -Caslon, Cottrell and Jackson, it was the master himself who designed -and cut his own punches. It was not till the unusual demand for -artists at the close of last century broke down this exclusiveness -that outsiders arose to work for the trade in general. And even these, -it was the policy and endeavour of each founder to attach to himself, -treating him as a gentleman at large, and free from the obligations -imposed on his other workmen. - -_The Rules and Regulations of Thorne’s Foundry_, printed about the -year 1806, give an interesting glimpse into the internal economy of a -foundry of that period. After fixing the prices to be paid for work -(for casting, rubbing, and kerning were {118} all paid by “piece”), -they provide that the dressers shall have 25_s._ a week, “abiding by -the old custom of leaving work at four o’clock on Mondays. Each man -to dress after four casters.” The fines for “foot-ale” imposed on new -hands are ordered to be deposited with the master, who is to keep an -account of the same, and divide it equally among the men at Christmas. -The foundry hours are from six in the morning to eight in the evening -in summer, and from seven to eight in winter, “beginning when -candle-light commences.” The dressers are to work from seven to eight -in summer, and eight to eight in winter. Any man losing or damaging -a mould, matrix, or tool, to make good the loss on the following -Saturday. Any man leaving his lamp or candle alight after hours is to -pay 6_d._, and the master for a similar offence is to fine himself -1_s._ Rubbers must grind their stones once a fortnight, “if requested -to do so either by the master or foreman.” No work to be taken out of -the foundry. Casters and rubbers must take their turn at carrying in -metal. Breaking-off and setting-up boys shall earn 10_d._ a week for -each man they set-up after. Many of these customs are traditional, and -survive at the present time. - -Conservatism, indeed, has been a marked feature in the history of -British letter-founding. Between 1637 and 1837 the number of important -foundries rarely exceeded the limit prescribed by the Star Chamber -decree of the former year. The methods and practice of the art, as -we have seen, remained virtually unchanged during the whole period. -The traditional customs, the trade _argot_, the relations of men -to men, and men to masters, even the tricks and gestures of the -caster, suffered nothing by the lapse of two centuries. The relations -of the founders among themselves during the period underwent more -vicissitudes. At all times jealous of their mystery, they mistrusted -in turn the printers and one another. As the new school of Caslon -and his apprentices rose up to oust the old Dutch school of James, -mutual antagonism was the order of the day. The literary duel between -the Caslons and the Frys was perhaps the least injurious outcome of -this spirit. This antagonism resolved itself, at the close of last -century, into a combination of London founders against their rising -Scotch competitors. An Association was formed in 1793, which continued -for three years. In 1799 it was re-formed, and this time lasted four -years; and again in 1809 it was revived and continued till 1820, -when it terminated. In the early days of this Association the lady -Caslons took a prominent part in its deliberations, which, however, -frequently consisted of little more than the imposition of fines for -non-attendance. The prices of type during this period, chiefly owing -to the fluctuations in the value of metals during the French war, -were constantly changing. Pica in 1793 was 1_s._ 1 1/2_d._ a pound, -in 1800 1_s._ 4_d._, in 1810 3_s._, and in 1816 (after the price of -antimony had gone down from £400 to £200 a {119} ton), 2_s._ The -Scotch founders, however, joined presently by the Sheffield houses, -continued to underbid the London founders in their own market; and at -one time a combination of all the English houses existed in opposition -to the unfortunate new foundry of the Frenchman, Pouchée. - - * * * * * - -Our survey does not extend beyond the year 1830, but before concluding -this hasty outline of the progress of letter-founding as a mechanical -trade, it will be interesting to notice the gradual changes in the -process of casting which led to the final abandonment of the venerable -hand-mould in favour of machinery. - -We cannot do better than give a brief summary from the Patent Book[194] -of the chief improvements proposed to be made in typefounding prior -to 1830, premising that many of the schemes advanced no further than -the proposal, and that some of the most important improvements which -actually did take place were not registered in the Patent Book at all. - - 1790.—WILLIAM NICHOLSON proposed to cast type in the usual manner, - except that instead of leaving a space in the mould for the stem - of the letter only, several letters are cast at once in ordinary - moulds, communicating by a common groove at the top. The types are - also to be scraped in dressing, so as to render the tail of the - letter gradually smaller the more remote it is from the face; thus - enabling them to be set imposed upon a cylindrical surface. - - 1790.—ROBERT BARCLAY. A method of making punches on broken steel, - the irregular figures in the grain of which will effectually - obviate counterfeit. Punches may be formed of steel broken as - above, by cutting, drilling, punching, bending parts of the - letters, and leaving the grain of the steel to form the lines or - strokes; and in this way complex founts of type might be cast, - every letter of which would vary in its lines from every other. - - 1802.—PHILIP RUSHER.[195] Improvements in the form of printing - types. Each capital letter, with few exceptions, should be - comprised in the compass of an oval. Each small letter is to be - without tail-piece or descender, and the metal (both in small - letters and capitals) is to extend no lower than the body of the - letter. The letters above the line have their heads shortened or - lowered about one-third. - - 1806.—ANTHONY FRANCIS BERTE. A machine for casting type. The - casting is performed by applying the mould to one of several - apertures in the side of the metal pot, through which, by the - removal of a lock or valve, the metal is made suddenly to flow - into the mould with a force proportionate to the height of the - surface of the type-metal in the vessel.[196] {120} - - 1806.—ELIHU WHITE. A machine for casting types; consisting of - a matrix-box containing a certain number of matrices, which is - applied to a complex mould having a similar number of apertures, - through which the metal is poured, thus forming several types at - one operation. - - 1807.—ANTHONY FRANCIS BERTE. Improvements on his former patent. - The metal is forced through the aperture by means of a plug - or piston, and the machine is so contrived as to regulate the - quantity of metal ejected at each application of the mould. - - Another improvement consists of making the body of the mould in - four adjustable pieces instead of two, which will admit of changes - in the body, as well as the thickness of the types. The moulds - are without nicks,[197] and the type, when cast, is expelled by a - punch or other tool, without opening the mould. - - 1809.—JOHN PEEK. A machine for the more expeditious casting of - types, by which three motions out of the five ordinarily made use - of in casting, are saved. This consists in the addition of two - parts to the ordinary hand-mould; that to the upper part being a - plate with a socket in which the matrix is suspended on pivots, - and that to the lower part being a bolt which presses the matrix - to the mould, where it is kept by a spiral spring round the bolt, - and by the withdrawal of which the matrix is tilted, another - spiral spring keeping it in that position till the mould recloses. - The bolt is worked by a lever.[198] - - 1812.—WILLIAM CASLON. An improved printing type. The face or - letter part of the type is made of the usual thickness, and - in the usual way, “but the body, which is commonly made about - seven-eighths of an inch, I make only three-sixteenths of an inch - in thickness; and the front of the said body I make sloping or - bevelling upwards from the outer side towards the face, as well - as the opposite side or back, by which means the upper part of - the body is about one-eighth of an inch narrower than the under - part of the same.” These short types are raised to the requisite - height to paper by stands of the necessary thickness. “Or the - body may, without being bevelled, be fixed by nails or otherwise, - upon blocks of wood of a proper width and height. Or the stands - may be made of the whole width of the body of the type, with only - one projecting part, the other being screwed on after the types - are put on the stands. The advantage of these types is in economy - of weight and space; the former being one-half, and the latter - one-third to one-half of the ordinary types.” - - 1814.—AMBROISE FIRMIN DIDOT. An improvement in the method of - making types. In Roman text, running hand or any other hand - consisting more or less in hair strokes or fine lines, from letter - to letter, the projecting extremities of each letter are extended - so as to form a join with the next. In the case of inclined - letters “I do, by suitable alteration in my moulds, cast my - types and the beards and shanks or tails thereof with the same - or nearly the same inclination or slope of surface as aforesaid; - and to prevent such types sliding upon each other {121} when set - up, a protuberance or projecting part is cast on one face, and a - cavity or indentation corresponding to it in the opposite one; or - otherwise I do, by angular or curved deviations from, in, or as to - the straight direction of the said surfaces, render it impossible - that any sliding should take place between the same.” - - 1816.—ROBERT CLAYTON. A new method of preparing metal . . . types. - The specification mainly relates to plate-printing, but concludes: - “Thirdly, I obtain what I shall term alto or high-relief, by - producing metal castings from wooden moulds or matrices, punched - in wood with a cross-grain, which has been previously slightly - charred or baked.”[199] The metal is bismuth, tin and lead in - equal parts, or tin (4), bismuth (4), lead (3), and antimony (1). - - 1822.—WILLIAM CHURCH. Machine for casting the types and arranging - them ready to be transferred to the composing machinery. A - matrix-bar containing a series of matrices is applied to a - mould-bar, with a corresponding number of moulds. At the time - of casting the latter is applied to jets leading from the metal - chest, which is supplied from a metal fountain connected with the - metal pot, and furnished with a valve to prevent the return of the - metal. After the casting, the mould-bar, drawn endways, cuts off - communication with the metal, and brings the said types beneath a - series of punches, which descend and force them out at the same - time that the matrix-box is unlocked, and descends clear of the - types . . . The mould-bar is kept cool during the process by a - stream of water passing through it . . . The metal is injected by - the descent of a plunger into the metal chest. The type, as cast, - is carried direct into a composing machine, where it is set up by - means of a mechanism worked by keys, resembling the notes of a - piano.[200] - - 1823.—LOUIS JOHN POUCHÉE[201] (communicated by Didot of Paris). - Machine calculated to cast from 150 to 200 types at each - operation, the operation being repeated twice or oftener in a - minute. The moulds are composed of steel bars. The first has - horizontal grooves at right angles to its length, and forms the - body of the letter. The second is a matrix-bar, screwed to the - bottom of the first. The third bar forms the fourth side of the - type-body. The feet of the type are made by the fourth, a “break - bar,” with orifices communicating with each type-mould. Two of - these moulds are placed side by side so as to form a trough - between them, in which the molten metal is poured, nearly as high - as the orifices on the “break bar.” On pulling a trigger by a - string, a plunger at the end of a lever falls into the trough, and - injects the metal into the moulds. The lever is slightly raised - after the casting, by a treadle, after which the workman raises it - by hand until it passes a catch, which retains it until the string - is pulled again. The mould is then unclamped, the mould-bars drawn - asunder by wrenches, the types are found adhering to the break bar - like the teeth of a comb, when they are broken off and dressed in - the usual way. - - 1823.—JOHN HENFREY AND AUGUSTUS APPLEGARTH. Certain machinery for - casting types. The type is cast in a space between two flanges, - set at right angles on a spindle, and pressed to and drawn from - one another alternately by a spring and a peculiarly arranged - eccentric piece. A piece of steel, called the “body,” adjustable - to the thickness of the particular type, is screwed to one of the - flanges. The matrix is on a carriage, and is run through holes in - the flanges for the casting, and kept in its place by a spring. - The metal is {122} injected by the descent of a plunger, which - recovers itself by a spring. After the casting the spindle begins - to revolve, immediately upon which the matrix is disengaged from - the type and withdrawn clear of the flanges. The flanges are then - opened, and the cast type pushed from the mould by the action - of spring pins. A type is thus cast for each revolution of the - spindle. The “break” is disengaged from the letter by two small - pins, one of which protrudes from each jaw after the casting.[202] - - 1828.—THOMAS ASPINWALL. An improved method of casting types, by - means of a “Mechanical Type Caster.” The working parts of this - machine are mounted on a table suspended so as to move to and from - the melting-pot. The mould is in two parts, mounted on two sliding - “carrier pieces” on the table, inclined to each other at a slight - angle. The matrix is held during the casting by a spring. On the - revolution of the crank shaft (by hand) a sliding rod on the table - is made to move towards the melting-pot, and the carrier pieces - being acted upon by a cross-bar attached to it by springs, are - drawn forward so as to unite the two parts of the mould for the - casting. By a further revolution of the crank shaft, a projecting - piece on the end of the sliding rod, coming in contact with an - adjusting screw on one end of a bent lever, causes it to turn on - its centre, and by a friction roller at the other end forces down - the plunger of a cylinder communicating with the metal pot, so as - to inject the metal into a chamber, whence it ejects a portion - previously there through a nozzle into the mould as it is moved - forward by the forward motion of the table. The handle of the - crank is then turned the reverse way, the table swings back from - the metal pot, the plunger rises by a spring, the parts of the - mould separate, the matrix is withdrawn from the cast type by a - lever (which overcomes the force of the spring by which it is held - during the casting), and the type itself loosened from the mould - by coming in contact with an inclined plane. - -We conclude these extracts with a proposal suggestive more of the -primitive experiments of the first printers than of nineteenth century -letter-founding. - - 1831.—JAMES THOMSON. Certain improvements in making or producing - printing types. “My improvements consist in making printing types - by casting or forming a cake of metal having letters formed and - protruding on one side of it, and in afterwards sawing this cake - directly or transversely, so as to divide it into single types.” - The casting is effected in two ways. First by forming a mould - from types set up, and immersing this within an iron box in a pot - of melted type-metal, “as in making stereotype plates; with this - difference, however, that in the present case, the plate must be - as thick as the length of the intended type; and further, that - in setting up the types for the cast, proper spaces must be made - between each letter and between the lines, in order to allow for - what will be taken away in the sawing.” The second mode is “by - taking a plate of copper or other suitable metal, and making in - it indentations or matrices with a punch having on it the letter - for the intended type, taking care to make them in straight rows, - direct and transverse. The plate being so indented, is put into - an iron box and immersed in a pot of liquid type-metal, and kept - there the proper depth and proper time, so as to enable the metal - fully to enter into those indentations or matrices, that the - letter may be well formed. The cake thus cast or formed, after - being taken out and cooled, is sawed as before.” - -{123} - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -THE STATE CONTROL OF ENGLISH LETTER-FOUNDING. - - -Our Statute Books and Public Records do not throw any very important -light on the early history of English letter-founding. Although a -busy import trade in type appears to have been maintained by the -earliest printers, and although as early as the days of De Worde, as -we have seen, there were English printers who not only cast types -for themselves, but are supposed to have supplied them to others, we -search in vain for any definite reference to letter-founding in the -decrees and proclamations which, prior to 1637, had for their object -the regulation or repression of printing. It is true that the term -printing was at that period wide enough to cover all its tributary -arts, from paper-making to book-selling. At the same time, it is -noteworthy that, whereas in many of the early decrees paper-making, -book-binding and book-selling are distinctly mentioned, letter-founding -is invariably ignored. If any inference is to be drawn from this fact, -it is that type was one of the latest of the printer’s commodities to -go into the public market. A printer’s type was his own, and no one -else’s; and if occasionally one great printer was pleased to part with -founts of his letter to his brother craftsmen, either by favour or -for a consideration, it was not till late in the day—that is, not for -about a century after the introduction of printing into England—that -English-cast types became marketable ware in the country. - -It is not our purpose here to review in detail the various decrees and -{124} proclamations which regulated printing in this country[203]; but -it will be interesting to notice such of them as appear to have special -reference to letter-founding. - -The earliest Statute relating to printing was made in 1483, before the -art had well taken root in the country; and proclaimed free trade in -all printed matter imported from abroad. In 1533 this enactment was -repealed, on the ground that “at this day there be within this realm -a great number of cunning and expert in the said science or craft of -printing.”[204] - -More direct control was assumed in 1556, when the charter was granted -to the Stationers’ Company, constituting that body the “Master and -Keepers, or Wardens and Commonalty, of the Mystery or Art of a -Stationer of the City of London.”[205] Under this comprehensive term, -there is little doubt, founders of type, had any at that time been -practising in London, would be included; and such being the case, it -would become necessary for them, as well as for paper-makers, printers, -binders, booksellers and others, to become members of the Stationers’ -Company, and subsequently, in compliance with the enlarged powers -conferred on the Company in 1559 and 1556, to give surety to that body -for the due observance of the ordinances by virtue of which they held -their privileges. - -The powers conferred on the Company by its charter related exclusively -to the publication of printed matter; and the rights of search granted -in the subsequent Acts confirming the charter appear to have been -directed rather against the possession of smuggled or illegally printed -books than against the possession of the materials necessary to produce -them. - -In 1582 was tried a celebrated lawsuit known as the Star Chamber -case of John Day _versus_ Roger Ward and William Holmes, for illegal -printing of an {125} _A B C_ and _Catechism_.[206] In the course -of the inquiry occurs an interesting reference to the practice of -printers as their own letter-founders, which we reproduce as being -one of the earliest direct notices of letter-founding in the Public -Records. Amongst the questions put to the recalcitrant Roger Ward[207] -the following three were intended to discover whether the illicit _A -B C_ was printed by him in his own type, or whether (with a view to -remove suspicion from himself) he had printed it in the type of another -printer:― - - “QUESTION XIII. Did any person or personns Ayde help or assist you - with paper letters (_type_) or other necessaries in this work? - - “ANSWER. He was not with paper letters (_type_) or other - necessaryes in the said worke aidyd holpen or assistyd by any - manner of personne or persons but that one Adam a Servant of - Master Purfo(o)ttes dyd lend him some letters wherewith he - imprinted the said boke. - - “QUESTION XVIII. Whether were the Letters wherewith you imprinted - the sayd _A B C_ your owne yea or no? If not whose were they and - by what meanse came you by them, And whether with the Consent - of the owner or not? And whether have you redelivered them back - againe and how long since, And what nomber of Reames did you - imprint with the said letter? - - “ANSWER. That all the letters wherewith he impryntyd the said _A - B C_ were not his owne for he dyd borrowe of one Adame, a man of - one master Purfott all the Inglisshe (_i.e._, _Black_) Letters to - the said worke and he borrowyd these letters without the consent - of the said master Purfytt and hath the same as yet in this - defendants custodye and have not Redelyvered of the same sithes - he borrowyd the same as aforesaid and to his Remembrance he Did - imprynt with the sayd letter the nomber of Twentie Reames of paper. - - “QUESTION XIX. Whether have you cast any new Letter of your owne - since the first printinge of the said _A B C_, and what nomber of - the same have you printed of that letter (_in that type_)? - - “ANSWER. He confessyth that he hath sythes the first imprintyng of - the said _A B C_, cast a newe letter of his owne and yet he hath - not pryntyd any of that letter (_in that type_).” - -This testimony was generally corroborated by the other printers and -persons examined, to many of whom it appeared to be notorious that -Roger Ward had printed the book in a letter not his own, and that he -had since cast a new fount of type for his own use. The whole inquiry -throws a curious light on the methods of business of the printers of -the day. Composition then, as Mr. Arber points out, was not necessarily -done in the master-printer’s house where he kept {126} his press. -Of course that which was done by himself and his apprentices was -done there, but work given out to journeymen (who were generally -householders), was probably done in their houses and paid for by -piecework. “A custom which,” continues Mr. Arber, “was facilitated by -most of the books then printed being almost always in some one size of -type. Therefore there could not be so much control exercised over the -literature in respect to the guardianship of the type—however easy it -was for printers of that day to identify the printer of a book by its -typography—neither do we find any such attempted; but only in respect -to the custody of the hand printing press, which was doubtless well -secured every night as a dangerous instrument, lest secret nocturnal -printing should go on without the owner’s consent.”[208] - -In the same year, 1582, Christopher Barker, the Queen’s printer, drew -up an able report on the condition of printing as it then existed, in -which, among other matters, he referred to the cost of making type, -and its consequent effect on publishers and printers. “In King Edward -the Sixt his Dayes,” he says, “Printers and printing began greatly to -increase; but the provision of letter, and many other thinges belonging -to printing was so exceeding chargeable, that most of those printers -were Dryven throughe necessitie, to compound before[hand] with the -booksellers at so low value, as the printers themselves were most tymes -small gayners and often loosers . . . The Bookesellers . . now (1582) -. . keepe no printing howse, neither beare any charge of letter, or -other furniture, but onlie paye for the workmanship . . . so that the -artificer printer, growing every Daye more and more unable to provide -letter[209] and other furniture . . . will in tyme be an occasion of -great discredit to the professours of the arte.” - -The report goes on to mention that at that time (December 1582) “there -are twenty-two printing howses in London, where eight or ten at the -most would suffise for all England, yea, and Scotland too.”[210] - -In May of the following year there were twenty-three printers with -fifty-three presses among them, and during the next two years the -number appears to have increased so considerably as to call for that -sweeping enactment, the Star Chamber decree of 1586. This famous -measure prohibits all presses out of London, except one each at the -two Universities, and “tyll the excessive {127} multytude of Prynters -havinge presses already sett up be abated,” permits no new press -whatsoever to be erected.[211] The Stationers’ Company have authority -to inspect all printing offices, “to search take and carry away all -presses, letters and other pryntinge instrumentes sett up, used or -employed . . contrary to the intent and meaninge hereof; . . . and -thereupon shall cause all suche printing presses, or other printing -instruments, to be Defaced, melted, sawed in peeces, broken, or -battered . . . and the stuffe of the same so defaced, shall redelyver -to the owners thereof againe within three monethes next after the -takinge or seizinge thereof as aforesayd.”[212] - -The Company were not slow in making use of their enlarged powers, and -the refractory Roger Ward appears to have had considerable experience -of the rigours of the new decree. In October 1586 the wardens seized on -his premises “3 presses and divers other parcells of pryntinge stuffe,” -and ordered them to be defaced and rendered unserviceable, according to -the tenor of the decree. In 1590 they made a further visitation, and -discovered that “he did kepe and conceale a presse and other pryntinge -stuff in a Taylor’s house near adjoyninge to his owne, and did hide -his letters in a hen house near St. Sepulchure’s Churche, expressely -against the Decrees of the Star Chamber. All the whyche stuff were -brought to Stacioners Hall” and duly destroyed. But the dauntless Roger -Ward was not thus to be extinguished, and scarcely six months later, at -Hammersmith, another press, “with 5 formes of letters of Divers sortes -and 3 cases with other printing stuffe,” were impounded and rigorously -defaced. - -Nor was Ward the only victim. In a Secret Report presented in September -1589 to Lord Burleigh respecting the authors of the famous Marprelate -Tracts, it is stated that the printer of the first three of these, -“all beinge printed in a Dutch letter,” was Robert Waldegrave; and -“towchinge the printinge of the two last Lebells in a litle Romaine and -Italian letter,” the report states—once more showing how in those days -a printer was known by his types—“the letter that these be printed in -is the same that did printe the _Demonstration of Discipline_ aboute -Midsommer was twelve moneth (24 June, 1588), which was printed by -Waldegrave neere Kingston upon Thames, as is discovered. When his other -letters and presse were defaced about Easter was twelve moneth {128} -(7th April, 1588) he saved these lettres in a boxe under his Cloke, and -brought them to Mistris Cranes howse in London, as is allso confessed; -and they are knowen by printers to be Waldegrave’s letters; And it is -the same letter that was taken with Hodgkys. These two last Libells -came abroade in July (1589) last. Now it is confessed by the Carier -that John Hodgkys that is taken, did send from a gentlemans howse in -Woltonam in Warwikeshier unto Warrington immediatlye after whitsontyde -last (18 May 1589), a printinge presse, two boxes of letter, a barrell -of nicke (_incke ?_), a baskett and a brasse pott, which were delyvered -to him at Warrington,” etc.[213] - -The Stationers’ Company, on the whole, had a busy time during the few -years following the Star Chamber decree, in hunting up and destroying -disorderly presses and the “stuffe” appertaining thereto. The numerous -monopolies and patents of which they were the appointed guardians -provoked a regular secret organisation of unprivileged printers,[214] -who pirated right and left, sometimes with impunity, sometimes at the -cost of losing their whole plant and stock-in-trade by a raid of the -authorities. - -These raids must have kept the typecasters of the day well occupied, -and it is even possible that the “stuffe” which from time to time fell -into the hands of the Company may have included punches, matrices and -moulds, which it would be far less easy to replace than presses, ink -and balls. - -A printer liable to such visitations would prefer, if possible, to -procure his type out of doors, rather than maintain the valuable plant -requisite to make it himself; and it is probable that the outside -demand thus created may have been among the causes which led to the -establishment of one or two small foundries, unconnected with any one -printing office in particular, whose business it would be to supply any -purchaser with type from its matrices. - -The Stationers’ Company, who from time to time supplemented the powers -conferred upon them by the Star Chamber with regulations of their own -on matters such as standing formes, apprentices and prices, would -naturally recognise a source of danger in a new foundry starting under -the circumstances described, and were prompt to assert their authority. - -Accordingly we find the following entry in the Index to the Court Books -of the Company under date 1597:― - - “BENJAMIN SYMPSON, letter founder, to enter into a £40 bond not - to cast any letters or characters, or to deliver them, without - advertising the Master and Wardens in writing, with the names of - the parties for whom they are intended.—1597.” {129} - -Here we have the first historical record of letter-founding as a -distinct and recognised trade.[215] Of Benjamin Sympson and his types -nothing is known. His name does not occur in any of the lists of -printers of the period, nor does it appear that he was even a member of -the Stationers’ Company. Whether he was called upon at his own request -to qualify as a typefounder, or whether the resolution of the Court was -arrived at in consequence of his previous transactions with one or more -of the disorderly printers, is equally uncertain. - -In 1598 the Stationers’ Company made a regulation respecting the price -of work, which is also of interest, as indicating the bodies of type at -that time most commonly in use for bookwork. It was as follows:― - - “No new copies without pictures to be printed at more than the - following rates: those in pica Roman and Italic and in English - (_i.e._, _Black letter_) with Roman and Italic at a penny for two - sheets; those in brevier and long primer letters at a penny for - one sheet and a half.”[216] - -A further regulation regarding typefounders shows that in 1622 the -trade had more than one recognised representative:― - - “The Founders bound to the Company by bond, not to deliver - any fount of new letters, without acquainting the Master and - Wardens—1622.” - -The Act of 1586, despite the rigour with which, at first at any rate, -it was enforced, appears to have fallen into contempt, and to have been -openly {130} disregarded by the printers of the first quarter of the -seventeenth century. According to the account of the “London Printer,” -who wrote his _Lamentation_ in 1660, printing and printers, about 1637, -were grown to such “monstrous excess and exorbitant disorder” as to -call for the prompt and serious attention of the Court of Star Chamber, -who in that same year, because the former “Orders and Decrees have been -found by experience to be defective in some particulars; and divers -abuses have sithence arisen and been practiced by the craft and malice -of wicked and evill disposed persons,” put forward the famous Star -Chamber Decree of 1637.[217] - -In this decree, the severity of which called forth from Milton his -noble protest, the _Areopagitica_,[218] letter-founding is formally -recognised as a distinct industry, and shares with printing the rigours -of the new restrictions. The following is the text of the clauses -relating to founders:― - - XXVII.—_Item_, The Court doth order and declare, that there - shall be foure Founders of letters for printing allowed, and no - more, and doth hereby nominate, allow, and admit these persons, - whose names hereafter follow, to the number of foure, to be - letter-Founders for the time being, (viz.) _John Grismand_, - _Thomas Wright_, _Arthur Nichols_, _Alexander Fifield_. And - further the Court doth Order and Decree, that it shall be lawfull - for the Lord Arch-bishop of _Canterbury_, or the Lord Bishop of - _London_ for the time being, taking unto him or them, six other - high Commissioners, to supply the place or places of those who are - now allowed Founders of letters by this Court, as they shall fall - void by death, censure, or otherwise. - - Provided that they exceede not the number of foure, set down by - this Court. And if any person or persons, not being an allowed - Founder, shall notwithstanding take upon him, or them, to Found, - or cast letters for printing, upon complaint and proofe made of - such offence, or offences, he, or they so offending, shal suffer - such punishment, as this Court, or the high Commission Court - respectively, as the severall causes shall require, shall think - fit to inflict upon them. - - XXVIII.—_Item_, That no Master-Founder whatsoever shall keepe - above two Apprentices at one time, neither by Copartnership, - binding at the Scriveners, nor any other way whatsoever, neither - shall it be lawfull for any Master-Founder, when any Apprentice, - or Apprentices shall run, or be put away, to take another - Apprentice, or other Apprentices in his, or their place or places, - unless the name or names of him, or them so gone away, be rased - out of the Hall-booke of the Company, whereof the Master-Founder - is free, and never admitted again, upon pain of such punishment, - as by this Court, or the high Commission respectively, as the - severall causes shall require, shall be thought fit to bee - imposed. {131} - - XXIX.—_Item_, That all Journey-men-Founders be imployed by the - Master-Founders of the said trade, and that idle Journey-men - be compelled to worke after the same manner, and upon the same - penalties, as in case of the Journey-men-Printers is before - specified.[219] - - XXX.—_Item_, That no Master-Founder of letters, shall imploy any - other person or persons in any worke belonging to the casting or - founding of letters, than such only as are freemen or apprentices - to the trade of founding letters, save only in the pulling off - the knots of mettle hanging at the ends of the letters when they - are first cast, in which work it shall be lawfull for every - Master-Founder, to imploy one boy only that is not, nor hath beene - bound to the trade of Founding letters, but not otherwise, upon - pain of being for ever disabled to use or exercise that art, and - such further punishment, as by this Court, or the high Commission - Court respectively, as the severall causes shall require, be - thought fit to be imposed. - - XIV.—_Item_, That no Joyner, or Carpenter, or other person, shall - make any printing-Presse, no Smith shall forge any Iron-Worke - for a printing Presse, and no Founder shall cast any Letters for - any person or persons whatsoever, neither shall any person or - persons bring, or cause to be brought in from any parts beyond the - Seas, any Letters Founded or Cast, nor buy any such Letters for - Printing, Unlesse he or they respectively shall first acquaint - the said Master and Wardens, or some of them, for whom the same - Presse, Iron-works, or Letters, are to be made, forged, or cast, - upon paine of such fine and punishment, as this Court, or the - high Commission Court respectively, as the severall causes shall - require, shall thinke fit. - -Respecting the four founders thus nominated, and their types, we shall -have occasion to speak in a following chapter. Continuing here our -cursory review of the Statutes which affected letter-founding, it is -necessary to remind the reader that this tremendous decree, which for -severity eclipsed all its predecessors, was short-lived. - -On November 3, 1640, the Long Parliament assembled, and with it the -Star Chamber disappeared, and its decrees became dead letters. Then -for a season there was virtually free trade in printing, and advantage -was taken of the new condition of affairs to infringe existing rights -on every hand, the King’s Patent Printers (if we are to believe the -“London Printer,” above quoted) being the chief and most unscrupulous -transgressors. - -Parliament was not slow to take up the mantle dropped by the late Star -Chamber, and in 1643 attempted to stem “the very grievous” liberty of -the press, reinvesting the Stationers’ Company with powers to search -and seize all unlicensed presses and books, and to apprehend the -“authors, printers and other persons whatsoever employed in compiling, -printing, stitching, binding, {132} publishing and dispersing the said -scandalous, unlicensed and unwarrantable papers, books and pamphlets.” - -This ordinance, in which once more typefounders are conspicuous by -their absence, was strengthened by a further decree in 1647, and two -years later the Act of Sept. 20, 1649, virtually reimposed the old Star -Chamber regulations, requiring, among other provisions, that printers -should enter into a £300 bond not to print seditious or scandalous -matter; also that no house or room should be let to a printer, nor -implements made, press imported, or letters founded, without notice -to the Stationers’ Company. The penalties attached to a breach of -these orders were severe. This Act was renewed in 1652, but it failed -to remedy the abuses it was intended to meet. Private presses sprung -up on all hands; the art was degraded and prostituted to all manner -of base uses; workmen as well as master printers joined in their -complaints against disorders which were working their ruin. The number -of printers, restricted since 1586 to twenty, had grown to sixty; the -Royal printers themselves were interlopers, two of them not even being -practical printers, and all of them being political incendiaries. - -Such being the condition of affairs, it is not surprising that in -1662 the remonstrances raised on all sides should result in an Act of -Parliament intended to dispose finally of the abuses complained of. - -The Act of 1662 (13 and 14 Charles II, c. 33) reimposes the provisions -of the Star Chamber decree of 1637 with additional rigour.[220] It -enacts that no type is to be founded or cast, or brought from abroad, -without licence from the Stationers’ Company. The number of founders -is again limited to four, and all {133} vacancies in the number are -to be filled up by the Archbishop of Canterbury or the Bishop of -London.[221] Masters of the Stationers’ Company, past and present, -may have three apprentices, liverymen two, and the commonalty only -one. Master founders must see that their journeymen are kept at work; -and these journeymen must be all Englishmen and freemen, or sons of -freemen. Founders working for the trade who offend are to be disabled -from following their craft for three years, and on a second offence to -be permanently disqualified, besides suffering punishment by fine or -imprisonment, or “other corporal punishment not extending to life and -limb.” - -This uncompromising Act was continued from time to time, with temporary -lapses, until 1693,[222] when, in the tide of liberty following the -Revolution, it disappeared. Despite its stern provisions, we find from -a petition entitled _The Case of the Free Workmen Printers_, presented -to the House about 1665, praying for its renewal, that the number of -printing-houses had already grown to seventy, with one hundred and -fifty apprentices; and in 1683 we have the evidence of Moxon that the -number of founders, as well as of printers, was grown “very many.” It -does not, however, appear that at any time during the continuance of -the Act, that the number of founders ever exceeded four. How far they -complied with the regulation requiring them to account to the Company -for all type cast, we are unable, in the absence of any register of -such accounts, to say; but that a register was duly kept is evident -from the following important minute of the Court in 1674:― - - “All the Letter-founders to give timely notice to the Master and - Wardens, of all such quantities of letter as they shall cast - for any person; which notice shall be entered by the Clerk in a - register book to be provided for that purpose.—1674.” - -In 1668, as will be seen in a subsequent chapter, the Company had, in -discharge of their authority, nominated Thomas Goring to the Archbishop -of Canterbury as “an honest and sufficient man” to be one of the four -founders allowed by the Act, there being then a vacancy in the number. -And that the penal clauses were not neglected is equally evident -from the resolution of the Court in 1685, withholding Godfrey Head’s -dividend until he should comply with the Act by giving an account to -the Company of what type he was casting. {134} - -The latest minute on the Court Books relating to letter-founding was -in 1693—the year in which the Act expired—when the following order was -made:― - - “Printed papers to be delivered to all Founders, Press Makers and - others concerned, requiring obedience to that Clause in the Act - for preventing abuses in Printing, whereby all Letter Founders, - Press Makers, Joiners, and others are commanded to acquaint the - Master or Wardens what Presses or Letters they shall at any time - make or cast.—1693.” - -After 1693, letter-founding came from under all restraint. Laws of -copyright and patent still clung to printing,[223] but, except for a -proposal made about 1695 by one W. Mascall[224] that every printer, -letter-founder and press-maker should enter with a statement on oath -the number of his presses, the weight of his letter and the extent of -his other utensils, we find no reference to letter-founding in the -Public Records for upwards of a century. - -Notwithstanding this liberty, the number of founders during the -eighteenth century appears rarely to have exceeded the figure -prescribed by the Star Chamber Decree of 1637, and occasionally to have -been less. - -One more attempt was made in the closing days of the eighteenth century -to control the freedom of the press by law. There is something almost -grotesque in the efforts made by legislators in 1799 to refit, on a -full-grown and invincible press, the worn-out shackles by which the -Stuarts had tried to curtail the growth of its childhood; and the -Act of the 39th George III, cap. 79,[225] in so far as it deals with -printing, will always remain one of the surprises, as well as one of -the disgraces, of the Statute-book. Among its worst provisions, the -following affect letter-founders and letter-founding:― - -Sec. 23 ordains that no one, under penalty of £20, shall be allowed -to possess or use a printing-press or types for printing, without -giving notice thereof to a Clerk of the Peace, and obtaining from him a -certificate to that effect. - -Sec. 33 provides that any Justice of the Peace may issue a warrant -to search any premises, and seize and take away any press or -printing-types not duly certificated. {135} - -The following sections we give in full:― - - Sec. 25. “That from and after the Expiration of Forty Days after - the passing of this Act, every Person carrying on the Business - of a Letter Founder or Maker or Seller of Types for Printing or - of Printing Presses, shall cause Notice of his or her Intention - to carry on such Business to be delivered to the Clerk of the - Peace of the . . . Place where such Person shall propose to carry - on such Business, or his Deputy in the Form prescribed in the - Schedule of this Act annexed.[226] And such Clerk of the Peace - or his Deputy shall, and he is hereby authorized and required - thereupon to grant a Certificate in the Form also prescribed in - the said Schedule,[227] for which such Clerk of the Peace or his - Deputy shall receive a Fee of One Shilling and no more, and shall - file such Notice and transmit an attested Copy thereof to one of - his Majesty’s Principal Secretaries of State; and every Person - who shall, after the expiration of the said Forty Days, carry on - such Business, or make or sell any Type for Printing, or Printing - Press, without having given such Notice, and obtained such - Certificate, shall forfeit and lose the Sum of Twenty Pounds.” - - Sec. 26. “And be it further enacted, That every Person who shall - sell Types for Printing, or Printing Presses as aforesaid, shall - keep a Fair Account in Writing of all Persons to whom such Types - or Presses shall be sold, and shall produce such Accounts to any - Justice of the Peace who shall require the same; And if such - Person shall neglect to keep such Account, or shall refuse to - produce the same to any such Justice, on demand in Writing to - inspect the same, such Person shall forfeit and lose, for such - offence, the Sum of Twenty Pounds.” - -Such was the law with regard to typefounding at the time when the -widows of the two Caslons were struggling to revive their then ancient -business, when Vincent Figgins was building up his new foundry, and -Edmund Fry, Caslon III and Wilson were busily occupied in cutting -their modern Romans to suit the new fashion. And such the law remained -nominally until the year 1869,[228] {136} just upon four centuries -after the introduction of the Art into this country. It is probable -that, during the first few disturbed years of its existence, the Act -may have been enforced, that certificates may have been registered, -and accounts dutifully furnished.[229] But its provisions appear very -soon to have fallen into contempt, and certainly, as far as we can -ascertain, failed to trouble the peace of any British letter-founder. - - * * * * * - -Such is a hasty and very cursory review of the various laws which from -time to time have taken letter-founding under control. Whether they -succeeded in placing any real check on the progress of the art, it is -difficult to determine. But it is certain that the heaviest restrictive -measures have generally been accompanied not only by the most grievous -abuses in the spirit of the press, but by distinct degeneration in -the quality of the typographical work executed. A privileged printer, -sure of his monopoly and safe from competition, would have little -or no inducement to execute his work at more cost or pains than was -necessary. Old type would do as well as new, and bad type would do as -well as good. Free trade and open competition were the great evils to -be dreaded, because free trade and open competition would demand the -best paper, and type and workmanship. The typography of the entire -Stuart period is a disgrace to English art. Fine printing was an art -unknown; and only a few works like Walton’s _Polyglot_, which were -produced in an atmosphere untainted by mercenary considerations, stand -out to redeem the period from unqualified reproach. - -On the other hand, the removal of the restrictions was the signal for a -revival which may be traced in almost every printed work of the early -eighteenth century. In the absence of any great English founder, the -best Dutch types came freely into the English market. Books came to be -legible, paper became white, ink black, and press-work respectable. -Caslon came in on the tide of the revival, as also did Bowyer, Watts, -Bettenham, and artists of their rank; and the emancipated press, among -them, made up the leeway of a wasted century, and, no longer in the -grip of faction, but the free servant of the great and wise of the -land, raised for itself monuments which will remain a lasting glory not -only to English scholarship and English eloquence, but also to English -typography, for which liberty has been, and always will be, the surest -road to achievement. - -{137} - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -[Illustration] - -THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY FOUNDRY. - - -Printing was practised at Oxford within a year of the introduction -of the art into England. Setting aside the legend of Corsellis and -the “1468” _Exposicio Simboli_, we find that a printer, presumably -Theodoric Rood, from Cologne, was settled here in 1478, and issued -three works anonymously from his press during that and the following -year. Between 1480 and 1483, Rood printed eight works bearing his own -name, and in 1485 and 1486, in partnership with an Englishman named -Thomas Hunte, he produced six more. - -Whether the first Oxford printer made his own type or procured it from -abroad, we have no information, but the distinctly Cologne character of -the two earliest founts favours the supposition that, like Caxton, he -brought at any rate his first types with him from the Continent. The -vague reference which Rood and Hunte make to their labours at the end -of the _Phalaridis Epistolæ_ in 1485,[230] does not throw much light on -the question, although the boast of an independent discovery of the art -of printing there recorded may possibly mean that towards the close of -their career they had arrived at a knowledge of the mystery of making -their own types. - -Without attempting a detailed examination of the seventeen works of -the {138} first Oxford printers, we observe that during the eight -years in which they practised their art, they made use of seven -different kinds of type, which arrange themselves chronologically as -follows[231] : - - +───────+───────────────────────────────────+───────+──────────────────────+ - │ KNOWN │ │ │ │ - │ DATE. │ TITLE. │ TYPE. │ GROUP. │ - +───────+───────────────────────────────────+───────+──────────────────────+ - │“1468”†│_Exposicio Symboli_ │ a │ Group I, “1468”-1479.│ - │ 1479 │_Aristotelis Ethica_ │ a │ (No printer’s name.) │ - │ 1479 │_Ægidius de peccato originali_ │ a │ │ - +───────+───────────────────────────────────+───────+──────────────────────+ - │ ... │_Cicero pro Milone_ │ b │ │ - │ ... │_Latin Grammar in English_ │ b │ Group II, 1481–82. │ - │ 1481 │_Alexander de Ales. Expositio │ │ (Theodoric Rood.) │ - │ │ de Animâ._ Two Editions │ b,c │ │ - │ 1482 │_Lattebury. Morales._ Two editions │ b,c │ │ - +───────+───────────────────────────────────+───────+──────────────────────+ - │ ... │_Hampole. Explanationes_ │ d,e │ │ - │ ... │_Swyneshed. Insolubilia_ │ d,e │ │ - │ ... │_Anwykyll. Compendium._ 1st edition│d[e?]f │ │ - │ ... │_Anwykyll. Compendium._ 2nd edition│ d,f │ Group III, 1483–86. │ - │ ... │_Lyndewode. Constitutiones_ │c,d,e,f│ (Rood and Hunte.) │ - │ 1485 │_Phalaridis Epistolæ_ │ c,f │ │ - │ 1486 │_Liber Festivalis_ │ f,g │ │ - │ ... │_Textus Alexandri_ │ d,f,g │ │ - +───────+───────────────────────────────────+───────+──────────────────────+ - │ † Misprint for 1478. │ - +───────+───────────────────────────────────+───────+──────────────────────+ - -It will be noticed from the above list that type [a] was used solely -by the first anonymous Oxford printer, and disappeared entirely as -soon as Rood began to print in his own name. The letter is a Black of -similar character, as Mr. Bradshaw points out, to that used by Zell -and Guldenschaft at Cologne, and was probably brought thence to this -country. The body corresponds closely to the present “English.” One -peculiarity about type [a] is that in the mis-dated _Exposicio Simboli_ -the capital [*Q] is always printed sideways ([*Q]), whereas in the two -following books it appears correctly. - -During the two years that Rood printed under his own name alone, he -made use of a compressed Black-letter of English body, type [b], with -which, in the _Ales_ and _Lattebury_, he combined a larger Black, type -[c], on Double English body for chapter-headings or initials. - -Type [b] disappeared entirely at the close of Rood’s solitary labours. -Type [c], however, was preserved; we find it used in single letters, or -very sparsely in two later works. - -[Illustration: 27. Colophon of _Lyndewode’s Constitutiones_. Oxford, -1482 (?). Showing the types [c], [d], [e], [f].] - -Rood and Hunte inaugurated their partnership by the introduction of -two {139} new founts of Black-letter, types [d] and [e], or rather -one fount having one size of capitals, and a small and large size of -“lower-case,” all cast on the same body, about a Pica, and capable -of being used interchangeably. Subsequently they used another double -fount, types [f] and [g], cast in the same manner, [f] being the small, -and [g] the large “lower-case,” with one size of capitals for both, all -cast on a body closely corresponding to Great Primer. The character -of this letter is decidedly Caxtonian, and suggests the possibility -that at this stage of their labours the printers may have learned the -art of making their own type. Type [f] had been in use for some time -in combination with [c], [d] and [e], before type [g] appeared. The -accompanying facsimile from the _Lyndewode_ shows types [c], [d], [e] -and [f]. - -We thus find that the seven early Oxford types reduce themselves to -four principal founts, and one fount of initial letter, of which the -following table will briefly sum up the typographical details : - - +─────+──────────────────────────────────────+─────────────+──────────────────────────+ - │TYPE.│ CHARACTER. │ APPROXIMATE │ NOTES. │ - │ │ │ BODY. │ - +─────+──────────────────────────────────────+─────────────+──────────────────────────+ - │ a │Cologne Black │English │Used with no other │ - │ │ │ │ type. │ - +─────+──────────────────────────────────────+─────────────+──────────────────────────+ - │ b │Narrow Dutch Black │English │Used alone or with [c] │ - │ │ │ │ for headlines. │ - +─────+──────────────────────────────────────+─────────────+──────────────────────────+ - │ c │Heading and Initial Black │2-line │Used chiefly with [b], │ - │ │ │ English │ also with [d], [e], [f].│ - +─────+───────────────────────────+──────────+─────────────+──────────────────────────+ - │ d │Small lower-case Dutch │With │Pica │Used chiefly with [e], │ - │ │ Black │one │ │ also with [f] and [g]. │ - +─────+───────────────────────────+set +─────────────+──────────────────────────+ - │ e │Large lower-case Dutch │of │Pica │Used chiefly with [d], │ - │ │ Black │Capitals. │ │ also with [f]. │ - +─────+───────────────────────────+──────────+─────────────+──────────────────────────+ - │ f │Small lower-case Caxtonian │With │Great Primer.│Used chiefly with [g], │ - │ │ Black │one │ │ also with [d] and [e]. │ - +─────+───────────────────────────+set +─────────────+──────────────────────────+ - │ g │Large lower-case Caxtonian │of │Great Primer.│Used chiefly with [f], │ - │ │ Black │Capitals. │ │ also with [d]. │ - +─────+───────────────────────────+──────────+─────────────+──────────────────────────+ - -The first Oxford press disappeared altogether in 1486, between which -date and 1517 no work is known to have issued. In 1517 John Scolar, -another German, printed a few small works very neatly in English and -Brevier black-letter, with a Great Primer for titles, and made use -of the University arms for the first time, either on his titles or -last pages. Scolar’s press, in turn, came to an abrupt standstill in -1519, after which, in common with the other provincial presses of the -country, printing at Oxford remained dormant for upwards of half a -century.[232] - -It was not till the year 1585 that the art was actively resumed. -In that {140} year the Earl of Leicester presented a press, and -the University made a grant of £100. The Star Chamber Decree of -the following year formally allowed (with rigid restrictions) the -establishment of the new press, and under Joseph Barnes, the first -University printer, it rapidly rose to prominence. It appears from -the outset to have been well provided with types, many of them of -a beautiful cut, particularly those of the Greek character. The -_Chrysostomi Homiliæ_, printed by Barnes in 1586, and the _Herodotus_ -of 1591, were both noticeable for the excellence of their letter. The -former is said to be the first Greek book printed at the University. - -The reputation of the University for its Greek types was enhanced -some years afterwards by the acquisition of the letter in which the -magnificent edition of _St. Chrysostom_[233] had been printed at Eton -by John Norton in 1610–13, at the charge and under the direction of -Sir Henry Savile.[234] This work, one of the most splendid examples of -Greek printing in this country, is said to have cost its author £8,000. -Respecting the origin of the types, Bagford says, in one of his MSS.: -“Sir Henry Savile, meditating an edition of _St. Chrysostom_, prepared -a fount of curious Greek letters, which in those days were called the -_Silver letter_, not being cast of silver, but for the beauty of the -letter so called.” Beloe,[235] on the other hand, considers that the -types were procured from abroad. “They certainly resemble,” he says, -“those of Stephens, and the other Paris printers, as well as those of -the Wechels at Frankfort, at a subsequent period. From the Wechels -indeed they are said by some to have been procured, but this fact I -have not been able to ascertain. It appears beyond a doubt, from a -passage in one of the Epistles of Isaac Casaubon, that they were cast -abroad.”[236] - -The fine execution of this work obtained for Norton the distinction -accorded to Robert Estienne of Paris by Francis I, of “Regius in Græcis -Typographus.” Scarcely less high an honour had been paid to this -printer in 1594, when we are told Paul Estienne (son of Henri Estienne -II) visiting England, and appreciating his merit, permitted him to make -use of the device of the Estiennes.[237] - -[Illustration: 28. Greek fount of the Eton _Chrysostom_, 1613.] - -[Illustration: 29. From the _Catena on Job_. 1637.] - -At what date these famous Greek types came into the possession of the -{141} Oxford University Press it is impossible to determine. It was -probably not till after some years of rough usage following Sir Henry -Savile’s death; as Evelyn,[238] in one of his letters, after lamenting -the loss of Sir Simon Fanshaw’s medals, says that “they were after -his decease thrown about the house for children to play at counter -with, as were those elegant types of Sir Henry Savill’s at Eton, which -that learned knight procured with great cost for his edition of _St. -Chrysostom_.” - -The types, of which we give a specimen (No. 28), were of a Great -Primer body, very elegantly and regularly cut, with the usual numerous -ligatures and abbreviations which characterised the Greek typography of -that period. - -During the early part of the seventeenth century the Oxford Greek types -do not appear to have been extensively used; and in 1632 we find it -recorded that Lord Pembroke, the then Chancellor of the University -of Cambridge,[239] applied for and obtained the loan of one of these -founts for the purpose of printing the _Greek Testament_,[240] which -was issued in that year by Buck, the University printer, and which, -says Beloe,[241] “has ever {142} been admired for the perspicuity of -its types as well as for the accuracy of its typography.” - -The reason urged for this loan was, that the Oxford press made no -use of the Greek type itself. This reproach was, however, shortly -afterwards removed by the bounty and interest of Archbishop Laud, whose -generous encouragement of printing at Oxford must always entitle him to -an honourable mention in any record of the history of the art. - -Laud, at that time Bishop of London, was appointed Chancellor of the -University in 1630, and in the same year projected, among other acts of -bounty, two important measures for the advancement of printing at that -Academy. These were:― - - “To procure a large Charter for Oxford, to confirm their Ancient - Privileges, and obtain new for them, as large as those of - Cambridge, which they had got since Henry the 8th and Oxford had - not. - - “To set up a Greek press in London and Oxford, for printing the - Library-Manuscripts, and to get both Letters and Matrices.”[242] - -The former of these projects was carried out in 1632, when Charles -I granted a charter to Oxford, giving her equal privileges with the -sister University, authorising her to employ three printers, and -securing to her a right for a certain term over all books issued. In -forwarding this charter to the University, Laud mentioned by name two -of the printers—King and Motteshead, but urged Convocation as yet to -nominate no one as the third, in order, he said, “that you may get an -able man, if it be possible, for the printing of Greek when you shall -be ready for it.”[243] - -This is clearly an allusion to the Bishop’s other project, which, -however, was only partially fulfilled during his lifetime. - -A Greek press was established in London in 1632, under peculiar -circumstances, which, though not strictly bearing upon the history -of letter-founding at Oxford, we may here refer to as an interesting -episode in the history of English printing. - -Robert Barker and Martin Lucas, the King’s printers in London, were -arraigned before the High Commission Court for a scandalous error in a -_Bible_[244] printed by them in 1631, whereby the seventh commandment -was made to read, “Thou shalt commit adultery.” For this grave -offence, the impression (which numbered 1,000 copies and was full of -typographical errors) was called in, and {143} the printers were -ordered to pay a fine of £300.[245] This sum of money Laud received the -royal authority to expend in the purchase of Greek types, according to -the terms of the following letter addressed to him by the King, dated -January 13, 1633: - - “Most reverend father in God, right trusty and right entirely - beloved counsellor, we greet you well. Whereas our servant, - Patrick Young, keeper of our library, hath lately with great - industry and care published in print an epistle of Clemens - Romanus[246] in Greek and Latin, which was never printed before, - and has done this to the benefit of the church, and our great - honour, the manuscript, by which he printed it, being in our - library; and whereas we further understand that the right reverend - father in God, Augustin,[247] now Bishop of Peterborough, and - our said servant Patrick Young, are resolved for to make ready - for the press one or more Greek copies every year, by such - manuscripts as are either in our library or in the libraries of - our universities of Oxford and Cambridge, or elsewhere, if there - were Greek presses, matrices, and mony ready for the work which - pains of theirs will tend to the great honour of our self, this - church, and nation; we have thought good to give them all possible - encouragement herein, and do therefore first require you, that - the fine lately imposed by our high commissioners upon Robert - Barker and Martin Lucas for base and corrupt printing of the - Bible, being the sum of three hundred pounds, be converted to the - present buying of such and so many Greek letters and matrices, as - shall be by you thought fit for this great and honourable work. - And our further will and pleasure is that the said Robert Barker - and Martin Lucas, our patentees for printing, which either now - are, or shall hereafter succeed them, being great gainers by that - patent, which they hold under us, shall at their own proper costs - and charges of ink, paper, and workmanship, print, or cause to be - printed in Greek, or Greek and Latin, one such volume in a year, - be it bigger or less, as the right reverend father aforesaid, or - our servant Patrick Young or any other of our learned subjects - shall provide and make ready for the press, and shall print such a - number of each copy, as yourself, or your successors for the time - being, shall think fit; and all this they shall perform, whether - the said copy or copies be to be printed in London, Oxford, or - Cambridge, which shall be left free to their judgments and desire, - whose pains prepare the copy or copies for the press. And last - of all, our further will and pleasure is, that the aforesaid - patentees do without any delay procure such, and so many matrices - and letters, as aforesaid, that no hindrance be put upon the work, - and that they be at the charge of printing in the mean time with - such letters, as are already in the kingdom. Of all which or any - other necessary circumstances for the furtherance of this work, - we shall not fail to call for a strict account from you; and - therefore do look that you call for as strict a one from them: - provided always, that it shall be, and remain in your power to - mitigate their fine aforesaid, according as you shall see their - diligence and care for the advancing of this work.”[248] - -This letter Laud forwarded to the printers, who in reply, “accounted -it so {144} great a happiness” to receive the royal commands in the -matter, and stated that they were already labouring “to find out -the best fount and matrices, and to purchase the same at what cost -soever.”[249] - -The new Greek press, thus furnished, was in due time settled in London, -at the King’s Printing House in Blackfriars, and from its types was -printed, in 1637, Patrick Young’s _Catena on Job_,[250] “in as curious -a letter,” says Bagford, “as any book extant.” In this interesting -work, from which we here give a facsimile, two Greek founts are used, -the larger being a handsome Double Pica,[251] not dissimilar to that in -which Estienne’s great folio _Greek Testament_ was printed in Paris. -The smaller fount, a Great Primer, bears so close a resemblance to the -fount used in the Eton _Chrysostom_, that it is probable it may have -been cast abroad from the same matrices. The Double Pica Roman and -Italic used in the work are the same as those employed by Day in the -preface to the _Ælfredi_ in 1574; the matrices having apparently been -secured by the Archbishop for the use of the Royal press. - -Although Laud’s project for the establishment of a Greek press at -Oxford, similar to that in London, was not fully realised, his efforts -on behalf of the University and its press continued unabated. In -1635 he presented his fine collection of Oriental Manuscripts, and -established a Chair of Arabic, which greatly encouraged and promoted -the study and printing of works in that and other Eastern languages. -This favour he followed up with a gift of Oriental types, which is -alluded to in a letter from John Greaves to Dr. Peter Turner, dated -1637.[252] Greaves approves of the bargain formed by the proctor’s -brother, Mr. Browne, for the purchase at Leyden[253] of some printing -types, of probably an {145} Eastern language. The only danger is that -some are wanting. Mr. Bedwell, when he bought Raphelengius’s Arabic -press, found some characters defective, which he was never able to get -supplied. The writer hopes that, “now that Archbishop Laud has taken -such care for furnishing the University with all sorts of types, and -procuring so many choice MSS. of the Oriental languages, that some will -endeavour to make true use of his noble intentions, and publish some of -those incomparable pieces of the East, not inferior to the best of the -Greeks or Latins.”[254] - -In a letter addressed May 5, 1637, to the Vice-Chancellor, the -Archbishop himself refers to these recent acquisitions in the following -terms:― - - “You are now upon a very good way towards the setting up of a - learned press; and I like your proposal well to keep your matrices - and your letters you have gotten, safe, and in the mean time to - provide all other necessaries, that so you may be ready for that - work.”[255] - -One of the last recorded services of Laud to the Oxford press was -the recovery, in 1639, of the Savile Greek Types, which had been -clandestinely abstracted by Turner, the University printer. His -letter on the subject is characteristic of the fatherly care which he -exercised over the interests of the Oxford Press: - - “I am informed,” he says, “that under pretence of printing a Greek - _Chronologer_ . . . Turner, the printer . . . got into his hands - all Sir H. Savil’s Greek letters amounting to a great number, - some of them scarce worn. It was in Dr. Pink’s time. I pray speak - with the Dr. about it and call Turner to an account before the - heads what’s become of them. I doubt Turner’s poverty and knavery - together hath made avoidance of them.” Oct. 18, 1639. - - “Feb 13th. Turner brought back the Greek letters, and delivered - them by weight as he received them: there were not any wanting. He - came very unwillingly to it.”[256] - -This celebrated Greek fount does not appear to have been much used -after this, and no trace of it now remains at the University press.[257] - -Unfortunately for the cause of learning at Oxford, as elsewhere, the -political troubles of the following years abruptly terminated Laud’s -services in that {146} direction, and suspended for a time all further -progress in the development of the press.[258] - -A revival took place during the Commonwealth, on the appointment, in -1658, of Dr. Samuel Clarke, the learned Orientalist (who a short time -previously had assisted in the correction of Walton’s _Polyglot_), as -Archi-Typographus. This responsible functionary was “a person,” so the -University Statute ordained, “set over the printers, who shall be well -skilled in the Greek and Latin tongues, and in philological studies, -. . whose office is to supervise and look after the business of -Printing, and to provide at the University expence, all paper, presses, -types, etc., to prescribe the module of the letter, the quality of -the paper, and the size of the margins, when any book is printed at -the cost of the University, and also to correct the errors of the -press.”[259] This office was, by the same Statute, annexed to that of -superior law bedel, as having less business than the rest. - -After the Restoration, printing at Oxford made still greater advances, -chiefly through the instrumentality and munificence of Dr. John Fell. - -This eminent scholar and theologian was born in the year 1625. He -entered as a student of Christ Church at the age of eleven, and in 1643 -bore arms in the civil wars for the king in the garrison of Oxford. -At the Restoration he received ecclesiastical promotion, and in 1666 -became Vice-Chancellor of the University.[260] In this capacity he -exerted himself strenuously to continue the work begun by Laud for -the advancement of learning and encouragement of printing at the -University;[261] and about 1667 presented a complete typefoundry, -consisting of the punches and matrices of twenty founts of Roman, -Italic, Orientals, Saxons, Black and other letter, besides moulds and -all the apparatus and utensils necessary for a complete printing office. - -[Illustration: 34, 35, _Hebrew._; 36, _Coptic._; 37, _Arabic._; 38, -_Syriac._ - -34 to 38. Oriental Founts presented to the Oxford Press by Dr. Fell in -1667. (From the original matrices.)] - -The extent of this noble gift, the importance of which can only be -estimated {148} by recalling the low condition of letter-founding -in England at the time, will best appear by the following Inventory, -published by the University in 1695: - - -_An Account of the Matrices, Puncheons, etc., given by Bishop Fell to -the University of Oxford_[262]:― - - -34 BOXES OF MATRICES. - - 1. Great Primer Roman 121 - 2. Double Pica Roman 123 - 3. Pica Greek 513 - 4. Augustin Greek 353 - 5. Long Primer Greek 354 - 6. Great Primer Greek 456 - 7. Long Primer Italic 121 - 8. Small Pica Italic 142 - 9. Long Primer Roman 155 - 10. Pica Roman 156 - 11. Brevier Roman 156 - 12. Great Brass Roman Caps. 40 - 13. Augustin Roman 142 - 14. English Black 73 - 15. Small Pica Roman 142 - 16. Coptick 135 - 17. Augustin Italic 114 - 18. Pica Italic 130 - 19. Nonpareil Italic 121 - 20. Nonpareil Roman 134 - 21. Paragon Greek │ │ - 22. Paragon Greek │445│ - 23. Syriac 121 - 24. Double Pica Italic 87 - 25. Great Canon 204 - 26. Brevier Italic 134 - 27. Music 70 - 28. [Pica Roman and Italic, bought by │ │ - the University, an. 1692.] Roman, │ │ - 93; Italic, 78; Small Caps., not │ │ - justified, 27; in all │198│ - 28. Great Primer Italic 87 - 29. Astronomical Signs, Pica 25 - 29. Samaritan, English 30 - 29. Mathematical Marks 21 - 29. Cancelled Figures, Pica 10 - 29. Brasses, Long Primer 16 - 29. Mathematical Marks, Small Pica 10 - 30. Hebrew, Great and Small │292│ - 31. Hebrew, Great and Small │254│ - 31. Armenian 7 - 32. Arabic, Syriac, and Hebrew 228 - 32. Arabic Figures 10 - 33. Sclavonian, Great Primer 110 - A paper of Flower Matrices. - A paper of Great Primer Roman and - Italic, cut by Mr. Nichols—not good. - New Music Puncheons and Matrices, - cut by Peter Walpergen. - - -PUNCHEONS SEALED UP IN AN EARTHEN POT. - - For the Double Pica Roman and Italic, and some for the Double Pica Greek. - For the Great Brass Roman Capitals. - For the Black, English. - For the Coptick. - For the Syriack. - For the Samaritan. - For the Cannon Roman and Italic. - For the Astronomical Signs and Figures. - [For the Pica Roman and Italic.] - [For the Sclavonian also there were 109 punches.] - - -UTENSILS FOR PRINTING. - - 1 small anvil. - 4 hammers. - 28 moulds. - 1 engine to make brass rules with a plane. - 1 wyer sieve. - 332 dressing sticks. {149} - 2 great vices. - 2 hand vices. - 21 great files. - 1 pair of sheers. - 2 iron pots. - 4 dressing planes. - 3 dressing blocks. - 3 plyers. - 2 rubbing stones. - 1 grinding stone. - 26 copper borders. - 32 copper letters. - 7 printing presses, with all things belonging to them. - 2 rolling presses, with all things necessary to them. - 132 upper and lower cases. - 5 pair of capital cases. - 5 pair of fund cases. - 13 pair of Greek cases. - 50 chases. - -Dr. Fell supplemented this gift by a further signal service, which is -thus recorded by Bagford:― - -“The good Bishop provided from Holland the choicest Puncheons,[263] -Matrices, etc., with all manner of Types that could be had, as also -a Letter Founder, a Dutchman by Birth, who had Served the States in -the same quality at Batavia, in the East Indies. He was an excellent -workman, and succeeded by his son, who has been since succeeded by Mr. -Andrews.”[264] - -The Dutchman here spoken of was Walpergen, who, as will be seen later -on, preceded Sylvester Andrews as typefounder in Oxford. - -Fell was a zealous defender of the privileges enjoyed by his -University, and in 1679 drew up a report setting forth its claims in -the matter of printing.[265] In this report he mentions that, in the -year 1672, several members of the University, himself included, taking -into consideration the “low estate of the manufacture of printing” in -the kingdom, and particularly in the University, “took upon themselves -the charges of the press in the said University, and at the expence of -above four thousand pounds furnisht from Germany, France and Holland, -an Imprimery, with all the necessaries thereof, and pursued the -undertaking so vigorously, as in the short compass of time which hath -since intervened, to have printed many considerable books in Hebrew, -Greek and Latin, as well as in English; both for their matter and -elegance of paper and letter, very satisfactory to the learned abroad -and at home.” - -It is probable that the transaction here recorded constituted a portion -of what became known as Dr. Fell’s gift to the University; a series -of benefactions which doubtless extended over several years—from -1667 to 1672—and included, when complete, the whole of the types and -implements named in the above Inventory. Mores, who is responsible for -the date, 1667, leads us to suppose {150} that the gift was completed -in that year; but he gives no authority; and the absence of any second -inventory of the acquisitions made in 1672, points strongly to the -conclusion that the two transactions were part of the same gift. - -In 1675 Dr. Fell was created Bishop of Oxford, and continued his active -services to the cause of learning until the time of his death in 1686, -having, as Anthony à Wood remarks, “advanced the learned press, and -improved the manufacture of printing in Oxford in such manner as it -had been designed before by that public spirited person, Dr. Laud, -Archbishop of Canterbury.”[266] - -In 1677 the University press was further enriched by another important -gift of type and matrices, presented by Mr. Francis Junius. - -This learned scholar, whom Rowe Mores styles the restorer—if not more -than the restorer—of the knowledge of the Septentrional languages in -England, was a German, the son of Francis Junius, the theologist, -of Heidelberg. He resided for some time in England as librarian to -the Earl of Arundel, during which time he zealously prosecuted his -philological studies. In 1654, being then at Amsterdam, he furnished -himself with a set of Saxon punches and matrices, respecting which he -wrote as follows to Selden in that year[267]:―“In the meanwhile have I -here Anglo-Saxonic types (I know not whether you call them puncheons) -a cutting, and I hope they will be matriculated and cast within the -space of seven or eight weeks at the furthest. As soon as they come -I will send you some little specimen of them to the end I might know -how they will be liked in England.” In addition to this Saxon, Junius -also obtained founts of Gothic, Runic, Danish, Icelandic, Greek, Roman, -Italic, and a pretty Black, all cast on Pica body. These he brought -over with him to this country. Of the Gothic, Runic, Saxon, and Greek -he certainly brought punches and matrices as well as types, as these -are to this day preserved at Oxford, and there is reason to suppose all -his founts were similarly complete.[268] - -Junius, who had spent much time in his younger years at Oxford for the -{151} sake of study, libraries, and conversation, and had visited it -frequently since, retired there at last in 1676, and executed a deed of -gift whereby he presented his books in the Northern language and his -punches and matrices to the University, the latter consisting of the -following founts:― - - Pica Runic. - Pica Gothic. - Pica Anglo-Saxon. - Pica Icelandic. - Pica Danish. - Pica Black. - Pica Greek. - Pica Roman. - Pica Italic. - English Swedish. - -Junius died the following year at Windsor, at the great age of ninety. -A quaint tribute to his memory exists in a note from Dr. (afterwards -Bishop) Nicolson, who, writing to Thwaites in May 1697, says, “My -acquaintance with that worthy personage was very short, and in his last -days, when he was near ninety . . . . alas! I can remember little more -of him than that he was very kind and communicative, very good, and -very old.”[269] - -The custodians of his valuable gift scarcely appear at first to have -been impressed with an adequate sense of their responsibility, for we -find that the Junian punches and matrices disappeared shortly after -their presentation, and remained lost for a considerable period, when -they were discovered by chance under the circumstances thus humorously -narrated in a letter from Dr. (afterwards Bishop) Tanner, dated All -Souls College, Aug. 10, 1697, and addressed to Dr. Charlett:― - - “Mr. Thwaites and John Hall took the courage last week to go to - Dr. Hyde about Junius’ matrices and punchions which he gave with - his books to the University. These, nobody knew where they were, - till Mr. Wanley discovered some of them in a hole in Dr. Hyde’s - study. But, upon Mr. Hall’s asking, Dr. Hyde knew nothing of - them; but at last told him he thought he had some punchions about - his study, but did not know how they come there; and presently - produces a small box-full, and taking out one, he pores upon - it, and at last wisely tells them that these could not be what - they looked after, for they were Ethiopic[270]: but Mr. Thwaites - desiring a sight of them, found that which he looked on to be - Gothic and Runic punchions, which they took away with them, - and a whole oyster-barrel full of old Greek letter, which they - discovered in another hole.”[271] {152} - -[Illustration: 32. Pica Roman and Italic presented to the Oxford Press -by Dr. Fell, 1667. - -33. Pica Roman and Italic bought by the University in 1692. - -(From the _Specimen_ of 1692.)] - -{153} - -The combined gifts of Dr. Fell and Francis Junius laid the foundation -of the Oxford University foundry as it now exists. Even before the -close of the century it had been augmented by numerous small additions -and purchases. About the time of Fell’s gift the press received a -second fount of Coptic, presented by Witsen, the Burgomaster of -Amsterdam.[272] In 1694, Dr. Charlett, writing to Archbishop Tenison, -refers to the founts of Slavonic and Armenian types, “very elegantly -cut, which M. Ludolfus is bringing to Oxford from Holland.” The -University also purchased matrices of Pica-Roman and Italic in 1692, -besides adding to its stock some indifferent Great Primer matrices by -Nichols, and music cut by the Oxford founder, Walpergen.[273] - -[Illustration: 30. The Sheldonian Theatre. (From an old wood block in -the Oxford University Press.)] - -About the year 1669 the foundry, which, together with the press, had -been carried on in hired premises provided by Fell, was transferred -to the basement of the then new Sheldonian Theatre.[274] Here it was -that, in the year 1693, appeared the earliest known “_Specimen of the -several Sorts of Letter given to the University by Dr. John Fell, late -Lord Bishop of Oxford, to which is added the Letter given_ {154} _by -Mr. F. Junius_.” A manuscript note on the title-page of the Bodleian -copy of this interesting specimen adds “with puncheons and matrices -bought of others.” These additions, besides those already noted, -include an Ethiopic “bought of Dr. Bernard,” and some supplementary -Arabic sorts and Syriac vowels “bought by Dr. Hyde.” The _Specimen_ -consists of eighteen leaves. - -[Illustration: 39. Ethiopic, purchased by the Oxford Press in 1692. -(From the original matrices.)] - -In 1695 a fuller specimen (of twenty-four leaves) appeared with the -same title, and included the Junian Danish, a few later acquisitions, -such as the new Slavonic, and a fount of spoon-shaped music cut -by Walpergen. To this document was also appended the inventory of -“utensils for printing,” already given in the account of Dr. Fell’s -gift. - -Of the estimation in which this specimen was held at the time, the -following eulogium of Bagford may be taken as testimony. He says: “For -the satisfaction of the curious, I shall give a catalogue and specimen -of the letter presented by Dr. Fell, the like of which cannot be shown -by any of the great printing houses in Europe, which may be seen by -that printed in 1695, although it may fall into the hands of foreign -printers of Holland, Flanders, Italy, Germany and France, they must -confess that they had not seen the like, both for the great beauty and -goodness of the letters.”[275] - -Apart from its value as a specimen of the Oxford foundry, considerable -interest attaches to the specimen of 1695, as being the first -polyglot production in this country in which a stated portion of the -Scripture—the Lord’s Prayer—appears in as many as forty-five different -forms and nineteen different languages. In this respect, however, -it was shortly afterward eclipsed by a polyglot _Oratio Dominica_, -published in London in 1700,[276] exhibiting the Lord’s Prayer in -upwards of one hundred versions. This may, to some extent, be regarded -as a specimen of the University press, as the two principal sheets -of the work were printed at Oxford containing the prayer in the -Hebrew, Samaritan, Chaldee, {155} Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopic, Amharic, -Arabic, Persic, Turkish, Tartaric, Malayan, Gothic, Runic, Icelandic -and Sclavonic, of the University foundry.[277] These constitute the -most interesting part of the collection, as the remaining versions, -requiring special characters, are produced chiefly in copperplate.[278] -Rowe Mores points with some pride to this specimen as showing how far -superior we were at that time to our neighbours abroad in the variety -of our metal types.[279] - -Specimens of Dr. Fell’s and Junius’ gifts, and an account of the -foundry with its recent acquisitions, were frequently printed in -the early part of the eighteenth century. Rowe Mores mentions four -between 1695 and 1706. In the latter year the document had grown to -twenty-five leaves, and included a Great Primer and a two-line Great -Primer, purchased in 1701, and other additions. The inventory mentions -twenty-eight moulds as being the number still in use in the foundry, -and seven presses in the printing-house. It also distinguishes certain -types as being of the Dutch height, a discrepancy to which, in all -probability, may be traced that unfortunate anomaly of “Bible height” -and “Classical height,” which to this day hampers the operations of a -foundry where, in perpetuation of a blunder made two centuries ago, -types are still cast to two different heights, agreeing neither with -one another nor with any British standard.[280] - -A later specimen, without date, was issued in broadside form, in which -the old title gave place to the more simple one of _A Specimen of the -several Sorts of Letters in the University Printing House, Oxford_. In -this specimen, while including all the recent acquisitions, several -of the older and less sightly founts comprised in Dr. Fell’s gift are -discarded. {156} - -In the year 1712 the University press was removed from the Sheldonian -Theatre to occupy its new quarters in the Clarendon Printing House, -erected for its accommodation—a building considered at the time one of -the finest printing-houses in the world.[281] - -[Illustration: 41. The Clarendon Press. (From an old wood block at the -Oxford University Press.)] - -The encouragement given by Junius to the study of the Northern -languages resulted in the production of many important works in that -branch of literature at the University press during the early years -of the eighteenth century. Foremost among these was Dr. Hickes’ -_Thesaurus_,[282] printed in 1703–5, a learned and elaborate work, -in which the types presented by Junius are many of them displayed to -advantage. - -Rowe Mores, for the honour of his University in general, and his own -college in particular, gives a list of the famous “Saxonists” of Dr. -Hickes’ time. Amongst these, not the least eminent was Miss Elizabeth -Elstob, who published in 1715 an Anglo-Saxon Grammar, printed in types, -which, as they subsequently found their way into the Oxford foundry, -call for a particular mention here. - -William Bowyer the younger had printed in 1709 a work entitled _An -English-Saxon Homily on the Birth-Day of St. Gregory_, translated -by the Rev. William Elstob of Oxford and his sister, a young lady -of great industry and {157} learning, whom Mores describes as the -“indefessa comes” of her brother’s studies, and a female student of the -University.[283] In 1712, in the same types, was issued a specimen of -Miss Elstob’s _Anglo-Saxon Grammar_. - -Before, however, this work could be completed, Bowyer’s printing-house -was destroyed by fire, and his types, including the Anglo-Saxon, -perished in the flames. This disastrous event was the occasion for -a remarkable display of sympathy on the part of Mr. Bowyer’s many -friends, both in and out of the profession, which found expression in -several forms,[284] one of the most practical of which was the offer of -Lord Chief Justice Parker (afterwards Earl of Macclesfield) to be at -the cost of cutting a new set of Anglo-Saxon types for Miss Elstob’s -Grammar. The drawings for the new types were made, at Lord Parker’s -request, by Humphrey Wanley,[285] the eminent Saxonist, and the cutting -of the punches entrusted to Robert Andrews the letter-founder, who, -however, proved unequal to the task. “I did what was required,” Mr. -Wanley wrote, “in the most exact and able manner that I could in all -respects. But it signified little; for when the alphabet came into the -hands of the workman (who was but a blunderer), he could not imitate -the fine and regular stroke of the pen; so that the letters are not -only clumsy, but unlike those that I drew. This appears by Mrs. -Elstob’s _Saxon Grammar_.”[286] {158} - -Poor as the letter-founder’s performance was, the Grammar duly -appeared in the new letter in 1715,[287] and the punches, matrices and -types remained in the possession of Mr. Bowyer and his son, being used -occasionally in some of their subsequent works, though not in any other -of which Miss Elstob was the authoress.[288] In 1753 they were sent by -William Bowyer the younger, to Rowe Mores, with the following letter, -for presentation to the University of Oxford:― - - _4th December, 1753._ - - “To EDWARD ROWE MORES, Esq., at Low Leyton. - - “Sir,—I make bold to transmit to Oxford, through your hands, the - Saxon punches and matrices, which you were pleased to intimate - would not be unacceptable to that learned body. It would be a - great satisfaction to me, if I could by this means perpetuate the - munificence of the noble donor, to whom I am originally indebted - for them, the late Lord Chief Justice Parker, afterwards Earl of - Macclesfield, who, among the numerous benefactors which my father - met with, after his house was burned in 1712–13, was so good as - to procure those types to be cut, to enable him to print Mrs. - Elstob’s _Saxon Grammar_. England had not then the advantage of - such an artist in letter cutting as has since arisen,[289] and it - is to be lamented, that the execution of these is not equal to - the intention of the noble donor, and, I now add, to the place in - which they are to be reposited. However, I esteem it a peculiar - happiness, that as my father received them from a great patron of - learning, his son consigns them to the greatest seminary of it, - and that he is, Sir, your most obliged friend, and humble Servant, - - “W. BOWYER.” - -The adventures of this epistle and the gift which accompanied it, -before reaching their destination, are almost romantic. For some -reason which does not appear, Rowe Mores, on receipt of the punches -and matrices, instead of transmitting them to Oxford, took them to -Mr. Caslon’s foundry to be repaired and rendered more fit for use. -Mr. Caslon having kept them four or five years without touching them, -Mr. Bowyer removed them from his custody, and in 1758 entrusted them -to Mr. Cottrell, from whom in the same year he received them again, -carefully “fitted up” and ready for use, together with 15 lbs. of -letter cast {159} from the matrices. In this condition the whole was -again consigned by Mr. Bowyer to Rowe Mores, together with a copy of -Miss Elstob’s _Grammar_, for transmission to Oxford. On hearing, two -years later, that his gift had never reached the University, he made -inquiries of Mores, from whom he received a reply that “the punches -and matrices were very safe at his house,” awaiting an opportunity to -be forwarded to their destination. This opportunity does not appear -to have occurred for three years longer, when, in October, 1764, the -gift was finally deposited at Oxford. Its formal acknowledgment was, -however, delayed till August 1778, exactly a quarter of a century after -its presentation.[290] - -The correspondence touching this transaction, amusing as it is, throws -a curious light on Rowe Mores’ character for exactitude, and it is -doubtful whether the publication of Mr. Bowyer’s first letter in the -_Dissertation_,[291] together with a few flattering compliments, was -an adequate atonement for the injury done to that gentleman by the -unwarrantable detention of his gift. Nor does the title under which the -gift was permitted to appear in the University specimen, suppressing -as it does all mention of the real donor’s name, and giving the entire -honour to the dilatory go-between, reflect any credit on the hero of -the transaction. The entry appears thus: “Characteres Anglo-Saxonici -per eruditam fœminam Eliz. Elstob ad fidem codd. mss. delineati; quorum -tam instrumentis cusoriis quam matricibus Univ. donari curavit E. R. M. -e Collegio Regin., A.M. 1753. - - “Cusoria majuscula 42 (desunt [*AT] et Þ) - Matrices majusculæ 44. - Cusoria minuscula 37 (desunt e et ⁊) - Matrices minusculæ 39.” - -It does not appear that these types were ever made use of at Oxford. -The punches and matrices remain in the University press to this -day.[292] - -Between the Broadside sheet following the specimen of 1706, and 1768, -no specimen of the Oxford foundry occurs. There exists, however, in the -works issuing from the Press during that period ample testimony to its -activity. The proposal to print Dr. Mawer’s _Supplement to Walton’s -Polyglot_, with its types, is evidence of the continued reputation of -its “learned” founts; while such an admirable specimen of typography -as Blackstone’s _Charter of the Forest_, printed in 1759,[293] affords -proof that Oxford was not behindhand in that famous {160} revival -of printing which received such impetus from the taste and genius of -Baskerville. - -The Delegates of the Press had, indeed, so high an opinion of the -talents of this famous artist, that they employed him in 1758 to cut -a fount of Great Primer Greek type for a _Greek Testament_ shortly to -be issued.[294] The performance was pronounced unsuccessful, but the -Greek types duly appeared, together with numerous other acquisitions, -including a Long Primer Syriac purchased from Caslon, in the _Specimen_ -of 1768–70.[295] - -Of this specimen Rowe Mores (who informs us that it was printed at -the request of foreigners) falls foul as inaccurate. “The materials -from which this account (_i.e._, his summary of the contents of the -Foundry) is drawn,” he says, “are not so accurate as might have been -expected from an Archi-typographus and the Curators of the Sheldonian. -In excuse may be alleged that neither the Archi-typographus nor the -Curators are Letter-founders; certainly that the matter has not been -treated with that precision which in so learned a body should seem to -be requisite. For one instance among others, which might be produced, -take the Double Pica, Brevier and Nonpareil Hebrew, the only Hebrew -types the University then had. They are two-line English, English and -Long Primer. And this mistake has run through all the editions of the -Oxford specimen, and in the last of 1770, the leanest and the worst of -all, appears most glaringly. For this Brevier is placed immediately -under Caslon’s Long Primer, a diversity sufficient one would think to -show the blunder without the aid of a magnifier. The Nonpareil as it -is called is omitted in this last specimen, and so are many other sets -of matrices which have been given to the University, touching which -enquiry should be made out of respect (at least) to the memory of the -donors.”[296] {161} - -Another specimen appeared in 1786, in which more of the old founts -are discarded in favour of more modern letters, among which are -noticeable several Roman founts cast on a large body, to obviate the -necessity of “leading”; including an English, cast for Mr. Richardson’s -_Dictionary_. Almost all the “learned” founts presented by Fell and -Junius are here shown, as well as a considerable number of borders and -ornamental initials. - -In 1794 a still fuller specimen appeared, which included a Great Primer -Greek, cut by Caslon, and several new titling letters. To this specimen -is appended a detailed inventory, both of the punches and matrices at -that time in the possession of the University, and of the quantity of -type of various kinds in stock, with the utensils for printing. - -The following is a summary of the foreign and “learned” punches and -matrices included in this catalogue:― - - -PUNCHES. - - Anglo-Saxon 79 - Arabic 33 - Armenian 65 - Black, English 72 - Coptic, Pica 116 - Gothic 25 - Greek, Great Primer 114 - Greek, Great Primer (Baskerville’s) 148 - Greek, Double Pica 190 - Greek, 2-line English 10 - Hebrew, with points 20 - Music 220 - Runic 24 - Samaritan, English 28 - Saxon 21 - Slavonian 106 - Syriac, English 90 - Turkish, Persian, Malayan 47 - - -MATRICES. - - Arabic, Syriac and Hebrew 228 - Arabic figures 10 - Anglo-Saxon 83 - Armenian 77 - Armenian 7 - Armenian 7 - Black, English 73 - Coptic 135 - Coptic 27 - Ethiopic 224 - Greek, Augustin (or English) 351 - Greek, Great Primer 493 - Greek, Great Primer (Baskerville’s) 167 - Greek, Double Pica (bad) 239 - Greek, Paragon (Double Pica) 432 - Greek, Long Primer 352 - Greek, 2-line English 11 - Hebrew, large and small 230 - Hebrew, large and small 250 - Music 228 - Music 70 - Runic, Dutch, Saxon, Gothic and Greek 89 - Samaritan 30 - Saxon, Small Pica, Long Primer, Pica 20 - Slavonic 110 - Syriac, English 120 - Syriac, vowels 5 - Turkish, Persian, Malayan 47 - Welch 10 - -Of the printing utensils, the following items will give an idea of the -extent of the press at that date:― {162} - - -CASES (FILLED WITH TYPE). - - Common cases 267 - Single cases and boxes 44 - Fount cases 26 - Long Greek cases 34 - Frames 30 - Chases 129 - Letter boards 37 - Presses 5 - Proof press 1 - -Of the presses, one is described as “mahogany, set up in the year -1793,” and another as “on the new constitution which works with a -lever, set up in 1793.” - -We have now brought our account of letter-founding at Oxford to the -close of the last century. Its later history is of comparatively slight -interest. The foundry still remains a part of the Press, and the -reputation of the University for its oriental and learned founts has -been maintained by numerous additions to its punches and matrices. Of -such matters, however, in the absence of periodical general specimens, -it is impossible to give particulars. The list of matrices given by -Hansard in 1825 is entirely misleading, as he merely summarises the -list taken by Mores from the _Specimen_ of 1768–70. - -We may, however, observe that at the present moment, under able -management, the foundry is in active operation, and that the University -Press possesses probably the largest collection of “Polyglot” matrices -of any foundry in the kingdom. - -The famous gifts of Fell and Junius are now relegated to the relics of -this venerable yet still flourishing foundry, where, in company with -Baskerville’s Greek, Walpergen’s music and Miss Elstob’s Anglo-Saxon, -they rest from their labours, and remain to this day the most -interesting monuments our country possesses of the art and mystery of -its early letter-founders. - - * * * * * - -Appended is a list of the various specimens issued by the Oxford press -from 1693 to 1794.― - - 1693. A specimen of the Several sorts of Letter given to the - University by Dr. John Fell, late Lord Bishop of Oxford. To which - is added, the Letter given by Mr. F. Junius. Oxford, printed at - the Theater, A.D. 1693. 8vo. . . . . (Bodl. C., i, 24, Art.) - - 1695. A specimen of the Several sorts of Letter given to the - University by Dr. John Fell, sometime Lord Bishop of Oxford. To - which is added the Letter given by Mr. F. Junius. Oxford, Printed - at the Theater, A.D. 1695. 8vo. . . . . (Bodl. Gough, Ox., 142; B. - M. Harl. MS. 1529.) - - 1706. A specimen of the Several sorts of Letters given to the - University by Dr. John Fell, sometime Lord Bishop of Oxford. To - which is added the Letter given by Mr. F. Junius, Oxford, Printed - at the Theater, A.D. 1706, 8vo. . . . . (Bodl. Gough, Ox., 142.) - - No date. A specimen of the Several Sorts of Letters in the - University Printing House. Oxford. Broadside. . . . . (Bodl. C., - i, 24, Art.) - - No date. Characteres Anglo-Saxonici per eruditam fœminam - Eliz. Elstob ad fidem codd. {163} mss. delineati, quorum tam - instrumentis cusoriis quam matricibus Univ. donari curavit E. R. - M. e. collegio Regin. A.M. 1753. 8vo leaf. . . . . (W. B.) - - 1768–70. A specimen of the Several sorts of Printing Types - belonging to the University of Oxford at the Clarendon Printing - House, 1768 (together with New Letters purchased in the years - 1768, 1769, 1770). Clarendon Press, Sept. 29, 1770. 8vo. . . . . - (Univ. Pr.) - - 1786. A specimen of the Several sorts of Printing Types belonging - to the University of Oxford at the Clarendon Printing House, 1786. - 8vo. . . . . (Univ. Pr.) - - 1794. A specimen of the Several Sorts of Printing Types belonging - to the University of Oxford, at the Clarendon Printing House, - 1794. 8vo. . . . . (W. B.) - -[Illustration] - -{164} - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -THE STAR CHAMBER FOUNDERS, AND THE LONDON POLYGLOT. - - -Prior to 1637, letter-founding is not specifically mentioned as a -distinct industry in any of the Public Documents. We are not on that -account however, (as we have endeavoured to point out), to assume -either that the restrictive provisions of previous enactments which -regulated printing did not apply to letter-founding, or that, as a -trade, it had no separate existence before that date. The divorce of -letter-founding from printing was in all probability a long and gradual -process; and although it would be difficult to fix any precise date to -the completion of that process, we may yet infer from the fact that the -Decree of 1586 (which includes by name almost every other branch of -industry connected with printing) makes no mention of letter-founding, -while the Decree of 1637 particularly names it, that between these two -dates printers ceased generally to be their own letter-founders. - -As we have elsewhere noticed, the Stationers’ Company as early as 1597 -took cognisance of letter-founding as a distinct trade, when it called -upon Benjamin Sympson to enter into a bond of £40 not to cast any -letters or characters, or to deliver them, without previous notice to -the master and wardens. And that there was a certain body of men known -in the trade as “founders” owning the authority of the Stationers’ -Company in 1622, is evident {165} from the fact that in that year the -Court called upon “the founders” to give bond to the Company not to -deliver any fount of new letters without notice. - -It would be erroneous, therefore, to imagine that the Star Chamber -Decree of 1637 in any sense created letter-founding as a distinct -trade. Its purpose, as in the case of printing, was to restrict the -number of those engaged in it, which had probably grown excessive under -the milder regime of the Decree of 1586. - -In the curious little tract, to which allusion has already been made, -entitled _The London Printer, his Lamentation_,[297] the author, -writing in 1660, after highly commending the Decree of Elizabeth (23 -June, 1586), limiting the number of printers, says that about 1637, -notwithstanding the above Decree, “printing and printers were grown to -monstrous excess and exorbitant riot,” and that the law was infringed -at all points. In this “monstrous excess and exorbitant riot,” it -is highly probable that the letter-founders of the day figured. And -it seems equally probable that John Grismand, Thomas Wright, Arthur -Nicholls (or Nichols[298]) and Alexander Fifield, who were appointed by -the Decree of 1637 as the four authorised founders, had already been -founding types for several years, with or without the sanction of the -authorities. - -In the Registers of the Stationers’ Company, the names both of John -Grismand and Thomas Wright occur as publishers of certain works, -the former in 1635, the latter in 1638; from which it would appear -that both before and after 1637 they may have combined the trade of -bookseller and printer with that of letter-founder.[299] - -And in another curious document, preserved among the Bagford -collections, and entitled _The Brotherly Meeting of the Masters and -Workmen Printers, began November 5, 1621; the first Sermon being on -November 5, 1628_, {166} _and hath been continued by the Stewards, -whose names follow in this Catalogue to this present third of May -1681_,[300] the names of Thomas Wright, Arthur Nichols, and Alexander -Fifield all appear as having served their Stewardship, although -unfortunately the list does not assign dates to the respective terms of -service.[301] - -In the lists of the Stationers’ Company, however, we find that the four -founders took up their freedom in the following order: John Grisman -(_sic_), December 2, 1616; Thomas Wright, May 7, 1627; Arthur Nicholls, -December 3, 1632; and Alexander Fifield, July 20, 1635.[302] - -Respecting Wright and Fifield, after their nomination as Star Chamber -founders history records nothing. It is probable that they continued to -combine the callings of printer and founder, as John Grismand certainly -appears to have done, for we find him named in a State Paper in 1649 as -having on the 19th October of that year entered into a bond of £300, -and given two sureties, not to print any seditious work.[303] - -Of Arthur Nicholls there remains a record of a more ample and -satisfactory nature, which we are glad to lay before the reader (as we -believe) for the first time, being undoubtedly one of the most valuable -and interesting memorials of early English letter-founding which we -possess. - -It appears that Nicholls, at the time of his nomination as Star -Chamber founder in 1637, was also a candidate for the vacant place of -printer at Oxford, at that time at the disposal of Archbishop Laud, -who, as we have seen in the {167} preceding chapter, had been reserving -it for a printer well versed in the Greek language. Nicholls, being -unsuccessful in this matter, and driven by his straitened circumstances -to seek some addition to his slender pittance as letter-founder -thereupon made application to Laud to be admitted as a licensed -master-printer in London, that so he might make use of his own type. -His letter and the “Cause of Complaint” annexed are preserved among the -State Papers,[304] and are so important that we make no apology for -quoting them _in extenso_: - - “_To the Right Reverend Father in God_, WILLIAM, LORD ARCHBISHOP - OF CANTERBURY, _his Grace, Primate and Metropolitane of all - England_. - - “The humble peticion of Arthur Nicholls. Showeth unto your grace: - - “That the said peticioner hath spent much tyme and paines in - cuttinge and foundinge of letters for divers of the printers in - London, and at this tyme hath greate store of letters ready cast - lying upon his hands, they refusing to take them from him att any - rate. - - “Besides this his imployment of founding letters is of soe small - gaine that alone it will not mainteyne him and his familie but - that of necessitie hee must betake himself to some other course - whereby to be freed from extreame povertie, and utterly to quitt - himself of that, unless your Grace be pleased out of your wonted - goodness to comiserate his case. - - “May it therefore please your Grace, since you have otherwise - determined to dispose of the printers place att Oxford, to give - him leave, for the better encouragement of that course wherein he - hath so long exercised himself, to bee a printer here in London, - That soe he may make use of his owne letters for the elegant - performance whereof hee doth promise to use his best care and - industry And ever to pray for your Grace’s honour and happinesse.” - -The “Cause of Complaint” gives a lively picture of the tribulations of -letter-founders at that time: - - “_The Cause of Complaint of_ ARTHUR NICHOLLS” (endorsed “_Mr. - Nicholls his reasons to be made printer_.”) - - “The Complainant being the cutter and founder of Letters for - Printers is 3 quarter of a yeares time cuttinge the Punches and - Matrices belonginge to the castinge of one sorte of letters, which - are some 200 of a sorte, after which they are 6 weekes a castinge, - that done some 2 monthes tyme is required for triall of every - sorte, and then the Printers pay him what they themselves list; - thus he is necessitated to lay out much money and forebeare a long - tyme to little or noe benefitt. - - “Likewise for the Greeke the Printers came unto him promisinge him - the doinge of all the common worke, which drewe him to doe 400 - Mattrices and Punches for 80 _l._ which weare truly worth 150 _l._: - - “Further they caused him to spend 5 weekes tyme in cutting the - letters for the small Bible, it beinge finished was approved for - the best in England, notwithstandinge they put him off aboute - it from tyme to tyme for 15 weekes till (as they pretended) Mr. - Patricke Yonge came out of the contry. {168} - - “All which tyme he kept his servants standinge still, in regard - whereof he refused to doe it, except he might doe the common worke - likewise, when for feare of the displeasure of my lord his Grace, - they came to him agayne but told him that if they should lett him - have worke enough, he would growe to ritch. - - “Albeit, of soe small benifitt hath his Art bine, that for 4 - yeares worke and practice he hath not taken above 48 _l._, and had - it not bine for other imploymente he might have perrisht. - - “He seeinge himself soe slightly regarded by them, was the rather - annimated to sell off the proffitablest of his worke thinking to - take some other businesse in hand, whereby to free himselfe from - want, being not able to subsist by workinge only for 2 or 3. - - “Notwithstandinge his longe tyme spent in that Art, wherein he - hath brought up his sonne to bee soe expert and able that if it - please God to call him, the other is able exactly to performe - anythinge touchinge the same. - - “Wherefore he requesteth my lorde Grace not to confine him to - these miserable uncertainties, but promiseth if he will bee - pleased to grant his peticion, he shall see more done in one yeare - than was ever done in England for all kindes of languages which he - is assured will bee for the good of the commonwealth in general - and his Graces particular content.” - -Whether Nicholls’ application was successful or otherwise, is not -known. In the disastrous times which immediately followed the four -Star Chamber founders are lost sight of. It is scarcely likely, -judging from the dismal account given above of the trade in times of -peace, that they were able, any of them, to keep a business together -in times of civil war. Nor is there any certainty that when, in 1649, -the Commonwealth re-enacted the main provisions of the Star Chamber -Decree, that the four founders then appointed were the same who had -been licensed in 1637. Mores, however, leads us to suppose that they -were, and for the purpose of enumerating the Oriental and learned -matrices which about the year 1657 were in use in the country, treats -their four foundries as one. There is, however, no reason for supposing -that they worked in partnership, or that their business was in any way -connected. But in one great undertaking they were associated; and the -London _Polyglot_ of 1657 has generally been regarded as the product of -the types of some, if not all, of their number. - -“By these or some of them,” observes Mores, “we may suppose to have -been cut the letter used in _The English Polyglott_: but as we cannot -assign to any of them their particular performances we shall till we -are better able to ascertain them, call their labours by the name -of the POLYGLOTT FOUNDERY, which, as nearly as that work and the -_Heptaglott_ which accompanies it instructs us, is described at the -bottom of the page.[305] But it is not to be doubted, considering -the elegance and simplicity of the assortment which we see, that the -foundery {169} was as completely furnished with that which we see not, -and which, for that reason we cannot mention.”[306] - - * * * * * - -The _London Polyglot_ ranks deservedly as one of the most conspicuous -landmarks of English typography. Great works had gone before it, -and greater followed. But in few of these has the learning of the -scholar, the enterprise of the publisher, the industry of the editor, -the ability of the printer, and the skill of the letter-founder been -combined to so extraordinary a degree as in the production of this -_magnum opus_ of the Commonwealth press. - -A brief sketch of the typographical history of this famous work may be -interesting, and not out of place here. - -The _London Polyglot_ was the fourth great Bible of the kind which had -been given to the world.[307] - -In 1517[308] the _Complutensian Polyglot_ had been printed at Alcala, -at the charges of Cardinal Ximenes, in six volumes, containing the -Sacred Text, in Hebrew, Latin, Greek and Chaldean, including an -“Apparatus” consisting of a Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon, etc. This work -will always be famous, if for no other reason, for the grand, bold -Greek type in which the Septuagint and New Testament are printed. - -In 1572 the _Antwerp Polyglot_ of Arias Montanus was printed, in eight -magnificent volumes, by Christopher Plantin. It comprises the whole -of the Complutensian texts, with the addition of the Syriac, and an -Apparatus containing Lexicons and Grammars of Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac -and Greek. - -In 1645 the _Paris Polyglot_, edited by Le Jay and others, was -published in ten sumptuous volumes. It comprises the whole of the texts -of the _Antwerp Polyglot_, with the addition of Arabic and Samaritan. -Owing to the abrupt completion of this work, no Apparatus was included -of any description. This work was seventeen years in the press. - -The _London Polyglot_, as we shall observe, added to the languages -used in the _Paris Polyglot_, the Persian and Ethiopic, with an -Appendix containing additional Targums, also a complete “Apparatus” -and Prolegomena, with alphabetical tables of the various languages -employed, and others besides. {170} - -The following table will show clearly the gradual advances made by the -four great _Polyglots_ in respect of the versions they comprise[309]:― - - +──+────────────────+────────────────+─────────────────+─────────────────────+ - │ │COMPLUTUM, 1520.│ ANTWERP, 1572. │ PARIS, 1645. │ LONDON, 1657. │ - +──+────────────────+────────────────+─────────────────+─────────────────────+ - │ 1│Old Test., │Old Test., │Old Test., _Heb._│Old Test., _Heb._ │ - │ │ _Heb._ │ _Heb._ │ │ │ - +──+────────────────+────────────────+─────────────────+─────────────────────+ - │ 2│Vulgate, _Lat._ │Vulgate, _Lat._ │Vulgate, _Lat._ │Vulgate, _Lat._ │ - +──+────────────────+────────────────+─────────────────+─────────────────────+ - │ 3│Septuagint, │Septuag. _Gr._ │Septuag., _Gr._ │Septuag., _Gr._ │ - │ │ _Gr._ _Lat._ │ _Lat._ │ _Lat._ │ _Lat._ │ - +──+────────────────+────────────────+─────────────────+─────────────────────+ - │ 4│Pentat., │Old Test., │Old Test., │Old Test., _Chal._ │ - │ │ _Chal._ _Lat._ │ _Chal._ _Lat._ │ _Chal._ _Lat._ │ _Lat._ │ - +──+────────────────+────────────────+─────────────────+─────────────────────+ - │ 5│New Test., │New Test., _Gr._│New Test., _Gr._ │New Test., _Gr._ │ - │ │ _Gr._ _Lat._ │ _Lat._ │ _Lat._ │ _Lat._ │ - +──+────────────────+────────────────+─────────────────+─────────────────────+ - │ 6│ ..... │New Test., │New Test., │New Test., _Syriac_ │ - │ │ │ _Syriac_, │ _Syriac_, │ │ - │ │ │ _Heb._ _Lat._ │ _Heb._ _Lat._ │ │ - +──+────────────────+ │ │ │ - │ 7│ ..... │ ..... │Old Test., │Old Test., _Syriac_ │ - │ │ │ │ _Syriac_ _Lat._ │ │ - +──+────────────────+────────────────+─────────────────+─────────────────────+ - │ 8│ ..... │ ..... │Bible, _Arab._ │Bible, _Arab._ │ - │ │ │ │ _Lat._ │ │ - +──+────────────────+────────────────+─────────────────+─────────────────────+ - │ 9│ ..... │ ..... │Pentat., _Samar._│Pentat., _Samar._ │ - │ │ │ │ _Lat._ │ │ - +──+────────────────+────────────────+─────────────────+─────────────────────+ - │10│ ..... │ ..... │ ..... │Pentat. Gospels, │ - │ │ │ │ │ _Per._ _Lat._ │ - +──+────────────────+────────────────+─────────────────+─────────────────────+ - │11│ ..... │ ..... │ ..... │Ps., Cant. New Test.,│ - │ │ │ │ │ _Eth._ _Lat._ │ - +──+────────────────+────────────────+─────────────────+─────────────────────+ - │12│ ..... │ ..... │ ..... │Add. Targums │ - +──+────────────────+────────────────+─────────────────+─────────────────────+ - │13│ Apparatus │ Apparatus │ ..... │Apparatus, Proleg., │ - │ │ │ │ │ etc. │ - +──+────────────────+────────────────+─────────────────+─────────────────────+ - -The first announcement of the _London Polyglot_ was made in 1652, -when Dr. Walton published _A Brief Description of an Edition of the -Bible in the Original Hebrew, Samaritan, and Greek, with the most -ancient Translations of the Jewish and Christian Churches, viz. -the Sept. Greek, Chaldee, Syriac, Ethiopic, Arabic, Persian, etc., -and the Latin versions of them all; a new Apparatus, etc._[310] -{171} This Description, which set forth the various improvements in -the proposed _Polyglot_ on its predecessors, was accompanied by a -specimen-sheet[311] containing the first twelve verses of the first -chapter of Genesis in the following order: On one side, Hebrew with -interlinear Latin translation, Latin (Vulgate), Greek (Septuagint) with -Latin, Chaldean paraphrase with Latin, Hebrew-Samaritan, Samaritan. On -the other side, Syriac with Latin, Arabic with Latin, Latin translation -of the Samaritan, Persian with Latin. The imprint to this highly -interesting specimen (a copy of which is said to be in the Library of -Sydney College, Cambridge) was: _Londini, Typis Jacobi Flesher_; from -which it appears that James Flesher was the first possessor of some -of the types cast by the polyglot founders, and subsequently used by -Roycroft in this great work.[312] - -Flesher’s _Specimen_, which we have unfortunately not been able to -discover, met with many critics. Amongst others was Dr. Boate, the -Dutch scholar (who had already found fault with the Hebrew character -used in the Paris _Polyglot_, which he described as “a very scurvy one, -and such as will greatly disgrace the work”), was very disparaging to -the new undertaking. It was probably in deference to this critic that -Dr. Walton added the following MS. note to the copy of the specimen -now at Sydney College, Cambridge: “Typos Hebr. et Syr. cum punctis -meliores, parabimus, etc.” - -The time occupied in securing the co-operation and assistance of the -learned men of the day, in getting subscribers,[313] in arranging -copy, and finally in {172} providing the necessary types, delayed -the commencement of the undertaking till September 1653. Writing to -Usher on July the 18th of that year, Dr. Walton thus notes the near -completion of the preliminary arrangements: “I hope we shall shortly -begin the work; yet I doubt the _founders_ will make us stay a week -longer than we expected. . . . We have resolved to have a better paper -than that of 11_s._ a ream, viz., of 15_s._ a ream.”[314] - -Towards the end of September 1653, the impression of the first volume -was begun at the press of Thomas Roycroft, in Bartholomew Close, whose -name will always be honourably associated with this famous work. - -Very little is known of the actual manual labour employed in the -production, beyond the fact that two presses only were said to have -been kept at work, and that the types were supplied by more than one of -the four authorised founders. - -Chevillier[315] speaks somewhat contemptuously of the typographical -execution (fabrique de l’Imprimerie) of the London as compared with -that of the Paris _Polyglot_. And if, as Le Long points out, “he means -by that term the beauty of the paper and the magnificence of the types, -it must be admitted that the Paris edition is superior; but if he means -the arrangement of the texts and versions, and the general disposition -of the entire work, then it is much inferior; for Walton has mapped out -his work so precisely that at a single opening of the book you see the -texts and versions all at a glance; thus giving a great facility for -comparison, wherein the chief usefulness of compilations of this sort -consist.”[316] - -Not the least noticeable feature about the work is the fact that from -the time of its first going to press to its completion, the printing -barely occupied four years. The first volume was completed at the -beginning of September 1654. A month later, from the same press was -published Dr. Walton’s _Introductio ad Lectionem Linguarum Orientalium_ -for the use of subscribers.[317] In 1655 the second volume of the Bible -was finished; in 1656 the third, and about {173} the close of 1657 the -remaining three.[318] “And thus,” says a contemporary,[319] “in about -four years was finished the English Polyglot Bible,[320] the glory of -that age, and of the English Church and Nation; a work vastly exceeding -all former attempts of the kind, and that came so near perfection as to -discourage all future ones.” - -Apart altogether from the literary and scholastic value of the Bible, -the amount of labour and industry represented in its mere typographical -execution is astonishing. Each double page presents, when open, -some ten or more versions of the same passage divided into parallel -columns of varying width, but so set that each comprehends exactly -the same amount of text as the other. The regularity displayed in the -general arrangement, in the references and interpolations, in the -interlineations, and all the details of the composition and impression, -are worthy of the undertaking and a lasting glory to the typography of -the seventeenth century.[321] - -With regard to the types, which concern us most, the following is the -list of the characters employed, as extracted by Rowe Mores:― - - ORIENTALS.― - _Hebrew_: Two-line English, Double Pica, English. - _Samaritan_ (with the English face): English.* - _Syriac_: Double Pica, Great Primer.* - _Arabic_: Double Pica, Great Primer. - - MERIDIONAL.― - _Ethiopic_: English or Pica.* - - OCCIDENTALS.― - _Greek_: Great Primer and Small Pica. - _Roman and Italic_: Two-line English, Double Pica [Day’s],[322] Great - Primer, English, Pica, Long Primer, Brevier, five-line Pica, - two-line Great Primer, Small Pica. - - SEPTENTRIONAL.― - _English_ (Black): Pica. - - * Of the founts marked thus (*) in the present and following - summarised lists of the contents of the English foundries, the - matrices or punches, and in some cases both matrices and punches, - still exist. - -{174} - -[Illustration: FOUNTS OF THE LONDON POLYGLOT, 1657. - -40. ETHIOPIC. From the original matrices. - -41. SYRIAC. From the original matrices. - -42. SAMARITAN. From the original matrices.] - -The matrices of three of these founts, the Samaritan, the Ethiopic, and -the Syriac, have survived to the present day, and in the course of this -work we shall have occasion to trace their descent from the original -makers to the present owners. Meanwhile, it is with great satisfaction -that we are able here to show a specimen of types actually cast from -these venerable relics as they now exist.[323] Of the Arabic fount, -some of the punches and matrices also exist, but in too incomplete and -dilapidated a state to allow of their being used. - -Of the Orientals, the Hebrew is, perhaps, the least good. The Syriac -and Arabic are fine bold characters. The Greek is neat, though somewhat -insignificant. The Ethiopic[324] and Samaritan[325] are both good and -elegant faces. The Italic is particularly neat. As might be expected -from founts procured from various foundries in that day, there is -a certain absence of uniformity in the {175} bodies on which the -different founts are cast. This only makes the more remarkable the -accuracy and precision with which the columns are arranged. In most -copies the columns are divided by red lines, ruled by hand—in itself an -enormous task. - -Nine languages are used in the _Polyglot_, but no single book is -printed in so many. The following is the arrangement of texts according -to volumes: - - VOL. 1.—_Prolegomena._ - - _Pentateuch._ Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Syriac, Arabic and - Samaritan. - - VOL. 2.—_Joshua to Esther._ Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Syriac and - Arabic. - - VOL. 3.—_Job to Malachi._ Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Syriac, - Arabic, and _Psalms_ also in Ethiopic. - - VOL. 4.—_Apocrypha._ Greek, Latin, Syriac, Arabic (some of - the books, however, have not the Arabic. _Tobit_ is in a - two-fold Hebrew). An appendix to this volume contains two - Chaldee Targums and a Persic _Pentateuch_. - - VOL. 5.—_New Testament_, _Gospels_ in Greek, Latin, Syriac, - Arabic, Ethiopic and Persian; other books, Greek, Latin, - Syriac, Arabic and Ethiopic. - - VOL. 6.—_Various readings._ - -It will thus be seen that the Greek, Latin, Syriac and Arabic texts run -throughout the work. The Chaldean text and Targums are all given in -Hebrew type. The Hebrew text is printed throughout masoretically. - -In addition to the above fundamental characters used, the Prolegomena -show the following Alphabets cut in wood, viz.:—Rabbinical Hebrew, -Syriac duplices, Nestorian and Estrangelan, Armenian, Coptic, Illyrian, -both Cyrillian and Hieronymian, Iberian, Gothic, Chinese, and the -character of the Codex Alexandrinus. These are, for the most part, -rudely cut, and valuable only as curiosities. - -From our point of view, the chief glory of the English _Polyglot_ -is that it is wholly the impression of English type. It marks an -epoch in the history of our national letter-founding, as, before it -appeared, no work of importance had been printed in any of the learned -characters except Latin and Greek. The Hebrew, Samaritan, Syriac, -Arabic and Ethiopic were probably cut expressly for the work, under -the supervision of its learned editors, and became thus the models or -prototypes of the numerous Oriental founts which during the eighteenth -century figured so largely in the works of English scholarship. - -The original preface to the _Polyglot_ contained an honourable -reference to Cromwell, who had, from the first, encouraged the -undertaking and materially assisted it by remitting the tax on -the paper imported from abroad for the use of the work. But the -Protector’s death took place in the year after the publication; and -the Restoration, which followed two years later, was made the occasion -for a somewhat ignoble act of time-service on the part of Walton, -who cancelled {176} the last three leaves of the preface, and added -a Dedication to Charles II, in which, among other attacks on the -memory of his former patron, he referred to Cromwell as “Draco ille -magnus.”[326] The particular typographical interest of this Royal -Dedication is that it is printed in the handsome Double Pica Roman and -Italic used by Day in the _Ælfredi_ of 1574, and subsequently by Barker -and Lucas in Young’s _Catena on Job_, in 1637, and in other works. The -somewhat worn condition of the types leads Dibdin to condemn the founts -as inferior[327]; but in point of elegance and grandeur this venerable -letter remained still one of the best of which our national typography -could boast. - -In recognition of his services, Charles made Walton his -chaplain-in-ordinary, and created him subsequently Bishop of Chester. -Nor was he the only worker to whom the completion of this great -enterprise brought honour. Roycroft, after what may be considered a -feat of rapid and skilful typography, was permitted to take the title -_Orientalium Typographus Regius_.[328] - -The value of the English _Polyglot_ was vastly enhanced by the addition -to it of Dr. Edmund Castell’s Heptaglot _Lexicon_,[329] which, after -seventeen years of incessant labour, commencing with the first -announcement of the Polyglot, was printed, at Roycroft’s press, in -1669, in two volumes, uniform in size and style with the _Bible_, of -which henceforth it formed a necessary complement. - -Respecting this famous work, there is little to add from a -typographical point of view to what has already been noted with regard -to the _Polyglot_. The {177} same types are, with few exceptions, -used in both. Mores considers, but wrongly, that the Amharic shown -in Castell’s work is metal, and the same as that used in the -_Oratio Dominica_ of 1713. This letter (which also appeared in the -first edition of the _Oratio Dominica_ in 1700) belonged to Oxford -University, who procured it in 1692, being the Ethiopic character with -additions. But the few letters shown in the _Heptaglot_ are evidently -engraved by hand, and not cast. - -It is to be regretted that Castell’s work, which has been pronounced -one of the greatest and most perfect works of the kind ever performed -by human industry and learning, and which represented an amount of -heroic perseverance in the midst of adverse circumstances scarcely -credible, was almost the ruin of its author, both in constitution and -fortune. It sold slowly, and at the time of his death upwards of 500 -copies were left on hand. The encouragement he received both from royal -and episcopal patronage was inadequate to cover the losses which the -undertaking had involved, and he died in comparative obscurity in 1685. - -Roycroft’s office appears to have suffered severely by the Fire of -London in 1666, and a large number of copies of Castell’s _Lexicon_, -then in course of printing, were destroyed. To the same disastrous -event may also be attributed the disappearance of some of the founts of -the _Polyglot_ founders, after the completion of the _Lexicon_. Mores, -however, succeeds in tracing the most interesting of these; and the -fact that all the matrices did not go down to posterity as a single -property, is additional proof that they were not all the production of -one artist. The Arabic, larger Syriac, and Samaritan passed into the -foundry of the Grovers, and the Ethiopic into that of Robert Andrews, -who, it seems probable, also inherited the Hebrew and Black. The -smaller Syriac came into Mr. Caslon’s hands. - - * * * * * - -NICHOLAS NICHOLLS.—This founder was son of Arthur Nicholls, the Star -Chamber founder, and, as appears by the mention of him in his father’s -petition to Archbishop Laud, already quoted, was brought up to the Art, -in which, as early as 1637, he was “so expert and able as to be able to -perform anything touching the same.” During the Civil Wars he appears -to have suffered in the royal cause, and, like many others, at the -Restoration to have looked for substantial reward at the hands of the -son of the Royal Martyr. - -In 1665 he presented to the king a petition to be appointed His -Majesty’s Letter Founder. The original document is in the Record -Office,[330] and is as follows:― {178} - - “To the KINGE’S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTIE. The humble peticion of - Nicholas Nicholls. Most humbly sheweth - - “That the petitioner in the worst of tymes was a constant and - loyall sufferer for the causes of your Majestie and that of your - Royall ffather of glorious memory, and thereby reduced to greate - extreamities. - - “Now soe it is, That the peticioner by Industrie hath attained to - a considerable skill in the Art of cutting and casting all kinds - of Letters and faire Characters (as by the annexed may appeare) - And your Majestie beinge the great encourager of good Literature - - “Your Majestie’s peticioner most humbly prays your Grace and - ffavour to serve in the place of Letter Founder to your Majesties - Presses That soe your Majesties presses may be supplyed with - Characters in some measure worthy of your Royall Greatness. And - the peticioner makes no question but he shall perform that service - (with the blessing of God) to your Majestie’s full content and - satisfaction. - - “And the peticioner (as in duty bound) shall alwaies pray for your - Majesties long and prosperous Reigne over us.” - -Attached to the petition, in the centre of a folio sheet, is the tiny -polyglot specimen, of which we here present our readers with an exact -facsimile. English typography possesses few relics more interesting -than this quaint little page—the earliest known type-founder’s specimen -in the country. - -The execution, particularly of the Roman fount, is very poor, and one -wonders, in examining it and comparing it with the recently completed -_Polyglot_, at the artist’s claim “to considerable skill in cutting and -casting of faire characters.” It is possible, however, that the unusual -minuteness of the type may have been held to be a merit compensating -for defects in execution. And as none of the founts are known to have -been used in any other work of the time, it may be presumed the letters -were cut specially for this specimen. The Roman and Greek founts are -Pearl in body, and the Orientals Nonpareil, and display the text “Vivas -o rex in perpetuum” in Latin, Greek, Hebrew (with points), Syriac, -Samaritan, Ethiopic and Arabic. This loyal aspiration, effusively -dedicated as “the prayer of the devoted heart, and the specimen of -the Art of the least of the subjects of the greatest of the Kings,” -is surrounded by a neat flower-border (also Nonpareil in body), and -printed somewhat roughly on coarse paper. Despite its defects, it -appears to have found favour with the august personage to whom it was -offered, as we find, on January 29th, 1667, a minute of a “Warrant for -swearing Nicholas Nicholls, Letter Founder to His Majesty.”[331] - -[Illustration: 43. Specimen of Nicholas Nicholls, 1665. (From the -original in the Record Office.)] - -Of the subsequent operations of Nicholls we know very little.[332] He -probably inherited his father’s foundry, and cast from his matrices. -The NICHOLS whom {179} Mores mentions as having founded in -1690,[333] could hardly (if the date be correctly given) be the same -man who was a practised letter-founder in 1637. - -To this last-named founder no doubt belongs the fount of Great Primer -Roman and Italic acquired by the Oxford University Press, which had the -unenviable distinction of being designated in their Specimen of 1695, -as “cut by Mr. Nichols—not good.”[334] - - * * * * * - -The following is the only specimen we have to note in this place:― - - (1665). Specimen sheet of minute printing in several languages, - addressed to the King by Nicholas Nicholls, Letter Founder. - . . . . (_State Papers, Domestic_, 1665, vol. 142, No. 174.) - -[Illustration] - -{180} - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -JOSEPH MOXON, 1659. - - -Joseph Moxon, whose distinction it is to have been the first practical -English writer on the mechanics of typography, was born at Wakefield, -in Yorkshire, on August 8, 1627, and appears to have been brought up as -a mathematical instrument maker, in which profession he showed himself -highly proficient. In the year 1659, being either already settled in -the metropolis, or having come thither for the purpose, he added to his -stated business that of a typefounder, in which, according to Mores, he -continued till 1683. - -It is difficult to fix the precise condition of the laws relating to -typefounders in the last year of the Commonwealth. The Ordinances of -1647 and 1649, which reimposed the main provisions of the Star Chamber -Decree of 1637, remained nominally in force till the Restoration, -so that we are to suppose that Moxon, unless he practised his art -surreptitiously or _sub rosâ_, was formally installed into a vacancy in -the body of authorised founders on execution of the usual bond to the -Company of Stationers. - -[Illustration: 44. From the _Tutor to Astronomy and Geography_, 4th -ed., 1686.] - -If, as seems probable, he commenced operations with little or no -previous experience, and with no plant ready to his hand, the progress -of the new foundry must at first have been very slow, particularly as -he appears to have devoted much of his time to his other scientific -pursuits, to which in 1665 he added that of hydrographer to the king. -To this office a considerable salary was attached. In the same year, -Mores informs us, he lived at the sign of the “Atlas” on Ludgate Hill, -near Fleet Bridge, but the Fire of London in 1666 caused him to {181} -quit that abode for another of the same sign in Warwick Lane. From -Warwick Lane, where he was living in 1668, he appears to have removed -to Westminster, to the sign of the “Atlas” in Russell Street, whence -in 1669 was issued his famous specimen of types, the first complete -typefounders’ specimen known in England.[335] - -In a passage in the _Mechanick Exercises_, published several years -later, Moxon speaks of the art of letter-cutting as a mystery, “kept so -conceal’d among the Artificers of it, that I cannot learn anyone hath -taught it any other, but every one that has used it, Learnt it of his -own Genuine Inclination.” If this be the writer’s own experience—though -his subsequent intimate acquaintance with the minutest details of the -art almost disproves it—his specimen must be taken as the production -of a self-taught typographer after ten years’ intermittent practice. -Viewed in this light, the exceedingly poor performance which the sheet -presents can to some extent be accounted for. It must also be borne -in mind that Moxon’s theoretical and mathematical studies of the -proportions and form of letters had not yet been begun, or, at least, -elaborated; so that in no sense is his Specimen to be assumed to be a -reduction into practice of those theories. - -This specimen, which is entitled _Prooves of the Several Sorts of -Letters cast by Joseph Moxon_, is a folio sheet, showing in double -column: - - Great Canon Romain. - Double Pica Romain. Pica Romain. - Pica Italica. - - Great Primmer Romain. Long Primer Romain. - Long Primer Italica. - - English Romain. Brevier Romain. - English Italica. Brevier Italica. - -The imprint is, “_Westminster, printed by Joseph Moxon in Russell -Street, at the sign of the Atlas, 1669_.” - -In all respects it is a sorry performance. Only one fount, the Pica, -has any pretensions to elegance or regularity. The others are so -clumsily cut, so badly cast, and so wretchedly printed, as here and -there to be almost undecipherable. Moxon’s proficiency in the processes -of the art does not appear as yet to have attained the pitch of -justifying his matrices to any regularity of line, or of casting his -types square in body. Some lines of the specimen curve and wave so as -to make it a marvel how others kept their places in the forme, and -the press-work {182} and ink are so bad that at a first glance the -beholder is tempted to mistake the larger letters with their sunken -faces for open instead of solid-faced Romans. The sheet was apparently -put forward not solely as a specimen of types. The matter of each -paragraph is an advertisement of Moxon’s business as a mathematical -instrument maker. In Great Canon Romain he calls attention to the -“Globes Celestial and Terrestrial of all sizes made by Joseph Moxon, -Hydrographer to the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, 1669.” In Double -Pica Romain he announces his Spheres; in Great Primer “a Large Map of -the World”; in Pica Italica, “a book called a Tutor to Astronomie and -Geographie,” and so on. To one or two of the founts, such as the Great -Canon, the Pica and the Brevier, he adds a line of accents or signs. - -It would appear, from the imprint already quoted, that Moxon combined -printing with typefounding at Westminster. If so, he probably confined -his press to the printing of specimens and advertisements of his own -goods, as we cannot ascertain that any of his other works were printed -by himself, or that he printed anything for the public. - -About 1670 he removed back to the sign of the Atlas, in Ludgate Hill. -Rowe Mores considers it probable that for some time he resided in -Holland, during which time he acquired a certain proficiency in the -Dutch language.[336] During the same period it is probable that he -may have come across, and been struck by specimens of the beautifully -proportioned Elzevir letters of Christoffel Van Dijk, which he admitted -were the inspiration of his _Regulæ Trium Ordinum_. - -Of this curious work,[337] which was published in 1676, it will suffice -to say here, it is a work intended not so much for the letter-cutter as -for the sign-board and inscription painter. Taking the Van Dijk letters -as his models, the writer attempts to demonstrate that each letter -is a combination of geometrical figures, bearing regular proportions -one to another; and by sub-division of the square of each letter into -forty-two equal parts, he professes to be able to erect in any other -square, similarly sub-divided, the same letter in precise proportion -and harmony. This theory he illustrates by copper-plate figures of the -various letters {183} of the Roman, Italic and Black Alphabets, and -their sub-divisions. The result is not pleasing. The letters are stiff, -and in some cases distorted; although this we believe to be the fault -not so much of the theory itself as of the rules of proportion for -the different parts of each letter predicated in the first instance. -The book, as we have observed, is clearly not intended as a guide to -punch-cutting. We regard it rather as an interesting attempt to reduce -to precise mathematical rules a set of characters which never have and -never will yield themselves entirely to such treatment.[338] - -At the conclusion of the section devoted to “the ordering of -Inscriptions”, Moxon says (p. 11), “But of this and several other -Observations of this Nature, I have written more at large in a book -I intend to publish on the whole Art of Printing.” From this it is -evident that, as early as 1676, his treatises on Typography, which -formed the second volume of the _Mechanick Exercises_ and were -published in 1683, were already written. - -To this highly interesting work[339]—the first work on the mechanics -and practice of printing and letter-founding—we have already alluded -in a previous chapter. It is impossible here to give more than a brief -summary of its contents. Its publication commenced in 1677, with -a series of monthly “Exercises” devoted to the Smith’s, Joiner’s, -Carpenter’s and Turner’s trades. These formed the first volume. Moxon -himself informs us that their publication was interrupted by the -excitement of Oates’ plot, “which took off the minds of his few {184} -customers from buying them, as formerly.” It was not till 1683 that -the work was resumed. The second volume (which appeared in twenty-four -monthly parts), treating wholly of the Art of Printing, commences with -a brief account of the Invention of the Art (in which the reader is -left to decide between the titles of Haarlem and Mentz), and with a -claim on behalf of Typography equally with Architecture to be regarded -as a Mathematical Science.[340] “A scientifick man,” says Moxon, “was -doubtless he who was the first Inventor of Typographie; but I think -few have succeeded him in Science, though the number of Founders and -Printers be grown very many: Insomuch that for the more easie managing -of Typographie, the Operators have found it necessary to devide it -into several Trades. . . . The several devisions that are made are—1. -The Master Printer. 2. The Letter Cutter. 3. The Letter Caster. 4. The -Letter Dresser. 5. The Compositer. 6. The Correcter. 7. The Press Man. -8. The Inck-Maker. Besides several other Trades they take in to their -Assistance, as the Smith, the Joyner, etc.” - -These divisions he proceeds to treat of seriatim and in detail. We -have elsewhere quoted freely from this work, with a view to illustrate -the condition of letter-founding as a mechanical trade in his -time.[341] But we notice here, that in the advice which he gives to the -Master Printer on the choice of letter for his office, he takes the -opportunity to reiterate his admiration of the Dutch form of letter, -particularly that adopted by Christoffel Van Dijk, and his conviction -that as the Roman letters were originally made to consist of circles, -arcs of circles and straight lines, the cutting of those letters -should invariably be according to strict mathematical rule of form and -proportion. His advice on the choice of letter is fourfold. - - 1. “That the Letter have a true shape.” - 2. “That they be deep cut” (_i.e._, in the punch). - 3. “That they be deep sunck in the Matrices” (with a good “beard”). - 4. “That his Letter be cast upon good Mettal.” - -He then proceeds to indicate the quantities of each body of letter -with which the printer should provide himself; and from that proceeds -to notice in turn every possible requisite for a well-ordered printing -office, from the “ball-nails” to the press. - -His “Exercises on Letter Founding” may be best introduced in his own -language: “Having shown you the Master Printers Office,” he says, -“I account {185} it suitable to proper Method to let you know how -the Letter Founder Cuts the Punches, how the Molds are made, the -Matrices sunck, and the Letter Cast and Drest. . . . Wherefore the next -Exercises shall be (God willing) upon Cutting of Steel Punches.” - -The minuteness with which he enters into every detail connected with -this mysterious art, and his familiarity with the terminology of the -craft, prove that Moxon, although he professed to have learned it -not from any master, but “of his own genuine inclination,” was an -experienced and even enthusiastic punch-cutter. He devotes considerable -attention to the tools and gauges necessary for the work, and returns -once more to the charge on behalf of geometry as the foundation of -typography. - -Anyone acquainted with the modern practice of punch-cutting, cannot -but be struck, on reading the directions laid down in the _Mechanick -Exercises_, with the slightness of the change which the manual -processes of that art have undergone during the last two centuries. -Indeed, allowing for improvements in tools, and the greater variety -of gauges, we might almost assert that the punch-cutter of Moxon’s -day knew scarcely less than the punch-cutter of our day, with the -accumulated experience of two hundred years, could teach him. - -Moxon’s observations, as in the _Regulæ Trium Ordinum_, apply only -to the Roman, Italic and Black-letter, and these he illustrates by a -series of plates devised on the same method as in his former work, -showing each letter in a magnified form on a square subdivided into -forty-two parts, with the proportions for the various parts of each -letter minutely laid down. He imagines an objection that it may be -deemed impossible in the case of a small letter to divide the square -of the body into forty-two equal parts. “But yet,” he says, “it is -possible with curious working,” and proceeds, evidently to his own -satisfaction, to demonstrate the fact in a very curious way, by -suggesting a series of graduations in the rubbing of spaces and points, -whereby a thin[342] space may be enlarged by sixths until a series of -42nd parts of each body is arrived at. - -Impracticable as such a system appears, it is consistently carried out -in the enlarged letters which illustrate the _Exercises_. The result is -not more successful than that produced in the _Regulæ Trium Ordinum_; -and we venture to think that if any proof were needed that geometry is -not, and cannot be, the Alpha and Omega of typographical beauty, these -reductions into practice of Moxon’s ingenious theories will supply it. - -Passing from letter-cutting, Moxon next describes with much minuteness -{186} the various parts of the mould and the method of putting them -together. Here the practical instrument maker is on familiar ground, -and the directions he gives remained the best authority on the subject, -until the venerable hand-mould which he describes began to give place, -a century and a quarter after his time, to the lever-mould from America. - -Next to mould-making, the _Exercises_ deal with the important processes -of striking and justifying the matrices, operations which, like that -of punch-cutting, have undergone but little change since his day. Then -follow descriptions of the furnace, the alloy of the metal, and the -methods of casting and dressing the type, with the implements necessary -for these branches of the work; and this portion of the work closes -with a few highly interesting plates, amongst which that of the caster -at work[343] is the most curious and valuable. - -The remainder of the book is devoted to various departments of the -letter-press printer’s trade, those of the compositor, the corrector, -the pressman, and the warehouse keeper. To this is added an Appendix, -describing the ancient customs of the “Chapel,” and a Dictionary of -typographical terms. - -Such is a brief and meagre outline of the contents of this first -English book on printing and letter-founding. It is a work which no -one interested in English typography can omit to consult. For almost a -century it remained the only authority on the subject; subsequently it -formed the basis of numerous other treatises, both at home and abroad, -and to this day it is quoted and referred to, not only by the antiquary -who desires to learn what the art once was, but by the practical -printer, who may still on many subjects gather from it much advice and -information as to what it should still be. - - * * * * * - -Reverting now to Mores’ description of the contents of Moxon’s foundry, -we meet with one fount which calls for particular mention here. - -The Pica Irish was cut expressly for the purpose of printing the _Irish -New Testament_, published in 1681 at the cost of Robert Boyle, son of -the Earl of Cork, and is described by Mores as the only fount of purely -Irish type he had ever seen in the country. We may, perhaps, be excused -a slight digression in this place for the purpose of giving a sketch -of the efforts which before Moxon’s day had been made to propagate the -Irish language by means of typography. - -The first fount of Irish type known was presented in 1571 by Queen -Elizabeth to John O’Kearney, treasurer of St. Patrick’s, with a view to -encourage the diffusion of the Scriptures in the Irish character. - -By whom this character was prepared we are not informed. It is not the -{187} genuine Irish, but a hybrid fount, consisting chiefly of Roman -and Italic letters, to which the “discrepants,” or seven distinctively -Irish sorts, are added.[344] It is accompanied by a small and equally -neat letter for notes, which, however, appears to be Saxon. - -The earliest specimen of this fount appears in a broadside _Poem on the -Last Judgment_,[345] printed in 1571, and sent over to the Archbishop -of Canterbury, apparently as a specimen of the type. This was followed -almost immediately by the _Church Catechism and Articles_, translated -by O’Kearney and Nicholas Walsh, afterwards Bishop of Ossery, and -printed in 1571 at the cost of John Ussher.[346] - -The object of the royal donor was further realised in 1602, when there -appeared from the press of John Francke, William O’Donnell’s (or -Daniel’s) Irish _New Testament_,[347] the first version of that or any -portion of the Holy Scriptures in the native character. In dedicating -the translation to James I, Daniel thus refers to the royal origin -of the types:—“And notwithstanding that our late dreade Soveraigne -Elzabeth . . . provided the Irish characters and other instrumentes -for the presse in the hope that God in mercy would raise up some to -translate the Newe Testament into their native tongue, yet hath Sathan -hitherto prevailed, and still they remain _Lo-ruchama Lo-ammi_, etc.” - -The type did further service in 1608, when Daniel’s _Common -Prayer_[348] was printed by Francke, a well-executed work, with -engraved title and beautiful {188} ornamented initials, each page -being enclosed in a rule border. After the appearance of this book -nearly a quarter of a century elapsed before the type reappeared in -Bishop Bedell’s _A B C_, or English and Irish _Catechism_, printed by -the Stationers’ Company at Dublin in 1631.[349] This _Catechism_, with -additional matter, was republished by Godfrey Daniel in 1652, also in -Dublin,[350] after which the Irish type of Queen Elizabeth disappeared -in Ireland, and reappeared only in occasional words occurring in Sir -James Ware’s books, printed in London by Tyler, in 1656 and 1658. - -There seems no reason for believing, as some state, that it was secured -by the Jesuits and taken abroad.[351] Not only is it not to be found -in any Irish work printed abroad, but the Irish Seminary at Louvain -possessed a fount of its own, which, between 1616 and 1663, was in -constant use. - -After 1602 no serious attempt had been made to complete the translation -of the Scriptures into Irish until Dr. Bedell, Bishop of Kilmore, -undertook the task about 1630. For this purpose, being then at the age -of 57, he devoted himself to the study of the language, and having -secured the assistance of Mr. King and the Rev. Denis Sheridan, both -eminent Irish scholars, the translation of the _Old Testament_ was -completed in 1640. Bedell, we are informed “determined to publish the -version immediately at his own expense and in his own house, and made -an agreement with a person who undertook to print it: the types were -even sent for to Holland.”[352] But the troubles and persecutions of -the ensuing year, followed closely by the death of the Bishop, hindered -the design, and the manuscript lay neglected for forty years.[353] {189} - -In the year 1680, the _New Testament_ of 1602 being then entirely out -of print,[354] and no Irish types being available, the illustrious -Robert Boyle determined on republishing it at his own expense. To this -end he caused a fount of Irish type to be cut and cast in London, and -had an able printer instructed in the language for the purpose of -printing it. - -Moxon was the founder selected to produce the types, and the result -was the curious Irish fount of which the matrices formed part of -his foundry. With this type Boyle is said to have had the _Church -Catechism_, with the _Elements of the Irish Language_, printed in -1680,[355] and in the following year was issued in London, with a -preface in Irish and English, the new edition of Daniel’s Irish _New -Testament_.[356] - -[Illustration: 45. Moxon’s Irish fount, from the original punches.] - -“God hath raised up,” says this preface, “the generous Spirit of Robert -Boyle, Esq., son to the Right Honourable Richard, Earl of Cork, Lord -High Treasurer of Ireland, renowned for his Piety and Learning, who -hath caused the same Book of the New Testament to be Reprinted at his -proper Cost; And as well for that purpose, as for Printing the _Old -Testament_, and what other Pious Books shall be thought convenient to -be published in the Irish Tongue, has caused a New Set of fair Irish -Characters to be Cast in London, and an able Printer to be instructed -in the way of Printing this Language.” - -The printer was Robert Everingham,[357] at the Seven Stars, in Ave -Maria Lane, who in 1685 was further employed by Boyle to print, in -the same Irish {190} types,[358] Bishop Bedell’s translation of the -_Old Testament_,[359] the manuscript of which had fortunately been -preserved. The whole _Bible_ being thus complete, it was issued in -two 4to volumes, and in 1690 was reprinted in Roman characters at -Everingham’s press for the use of the Highlanders.[360] - -Our space forbids us to give here anything like a list of the different -works in which Moxon’s Irish type appeared after 1690. An interesting -note as to the early use of the fount in Ireland occurs in a petition -presented in 1709 to the Lord Lieutenant by several of the clergy -and gentry of Ireland for the printing of a new edition of the _New -Testament_ “in the Irish character and tongue, in order to which the -only set of characters now in Britain is bought already.”[361] - -This petition does not appear to have been successful; but in 1712 a -_Book of Common Prayer_,[362] translated by Dr. John Richardson, Rector -of Annah (Chaplain to the Lord Lieutenant), with the assistance of -the Christian Knowledge Society, was printed by Elinor Everingham, at -the Seven Stars in Ave Maria Lane. Dr. Richardson also published some -_Irish Sermons_[363] at the same press, and a _History of the Attempts -. . . to Convert the Popish Natives of Ireland_. - -In 1700, in the London _Oratio Dominica_, Moxon’s Irish type was used, -as also in the reprint in 1713, after which the fount frequently -reappeared until 1820, when it was used in the _Transactions of the -Iberno Celtic Society_, for printing the titles of E. O’Reilly’s -“Chronological Account of Irish Writers” there given. - -The “punches and matrices”, said Mores, writing in 1778, “have ever -since continued in England. The Irish themselves have no letter of -this face, but are supplied with it by us from England; though it has -been said, but falsely, that {191} the University of Louvain have -lately procured a fount to be cut for the use of the Irish Seminary -there.”[364] - -We are glad to add to this statement that the punches of this -interesting fount are still in existence, and, indeed, that these -most curious relics of the handiwork of the author of the _Mechanick -Exercises_ lie before us as we write these words. - - * * * * * - -Among the other peculiar characters cut by Moxon may be mentioned the -symbols used in Mr. George Adams’ scientific works, and the Philosophic -or “Real Character” designed by Bishop John Wilkins for his learned -_Essay towards a Universal Language_, printed in 1668.[365] The -correcting marks used in the _Mechanick Exercises_, as well as other -mathematical and astronomical symbols, were also the work of this -versatile artist, whose scientific genius appears to have had a special -bent towards the more curious by-paths of typography. - -Moxon’s foundry descended to Robert Andrews, with whom it is possible -he was, during the close of his career, associated, either as a master -or a partner. Rowe Mores is unable to distinguish, beyond the peculiar -founts above noted, and the Canon Roman and Italic (which subsequently -came into Mr. Caslon’s hands), what were the precise contents of his -foundry. He therefore omits his usual list, and includes the whole in -Andrews’. - -The date of Moxon’s death is uncertain. A third edition of the -_Mechanick Exercises_, not including the typographical portion, was -issued in 1703. Unless this was a posthumous publication, Moxon must -have been seventy-six years old at the time. - -Mores states that he founded in London from 1659 to 1683, from which -it would seem that he retired from the type business a considerable -time before his death. He was a voluminous writer on scientific and -mathematical subjects, and many of his works ran through several -editions. {192} - -Mores describes him cordially as an admirable mechanic and an -excellent artist, and states that he was made a Fellow of the Royal -Society, 30th November 1678. He was succeeded in his office of -Hydrographer to the King by Mr. George Adams, whom Mores describes -as “our ingenious friend . . . and a successor to Mr. Moxon as well -in skilfulness and curiosity as well as office.”[366] Our portrait -of Moxon is taken from the frontispiece to the fourth edition of his -_Tutor of Astronomy and Geography_, 1686, printed by Samuel Roycroft -for the author. - -It is doubtful whether his investigations and theories had any sensible -effect on the practice of English letter-founding. They may have tended -to encourage the favour with which Dutch letter was regarded at the -beginning of the eighteenth century; but it is not clear that his -attempt to confine to rule and compass the art of letter-cutting either -secured general adoption or was productive of any appreciable reform in -our national typography. - - * * * * * - -The following is the title of the only specimen known to have been -issued by Moxon:― - - 1669. Prooves of the Several Sorts of Letters cast by Joseph - Moxon. Westminster, printed by Joseph Moxon in Russell Street, at - the sign of the Atlas, 1669. Fo. . . . . (B. M., _Harl. MS._ 5915, - fo. 160.) - -[Illustration] - -{193} - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -THE LATER FOUNDERS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. - - -THOMAS GORING, 1668. JOSEPH LEE, 1669. - -Of these two founders nothing is known beyond what is recorded in two -short entries on the books of the Stationers’ Company, viz.:― - - 1668. The Master and Wardens requested to certify to the - Archbishop of Canterbury that Thomas Goring, a member of this - Company, is an honest and sufficient man, and fit to be one of the - _four_ present founders; there being one now wanting, according to - the Act of Parliament. - - 1669. Mr. Joseph Lee and Mr. Goring to give at the next Court an - account in writing, what sorts of letter they have made, and for - whom, since the Act of Parliament in that case was provided. - -The names of both these founders occur in the list, already referred -to, of former Stewards of the Brotherly Meeting of Masters and Workmen -Printers, issued in 1681.[367] {194} - - -ROBERT ANDREWS, 1683. - -This founder, who was born in 1650, succeeded Joseph Moxon, probably -about the year 1683,[368] and transferred his foundry to Charterhouse -Street, where he continued in business till 1733. His foundry, of -which, Mores informs us, Moxon’s matrices formed the most considerable -part, was, next to that of the Grovers, the most extensive of its day; -and it would appear that, for some time at any rate, these two shared -between them the whole of the English trade. Andrews’ foundry consisted -of a large variety of Roman letter and Titlings; and in “learned” -founts was specially rich in Hebrew, of which there were no less than -eleven founts, and five Rabbinical. Of peculiar sorts, he possessed the -matrices of Bishop Wilkins’ “Real Character,” also the correcting-marks -used by Moxon in his _Mechanick Exercises_, and other symbols, besides -three or four founts of square-headed music. - -[Illustration: 47. Nonpareil Rabbinical Hebrew, from R. Andrews’ -Foundry. (From the original matrices.)] - -[Illustration: 49. Old Blacks from R. Andrews’ Foundry, 1706. (From the -original matrices.)] - -He also possessed the Hebrews and the Ethiopic[369] used in Walton’s -_Polyglot_; the Irish cut by Moxon for Boyle’s _New Testament_, and a -curious alphabet of Great Primer Anglo-Norman; besides a fine specimen -of old Blacks (two of which are here shown), probably handed down -from some of the early English {195} printers, whose character they -strongly resemble. His son, Silvester Andrews, as we shall notice later -on, founded at Oxford, whither he appears to have taken matrices of -some of the Romans and one fount of Hebrew from his father’s foundry. - -The following is the list of matrices in the foundry in 1706, as -given by Mores. Founts of which the punches or matrices are still in -existence are distinguished by an asterisk; those descended from the -_Polyglot_ foundry are marked [P.], and those from Moxon’s [M.]:― - - -“Mr. ROBERT ANDREWS’ FOUNDERY, 1706. - - ORIENTALS. - - _Hebrew._― - 2-line English, 32. [P.?] - Double Pica, 68. [P.?] - Great Primer, 35. - English (the common German face), 47. - English, 73. [P.?] - Pica, 65. - Long Primer, 35. - Brevier, 35. - Small Pica, old, 42. - Small Pica, another, 77. - Small Pica, another, 73. - Nonpareil, 35. - - _Rabbinical Hebrew._― - English (German), 30. - Rashi, Pica, 29. - Rashi, Long Primer,* 30. - Rashi, Brevier,* 29. - Rashi, Nonpareil,* 29. - Large face points, 42. - Accents, 27. - Small face points, 28. - - _Samaritan._― - (Leusdenian), 21. - - _Syriac._― - Great Primer, 47; Points, 13. - - _Arabic._― - Great Primer, 104. - English, 62. - - MERIDIONALS. - - _Æthiopic._― - Great Primer,* 212. [P.] - - OCCIDENTALS. - - _Greek._― - English.§ - Long Primer.§ - Brevier.§ - Long Primer, 457. - Brevier, 331. - Nonpareil, 329. - - § “These three were purchased by Thos. James, 20th April 1724, - ten years before the sale of the foundery.” - - _Roman and Italic._― - 2-line English full face caps, 31. - 2-line English Roman, 147. - 2-line English Italic, 108. - Double Pica large face Roman, 122. - Double Pica small face Roman, 115. - Double Pica Italic, 107. - Double Pica 2, Roman, 118. - Double Pica 2, Italic, 66. - Another, 126. - Great Primer 1, Roman, 114. - Great Primer 1, Italic, 102. - Great Primer 2, Roman, 110. - Great Primer 2, Italic, 66. - English Roman and Italic, ... - English 2, Roman, 92. - English 3, Roman, 96. - English Roman lower-case, 32. - Pica Roman, 117. - Pica Roman, lower-case, 27. - Pica Roman, and Italic, long face, ... - Long Primer Roman, 84. - Long Primer Italic, 80. - Long Primer Roman lower-case, 42. - Long Primer Roman lower-case, another, 38. - Long Primer Italic capitals and double-letters, 45. - Brevier Roman lower-case, 57. - Brevier Roman lower-case, another, 57. - Brevier Italic, ... - - _Title Letters and Irregulars._― - 4-line Pica full face caps, 30. - Canon Roman, 27. [M.] - Canon Italic, 74. [M.] - 2-line Double Pica Roman, 127. - 2-line Great Primer full face caps, 31. {196} - - _Title Letters and Irregulars._― - 2-line Pica full face caps, 31. - 2-line Pica Roman lean face, 58. - Paragon Roman, 122. - Paragon Italic, 100. - Small Pica Roman, 76. - Small Pica Italic, 82. - Small Pica Italic, another, 98. - Small Pica Italic, another, 80. - Small Pica Roman and Italic, ... - Bourgeois Italic, 72. - Nonpareil Roman, 80. - Pearl Roman, 2 sets. - - SEPTENTRIONALS. - - _Anglo-Saxon._― - Pica, 16. - Pica, another, 21. - - _Anglo-Norman._― - Great Primer capitals, 24. - - _English._― - Great Primer with law, 116. - English* with law, 106. - Pica with law, 125. - Pica small face, 71. - Long Primer,* 78. - Brevier with law, 118. - Small Pica* with law, 120. - Small Pica,* 58. - Nonpareil,* 43. - - _Secretary._― - Great Primer capitals, 15. - - _Hibernian._― - Pica,* 60. [M.] - Bishop Wilkins’ Real Character, English, 160. [M.] - Mr. Adam’s symbols, 20. [M.] - Mr. Moxon’s correcting marks, English, 16. [M.] - Mathematical Characters, English and Small Pica, 42. [M.] - Astronomical and Astrological, 31. [M.] - - _Music._― - 2-line Great Primer, 54. - Paragon, square-headed, 44. - Large old square-headed, 61. - Sundry old square-headed, 155. - -[Illustration: _Elstob Saxon._ - -48. Saxon cut by R. Andrews for Miss Elstob’s _Grammar_, 1715. (From -the original matrices.)] - -Although he accumulated a large quantity of matrices, Robert Andrews -does not appear to have been a good workman. The very indifferent -manner in which he cut the punches for Miss Elstob’s Saxon _Grammar_ -has been elsewhere recorded,[370] and the fact that his apprentice, -Thomas James, after quitting his {197} service and setting up for -himself, furnished his new foundry entirely with foreign matrices, -speaks somewhat unfavourably for the merits of the English letter then -in common use. - -Three of the Greek founts, however, James did subsequently purchase, -in 1724, for his own use; and nine years later, on Andrews’ retirement -from business, he purchased the whole of his foundry, and that of his -son, with the exception of the Canon Roman and Italic, which were -acquired by Mr. Caslon. - -Robert Andrews was one of the Assistants of the Stationers’ Company. He -only survived his retirement two years, and died November 27th, 1735, -at the age of 80. - -His name appears as a contributor of £5 5_s._ towards the subscription -raised by Mr. Bowyer’s friends in 1712, after the destruction by fire -of that eminent printer’s office. - - -JAMES GROVER, _circ._ 1675. THOMAS GROVER, his son.[371] - -This foundry, which, according to Rowe Mores, was supposed to include -founts formerly belonging to Wynkyn de Worde, was the most extensive, -and in many respects the most interesting of the later seventeenth -century foundries. It seems probable that James and Thomas Grover began -business in partnership, about the year 1674, in succession to one of -the “Polyglot” founders, whose matrices they appear to have acquired. -Their foundry was situated in Angel Alley, Aldersgate Street; and, -about 1700, at which date Rowe Mores fixes his summary, was evidently -of considerable extent. - -Although many of the founts are of little importance, it is worthy -of note that among the Roman and Italic matrices is included, for -the first time, a Diamond; and that a Pica and Long Primer are -distinguished as “King’s House” founts, and were probably reserved -for the service of the Royal press at Blackfriars. The large-face -Double Pica Roman and Italic, there is reason to suppose, is the -famous fount cut by John Day about 1572, which had subsequently -been in the possession of one of the Polyglot founders.[372] In -Scriptorials, Cursives and other fancy letters, as well as in peculiar -and mathematical sorts, the foundry was unusually rich. The Great -Primer and 2-line Great Primer Black matrices are those reputed to have -belonged to De Worde; and from these {198} founts, says Mores, were -taken the two specimens shown on page 343 of Palmer’s _General History -of Printing_.[373] - -Among the “learned” founts, the English Samaritan matrices were those -from which had been cast the type for Walton’s _Polyglot_, in 1657, -as were also those of the larger Syriac; while the Double Pica large -and small faced Greek claim a still earlier origin, being the founts -in which was printed Patrick Young’s _Catena on Job_, in 1637, the -matrices having been procured from the proceeds of the fine on the -King’s printers for their scandalous errors in the printing of the -“Wicked” _Bible_, as detailed in a former chapter.[374] The smaller -face, as we have noticed, bears the strongest resemblance to the Greek -of the Eton _Chrysostom_. Mores states that the Great Primer Arabic of -the _Polyglot_ was in this foundry, but omits to include the matrices -in his summary.[375] - -The following is the full list of the matrices in the foundry, _circ._ -1700, as given by Mores:― - - -“THE FOUNDERY OF THE TWO MR. GROVERS, _circ._ 1700. - - ORIENTALS. - - _Hebrew._― - Great Primer, 30. - Pica, 80. - Long Primer, 60. - Brevier, 130. - - _Samaritan_ (with English face).― - English,* 32. [P.] - - _Syriac._― - Double Pica, 60. [P.] - Pica, 80. - - _Arabic._― - Double Pica, 30. _Great Primer_, [P.?] - - MERIDIONALS. - - _Coptic_ (the new hand),* 81. - - “This seems to be a mistake of the cataloguers, who had fallen - upon something which they did not understand; we suppose the - Alexandrian fount, which from the semblance they took to be - Coptic; the number 81 was made up with something else they were - strangers to; and so are we. But whatever it was (it is in the - foundry) it is now in its proper place.” - - OCCIDENTALS. - - _Greek._― - Double Pica large face, 183. [Royal.] - Double Pica small face, ... [Royal.] - Great Primer, 144. - English, 350. - - _Greek._― - Pica, 380. - Pica, another, 120. - Long Primer, 120. - Brevier, 426. Very fine. - Brevier, another, imperfect. - 2-line full face capitals, 23. - - _Roman and Italic._― - 2-line English full face capitals, 31. - 2-line English Roman, 100. - 2-line English Italic, 77. - Double Pica Roman large face, 120. [Day?] [P.?] - Double Pica Italic, 98. [Day?] [P.?] - Double Pica Roman small face, 126. - Double Pica Italic, 98. - Great Primer Roman large face, 102. - Great Primer Italic, 105. - Great Primer Roman small face, 153. - Great Primer Italic, 105. - Great Primer small capitals, 27. - English Roman, 159. - English Italic, 114. {199} - - _Roman and Italic._― - Two other English Roman and Italic. (One called the _Old English_.) - English small capitals, 27. - Pica Roman broad face, 85. - Pica Roman, 146. (Called _King’s House_.) - Pica Roman and Italic, 292. - Pica Italic, 42. - Pica small capitals, 27. - Long Primer Roman and Italic, 177. - Long Primer another, 226. (Called _King’s House_.) - Long Primer another, 219. - Long Primer two others. - Small capitals, 27. - Brevier Roman large face, 96. - Brevier Roman and Italic, 241. - Brevier Roman and Italic, small face. - Brevier Italic. - - _Title Letters and Irregulars._― - 5-line Pica full face capitals, 31. - Canon Roman, 87. - Canon Italic, 70. - Canon Roman lean face capitals, 57. - 2-line Double Pica full face capitals, 26. - 2-line Great Primer full face capitals, 31. - 2-line Great Primer Roman, 86. - 2-line Great Primer Italic, 68. - 2-line Pica full face capitals, 31. - 2-line Pica Roman, 83. - 2-line Pica Italic, 77. - 2-line Small Pica full face capitals, 27. - 2-line Long Primer full face capitals, 31. - 2-line Brevier full face capitals, 21. - Paragon Roman, 106. - Paragon Italic, 38. - Small Pica Roman and Italic, 175. - Small Pica Roman and Italic, another, 233. - Small Pica small capitals, 27. - Minion Roman and Italic, 175. - Nonpareil Roman and Italic, 174. - Nonpareil Roman and Italic, another, 175. - Pearl Roman and Italic, 167. - Diamond Roman and Italic, 94. - - SEPTENTRIONALS. - - _Anglo-Saxon._― - Great Primer, ... - Pica, 30. - - _English._― - Double Pica, 69. - Great Primer, 66. [De Worde?] - Great Primer, another, with law, 73. - English, 82. - English, another, with law, 128. - Long Primer 1, 74. - Long Primer 2, 89. - Long Primer 3, 74. - Brevier, 73. - 2-line Great Primer, 69. [De Worde?] - Small Pica, 70. - Nonpareil, 88. - - _Scriptorial._― - Double Pica Court, 80. - English Court,* 100. - Great Primer Secretary, 105. - Double Pica Union Pearl,* 61. - - _Cursive._― - Double Pica, ... - Great Primer, 69. - English 1, 68. - English 2, 57. - Pica,* ... - Long Primer, 68. - - Geometrical and Algebraical Symbols. - - Astronomical, Astrological, and Pharmaceutical Characters.― - English, 55. - - Figures struck in circles and squares.― - English, 22. - - Pica Astronomical Characters belonging to Pica _King’s House_, 22. - - Pica Algebraical and Pharmaceutical Marks, and cancelled figures, 3 sets. - - Long Primer Dominical Letters, Astronomical and Pharmaceutical Marks and - Characters. - - Long Primer Fractions, 20. - - Music.― - Great Primer, 176. - - Flowers, 200. - - Space Rules, Metal Rules, Braces, 150. - - _Punches._― - Some for Pica, Long Primer and Nonpareil Greek. - Long Primer and other Punches. - -Respecting one of the founts in this foundry a special interest exists, -which calls for particular reference here. Among the “Meridionals” in -the list is included a “Coptic (the new hand) 81 matrices,” an entry -which Mores considers {200} to be “a mistake of the cataloguers, -who had fallen upon something they did not understand—we suppose the -Alexandrian fount, which from the semblance they took to be Coptic. The -number 81 was made up with something else which they were strangers -to, and so are we.”[376] Later on, in noting the various founts -missing in the collection of John James, he again refers to this “New -Coptic,” adding, “it certainly was the Alexandrian which they called -New Coptic”;[377] and a specimen of this Alexandrian Greek duly appears -in the catalogue of James’s foundry, prepared by Mores in 1778. This -fount, which we are thus enabled to trace back with tolerable certainty -to an earlier date than 1700, is interesting as being the first attempt -at facsimile reproduction by means of type. The history of its origin -is vague, but there seems reason to believe that it may have been in -existence at least half a century before coming into the hands of the -Grovers. - -[Illustration: 50. Alexandrian Greek in Grover’s Foundry, _ante_, 1700. -(From the Catalogue of James’s Foundry, 1782, p. 10.)] - -In the year 1628 Cyrillus Lucaris, a native of Crete and Patriarch -of Constantinople, sent to King Charles I, by the hand of Sir Thomas -Rowe,[378] English ambassador to the Grand Seignor, a manuscript of -the Bible in four volumes, written in Greek uncial or capital letters, -without accents or marks of aspiration, and supposed to be the work of -Thecla, a noble Egyptian lady who lived in the {201} sixth century. -This precious work was received by Charles I and deposited in the Royal -Library of St. James, of which at that time Patrick Young was the -Keeper. - -Young applied himself with enthusiasm to the work of collating and -examining the Manuscript, with a view to putting forward a literal -transcript of its contents in print. Having published at Oxford, in -1633, an edition of the first epistle of _Clemens Romanus to the -Corinthians_, in Greek and Latin, the text of which is included in the -Alexandrian MS., he was encouraged to put forward, in 1637, his _Catena -on Job_, which contained the entire text of that book transcribed from -the same Codex. This book was printed in the Greek types of the Royal -printing office, purchased under the peculiar circumstances already -detailed.[379] After this, says Gough, Young “formed the design of -printing the entire text of the Codex in facsimile type, of which, -in 1643, he printed a _Specimen_, consisting of the first chapter of -_Genesis_, with notes, and left behind him scholia as far as to the -fifteenth chapter of _Numbers_.”[380] - -Of this specimen, unfortunately, no copy can be discovered; although as -to the existence of such a document there is no lack of contemporary -evidence. In his Prolegomena to the _London Polyglot_ of 1657, Bishop -Walton, who had made a careful study of the Codex, and availed himself -freely of Young’s notes, distinctly states that he had seen the -specimen, and that the proposal to carry through the work had been -discouraged by the advice of Young’s friends.[381] Walton shows a few -words of the Alexandrian Greek, poorly cut in wood, among the specimens -in his Prolegomena: a circumstance which would suggest that in 1657 the -matrices used for Junius’ facsimile, if in existence, were not then -available. - -Walton’s statement was confirmed by Grabe, Mill, and others, who made -a study of the Codex and its history; and in 1707 Young’s biographer -and successor in the task of preparing the Codex for print, Dr. Thomas -Smith, repeated it with the authority of one who had also personally -inspected the Specimen.[382] {202} - -It has been assumed by later writers that both Walton and Thomas Smith -made reference to a proposed _facsimile_ reprint of the Manuscript; -and Gough’s circumstantial statement, already quoted (which is adopted -by Nichols and copied by others, such as Horne, Edwards, etc.), leaves -little doubt that the chapter of _Genesis_ was actually put forward in -1643, in facsimile type, as a specimen of the forthcoming work. The -evidence as to the existence of the types receives further countenance -from the presence of these matrices in Grover’s foundry, certainly -before the year 1700. - -Anthony à Wood states that Young’s project excited much curiosity -and expectation, and that in 1645 an ordinance was read for printing -and publishing the _Septuagint_, under the direction of Whitelock -and Selden. The troublous times which ensued, however, as well as -certain doubts as to the fidelity with which the original text was -being treated by the transcriber, led to the abandonment of the scheme -during Young’s tenure of office, which ceased in 1649. In that year -Bulstrode Whitelock became Library Keeper, and consequently custodian -of the MS. It would appear, however, from a sentence in one of Usher’s -letters,[383] that as late as 1651 Young retained his purpose of -publishing the Bible from the text of the Codex, but his death in the -following year finally stopped the enterprise. - -What became of the specimen chapter of _Genesis_ it is impossible to -say. Bishop Walton, as he himself states, acquired possession of the -scholia to the end of _Numbers_ and the remainder of Young’s Greek -and Latin MSS., Wood informs us, came to the hands of Dr. Owen, Dean -of Christ Church, Oxford. Assuming the matrices to have existed, -their natural location would be either the Royal Printing Office, or -the foundry in which already had been deposited the Greek types and -matrices used in the _Catena on Job_. If, however, they remained in the -St. James’s Library, it is possible to conceive of their disappearance -for a considerable period, as Whitelock’s principal duties during his -term of office appear to have been to check the depredations which -in Young’s own time had already deprived the Library of many of its -treasures.[384] {203} - -At the Restoration, the Keepership of the Library was bestowed -on Thomas Rosse, by whom was once more revived the suggestion of -reproducing the Alexandria Codex in facsimile, not this time by means -of type, but by copper-plate. This circumstance is thus related by -Aubrey in his inedited _Remains of Gentilism and Judaism_, preserved -among the Lansdowne MSS. in the British Museum.[385] - - “. . . . y^e Tecla MS. in S^t James Library . . . was sent as a - Present to King Charles the First, from Cyrillus, Patriark of - Constantinople: as a jewell of that antiquity not fit to be kept - among Infidels. Mr. . . . Rosse (translator of Statius) was Tutor - to y^e Duke of Monmouth who gott him the place (of) Library-Keeper - at S^t James’s: he desired K. Cha. I (_sic_) to be at y^e chardge - to have it engraven in copper-plates, and told him it would cost - but £200; but his Ma^{ty} would not yeild to it. Mr. Ross sayd - ‘that it would appeare glorious in History, after his Ma^{ty’s} - death.’ ‘Pish,’ sayd he, ‘I care not what they say of me in - History when I am dead.’ H. Grotius, J. G. Vossius, Heinsius, - etc., have made Journeys into England purposely to correct their - Greeke Testaments by this Copy in S^t James’s. S^r Chr. Wren sayd - that he would rather have it engraved by an Engraver that could - not understand or read Greek, than by one that did.” - -The Manuscript was subsequently handed, in 1678, to Dr. Thomas Smith to -collate and edit, with a view to its reproduction; but once again the -scheme fell through, and (with the exception of Walton’s _Polyglot_) it -was not till Grabe, in 1707, published his _Octateuch_ (accompanying -his preface by a small copper-plate specimen of the MS.), that any -considerable portion of the Bible appeared from this ancient text. - -Of the subsequent successful attempt to produce the entire Manuscript -in facsimile type we have spoken elsewhere.[386] Meanwhile, we find -from the facts here given, that in 1643 a specimen of a portion -of the text of the Codex is said to have been issued in facsimile -type; that constant efforts had been made during the latter half -of the seventeenth century to carry out Patrick Young’s purpose of -reproducing the entire Bible in this form; that in 1657 Bishop Walton -was presumably unaware of the existence of any matrices from which -to exhibit a specimen of the uncial Greek of the Codex; that Grabe, -similarly ignorant, made use of copper-plate in 1707 for a similar -purpose; but that prior to the year 1700, concealed under the erroneous -name of “Coptic—the new hand,” there existed in the foundry of the -Grovers (where already were deposited several of the “King’s House” -matrices, as well as those of the Greek fount used in Junius’ _Catena -on Job_ in 1637) a set of matrices consisting of a single alphabet of -the Alexandrian Greek, which apparently lay undetected until 1758, when -that foundry came into the hands of John {204} James, or more probably -until 1778, when Rowe Mores applied himself to the task of arranging -and cataloguing the various matrices of interest in that miscellaneous -collection. - -[Illustration: 51. Scriptorial in Grover’s Foundry, 1700. (From the -original matrices.)] - -[Illustration: 52. Court Hand in Grover’s Foundry, 1700. (From the -Catalogue of James’s Foundry, 1782, p. 16.)] - -[Illustration: 53. Union Pearl in Grover’s Foundry, 1700. (From the -original matrices.)] - -It may be added that the letters of this fount (like those of the old -Greek, Court Hand, Scriptorial and Union Pearl in the same foundry) -are struck inverted in the copper[387]; a peculiarity which may be -due either to their foreign execution, or to the ignorance of the -English striker, and which, in either case, goes far to account for the -confusion which existed respecting their identity. - -Unfortunately, the link which might definitely connect these -Alexandrian matrices with the facsimile types of Patrick Young is, -in the absence of any copy of the specimen chapter of _Genesis_ of -1643, wanting. But, apart even {205} from this, the fount undoubtedly -claims the distinction of being the first attempt at facsimile by means -of type[388]; on which account this somewhat lengthy note as to its -history will, perhaps, be pardoned. - -Thomas Grover had several daughters, one of whom, Cassandra, was the -wife of Mr. Meres[389]; and Mr. Meres’ daughter Elizabeth was the wife -of Mr. Richard Nutt.[390] On Thomas Grover’s death[391] his foundry -became the joint property of all his daughters, who attempted to -dispose of it by private contract in 1728, when it was appraised by -Thomas James and William Caslon. Mr. Caslon actually made an offer -for its purchase, but at so low a figure that it was not accepted. -The foundry therefore remained locked up in the house of Mr. Nutt, -who appears to have been a printer, and to have provided himself with -type for his own use during his tenure of the matrices. Finally, on -the death of all Grover’s daughters, the foundry became Mr. Nutt’s -absolutely, and was by him sold on the 14th September 1758 to John -James. - - -GODFREY HEAD, 1685,[392] - -was one of the authorised founders in 1685, when the following record -against him was entered on the Court minutes of the Stationers’ -Company:― - - “The next dividend of the Stock of Mr. Godfrey Head to be detained - in the treasurer’s hand until further order, for his not giving a - due account of the letter he is to cast, as the Act of Parliament - prescribes.—1685. - - “Godfrey Head’s dividend paid on his submission, and giving 20_s._ - to the poor’s box.” {206} - -His foundry, Mores informs us, was in St. Bartholomew’s Close. Whether -Head succeeded to it or established it, we are unable to ascertain. Of -his productions, two founts only can be traced with any certainty, the -Pica Greek and the English Black, both of which subsequently passed -into Mr. Caslon’s foundry. He was succeeded by - - -ROBERT MITCHELL, - -who had formerly been servant to Mr. Grover. Mitchell removed the -foundry first to Jewin Street, and afterwards, says Mores, “lived over -Cripplegate, and afterwards in Paul’s Alley, between Aldersgate Street -and Red Cross Street. His foundry, containing nothing very curious, -unless it were the Blacks, was on the 26th July 1739 purchased by -William Caslon and John James jointly, and divided between them.” - -The following is Mores’ summary of the contents of this foundry, at its -partition:― - - -“Mr. ROBERT MITCHELL’S FOUNDERY. - - MR. CASLON’S CHOICE. - - _Greek._― - Pica. - - _Roman and Italic._― - 4-line Pica§ - 2-line Great Primer§ - 2-line English§ - 2-line Pica§ - and Great Primer, English, Long Primer, Brevier, and Nonpareil. - - §full-face capitals. - - _English_ (Black).― - Great Primer, English, Pica, Long Primer, Brevier, Small Pica. - - The _Music_ matrices. The _Flower_ matrices. - - MR. JAMES’S SHARE. - - _Roman and Italic._― - Canon, 2-line Great Primer, 2-line English, Double Pica (small - faced), Great Primer (3 founts), English (large face), Pica, - Brevier (3 founts), Small Pica, Minion, Pearl (2 founts). - - _Algebra._― - English. - - _Cancelled Figures._― - Pica. - - _Almanac matrices._― - Long Primer. - - -THE “ANONYMOUS” FOUNDRY. - -Over and above the foundries described by Mores as having been absorbed -by that of Thomas and John James, there remained in his possession a -certain number of matrices—some of them of some importance—of whose -former owners he was unable to give us an account. “These may be -considered as a distinct foundery,” he says, “and distinguished by the -title of ‘anonymous,’ for we know not whence they came. Our account of -Mr James’s purchases is accurate, and these are not included amongst -them, but at the end of our scrutiny remained unclaimed. Let them be -called ‘The Anonymous Foundry’.” {207} We do not presume to step in -where Rowe Mores fears to tread, and therefore leave the matrices, of -which the following is his list, still unappropriated:― - - -“THE ANONYMOUS FOUNDERY, _absq. dat._ - - ORIENTALS. - - _Arabic._― - Double Pica. - - _Æthiopic._― - English. - - OCCIDENTALS. - - _Greek._― - Great Primer. - - _Roman and Italic._― - Great Primer. - English. - Long Primer. - Brevier. - 2-line Double Pica full face capitals. - 2-line Great Primer full face capitals. - 2-line English full face capitals. - 2-line Pica full face capitals. - Small Pica. - Bourgeois. - Nonpareil. - Pearl. - - SEPTENTRIONALS. - - _Gothic._― - Pica. - - _Anglo-Norman._― - Pica. - - _English._― - English. - Pica. - Long Primer. - Small Pica. - - (“of all of which a more full account will be given in the ensuing - catalogue.”) - - -OXFORD FOUNDERS. - -PETER WALPERGEN, or Walberger, as we have stated in our account of the -Oxford Foundry, was doubtless the individual alluded to by Bagford -when, in recounting Fell’s services to Oxford, he says: “The good -Bishop provided from Holland . . . a Letter Founder, a Dutchman by -birth, who had served the States in the same quality at Batavia in the -East Indies.”[393] Bagford, it is true, does not name this founder, but -as there exists in the Bodleian Library a copy of a Portuguese version -of _Æsop’s Fables_, edited by Jo. Ferreira d’Almeida, and printed at -Batavia by Pedro Walberger in 1672,[394] we have no hesitation in -identifying our founder with this Dutch typographer, and in fixing his -settlement at Oxford somewhere about the above date, which, it will -be remembered, was the year in which Fell and others took upon them -the charge of the University Press, and furnished from abroad all the -necessaries for its use and advancement. - -That he was well known at Oxford in 1683 is also apparent from a -casual reference to “Mr. Walberger of Oxford” in Moxon’s _Mechanick -Exercises_,[395] where the writer dwells with some minuteness on a -peculiar and elaborate tool, called the “Joynt-Flat-Gauge,” contrived -by this founder for polishing the faces of his punches after hardening -them, and before striking them into the copper. {208} - -It was doubtless from this casual notice that Rowe Mores derived his -scant reference to Walpergen, of whom he knows nothing, save that he -founded at Oxford in 1683, was sometimes called Walperger, and by name -appears to have been a foreigner, therefore probably a “transient,” by -means of his countryman Michael Burghers, the University engraver. - -Of Walpergen’s work little is known beyond the fact that he appears to -have devoted his attention chiefly to the production of Music type, -impressions of which appear in the University _Specimen_ of 1695. The -punches and matrices of this interesting fount are still preserved at -Oxford, and are singular relics of the old letter-founders’ art.[396] - -[Illustration: 54. Music, cut by Walpergen, Oxford, _circ._ 1695. (From -the original matrices.)] - -Although the Music was the only fount cut by Walpergen of which we -have any certain knowledge, it is probable that the experienced Dutch -artist, whom Bagford describes as an excellent workman, did not confine -his labours to that class of work. What were his exact relations with -the University Press is also a matter of conjecture. But it seems -probable, from the manner in which he is spoken of by Moxon, and in the -Oxford _Specimen_, that he practised as a letter-founder on his own -account, and not wholly as an official of the University. - -He died in 1714.[397] Among the University archives is preserved an -inventory of his chattels, which, if a full account of his earthly -possessions, speaks {209} poorly for the profits of the profession of -letter-founding in those days. This highly interesting document runs as -follows[398]:― - -_An inventory of the Chattels of Peter De Walpergen, deceased, taken -the tenth day of January 1714–5._ - -Being the Moiety of a Fount of Musick. - - £ _s._ _d._ - Two hunderd and two pounds weight of Mettal (? cast type) - at four pence per pound his part is 1 13 8 - - One hunderd fourty seven Matrices at one Shilling per - piece his part is 3 13 6 - - Nine quadrats at two pence per piece his part is 0 0 9 - - Four moulds at two shillings six pence per piece his part 0 5 0 - - Sixty three puncheons at five shillings (_i.e._, for the - lot) his part 0 2 6 - - Four cases at four shillings his part 0 2 0 - - Two galleys at two shillings his part 0 1 0 - - A box at sixpence his part 0 0 3 - - Appraised by us, LEONARD LICHFIELD. - RICHARD GREEN. - -The extraordinarily low value of the punches is quite consistent with -the esteem in which these now precious steel originals were held at the -time, after once being struck. - -Walpergen’s music matrices were secured by the University Press, in -whose _Specimens_ the type had already figured for some years; but we -have, so far, been unable to discover any important works in which the -character was used. - -SYLVESTER ANDREWS, who succeeded to Walpergen’s foundry before the year -1714, was the son of Robert Andrews, the London founder. His foundry, -which, with the exception of one alphabet of Hebrew, consisted entirely -of Roman and Italic, was, Rowe Mores informs us, nothing compared -with that of his father, and was indeed a part of his father’s. The -following is the list of his matrices:― - - -“MR. SILVESTER ANDREWS’ FOUNDERY; _furtim_: - - _Hebrew._ - Brevier (at first 33) 30 - - _Roman and Italic._ - 2-line English Capitals ... - Great Primer Roman, large face 125 - Great Primer Italic 82 - English Roman 148 - English Italic 98 - Pica Roman, large face 153 - Pica Roman, small face 148 - Pica Italic 110 - Pica Roman, lower case 27 - Long Primer Roman 119 - Long Primer Italic 102 - Brevier Roman, large face 130 - Brevier Roman, small face 135 - Brevier Italic (2 sets of Capitals) 105 {210} - 2-line Pica Italic ... - Small Pica Roman 146 - Small Pica Italic 28 - Minion Roman and Italic ... - Nonpareil Roman, large face 140 - Nonpareil Italic 105 - Nonpareil Roman, small face 94 - Pearl Roman 98 - Pearl Italic 38 - -Although his stock of matrices was limited, he appears to have done a -considerable business, not only with the University, in whose service -he was probably retained, but also with other printers practising in -Oxford, notably with John Baskett, the king’s printer, to whom, with -two others, the “Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University,” -leased their “privilege and interest in printing” for twenty-one years -from March 1713. - -In the year 1719 Baskett, who had two years previously produced the -magnificent “Vinegar” _Bible_[399] at Oxford, mortgaged his stock and -privilege at the University to James Brooks, stationer, of London, -as security for a loan of £3,000. And in a schedule attached to an -indenture, dated May 23, 1720, having reference to this transaction, -occurs an inventory of the type at that time in the printer’s -possession, which is highly interesting, not only as throwing light on -Andrews’ business, but as indicating the contents of a large office of -the period, and the extent to which Dutch type at that time competed in -this country with English. The schedule is as follows:― - -_An Account of the Letter Presses and other Stock and Implements of and -in the Printing house at Oxford belonging to John Baskett, Citizen and -Staconer of London_:― - - A Large ffount of Perle Letter Cast by Mr. Andrews. - A Large ffount of Nonp^l Letter, New-Cast by ditto. - Another ffount of Nonp^l Letter, Old, the whole standing and Sett up in - a Com’on Prayer in 24mo Compleat. - A large ffount of Min^n Letter, New-Cast by Mr. Andrews. - Another Large ffount of Min^n Letter, New-Cast in Holland. - The whole Testament standing in Brev^r and Min^n Letter, Old. - A Large ffount of Brev^r Letter, New-Cast in Holland. - A very Large ffount of Lo. Prim^r Letter, New-Cast by Mr. Andrews. - A Large ffount of Pica Letter, very good, cast by ditto. - Another Large ffount of ditto, never used, Cast in Holland. - A small Quantity of English, New-Cast by Mr. Andrews. - A small Quantity of Great Prim^r, New-Cast by ditto. - A very Large ffount of Double Pica, New, the largest in England.[400] {211} - A Quantity of Two Line English Letters. - A Quantity of ffrench Cannon. - Two line Letters of all Sorts and a Sett of Silver Initiall Letters. - Cases, Stands, etc. - ffive Printing Presses, very good, with other Appurtenances, etc. - -The schedule is signed “Jno. Baskett.”[401] - -In 1733 Sylvester Andrews’ foundry was purchased, at the same time -with that of his father, by Thomas James, and removed to London. His -epitaph remains, and gives an amusing glimpse of his character and the -reputation he bore at Oxford. - - _On a Letter-Founder at Oxford._ - - “Underneath this stone lies honoured Syl - Who died, though much against his will; - Yet, in his fame he will survive― - Learning shall keep his name alive; - For he the parent was of letters,― - He founded, to confound his betters; - Though what those letters should contain - Did never once disturb his brain. - Since, therefore, reader, he is gone, - Pray let him not be trod upon.”[402] - -[Illustration] - -{212} - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -THOMAS AND JOHN JAMES, 1710. - - -Thomas James was the son of the Rev. John James, vicar of -Basingstoke.[403] He served his apprenticeship to Robert Andrews, -but quitted his service prior to the year 1710, in order to start -business on his own account. Impressed, doubtless, with the present low -condition of the art in England, and lacking the skill to regenerate -it by his own labour, he determined to visit Holland and procure for -himself, from that famous typographical market, the matrices and moulds -necessary for establishing a successful foundry {213} in London. The -characteristic letters in which he describes this expedition to his -brother are given by Rowe Mores,[404] and present so instructive and -entertaining a picture of the Dutch type-founders of the day, that we -are tempted to copy them _in extenso_. - - “_Rotterdam, 22 June 1710._—I have been with all the Letter - Founders in Amsterdam, and if I would have given —— for matrices, - could not persuade any of ’em but the last I went to, to part with - any. So far from it that it was with much ado I could get them to - let me see their business. The Dutch letter founders are the most - sly and jealous people that ever I saw in my life. However this - last man (being as I perceived by the strong perfume of Geneva - waters a most profound sot) offers to sell me all his house for - about —— I mean the matrices: for the punchions with them he will - not sell for any money. But there being about as much as he would - have —— for, Hebrew and other Oriental languages such as Syrian, - Samaritan and Russian characters, I would not consent to buy ’em. - But the rest consisting of about 17 sets of Roman and Italic - capitals and small letters, and about 5 sets of capital letters - only, and 3 sets of Greek, besides a set or two of Black with - other appurtenances, these I design to buy. He is not very fond - of selling them because it will be a great while before he can - furnish himself again. However I believe I shall have ’em for less - than —— a matrice, which as he says is cheaper than ever they were - his; but having most of the punches he can sink ’em again and so - set himself to rights with little trouble and less charge.” - -The next letter, dated Rotterdam, 14th July 1710, describes graphically -the difficulties which James encountered in driving his bargain to a -conclusion. - - “I took a place in the waggon for Tergoes and from thence in - a scayte for Amsterdam, where I arrived at 5 o’clock on Monday - morning 10 July. As soon as I thought the person I have dealt with - was stirring I went to confer with him farther about his matrices; - but instead of finding all things set in order for sale, I found - him less provided than when I was with him before; for indeed he - had lent about eight sets of matrices to another Letter Founder. - I let him know my mind by an interpreter. He told me what a - disposition his things were in, and said he had rather part with - some particular sets than with all. In short, I found he had not - a mind to part with any but those which he esteemed least, and - those of which he had the puncheons by him to sink again when he - pleased. I told him that I came expecting to make an end of the - bargain, if he would part with all the sets I had seen in his - proof for the price I had offered. The man hesitated a good while - and at last told me he would advise about it. I told him I’d have - him resolve presently, and showed him the bill . . . The sight - of the bill made the man begin to be a little more serious than - before; so after a few more words he told me he would send for his - other sets in the afternoon. I told him _that_ he might do, but in - the meantime I would survey those he had by him; so he had a table - set and he fetched his matrices to me. The reason why I would not - stir out of his house till I had taken a survey of his matrices - was, because I was fearful that he might pick and cull (as we call - it) a great {214} many things which are useful in printing besides - just the alphabets; and indeed lest he might change some whole - sets; though indeed the man declares he would not do a thing so - ill for his life. However I having all the matrices brought into - one room locked ’em up and took the key away with me, and went to - dinner. In the afternoon I went again with my interpreter (being - an Exchange Broker) where we sat all the afternoon viewing the - matrices. At night I locked ’em up again and took the key with me, - and on Tuesday morning presented my bill, which was accepted and - paid immediately. But I should have told you that the afternoon - before he sent his wife to speak to the people to send home the - other sets; but she brought a note from the house and said the - master who had the key and keeping of ’em was gone a great way out - of town to the burial of his mother, and they did not expect him - back till Wednesday. This news was very disagreeable to me; but - not knowing how to help myself, on Tuesday, after having viewed - all day those he had, I paid him ——, and took ’em along with me to - my lodging when it was too late to send to you by the post from - Amsterdam. On Wednesday I went again but could not find the man at - home. He was gone for the other sets. So I tarried till yesterday - and went again and received 3 of the 8 sets. The rest are not to - be had yet, the man being not returned, only his wife who gave him - those three sets. So there are wanting but five sets more which - are all Greeks but one. I took ’em, molds and all, and packed them - up in a box and sent ’em by an Amsterdam scayte appointed to carry - goods for Rotterdam. This I did, fearing the _Catherine_ yacht - might sail if I tarried for the rest. At 8 o’clock last night I - took scayte for Tergoes, and arrived there this morning. From - thence I came hither by waggon and arrived here before 9.” - -The next letter, dated Rotterdam, 27th July 1710, describes his -purchase more in detail, and gives particulars as to the Dutch -foundries visited. - - “You are desirous to know whether the matrices I have bought excel - those which are in the hands of the Letter Founders in England. - The beauty of letter like that of faces is as people opine; but - notwithstanding I had no choice, all the Romans excel what we - have in England in my opinion, and I hope being well wrought, I - mean cast, will gain the approbation of very handsome letters. - The Italic I do not look upon to be unhandsome, though the Dutch - are never very extraordinary in those. An account of the names - that I think I shall give the sets I have bought is as follows: - The largest size I shall distinguish by the name of _Four-line - Pica_, the next by that of _French Canon_, the next by that of - _Two-line Pica_; these three consist of Capitals only. The fourth - size is a small _Canon Italic_, the fifth a _Two-line English_ - Roman and Italic, the sixth _Great Primer_ Roman, of which I - have two sets, a great face and a small one, with one Italic to - them both. The seventh size is an _English_ Roman and Italic; - the eighth a _Pica_, of which I have three sets Roman, and one - Italic; the ninth a _Small Pica_ Roman and Italic, the tenth - _Long Primer_, three sets Roman and one Italic, the eleventh, - _Brevier_ Roman and Italic. Besides these I have one set of _Great - Primer Greek_, one of _English Greek_, one of _Pica Greek_, one - of _Brevier Greek_, as also one set of _Pica Black_ and one of - _Brevier Black_ together with matrices of divers sorts of flowers - useful as ornaments in printing. To which I have 15 molds. All the - sizes except the three first have Capitals, small letters, double - letters, figures and points, as also all the accents, amounting - in the whole to the number of about 3500 matrices. As for sets of - Nonpareil and Pearl, I am informed nobody in {215} this country - has any but the Jew whose name is Athias.[405] Him I was with - first of all, who assured me he would part with none of any size - whatever, as did likewise another man whose name is Foskins.[406] - The next I went to was Cupi by name. He said he must consult a - friend of his before he could give me my answer, which friend - being gone out of town it would be two or three days before he - could certify me. The next and last I went to the same day: his - name was Rolij,[407] a German by birth. Him I soon perceived I - should agree with, as afterwards I did. But before I went to him - I called upon Cupi. He told me he would sell no matrices, but he - would cast me as much letter as I would have as cheap as anybody. - I went to him before I agreed with Rolij because I would see which - would sell cheapest. But finding them all so inflexible I was - obliged to agree with Rolij upon his own terms, who, however, did - not know but I had come to him first, since himself and Cupi are - the only letter-cutters in this country, and he did not imagine - but that if he would not have sold me matrices Cupi would, as I - found by him afterwards. When Cupi perceived that Rolij would sell - me some matrices (as, indeed, then Rolij and I had agreed and he - received 1700 gilders in part), he comes to the Exchange-Broker - and told him he would sink his puncheons again and in half a - year’s time deliver me all the matrices he has, perfect, after the - rate of —— per matrice, but that except I would take all one with - another, he would sell none at all. - - “His Roman letters are very handsome and his Italics ugly, but - all printed upon a proof of the best paper; with all the care - taken in composing and printing imaginable, which adds much to - the lustre of his letter. In a book it is quite another thing; - not {216} so handsome as Rolij’s, whose letter in the proofs I - could see in matter looks much better than it does in his printed - Specimen, which is done with all disadvantage, being wretchedly - composed and worse printed off, upon very sorry paper. However I - can see when letters are well proportioned. I have two specimens - of his letter in matter which look very beautiful. Rolij says - whatever matrices I want, whether great or small, he’ll cut ’em - for me as soon as I give him orders, provided it happens before a - peace. He told me likewise he would see if he could procure any - Nonpareil and Pearl of the Jew, I allowing him a reasonable profit - for his pains. Rolij says he was the man who made Foskins[408] - father by the letter he cut for him. Foskins[408] is a man of great - business, having five or six men constantly at the furnace, - besides boys to rub, and himself and a brother to do the other - work. How many men the Jew keeps at work I do not know, for he - would not permit me to go up into his work-house. Foskins thought - I wanted letter to be cast, but when he knew that I was a letter - founder he looked very sly, and watched me as if I had been a - thief, being I suppose very fearful that I should steal some of - their art from them. Cupi was not very forward to let me see his - work-house, and the first time avoided it by saying he could not - stay for he was just going out, but the second time I did see it - though he was as loth then as before, saying he believed there was - nobody at work. But I told him the person who was with me wanted - to see the trade, and he would oblige me by showing it. He had - places for four to work, although there was but one casting. I did - not ask Rolij to show me his work-house the first time I went to - him, but the second time I went up and saw places for four men and - nobody at work. I asked him where his men were; he told me they - were gone to a fair at Harlem, but I believe he had lent them out - as well as his matrices to some other letter founder. As I was - going along the street with him, he told me there was an English - gentleman that had lodged at such a house (pointing to it), for - whom he had cast three hundred pounds worth of work not long ago, - which if true must have been for Tonson. - - “I have bought of Rolij in all thirty sets of matrices, besides - the box of flowers and 15 molds made of brass as almost all - the Dutch molds I saw were. Mr. Cupi has in all but eighteen - sets of matrices, but is continually, as I hear, cutting more, - designing in time to set up printing and bookselling too. He is - a very close and very civil fellow. I do not know but one time - or other I may take another trip into this country for matrices, - for there’s no trusting to anybody here to manage business for - one. There’s hardly such a thing as an honest man to be found. - They all live by buying and selling, and whatever they can bite - anyone of, they count it fairly got in the way of trade. I hear - but a very indifferent character of the young man, the broker, - who interprets for me. He is very expert indeed at that, and I do - not know what I should have done without him: but I am informed - that if it lay in his power to come at any of my money, he would - contrive some way or other to cozen me of it, or part of it at - least; for which reason I took particular care. He stood very - hard with me for a gilder per cent. for every hundred I laid out. - The moulds and matrices together stand me in ——. I have enquired - very diligently of abundance of Printers, Booksellers, and of Mr. - Rolij whether there are any letter founders at Harlem, Leyden, The - Hague, Delft or Utrecht. I was told by some they knew of none, - and by others that there were none, and Rolij assured me there - were none at any of those places; and I myself saw at Foskins[408] - a box with letter in it, {217} directed for Utrecht; and it seems - very probable there may be none at any of these places, because - letter may be sent from Amsterdam to any of these places as cheap - by water as a porter in London will carry a burthen half a mile. - The box of molds and matrices which I bought was brought hither - from Amsterdam for twelve stivers into the house, the distance - about forty English miles. I am told there is one letter founder - at Tergoes, but I can’t hear of one Englishman or English house in - the whole town. However I’ll endeavour to find the founder before - I leave the country. I have been through Tergoes three times, and - as often through Harlem, Leyden and Delft, but never made any stay - in any one of them. I have been twice to the Hague, but at such - times that I could not see the States House. The town is very - fine. One’s charges thither and back again are not above a gilder. - ‘Tis very easy, and travelling would be very pleasant if one were - not destitute of company.” - -On his return to England with his purchases, James established his -foundry in Aldermanbury, and afterwards removed to the Town Ditch. - -The following is Rowe Mores’ summary of his original matrices: - - -“MR. JAMES’S FOUNDERY. - - OCCIDENTALS.― - - _Greek_: - Great Primer, 191; Pica, 161; Brevier, 141; Small Pica, 130. - - _Roman and Italic._― - Two-line English Roman, 148; Italic, 90. Great Primer Roman, 111; - another Roman, 101; Italic, 123. English Roman, 86; Italic, 78. - Pica Roman, 109; another 80; another, 82; Italic, 95. Long Primer - Roman, 140; another, 155; another, 141; Italic, 94. Brevier Roman, - 112; Italic, 97. - - _Titles and Irregulars._― - Four-line Pica Roman, 35. Canon Roman (Two-line Great Primer it - is), 33. Small Canon (Two-line English) _missing_. Two-line Pica - Roman, 31. Small Pica Roman, 136; Italic, 73. - - SEPTENTRIONALS.― - - _English (Blacks)._― - Pica, 60. Brevier, 65. - - Mathematical Marks, Flowers, etc. - -James’ business appears to have thriven for a time, owing doubtless to -the fact of his being possessed of the matrices of Dutch letter, which -at that time had quite superseded the home productions in the popular -favour. So much were they sought after, indeed, that we hear of a great -printer like Tonson making a special journey to Holland, and there -laying out as much as £300 on Dutch letter. The upper floor, on which -the work of the foundry was carried on in the house at the Town Ditch, -being insufficient in strength for the weight of his operations, he -removed to the foundry in Bartholomew Close, where he continued till -the time of his death. “This founding House,” says Rowe Mores, “is an -edifice disjoined from the dwelling-house, and seems to have been built -for Mr. James’ own purpose. The dwelling-house is an irregular rambling -place, formerly in the occupation of Mr. Roycroft, afterwards in that -of Mr. Houndeslow, afterwards in that of Mr. S. Palmer, author of the -_General History of Printing_, and lastly that of the two Mr. James’s, -and was a part of the Priory of St. Bartholomew. And in this house -wrought formerly as a journeyman {218} with Mr. Palmer, a gentleman -well known since in the philosophical world, Dr. Benj. Franklin of -Philadelphia.” Franklin worked here in 1725 for about a year, during -which time, as he himself states in the interesting note quoted from -his autobiography at page 15, he was an occasional visitor in James’s -typefoundry adjoining. - -James’ later years were embittered by transactions which tended neither -to his credit nor his fortunes, and which one would be tempted to pass -by unnoticed, but that the history of English type-founding is closely -involved in the narration. - -In the year 1725 a Scotch printer complained to William Ged, a -respectable goldsmith of Edinburgh, of the inconvenience of being -compelled to send to London or Holland for type, there being no -foundry in Scotland at the time, and urged him to undertake the -business of type-founder. Ged, in considering the matter, was struck -with the idea of producing plates from whole pages of composed type, -and after several experiments, satisfied himself that the idea was -practicable.[409] In 1727 he entered into a contract with an Edinburgh -printer to prosecute the invention, but the latter being intimidated -by the rumoured costliness of the process, withdrew from the bargain -at the end of two years. In 1729 Ged entered into a new partnership -with William Fenner, a London stationer, who offered, for one half of -the profits, to find the requisite capital and work the undertaking. -Fenner introduced him to Thomas James, the founder, and a company was -shortly afterwards formed, consisting of Ged, Fenner, Thomas James, -John James, his brother, an architect at Greenwich, and James Ged, -son of the inventor. Ged’s narrative, which is simple, and to all -appearances straightforward, represents Thomas James as having played -from the first a highly dishonourable part in the proceedings of the -new company. Being naturally selected to provide the necessary type, he -supplied worn and battered letter, which Ged was compelled to reject -as useless. Ged next applied to the King’s printers, who had recently -discarded James’s type in favour of the highly superior letter of -William Caslon, for permission to take plates from some formes of their -new letter. The printers consulted Mr. Caslon, who not only denied the -utility of {219} the invention, but asserted that he could, if he -chose, make as good plates as Ged.[410] A wager of £50 ensued. Each of -the disputants was furnished with a page of type, and allowed eight -days for producing the plate. At the end of a single day Ged produced -three plates to the umpire, who was bound to admit his success. This -feat becoming known, the partners applied for, and obtained a privilege -from the University of Cambridge in 1731, to print Bibles and Prayer -Books by the new method. - -Ged was, however, again thwarted in every direction by the treachery -of his colleagues, especially of Thomas James, who continued to supply -imperfect type, and actively intrigued with the King’s printers for -the purpose of upsetting the University contract and discrediting -the invention. With wonderful courage and perseverance Ged struggled -against the opposition, and, it is said, completed two Prayer Books. -The printers engaged on the work, however, were influenced by James, -the compositors making malicious errors in the text, and the pressmen -damaging the formes with their ink balls. The complaint thus raised -against the type was the motive for sending James in 1732 to Holland, -to procure fresh letter. This second expedition lacked all the -interesting features of the first, and he returned after being absent -for two months and spending £160, with only one fount of type, far too -large for the requirements of the undertaking. Meanwhile, however, in -consequence of the persistent animosity of the printers, the books were -suppressed by authority, and the plates sent to the King’s printing -house, and thence to Caslon’s foundry to be broken up.[411] Ged, -shattered in health and fortune, returned to Edinburgh in 1733, where, -by the assistance of his friends, he was enabled, after some delay, to -finish his edition of Sallust.[412] He died in 1749.[413] {220} - -The dishonourable part taken by James in this business reacted on -himself, for we find that he suffered considerably both in purse and -business, in consequence of his connection with the undertaking. -“The printers,” says Mores, “would not employ him, because the -block printing, had it succeeded, would have been prejudicial to -theirs.”[414] The rising fame of Caslon at this particular period -contributed also, and with equal force, to the ill-success of his later -years. - -Before his death, however, he added considerably to his foundry, -chiefly by the purchase of the foundries of his old master, Robert -Andrews, and of his son Sylvester at Oxford. By the former he acquired -not only a large number of Roman and Italics, but also several Oriental -and curious founts (some of which had formed the foundry of Moxon), -which constituted the nucleus of that large collection for which his -foundry subsequently became notorious. He died in 1736,[415] after a -long illness, during which his son John James managed the business. - -The following circular, addressed to the printing trade at the time of -his death, is interesting, not only as notifying the fact, but as being -put forward as a specimen of the type of the foundry. - - ADVERTISEMENT. - - “The death of Mr. Thomas James of Bartholomew Close, Letter - Founder, having been industriously published in the Newspapers, - without the least mention of any person to succeed in his - business, it is become necessary for the widow James to give as - public notice that she carries on the business of letter founding, - to as great exactness as formerly, by her son John James, who - had managed it during his father’s long illness; the letter this - advertisement is printed on being his performance.[416] And he - casts all other sorts from the largest to the smallest size. Also - the Saxon, Greek, Hebrew, and all the Oriental types, of various - sizes.” {221} - -Although the above seems to indicate that John James was a practical -letter-cutter, he does not appear to have contributed much to the -increase of his foundry by his own handiwork. In 1739 he purchased, -jointly with William Caslon, the foundry of Robert Mitchell, and took -a half of the matrices.[417] A year later he bought Ilive’s foundry. -Of this purchase Rowe Mores mentions that the two founts of Nonpareil -Greek, though duly paid for, never came to James’s hands. The remaining -matrices, consisting of Roman and Italics and a few sundries, were -transferred to Bartholomew Close, where they lay, apparently unused, in -the boxes distinguished by the name of Jugge. - -A far more important purchase was made some eighteen years later, -when Grover’s foundry, after having lain idle for thirty years in the -possession of his family, was finally sold to James by Mr. Nutt in -1758. By this purchase James became possessed of a stock of matrices, -the number of which nearly doubled his own foundry, and which included -many of the most interesting relics of the art.[418] At the same time, -he combined in one no fewer than nine of the old English foundries, -and remained, with Caslon and Baskerville, as one of only three -representatives of the trade in the country.[419] - -The following table will present in a clear form the gradual absorption -of all the old foundries into that of James:― - - (_De Worde_) (_Day_) - │ │ - │ (_Privileged - │ printers_) - │ │ - │ The Polyglot - │ Founders Moxon (Walpergen) - │ 1637–1667 1659–1683 1673–1714 - │ │ │ │ - +──────────────+───────────+ │ - │ │ │ - │ +────────────+ │ - │ │ │ - Jas. Grover R. Andrews (_Rolij_) S. Andrews Ilive Head - 1680–1700 1683–1733 1710 1714–1733 1730–1740 1685–1700 (?) - │ │ │ │ │ │ - │ +────────────+───────────+ │ │ - │ │ │ │ - Thos. Grover Thos. James │ Mitchell - 1700–1758 1710–1736 │ 1700–1739 - │ │ │ │ - │ │ │ +────+────+ - │ │ │ │ │ - +──────────────────────────+──────────────────────+─────+ │ - │ │ - John James Caslon - 1736–1772 - the last of the Old English Letter Founders. - -{222} - -With the exception of the circular already mentioned, nothing of the -nature of a specimen of this large foundry appeared during the lifetime -of its owner. As early as 1736, Rowe Mores informs us, a specimen was -begun, designed to show the variety of matrices with which the foundry -then abounded, and from which types could be supplied to the trade. But -although so early begun, and progressed with for several years, the -work was left incomplete at the time of James’s death in 1772.[420] - -Two causes may be assigned for this fact, one being the frequent and -numerous additions to the foundry from time to time, which would -render any specimen undertaken at an early stage of its existence -incomplete; and the second and more cogent reason is to be found in -the fact that the excellence and growing popularity of Caslon’s founts -at this particular period tended rapidly to depreciate the productions -of the old founders, and, as Rowe Mores himself states, to render many -of their founts altogether useless in typography; so that a letter -which in 1736 might have commanded a tolerable sale, would in 1756 be -despised, and in 1770 scoffed at. - -At John James’s death his foundry passed by purchase[421] into the -hands of Mr. Rowe Mores,[422] a learned and eccentric antiquary and -scholar, who had devoted himself, among other matters, to the study of -typographical antiquities, a pursuit in which he received no little -stimulus from the possession of a collection of punches and matrices, -some of which were supposed to be as old as the days of Wynkyn de Worde. - -Whether any motive besides a pure antiquarian zeal prompted the -purchase, or whether he held the collection in the capacity of trustee, -is not known, but it {223} seems probable he had been intimately -acquainted with the foundry and its contents for some time before -James’s death. He speaks emphatically of it as “our” foundry, and his -disposition of its contents for sale is made with the authority of an -absolute proprietor. It does not appear, however, that during the six -years of his possession any steps were taken to extend or even continue -the old business, which we may assume to have died with its late owner. - -Mr. Mores found himself the owner of a vast confused mass of matrices, -many of them unjustified, and others imperfect, which to an ordinary -observer might have been summarily condemned as rubbish, but which -he, with an enthusiasm quite remarkable, set himself to catalogue and -arrange in order, considering himself amply repaid for his pains by the -discovery of a few veritable relics of Wynkyn de Worde and other old -English printers. - -The result of his labours he minutely relates in his -_Dissertation_,[423] a work written, as he himself says, “to preserve -the memory of this Foundry, the most ancient in the kingdom, and which -may now be dispersed,” and intended as an introduction to the completed -specimen of its contents. Despite its eccentric style and crabbed -diction, the work, by virtue of its learning and acuteness, will always -remain one of the most interesting contributions to the history of -English typography. - -The condition of the foundry will be best described in its author’s own -words. - -After giving a list of matrices lost,[424] and quoting a catalogue -of the matrices of the learned languages in the foundry in 1767, -written by James himself (which varies considerably from the Catalogue -presented at the sale, to be given later on), he observes: - -“The specimen will show that several of the matrices are unjustified. -This being but an accidental circumstance, does not in the least -affect the goodness of the type, though it affects its appearance in -_the casting_. The matrices were amassed at all events to augment the -collection, and the operation of the file was suspended till a call for -the type should make it necessary. So this defect is no more than a -proof that the matrices have not been impaired by use. - -“Another circumstance it may be necessary to mention relating to the -difference in the number of matrices of the same face and body, which -may lead to a suspicion that those of a lesser number are imperfect. -But this is not the {224} fact. The difference arises from a difference -in the quantity of ligations, which have been always cut in a greater -or smaller number according to the humour or fancy of the artist. We -own ourselves admirers of ligatures, for they are certainly ornamental -and elegant, and it is to be wished that they could be used in -typography with the same ease as they are displayed in calligraphy. But -this is impossible; fusile types are not so tractable as the pen of a -ready writer, and we scruple not to call a fount complete though it be -destitute of every jugation. . . . - -“A word or two must be added in relation to the Specimen. It was begun -by Mr. James in the year 1736, in which year, after the decease of his -father, he entered into business for himself, and was designed to show -the variety of matrices with which his foundery abounded. Therefore -it is a specimen only of the types which he could cast for those who -wanted; no reference being made to the situation of the matrices from -which he would have cast them. But notwithstanding the number of years -intermediate, the Specimen was left unfinished by Mr. James at the -time of his death, and that which was left has been mangled since his -decease. Not that there was any occasion for such references, for Mr. -James was possessed of the matrices, and consequently of the secret of -adapting them to his purpose. To supply this deficiency in a specimen -of the matrices (for as such the specimen is now to be considered) has -been attended with trouble incredible to anyone but one who upon a like -occasion shall attempt the same. And such an occasion we believe there -will never be. - -“For the Specimen some apology is to be made; neither the form nor the -matter is so judicious as we could wish, but the greatest part of it -was composed long ago, and it was almost impossible now to alter it. -Incorrectness must be overlooked, because Letter Founders generally -compose their own specimens, and this might be sufficient to apologise -for deficiencies in the Composing part. But we must use another plea in -extenuation of enormities in this part unavoidable; the confinement of -large-bodied letters to a narrow measure; though for blemishes of this -sort the just allowance will be made by those of judgement. It shows -the letter, the common purpose of this kind of specimens. - -“We have inserted specimens of several matrices which the great -improvements made in the art of letter-cutting have rendered altogether -useless in typography; but these specimens will be found of critical -use to an antiquary, for whose sake we have inserted them, regardless -of the charge that we deform our Specimen, or of another more material -accusation, that by multiplying particulars we endeavour to enhance the -value of our foundery. The latter we can easily refute; for the sets -we speak of, besides the rudeness of the workmanship, are imperfect, -and consequently unsaleable, and will probably be taken {225} from the -foundery before it is disposed of to prevent the trouble of a future -garbling,[425] and this consideration must extend to those objections -which may be made against things cast in haste without justification, -for the purpose only of shewing the faces. - -“Hitherto we have spoken only of Matrices. The punches, though in order -they are first, must come last; and of them we have but little to say; -for these having performed their office by formation of the matrice are -generally like other useful instruments which have discharged their -duty, neglected, discarded and thrown away. - -“The entire _loss_, the _waste_ and the _rubbish_ in our foundery in -this article are great. The _waste_ and _rubbish_ are in weight about -120 lbs., and were we to put down _tale_ instead of _weight_ (the -pusils which seem to make the greater part of this quantity not much -exceeding in largeness the little end of a poinctrel) the number would -be very great. But covetous of preserving the remembrance of everything -which in Mr. James’ Foundery was curious or uncommon, we have -re-scrutinized these, and have left behind us nothing but the Roman and -Italic in which is nothing either curious or uncommon. - -“The same likewise have we done to the matrices, the waste of which now -remaining and disposed of in order is in number about 2,600,[426] the -rubbish in weight about 1/2 cwt. - -“A work of some trouble but _virtù_ hath been gratified amongst the -rubbish of punches by some originals of Wynkyn de Worde, some punches -of the 2-line Great Primer English.[427] They are truly _vetustate -formâque et squalore venerabiles_, and we would not give a lower-case -letter in exchange for all the leaden cups of Haerlem.”[428] - -[Illustration: 56. From the original in the Library of the London -Institution.] - -Mr. Mores, unfortunately, did not live to see the publication of -his {227} _Dissertation_, or to complete the Specimen which was to -accompany it. He died in 1778, and four years elapsed before the -foundry was put up to auction, and the catalogue with its specimen -attached finally appeared. - -Of this interesting document we need only observe that in point of -execution and printing it calls for all the apology which Mr. Mores -offers on its behalf;[429] for one could hardly imagine a specimen -doing less justice to the collection it represents. Yet, in spite of -its imperfections, it is a work of the highest importance to anyone -interested in the history of the old English letter-founders, and we -regret that space forbids quoting the Catalogue in full. - -We shall, however, present our readers with an abstract of the Specimen -as far as it relates to the matrices of the “learned” languages in the -foundry; adding, as far as possible, the initials of the foundries -through which each fount had come into James’ hands.[430] - -The specimens shown are as follows:― - - _Hebrew_ (Biblical).[431]― - 2-l. English Mod. [A.][432] - 2-line English No. 2. - 2-line English Ancient. [P.] - Double Pica. [P.] [A.] - Great Primer. [A.] - English Antique. - English Ancient, No. 2. [P.] [A.] - English Ancient, No. 3. - English Modern. - Pica Ancient. [G.?] - Pica Modern. [A.] - Small Pica Antique. [A.] - Small Pica Antique. No. 2. [A.] - - _Hebrew._― - Small Pica Modern. - Long Primer. [G.?] - Brevier. [A.] - Brevier. No. 2. [S.A.] - Nonpareil. [A.] - - _Hebrew_ (Rabbinical).― - English German (a spurious Rashi). [A.] - Rashi Pica. [A.] - Rashi Long Primer.* [A.] - Rashi Brevier.* [A.] - Rashi Nonpareil.* [A.] - - _Samaritan._[433]― - Double Pica (Leusden’s). [A.] - English* (with English face). [P.] [G.] {228} - - _Syriac._― - Double Pica. [P.][G.] - Great Primer. [A.] - Pica. [G.] - - _Arabic._[434]― - Double Pica (Gt. Primer?)* [P.?][G.] - Great Primer. [A.] - - _Æthiopic._― - Gt. Primer or English*. [P.][A.] - English. [Anon.] - - _Greek._[435]― - Double Pica.[436] [Royal][G.] - Great Primer.* [G.] - Great Primer. No. 2. - Great Primer. No. 3. [R.] - English. - English. No. 2. - Pica. [R.] - Pica. No. 2. - Small Pica. [P.] - Small Pica. No. 2. [R.?] - Small Pica. No. 3. [P.] - Brevier. [A.] - Brevier. No. 2. [R.] - Brevier. No. 3.[437] [G.] - Nonpareil. [A.] - Pearl. [N.?] - English Alexandrian.* [G.] - - _Gothic._― - Pica. [Anon.] - - _Anglo-Saxon._[438]― - Great Primer. [G.] - Great Primer, No. 2. [G.] - English (Pica). [A.] - Long Primer. [A.?] - - _Anglo-Norman._[439]― - Great Primer. [A.] - English. [Anon.] - - _Runic._― - Pica. - - _Court Hand._― - Double Pica. [G.] - English.* [G.] - _Union._—Double Pica.* [G.] - - _Scriptorial_ (_Cursive_).[440]― - Double Pica. [G.] - English. [G.] - English. No. 2. [G.] - Pica.* [G.] - Small Pica. [G.] - - _Secretary._― - Great Primer. [G.] - - _Hieroglyphics._― - A Set. - - _English._[441]― - 2-line Great Primer. [De Worde?][G.] - Great Primer. [De Worde?][G.] - Great Primer. No. 2. [A.] - English. [Anon.] - English. No. 2* [A.] - English. No. 4. [G.] - Pica. [A.] - Pica. No. 2. [Anon.] - Pica. No. 3. [R.?] - Small Pica No. 2. [A.] - Small Pica No. 3. [Anon.?] - Small Pica No. 6. [A.] - Small Pica No. 7. [A.?] - Long Primer (Dutch cut). [G.?] - Long Primer No. 2. [G.] - Long Primer No. 3. [G.] - Brevier. [G.?] - Brevier. No. 4. [R.?] - Nonpareil.* [G.] - -Of Roman capitals, eight founts were shown,[442] and of Roman and -Italic from {229} Canon to Diamond, there were thirty-nine founts in -specimen and a hundred and eight not shown. - -In addition to the above, the specimen included ninety-seven varieties -of flowers, chiefly from the Grovers’ foundry; while other odd flowers, -with signs, rules, braces, and various imperfect founts (contained in -sixteen drawers) were also sold, though not shown. At the end of the -list of matrices came what was perhaps the most interesting feature of -the sale, viz., a set of punches contained in a press named “Caxton,” -consisting of twenty drawers. Of these the majority were Roman and -Italics, which we will not specify, as it is impossible to determine -whose handiwork they were in the first instance. We give, however, the -contents of drawers A E F and G, which contained the following punches -of the learned languages[443]: - - A.—Æthiopic English* [P.] [A.] - Samaritan Pica* (English?) [P.] [G.] - Samaritan Long Primer - Syriac English (Pica?) [G.] - Arabic Great Primer [A.] - Arabic Pica (English?) [A.] - Greek Brevier - Saxon Pica [A.] - Hibernian[444] Pica* [M.] [A.] - E.—Greek Great Primer,* points and ligatures [G.] - F. Greek Pica, points and ligatures - G. Greek Nonpareil, points and ligatures [A.] - -It is at least remarkable that so few punches should have existed -in so large a foundry; but it is to be remembered that the wear and -tear of the matrices in those days was not so great as now, and the -necessity for a new set of strikes from the punches was consequently -less frequent. We may even suppose, from Mr. Mores’ own reference to -the subject, already quoted, that it was a common practice to discard a -set of punches as useless as soon as they had left their impression in -the matrices. - -The concluding items of the Catalogue are “about 60 or 70 moulds, from -5-line Pica down to Nonpareil, some two, some three or more of a sort -which {230} will be lotted according to their bodies; also a parcel of -iron ladles; a vice, 33 lbs. weight, several gauges, dividers, blocks, -setting-up sticks, dressing sticks, etc.,”—a meagre list, which, if -it represents the working plant of the foundry, points to a rough and -ready practice of the art which, even in Moxon’s time, would have been -considered primitive. - -A word must be added respecting the Catalogue. Whether it was taken -precisely as Mr. Mores left it, or whether Mr. Paterson, the auctioneer -(whose “talent at Cataloguing” Nichols, in his _Anecdotes_, approvingly -mentions),[445] completed it, we cannot say. It is as precise, perhaps, -as any catalogue of so confused a collection could be. An opening was, -however, left for a good deal of misapprehension, by the fact that the -nests of drawers in which the matrices were stored, instead of bearing -distinguishing numbers, bore the names of famous old printers, which -duly figured in the Catalogue.[446] Misled by this circumstance, it -seems more than likely that Paterson may have enhanced the importance -of his lots by dwelling on the fact that one fount was “De Worde’s”, -another “Cawood’s,” another “Pynson’s,” and so on. The absurdity of -this delusion becomes very apparent when we see the Alexandrian Greek -some years later puffed by its purchasers as the veritable production -of De Worde (who lived a century before the Alexandrian MS. came to -this country), and find Hansard, in 1825, ascribing seven founts of -Hebrew and a Pearl Greek to Bynneman. - -What was the result of the sale financially we cannot ascertain. Of the -fate of its various lots we know very little either, except that Dr. -Fry secured most of the curious and “learned” matrices. How far the -other foundries of the day, at home and abroad, enriched themselves, or -how much of the collection fell into the hands of the coppersmiths, are -problems not likely to find solution. - -With the sale, however, disappeared the last of the old English -foundries, and closed a chapter of English typography, which, though -not the most glorious, is certainly not the least instructive through -which it has passed. - - * * * * * - -The only specimen of this foundry is that appended to the Catalogue of -the sale:― - - A CATALOGUE and Specimen of the large and extensive - Printing-Type-Foundery of the late ingenious Mr. John James, - Letter-founder, formerly of Bartholomew Close, London, deceased; - including several other Founderies, English and Foreign. Improved - {231} by the late Reverend (_sic_) and Learned Edward Rowe - Mores, deceased. Comprehending a great variety of punches and - matrices of the Hebrew, Samaritan, Syriac, Arabic, Æthiopic, - Alexandrian, Greek, Roman, Italic, Saxon, Old English, Hibernian, - Script, Secretary, Court-Hand, Mathematical, Musical, and other - characters, Flowers and Ornaments: which will be sold by Auction - by Mr. Paterson at his Great Room (No. 6) King Street, Covent - Garden, London, on Wednesday, 5th June, 1782, and the Three - following days. To begin exactly at 12 o’clock. To be viewed on - Wednesday, May 29th, and to the Time of Sale. Catalogues, with - Specimen of the Types, may be had at the Place of Sale. (Price One - Shilling.) 8vo. . . . . (Lond. Inst.) - -[Illustration] - -{232} - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -WILLIAM CASLON, 1720. - - -Printing had reached a low ebb in England in the early years of the -eighteenth century. A glance through any of the common public prints -of the day, such, for instance, as official broadsides, political -pamphlets, works of literature, or even Bibles,[447] points to a -depression and degeneration so marked that one is tempted to believe -that the art of Caxton and Pynson and Day was rapidly becoming lost in -a wilderness of what a contemporary satirist terms - - “Brown sheets and sorry letter.” - -With the exception of Oxford University, no foundry of the day was -contributing anything towards the revival of good printing, or even -towards the maintenance of such a standard as did exist. And Oxford, as -we have said, owed its best founts to gifts procured, almost entirely, -from abroad. Grover and Andrews, the heritors of the old founders, -originated little or nothing; and where their efforts were put into -requisition (as in the case of Andrews’ attempt to cut the Anglo-Saxon -for Miss Elstob’s _Grammar_) they failed. Scarcely a work with any -{233} pretension to fine printing was the impression of honest -English type. Watson, the Scotch historian of printing, openly rebuked -his brethren of the craft for not stocking their cases with Dutch type. -Tonson, a king among English printers is said on one occasion to have -lodged in Amsterdam while a founder there was casting him £300 worth -of type; and James, the only English founder whose business showed any -vitality, owed his success chiefly, if not entirely, to the fact that -all his letter was the product of Dutch matrices; and even these, in -his hands, were so indifferently cast as to be often as bad as English -type. - -[Illustration: 57. From _Hansard_.] - -What was the reason for this lamentable decline—how far it was -chargeable on the printer, how far on the founder, or how far both -were the victims of that system of Star Chamber decrees, monopolies, -patents, restraints and privileges which had characterised the -illiberal days of the Stuarts—this is not the place to inquire. Nor, -happily, are we called upon to speculate as to what would have been -the consequence to English Typography of an uninterrupted prolongation -of the malady under which it laboured. But it is necessary to remind -ourselves of the critical nature of that malady in order to appreciate -properly the providential circumstance which turned the attention of -William Caslon to typefounding, and thus served to avert from England -the disgrace which threatened her. - -William Caslon[448] was born at Hales Owen in Shropshire in the year -1692. He served his apprenticeship to an engraver of gun-locks and -barrels in London, and at the expiration of his term followed his trade -in Vine Street, near the Minories. - -The ability he displayed in his art was conspicuous, and by no means -confined to the mere ornamentation of gun-barrels—the chasing of -silver and the designing of tools for bookbinders frequently occupying -his attention. While thus engaged, some of his bookbinding punches -were noticed for their neatness and accuracy by Mr. Watts,[449] the -eminent printer, who, fully alive to the present degenerate state of -the typographical art in this country, was quick to recognise the -possibility of raising it once more to its proper position. He {234} -accordingly encouraged Mr. Caslon to persevere in letter-cutting, -promising him his personal support, and favouring him meanwhile with -introductions to some of the leading printers of the day. - -About the same time, it is recorded that another great printer, the -elder Bowyer,[450] “accidentally saw in the shop of Mr. Daniel Browne, -bookseller, near Temple Bar, the lettering of a book, uncommonly neat; -and enquiring who the artist was by whom the letters were made, Mr. -Caslon was introduced to his acquaintance, and was taken by him to Mr. -James’s foundery in Bartholomew Close. Caslon had never before that -time seen any part of the business; and being asked by his friend if -he thought he could undertake to cut types, he requested a single day -to consider the matter, and then replied he had no doubt but he could. -From this answer, Mr. Bowyer lent him £200, Mr. Bettenham[451] (to -whom also he had been introduced) lent the same sum, and Mr. Watts -£100.”[452] - -With this assistance Mr. Caslon established himself in a garret in -Helmet Row, Old Street, and devoted himself with ardour to his new -profession.[453] An opportunity for distinguishing himself presented -itself shortly afterwards. - -In the year 1720 the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge,[454] -acting {235} on a suggestion made by Mr. Salomon Negri, a native of -Damascus, and a distinguished Oriental scholar, “deemed it expedient to -print for the Eastern Churches the _New Testament_ and _Psalter_ in the -Arabic language for the benefit of the poor Christians in Palestine, -Syria, Mesapotamia, Arabia and Egypt, the constitution of which -countries allowed of no printing.” A new Arabic fount being required -for the purpose, Mr. Caslon, whose reputation as a letter-cutter -appears already to have been known, was selected to cut it. This he did -to the full satisfaction of his patrons, producing the elegant English -Arabic which figures in his early specimens. The Society was, according -to Rowe Mores, already possessed of a fount of Arabic cast from the -Polyglot matrices in Grover’s foundry. But Caslon’s fount was preferred -for the text, and in it appeared, in due time, first the _Psalter_ in -1725,[455] and afterwards the _New Testament_ in 1727.[456] - -[Illustration: 61. English Arabic, cut by Caslon in 1720. (From the -original matrices.)] - -“Mr. Caslon, after he had finished his Arabic fount, cut the letters -of his own name in Pica Roman, and placed the name at the bottom of -a specimen of the Arabic[457]; and Mr. Palmer (the reputed author of -Psalmanazar’s _History of Printing_), seeing this name, advised Mr. -Caslon to complete the fount of Pica. Mr. Caslon did so; and as the -performance exceeded the letter of the other founders of the time, -Mr. Palmer—whose circumstances required credit with those who, by his -advice, were now obstructed (_i.e._, whose business was likely to {236} -suffer from this new rival)—repented having given the advice, and -discouraged Mr. Caslon from any further progress. - -[Illustration: 59. Pica Roman and Italic, cut by William Caslon, 1720. -(From the original matrices.)] - -“Mr. Caslon, disgusted,[458] applied to Mr. Bowyer, under whose -inspection he cut, in 1722, the beautiful fount of English (Roman) -which was used in printing the edition of _Selden’s Works_[459] in -1726.” - -Caslon’s excellent performance of this task may best be judged of by an -inspection of this noble work, which remains conspicuous not only as -the impression of the first letter cast at the Caslon foundry, but as -marking a distinct turning-point in the career of English typography, -which from that time forward entered on a course of brilliant -regeneration. The Hebrew letter used in the _Selden_ was also of -Caslon’s cutting, and must therefore share with the English Roman the -honour of a first place in the productions of his foundry. - -[Illustration: 62. Pica Coptic, cut by Caslon, _ante_ 1731. (From the -original matrices.)] - -His next performance was a fount of Pica Coptic for Dr. Wilkins’s[460] -edition {237} of the _Pentateuch_,[461] a letter which Rowe Mores -commends as superior to the Oxford Coptic in which Dr. Wilkins’ _New -Testament_ had been printed in 1716.[462] This fount Caslon also cut -under the direction of Mr. Bowyer, his generous patron, whom he always -acknowledged as his master from whom he had learned his art. - -Caslon’s business, thus established, rapidly advanced in fame and -excellence. Although at the outset it depended mainly on the support of -his three chief patrons, it was soon able to stand alone and compete -with the best houses in the trade. - -“It is difficult,” observes Mr. Hansard, “to appreciate the obstacles -which Mr. Caslon encountered at the commencement of his career. At -present the theory and practice of letter-founding are not, as in his -time, an ‘art and mystery,’ and efficient workmen in every branch are -easily procured. He had not only to excel his competitors in his own -particular branch of engraving the punches, which to him was probably -the easiest part of his task, but to raise an establishment and cause -his plans to be executed by ignorant and unpractised workmen. He had -also to acquire for himself a knowledge of the practical and mechanical -branches of the art, which require, indeed, little genius, but the -most minute and painful attention to conduct successfully. The wishes -and expectations of his patrons were fulfilled and exceeded by his -decided superiority over his domestic rivals and Batavian competitors. -The importation of foreign types ceased; his founts were, in fact, in -such estimation as to be frequently, in their turn, exported to the -Continent.”[463] - -In 1728 Mr. Caslon narrowly escaped committing an error which might -seriously have affected his after career. The foundry of the Grovers -being then in the market, he contracted for the purchase of it.[464] -Fortunately for English typography, the business fell through, and -Caslon was still left a free man to pursue his own method, unburdened -by the incubus of a large and useless stock of matrices, which, had -they been suffered to mingle with his own beautiful productions, would -have degraded his foundry to a patchwork establishment little better -than that of his competitors at home and abroad. As it was, he had -the advantage of completing his specimens after his own plan, and -impressing with the mark of his own genius every fount which bore his -name. - -His fame in 1730 was such, that (as Ged, in his narrative of the -invention of {238} Block-Printing, states) he had already eclipsed most -of his competitors, and had introduced his founts into some of the -chief printing houses of the metropolis, and even secured the custom -of the King’s printers to the exclusion of all others.[465] Although -Ged’s narrative goes to show that Caslon shared the scepticism of his -contemporaries with regard to the utility of stereotyping, and was -even ready to back his opinion with his money, it is satisfactory to -observe that he was no party to the discreditable persecution to which -that unfortunate inventor was subjected by other members of the craft. -Indeed, the only successful experiment made by Ged appears to have been -a cast from Caslon’s type. - -That the success of the new foundry was not achieved wholly without -opposition is apparent from the following anecdote preserved by Mr. -Nichols, and told in connection with the account of Bishop Hare’s -_Hebrew Psalter_, published by Bowyer in 1733.[466] - -This work, it appears, had been originally intended to be printed at -the press of Palmer, with whom Caslon, as we have seen, had already had -dealings of a not altogether satisfactory character. - -“His Lordship, however,” says Nichols (quoting Psalmanazar’s account -of the transaction), “had excepted against Mr. Palmer’s Hebrew types -which were of Athias’ font,[467] and a little battered, and insisted -upon his having a new set from Mr. Caslon, which greatly exceeded them -in beauty. But Mr. Palmer was so deeply in debt to him (Caslon) that he -knew not how to procure it from him without ready money, which he was -not able to spare. The Bishop likewise insisted upon having some Roman -and Italic types cast with some distinguishing mark, to direct his -readers to the Hebrew letters they were designed to answer, and these -required a new set of punches and matrices before they could be cast; -and that would have delayed the work, which Mr. Palmer was in haste to -go about that he might the sooner finger some of his Lordship’s money. -This put him upon such an unfair stratagem as, when discovered, quite -disgusted his lordship against him; namely, representing Mr. Caslon -as an idle, dilatory workman, who would in all probability make them -wait several years for those few types, if ever he finished them. That -he was indeed the only Artist that could supply him with those types, -but that he hated work and was not to be depended upon; and therefore -advised his Lordship to make shift with some sort which he could -substitute and would answer the same purpose, rather than run the risk -of staying so long and being perhaps disappointed. - -“The Bishop, however, being resolved, if possible, to have the -desired types, sent for Mr. Bowyer, and asked him whether he knew -a letter-founder that could {239} cast him such a set out of hand, -who immediately recommended Mr. Caslon; and being told what sad and -disadvantageous character he had heard of him, Mr. Bowyer not only -assured his Lordship that it was a very false and unjust one, but -engaged to get the above-mentioned types cast by him, and a new font -of his Hebrew ones, in as short a time as the thing could possibly be -done. Mr. Caslon was accordingly sent for by his Lordship, and having -made him sensible of the time the new ones would require to be made -ready for use, did produce them according to his promise, and the book -was soon after put to the press.”[468] - -Among the other interesting founts cut by Caslon about this time, -may be mentioned the Pica Black, of which we show a specimen, and -which received special commendation for its faithful following of the -traditional Old English character first used by Wynkyn de Worde. - -[Illustration: 60. Pica Black, cut by Caslon. (From the original -matrices.)] - -He also cut an Armenian for Whiston’s edition of _Moses -Choronensis_,[469] and an Etruscan for Mr. J. Swinton of Oxford, -the learned antiquary and philologist, who published his _De Linguâ -Etruriæ_[470] in 1738; as well as a Gothic and several other of the -foreign and learned characters. - -[Illustration: 63. Pica Armenian, cut by Caslon, _ante_ 1736. (From the -original matrices.)] - -[Illustration: 65. Pica Gothic, cut by Caslon, _ante_ 1734. (From the -original matrices.)] - -{240} - -[Illustration: 64. Pica Etruscan, cut by Caslon, 1738. (From the -original matrices.)] - -[Illustration: 66. Pica Ethiopic, cut by Caslon. (From the original -matrices.)] - -All of these, with exception of the Etruscan and an Ethiopic cut still -later, were completed before 1734, in which year the first _Specimen_ -of his foundry appeared. - -This famous broadside, of which very few copies are now extant, dates -from Chiswell Street, to which address Mr. Caslon had transferred the -Helmet Row Foundry (after an intermediate sojourn in Ironmonger Row), -about the year 1734. - -The sheet is arranged in four columns, and displays altogether -thirty-eight founts, namely: - - _Titlings._― - 5-line Pica, 4-line Pica, 2-line Great Primer, 2-line English, - 2-line Pica, 2-line Long Primer, 2-line Brevier. - - _Roman_ and _Italic._― - French Canon, 2-line Great Primer, 2-line English, Double Pica, - Great Primer, English, Pica, Small Pica (2), Long Primer (2), - Brevier, Nonpareil, and Pearl. - - _Saxon._― - Pica and Long Primer. - - _Black._― - Pica and Brevier. - - _Gothic_, _Coptic_, _Armenian_, _Samaritan_.― - Pica of each. - - _Syriac_ and _Arabic_.― - English of each. - - _Hebrew._― - English, English with points, Brevier. - - _Greek._― - English, Pica, Long Primer, Brevier. - - _Flowers._― - Seven designs. - -Of these, all, with three exceptions, are Caslon’s own handiwork, and -represent the untiring industry of fourteen years. Of the excellence -of the performance it is sufficient to say that the Specimen placed -Caslon absolutely without rival at the head of his profession; “and,” -as Nichols says, “for clearness and uniformity, for the use of the -reader and student, it is doubtful whether it has been exceeded by any -subsequent production.” - -The three founts referred to as not the product of Caslon’s hand, were -the Canon Roman, from Andrews’ foundry, formerly Moxon’s, and exhibited -in the {241} _Mechanick Exercises_[471]; the English Syriac, which is -from the matrices of the _Polyglot_[472]; and the Pica Samaritan, which -was cut by a Dutchman named Dummers. - -Fame appears to have followed rapidly on the appearance of this -Specimen. The sheet was included as an inset plate in the second -edition of Ephraim Chambers’ _Cyclopædia_ in 1738,[473] with the -following flattering notice:—“The above were all cast in the foundery -of Mr. W. Caslon, a person who, though not bred to the art of -letter-founding, has, by dint of genius, arrived at an excellency in it -unknown hitherto in England, and which even surpasses anything of the -kind done in Holland or elsewhere.” - -Caslon made a further addition to his stock of matrices in 1739 -by the purchase of half of Mitchell’s foundry,[474] of which the -most interesting items were a Pica Greek, sets of Music and flower -matrices, and six sizes of Black. The remainder, consisting of Romans -and Italics, do not appear to have added much to the resources of the -Chiswell Street foundry.[475] - -In the year 1742 Mr. Caslon’s eldest son, William—at that time -twenty-two years of age—entered the business, and in the Specimen of -the same year his name first appears in conjunction with his father’s. -Unfortunately, no copy of this Specimen (which had evidently been -seen by Nichols[476]) is known to be extant. Another Specimen, also -unfortunately missing, is mentioned by the same authority, who says, -“the abilities of the second Caslon appeared to great {242} advantage -in the specimen of the types of the learned languages in 1748.”[477] A -further Specimen was issued in the following year, in broadside form, -which displayed a large variety of letters, from Canon to Pearl, many -of them being the handiwork of Caslon the younger. It is possible -that this last sheet may have been sent, for the most part, abroad; -for while no copy of it is to be found in this country, we find one -mentioned with commendation by Fournier in 1766,[478] and another -preserved to this day in the Sohmian Collection at Stockholm, where, -along with several other rare English and foreign specimens, it has -been recently discovered by, the indefatigable Mr. William Blades. - -In Ames’ _Typographical Antiquities_,[479] published in 1749, appears -a specimen of “Mr. Caslon’s Roman letter and the names of the sizes -now in use,” the introductory note to which affords the first definite -notice of the younger Caslon in connection with the foundry. “The -art,” says Ames, “seems to be carried to its greatest perfection by -Mr. William Caslon, and his son, who, besides the type of all manner -of living languages now by him, has offered to perform the same for -the dead, that can be recovered, to the satisfaction of any gentleman -desirous of the same.” - -Another contemporary record of equal interest, which seems, moreover, -to allude to one or more of the three missing Specimens above -mentioned, is contained in a little essay on the _Original, Use, and -Excellency of Printing_, published in 1752[480]; in which the anonymous -writer, after dealing with the invention, remarks: “Altho’ the chief -honour is due to the Inventor, yet the perfection and beauty that -Printing is now arrived at is very much owing to them that came after. -Many in the present age have not a little contributed thereto. Among -whom I cannot but particularly mention Mr. William Caslon and his -Son, Letter Founders in Chiswell Street, who have very much by their -indefatigable labours promoted the honour of this Art, and who have -lately printed three broadsheet specimens of their curious types; one -of them consisting of all the common sorts of letter used in printing; -the second sheet is {243} divers sorts of their Orientals, Old-English, -and Saxon; and the third contains a great variety of curious Flowers -and Fancies for Ornamenting of Title Pages, Tickets, &c., also several -sorts of Titling letter of Roman, Old-English and Greek; and the whole, -for their master strokes and curious flourishes, outdo all that have -been cast in England, Holland or any other place before.” - -The above is one of many compliments paid to Caslon at this period by -his contemporaries. Smith, in his _Printer’s Grammar_ in 1755, goes -out of his way more than once to commend the founder by whose genius -“letter is now in England of such a beautiful cut and shape as it -never was before.” Baskerville, in a passage quoted elsewhere,[481] -frankly acknowledges him as the greatest master of the art. Ames and -Chambers, as has been noticed, vie with one another in proclaiming his -pre-eminence; Mores himself styles him the Coryphæus of modern letter -founders, and Lemoine awards him the title of the English Elzevir. - -In 1750 Mr. Caslon’s reputation was such that his Majesty George II. -placed him on the Commission of the Peace for Middlesex, which office -he sustained with honour to himself and advantage to the community till -the time of his death. - -In June of the same year, the _Universal Magazine_[482] contained -an Article on Letter Founding, extracted chiefly from Moxon, and -accompanied by a view of the interior of Caslon’s Foundry, containing -portraits of six of his workmen. The view (of which our frontispiece -is a reproduction) represents four casters at work, one rubber (Joseph -Jackson), one dresser (Thomas Cottrell), and three boys breaking -off, etc. Considering the extent of the business at the time, it may -be doubted whether this represents the entire working staff of the -establishment, or whether the view is of a portion only, in which, for -the convenience of the artist, the four processes of the manufacture -are assembled. The processes of punch-cutting and justifying were -conducted in private by the Caslons themselves; yet not, as history -shows, in such secrecy as to prevent their two apprentices, Cottrell -and Jackson, from observing and learning the manual operation of that -part of the “art and mystery.”[483] - -A movement among the workmen of the Foundry in 1757 for a higher -scale of wages, although decided in favour of the men, resulted in -the dismissal of the two ex-apprentices, who were supposed to have -been ringleaders in the {244} movement. With the experience acquired -during their term of service at Chiswell Street, both these men were -enabled to establish foundries of their own; and it is to the credit of -Cottrell’s good sense, if not of his good feeling, that he subsequently -supported his own claim to the patronage of the trade by announcing on -his specimens that he had “served his apprenticeship to William Caslon, -Esq.” - -The active part taken by the Second Caslon in the operations of the -Foundry may be best judged of by a reference to the Specimen Book -of 1764.[484] In this book the number of founts which originally -appeared on the broadside of 1734 is more than doubled,[485] most of -the additions (with the exception of those which had formed part of -Mitchell’s Foundry) being the handiwork of Caslon II. The following -advertisement appears on the last page:― - - “This new Foundery was begun in the year 1720, and finish’d 1763; - and will (with God’s leave) be carried on, improved and inlarged - by William Caslon and Son, Letter-Founders in London.—Soli Deo - Gloria.” - -Rowe Mores, whose prejudice against the Second Caslon is undisguised, -waxes facetious on the head of this innocent declaration,[486] although -he can find but little to blame in the Specimen itself, “in which,” he -says, “is nothing censurable but the silly notion and silly fondness -of multiplying bodies”—the Specimen showed a long-bodied English and a -large-face Long Primer and Bourgeois—“as if the intrinsic of a foundery -consisted in the numerosity of the heads!” Such animadversions, -however, leave untouched the younger Caslon’s reputation as an able and -successful typefounder, which was, indeed, so well established that -during the later years of his father’s life he appears to have had the -sole management of the business. - -Caslon I, having lived to see the result of his genius and industry -in the regeneration of the Art of Printing in England, retired, -universally respected, from the active management of the Foundry, and -took up his residence first in {245} a house opposite the Nag’s Head in -the Hackney Road, removing afterwards to Water Gruel Row, and finally -settling in what was then styled a country house at Bethnal Green, -where he resided till the time of his death. - -“Mr. Caslon,” says Nichols, “was universally esteemed as a first-rate -artist, a tender master, and an honest, friendly, and benevolent -man.”[487] The following anecdote, preserved by Sir John Hawkins in his -_History of Music_, gives a pleasing glimpse into his private life, and -shows that in his devotion to the severer arts the gentler were not -neglected. - -“Mr. Caslon,” says Sir John, “settled in Ironmonger Row, in Old Street; -and being a great lover of music, had frequent concerts at his house, -which were resorted to by many eminent masters. To these he used to -invite his friends and those of his old acquaintance, the companions of -his youth. He afterwards removed to a large house in Chiswell Street, -and had an organ in his concert room.[488] After that, he had stated -monthly concerts, which, for the convenience of his friends, and that -they might walk home in safety when the performance was over, were -on that Thursday in the month which was nearest the full moon; from -which circumstance his guests were wont humourously to call themselves -‘Luna-tics.’ In the intervals of the performance the guests refreshed -themselves at a sideboard, which was amply furnished; and when it was -over, sitting down to a bottle of wine, and a decanter of excellent -ale, of Mr. Caslon’s own brewing, they concluded the evening’s -entertainment with a song or two of Purcell’s sung to the harpsicord, -or a few catches; and, about twelve, retired.”[489] - -Mr. Caslon’s hospitalities were not confined to his musical friends -merely. His house was a resort of literary men of all classes, of whom -large parties frequently assembled to discuss interesting matters -relating to books and studies.[490] - -Mr. Caslon was thrice married. His second and third wives were named -respectively Longman and Waters, and each had a good fortune. By his -first wife he had two sons and a daughter: William, who succeeded him -at Chiswell {246} Street; Thomas, who became an eminent bookseller in -Stationers’ Hall Court, where he died in 1783, after having in the -previous year served the office of Master of the Stationers’ Company; -and Mary, who married first Mr. Shewell, one of the original partners -in Whitbread’s brewery, and afterwards Mr. Hanbey, an ironmonger of -large fortune. A brother of Mr. Caslon, named Samuel, is mentioned by -Rowe Mores, and appears to have served at Chiswell Street for a short -time as mould maker, leaving there subsequently, on some dispute, to -work in the same capacity for Mr. Anderton of Birmingham. - -Mr. Caslon died, much respected, at Bethnal Green, on Jan. 23rd, 1766, -aged 74, and was buried in the Churchyard of St. Luke’s, the parish -in which his three foundries were all situated. The monument to his -memory, kept in repair by bequest of his daughter, Mrs. Hanbey, is thus -briefly inscribed:― - - W. CASLON, Esq., ob. 23rd Jan., 1766, ætat 74. - -A life-size portrait of him by Kyte is preserved at Chiswell Street, -representing him holding in his hand the famous Specimen Sheet of 1734. - -William Caslon II issued in the year of his father’s death a Specimen -in small quarto, bearing his own name and containing the same founts -as those exhibited in the 1764 book.[491] This Specimen, consisting of -thirty-eight leaves, was again reprinted in 1770 by Luckombe in his -_History of Printing_,[492] of which work it occupies pages 134 to 173. - -[Illustration: 67. Long Primer Syriac, cut by Caslon II, _circa_ 1768. -(From the original matrices.)] - -About the year 1768 the Chiswell Street foundry was called upon to -supply a Syriac fount for the Oxford University Press, and Caslon -produced the Long Primer Syriac which occurs in his subsequent -specimens. He had previously supplied the University with a Long -Primer Hebrew, and the old ledgers of the foundry show that numerous -transactions of a similar kind took place during the latter half of -last century. - -In 1770, besides the specimen of Luckombe, another indirect specimen -of the Caslon types was issued by a Mr. Cornish, printer, in -Blackfriars, in a very {247} small form—32mo—exhibiting a series of -Romans, two founts of Black, and three pages of flowers. - -It was probably on the Specimen of 1766 that Rowe Mores founded -his summary of the contents of the Caslon foundry; and it will be -interesting to reproduce this list, as it presents a view of the state -of the foundry as it then existed, and, at the same time, distinguishes -the authors of the several founts with which it was supplied. - -Rowe Mores seizes the opportunity afforded by this enumeration for -another sneer at Caslon II. “This is the best account,” he says, “we -can give of this capital and beautiful foundery, the possessor of which -refused to answer the natural questions, because, forsooth, ‘answering -would be of no advantage to us; if we wanted letter to be cast, he -would cast it.’ But this we can do ourselves.”[493] - -The summary is as follows:― - - -“MR. CASLON’S FOUNDERY. - - ORIENTALS. - - _Hebrew._― - 2-line English. [Caslon I] - Double Pica. [Caslon II] - Great Primer. [Caslon II] - English. [Caslon I] - English open.[494] [Caslon I] - Pica. [Caslon II] - Long Primer.[495] [Caslon II] - Brevier. [Caslon II] - 2-line Great Primer. [Caslon II] - - _Samaritan._― - Pica. [Dummers] - - _Syriac._― - English. [Polyglot] - - _Arabic._― - English. [Caslon I] - - _Armenian._― - Pica. [Caslon I] - - MERIDIONALS. - - _Coptic._― - Pica. [Caslon I] - - _Ethiopic._― - Pica. [Caslon I] - - OCCIDENTALS. - - _Greek._― - Double Pica. [Caslon II] - Great Primer. [Caslon II] - English.[496] [Caslon II] - Pica.[497] [Head]-[Mitchell] - Long Primer. [Caslon I] - Brevier. [Caslon I] - Small Pica. [Caslon II] - Nonpareil. [Caslon II] - - _Etruscan._― - English. [Caslon I] - - _Roman and Italic._― - All the regulars. - - _Irregulars and Titlings._― - 5-line. [Caslon I] - 4-line.[496] [Caslon I] - Canon. [Moxon]-[Andrews] - 2-line Double Pica. [Caslon II] - 2-line Great Primer.[496] [Caslon I] - 2-line English.[496] [Caslon I] - 2-line Pica full-face. [Mitchell] {248} - - _Irregulars and Titlings._― - 2-line Pica. [Caslon II] - Paragon. [Caslon II] - Small Pica. [Caslon II] - Bourgeois. [Caslon II] - Minion. [Caslon II] - Nonpareil. [Caslon II] - Pearl.[498] [Caslon II] - - _Proscription._― - 20-line to 4-line.[499] [Caslon II] - - SEPTENTRIONALS. - - _Gothic._― - Pica. [Caslon I] - - _Anglo-Saxon._― - English. [Caslon II] - Pica.[500] [Caslon I] - - _Anglo-Saxon._― - Long Primer.[500] [Caslon I] - Brevier. [Caslon II] - - _English._― - Double Pica. [Caslon II] - Great Primer. [Caslon II] - English. [Head]-[Mitchell] - English Modern.[501] [Caslon II] - Pica.[501] [Caslon II] - Long Primer. [Caslon II] - Brevier. [Caslon I] - 2-line Great Primer. [Caslon II] - Small Pica.[502] [Caslon II] - - MUSIC.― - Round Head. [Caslon II] - - FLOWERS and the rest of the Apparatus. - -Caslon II died in 1778, aged 58, and was buried in the family vault at -St. Luke’s, the following line being added to his father’s inscription: - - Also W. Caslon, Esq. (son of the above) ob. 17 Aug., 1778, ætat. - 58 years. - -Of him, too, an excellent oil portrait is preserved at Chiswell -Street. He had married a Miss Elizabeth Cartlitch,[503] a lady of -beauty, understanding, and fortune, who, during the latter years of -her husband’s life, had taken an active share in the management of the -foundry. - -Mr. Caslon dying intestate, his property was divided equally -between his widow and her two sons, William and Henry, the chief -superintendence of the business devolving on William Caslon III, at -that time quite a young man. The chief event of the new _régime_ was -the issue of the admirable Specimen Book of 1785, a work which, for its -completeness and excellent execution, has received high approbation. -It consists of sixty sheets, twenty-one of which are devoted to Romans -and Italics, ten to “learned” letter[504] and Blacks, two to Music, -two to {249} Script, and no fewer than twenty-six to flowers arranged -in artistic combinations and designs. The volume is dedicated to King -George III, Mr. Caslon assuming the title allowed a century earlier to -Nicholas Nicholls, of “Letter Founder to His Majesty.” - -The “Address to the Public,” which prefaces this Specimen, naturally -lays claim on behalf of the Caslon Foundry to the merit of having -rescued the type trade in England from the hands of foreigners. But it -also suggests, by the somewhat acrid tone in which it refers to its -“opponents,” that the competition of the newly-established foundries -of Cottrell, Fry, Wilson, and Jackson was already beginning to tell on -the temper of the third of the Caslons, who evidently did not regard -as flattery the avowed imitation of the Caslon models by some of his -rivals.[505] - -The Specimen contains one new feature—a Double Pica Script—which, -however, is of no particular merit. - -The year 1785 was prolific in Specimens of the Chiswell Street foundry. -In addition to the book above referred to, two folio Specimens, one an -8 pp. large post-folio, and another a 6 pp. foolscap-folio, appeared, -intended for use as {250} inset plates to Encyclopædias,[506] in -which the principal founts of the foundry, Roman and Oriental, were -displayed. In addition to this, there was issued a 2 pp. folio Specimen -of large letter[507] showing the sand-cast types of the foundry in -sizes from 19 to 7-line Pica. - -In the preceding year Caslon III. had issued his specimen of -Cast Ornaments—the first of the kind exhibited by an English -Founder—displaying 65 designs of various size and merit at prices -ranging from 3d. to 7s. each. In his introductory note to the second -edition, dated July 20, 1786, he takes to himself the credit of an -invention “completed with infinite attention and at an inconceivable -expence,” whereby the trade is in future to be supplied with -typographic designs equal to copperplate and less costly than the -commonest wood-cuts. The process thus originated was that of sharply -impressing a wood block in cooling metal so as to form a lead matrix -from which to “dab” further impressions as required. The specimen of -1785 contained a few small ships of imposing appearance, but these were -produced by the usual method of punch and matrix. - -It does not appear that the third Caslon’s connexion with the business -resulted in any large addition to its founts. As, however, no specimen -book of the Foundry is known between 1786 and 1805, it is difficult to -judge of its progress during that period. - -In the year 1792 Mr. Caslon disposed of his interest in the Chiswell -Street business to his mother and sister-in-law. Henry Caslon had -died in 1788. He had married Miss Elizabeth Rowe, a lady of good -family,[508] between whom and their only son, Henry (at that time an -infant of two years), he left his share of the Foundry. - -“It will not appear extraordinary,” says Hansard, “that a property so -divided, and under the management of two ladies, though both superior -and indeed extraordinary women, should be unable to maintain its ground -triumphantly against the active competition which had for some time -existed against it. In fact, the fame of the first William Caslon -was peculiarly disadvantageous to Mrs. Caslon, as she never could be -persuaded that any attempt to rival him could possibly be successful.” - -Mrs. Caslon, sen., was an active member of the Association of -Typefounders {251} of her day, which first met in 1793. In this -capacity she gained the esteem of her fellow founders as well as of -the printers, and on one occasion formed one of a deputation of two to -confer with the latter on certain questions affecting the price of type. - -She died from the effects of a paralytic stroke in October 1795. - -The esteem in which she was held by all who knew her was amply -testified by numerous notices in the public prints of the day. “Her -merit and abilities,” says one, “in conducting a capital business -during the life of her husband and afterwards, till her son was capable -of managing it, can only be known to those who had dealings with the -manufactory. In quickness of understanding and activity of execution -she has left few equals among her sex.” And, in the same strain, the -_Freemason’s Magazine_ of March 1796, thus speaks of her: “The urbanity -of her manners, and her diligence and activity in the conduct of so -extensive a concern, attached to her interest all who had dealings with -her, and the steadiness of her friendship rendered her death highly -lamented by all who had the happiness of being in the extensive circle -of her acquaintance.” The latter notice is accompanied by a portrait of -this worthy lady. - -Mrs. Caslon’s will becoming the object of some litigation, her estate -was thrown into Chancery, and in March 1799, the Foundry was, by order -of the Court, put up for auction and purchased by Mrs. Henry Caslon for -£520. The smallness of this figure is the more remarkable since only -seven years previously, on the retirement of Caslon III., a third share -of the concern had sold for £3000. - -“On the decease of Mrs. Caslon,” writes Hansard, in 1825, “the -management of the Foundry devolved on Mrs. Henry Caslon, who, -possessing an excellent understanding, and being seconded by servants -of zeal and ability, was enabled, though suffering severely under -ill-health, in a great measure to retrieve its credit. Finding the -renown of William Caslon no longer efficacious in securing the sale -of his types, she resolved to have new founts cut. She commenced the -work of renovation with a new Canon, Double Pica and Pica, having the -good fortune to secure the services of Mr. John Isaac Drury, a very -able engraver, since deceased. The Pica, an improvement on the style of -Bodoni,[509] was particularly admired, and had a most extensive sale. -Finding {252} herself, however, from the impaired state of her health, -which suffered from pulmonary attacks, unable to sustain the exertions -required in conducting so extensive a concern, she resolved, after the -purchase of the Foundry, to take as an active partner Mr. Nathaniel -Catherwood, (a distant relation), who by his energy and knowledge of -business fully equalled her expectations. This connection gave a new -impetus to the improvements of the Foundry, which did not cease during -the lives of the partners, and their exertions were duly appreciated -and encouraged by the printers. In 1808 the character of the Foundry -may be considered as completely retrieved, but the proprietors did not -long live to enjoy their well-merited success. In 1799, Mrs. Henry -Caslon had married Mr. Strong, a medical gentleman, who died in 1802. -In the spring of 1808 she was afflicted with a serious renewal of her -pulmonary attack, in consequence of which she was advised to try the -effect of the air of Bristol Hotwells, which probably protracted her -life during a twelvemonth of extreme suffering, but could not eradicate -the fatal disease. Her fortitude and resignation under this long -continued, and helpless affliction could not be surpassed, and were -truly admirable. Her sufferings were terminated in March 1809, when -she was buried in the Cathedral of Bristol. The worthy and active Mr. -Nathaniel Catherwood did not long survive his associate, being seized -with a typhus fever which baffled the medical art. He died on the 6th -of June, ætat. 45, very generally regretted.”[510] A portrait of Mrs. -Strong is preserved at Chiswell Street. - -In 1805 was published the first Specimen containing the new Romans of -Messrs. Caslon and Catherwood, among which, however, the Canon and -Double Pica referred to by Hansard are not included. The dates affixed -to the various specimens[511] show that most of them were completed -between 1802 and 1805, the {253} earliest being the Great Primer, -dated May 1802. The Specimen also contained the Caslon Orientals. In -1808 a further Specimen of the Romans, including a few additional -founts, appeared as a supplement to Stower’s _Printers’ Grammar_.[512] - -These two Specimens, which are the only ones known to have been issued -during twenty-three years, indicate clearly the important revolution -through which the Chiswell Street Foundry, in common with all the -other foundries of the day, had passed in respect of the model of -its characters. All the once admired founts of the originator of the -Foundry have been discarded, and between the Specimen of 1785 and that -of 1808 there is absolutely no feature in common.[513] - -On the death of his mother and her partner, Henry Caslon II assumed the -management of the business, and fully maintained its reputation. The -former name of the firm was retained, and a fresh specimen of Roman -letters and modern Blacks was issued about the year 1812. - -In 1814 Mr. Caslon took into partnership Mr. John James -Catherwood,[514] brother to Mr. Nathaniel Catherwood, and in this -association proceeded vigorously with the improvement of the foundry. -The partnership continued until 1821, during which period, says -Hansard, “the additions and varieties made to the stock of the Foundry -have been immense. Nothing that perseverance in labour and unsparing -effort could effect, either to meet the fashion and evanescent whim -of the day, or with the superior view of permanent improvement, has -been wanted to keep the concern up to its long-established eminence, -and to enable it to rank high among the many able competitors of the -present age. The ancient stock can never be equalled—the modern never -excelled.”[515] - -Among the more important accessions to the stock of the Foundry -may {254} be mentioned the acquisition in 1817 of the Foundry of -Mr. William Martin of Duke Street, St. James’s, which, as elsewhere -stated,[516] included several good Roman and Oriental letters. - -The partnership between Mr. Caslon and Mr. Catherwood being dissolved -in 1821 by the withdrawal of the latter,[517] Mr. Caslon admitted to -a share of the business Mr. Martin William Livermore, “who for many -years,” says Hansard, “had evinced ample talent, indefatigable zeal, -and obliging attention, as active foreman and manager of the mechanical -department.” - -It is to be regretted that the absence of any specimen book between -1812 and 1830, prevents us from forming any accurate idea of the -development of the Foundry during that period. It may be interesting, -however, to quote the list given by Hansard, of matrices of the -“learned” languages in the Foundry at the time when he wrote, _i.e._ -1825: - - _Arabic._― - English. - - _Armenian._― - Pica. - - _Coptic._― - Pica. - - _Ethiopic._― - Pica. - - _Etruscan._― - Pica. - - _German._― - Pica, Long Primer, Brevier. - - _Greek._― - Double Pica,[518] Great Primer,[518] English, Pica, Small Pica, Long - Primer, Bourgeois, Brevier, Nonpareil, Pearl, Diamond.[519] - - _Gothic._― - Pica. - - _Persian._― - English. - - _Hebrew._― - Two-line Great Primer, Two-line English, Double Pica, Great - Primer; ditto, with points; English; ditto, with points; Pica; - ditto, with points; Small Pica, Long Primer, Bourgeois, Brevier. - - _Samaritan._― - Pica. - - _Sanscrit._― - English.[520] - - _Saxon._― - English, Pica, Long Primer, Brevier. - -_Syriac._― - English (_Polyglot_) Long Primer. - - _Music._― - Large, Small. - - _Black._― - Two-line Great Primer, Double Pica, Great Primer, English, Pica, - Small Pica, Long Primer, Brevier, Nonpareil. - -Messrs. Caslon and Livermore issued specimens in 1830 and 1834, the -latter appearing exactly one hundred years after the first broadside -published by William Caslon I. - -We do not propose to continue the particular history of this venerable -Foundry beyond this date. It may, however, be interesting to take a -rapid survey of its subsequent career. {255} - -Numerous specimens followed the issue of 1834, that of 1839 bearing -the title of Caslon, Son, and Livermore, Letter-founders to Her -Majesty’s Board of Excise—the new partner being Mr. Caslon’s son, the -late Mr. Henry William Caslon. Shortly afterwards, Mr. Livermore’s -connexion with the business ceased, and the next few specimens bear the -name of Henry Caslon alone. - -In 1843 a revival of the Caslon old-style letter took place under the -following circumstances, which, as they initiated a new fashion in -the trade generally, call for reference here. In the year 1843, Mr. -Whittingham of the Chiswick press, waited upon Mr. Caslon to ask his -aid in carrying out the then new idea of printing in appropriate type -_The Diary of Lady Willoughby_,[521] a work of fiction, the period and -diction of which were supposed to be of the reign of Charles I. The -original matrices of the first William Caslon having been fortunately -preserved, Mr. Caslon undertook to supply a small fount of Great -Primer. So well was Mr. Whittingham satisfied with the result of his -experiment, that he determined on printing other volumes in the same -style, and eventually he was supplied with the complete series of -all the old founts. Then followed a demand for old faces, which has -continued up to the present time. - -An attempt to sell the Foundry in 1846,[522] not being successful, the -business, again took the style of Caslon and Son. - -Mr. Henry Caslon died May 28, 1850, and in the same year the important -step was taken of uniting the London Branch of the Glasgow Letter -Foundry with that of Chiswell Street, which was now carried on under -the style of H. W. Caslon and Co., Mr. Alexander Wilson, of the Glasgow -Foundry, being for some time associated with Mr. H. W. Caslon in the -management. - -In 1873, Mr. Caslon, being in ill health, retired, and died in the -following year. He was the last of his race, and the Chiswell Street -Foundry, after an uninterrupted dynasty of five generations, covering -a period of nearly 160 years, was by his death left without a Caslon -to represent it. The management of the business devolved on Mr. T. W. -Smith, in whose hands it has since remained. {256} - - -LIST OF SPECIMENS OF THE CASLON FOUNDRY, 1734–1830. - - 1734. A Specimen by William Caslon, Letter-founder in Chiswell - Street, London. 1734. Large post broadside. . . . . (Caslon.) - - 1738. A Specimen by William Caslon, Letter-founder in Chiswell - Street, London. Large post broadside. . . . . (Chambers’ _Cycl._, - 1738.) - - 1742. A Specimen by Caslon and Son, (referred to by Nichols, _Lit. - Anec._, ii, 365). . . . . (_Lost._) - - 1748. A Specimen by Caslon and Son (referred to by Nichols, _Lit. - Anec._, ii, 721). . . . . (_Lost._) - - 1749. A Specimen by William Caslon and Son, Letter-founders in - Chiswell Street, London. 1749. Large Broadside. . . . . (Sohmian - Coll., Stockholm.) - - 1749. A Specimen of Mr. Caslon’s Roman Letter, and the names of - the sizes now in use. . . . . (Ames’ _Typ. Antiq._, p. 571.) - - 1763. A Specimen of Printing Types by William Caslon and Son. - Printed by Dryden Leach, London, 1763, 8vo. . . . . (Amer. Antiq. - Soc.) - - 1764. A Specimen of Printing Types by William Caslon and Son. - Printed by Dryden Leach. London, 1764. 4to and 8vo. . . . . (T. B. - R.) - - 1766. A Specimen of Printing Types by William Caslon, - Letter-founder, London. Printed by John Towers. 1766. Small 4to. - . . . . (B.M. T, 320, [11].) - - 1770. A Specimen of Printing Types by William Caslon, - Letter-founder, London. 8vo. . . . . (Luckombe’s _History of - Printing_, pp. 134–147.) - - 1770. A Specimen of Printing Types cast by Wiliam Caslon for the - use of John Dixcey Cornish, at Number 4, in Printing-House-Yard, - Blackfriars, London. 1770. 32mo. . . . . (Caslon.) - - 1784. A Specimen of Cast Ornaments on a new plan by William Caslon - and Son. London. 1784. 8vo. . . . . (Sohmian Coll., Stockholm.) - - 1785. A Specimen of Printing Types by William Caslon, - Letter-founder to His Majesty. London. Printed by Galabin and - Baker, 1785. 8vo. . . . . (B.M. 441, f. 14.) - - 1785. A Specimen of Large letter by William Caslon, London, 1785. - Two sheets folio. . . . . (B.M. 441, f. 14.) - - 1785. A Specimen of Printing Types by William Caslon, - Letter-founder to His Majesty, 1785. Folio, 8 pp. . . . . - (Chambers’ _Cycl._, 1784–6.) - - 1786. A Specimen of Cast Ornaments on a new plan by William - Caslon, Letter-founder to His Majesty. London. Printed by J. W. - Galabin, 1786. 8vo. . . . . (B.M. 668, g. 17, [2].) - - 1805. Specimen of Printing Types by Caslon and Catherwood, - Letter-founders, Chiswell Street, London. T. Bensley, printer, - London. 1805. 8vo. . . . . (Ox. Univ. Pr.) - - 1808. A Specimen of Caslon and Catherwood’s modern-cut Printing - Types. London, 1808. 8vo. . . . . (Stower’s _Printers’ Grammar_.) - - n. d. Specimen of Printing Types by Caslon and Catherwood, - Chiswell Street, London. T. Bensley, printer, London. 1812? 8vo. - . . . . (Caslon.) - - 1830. Specimen of Printing Types by Caslon and Livermore, - Letter-founders, Chiswell Street, London. Bensley, Printer, 1830. - 8vo. . . . . (Caxt. Cel. 4411.) - -[Illustration] - -{257} - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -ALEXANDER WILSON, 1742. - - -In the early years of the 18th century, printing in Scotland was in -a condition even more depressed and unsatisfactory than in England. -Except in Glasgow and Edinburgh the art was almost wholly neglected; -and in those two cities the disadvantages at which printers were -placed, owing partly to restrictive patents and monopolies, partly -to jealousies among themselves, but chiefly to the absence of any -letter-foundry in their own country, were sufficient bar to all -prosperity, either as an industry or an art. - -A graphic sketch of this lamentable state of affairs is given in James -Watson’s _History of Printing_, published in Edinburgh in 1713,[523] -a work which, while professing to give a general history of the -art, derives its chief interest from the brief account of printing -in Scotland given in the preface. That the art was derived in that -country from Holland the author entertains no doubt, {258} and that -it was indebted for its maintenance and any measure of excellence it -might claim to the same foreign source, he boldly asserts. It was the -intervention of Dutch workmen that mainly contributed to relieve the -deadlock into which the monopolies and patents of the 17th century had -brought the trade generally, and it was only by a continuous supply of -Dutch workmen, Dutch presses, and Dutch type that printing in Scotland -was to be raised from its present low condition. And, as a crowning -argument, he exhibits with some pride a selection of indifferent -Dutch types and “Bloomers,” with which his own office is provided, -as a suggestion of the excellence to which Scotch Typography might -yet attain.[524] This avowal of entire dependence on foreign labour -and workmanship is significant; and the absence of any suggestion for -remedying the evil by the establishment of a foundry in Scotland itself -only emphasises the helpless condition into which the art had sunk. - -But although such a notion was too wild a dream for James Watson, -others of his countrymen were bold enough to entertain it, and we find -that in 1725 a Scotch printer clearly represented to William Ged the -disadvantage under which the country laboured from having no foundry -nearer than London or Holland, and urged him to undertake the business. -Of Ged’s career we have spoken elsewhere.[525] He failed, and Scotch -typography, despite the rising fame of Caslon, might have remained many -years longer in its depressed condition, but for the accident which -directed the genius of Alexander Wilson to letter-founding. - -Born at St. Andrews in 1714, young Wilson was originally intended for -the medical profession, and it was with a view to push his fortunes in -that direction that he came up to London in 1737 and took employment -as assistant to a surgeon and apothecary in the great city. While -thus engaged he obtained an introduction to Dr. Stewart, physician -to Lord Isla, afterwards Duke of Argyle, and in this way came under -the notice of his lordship. A common interest in scientific pursuits, -particularly astronomy, served to interest Lord Isla in the young -doctor’s assistant, and during the term of his service in London Wilson -devoted much of his leisure to scientific study under the encouragement -and favour of his new patron. - -[Illustration: 68. From _Hansard_.] - -Of his first introduction to typography, we quote the following account -given by Hansard on the authority of Alexander Wilson’s son and -grandson:[526]― {259} - - “While he was thus passing his time in a manner which he - considered comfortable for one at his first entrance upon the - world, a circumstance accidentally occurred which gave a new - direction to his genius, and which in the end led to an entire - change of his profession. This was a chance visit made one day - to a letter-foundry with a friend, who wanted to purchase some - printing types. Having seen the implements and common operations - of the workmen usually shown to strangers, he was much captivated - by the curious contrivances made use of in prosecuting that art. - Shortly afterwards, when reflecting upon what had been shown - him in the letter-foundry, he was led to imagine that a certain - great improvement in the process might be effected; and of a - kind too, that, if successfully accomplished, promised to reward - the inventor with considerable emolument. He presently imparted - his idea on the subject to a friend named Baine, who had also - come from St. Andrews, and who possessed a considerable share of - ingenuity, constancy and enterprise. The consequence of this was, - the resolution of both these young adventurers to relinquish, as - soon as it could be done with propriety, all other pursuits, and - to unite their exertions in prosecuting the business of Letter - Founding, according to the plan which had been contemplated with a - view to improvements. After some further deliberation, Mr. Wilson - waited upon his patron, Lord Isla, to whom he communicated his - views, and the design of embarking in this new scheme; and derived - much satisfaction from his Lordship’s entire approbation and best - wishes for his success. - - “Mr. Wilson and Mr. Baine then became partners in the project, and - having taken convenient apartments, applied with great assiduity - to the different preparatory steps of the business. At an early - stage they had proofs of difficulties to an extent which had not - been anticipated, and which, had their magnitude been foreseen, - would probably have altogether deterred them from their attempt. - But although they found their task grow more and more arduous as - their experience improved, it may yet be mentioned, as a fact - which bespeaks singular probity of mind, that they never once - attempted to gain any insight whatever through the means of - workmen employed in any of the London foundries, some of whom they - understood could have proved of considerable service to them.” - -Of the precise nature of the improved system of founding by which -the two young Scotchmen proposed to prosecute their undertaking, the -narrative given by Mr. Hansard affords no information. It has been -suggested by some that it was no other than that of stereotyping -by a method similar to, or better than, that attempted a few years -earlier by Ged. But whatever it may have been, further experiment -failed to justify the scheme as one of practical utility, and the two -partners, who had by this time quitted the metropolis and returned to -{260} St. Andrews, determined to abandon it and to fall back on the -ordinary method of manufacturing type. “In their attempt to prosecute -this speculation,” continues Mr. Hansard, still quoting the narrative -furnished him by Dr. Wilson’s successors, “they found themselves in a -more sure, though still in a difficult track, and in which they had -no guide whatever but their own talent of invention and mechanical -ability; and it was by the aid of these that they carried things -forward until, at length, they were enabled to cast a few founts of -Roman and Italic characters: after which they hired some workmen, whom -they instructed in the necessary operations, and at last opened their -infant letter-foundry at St. Andrews in the year 1742.” - -The Scotch printers were not slow in showing their appreciation of -the convenience afforded them by the establishment of a foundry in -their midst, and from the first Messrs. Wilson and Baine appear to -have received liberal encouragement in their new venture. They added -steadily to the variety of their founts, and finding the demand for -their type on the increase, not only in Scotland, but in Ireland and -North America, they decided in 1744 to remove from St. Andrews to a -more convenient centre at Camlachie, a small village a mile eastward of -Glasgow. - -In 1747 the claims of their Irish business necessitated the residence -of one of the partners in Dublin.[527] Mr. Baine was selected by lot -for the duty, and accordingly departed for Ireland, leaving Mr. Wilson -at Camlachie. Two years later the partnership was dissolved by mutual -consent, and Mr. Baine quitted the business to make an independent -venture in type founding.[528] {261} - -Left to himself, Mr. Wilson actively prosecuted his business, and -although no specimen of the foundry is known to exist, either during -the partnership between Wilson and Baine, or, indeed, during the entire -period of its location at Camlachie, its productions very shortly -attained some considerable celebrity. - -“During his residence at Camlachie,” says Mr. Hansard, “Mr. Wilson had -contracted habits of intimacy and friendship with some of the most -respectable inhabitants and eminent characters in that quarter, among -whom may be particularly reckoned the professors of the University -of Glasgow and Messrs. Robert and Andrew Foulis, the University -printers.[529] The growing reputation of the University Press, -conducted by these latter gentlemen, afforded more and more scope to -Mr. Wilson to exercise his abilities in supplying their types; and -being now left entirely to his own judgment and taste, his talents as -an artist in the line to which he had become devoted became every year -more conspicuous.” - -“When the design was formed by the gentlemen of the University, -together with the Messrs. Foulis, to print splendid editions of the -Greek classics, Mr. Wilson with great alacrity undertook to execute -new types, after a model highly approved. This he accomplished, at -an expense of time and labour which could not be recompensed by -any profits arising from the sale of the types themselves. Such -disinterested zeal for the honour of the University Press was, however, -upon this occasion, so well understood as to induce the University, in -the preface to their folio _Homer_,[530] to mention Mr. Wilson in terms -as honourable to him as they had been justly merited.” - -Of this magnificent work—one of the finest monuments of Greek -typography {262} which our nation possesses—it is sufficient to say -that if the reputation of Alexander Wilson depended on no other -performance, it alone would give him a lasting title to the distinction -accorded to him in the preface, of “egregius ille typorum artifex.”[531] - -[Illustration: 69. Double Pica Greek, cut by Alex. Wilson, 1756. (From -the Glasgow _Homer_ (Foulis) 1756–8.)] - -In 1760 Mr. Wilson was honoured with the appointment of the Practical -Astronomy Professorship in the University of Glasgow, about two years -after which the foundry was removed to the more immediate vicinity -of the college. After this appointment the further enlargement and -improvement of the foundry {263} devolved upon his two eldest sons; -and he lived to witness its rise under their management to the highest -reputation. - -Among the later performances of Dr. Wilson, the most important was -the beautiful fount of Double Pica cut in 1768 for the 4to edition of -_Gray’s Poems_[532] published by the Brothers Foulis, who in their -preface made public acknowledgment of the excellence of the letter and -the expedition with which it had been provided.[533] - -Another high compliment was paid to Dr. Wilson’s talents in 1775, -when Dr. Harwood, in the preface to his _View of the Greek and Roman -Classics_,[534] singled out, along with Baskerville’s types, the -“Glasgow Greek types which have not been used since the superb edition -of _Homer_ in 1757, and which are the most beautiful that modern times -have produced,” as fit to form the nucleus of a Royal typography for -England, dedicated to the improvement of the “noblest art which human -genius ever invented.”[535] - -The first known specimen of the Glasgow Letter Foundry, as it was -now called, was published in 1772. It is at least remarkable that no -specimen of its types should have been issued during the first thirty -years of its successful career. But although Rowe Mores mentions with -approval a sheet by Baine, he had apparently seen none bearing the name -of Wilson. - -The specimen of 1772, which dated from the College of Glasgow, -consisted of twenty-four 8vo leaves, and showed Roman and Italic only, -in sizes from 5-line to Pearl, there being several faces to most of the -bodies. Certain of these, it is stated, are “conformable to the London -types”; and the enterprising proprietors undertake “to cast to any body -and range, on receiving a few pattern types.” - -In 1783, another specimen was issued in a broadside form, in four -columns, and is usually to be met with in copies of Ephraim Chambers’ -_Cyclopædia_, enlarged by Rees, where it is inserted to illustrate -the article “Printing.” {264} It shows Roman and Italic from 6-line -to Pearl, with five sizes of Black, six of Hebrew, and five of Greek, -including the famous “Glasgow Homer” Double Pica.[536] The general -appearance of the sheet is good, and the founts compare favourably in -shape and finish with those of any other foundry of the day. A note -to the specimen intimates that the founts shown form a portion only -of the contents of the Foundry. A full specimen appeared in 1786, and -again in 1789, the latter being a small 4to volume of 50 pages, showing -very considerable advance on its predecessors.[537] A further specimen -appeared in 1815, showing the modern cut letters of the Foundry. - -With almost a monopoly of the Scotch and Irish[538] trade, the Glasgow -Foundry became in course of time a formidable rival to the London -houses, whose productions it contrived to undersell even in the English -market. Its success, however, raised up competitors with itself in -Scotland, foremost among which was the foundry of Mr. Miller, a former -manager in the Glasgow Foundry. - -In 1825 the proprietors of the Foundry were Messrs. Andrew and -Alexander Wilson, son and grandson to the originator. Hansard -summarises their foreign and learned founts at this date as follows: - - _Greek._― - Double Pica (_Glasgow Homer_), Great Primer, English, Pica, Small - Pica, Long Primer (“Elzevir”), Brevier, Nonpareil. - - _Hebrew._― - 2-line English, Double Pica, Great Primer, English,[539] Pica, Small - Pica, Long Primer, Brevier, Minion, Nonpareil. - - _Saxon._― - English, Pica, Small Pica, Long Primer, Brevier. - - _Black._― - 2-line Great Primer, Double Pica, Great Primer, English, Pica, - Long Primer, Brevier, Nonpareil. - -In 1828 another complete specimen appeared, showing the new series of -Romans from Double Pica to Diamond, Greek, and fifteen pages of flowers. - -Mr. Andrew Wilson dying in 1830, the management of the business -devolved on his sons Alexander and Patrick, by whom it was decided, in -1832, to establish a branch house in Edinburgh. {265} - -A handsome 4to specimen of the Roman letter of the Foundry was -published in 1833. This volume is interesting as being one of the -first to show the letter not only in the venerable “Quousque tandem” -paragraph, but also in an English garb.[540] It includes also five -pages of Greek, in which the Double Pica “Homer” is still prominent, -and two pages of Hebrew, but no other orientals. - -In 1834 the important step was taken of transferring the Glasgow -Foundry to London, where, in premises at New Street, Gough Square, the -business was carried on.[541] - -Briefly to trace the later vicissitudes of the Foundry we may add that, -about 1834, a further development of the business was completed by the -establishment of a Foundry at Two-Waters in Hertfordshire, where it was -expected the cost of production would be considerably reduced by the -cheaper labour attainable in the country. A strike occurring in 1837 -among the London workmen, the Gough Square House was closed. In 1840 -another branch was established at Dublin. Despite the activity of Mr. -Alex. Wilson and the continued excellence of his types, the business -declined. The latter years of his management were spent in fruitless -endeavours to supersede the old method of handcasting by machinery. The -various experiments made, however, (one of which was by the present Sir -Henry Bessemer, whose father[542] had been a type-founder) failed, and -tended further to diminish Mr. Wilson’s resources, until in 1845 be -became bankrupt. - -The London and Two-Waters Foundries being offered for sale by auction, -the principal part of the matrices were purchased by the proprietors of -the Caslon Foundry in 1850, Mr. Wilson remaining for some time with Mr. -Caslon as joint manager. - -The Edinburgh branch of the business, started in 1832, had continued -for {266} some time with Mr. Duncan Sinclair as managing partner. But -on the latter withdrawing from the concern and establishing himself as -an independent founder at Whiteford House, Edinburgh, about 1839, the -management was entrusted to Mr. John Gallie. - -On the breaking up of the business, the plant of the Edinburgh and -Dublin branches was acquired by Dr. James Marr, who, in association -with Mr. Gallie, carried on the business under the firm of Marr, -Gallie, and Co. In 1853 it was James Marr and Co., with branches in -London, Edinburgh, and Dublin. Dr. James Marr died in 1866, from which -time till 1874, the business was carried on by his widow, with Mr. John -Blair as manager. In 1874 it was converted into a Limited Company under -the title of the Marr Typefounding Company, Limited, who removed the -business from the old premises in New Street, Edinburgh, to Whiteford -House, where it is still carried on. - -Mr. Duncan Sinclair, between whose specimens and those of the Wilson -Foundry there was an obvious similarity, continued for some years at -Whiteford House, where his son, formerly manager at the Two-Waters -branch of the Glasgow Foundry, subsequently joined him. They published -specimens in 1840, 1842, and 1846 (which latter included a fount of -“Gem”). In 1861 the Whiteford House Foundry was in the hands of John -Milne and Co., who published a quarto specimen. In 1870 the contents -of this foundry were dispersed at public auction, and the premises, as -already stated, were shortly afterwards taken by the Marr Typefounding -Company. - - -SPECIMEN BOOKS, 1783–1834. - - 1772. A Specimen of some of the Printing Types cast in the - Foundery of Dr. A. Wilson and Sons, College of Glasgow (Glasgow,) - 1772. 8vo, 24 leaves. . . . . (B.M., B. 722, 8.) - - 1783. A Specimen of Printing Types . . The above are some of the - sizes cast in the Letter Foundery of Dr. Alex. Wilson and Sons, - Glasgow. 1783. Broadside. . . . . (Chambers’ _Cyclopædia_, 1784–6.) - - 1786. A Specimen of Printing Types cast in the Letter Foundry of - Alex. Wilson and Sons, Glasgow, 1786. 8vo. . . . . (Ox. Univ. Pr.) - - 1789. A Specimen of Printing Types cast in the Letter Foundry of - Alex. Wilson and Sons, Glasgow, 1789. Small 4to. . . . . (Caslon.) - - 1812. A Specimen of Modern Cut Printing Types by Alex. Wilson and - Sons, Letter Founders, Glasgow, 1812. 4to. . . . . (Caslon.) - - 1815. A Specimen of Modern Cut Printing Types by Alex. Wilson and - Sons, Letter Founders, Glasgow, 1815. 4to. . . . . (Caslon.) - - 1823. A Specimen of Modern Printing Types by Alex. Wilson and - Sons, Glasgow, 1823. 4to. . . . . (Caxt. Cel. 4402.) {267} - - 1828. A Specimen of Modern Printing Types by Alex. Wilson and - Sons, Letter Founders, Glasgow, 1828. 4to. . . . . (Ox. Univ. Pr.) - - 1833. A Specimen of Modern Printing Types cast at the Letter - Foundry of Alex. Wilson and Sons, Glasgow, 1833. 4to. . . . . (T. - B. R.) - - 1833. A Specimen of Modern Printing Types cast at the Letter - Foundry of Wilsons and Sinclair, New Street, Edinburgh, 1833. 4to. - . . . . (Ox. Univ. Pr.) - - 1834. A Selection from the Specimen Book of Alex. Wilson and Sons, - Glasgow Letter Foundry, Great New Street, Gough Square, London, - 1834. 4to. . . . . (Caslon.) - -[Illustration] - -{268} - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -JOHN BASKERVILLE, 1752. - - -JOHN BASKERVILLE was Born at Wolverley, in The county of -Worcestershire, in the year 1706. He began life as a footman to -a clergyman, and at the age of twenty became a writing-master in -Birmingham. This occupation he appears to have supplemented by, or -exchanged for, that of engraving inscriptions on tombstones and -memorials; a profession in which he is said to have shown much -talent.[543] In 1737 he was still engaged in teaching writing at a -school in the Bull-Ring, Birmingham, and is said to have written an -excellent hand. His artistic tastes led him afterwards to enter into -the japanning business, in which he prospered and became possessed of -considerable property. He purchased an estate on the outskirts of the -town, to which he gave the name of Easy Hill; and here built a handsome -house, in which he carried on his business, and lived in considerable -style.[544] - -[Illustration: 70. From _Hansard_.] - -About the year 1750 his inclination for letters induced him to turn -his {269} attention to typography, and to add to his business of a -japanner that of a printer.[545] - -The condition of printing in England at this period was still anything -but satisfactory. Fine printing was an art unknown; and although -under the influence of Caslon’s genius the press was recovering from -the reproach under which it lay at the beginning of the century, -England was still very far behind her neighbours both in typographical -enterprise and achievement. Once more it was left to an outsider to -initiate the new departure; and as in 1720 the art of letter-founding -had been roused from its lethargy by the genius of a gunsmith’s -apprentice, so in 1750 the art of printing was destined to find its -deliverer in the person of an eccentric Birmingham japanner. Whatever -may be the judgment of posterity as to the merits of Baskerville’s -performances, to him is undoubtedly due the honour of the first real -stride towards a higher level of national typography; an example which -became the incentive to that outburst of enthusiasm—that “matrix and -puncheon mania,” as Dibdin terms it—which brought forth the series of -splendid typographical productions with which the eighteenth century -closed and the nineteenth opened. - -Baskerville’s first essay in his new enterprise was deliberate, and -gave ample proof of the enthusiasm of the man. Six years elapsed -before any work issued from his press. During that period he is said -to have sunk upwards of £600[546] in the effort to produce a type -sufficiently perfect to satisfy his fastidious taste. He engaged the -best punch-cutters that could be had,[547] in addition to which he made -his own moulds, chases, ink, presses, and, indeed, almost the entire -apparatus of the art. - -The following extracts from letters in the possession of Mr. S. -Timmins, to whose industrious researches the student of typography is -indebted for much new light on the history of Baskerville’s career, -and to whose courtesy we are indebted for the present opportunity -of placing them before our readers, will {270} best describe the -marvellous industry and enthusiasm which carried our printer to the -successful issue of his great enterprise. The letters form part of -a correspondence between Baskerville and his friend R. Dodsley, the -publisher, respecting the preparations for his earliest printing -venture:― - - _Baskerville to R. Dodsley._ 2nd October 1752. - - “To remove in some measure your impatience, I have sent you an - impression of fourteen punches of the Two-lines Great Primer, - which have been begun and finished in nine days only, and contain - all the letters Roman necessary in the Titles and Half-titles. I - cannot forbear saying they please me, as I can make nothing more - correct, nor shall you see anything of mine much less so. You’ll - observe they strike the eye much more sensibly than the smaller - characters, tho’ equally perfect, till the press shows them to - more advantage. The press is creeping slowly towards perfection. - I flatter myself with being able to print nearly as good a colour - and smooth a stroke as the enclosed. I should esteem it a favour - if you’d send me the Initial Letters of all the Cantos lest they - should not be included in the said fourteen, and three or four - pages of any part of the Poem from whence to form a Bill for the - casting a suitable number of each letter. The R wants a few slight - touches, and the Y half an hour’s correction. This day we have - resolutely set about thirteen of the same siz’d Italic Capitals, - which will not be at all inferior to the Roman, and I doubt not to - complete them in a fortnight. You need, therefore, be in no pain - about our being ready by the time appointed. Our best respects to - Mrs. Dodsley and our friend, Mr. Beckett.” - - _Baskerville to R. Dodsley._ 19th October 1752. - - “As I proposed in my last, I have sent you impressions from a - candle of twenty Two-lines Great Primer Italick, which were begun - and finished in ten days only. We are now about the figures, - which are in good forwardness, and changing a few of those - letters we concluded finished. My next care will be to strike the - punches into copper and justify them with all the care and skill - I am master of. You may depend on my being ready by your time - (Christmas), but if more time could be allowed, I should make - use of it all in correcting and justifying. So much depends on - appearing perfect on first starting . . .” - - _Baskerville to R. Dodsley._ 16th January 1754. - - “I have put the last hand to my Great Primer, and have corrected - fourteen letters in the specimen you were so kind to approve, and - have made a good progress in the English, and have formed a new - alphabet of Two-line Double Pica and Two-line Small Pica capitals - for Titles, not one of which I can mend with a wish, as they come - up to the most perfect idea I have of letters.” - -He then details his scheme for obtaining absolutely correct texts of -the works he is about to print, as follows:― - - “ ’Tis this. Two people must be concerned; the one must name - every letter, capital, point, reference, accent, etc., that is, - in English, must spell every part of every word distinctly, and - note down every difference in a book prepared on purpose. Pray - oblige me in making the experiment with Mr. James Dodsley in four - or five lines of {271} any two editions of an author, and you’ll - be convinced that it’s scarcely possible for the least difference, - even of a point, to escape notice. I would recommend and practise - the same method in an English author, where most people imagine - themselves capable of correcting. Here’s another great advantage - to me in this humble scheme; at the same time that a proof sheet - is correcting, I shall find out the least imperfection in any of - the Types that has escaped the founder’s notice. I have great - encomiums on my Specimen from Scotland.” - -The concluding sentence of this letter probably refers to the public -announcement of the forthcoming quarto _Virgil_,[548] put forward about -this time, together with a specimen of the type. This most interesting -document, a very few copies of which still exist, is in the form of a -quarto sheet, headed, “_A Specimen by John Baskerville, of Birmingham, -in the County of Warwick, Letter Founder and Printer_.” It displays the -Roman and Italic of the Great Primer fount, and is remarkable not only -as a piece of exquisite printing,[549] but as the first known specimen -of the famous Birmingham foundry. - -The following letters refer principally to the progress and completion -of the _Virgil_:― - - _Baskerville to R. Dodsley._ Birmingham, 20th December 1756. - - “I shall have _Virgil_ out of the press by the latter end of - January, and hope to produce the Volume as smooth as the best - paper I have sent you. Pray, will it not be proper to advertize - how near it is finishing, and beg the gentlemen who intend - favouring me with their names, to send them by that time? When - this is done, I can print nothing at home but another Classick - (a specimen of which will be given with it) which I cannot - forbear thinking a grievous hardship after the infinite pains and - great expense I have been at. I have almost a mind to print a - pocket Classick in one size larger than the old Elzevirs, as the - difference will, on comparison, be obvious to every Scholar; nor - should I be very sollicitous whether it paid me or not.” - - _R. Dodsley to Baskerville._ 10th February 1757. - - “The account you give me of the _Virgil_ pleases me much, and I - hope you will in that have all the success your heart can wish. - I beg if you have any objection, addition or alteration to make - in the following Advertisement you will let me know by return of - post:― - -{272} - - “ ‘TO THE PUBLIC. - - “ ‘John Baskerville of Birmingham thinks proper to give notice - that having now finished his Edition of _Virgil_ in one Volume, - Quarto, it will be published the latter end of next month, price - one guinea in sheets. He therefore desires that such gentlemen who - intend to favour him with their names, will be pleased to send - them either to himself at Birmingham, or to R. and J. Dodsley in - Pall Mall, in order that they may be inserted in the list of his - encouragers.’ ” - -_R. Dodsley to Baskerville._ April 7, 1757. - - “I am very sorry I advertised your _Virgil_ to be published last - month as you have not enabled me to keep my word with the public; - but I hope it will not be delayed any longer, as every day you - lose now the season is so far advanced, is certainly a great - loss to you. I hope I shall have the pleasure of seeing you and - it together. However, if the delay is occasioned by your making - corrections, I think that a point of so much consequence, that - no consideration should induce you to publish till it is quite - correct. As to the ornamented paper, I will lower the price since - you think it proper, but am still of opinion that it will not sell - at our end of the town, tho’ for what reason I cannot imagine. - . . . I like exceedingly your specimen of a _Common Prayer_, and - hope you are endeavouring to get leave to print one. There is an - error in the Exhortation, _shall_ for _should_. Your small letter - is extremely beautiful; I wish I could advise you what to print - with it. What think you of some popular French book—_Gil Blas_, - _Molière_, or _Telemaque_ ? In the specimen from _Melmoth_ I think - you have used too many Capitals, which is generally thought to - spoil the beauty of printing; but they should never be used to - adjectives, verbs, or adverbs. My best compliments attend your - whole family.” - -At length, after repeated delays, caused mainly by the nervous -fastidiousness of the printer, who even corrected his work _currenti -prelo_ up to the last moment, the famous _Virgil_ appeared in -1757,[550] and with its publication Baskerville’s reputation was made. -Being the earliest performance of this press, the volume possesses -a peculiar interest among the productions of English typography. -Opinions may differ as to some of the eulogies pronounced on it -by bibliographers and bibliophiles,[551] but as a typographical -curiosity,[552] and as a pioneer of fine printing in our midst, it is a -work to be treasured and reverenced. {273} - -From a letter-founder’s point of view its chief interest consists in -its being the earliest book printed in the type of the new Birmingham -foundry. The fount used is a Great Primer, slender and delicate in -form, combining, as Dibdin says, in a singularly happy manner, the -elegance of Plantin with the clearness of the Elzevirs. The Italic -letter was specially admired for its freedom and symmetry—qualities in -which it excelled even the beautiful founts of Aldus and Colinæus. - -Baskerville’s merit met with prompt recognition in many quarters, -amongst others, by the Delegates of the Oxford Press, who, in 1758 -(apparently on his own application), entrusted him with the cutting -and casting of a new Greek fount for their own use. A record of -this important transaction remains in the following Minutes of the -Delegates:― - - “June 6, 1758.—Present (among others) Dr. (Sir W.) Blackstone. - _Order’d_ that this Delegacy will at their next meeting take into - consideration Mr. Baskerville’s Proposals for casting a Set of new - Greek Types. - - “July 5, 1758.—_Ordered_ that Dr. Blackstone be empowered to agree - with Mr. Baskerville of Birmingham to make a new set of Greek - Puncheons, matrices and moulds, in Great Primer, for the Use of - the University, and also to cast therein 300 Weight of Types, at - the Price of 200 Guineas for the whole. And that he and Mr. Prince - (Warehouse-keeper) do give proper Directions for that Purpose. - - “Jan. 31, 1759.—_Agreed_ that Mr. Musgrave have leave to print his - _Euripides_ at the University Press on Mr. Baskerville’s Types as - soon as they arrive.[553] - - “March 11, 1761.—_Ordered_, That a Greek Testament in Quarto and - Octavo be printed on Baskerville’s Letter, and three or four - Gentlemen of Learning and Accuracy be desired separately to - correct the Proofs. - - “June 23, 1761.—500 copies in Quarto and 2,000 in Octavo ordered - to be printed.” - -In the accounts for 1761 the following entry records the conclusion of -the business:― - - “To Mr. Baskerville for Greek Types . . . . £210 0 0.” - -Considerable expectation was aroused by this order, which was -considered of sufficient importance to deserve mention in the public -press, as the following extract from the _St. James’s Chronicle_ of -September 5, 1758, testifies:― - - “The University of Oxford have lately contracted with Mr. - Baskerville of Birmingham for a complete Alphabet of Greek Types - of the Great Primer size; and it is not doubted but that ingenious - artist will excel in that Character, as he has already done in - the Roman and Italic, in his elegant edition of _Virgil_, which - has gained the applause and admiration of most of the literati of - Europe, as well as procured him the esteem and patronage of such - of his own countrymen as distinguish themselves by paying a due - regard to merit.” - -The anticipations thus expressed were destined to be disappointed; for -{274} Baskerville’s genius appears to have failed him in his efforts -to reproduce a foreign character. Even before the appearance of the -Oxford _Greek Testament_, which did not occur till 1763, rumours of the -failure of this undertaking had begun to circulate. Writing in 1763, -respecting a forthcoming _Greek Testament_ of his own, Bowyer says, -“Two or three quarto Editions on foot, one at Oxford, far advanced on -new types by Baskerville,—by the way, not good ones.”[554] - -The appearance of the work in question[555] justified, to some extent, -the criticism. Regular as the Greek character is, it is stiff and -cramped, and, as Dibdin says, “like no Greek characters I have ever -seen.” Rowe Mores goes to the length of styling it “execrable”; and -Bowyer appears to have had it specially in mind when he said to Jackson -that the Greek letters commonly in use were no more like Greek than -English. - -Be this as it may, Baskerville made no further excursions into the -foreign and learned languages, and, fortunately (as we consider) for -his reputation, confined his talents to the execution of the characters -of his native tongue, a branch of the art in which he had no rival. - -The punches, matrices and some of the types of this interesting fount -are still preserved at Oxford,[556] and are the only relics in this -country of Baskerville’s letter-foundry. We are particularly glad, -therefore, to be able to present here, in addition to the annexed -facsimile from the _Specimen_ of 1768–70, a line printed from the -actual type cast by Baskerville in 1761:― - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration: 71. Baskerville’s Greek. (From the Oxford _Specimen_ of -1768–70.)] - -{275} - -Among the other important works which, says Mr. Nichols, “Baskerville -printed with more satisfaction to the literary world than emolument -to himself,” his _Paradise Lost_, in 4to, printed in 1758,[557] is of -signal merit and beauty. As a work of fine printing, it equals, if it -does not excel, the _Virgil_. “The type”, observes Hansard (who speaks -of it as a Pica instead of an English) “is manifestly an improvement -on the ‘slender and delicate’ mentioned by Mr. Dibdin; I should think -it, on the contrary, approaching to the _embonpoint_, and admirably -calculated by extending the size (if in exact proportion), for works of -the largest dimensions. The Italic possesses much room for admiration. -. . . This work will, in my opinion, bear a comparison, even to its -advantage, with those subsequently executed by the first typographer -of our age. There is a clearness, a soberness, a softness, and at the -same time a spirit, altogether harmonising, in Baskerville’s book, -that neither of the others with which I am comparing it, can, I think, -fairly claim.”[558] - -In his preface to the _Paradise Lost_, Baskerville gives an interesting -account of his own labours and ambitions as a letter-founder. He says:― - - “Amongst the several mechanic Arts that have engaged my attention, - there is no one which I have pursued with so much steadiness - and pleasure as that of _Letter Founding_. Having been an early - admirer of the beauty of Letters, I became insensibly desirous of - contributing to the perfection of them. I formed to myself ideas - of greater accuracy than had yet appeared, and have endeavoured to - produce a _Sett_ of _Types_ according to what I conceived to be - their true proportion. - - “_Mr. Caslon_ is an artist to whom the Republic of Learning has - great obligations; his ingenuity has left a fairer copy for - my emulation than any other master. In his great variety of - _Characters_ I intend not to follow him; the _Roman_ and _Italic_ - are all I have hitherto attempted: if in these he has left room - for improvement it is probably more owing to that variety which - divided his attention, than to any other cause. I honour his merit - and only wish to derive some small share of Reputation from an Art - which proves accidentally to have been the object of our mutual - pursuit. - - “After having spent many years, and not a little of my fortune, in - my endeavours to advance this art; I must own it gives me great - satisfaction to find that my edition of _Virgil_ has been so - favorably received . . . - - “It is not my desire to print many books; but such only as are - _books_ of _Consequence_, of _intrinsic merit_, or _established - Reputation_, and which the public may be pleased to see in an - elegant dress, and to purchase at such a price as will repay the - extraordinary care and expence that must necessarily be bestowed - upon them . . . If {276} this performance (_i.e._, the _Milton_) - shall appear to persons of judgment and penetration in the - _Paper_, _Letter_, _Ink_, and _Workmanship_ to excel, I hope their - approbation may contribute to procure for me, what would indeed - be the extent of my Ambition, a power to print an Octavo _Prayer - Book_, and a FOLIO BIBLE.” - -Both these ambitions were in due time fulfilled. In 1758 Baskerville -had applied for the post of Printer to the University of Cambridge, an -office which he obtained, with permission to print the folio _Bible_, -and two editions of the _Common Prayer_ in three sizes. This learned -body, however, appear to have been influenced in the transaction more -by a wish to fill their own coffers than by a desire to promote the -interests of the Art; and the heavy premiums exacted from Baskerville -for the privilege thus accorded effectually deprived him of any -advantage whatever in the undertaking. He continued to hold this -unsatisfactory office till 1766. - -Meanwhile he had laboured assiduously to complete his promised series -of the Roman and Italic faces. At the time of the publication of the -_Virgil_, he put forward a quarto sheet containing specimens of the -Great Primer, English, Pica, and Brevier Roman, and Great Primer -and Pica Italic, beautifully printed. This sheet, which is noted by -Renouard,[559] and which is occasionally found bound up with copies -of the _Virgil_, was very shortly followed, about the end of the year -1758, by a larger and more general specimen, consisting entirely of -Roman and Italic letter in eight sizes, viz.:—Double Pica, Great -Primer, English, Pica, Small Pica, Long Primer, Bourgeois and Brevier. -Of the two last, Roman only is shown. The whole is arranged in two -columns on a broadside sheet, with appropriate titlings, and forms a -beautiful display. Although the only copy we have seen is printed on -a greenish paper, somewhat coarse, the Specimen exceeds in elegance -and uniformity most, if not all, the productions of contemporary -founders.[560] - -[Illustration: 72. Baskerville’s English Roman and Italic. (From the -_Milton_, 1758.)] - -It may be worth noting here that in point of body Baskerville appears -to {277} have followed an independent course; most of his bodies, -even the Pica, varying from the usual standards. The punches of the -Greek fount, preserved at Oxford, show marks of high finish, although -unnecessarily, as it seems to us, rounded in the stem. It is probable -that these and the other punches of his foundry were not his own -handiwork, but cut by skilled artists under his critical supervision. - -Unfortunately, very little is known of the operations of the Birmingham -foundry as a trade undertaking. It is even doubtful whether, at first, -Baskerville supplied his types to any press but his own; indeed, the -activity of that press during the period when it was in the height -of its prosperity was such that it is unlikely its proprietor would -encumber himself with the duties of a letter-founder to the trade in -general. - -The magnificent works[561] which between 1759 and 1772 continued to -issue from his press not only confirmed him in his reputation, but -raised his name to an unique position among the modern improvers of the -art. The paper, the type and the general execution of his works were -such as English readers had not hitherto been accustomed to, while the -disinterested enthusiasm with which, regardless of profit, he pursued -his ideal, fully merited the eulogy of the printer-poet who wrote:― - - “O BASKERVILLE! the anxious wish was thine - Utility with beauty to combine; - To bid the o’erweening thirst of gain subside; - Improvement all thy care and all thy pride; - When BIRMINGHAM—for riots and for crimes - Shall meet the long reproach of future times, - Then shall she find amongst our honor’d race, - One name to save her from entire disgrace.”[562] - -Baskerville’s third specimen sheet, undated, but probably issued -in 1762, is an exquisitely printed large folio on highly glazed -white paper. It completes the series of Roman and Italic displayed -in the former sheet with a Nonpareil, and the whole is surrounded -by an elegant light border. It is incomparably the most beautiful -type-specimen of its day, although it must be admitted that not a -little of its beauty is due to the brilliancy of the ink and the gloss -of the paper. - -Despite the applause bestowed on him, and the acknowledged excellence -of his work, Baskerville failed to make his new business a paying one. -His letter {278} to Horace Walpole in 1762 best details the history of -his struggles and disappointments:― - - “To the Hon’ble Horace Walpole, Esq., Member of Parliament, in - Arlington Street, London, this: - - EASY HILL, BIRMINGHAM, 2 Nov. 1762. - - “SIR,—As the Patron and Encourager of Arts, and particularly - that of Printing,[563] I have taken the Liberty of sending you a - Specimen of Mine, begun ten Years ago at the age of forty-seven, - and prosecuted ever since with the utmost Care and Attention, on - the strongest Presumption, that if I could fairly excel in this - divine Art, it would make my Affairs easy or at least give me - Bread. But alas! in both I was mistaken. The Booksellers do not - chuse to encourage Me, though I have offered them as low terms as - I could possibly live by; nor dare I attempt an Old Copy till a - Law Suit relating to that affair is determined. - - “The University of Cambridge have given me a Grant to print their - 8vo and 12mo _Common-Prayer Books_, but under such Shackles as - greatly hurt me. I pay them for the former twenty and for the - latter twelve pounds ten shillings the thousand; and to the - Stationers’ Company thirty-two pound for their permission to print - one edition of the _Psalms in Metre_ to the small _Prayer Book_; - add to this the great expense of Double and treble carriage, and - the inconvenience of a printing house an hundred Miles off. All - this Summer I have had nothing to print at Home. My folio _Bible_ - is pretty far advanced at Cambridge, which will cost me near £2000 - all hired at 5 per cent. If this does not sell, I shall be obliged - to sacrifice a small patrimony which brings me in £74 a year to - this business of Printing, which I am heartily tired of and repent - I ever attempted. It is surely a particular hardship, that I - should not get Bread in my own country (and it is too late to go - abroad) after having acquired the Reputation of excelling in the - most useful Art known to mankind; while everyone who excels as a - Player, Fiddler, Dancer, &c., not only lives in Affluence, but has - it in their power to save a Fortune. - - “I have sent a few Specimens (same as the enclosed) to the Courts - of Russia and Denmark, and shall endeavour to do the same to - most of the Courts in Europe; in hopes of finding in some of - them a purchaser of the whole scheme, on the Condition of never - attempting another Type. I was saying this to a particular Friend, - who reproached me with not giving my own Country the Preference, - as it would (he was pleased to say) be a national Reproach to - lose it: I told him nothing but the greatest Necessity would put - me upon it; and even then I should resign it with the utmost - reluctance. He observed the Parliament had given a handsome - Premium for a great Medicine; and he doubted not, if My Affair - were properly brought before the House of Commons, but some Regard - would be Paid to it. I replied I durst not presume to Petition the - House, unless encouraged by some of the Members, who might do me - the honour to promote it; of which I saw not the least hopes or - probability. Thus, Sir, I have taken the Liberty of laying before - you my Affairs without the least Aggravation; and humbly hope your - patronage: To whom can I apply for {279} Protection, but the - Great who alone have it in their power to serve me? I rely on your - candour as a Lover of the Arts and to excuse this Presumption in - your most obedient and most humble servant - - JOHN BASKERVILLE. - - “P.S.—The folding of the Specimens will be taken out by laying - them for a short time between damped Papers. N.B.—The Ink, - Presses, Chases, Moulds for Casting, and all the apparatus for - Printing were made in my own shops.”[564] - -The folio _Bible_[565] referred to in this letter has always been -regarded as Baskerville’s _magnum opus_, and is his most magnificent -as well as his most characteristic specimen. It duly appeared in -Cambridge in 1763, in a beautiful Great Primer type, fully meriting the -applause which it evoked. It had been preceded in 1760 by some very -elegant editions of the _Book of Common Prayer_,[566] all published at -Cambridge in his capacity of University printer. - -After the publication of the _Bible_, Baskerville wearied of his -profession of printing, disheartened alike by the poor pecuniary -returns for his labours, and the unfriendly criticism pronounced -in various quarters upon his performances. Despite the splendid -appearance of his impressions, the ordinary English printers viewed -with something like suspicion the meretricious combination of sharp -type and hot-pressed paper which lent to his sheets their extraordinary -brilliancy.[567] They objected to the dazzling effect thus produced on -the eye; they found fault with the unevenness of tone and colour in -different parts of the same book, and even discovered an irregularity -and lack of symmetry in some of his types, which his glossy paper and -bright ink alike failed to disguise. - -That these strictures were not wholly the result of prejudice and -jealousy, a careful examination of Baskerville’s printed works in the -light of the modern {280} canons of fine printing will prove. Even his -warmest admirers, like Fournier,[568] tempered their praise with some -reservation; while hostile critics, like Mores, summarily denied him a -place among letter-cutters at all.[569] - -Of the prejudice rife against Baskerville at this time, an amusing -anecdote is preserved in a letter of Benjamin Franklin to our printer, -dated 1760:― - - “CRAVEN STREET, LONDON, 1760. - - “DEAR SIR,—Let me give you a pleasant instance of the prejudice - some have entertained against your work. Soon after I returned, - discoursing with a gentleman concerning the artists of Birmingham, - he said you would be a means of blinding all the readers of the - nation, for the strokes of your letters being too thin and narrow, - hurt the eye, and he could never read a line of them without pain. - ‘I thought,’ said I, ‘you were going to complain of the gloss of - the paper some object to.’ ‘No, no,’ said he, ‘I have heard that - mentioned, but it is not that; it is in the form and cut of the - letters themselves, they have not that height and thickness of the - stroke which makes the common printing so much more comfortable - to the eye.’ You see this gentleman was a _connoisseur_. In vain - I endeavoured to support your character against the charge; he - knew what he felt, and could see the reason of it, and several - other gentlemen among his friends had made the same observation, - etc. Yesterday he called to visit me, when, mischievously bent - to try his judgement, I stepped into my closet, tore off the - top of Mr. Caslon’s specimen, and produced it to him as yours, - brought with me from Birmingham, saying, I had been examining - it, since he spoke to me, and could not for my life perceive the - disproportion he mentioned, desiring him to point it out to me. He - readily undertook it, and went over the several founts, showing - me everywhere what he thought instances of that disproportion; - and declared, that he could not then read the specimen, without - feeling very strongly the pain he had mentioned to me. I spared - him that time the confusion of being told, that these were the - types he had been reading all his life, with so much ease to his - eyes; the types his adored Newton is printed with, on which he has - pored not a little; nay, the very types his own book is printed - with (for he is himself an author), and yet never discovered this - painful disproportion in them, till he thought they were yours. - - “I am, etc., - - “B. FRANKLIN.”[570] - -This occasion for the above interesting letter, was an application -made by {281} Baskerville in 1760 to his friend, Dr. Franklin, to -assist him in London to sound the literati there respecting the -purchase of his types. This attempt failing, a few years later Dr. -Franklin undertook a similar good office in Paris,[571] and with a -similar result. “The French,” he wrote in 1767, “reduced by the war -of 1756 were so far from being able to pursue schemes of taste, that -they were unable to repair their public buildings, and suffered the -scaffolding to rot before them.” - -Having lost all spirit for the printing business, Baskerville, about -1766, declined to pursue it except through the medium of a confidential -agent, and the following notice, issued about this period, announced -this decision to the public:― - - “Robert Martin has agreed with Mr. Baskerville for the use of his - whole printing apparatus, with whom he has wrought as a journeyman - for ten years past. He therefore offers his services to print at - Birmingham for Gentlemen or Booksellers, on the most moderate - terms, who may depend on all possible care and elegance in the - execution. Samples, if necessary, may be seen on sending a line to - John Baskerville or Robert Martin.”[572] - -After a retirement of three years, Baskerville resumed work in 1769, -completing between that period and the time of his death his fine -series of the 4to classics, which bear the marks of unabated genius -even in declining days; and suffice, had he printed nothing else, to -distinguish him as the first typographer of his time. - -It would appear from a passage in a letter of Franklin’s in reference -to the fine edition of _Shaftesbury’s Characteristics_, published in -1773 (4to), that, in that year, Baskerville contemplated some further -development of his type-founding business.[573] His press, at any rate, -seems to have continued active till that date, and even later; although -it is doubtful whether the latest works bearing his imprint received -his personal oversight. - -He died on January 8, 1775. Notwithstanding the poor success of his -printing enterprise, he left behind him a fortune of £12,000, which, -as he had no heir, went, together with the stock and goodwill of his -business, to his widow.[574] {282} - -Of Baskerville’s personal character, a biographer observes: “In -private life, he was a humourist, idle in the extreme; but his -invention was the true Birmingham model, active. He could well design, -but procured others to execute; wherever he found merit, he caressed -it; he was remarkably polite to the stranger, fond of shew; a figure, -rather of the smaller size, and delighted to adorn that figure with -gold lace. Although constructed with the light timbers of a frigate, -his movement was stately as a ship of the line. During the twenty-five -last years of his life, though then in his decline, he retained the -singular traces of a handsome man. If he exhibited a peevish temper, -we may consider that good nature and intense thinking are not always -found together. Taste accompanied him through the different walks of -agriculture, architecture, and the fine arts. Whatever passed through -his fingers bore the living marks of John Baskerville.”[575] - -A less pleasing sketch of his character is given by Mark Noble in his -_Biographical History of England_:—“I have very often”, he says, “been -with my father at his house, and found him ever a most profane wretch, -and ignorant of literature to a wonderful degree. I have seen many of -his letters, which like his will, were not written grammatically, nor -could he even spell well. In person he was a shrivelled old coxcomb. -His favourite dress was green, edged with narrow gold lace, a scarlet -waistcoat, with a very broad gold lace, and a small round hat, likewise -edged with gold lace. His wife was all that affectation can describe. -. . . She was originally a servant. Such a pair are rarely met with. -He had wit; but it was always at the expense of religion and decency, -particularly if in company with the clergy. I have often thought there -was much similarity in his person to Voltaire, whose sentiments he was -ever retailing.”[576] - -Professing a total disbelief of the Christian religion, he ordered that -his remains should be buried in a tomb in his own grounds, prepared by -himself for the purpose, with an epitaph[577] expressing his contempt -for the superstition which {283} the bigoted called Religion. Here, -accordingly, his body was buried upright, and here it remained, -although the building that contained it was destroyed by the Birmingham -riots of 1791. About half a century after his death his body was -exhumed and exhibited for some time in a shop in Birmingham. Its final -resting-place is to this day a matter of debate. - -There is a portrait of Baskerville by Exteth, in the possession -of the Messrs. Longman, and another in the possession of the Rev. -Dr. Caldecott. An engraving of the latter is given in Hansard’s -_Typographia_; and there is a copperplate from the same portrait -(unpublished), at the present time in the collection of Mr. Timmins of -Birmingham. - -Mrs. Baskerville[578], on succeeding to her husband’s property, -declined to continue the printing business, although continuing that of -letter-founding; and thus advertised her intention to the public:― - - “Mrs. Baskerville, being about to decline business as a printer, - purposes disposing of the whole of her apparatus in that branch, - comprehending, among other articles, all of them perfect in their - kind, a large and full assortment of the most beautiful types, - with the completest printing presses, hitherto known in England. - She begs leave to inform the publick, at the same time, that she - continues the business of Letter-founding, in all its parts, with - the same care and accuracy that was formerly observed by Mr. - Baskerville. Those gentlemen who are inclined to encourage so - pleasing an improvement may, by favouring her with their commands, - be now supplied with Baskerville’s elegant types at no higher - expence than the prices already established in the trade.”[579] - _April 6, 1775._ - -The following further advertisement intimates that two years later the -typefounding business was still carried on under the same management:― - - “The late Mr. Baskerville, having taken some pains to establish - and perfect a Letter-foundry for the more readily casting of - Printing-types for sale, and as the undertaking was finished - but a little before his death, it is now become necessary for - his widow, Mrs. Baskerville, to inform all Printers that she - continues the same business, and has now ready for sale, a large - stock of types, of most sizes, cast with all possible care, and - dressed with the utmost accuracy. She hopes the acknowledged - partiality of the world, in regard to the peculiar beauty of Mr. - Baskerville’s types, in the works he has published, will render it - quite unnecessary here to say anything to recommend them—only that - she is determined to attend to the undertaking with all care and - diligence; and to the end that so useful an improvement may become - as extensive as possible, and notwithstanding the extraordinary - hardness and durability of these types above all others, she - will conform to sell them at the same prices with other Letter - founders.” _Feb. 25, 1777._ {284} - -Notwithstanding Mrs. Baskerville’s avowed intention of continuing the -business, many attempts had been made, and were still made, to dispose -of the foundry. It was offered to the Universities and declined; -and the London booksellers preferred the types of Caslon and his -apprentices.[580] The stock lay a dead weight till 1779, when the whole -was purchased by Beaumarchais for the Société Litteraire-Typographique, -for the sum of £3,700, and transferred to France. - -Much blame and even contempt was bestowed at the time on the bad -taste and unpatriotic spirit of the English nation in thus allowing -the materials of this famous press to go out of the country.[581] _De -gustibus non est disputandum._ Deprived of the master-hand of their -designer, the types which startled the world into admiration in the -_Virgil_ of 1757, had lost their magic by 1779; and it seems hardly -reasonable to blame the printers of this country for preferring the -sterling types of Caslon and Jackson, in which works as beautiful were -being produced, and by far simpler methods than those employed by the -Birmingham genius. Nor does it appear that after the purchase by the -French there was any general feeling of regret in this country at the -opportunity missed. It is, however, a fact that for some important -works produced towards the close of the century—particularly those of -Bulmer’s press—it was considered an advantage to secure the services of -artists of the Birmingham school, both in the formation of the types -and the execution of the press-work. As the pioneer of fine printing -in England, Baskerville deserves, and will receive the grateful -approbation of all lovers of the art. But it would be idle to say that -he was not speedily matched and even surpassed by the performance of -others, or that his types, had they remained in this country, would -have been more valuable on account of their intrinsic excellence than -of their historical interest. - -That the French were well satisfied with their bargain, may be gathered -from the following letter quoted by Nichols, dated Paris, August 8th, -1780:― - - “The English language and learning are so cultivated in France, - and so eagerly learned, that the best Authors of Great Britain are - now reprinting in this Metropolis: Shakespeare, Addison, Pope, - Johnson, Hume, and Robertson, are to be published here very soon. - Baskerville’s types, which were bought it seems for a trifle, to - the eternal disgrace of Englishmen, are to be made use of for the - purpose of propagating the English Language in this country.”[582] - {285} - -Nichols himself adds, after deploring the comparative failure of -Baskerville, to receive appreciation in his native land: “We must -admire, if we do not imitate the taste and economy of the French -nation, who, brought by the British arms in 1762 to the verge of ruin, -rising above distress, were able, in seventeen years, to purchase -Baskerville’s elegant types, refused by his own country, and to expend -an hundred thousand pounds in poisoning the principles of mankind by -printing the _Works of Voltaire_.” - -This great work, for the express purpose of printing which -Baskerville’s types were procured, was thus announced to the English -public in 1782[583]:― - - “A complete edition of the _Works of Voltaire_, printed by - subscription, with the types of Baskerville. - - “This work, the most extensive and magnificent that ever was - printed, is now in the press at Fort Kehl, near Strasburgh, a - free place, subject to no restraint or imprimatur, and will be - published towards the close of the present year. It will never - be on sale. Subscribers only can have copies. Each set is to be - numbered, and a particular number appropriated to each subscriber - at the time of subscribing. As the sets to be worked off are - limited to a fixed and small number, considering the great demand - of all Europe, those who wish to be possessed of so valuable a - work must be early in their application, lest they be shut out by - the subscriptions being previously filled. Voltaire’s Manuscripts - and Port-Folios, besides his Works already published, cost 12,000 - guineas. This and other expenses attending the publication, - will lay the Editors under an advance of £100,000 sterling. The - public may from thence form a judgment of the extraordinary care - that will be taken to make this edition a lasting monument of - typographical elegance and grandeur,” etc. _June 4, 1782._ - -The “proposals” were accompanied by two pages of specimens of the type. - -Of this famous edition of _Voltaire_ an interesting account is given in -Lomenie’s _Beaumarchais et ses Temps_.[584] The Society in whose name -Beaumarchais undertook the work consisted of himself alone. Besides -the Voltaire MSS. and the Baskerville types, he bought and set to work -three paper-mills in the Vosges, and after much difficulty secured -the old fort at Kehl as a neutral ground on which to establish in -security his vast typographical undertaking. The enterprise was one -involving labour, time and cost vastly beyond his expectations, and his -correspondence with his manager at Kehl presents an almost pathetic -picture of his efforts to grapple with the difficulties that beset his -task. “How can we promise,” he wrote in 1780, “in the early months -of {286} 1782 an edition which has neither hearth nor home in March -1780? The paper-mills have to be made, the type to be founded, the -printing press to be put up, and the establishment to be formed.” And -on another occasion he writes: “Here am I, obliged to learn my letters -at paper-making, printing and bookselling.” - -It was not until 1784 that Volume One appeared; and the whole work in -two editions was not completed till 1790,[585] by which time France was -in the throes of the Revolution, and little likely to heed the literary -exploits even of one of her most talented sons. Of the 15,000 copies -printed, only 2,000 found subscribers; and after the dissolution of the -establishment at Kehl[586] (where, besides, he printed an edition of -_Rousseau_ and a few other works) all the benefit Beaumarchais received -from his enterprise was a mountain of waste-paper. - -The final destination of Baskerville’s types is shrouded in mystery. -Most writers assert that the printing establishment at Kehl was -entirely destroyed at the commencement of the French Revolution, -and many suggest that the types performed their last service in the -shape of bullets. Plausible as this story is, it is disproved by the -existence of four works of Alfieri, all bearing the imprint, _dalla -Tipografia di Kehl, co’ caratteri di Baskerville_, and dated severally -1786, 1795, 1800 and 1809.[587] These works, to whose existence no -writer on Baskerville appears hitherto to have called attention, bear -the strongest internal evidence of the accuracy of their claims, and -thus enable us to trace the survival of these famous types to a date -twenty years later than that at which they are commonly supposed to -have perished. In England, some of Baskerville’s types are said to have -been in use in the office of Messrs. Harris, in Liverpool, in 1820; and -seven years later, we find a work printed by Thomas White, of Crane -Court, London, for Pickering, claiming to be “with the types of John -Baskerville”.[588] But though a fount or two of the types may have -survived, all search as to the ultimate fate of the punches or matrices -is baffled. They may still exist, {287} neglected, in the dusty -drawers of some foreign press or foundry.[589] If so, it is to be hoped -that their discovery may in due time reward the patience of those whose -ambition it is to recover for their native land these precious relics -of the most brilliant of all the English letter-founders. - - -LIST OF BASKERVILLE’S SPECIMENS. - - No date. A Specimen by John Baskerville, of Birmingham, in the - county of Warwick, Letter Founder and Printer. 4to sheet. (1752?) - . . . . (S. T.) - - No date. A Specimen by John Baskerville of Birmingham. 4to sheet. - (1757?) . . . . (Althorp.) - - No date. A Specimen by John Baskerville of Birmingham, Letter - Founder and Printer. (1758?). Broadside. . . . . (S. T.) - - No date. A Specimen by John Baskerville of Birmingham. (1762?). - Folio. . . . . (S. T.) - -[Illustration] - -{288} - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -THOMAS COTTRELL, 1757. - - -Thomas Cottrell, described by Mores as _à primo proximus_ of modern -letter-founders, served his apprenticeship in the foundry of the first -Caslon. He was employed there as a dresser, and the portrait of him -which is to be seen in the _Universal Magazine_ of 1750,[590] among a -group of Caslon’s workmen, represents him as engaged in that branch of -the business. - -It is not improbable that he joined with his friend and fellow -apprentice, Joseph Jackson, in clandestinely observing the operation of -punch-cutting, secretly practised by his master and his master’s son at -Chiswell Street; and being assisted by natural ability, and what Moxon -terms a “genuine inclination,” he contrived during his apprenticeship -to qualify himself not only in this, but in all the departments of the -art. - -In 1757 a question as to the price of work having arisen among Mr. -Caslon’s workmen, Cottrell and Jackson headed a deputation on the -subject to their employer, then a Commissioner of the Peace, residing -at Bethnal Green. The worthy justice taking this action in dudgeon, the -two ringleaders were dismissed from Chiswell Street, and thus thrown -unexpectedly on their own resources. - -Cottrell, in partnership for a short time with Jackson, and (according -to Rowe Mores), assisted also by a Dutchman, one Baltus de Graff, a -former {289} apprentice of Voskens of Amsterdam, established his -foundry in Nevil’s Court, Fetter Lane. His first fount was an English -Roman, which, though it will compare neither with the performance of -his late master, nor with the then new faces of Baskerville, was yet a -production of considerable merit for a self-trained hand. - -In 1758 an incidental record of Cottrell’s Foundry exists in the -history, elsewhere recorded, of Miss Elstob’s Saxon types, the punches -and matrices of which, after remaining untouched for several years at -Mr. Caslon’s, were brought to Cottrell by Mr. Bowyer, to be “fitted up” -ready for use. This task Cottrell performed punctually and apparently -to the satisfaction of his employer, returning them with a small fount -of the letter cast in his own mould, as a specimen of the improvement -made in them.[591] - -In 1759 Jackson quitted the business to go to sea, and Cottrell, left -to himself, busily proceeded with the completion of his series of -Romans, which he carried as low as Brevier, a size “which,” says Rowe -Mores, “he thinks low enough to spoil the eyes.”[592] - -He also cut a Two-line English Engrossing in imitation of the Law-Hand, -and several designs of flowers. - -[Illustration: 73. Engrossing, cut by Cottrell, _circa_ 1768. (From the -original matrices.)] - -The Engrossing, or as Mores styles it, the Base Secretary, was a -character designed to take the place of the lately abolished Court Hand -in legal documents, and appears to have been designed for Cottrell -by a law printer named Richardson. On the completion of the fount, -an impression of which we here give, Richardson issued a specimen of -it,[593] claiming the design, and representing its advantages as the -proper character for leases, agreements, {290} indentures, etc. The -matrices, however, remained with Cottrell, and the inclusion of the -fount in his general specimen shows that Richardson ceased to retain -any exclusive use of it. It was the only fount of the kind in England -when Mores wrote in 1778. - -Cottrell’s first specimen was a broadside sheet, undated, but probably -issued about the year 1760. It shows the Roman founts, arranged in a -form very similar to that of Caslon’s broadside of 1749. The only copy -of this specimen known is that in the Sohmian Collection at Stockholm. - -It was followed, a few years later, by an 8vo Specimen Book, which, -from its obvious resemblance to Caslon’s Book of 1764, we may judge to -have seen the light about 1766.[594] This Specimen exhibits the Roman -and Italic Founts from Five-line to Brevier, the Engrossing above -mentioned, and five pages of Small Pica Flowers elaborately arranged. -The general appearance is neat, each page being surrounded by a border. -The Romans are cut after the Caslon models, and are fairly good, -although a close inspection would suggest that Cottrell’s “genuine -inclination” did not extend to the justifying of his matrices with the -same success as to the cutting of the punches. - -The following note at the foot of the Long Primer on Bourgeois specimen -is, perhaps, the most interesting feature of this book:― - - “This Foundery was begun in the Year 1757, and will (with God’s - leave) be carried on, improved and enlarged, by Thomas Cottrell, - Letter Founder, in London. - - “_N. B._ Served my apprenticeship to William Caslon, Esq.” - -Fournier, in the second part of his _Manuel Typographique_, 1766, -mentions Cottrell’s Foundry, but in such a manner as to lead one to -suppose he had never seen his specimen, or heard of it except by the -vaguest hearsay. He mentions him as “Cottrell à Oxfort,” at the head of -his list of English Founders.[595] {291} - -A more satisfactory contemporary record is contained in Luckombe’s -_History and Art of Printing_, 1770, where pages 169 to 174 are -occupied by specimens of the Engrossing and Flowers already exhibited -in the specimen book, and a fount of English Domesday. - -This latter fount, which appears to have been completed subsequent to -the issue of the specimen book, Cottrell cut under the inspection of -Dr. Morton for the forthcoming issue of Domesday Book, begun in 1773, -and “which”, Rowe Mores sarcastically observes, “if the undertakers go -on as they have begun, will by domes-day hardly be finished.” - -The work was, however, finished and printed, but not in Cottrell’s -type, his performance having been eclipsed by that of his old colleague -and partner Jackson, who, after returning from sea in 1763, had worked -for a short time at the Nevil’s Court Foundry, and then left to start -business for himself, taking with him two of Cottrell’s workmen. - -Cottrell was at this period a private in the Life Guards; a position -considered highly respectable in those days, and not at all -incompatible with business pursuits. His military ardour evidently -had its effect in the Foundry, for we find that Robinson and Hickson, -his two workmen who left with Jackson, were also enlisted in the same -service. - -He does not appear to have extended his foundry very much as regards -its Roman letter. According to Rowe Mores, however, he produced “some -uncommon founts of proscription, or posting letter of great bulk and -dimensions as high as to the measure of twelve-line Pica.”[596] Of -these founts (which were no doubt cast, like Caslon’s, in sand), a -specimen is in existence, consisting of two broadside sheets, showing -about eleven sizes from two-line Double Pica to twelve-line Pica. - -No specimen, however, is to be found of the Russian fount, which Mores, -writing in 1778, hopes Cottrell is about to cut “for a gentleman who -compiles a Russian Dictionary; the same gentleman who translated into -English, _The Grand Instructions of Her Imperial Majesty Catherine II, -for a new Code of Laws for the Russian Empire. London, 1768, 4to._, to -whom we wish success.” - -Cottrell died in 1785. He is described as obliging, good-natured, and -friendly, rejecting nothing because it is out of the common way, and -expeditious in his performances. Nichols, in recording his death, says -“Mr. Cottrell died, I am sorry to add, not in affluent circumstances, -though to his profession of a letter-founder were superadded that of -a doctor for the toothache, which he cured by {292} burning the ear; -and had also the honour of serving in the Troop of His Majesty’s Life -Guards.”[597] - -The following is the summary of his foundry as gathered from his -specimen book, together with the additional founts cut subsequently:― - - -MR. COTTRELL’S FOUNDRY. - - _Roman._― - 5-line, 4-line, 2-line Double Pica, 2-line Great Primer, 2-line - English, 2-line Small Pica, 2-line Long Primer. - - _Roman and Italic._― - Canon, 2-line Great Primer, 2-line English, Double Pica, Great - Primer, English, Pica 1, Pica 2, Small Pica, Long Primer 1, Long - Primer 2, Bourgeois, Brevier. - - _Flowers._― - Small Pica, 29 varieties. - - _Engrossing._― - 2-line English. - - _Script._― - Double Pica. - - _Domesday._― - English. - - _Large letter._― - From 4-line up to 12-line. - -Of the history of the Foundry during the nine years following Mr. -Cottrell’s death, no record remains. In 1794 it became the property -of Robert Thorne, a former apprentice of Cottrell’s, who removed the -business from Nevil’s Court to No. 1, Barbican, whence he issued in -that year his first specimen and a price list announcing his new -undertaking.[598] - -The specimen book consists entirely of elegantly shaped large letters -cast in sand, from five-line up to nineteen-line, a then unprecedented -size. The bulk of these, comprising the sizes from five to twelve-line, -advancing by one pica em in body, it may be surmised, are from -Cottrell’s models; the thirteen, sixteen, and nineteen-line, being -added by Thorne. For his specimen of ordinary-sized letter, Thorne -probably made use at first of Cottrell’s book as it stood.[599] - -But it is evident by the specimen published four years later, in 1798, -that if he ever was possessed of the matrices of these founts, he -entirely discarded them, in conformity with the passing fashion, in -favour of others more closely resembling the beautiful faces of Jackson -and Figgins. His specimen of 1798 is indeed one of the most elegant of -which that famous decade can boast. For {293} lightness, grace, and -uniformity, the series of Romans and Italics which are exhibited excels -that of almost all his competitors. The book, which contains not a -single fount which had previously appeared in Cottrell’s book, consists -of forty-eight leaves, of which thirty are devoted to Roman and Italic, -and the remainder to Titlings, Shaded letters, and Flowers, with one -fount of Double-Pica Script. A postscript to the specimen states -that four more founts were nearly ready, completing the series, the -preparation of which had evidently been the labour of many years.[600] -It is therefore the more to be regretted, that Thorne, in common with -all his contemporaries, was compelled almost immediately, by the sudden -change of public taste in favour of the new style of Roman, to abandon -the further prosecution of this excellent series, and devote himself to -the production of founts according to “modern” fashion. - -In 1801 a revised price list was issued announcing a rise in the price -of type owing to the advanced cost of raw material and journeymen’s -wages[601]; and in 1803 appeared the specimen of the new Roman series, -representing the product of five years’ incessant toil and sacrifice. -It cannot be said that this specimen of “Improved Types”[602]—one of -the first completed in the trade—bears any comparison with the artistic -elegance of its predecessor. - -It exhibits the new Roman and Italic in ten, seven, and five-line -Pica, Canon, two-line Great Primer (two faces), two-line English (two -faces), Double Pica (two faces), Great Primer (two faces), English, -Pica, Long Primer (two faces), Bourgeois, Brevier, and Minion. -Ornamenteds—two-line Pica (two faces), two-line Small Pica (two faces). -Shadeds—two-line Small Pica (two faces), two-line Nonpareil (three -faces). Script—Double Pica. - -Thorne, indeed, having once abandoned the old style for the new, -appears in the van of the innovating fashion. Not sharing in the regret -expressed by his brethren in the art at the new departure, he still -further advanced upon it by the production of some exceedingly thick -and fat (and we may add unsightly) jobbing letters, which, though -subsequently followed and even exceeded by others, were at the time -unique for boldness and deformity. {294} - -In Oriental and “learned” letters he appears to have achieved nothing; -as not a single fount, not even Cottrell’s Domesday, appears in this -specimen, or in the subsequent inventory of the Foundry. - -A curious document entitled _Rules and Regulations of the -Letter-Foundry of Robert Thorne, London, Jan. 1806_, exists, and gives -an interesting glimpse into the order and customs of the Barbican -Foundry. To the general scope of these rules we have referred in -another place[603]; but as being personal to Thorne in his relations -with his men, we may mention here that he constituted himself Treasurer -of the fines for “Footale,” imposed by the men on all new workmen, with -an obligation to account for and distribute the sum every Christmas -Eve, and also made himself liable, equally with his men, to a fine of a -shilling if he left his light burning when quitting the Foundry for the -night. - -For some time (though the exact dates cannot be fixed), Mr. Thorne -had a partner in Mr. Hugh Hughes, an able engraver and designer of -music and other characters, who afterwards commenced a foundry in Dean -Street, Fetter Lane.[604] This association does not appear to have -lasted long, or to have involved any alteration in the style of the -firm. - -About the year 1810 Mr. Thorne removed from Barbican to Fann Street, -Aldersgate,[605] where, in premises formerly occupied by a brewery, he -continued his business under the name, which it still bears, of the -Fann Street Foundry. - -Considerable additions were made to the faces of the Foundry during the -next ten years. Two new Scripts were cut, the “Sanspareil” matrices -were adopted for the large letters, and a few new book founts appeared -with light faces, which contrasted agreeably with the fat style -generally predominating in Thorne’s specimens. - -In 1817, declining health induced Mr. Thorne to attempt to dispose of -his business to his fellow-founders; but his offer being declined, he -resumed his labours and continued actively at work until the time of -his death, which occurred in 1820, at the age of sixty-six. He was -buried in Holloway Churchyard, where a tablet is erected to his memory. - -No complete specimen of his type remains later than that of 1803; -although the numerous loose sheets which appeared after that date, and -the fact that as many as 132 pages of composed specimens were left in -type at the time of his death, show that one, if not several books had -been issued during the interval. {295} - -On June 21st, 1820, the Foundry was put up to auction,[606] and -purchased entire by Mr. William Thorowgood. - -This gentleman was previously unconnected with the typographical -profession,[607] having been engaged as London manager and agent to -a Patent Roller Pump business at Stone, in Staffordshire, of which -concern he was one of the principal proprietors. - -With the proceeds, it is said, of a fortunate draw in one of the State -Lotteries,[608] he became possessor of the Fann Street Foundry, and -proceeded at once to throw himself into the new business with great -energy and no small success. - -His first specimen book, issued in January 1821, a few months after -the purchase, may be taken as representing the contents of the Foundry -pretty much as Thorne left it; although even in this short space -of time some additions are apparent, which formed no part of his -predecessor’s stock.[609] {296} - -In the following year Mr. Thorowgood was sworn Letter-Founder to His -Majesty, and put forth a specimen of a Greek fount of good cut, which, -at the time, was the sole representative of the “learned” languages -in his Foundry. Further progress was, however, made in this direction -during the next few years; as Hansard, writing in 1825, mentions three -sizes of German, two of Greek, one of Hebrew, and four of Russian, as -forming part of his stock. The Germans, and the Pica and Bourgeois -Russian, were procured from the Foundry of Breitkopf and Härtel of -Leipzig.[610] - -A new specimen book was issued in 1828. In the same year, the -retirement of Dr. Fry presented Mr. Thorowgood with the opportunity of -making a most important addition to his business by the acquisition of -the Type Street Foundry. This purchase transferred to the Fann Street -Foundry not only the whole of Dr. Fry’s interesting collection of -oriental and “learned” founts, which included many relics of the old -foundries, but augmented his stock of book founts, Blacks, Titlings, -and Flowers, to almost double their former extent. - -The transfer was completed in 1829, and early in the following year a -specimen of additions to the Foundry contained an announcement that -“a new edition of the Greeks, Hebrews, and foreign characters of the -Polyglot Foundry, late the property of Dr. Fry, is in preparation.” - -This promised specimen duly appeared in 1830, the sheets still bearing -Dr. Fry’s imprint; and after this date frequent supplementary specimens -marked the development of the business of this now extensive foundry. - -As the scope of this history does not extend beyond the period now -reached, it will suffice to state that about 1838, Mr. Thorowgood -admitted into partnership Mr. Robert Besley, who, since the year 1826, -had been in the service of the Foundry as traveller and in other -capacities. The firm then became known as Thorowgood and Co., or -more commonly Thorowgood and Besley. This partnership ceasing by the -withdrawal of Mr. Thorowgood in 1849, Mr. Benjamin Fox, a practical -punch cutter of much talent, joined Mr. Besley as Robert Besley and Co. -On the retirement of Alderman Besley in 1861, Mr. (afterwards, Sir) -Charles Reed, a printer, entered the business, which took the style -of Reed and Fox. Mr. Fox died in 1877, when the firm became Sir {297} -Charles Reed and Sons. Sir Charles Reed died in 1881, and the business -is now in the hands of his two sons. - - -LIST OF SPECIMENS, 1760–1830. - - No date. A specimen by Thomas Cottrell. (1760?) Broadside. . . . . - (Sohmian Coll. Stockholm.) - - No date. A specimen of Printing Types by Thomas Cottrell, Letter - Founder, in Nevil’s Court, Fetter Lane, London. (1766?) 8vo. - . . . . (T.B.R.) - - 1770. A specimen of Cottrell’s Engrossing, Flowers, and Domesday - Letters. 8vo. . . . . (Luckombe’s _History of Printing_, pp. - 169–174.) - - No date. A specimen of Large Letters by Thomas Cottrell, in - Nevil’s Court, Fetter Lane, London. (1785?) 2 sheets, Broadside. - . . . . (Sohmian Coll. Stockholm.) - - 1794. Specimen of Printing Types by R. Thorne, Letter Founder, - No. 11, Barbican, London. Printed by W. Glindon, 1794. Sm. 4to. - . . . . (T.B.R.) - - 1798. Specimen of Printing Types by R. Thorne, Letter Founder, - Barbican, London, Printed in the year 1798. Sm. 4to. . . . . (Ox. - Univ. Pr.) - - 1803. Thorne’s Specimen of Printing Types, 1803. 8vo. . . . . - (W.B.) - - 1821. Thorowgood’s New Specimen of Printing Types, late R. - Thorne’s, No. 2, Fann Street, Aldersgate Street, London. 8vo. - . . . . (T.B.R.) - - 1822. A specimen sheet of Greek Type, W. Thorowgood, June, 1822. - 8vo. . . . . (T.B.R.) - - 1828. Thorowgood’s, late Thorne’s, Specimen of Printing Types, - 1828. 8vo. . . . . (T.B.R.) - - 1830. Additions to the Specimen of the Fann Street Letter Foundry, - W. Thorowgood, Letter Founder to His Majesty, London, 1830. 8vo. - . . . . (Caxt. Cel. 4418.) - - 1830. Fann Street Letter Foundry, London. Thorowgood’s Specimens - of Greeks, Hebrews, and Foreign Characters, late the property of - Dr. Edmund Fry. 1830. 8vo. . . . . (Caxt. Cel. 4413.) - -[Illustration] - -{298} - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -JOSEPH AND EDMUND FRY, 1764. - - -This foundry, first known as Fry and Pine’s, had its origin in Bristol -in the year 1764. - -Mr. Joseph Fry, a prominent and enterprising Bristolian, was the son -of Mr. John Fry, and was born in the year 1728. He entered the medical -profession, where, says a biographer,[611] “his affable, courteous -manners and sound Christian principles soon secured to him a large -practice amongst the highest class of his fellow citizens. Possessing -uncommon energy and activity of mind, he was led to take a part in many -new scientific undertakings, actuated more by the desire to be useful -to society and advance the arts than by any hope of individual profit.” - -This spirit of enterprise induced him, in the year 1764, to turn his -attention to letter-founding, which, though hardly to be called a new -scientific undertaking, was at least a novel industry for a provincial -city. The success of Baskerville’s foundry at Birmingham, at that time -in the height of its celebrity, was undoubtedly an incentive to the -adventurers of Bristol, whose first founts were avowedly cut in close -imitation of those famous models. - -[Illustration: 73A. Joseph Fry and Dr. Edmund Fry. From Silhouettes in -the possession of Francis Fry, Esq., of Bristol.] - -William Pine, Mr. Fry’s partner, was a practical printer of some note -in his native city. He was the first printer of the _Bristol Gazette_, -and carried on a considerable business at his premises in Wine -Street. The new foundry was {299} attached to his office, and its -productions may be traced in several works which issued from his press -between the years 1764 and 1770.[612] Messrs. Fry and Pine’s manager -was one Isaac Moore, who (Rowe Mores informs us) was originally an -ingenious whitesmith of Birmingham before he removed to Bristol. The -practical superintendence of the foundry, if not the actual cutting -of its punches, devolved on him; and his services appear to have been -acknowledged by his admission into the partnership at an early stage of -the undertaking, the business being carried on in his name. - -Renouard mentions a _Specimen by Isaac Moore, Bristol_, in 1768, -of which he possessed a copy mounted on linen,[613] and which he -describes as displaying “caractères assez bien gravés, et imitant -ceux de Baskerville.” If this was, as it would appear from the title, -issued at Bristol, we must conclude that the removal of the foundry -to the metropolis took place in the same year, as there exists in the -Sohmian Collection at Stockholm, where it was recently discovered by -Mr. W. Blades, a broadside _Specimen by Isaac Moore and Co. in Queen -Street, near Upper Moorfields, London_, showing the Roman series from -five-line to Brevier, bearing the same date. Whether the two specimens -are the same or not, it is hardly likely that their contents could -have varied much during the brief interval. Two years later, however, -the progress of the undertaking was announced by the issue of a fresh -broadside sheet containing the complete series of Romans, cut after the -Baskerville models, from eight-line to Pearl, with Italics to most of -the founts, besides a fair display of flowers. The general appearance -of the letters is elegant, especially in the larger sizes. - -Appended to the specimen, in the form of a postscript, is the following -address to the public (the first of a series of florid effusions which -characterised the specimens of this foundry), in which the proprietors -announce the principles on which their venture is to be conducted, -and refer with satisfaction to the success already achieved by their -productions:― - - “The Proprietors of the above Foundery having nearly compleated - all the Roman and Italic Founts, desire with great Deference, to - lay this Specimen before the Trade; and intreat the Curious and - critical, before any decisive Judgement be passed, on the Merits - or Demerits of the Performance, to make a minute Examination - and Comparison of the respective letters and founts of each - Size, with the same Letters and Founts of the most respectable - Founders in the Kingdom; For as all Letters, whether Roman or - Italic, bear a great Similitude to each other, to apprehend the - peculiar Beauty or Deformity of them are only to be discovered - by such a Comparison. In making {300} which they hope the - Candid and Judicious will set aside the Influence of Custom and - Prejudice (those Great Barriers against Improvement) and attend - to Propriety, Elegance and Mathematical Proportion. And as these - have been objects particularly attended to in the Course of the - Work, they apprehend it will appear on such a Disquisition, that - all the above sizes bear a greater Likeness to each other, than - those of any other Founder. They have been already favoured with - the Encouragement and Approbation of several very respectable - printers, who have wrought off many large Editions on their - Founts, which have been Experienced to wear extremely well; owing - to the Letter being clearly and deeply cut and to the Goodness of - the Metal, which they make of an Extraordinary Composition; the - Singular Advantage of which cannot but be obvious. Therefore hope - that others will likewise make Trial of them, as they doubt not - but they also will find it greatly to their Satisfaction.”[614] - -It is doubtful whether the encouragement accorded to the new foundry on -its first establishment in the metropolis came up to the expectations -of the proprietors; and a circular issued shortly afterwards by two -of the partners, suggests that some fillip was deemed necessary to -awaken a more extended patronage of the concern. This curious document -is entitled _Proposals for discovering a very great Improvement which -William Pine, printer of Bristol, and Isaac Moore, Letter Founder, -in Queen Street, Upper Moorfields, London, have made in the Art of -Printing, both in the Construction of the Press and in the Manner of -Beating and Pulling_, and publicly offers the secret of the invention -(the precise nature of which is not apparent) to any customer of the -new foundry ordering type to the value of ten pounds and upwards.[615] -{301} - -How far this ingenuous offer had the effect of stimulating the type -business is not recorded; but the proprietors were forced before long -to recognise the desirability of adopting other and surer methods for -gaining the popular favour. - -Although Luckombe, writing in 1770,[616] mentions Moore along with -Caslon and Jackson, as one of the three London founders, the same -authority makes a decidedly disparaging reference to his types[617]; a -circumstance which may be accounted for by the then growing prejudice -amongst metropolitan printers against the Baskerville form of letter -adopted by the new foundry. - -Representations of a similar nature having been made from several -influential quarters, it became evident to the proprietors that if -they were to retain public favour at all, it must be by adapting -themselves to public taste, and abandoning the formal, delicate models -of Baskerville for the more serviceable, dashing characters of Caslon. - -This laborious task occupied several years in completion. Meanwhile the -original founts were not discarded. - -The printing office connected with the foundry distinguished itself in -the interval by the production of two highly interesting _Bibles_, the -one a folio, published in 1774, and the other an 8vo, in five volumes, -published 1774–6.[618] Both are elegantly printed in the clear Great -Primer letter shown in the 1770 Specimen; the latter being in long -lines specially for the use of the aged. The general appearance of the -folio edition compares not unfavourably with the Baskerville _Bible_ of -1772. - -In 1774, Pine printed at Bristol a very neat _Bible_ in the Pearl type -of the foundry, “being”, says the preface, “the smallest a Bible was -ever printed with, and made on purpose for this work.”[619] {302} - -Moore’s connection with the business appears to have terminated in -1776, after which the style of the firm became J. Fry and Co., who in -the following year issued, in their own name, reprints of the folio -and octavo _Bibles_ above referred to.[620] No specimen-sheet of their -types appeared till seven years later, by which time Mr. Pine had also -withdrawn from the business.[621] He continued to print the _Bristol -Gazette_ in Wine Street, Bristol, till the time of his death, which -occurred in 1803, at the age of sixty-four years. - -Left to himself, Mr. Fry, in the year 1782, admitted his sons Edmund -and Henry into partnership, under whose supervision the work of -re-cutting the Romans of the foundry made active progress. - -Edmund Fry, probably the most learned letter-founder of his day, had, -like his father, been educated for the medical profession, and had -taken his doctor’s degree. But the infirmity of deafness prevented him -from following that walk in life, and he abandoned it for typefounding, -applying himself to that pursuit, not only with the enthusiasm of an -ardent philologist, but also with considerable natural ability for -conducting the practical operations of the art. - -The year of his entry into the business (1782) was signalised by an -important event in the typefounding world—the sale of James’s foundry. -This event has been fully alluded to elsewhere,[622] but it is -interesting to note that the Frys were considerable purchasers on the -occasion, securing amongst other items the chief part of the “learned” -and foreign matrices, for which that collection was noted. - -The following list of their purchases forms an interesting connecting -link between the old and the new letter-foundries; particularly as -either punches or matrices of all the founts (and in some cases both) -still exist, many of the latter being to this day in occasional use:― -{303} - - _Blacks._[623]― - English [A.] - Pica [A.] - Small Pica [A.] - Long Primer [A.] - Brevier [G.] - Nonpareil [G.] - - _Hebrew._― - English [A?] - Small Pica - Long Primer (or Bourgeois) - Brevier - - _Rabbinical Hebrew._― - Small Pica [A.] - Brevier [A.] - Nonpareil [A.] - - _Greek._― - Alexandrian [G.] - Great Primer [G.] - Another [R?] - Pica [R?] - - _Arabic._― - Great Primer [A?] - - _Irish._― - Small Pica [M.] [A.] - - _Ethiopic._― - English [P.] [A.] - Pica - - _Samaritan._― - English [P.] [G.] - Long Primer - - _Scriptorial._― - Pica [G.] - English [G.] - - _Union Pearl._― - Double Pica [G.] - - _Court Hand._― - English [G.] - - _Flowers._—Nearly all - -The business was shortly afterwards removed to Worship Street, hard by -the old premises; and here, in 1785, the first specimen-book of the -foundry was issued. This volume exhibits the greater part of the new -Caslon series of Romans, which the proprietors in their “Advertisement” -frankly admit to have been cut in the closest possible imitation of -that ingenious artist’s models.[624] It includes also two pages of -Hebrew type. Later in the same year appeared a large broadside sheet -printed both sides, containing an epitome of the specimen-book, and -displaying, besides the Arabic, Hebrews, Greek and Samaritan {304} -recently acquired at James’s sale,one or two fresh Hebrew founts -lately finished. Considerable variety is thrown into this and later -specimens by showing each size not only on its own body, but upon the -bodies next larger and next smaller,—short descending sorts being -specially cut for the latter. The broadside also includes a Diamond -Roman, the first in England, for which the founders claim that it is -“the smallest letter in the world,” adding subsequently that it “gets -in considerably more than the famous Dutch Diamond.” - -[Illustration: 74. The Alexandrian Greek (formerly Grover’s), -rejustified by Dr. Fry, 1786. (From the original matrices.) - -74A. Two-line Great Primer Hebrew, cut by Dr. Fry, _circa_ 1785. (From -the original matrices.)] - -Another Specimen followed in 1786, showing several more of the new -founts, and including seven pages of Orientals. This volume is -dedicated to the Prince of Wales, and is prefaced by an address to -the public of the usual self-laudatory character, with a somewhat -aggressive reference to the rival foundry at Chiswell Street.[625] - -In the following year Mr. Joseph Fry retired from the business. -Besides founding a chocolate business in his native city, and becoming -a considerable {305} partner in the new Bristol Porcelain Works, -he had added to his other enterprises that of a Chemical Works at -Battersea, and later still had established some important Soap Works in -partnership with Mr. Alderman Fripp of Bristol. - -He did not long survive his retirement, and died, after a few days’ -illness, on March 29, 1787, aged fifty-nine, greatly respected. He -was buried in the Friends’ burial-ground at the Friars, Bristol. A -silhouette portrait of him is to be seen in Mr. Hugh Owen’s _Two -Centuries of Ceramic Art in Bristol_, where also many interesting -details of his life are to be found.[626] - -In 1787 was issued a _Specimen of Printing Types by Edmund Fry and -Co._—the first mention of the firm under its new title. This was -followed in the next year by a full specimen of the foundry, with -a preface and dedication similar to those of the 1786 edition, but -showing several fresh additions, particularly among the Orientals, -which occupy twelve pages. Of the latter, several founts had been cut -by Dr. Fry himself. - -The specimen of 1787 was included in the _Printer’s Grammar_[627] -published in that year—a work which makes considerable reference -to the Frys’ foundry, whose specimens and standards are used in -illustration of the various subjects dealt with. The introductory note -to the specimen gives the following account of the then condition of -the foundry. It “was begun in 1764 and has been continued with great -perseverance and assiduity, at a very considerable expence. The plan -on which they first sat out, was an improvement of the Types of the -late Mr. Baskerville of Birmingham, eminent for his ingenuity in his -line, as also for his curious Printing, many proofs of which are extant -and much admired: But the shape of Mr. Caslon’s Type has since been -copied by them with such accuracy as not to be distinguished from -those of that celebrated Founder. They have at present Twenty-seven -complete Founts in punches and matrices of Roman and Italic, besides -many sizes of larger Letter cast in Sand; also an elegant assortment of -Blacks, with Hebrews and Greeks, and many other Orientals: They have -also a greater variety of Flowers than are to be met with in any other -Foundery in this Kingdom.” - -The premises at Worship Street becoming inadequate for the type and -printing business combined, Dr. Fry took a plot of ground opposite -Bunhill Fields in Chiswell Street—then open fields—and there built -the foundry which gave its name to Type Street. To these premises the -business was removed in 1788; and the Specimen of that year dates from -the Type Street Foundry. {306} - -Among many elegant works printed at this time in the types of this -foundry was the Rev. Mr. Homer’s fine edition of the classics,[628] -printed by Millar Ritchie,[629] in which the somewhat rare compliment -was paid the founder, of adding his name to the list of typographers -engaged on the work. - -The printing business was about the same time dissociated from the -type-founding, and remained at Worship Street under the management of -Henry Fry, who styled his office the “Cicero Press.”[630] - -In the year 1794 Dr. Fry took Mr. Isaac Steele into partnership, and -the specimen of this year, under the title of Edmund Fry and Isaac -Steele, Letter-Founders to the Prince of Wales, shows a marked advance -on its predecessors. Besides the additional Romans, it includes -the Irish fount originally cut by Moxon in 1680, and is further -supplemented by a considerable display of “Metal Cast Ornaments, -curiously adjusted to paper”, of which a specimen had already appeared -in the preceding year. Rude as many of these cuts now appear, they were -much affected at the time, while a few of their number bear evident -testimony to the wholesome revolution then being effected in the art of -engraving by Mr. Bewick. A distinct improvement in the same direction -may be traced in the series of “Head and Fable Cuts” for _Dilworth’s -Spelling Book_, a specimen of which was issued shortly afterwards.[631] - -In 1798 Dr. Fry put forth proposals for publishing the important -philological work on which he had for sixteen years been engaged, -and which, in the following year, was issued under the title of -_Pantographia_, with a dedication to Sir Joseph Banks, President of the -Royal Society. {307} - -This important work,[632] which displays great learning and research, -was favourably received. It exhibits upwards of 200 alphabets, amongst -which are 18 varieties of the Chaldee and no less than 39 of the Greek. -Many of the letters were cut by the author expressly for the work, -under the direction or with the advice of some of the most eminent -scholars of the day, and not a few subsequently found a place among the -specimens of the foundry. - -In 1799 Mr. George Knowles was admitted into partnership, and the firm -became Fry, Steele and Co. - -A new revolution in the public taste necessitated at this stage the -abandonment of the Caslon Old Style faces, and the adoption of the -modern cut Roman letter then coming into vogue; and the specimens -between 1800 and 1808 are interesting as marking the gradual -accomplishment of this task. The specimen of 1803 showed the first of -the new Romans, and in 1808 Stower’s _Printer’s Grammar_ contained the -series almost complete.[633] - -The new style may have been considered an improvement at the time, but -a later judgment has endorsed the regret with which Dr. Fry and others -witnessed the then entire abandonment of the time-honoured and graceful -Elzevir-cut characters of the first Caslon. - -Naturally conservative in most matters pertaining to his art, Dr. Fry -viewed with the utmost displeasure another innovation of the same -period, in the introduction of ornamental type; and to the end of -his career he strenuously resisted the “pernicious fashion,” as he -styled it; yielding only to the extent of one small series of flowered -titling-letters, which crept into his later specimens. But, although -opposed to ornaments in this form, the Type Street specimens show no -lack of flowers, and Stower’s book includes a profuse specimen of these -ornaments, arranged in fantastic designs by Mr. Hazard, the printer, of -Bath.[634] - -Both Mr. Steele and Mr. Knowles appear to have retired about the -year 1808, when Dr. Fry assumed the sole management of the business. -In the specimen of 1816 he styles himself Letter Founder to the King -and Prince {308} Regent. Soon afterwards, his own health failing, he -admitted his son, Mr. Windover Fry, into partnership, and the firm -became Edmund Fry and Son. - -The subsequent specimens of the foundry are not marked by any special -feature of interest, if we except the introduction of M. Firmin Didot’s -Great Primer Script in 1821, containing upwards of sixty lower-case -sorts, in a system of ligatures and connectors so elaborate as to -necessitate the printing of a scheme to facilitate their composition, -and the manufacture of special cases to hold them. - -Dr. Fry’s philological studies had not ceased with the publication of -_Pantographia_, and he was constantly adding to the stock of punches -and matrices of the “learned” languages, in which his foundry was -already rich. His excellence as a cutter of Oriental punches led to -his selection by the University of Cambridge[635] to execute several -founts for that learned body; in addition to which he was employed to -produce types for the works of the British and Foreign Bible Society, -and similar biblical publications. - -His most important effort in this direction was an English Syriac for -Bagster’s _Polyglot_, with the points cast on the body, the entire -fount consisting of nearly 400 matrices. - -The specimen of 1824, which was issued both in octavo and (more -sumptuously) in quarto, for presentation, signalised the completion -of his efforts in this department, and at the same time notified that -the name of the foundry had been changed—not inappropriately—to the -Polyglot Foundry. - -It is to be regretted that Dr. Fry’s energy in one particular branch -of his art, congenial as it was to his own tastes, did not turn out -lucrative from a business point of view; and the last few years of his -career as a type-founder were not prosperous. His latest specimen was a -broadside sheet of Newspaper founts in 1827. - -In the same year he produced a raised type for the blind, under the -following circumstances:—The Scotch Society of Arts, anxious to promote -the welfare of the blind, and desirous to determine, among the many -systems at that time proposed, which was the most suitable method of -printing for their instruction, offered a gold medal of the value of -£20 for the best communication on the subject. Twenty designs were sent -in in 1833, of which Dr. Fry’s was the only one retaining the ordinary -alphabetical characters. His specimen consisted of large and small -square “sanseriff” capitals working in combination, with no deviation -from the regular form. The committee occupied four years in arriving -at a decision; employing the time in corresponding with and eliciting -{309} the opinion of all the chief persons interested and experienced -in the education of the blind, in reference to the various designs. -Amongst others they received a long communication from the Rev. W. -Taylor of York, who commended Dr. Fry’s system, approving specially of -the absence of a “lower-case” letter.[636] The report was published May -31st, 1837, awarding the medal to Dr. Fry, who, however, was at that -time no more, his death having occurred two years previously. - -The following summary of the contents of the Polyglot Foundry, as -far as its foreign and rare founts were concerned, is taken from the -Specimen Book of 1824, and corresponds closely to the list given in -Hansard’s _Typographia_ in the following year. With the exception of -the founts purchased at James’ sale in 1782 (which are distinguished -by the initials), most of the characters were cut by, or under the -direction of, Dr. Fry himself. - - -DR. FRY’S FOUNDRY. - - _Arabic._― - Great Primer [J?] - Great Primer, No. 2. - English. - - _Amharic._― - English. - - _Ethiopic._― - English [P.][A.][J.] - English, No. 2. - Pica. [J.] - - _German._― - Long Primer. - - _Greek._― - Double Pica. - Great Primer. - English. - Pica. - Pica, No. 2. - Small Pica. - Long Primer. - Long Primer, No. 2. - Brevier. - Nonpareil. - - _Greek Alexandrian._― - Pica. [G.][J.] - - _Guzerattee._― - Great Primer. - Long Primer. - - _Hebrew._― - 2-line Great Primer. - 2-line English. - Double Pica with points. - English with points. - Pica. - Small Pica. - Long Primer. - Bourgeois. - Brevier. - Nonpareil. - - _Hebrew Rabbinical._― - Small Pica [A.][J.] - Brevier [A.][J.] - Nonpareil. [A.][J.] - - _Irish._― - Pica. - Small Pica [M.][A.][J.] - Small Pica, No. 2. - - _Malabaric._― - English. - Pica. - - _Russian._― - Double Pica. - - _Samaritan._― - Pica [P.][G.][J.] - Long Primer [J.] - - _Saxon._― - Double Pica. - Great Primer. - English. - Pica. - Small Pica. - Long Primer. - Brevier. {310} - - _Syriac._― - English. - Long Primer. - - _Music._― - Large Plein Chant. - Small Plein Chant. - Psalm. - - _Blacks._― - 4-line. - 2-line Great Primer. - 2-line English. - Double Pica. - Great Primer. - English, No. 1. [A.][J.] - English, No. 2. - Pica, No. 1. - Pica, No. 2. [A.][J.] - Small Pica. - Long Primer. [A.][J.] - Brevier.[637] - -In 1828, being now of an advanced age, and after 46 years’ incessant -labour, Dr. Fry decided to dispose of his foundry; and a circular was -issued announcing the fact to the public. This document, throwing as -it does considerable light on the history of the Type Street Foundry, -is interesting enough to quote at length. After enumerating generally -the contents of the foundry and stating the conditions of sale, Dr. Fry -remarks: - - “The Substructure of this Establishment was laid about the year - 1764; commencing with improved imitations of Baskerville’s founts, - of which every size was completed, from the largest down to the - Diamond: but they did not meet the encouraging approbation of the - Printers, whose offices generally, throughout the kingdom, were - stored from the London and Glasgow Founderies with Types of the - form introduced by the celebrated William Caslon, early in the - last century; chiefly from the admired Dutch models, which gained - so much credit to the Elzevirs of Amsterdam, Leyden, &c. - - “By the recommendation, therefore, of several of the most - respectable Printers of the Metropolis, Doctor Fry, the - proprietor, commenced his imitation of the Chiswell Street - Foundery, which he successfully finished throughout all it’s - various sizes, at a vast expense, and with very satisfactory - encouragement, during the completion of it. At which period a - rude, pernicious, and most unclassical innovating System was - commenced, which, in a short time was followed by the most - injurious and desolating ravages on the property of every - Letter Founder and Printer in the kingdom, by the introduction - of fancy letters of various anomalous forms, with names as - appropriate—disgraceful in a Profession, once held so _Sacred_, - as to have it’s operations confined to consecrated Buildings, and - those of the highest class. - - “The Baskerville and Caslon imitations, all completed with - Accents, Fractions, &c., were, in consequence of this revolution, - laid by for ever; and many thousand pounds weight of new letter - in Founts, estimated on the average at selling prices, at 2_s._ - 6_d._ per pound, were taken from the shelves, and carried to the - melting-pot to be recast into Types, no doubt, in many instances, - more beautiful; but no instance has occurred to the attentive - observation of the Proprietor of this Foundery, where any Founts - of book letter on the present system, have been found equal in - service, or {311} really so agreeable to the reader, as the - true _Caslon_-shaped Elzevir Types; and this is the undisguised - sentiment of many judicious Printers. - - “When that eminent Printer, the late William Bowyer, gave - instructions to Joseph Jackson to cut his beautiful Pica Greek, he - used to say “Those in common use were no more Greek than they were - English.” Were he now living, it is likely he would not have any - reason to alter that opinion. - - “The Greeks of this Foundery were many of them made in Type - Street, copied from those of the celebrated Foulis of Glasgow; and - there are two, a Pica, and a Long Primer, on the Porsonian plan. - The Codex Alexandrinus was purchased at James’ Sale in 1782.[638] - - “The Hebrews were also chiefly cut by Dr. Fry, subject to the - direction and approbation of the most learned Hebraists. - - “The two Arabics,[639] Great Primer and English, were cut from - the original drawings of, and under the personal direction of Dr. - Wilkins, Oriental Librarian to the East India Company; and have no - rival either in beauty or correctness. - - “The Syriac[640] has been made within the last two years, with all - it’s vowel points, reduced to an English body, from the Double - Pica of the eminent Assemann’s edition of Ludolph’s Testament. - - “The English, No. 1, and Pica Ethiopics—the Pica and Long Primer - Samaritans, were purchased at James’s sale. The other Orientals, - viz. two Malabarics—the Amharic—Ethiopic, No. 3, and Guzerattee, - were all cut at this Foundery. As was the fine collection of - Blacks, or pointed Gothics, except the English, No. 1,—Pica, - No. 2,—Long Primer, No. 1,—and Brevier, which were collected by - the late John James. There is good authority for believing that - this Pica Black, No. 2, was once the property of {312} William - Caxton[641]; Doctor Fry having recut for a reprint of a work - published by the celebrated man, all the contractions and accented - letters exhibited in the Specimen Book. - - “The Occidentals, as termed by Moxon, Mores, and others, viz. the - Saxons, Hibernians,[642] German, and Russian, were also produced - at this Foundery. As were the two Plein Chants, and the Psalm - Music. - - “The Great Primer Script, which, it must be acknowledged, is the - _Ne plus ultra_ of every effort of the Letter Founder in imitation - of writing, was made for the Proprietor by the celebrated Firmin - Didot, at Paris; the Matrices are of Steel, and the impressions - from the Punches sunk in _inlaid Silver !_[643] - - “In taking leave of a Profession, which has for many years - engaged his whole attention, the Proprietor begs to convey, - through this channel, the high sense of obligation he hopes to - retain during his life, for the great encouragement with which - he has been favoured for so long a period; as well as for the - generous assistance and advice of many of his learned Friends, in - the _getting up_, and accurate completion of various undertakings. - It is also with much gratification, that he can look back and - recall to recollection, that he has carefully followed their - advices, in not admitting into {313} his Foundery any article - degrading or disgraceful, or unbecoming the dignity of that Art, - which deserves to be looked up to and revered as the ‘Head of the - republic of letters:’—claiming Permission to recommend to his - Successor and Contemporaries, the steady pursuit of that plan - which will secure the reputation of the _once Sacred_ Profession, - and restore to it the honourable Character it obtained several - Centuries ago, of - - “ARS ARTIUM OMNIUM CONSERVATRIX.” - - “_Polyglot Letter Foundery, 2nd month 14th, 1828._” - -The foundry met with a purchaser in Mr. William Thorowgood, of Fann -Street, to whose premises the entire stock was removed in 1829, where -it now forms part of the Fann Street Foundry. - -Dr. Fry retired to his residence at Stratford Green, and subsequently -removed to Dalby Terrace, City Road, where he died Dec. 22, 1835.[644] - -He was an old Member of the Stationers’ Company. In private life he was -a man of genial disposition. A portrait of him, painted by Frederique -Boileau, was exhibited in the Caxton Exhibition of 1877 by his son, the -late Arthur Fry, and an excellent silhouette is also in possession of -the family of the late Mr. Francis Fry, F.S.A., of Bristol, to whom we -are indebted for our copy. - - -LIST OF SPECIMENS, 1768–1827. - - 1768. A specimen by Isaac Moore, Bristol, 1768. Broadside. . . . . - (Renouard, _Cat._ ii, 310.) - - 1768. A specimen of Printing Types by Isaac Moore & Co., Letter - Founders, in Queen Street, near Upper Moorfields, London, 1768. - Broadside. . . . . (Sohmian Coll., Stockholm.) - - 1770. A specimen of Printing Types by Isaac Moore & Co., Letter - Founders, of Queen Street, near Upper Moorfields, London, 1770. - Broadside. . . . . (Caxt. Cel., 4371.) - - 1785. A specimen of Printing Types made by Joseph Fry and Sons, - Letter Founders and Marking Instrument Makers by the King’s Royal - Letters Patent. London, Printed in the year 1785. 8vo. . . . . (B. - M., 679, e. 16.) - - 1785. A specimen of Printing Types by Joseph Fry & Sons, Letter - Founders, Worship Street, Moorfields, London, 1785. Broadside. - . . . . (T. B. R.) - - 1786. A specimen of Printing Types by Joseph Fry & Sons, Letter - Founders to the Prince of Wales. London, Printed in the year 1786. - 8vo. . . . . (W. B.) - - 1787. A specimen of Printing Types by Edmund Fry & Co., 1787. 8vo. - . . . . (_Printer’s Grammar_, pp. 273–316.) - - 1788. A specimen of Printing Types by Edmund Fry & Co., Letter - Founders to the Prince of Wales. London, Printed in the year 1788. - 8vo. . . . . (T. B. R.) - - 1790. A specimen of Printing Types by Edmund Fry & Co., Letter - Founders to the Prince of Wales. London, Printed in the year 1790. - 8vo. . . . . (Sohmian Coll., Stockholm.) {314} - - 1793. Specimen of Metal Cast Ornaments, curiously adjusted to - Paper by Edmund Fry & Co., Letter Founders to the Prince of Wales, - Type Street, London. Printed by T. Rickaby, 1793. 8vo. . . . . - (Amer. Antiq. Soc.) - - 1794. A specimen of Printing Types by Fry & Steele, Letter - Founders to the Prince of Wales, Type Street, London. Printed by - T. Rickaby, 1794. 8vo. . . . . (B. M., 11899, i. 18.) - - 1794. Specimen of Metal Cast Ornaments, curiously adjusted to - paper by Edmund Fry and Isaac Steele, Letter Founders to the - Prince of Wales, Type Street, London. Printed by T. Rickaby, 1794. - 8vo. . . . . (W. B.) - - 1795. A specimen of Printing Types by Fry & Steele, Letter - Founders to the Prince of Wales, Type Street, London. Printed by - T. Rickaby, 1795. 8vo. . . . . (T. B. R.) - - 1800. A specimen of Printing Types by Fry, Steele and Co., Letter - Founders to the Prince of Wales, Type Street, London. Printed in - the year 1800. 8vo. . . . . (T. B. R.) - - Reprinted 1801 and 1803. - - 1805. A specimen of Printing Types by Fry & Steele, Letter - Founders to the Prince of Wales, Type Street, London. Printed in - the year 1805. 8vo. . . . . (T. B. R.) - - 1805. Specimen of Metal Cast Ornaments, curiously adjusted to - paper by Fry and Steele, Letter Founders to the Prince of Wales, - Type Street, London. Printed in the year 1805. 8vo. . . . . (W. B.) - - No date. Specimen sheet of Head and Fable Cuts for Dilworth’s - Spelling Book, cast on hard metal, and curiously adjusted to paper - on the best Turkey Box, by Fry and Steele, Letter Founders, Type - Street, London. Price £4 4_s._ (1805?). Broadside. . . . . (Caxt. - Cel., 4386.) - - 1808. Specimens of Modern Cut Printing Types from the Foundry of - Messrs. Fry and Steele; together with a Specimen of Flowers. 1808. - 8vo. . . . . (Stower’s _Printer’s Grammar_.) - - 1816. A specimen of Printing Types by Edmund Fry, Letter Founder - to the King and Prince Regent, Type Street, London, 1816. 8vo. - . . . . (B. M., 11899, h. 11.) - - 1820. Specimen of Modern Printing Types by Edmund Fry and Son, - Letter Founders to the King, Type Street, London, 1820. 8vo. - . . . . (T. B. R.) - - 1824. Specimen of Modern Printing Types by Edmund Fry, Letter - Founder to the King (Polyglot Foundry), Type Street, London. 1824. - 4to. and 8vo. . . . . (B. M., 11899, h. 12.) - - 1825. A specimen of Diamond, by Edmund Fry, March 1825. 8vo. - . . . . (T. B. R.) - - 1827. Fry’s Newspaper Specimen, Type Street, 1827. Broadside. - . . . . (J. F.) - -[Illustration] - -{315} - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -JOSEPH JACKSON, 1763. - - -Joseph Jackson, apprentice to Caslon I, was born in Old Street, London, -on Sept. 4, 1733. He was the first child baptised in St. Luke’s, and -received his education at a school in that neighbourhood, the gift of -a Mr. Fuller. During the term of his service at Chiswell Street, he -was, says Nichols,[645] exceedingly tractable in the common branches -of the business. Rowe Mores states that he was an “apprentice to the -whole art,”[646] but this term evidently does not comprehend the most -important branch of that art, namely the cutting of punches. This -was kept a profound secret at Chiswell Street, Mr. Caslon and his -son constantly locking themselves into the apartment in which they -practised it. Jackson, who had a great desire to learn the mystery, -bored a hole through the wainscot, and was thus, at different times, -able to watch his employers through the process, and to form some idea -how the whole was performed; and he afterwards applied himself at every -opportunity to the finishing of a punch. “When he had completed one to -his own mind, he presented it to his master, expecting to be rewarded -for his ingenuity: but the premium he received was a hard blow, with a -threat that he should be sent to Bridewell if he again made a similar -attempt. This circumstance being taken in dudgeon, his mother bought -him what tools were necessary, and he improved himself at her house -whenever he had an opportunity.” {316} - -“He continued,” adds Nichols, “to work for Mr. Caslon after he came out -of his time,[647] till a quarrel arose in the foundery about the price -of work; and a memorial, which terminated in favour of the workmen, -being sent to the elder Caslon (who was then in the Commission of -the Peace, and had retired to Bethnal Green), young Jackson and Mr. -Cottrell were discharged, as supposed ringleaders. - -“Compelled thus to seek employment, they united their slender stock in -a partnership, and went on prosperously till, Jackson’s mother dying, -he entered in 1759, on board the “Minerva” frigate, as armourer; and -in May 1761 was removed, with Capt. Alexander Hood, into the same -situation in the “Aurora”; and proved somewhat successful, having about -£40 prize money to receive at the Peace of 1763. During the time he was -at sea, he was visited by a severe fit of sickness, in which he vowed, -if he recovered, to lead in future a very penitent life; which promise -he punctually fulfilled.” - -Quitting the navy, he returned to London and rejoined once more his old -comrade and partner, now a fully-established type-founder in Nevil’s -Court, Fetter Lane. He worked for some time under Cottrell, but at -length, at the instigation, it would appear, of two of his fellow -workmen, Robinson and Hickson (who shared with Cottrell the distinction -of serving as privates in the Life Guards), he determined to set up in -business for himself. - -The necessary capital for the new concern was found by Robinson and -Hickson, who agreed to allow Jackson, as his salary for conducting the -business under the partnership, the sum of £62 8s. per annum, and to -supply money for carrying on the trade for two years. - -A small house in Cock Lane was taken for the purpose, and such was the -modest beginning of this famous foundry. - -The hazardous adventure succeeded, thanks to the genius of Jackson, -who was able soon to satisfy his partners that the business would be -productive before the time promised. - -“When he had pursued his labours about six months, Mr. Bowyer -accidentally calling to inspect some of his punches (for he had no -specimen), approved them so much, that he promised to employ him; -adding, ‘My father was the means of old Mr. Caslon riding in his coach, -how do you know but I may be the means of your doing the same?’ - -[Illustration: 75. From _Nichols’ Literary Anecdotes_.] - -“A short time after this, he put out a small specimen of one fount; -which his former young master carried to Bethnal Green with an air -of contempt. The good old justice treated it otherwise; and desired -his son ‘to take it home and {317} preserve it; and whenever he went -to cutting again to look well at it.’ It is but justice to the third -William Caslon to add that he always acknowledged the abilities of -Mr. Jackson; and though rivals in an art which requires the greatest -exertions of ingenuity, they lived in habits of reciprocal friendship.” - -It is much to be regretted that no copy of Jackson’s first specimen -sheet (which we may assume to have been issued about 1665) is now to be -discovered. - -Business increasing, he removed from Cock Lane to more commodious -premises in Dorset Street, Salisbury Square, Fleet Street, and here his -foundry and reputation made rapid advances. - -“About the year 1771”, Nichols relates, “he was applied to by the -Duke of Norfolk to make a mould to cast a hollow square. Telling the -Duke that he thought this was practicable, his Grace observed that he -had applied to all the skilful mechanicks in London, Mr. Caslon not -excepted, who declared it impossible. He soon convinced the Duke of his -abilities, and in the course of three months, producing what his Grace -had been years in search of, was ever after held in great estimation by -the Duke, who considered him as the first mechanick in the kingdom.” - -In 1773, it would appear that Jackson issued a further specimen of his -now increasing foundry. Of this performance Rowe Mores makes flattering -mention in presenting his summary of the contents of the foundry as it -stood in that year:― - -“Mr. Jackson,” he says, “lives in Salisbury Court in Fleet Street. -He is obliging and communicative, and his Specimen will, _adjuvante -numine_, have place amongst the literate specimens of English letter -cutters. The prognostics are these:― - - -“MR. JACKSON’S FOUNDERY. - - ORIENTALS: - - _Hebrew._― - Double Pica. - - _Persic._― - English. - - _Bengal._― - (or Modern Sanskrit), a corruption of the older characters of the - Hindoos, the ancient inhabitants of Bengal. - - OCCIDENTALS: - - _Greek._― - English, Long Primer, Brevier. - - _Roman and Italic._― - _sicut et reliqui._ - - SEPTENTRIONALS: - - _English._― - 2-line Great Primer. - - _Scriptorial._― - Double Pica, nearly finished. - -“He has likewise Proscription letters beginning at 12-line Pica, the -same with those of Mr. Cottrell, the first who cut letters of this -dimension.” - -With regard to the Bengalee letter, Rowe Mores states that this was -cut by Jackson “for Mr. William Bolts, Judge of the Mayor’s Court of -Calcutta, for a work in which he had been engaged at the time of his -sudden departure from England about 1774.”[648] {318} - -The work here referred to was the _Grammar of the Bengal Language_, -projected by the East India Company as part of a scheme for the -dissemination of a knowledge of the Indian Languages in Europe. It -appears, however, that although Mr. Bolts was supposed to be in every -way competent for the fabrication of this intricate character, his -models, as copied by Jackson, failed to give satisfaction, and the -work was for the time abandoned;[649] to be revived and executed some -few years later in a more masterly and accurate manner by Mr. Charles -Wilkins,[650] then in the service of the East India Company in Bengal, -{319} who with an extraordinary combination of talents, succeeded, by -the work of his own hand, in designing, engraving, casting and printing -the _Grammar_ published at Hoogly in 1778. - -Mr. Bolts’ failure in this particular reflects no discredit on -Jackson, who faithfully reproduced the models given him, and who -displayed his talent in the same direction shortly after by the -production of a fount of Deva Nagari, cut under the direction of -Captain William Kirkpatrick, of the East India Service, and Persian -Secretary to the Commander-in-Chief for India, for the purpose of -printing a _Grammar and Dictionary_ in that language. - -Of this fount a specimen remains—the only specimen extant, we believe, -bearing Jackson’s name. It is a broadside, displaying in table form -the alphabet and combinations of the Sanscrit, and exhibits no small -delicacy of workmanship, not only in the Oriental character itself, but -in the few lines of Roman letter composing the title. There is no date -to the specimen. - -Captain Kirkpatrick’s _Dictionary_ was never completed. One part only -appeared in 1785,[651] containing the Glossary of the Arabic and -Persian words incorporated with the Hindu, and in this no Nagari is -used. All the remaining parts of the work, as first projected, depended -on the new type; but as they never appeared, the object for which the -fount was cut was lost. - -The next important undertaking which engaged Jackson’s talents was -one of national interest. The House of Lords had, in the year 1767, -determined upon printing the Journals and Parliamentary records, “a -work, which,” says {320} Nichols, “will ever reflect honour on the -good taste and munificence of the present reign” (George III). Jackson -had been employed to cut several varieties of letter for this work; -and he was now called upon to assist in a further outcome of the same -good taste and munificence, in the production of type for the splendid -facsimile of the _Domesday Book_, begun in 1773. This important work -was projected and carried through by Dr. Nichols himself, and a brief -account of the circumstances under which it saw the light may be -interesting and not out of place here. - -The Lords, it appears, being petitioned to sanction the printing of -the _Domesday Book_, the most important of the Anglo-Saxon records, -as a matter of national importance, referred, through the Treasury -Board, to the Society of Antiquaries as to the mode in which it should -be published, whether by printing-types, or by having a copy of the -manuscript engraved in facsimile. By the examination of several -eminent printers, it was learned that according to the first plan -very many unavoidable errors would occur; a tracing of the record -was then proposed, to be transferred to copper plates. An estimate -of the expense of this was next ordered by the Treasury Board, which -amounted to £20,000 for the printing and engraving of 1250 copies, -each containing 1664 plates; but this sum, however proportionate, was -considered too large, and the first plan was again reverted to. - -It was then proposed by the learned Dr. Morton that a fount of -facsimile types should be cut under his superintendence. This -undertaking, however, failed, and Dr. Morton received £500 for doing -little or nothing, and nearly £200 more for types that were of no use. -The founder to whom Dr. Morton applied was Thomas Cottrell, a specimen -of whose unsuccessful fount appeared shortly afterwards in Luckombe’s -_History of Printing_, 1770. - -Dr. Morton’s plan being abandoned, on account of the difficulty of -producing in type letters which, in the manuscript, were constantly -differing in their forms, the work was entrusted to Mr. Abraham Farley, -F.R.S., a gentleman of great Record learning, and who had had access to -the ancient MSS. for upwards of forty years. His knowledge, however, -did not induce him to differ from his original in a single instance, -even when he found an apparent error; he preserved in his transcript -every interlineation and contraction, and his copy was ultimately -placed in Mr. Nichols’ hands. Jackson was then employed to cut the -types, and successfully accomplished the difficult undertaking.[652] -The work occupied ten {321} years in printing, and appeared in 1783, -in two folio volumes.[653] The type was destroyed in the fire which -consumed the printing-office of Mr. Nichols in 1808, previous to which, -however, it was used in Kelham’s Introduction and Glossary to the -_Domesday Book_ in 1788.[654] - -It was Jackson’s success, no doubt, in his facsimile letter for the -_Domesday Book_, which led to his selection shortly afterwards by -Mr. Nichols to cut the type for Dr. Woide’s[655] facsimile of the -New Testament of the _Alexandrian Codex_ in the British Museum. To -the history of this priceless relic reference has been made once or -twice in the course of this work.[656] Only one attempt had previously -been made to reproduce its character in type,—that of Dr. Patrick -Young, in 1643, within a few years of the arrival of the manuscript -in this country. In this letter was printed a specimen containing -the first chapter of Genesis. But the project was abandoned, and -the matrices, there is reason to believe, subsequently passed into -Grover’s Foundry, and afterwards, through James, into the possession -of Dr. Fry in 1782.[657] That Mr. Nichols was acquainted with their -existence in 1778 is almost certain, since they are mentioned in Rowe -Mores’ _Dissertation_, which he himself edited and annotated. But -not being sufficiently exact for the purpose, and, at the same time, -it being decided that the facsimile should be produced through the -medium of type in preference to other process,[658] Mr. Jackson was -fixed on to cut a new set of punches from the transcript made by Dr. -Woide’s own hand. To this task he proved fully equal, and the work -issued from Mr. Nichols’ press in 1786[659]—a splendid folio edition, -worthy alike of {322} its subject and the artists who produced it. The -unusual compliment was, in this instance, paid to the letter-founder -of mentioning his name on the title-page as the author of the types -employed in the work. - -The matrices were afterwards deposited in the British Museum, and -were again brought into requisition when, in 1812, Mr. Baber produced -his facsimile of the _Psalms_[660] from the Alexandrian MS., and -afterwards, in 1816–21, at the press of Messrs. R. and A. Taylor, -completed the entire _Old Testament_.[661] Thus concluded this great -enterprise, which has been justly characterised by the Abbé Jager as -“_opus plane aureum_.” - -Jackson having now become famous for his skill in this particular -branch of his art, was called upon shortly before his death to -execute a work of scarcely less importance than the facsimile of the -Alexandrian Greek. This was to cut the punches for Dr. Kipling’s -facsimile of the celebrated _Codex Bezæ_ preserved at the University -of Cambridge. The character of this MS. differs considerably from -that of the Alexandrine; and, being less regular in its execution, -the difficulty of reproducing it in type is proportionately greater. -Jackson, however, accomplished his task faithfully and with marked -success. Unhappily his death in 1792 prevented him from seeing in -print the fruit of his labours, as the work did not appear till the -following year, when it was published at Cambridge in two beautiful -folio volumes,[662]—a work which, says its reviewer, “reflects honour -on the University of Cambridge, and its editor, and, we may add, on -the late excellent letter-founder, Mr. Jackson, who cut the types -for this handsome book, as well as for the Alexandrine MS. and for -_Domesday_.”[663] - -Jackson’s reputation was not by any means wholly dependent on his -skill in expressing in type the character of ancient and difficult -manuscripts. - -During the time he was occupied in the works above described, he -made several useful additions to his foundry. Amongst others, he cut -a beautiful {323} fount of Pica Greek for Mr. Bowyer, “who,” says -Nichols,[664] “used to say that the types in common use were no more -Greek than they were English.” - -“He had also, under the direction of Joseph Steele, the ingenious -author of _Prosodia Rationalis_,[665] augmented the number of musical -notes by such as represent the emphasis and cadence of prose.” This -curious work, designed to show how the recitation of Garrick and other -eminent speakers might be transmitted to posterity in score, was -printed by Nichols in 1779, being an amplified edition of a treatise -published four years previously,[666] in which Jackson’s “expression -symbols” were made use of. - -The most important work of his later years was undoubtedly the splendid -fount of 2-line English Roman, cut for Mr. Bensley, about the year -1789, for Macklin’s _Bible_.[667] As in the case of the Bezæ _Gospels_, -he did not live to see the completion of his labours in the publication -of this grand edition, which did not appear till some years after his -death, and then in a type not wholly his own, but supplemented, in -close facsimile, by a fount cut by his former apprentice and manager, -Vincent Figgins.[668] Jackson’s grand letter is justly counted among -his greatest achievements, exhibiting, as Nichols observes, a pattern -of the most perfect symmetry to which the art had at that time -arrived.”[669] - -A crowning monument to the skill of this excellent artist is Robert -Bowyer’s sumptuous edition of Hume’s _History of England_, printed -by Bensley[670] in 1806, in a Double Pica type, on which Jackson was -engaged at the time of his death. On the execution of this fount -he appears to have staked his reputation; “Mr. Jackson,“ says his -biographer in the _Gentleman’s Magazine_,[671]” had been engaged to cut -the letter for the projected edition of Hume’s _History of England_, -which he declared should ‘be the most exquisite performance of the -kind in this or any other country.’ And accordingly he had, in a great -degree, accomplished his purpose, but his anxiety and application were -so intense that his health suffered and he fell a victim to the great -undertaking.” {324} - -This circumstance was made the occasion of a curious and affecting -Elegy, of which we will venture to inflict a specimen on the reader, -not on account of its merit, but as being a rare instance of a -letter-founder becoming the object of a poetical tribute:― - - “Patrons of merit, heave the sadden’d sigh ! - Ye brilliant dewdrops, hang on Beauty’s eye ! - Let heavy hearts beat with the tolling bell, - And mourn the fatal hour when _Jackson_ fell ! - His were the gifts the Gods alone impart― - A _tow’ring genius_ and a _tender heart_ ! - A greatness equalled only by his skill― - A goodness greater than his greatness still; - An ardent zeal each purpose to _obtain_, - Which Virtue and the Arts might entertain. - But Fate in jealous fury snatched him hence - The moment he accomplished excellence ! - _Tenax propositi_—his art he tried, - Achieved perfection—and achieving died !” etc. - -Although anxiety and overwork may have contributed to Jackson’s death, -the immediate cause was a severe attack of scarlet-fever, which carried -him off on January 14th, 1792, in the 59th year of his age. The last -few years of his life had been considerably troubled. In 1790 his -foundry was destroyed by a fire, in which his moulds and matrices were -seriously damaged. The shock of this calamity affected both his health -and his energy, and the management of his business was, during his -later years, left almost entirely in the hands of his trusted servant, -Mr. Vincent Figgins. The foundry was rebuilt, and the damaged materials -were, as far as possible (though not wholly), replaced at the time of -his death. - -Mr. Jackson was twice married—first to Miss Elizabeth Tassell, -originally a whinster in Spitalfields, “a very worthy woman,” says -Nichols, “and an excellent wife, who greatly contributed by her -care and industry to his getting forward in his first entering into -business” She died in 1783, and, in the following year, Mr. Jackson -married Mrs. Pasham, widow of a well-known printer in Blackfriars,[672] -a union which materially assisted him in the means of carrying on his -{325} business. This lady died in 1791, her husband surviving his -bereavement only a few months. He was buried in the same grave with his -two wives in the ground of Spa Fields Chapel. - -Of Jackson’s private character his contemporaries concur in speaking -very highly. “By the death of this ingenious artist and truly worthy -man,” says Nichols, “the poor lost a most excellent benefactor, his own -immediate connexions a steady friend, and the literary world a valuable -coadjutor in their labours.” He was a deacon at the Meeting-House in -Barbican, where a funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. Mr. Towers, -who also delivered a “neat funeral oration,” at the grave. He died -possessed of some considerable property. There is an oil portrait -of him in the possession of Mr. Blades, and an engraved portrait in -Nichols’ _Literary Anecdotes_, from which our copy is taken. - -It is unfortunately impossible to ascertain in what condition his -foundry was left at the time of his death—how far it had recovered from -the consequences of the fire, or how far that calamity had destroyed, -beyond replacing, any of its contents. - -It was offered for sale in 1792, and Mr. Figgins, the presumptive -successor to the business, not finding himself in a position to -become its purchaser, it was acquired by William Caslon III, who had -recently disposed of his share in the Chiswell Street Foundry, over -whose affairs he had for some years been presiding.[673] He removed -the Foundry from Dorset Street to Finsbury Square, where for a few -years it remained located; but presently transferred it back to its old -quarters, leaving the house in Finsbury Square to be converted by James -Lackington, the celebrated bookseller, into the “Temple of the Muses,” -one of the largest and most popular old book-shops of the day. - -In the hands of Mr. Caslon, Jackson’s foundry was greatly enlarged -and improved. The specimen of 1798, dedicated to the King, exhibits -19 pages of Titlings and open letters, 1 of Ornamental, 35 of Roman -and Italic, 8 of foreign letter and Blacks, 1 of Script, 5 of sundry -specimens, and 12 of Flowers.”[674] - -The book has many features in common with the Chiswell Street specimen -of 1785, many of the founts in which re-appear here. Indeed, it would -seem that on relinquishing his share in the parental business, William -Caslon III had provided himself with duplicate matrices of several of -the Chiswell Street founts, {326} particularly of the Foreign and -Oriental letters, which figure prominently in this and subsequent -specimens of the Salisbury Square Foundry. - -Bound with the book is a specimen of Cast Ornaments, a species of a -typographical embellishment which Caslon III had had the merit of -introducing into this country in 1784, while still at Chiswell Street. -In this particular too, the Salisbury Square specimen is a reproduction -of that of the Chiswell Street house. - -About the year 1803 Mr. Caslon took his son, the fourth William -Caslon, into partnership, and the firm became W. Caslon & Son. The -specimen of this year exhibits a slight increase on that of 1798, -the chief additions being in the modern-faced Romans, then becoming -fashionable. The learned and Oriental founts remain unaltered from the -1798 specimen, and as this is the last specimen of the foundry in which -these occupy a prominent place, it will be convenient to give the list -here: - - _Greek._― - Double Pica, Great Primer, English, English new, Pica, Small Pica, - Long Primer, Brevier, Nonpareil. - - _Hebrew._― - 2-line Great Primer, 2-line English, Double Pica, Great Primer, - ditto with points, English, ditto with points, Pica, ditto with - points, Small Pica, Long Primer, Brevier. - - _Syriac._― - English, Long Primer. - - _Arabic._― - English. - - _Armenian._― - Pica. - - _Samaritan._― - Pica. - - _Saxon._― - English, Pica, Brevier. - - _Blacks._― - 2-line Great Primer, Double Pica, Great Primer, English 1, English - 2, Pica 1, Pica 2, Small Pica, Long Primer, Brevier. - -The whole of these founts, with the exception of the new English Greek, -are identical with those shown in the Chiswell Street Specimen of 1785. - -The Specimen Book of 1803 appears to have served the foundry for -several years; as copies exist in which the date is altered by hand to -1807, and the name of the firm changed from “W. Caslon & Son” to “W. -Caslon, Junior.” - -This last alteration was consequent on the retirement of William Caslon -III from the business in 1807. Although this gentleman’s connection -with type founding ceases here,[675] we cannot refrain from quoting the -few sentences in which Mr. Hansard, in 1825, describes his personal -character, while the subject of his notice was yet living:― - -[Illustration: 76. From _Hansard_.] - -“If his friends had not yet the pleasure of occasionally receiving his -lively salutations—of enjoying the gay and gentlemanlike converse, -the whim, the anecdote, and the agreeable bagatelle of William Caslon -aforesaid, I might be induced to amplify on these points . . . The -mention, however, of one thing must not be omitted. Some years ago he -was deprived of sight by the {327} formation of a cataract in each eye; -still his musical ear furnished the faculty of distinguishing persons -whom he knew by their voices; and his cheerful spirits enabled him to -sustain the calamity with a becoming temper of mind. At length, his -courage, in undergoing the operation of couching three several times, -was rewarded with the perfect restoration of his sight; and his friends -again experience the delight of hearing him truly say, ‘Ah! I’m happy -to see you, by ——.’ But although ever ready with anecdote and whim to -enliven, still more to his honour as a man, may it be added, that he -can at once turn the cheerful smile into serious solicitations, for -the assistance of a decayed old friend, his orphan, or his widow.” Mr. -Caslon died in 1833. The portrait here given is taken from that in -Hansard’s _Typographia_. - -William Caslon IV, being left in sole possession of the foundry, -made considerable progress in extending the business, especially by -the addition of the new fashioned fat-faced types, at that period so -largely affected. His chief improvement, however, was the introduction -in 1810 of the Sanspareil matrices for large letters.[676] This -invention, which Hansard somewhat extravagantly describes as the -greatest improvement in the art of letter-founding that has taken place -in modern times, consisted in the substitution of pierced, or rather -built-up matrices, in place of the old sand moulds hitherto in use, and -it rapidly secured favour in the trade, and was as early as possible -adopted by the other founders. - -In 1812, Mr. Caslon also took out a patent for a new form of type -for imposing on a cylinder, of a size from 1/3 to 1/7th that of -ordinary type, and cast wedge-shaped, or larger at the end containing -the face than at the foot; an attempt which reflected more credit on -the ingenuity of its author than upon his practical judgment, and which -was not proceeded with.[677] - -Although no complete specimen book of Caslon IV has occurred to our -notice of a later date than that of 1807 (which is itself the 1803 -book altered by pen and ink), the numerous sheets appearing from time -to time, and collected in the first specimen of his successors, prove -that one or more specimens of the foundry must have appeared during the -interval. - -In 1819, Mr. Caslon, Junr. disposed of his foundry to Messrs. Blake, -Garnett & Co., of Sheffield, to which town the entire stock was removed. - -After his retirement from type-founding, he devoted himself actively -to the {328} scheme for lighting London with coal-gas. For some of his -appliances in connection with this business—the sliding water-joints -for pendants and chandeliers amongst others—he received the medal -of the Society of Arts (his only reward, for he did not patent his -invention). In 1832 he went to reside at Henley, and ten years later -was afflicted with total blindness, an operation for cataract having -proved unsuccessful. In this state he continued for twenty-seven years, -“tired,” as he said, “of having been so long in the dark,” but serene -in temper, and his mind illuminated with Christian hope. He taught -himself to read the embossed printing for the blind, and was able to -write by the aid of a simple apparatus constructed for that purpose. He -lived, in spite of his affliction, to a cheerful old age, and died in -1869, aged 88. He left no son. - -To estimate the complete revolution which had taken place in the -productions of this foundry during the interval between 1807 and 1819, -it is only necessary to glance through the first specimen book of -the new proprietors, issued in the latter year, which may be taken -to represent the state of the foundry pretty nearly as it was at the -time of its transfer to Sheffield. There is not a single fount in the -one book which reappears in the other. The modern fat-face Romans and -Egyptians[678] take the place of Jackson’s elegant old-style letters. -The Orientals have completely disappeared, and the general appearance -of the book reflects as much as any specimen of the period the -prevalent taste of a so-called improved art. - -It was, apparently, highly esteemed in its day. “Mr. Caslon,” says -Hansard, writing only six years after the event, “transferred to the -Sheffield founders such a specimen of type and flowers as will ever -cause us printers to regret the loss of such a competitor for fame in -this difficult business.” - -Messrs. Blake, Garnett & Co., a firm formed for the special purpose -of acquiring the type business, issued their first specimen, above -referred to, very shortly after the transfer of the business to its new -quarters. Their prefatory note is interesting, not only as recording -the transaction, but as intimating that the Oriental and Foreign -founts, which had formed so conspicuous a feature of the previous -specimens of the foundry, had also found their way to Sheffield:― - - “Blake, Garnett and Co. beg leave respectfully to inform the trade - that they have purchased the whole of Mr. Caslon’s Foundery, - which, in addition to the Specimens here offered to their - inspection, contains founts of Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic, - Saxon, German, etc. from Brevier to Double Pica, chiefly modern, - also every kind of Accented letters, . . . . . . and a variety of - other Sorts, of which Specimens are not yet printed.” {329} - -The activity of the new proprietors resulted in a rapid increase in -the extent and business of the foundry. Supplementary specimens were -frequently issued between 1820 and 1830, when the style of the firm -became Blake and Stephenson. Mr. Stephenson was a man of great energy, -practical skill and artistic taste, and it is to his exertions that the -rapidly-achieved eminence of the house was chiefly due. In 1841, the -firm took its present style of Stephenson, Blake & Co. Mr. Stephenson -directed the operations of the Sheffield foundry until 1860, when the -management devolved on his son, Mr. Henry Stephenson, in whose hands it -still remains. - - -LIST OF SPECIMENS, 1765–1831. - - No date. Jackson’s first Specimen of one fount. 1765? (Referred to - by Nichols, _Lit. Anec._, ii, 360.) . . . . (_Lost._) - - 1783. Jackson’s second Specimen (described by Mores, _Dissert._, - p. 83.) . . . . (_Lost._) - - No date. Specimen of the Deo Nagri or Hindvi Type, cut for the - purpose of printing a Grammar and Dictionary of that Language - under the Direction of William Kirkpatrick, Captain in the Service - of the Honourable East India Company, and Persian Secretary to the - Commander in Chief in India. By Joseph Jackson, Letter Founder, - Salisbury Court, Fleet Street. 1784? Broadside. . . . . (J. F.) - - 1798. A Specimen of Printing Types by William Caslon, Letter - Founder to the King, Salisbury Square, London. 1798. 8vo. . . . . - (W. B.) - - 1798. A Specimen of Cast Ornaments by William Caslon, Letter - Founder to the King. London. Printed by C. Whittingham. 1798. 8vo. - . . . . (W. B.) - - 1803. A Specimen of Printing Types by W. Caslon and Son, Letter - Founders to the King. London. Printed by C. Whittingham, Dean - Street, Fetter Lane. 1803. 8vo. . . . . (Caslon.) - - 1807. The above Specimen, with additions, and title, altered from - “W. Caslon and Son, 1803,” to “W. Caslon, junr., 1807.” . . . . - (Caslon.) - - No date. A Specimen of Printing Types, etc., by Blake, Garnett and - Co. (successors to Mr. W. Caslon, of London), Letter Founders, - Sheffield. (1819.) 8vo. . . . . (T. B. R.) - - 1826. Supplement to Blake, Garnett and Co.’s Specimen, 1826. 8vo. - . . . . (Caxt. Cel., 4405.) - - 1827. Specimen of Printing Types by Blake, Garnett and Co. - (successors to Mr. W. Caslon of London), Letter Founders, Allen - Street, Sheffield. 1827. 8vo. . . . . (Caxt. Cel., 4406.) - - 1827–8. Supplements to Blake, Garnett and Co.’s Specimen, 1827 and - 1828. 8vo. . . . . (Caxt. Cel., 4408.) - - 1830. Select Specimen of Printing Types by Blake and Stephenson, - Sheffield. 1830. 8vo. . . . . (Caxt. Cel., 4414.) - - 1831. Specimen of Printing Types by Blake and Stephenson - (successors to Mr. W. Caslon of London), Letter Founders, - Sheffield. 1831. 8vo. . . . . (S. B. & Co.) - -{330} - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - -WILLIAM MARTIN, 1790. - - -William Martin was brother to Robert Martin,[679] Baskerville’s -apprentice and successor. He appears to have acquired his first -knowledge of the art at the Birmingham foundry, and about the year -1786 to have come to London and entered into the service of Mr. George -Nicol,[680] as a punch cutter. Mr. Nicol was at that time engaged in -maturing his plans for the production of a magnificent edition of -_Shakespeare_, and kept Martin at his own house “to cut sets of types -after approved models in imitation of the sharp and fine letter used by -the French and Italian printers.” - -On the establishment of the famous “Shakespeare Press,”[681] by Messrs. -{331} Boydell and Nicol, in 1790, at Cleveland Row, St. James’s, with -William Bulmer as presiding genius, Martin was established in premises -hard by, in Duke Street; his foundry being a sort of private foundry in -connection with the Press. Here it was that he produced the founts in -which the magnificent works, issued during the next twenty years from -Bulmer’s Press, were printed. - -The appearance of the first part of the _Shakespeare_[682] in 1791 -at once established the fame of the printer and his types; and the -completion of the work, in nine volumes, in 1810, may be regarded as -marking an epoch in British typography. “No work of equal magnitude”, -says the enthusiastic Dibdin, “ever presented such complete accuracy -and uniform excellence of execution. There is scarcely one perceptible -shade of variation from the first page of the first volume, to the -last page of the work, either in the colour of the ink, the hue of the -paper, or the clearness and sharpness of the types.”[683] - -The _Milton_,[684] which followed, is considered a still finer specimen -of typography. The enthusiasm animating all concerned in the new -undertaking was remarkable, and attracted universal attention. “The -nation,” says Dibdin, “appeared to be not less struck than astonished; -and our venerable monarch, George III, felt anxious not only to give -such a magnificent establishment every degree of royal support, but, -infected with the matrix and puncheon mania, he had even contemplated -the creation of a royal printing office within the walls of his own -palace.” One of the King’s great ambitions was for England to rival -Parma in the productions of Bodoni,[685] and Dibdin alludes to a story -current at the time of “his majesty being completely and joyfully taken -in, by bestowing upon the efforts of Mr. Bulmer’s press that eulogy -which he had supposed was due exclusively to Bodoni’s”.[686] - -In the advertisement of his edition of the _Poems of Goldsmith -and Parnell_,[687] printed in 1795 and dedicated to the Messrs. -Boydell and Nicol, the founders of the Shakespeare Press, Bulmer -thus bears testimony to the talents of those who had contributed -to the performance:—“The present volume, in addition to {332} the -_Shakespeare_, the _Milton_, and many other valuable works of elegance -which have already been given to the world through the medium of the -Shakespeare Press, are (_sic_) particularly meant to combine the -various beauties of printing, type founding, engraving, and paper -making; as well as with a view to ascertain the near approach to -perfection which those arts have attained to (in) this country, as to -invite a fair competition with the typographical productions of other -nations. How far the different artists who have contributed their -exertions to this great object have succeeded in the attempt, the -public will now be fully able to judge.” - -In all these encomiums, Martin claims a share; and, regarded simply -as type specimens, the productions of the Shakespeare Press justify -his reputation as a worthy disciple of his great master Baskerville. -His Roman and Italic types were cut in decided imitation of the famous -Birmingham models; although Hansard points out with disapproval that in -certain particulars he attempted unwisely to vary the design. “As to -the type”, he says, “the modern artist, Mr. Martin, has made an effort -to cut the ceriphs and hair strokes excessively sharp and fine; the -long ſ is discarded, and some trifling changes are introduced; but the -letter does not stand so true or well in line as Baskerville’s, and, as -to the Italic, the Birmingham artist will be found to far excel.”[688] - -The Shakespeare Press, along with all the other presses of the land, -had to bow before the revolution which in the closing years of last -century swept aside the beautiful old-face Roman, and set up in its -stead the modern character; and Hansard’s strictures above-quoted -doubtless refer to Martin’s endeavour, while adhering to the -Baskerville form as his model, to modify it so as to conform to the new -fashion. We are among those who deplore the change thus inaugurated; -but at the same time it must be admitted that Martin succeeded as well -in the new departure as any of his contemporaries. - -Nor did he confine himself to Roman and Italic. He produced several -founts of Greeks and Orientals, which eventually came to form the most -valuable part of his collection.[689] His Greek character, however, -like the Greeks attempted by Baskerville and Bodoni, was not a success; -and the otherwise beautiful edition of _Musæus_, printed in 1797,[690] -and bearing on the title-page his name as the cutter of the type, is -marred by the cramped and inelegant effect of that character. {333} - -Although Martin’s foundry was entirely supported by, and, indeed, -belonged to, the Shakespeare Press, he appears occasionally to have -supplied his types to outsiders—amongst others to McCreery, the author -of the well-known poem on the _Press_, and himself a very elegant -printer. _The Press_,[691] was printed in 1803 from Martin’s type, -as a specimen of typography, and in his preface the author pays the -following tribute to that artist’s abilities:—“The extraordinary -efforts which have of late years been made to produce the finest models -of Printing Types, must be highly gratifying to those who have in any -measure interested themselves in raising the credit of the British -Press. The spirit for this species of beauty has long been gaining -an ascendancy, having received a strong impulse from the talents of -Baskerville, who endeavoured to combine sharpness and perfection of -impression with graceful types, giving to his works a finish which was -before unknown in this kingdom. Mr. Martin, whose abilities are so -conspicuously displayed in the productions of the Shakespeare Press, is -a pupil of that celebrated school. By the liberality of George Nicol, -Esq., I am enabled to boast of being the first who has participated -with Mr. Bulmer in the use of these types, a mark of kindness for which -my warmest acknowledgements are the least recompense he has a right to -expect.” Several of the other productions of McCreery’s press were also -printed from Martin’s type. - -Among the finest specimens of the Shakespeare Press printed in Bulmer’s -time, the three great bibliographical works of Dibdin, viz., the -_Typographical Antiquities_,[692] the _Bibliotheca Spenceriana_,[693] -and the _Bibliographical Decameron_,[694] will always take a foremost -place. Martin, whose Roman type rarely appeared to greater advantage, -unfortunately did not live to see the completion of the whole of these -typographical masterpieces, as he died in the summer of 1815. He was -buried in St. James’s Church, Westminster. - -After his death, the foundry (of which unfortunately no specimen-book -exists), appears to have been continued for a short time by Mr. Bulmer, -who, {334} between 1815 and 1819, when he himself retired, produced -several fine works.[695] - -Prior to that event—in 1817—Mr. Nichols states that the foundry was -united with that of the Caslons.[696] There is, however, reason for -supposing that some of the matrices were retained for the use of the -Shakespeare Press, and that others went into the market and were -secured by other founders.[697] - -The Shakespeare Press, under the supervision of Mr. W. Nicol, continued -in active operation till 1855, when he retired, and his printing -materials were sold; thus closing one of the most memorable chapters in -the history of British typographical enterprise. - -[Illustration] - -{335} - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - -VINCENT FIGGINS, 1792. - - -This excellent letter-founder was bound apprentice to Joseph Jackson -in the year 1782, at the age of 16, and remained in his service till -Jackson’s death in 1792. During the last three years of his master’s -life, as has been already said, the entire management of the foundry -devolved on him; and the experience and connection so acquired fully -qualified him to succeed to and increase the business to whose success -he had materially contributed. - -Contrary to expectation, however, Vincent Figgins found himself, on -Jackson’s death, left in the position of an ordinary outsider; and not -being able or willing to pay the sum demanded, which was in excess of -what he conscientiously considered the concern to be worth, he failed -in succeeding to the foundry, which was purchased by William Caslon III. - -Left thus to his own resources, Mr. Figgins was constrained to enter -on an independent undertaking. Encouraged by the advice of Mr. John -Nichols, (who, as the intimate friend of Jackson, had had many -opportunities of observing the character and talent of his apprentice), -he determined to rear a foundry in his own name. “A large order,” says -Hansard, “for two founts, Great Primer and Pica, of each 2,000 lbs—even -before he had printed a single specimen—gave the young adventurer the -best heart to proceed; neither did his liberal patron suffer him to -want the sinews of trade as long as such assistance was required.” -Writing to Mr. Nichols, fifteen years afterwards, in reference to a -passage in {336} the _Literary Anecdotes_, Mr. Figgins thus gracefully -acknowledged the generosity which befriended him at the beginning of -his career:― - - “I am greatly obliged to you for the very flattering mention of - my name, but you have not done yourself the justice to record - your own kindness to me: that, on Mr. Jackson’s death, finding I - had not the means to purchase the foundry, you encouraged me to - make a beginning. You gave me large orders and assisted me with - the means of executing them; and during a long and difficult - struggle in pecuniary matters for fifteen years, you, my dear - Sir, never refused me your assistance, without which I must have - given it up. Do mention this—that, as the first Mr. Bowyer was - the means of establishing Mr. Caslon—his son, Mr. Jackson—it may - be known that Vincent Figgins owes his prosperity to Mr. Bowyer’s - successor.”[698] - -Mr. Figgins established himself in Swan Yard, Holborn, and at the -outset of his undertaking an opportunity occurred which served as -largely as any other to establish his reputation as an excellent -artist. This was the completion of Macklin’s _Bible_, for which, as -has already been narrated, Mr. Jackson had, in 1789, cut the beautiful -2-line English Roman fount, in which the first part of the work is -printed. “When Mr. Bensley had proceeded some way in the work he wished -to renew the fount; but not choosing to purchase it of Mr. Caslon, -the then possessor of Jackson’s matrices, he applied to Mr. Figgins -to cut a fount to correspond with that he had begun upon. Mr. Figgins -undertook the task; and the fount, which was a perfect imitation of -the other, was put into use to begin _Deuteronomy_ about the year -1793.”[699] Of the excellence of this performance both as a facsimile -and as a work of art, a reference to the splendid _Bible_[700] itself -and the no less splendid edition of Thomson’s _Seasons_,[701] in which -the same type was used in 1797, is the most eloquent testimony. Mr. -Figgins received the honour of being named on the title-page of the -latter work, which still remains one of the finest achievements of -English typography.[702] His services were also employed in a similar -manner to complete the Double Pica fount for R. Bowyer’s edition of -_Hume_, which, it will be remembered, was in course of execution by -Jackson at the time of his death. The splendid types in which these -masterpieces of the typographic art were executed, established Mr. -Figgins at once in all the reputation he could desire. {337} - -[Illustration: 77. Two-line English Roman cut by Vincent Figgins, -1792. (From the original matrices.)] - -In 1792, he put forward a single-leaf specimen of the 2-line English -fount on its completion. In the following year, having added a -“long-bodied” English and a Pica, he issued his first Specimen Book. -This interesting document of five leaves (title, address, and three -specimens) was printed by Bensley, and contained the following -prefatory note, which will be read with interest as the first public -announcement of this Foundry:― - - “At a period when the Art of Printing has, perhaps, arrived to a - degree of excellence hitherto unknown in the annals of literature, - the improvement of Types will no doubt be generally considered - an object worthy of attention. Vincent Figgins having had the - advantage of ten years’ instruction and servitude under the late - ingenious Mr. Joseph Jackson (great part of which time he had - _the management of_ his Foundery), flatters himself he shall not - be thought arrogant in soliciting the patronage of the Master - Printers, and other Literary Gentlemen, when he has commenced an - entire new Letter Foundery, every branch of which, with their - support and encouragement, he hopes he shall be enabled to execute - in the most accurate and satisfactory manner; assuring them that - his best endeavours shall be exerted to complete so arduous an - undertaking. Although as yet he has but few founts finished, he - is anxious to submit a specimen for approbation. All orders he - may be favoured with shall be duly attended to and punctually - executed. . . The Italics of the following founts, with a Long - Primer, Brevier and English, are in great forwardness—specimens of - which shall be printed as soon as possible. _May 1793._” - -One of the first public appearances of the English fount was in the -8vo edition of Milton’s _Paradise Lost_, begun in 1794 in monthly -parts, and published {338} by Parsons in 1796.[703] The announcement -accompanying Part I makes special reference to “a new and beautiful -Type cast on purpose for this work by Vincent Figgins.” The Italic of -this fount is specially elegant. - -Mr. Figgins’ indefatigable industry enabled him to issue in the next -year an enlarged Specimen Book with the same title and address as -before, but containing twelve sheets of specimens, four of which were -dated 1794. - -He met with further encouragement in his new undertaking by the -patronage of the Delegates of the Oxford Press, under whose direction -he completed a fount of Double Pica Greek, the progress of which had -been interrupted by the death of Mr. Jackson. In connection with -this circumstance, Mr. Vincent Figgins the younger, in the remarks -appended to his facsimile reprint of Caxton’s _Game of the Chesse_, has -preserved an anecdote, which it will be interesting to repeat here, -not only as having reference to Mr. Figgins’ early productions, but as -illustrating a curious phase of the mystery of type founding at that -day:― - -“The mystery thrown over the operations of a Type foundry,” says Mr. -Vincent Figgins II in 1855, “within my own recollection (thirty-four -years), and the still greater secrecy which had existed in my father’s -experience, testifies that the art had been perpetuated by a kind -of Druidical or Masonic induction from the first. An anecdote of my -father’s early struggles may illustrate this. At the death of Mr. -Joseph Jackson, whom my father had served ten years as apprentice and -foreman, there was in progress for the University Press of Oxford a -new fount of Double Pica Greek, which had progressed under my father’s -entire management. The then delegates of that Press—the Rev. Dr. -Randolph and the Rev. W. Jackson—suggested that Mr. Figgins should -finish the fount himself. This, with other offers of support from those -who had previously known him, was the germ of his prosperity (which -was always gratefully acknowledged). But when he had undertaken this -work, the difficulty presented itself that he did not know where to -find the punch-cutter. No one knew his address; but he was supposed to -be a tall man, who came in a mysterious way occasionally, whose name -no one knew, but he went by the _sobriquet_ of ‘_The Black Man_.’ This -old gentleman, a very clever mechanic, lived to be a pensioner on my -father’s bounty—gratitude is, perhaps, the better word. I knew him, and -could never understand the origin of his _sobriquet_, unless Black was -meant for dark, mysterious, from the manner of his coming and going -from Mr. Jackson’s foundry.” - -Shortly after the completion of the Greek fount, Mr. Figgins was called -upon {339} to execute a fount of Persian under the direction of the -eminent Orientalist, Sir William Ouseley.[704] This type was used in -Francis Gladwin’s _Persian Moonshee_[705] in 1801, and other works; and -was commended by Dr. Adam Clarke as a beautiful letter in the finest -form of the Nustaleek character. - -About the same time, he cut a fount of English Télegú from a MS., for -the East India Company, in whose library, says Hansard, the “matrices -or moulds” were afterwards deposited. Of this fount he issued two -specimens about 1802, one a folio, the other a quarto; and about the -same time put forward a specimen of “Two-line letters” in the same form. - -In the year 1800, Mr. Figgins was engaged by Messrs. Eyre and Strahan, -His Majesty’s Printers, to cut and cast an improved fount of Small Pica -Domesday; and, in 1805, a new Pica of the same character, expressly -for the purpose of printing the splendid and valuable publications -of the Commission of Enquiry into the State of the Records of the -Kingdom.[706] In the years 1807 and 1808, he was also employed by His -Majesty’s Printers in Scotland on three further {340} founts (Pica, -Long Primer, and Brevier) for the purpose of printing the Records of -that portion of the Empire.[707] This improved Domesday (a specimen of -which may be seen in Johnson’s _Typographia_), differs considerably -from that of Jackson, in which the _Domesday Book_ had been printed in -1783,[708] and became, subsequently, the uniform character adopted for -extracts from Domesday and other ancient Charters and Records quoted in -modern topographical works. - -Mr. Figgins’ good fortune in the first results of his new business -was somewhat tempered by the fact that, within a few years of the -establishment of his foundry, the public taste with regard to the -ordinary Roman letter experienced a complete revolution, setting -aside the elegant models on which the punches of Jackson and his -contemporaries had been cut, in favour of the new fashion which came in -with the nineteenth century. - -To accommodate himself to this fashion must have involved Mr. Figgins -in a considerable sacrifice of his early labour and industry, and the -circumstance may possibly account for the somewhat remarkable absence -of any specimen bearing his name for a lengthened period. - -In the appendix to Stower’s _Printers’ Grammar_, 1808, which exhibits -the “modern faces” of Caslon and Fry, the compiler regrets not being -able to show specimens of the new cut types from Mr. Figgins’ foundry, -“but understands that in a few months Mr. F. will have fully completed -his specimens.” - -These new founts appear in a specimen of 1815, a book which contains -24 pages of large letter from 16-line to 4-line; 35 pages of Roman -and Italic from French Canon to Pearl; together with Titlings, Black -Letter, and Flowers, and a few Orientals. - -Two years later, Mr. Figgins put forward a specimen of Newspaper -founts, showing a series of eight sizes, on a broadside sheet,—the -first specimen of the kind, we believe, specially addressed to the -proprietors of the public press. The title of this sheet is printed -in the 5-line German Text, which Hansard describes as a typographical -curiosity. - -Speaking of Mr. Figgins about 1812, Mr. Nichols remarks (in the passage -which called for the acknowledgment already quoted): “With an ample -portion of his kind instructor’s reputation, he inherits a considerable -share of his talents and industry, and has distinguished himself by the -many beautiful specimens he has produced, and particularly of Oriental -Types.”[709] {341} - -The foundry had, in the year 1801, been removed from Swan Yard, -Holborn, to West Street, West Smithfield, where, besides the work of -completing the founts most commonly in use, several important and -interesting tasks of a special character had engaged Mr. Figgins’ -attention. Among these may be mentioned the Small Pica Hebrew for -_Bagster’s Polyglot_,[710] in 1817, which had the distinction in its -day of being the smallest Hebrew with points in England. Dibdin, in -his _Bibliographical Decameron_ (ii, 408), while specially commending -the _Polyglot_, quotes a letter from Mr. Bagster in reference to the -Figgins Hebrew fount, which it will be interesting to repeat here. -Writing to Dibdin, Mr. Bagster remarks: - - “The difficulty to the compositor of the Hebrew with points far - exceeds every other language. You are doubtless aware that every - line is composed of three distinct lines; i.e., points and accents - both above and below the line of letters. I wrote to the printer - and letter founder to display these, and one of the letters (_that - of Mr. Figgins which follows_) is enclosed as their accounts - nearly agree. The difference between the fount with points, and - that which is without them is very striking. The former requires - 25 points and accents and 136 mixed letters; whereas the latter - has only 32 altogether and one stop—a difference between the - founts of 132 characters—the first with points exceeding by so - considerable a number, and some are so minute that one ounce is - found to contain no less than 236. - - “When I embraced the design of this work, no suitable fount of - Hebrew existed. It became therefore necessary to cut the steel - punches and the brass (_sic_) matrices before the fount of letter - could be cast; and thus our country is enriched by the _creation_ - of this new fount. - - “The Greek and Roman type I think will also be admired for the - delicate neatness of their execution. The Hebrew and Greek types - are of the neatest form, and the latter is that of Porson.” . . . - -Mr. Figgins’ letter enclosed is as follows:― - - “The number of Hebrew matrices are 82; these are all first cast on - a minion body, and 54 of them are again cast on a diamond body, to - admit of marks and accents being put over them. The accents and - points are 25 in number, of which there are, of the thinnest sort, - about 240 to the ounce. The number of boxes required to contain - the fount are:― {342} - - “Minion Hebrew 82 - Spaces (4), em and en quads (2), large quad (1) 7 - Diamond Hebrew 54 - Spaces same as Minion 7 - Minikin accents and marks 25 - Spaces, etc., same as Minion 7 - ─── - 182 - - “I am, Sir, your obedient servant, - “West Street, London, 16th Oct., 1816. V. FIGGINS.” - -The Syriac used in Bagster’s _Polyglot_[711] was not cut by Mr. -Figgins; but he had previously produced three sizes of this character, -viz.: a Double Pica, English, and Long Primer (two founts), under the -direction and partly at the expense of Dr. Claudius Buchanan, the -eminent Indian missionary and Orientalist, whose work on _Christian -Researches in Asia, with notices of translations of the Scriptures into -the Oriental Languages_, had been published at Cambridge, in 1811. At -the time of his death, in 1815, Dr. Buchanan was engaged in editing for -the British and Foreign Bible Society a Syriac _New Testament_, which -appeared in the following year, printed in Figgins’ type.[712] - -The founts already specified—to which may be added a Small Pica -Irish, copied from the copper-plate engravings in Charles Vallancey’s -_Irish Grammar_, and some additional Greeks, cut under Porson’s -superintendence—constituted the chief features of Mr. Figgins’ foundry -in respect of the learned and foreign founts. With regard to its -progress in the characters of more general use, it will be sufficient -to quote Mr. Hansard’s note, written in 1825, and based doubtless on an -examination of the excellent, specimen of 1821, with its additions in -1822 and 1823:—“No foundry existing is better stocked with matrices for -those extraneous sorts which are cut more with a view to accommodation -than profit; such as astronomical, geometrical, algebraical, physical, -genealogical, and arithmetical sorts; and I feel it particularly -incumbent on me to add that, as his specimen bears equal rank with -any for the number and beauty of its founts, so he has strayed less -into the folly of fat-faced preposterous disproportions, than either -Thorne, Fry or Caslon. I consider his Five-line Pica German text a -typographical curiosity.”[713] {343} - -The following is Hansard’s summary of the foreign and learned founts -contained in this foundry in 1825:― - - -MR. FIGGINS’ FOUNDRY. - - _Domesday._[714]― - Pica, Small Pica. - - _German Text (Ornamental)._― - Five-line Pica. - - _Greek._[715]― - Great Primer, English, Pica, Small Pica, Long Primer, Brevier. - - _Hebrew._― - English with points, Pica, Small Pica, Ditto with points.[716]—Long - Primer, Nonpareil. - - _Irish._― - Small Pica. - - _Persian._― - Paragon. - - _Saxon._― - Pica, Small Pica, Long Primer, Brevier. - - _Syriac._― - Double Pica, English, Long Primer, Brevier. - - _Télegú._[717]― - English. - - _Black._― - Double Pica, Great Primer, English, Pica, Long Primer. - -Further specimens were issued in 1824 and 1826, each indicating the -rapid growth of the rising foundry between those dates. They were -followed in 1827 by a compact little 16mo volume; and from that date -specimens are frequent. - -Mr. Figgins died at Peckham, Feb. 29th, 1844. He was for several years -Common Councillor for the Ward of Farringdon Without; “an amiable and -worthy character, “says Nichols,” and generally respected.“ He had -relinquished business in 1836, leaving it to his two sons, Vincent -Figgins II and James Figgins, who issued their first specimen book, -a handsome quarto, under the style of V. & J. Figgins, in 1838. Mr. -Vincent Figgins II died in 1860,[718] when the business was carried -on by Mr. James Figgins I and his son, Mr. James Figgins II. On the -retirement of the former, then Mr. Alderman Figgins, M.P., the entire -management devolved on his son, the present proprietor. The foundry was -removed from West Street, Smithfield, to Ray Street, Farringdon Road, -in 1865. {344} - - -LIST OF SPECIMENS, 1792–1832. - - No date. A Specimen of Printing Types by Vincent Figgins, Letter - Founder, Swan Yard, Holborn Bridge, London. (1792.) 4to, 2 pp., - . . . . (J. F.) - - No date. A Specimen of Printing Types by Vincent Figgins, Letter - Founder, Swan Yard, Holborn Bridge, London. (1793.) 4to, 5 pp. - . . . . (J. F.) - - 1794. A Specimen of Printing Types by Vincent Figgins, Letter - Founder, Swan Yard, Holborn Bridge, London. 1794. 4to. . . . . (W. - B.) - - 1802. Specimen of a fount of Télegú Types cast by V. Figgins, - London. 1802. folio. . . . . (J. F.) - - (Also in quarto.) - - No date. Specimen of 2-line Letters cast by Vincent Figgins, West - Street, West Smithfield, London. Broadside. (1802.?) . . . . (J. - F.) - - 1815. Specimen of Printing Types by Vincent Figgins, Letter - Founder, West Street, West Smithfield, London, 1815. 8vo. . . . . - (Ox. Univ. Pr.) - - 1817. Newspaper Founts cast by Vincent Figgins, West Street, West - Smithfield, London, 1817. Broadside. . . . . (Ox. Univ. Pr.) - - 1821. Specimen of Printing Types by Vincent Figgins, Letter - Founder, West Street, West Smithfield, London, 1821. 8vo. . . . . - (J. F.) - - (Re-issued with additions 1822 and 1823.) - - 1824. Specimen of Printing Types by Vincent Figgins, Letter - Founder, West Street, West Smithfield, London, 1824. 8vo. . . . . - (Caxt. Cel. 4403.) - - 1826. Specimen of Printing Types by Vincent Figgins, Letter - Founder, West Street, West Smithfield, London, 1826. 8vo. . . . . - (J. F.) - - 1827. Specimen of Printing Types by Vincent Figgins, Letter - Founder, London, 1827. 16mo. . . . . (Caxt. Cel. 4408.) - - 1832. Specimen of Printing Types by Vincent Figgins, Letter - Founder, West Street, West Smithfield, London, 1832. 8vo. . . . . - (Caxt. Cel. 4417.) - -{345} - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - -MINOR FOUNDERS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. - - -SKINNER, _circ._ 1710. - -This founder is mentioned by Mores as a contemporary of Robert Andrews -and Head. Nothing, however, is known of his types. - - -DUMMERS, _circ._ 1734. - -Mores says he was a Dutchman who founded in this country, where he -cut the fount of Pica Samaritan which appears in Caslon’s Specimen of -1734.[719] He subsequently returned to his native country. Smith, in -his _Printers’ Grammar_, after referring to the genius of Van Dijk, -mentions Voskin and Dommer (_sic_) as having “been considered as -two Worthies, for their abilities in their profession.” We append a -specimen of the Samaritan fount:― - -[Illustration: 78. Pica Samaritan, cut by Dummers for Caslon, _circ._ -1734. (From the original Matrices.)] - -{346} - - -JALLESON, _circ._ 1734. - -This man appears to have served, in 1733, as punch cutter to Mr. R. -Wetstein of Amsterdam, for whom he produced, amongst other founts, the -accented Roman with which the Dutch East India Company printed their -Malay Edition of the _Bible_ in that year. He came to London, and lived -in the Old Bailey, where he attempted an economical way of multiplying -founts by casting six different bodies of letter from three sets of -punches, viz., Brevier and Long Primer from one set, Pica and English -from another, Great Primer and Double Pica from a third. “Accordingly,” -says Smith, “he charged his Brevier, Pica, and Great Primer with as -full a face as their respective bodies would admit of, and, in order -to make some alteration in the advancing founts, he designed to cut -the ascending and descending letters to such a length as should show -the extent of their different bodies. But though he had cast founts of -the three minor sorts of letters, he did not bring the rest here to -perfection.”[720] - -While in England, “he printed the greatest part of a Hebrew _Bible_ -with letter of his own casting; but was, by adverse fortune, obliged to -finish the said work in Holland.” Jalleson’s system, though apparently -unsuccessful at the time, was eventually adopted, to a certain extent, -by English founders. - - -JACOB ILIVE, _circ._ 1730. - -This eccentric individual was a connection of the James’s, his mother, -Elizabeth, being the daughter of Thomas James, the printer, and -consequently cousin to Thomas James, the founder.[721] His father was -a printer resident in Aldersgate Street,[722] and his two brothers, -Abraham and Isaac, also followed the same calling. - -About the year 1730, he applied himself to letter-founding, and carried -on a foundry and printing house together in Aldersgate Street over -against Aldersgate Coffee-house, where he was resident in 1734. - -“But, afterwards,” says Mores, “when _Calasio_[723] was to be -reprinted under the inspection of Mr. Romaine, or of Mr. Lutzena, a -Portuguese Jew who corrected the {347} Hebrew—as we ourselves did -sometimes another part of the work—he removed to London House (the -habitation of the late Dr. Rawlinson) on the opposite side of the way, -where he was employed by the publishers of that work. This was in the -year 1746.” - -His foundry was only a small one, and does not appear to have received -much patronage or to have issued a specimen. The following is Mores’ -summary of its contents:― - - -“MR. ILIVE’S FOUNDERY, 1734. - - OCCIDENTALS: - - _Greek._— - Nonpareil, 200; another, 80 lb. - - _Roman._— - 2-line English, the small letters only, 27; Pica, similiter, 27; - Brevier broadface, 54; Small Pica, 70; another, the small letters - and double only, 39; Nonpareil cap. 27. - - _Roman and Italic._— - Double Pica, 154; Great Primer, 212; English, 236; Pica, 214; Long - Primer, 230; Brevier, 255; Sm. Pica, 248. - - _Figures._— - Pica fractions, 20; Mercantile marks, Pica, 17. - - _Braces, Rules and Flowers_, 30.” - -In 1740 (July 3) the foundry was purchased by John James, in whose -premises, says Mores, it lay in the boxes named _Jugge_, and underwent -very little alteration. With regard to the sets of Greek matrices, -Mores also states that though James paid for these they never came to -his hands. - -Although abandoning type-founding early, Ilive continued to print -until the time of his death in 1763. Mores says he was an expeditious -compositor and knew the letters by touch. He was, however, less noted -for his typography than for his opinions. - -Nichols tells us he was somewhat disordered in his mind. In 1733 he -published an _Oration_ proving the plurality of worlds, that this earth -is hell, that the souls of men are apostate angels, and that the fire -to punish those confined to this world at the day of judgment will be -immaterial. This discourse was composed in 1729, and spoken at Joiners’ -Hall pursuant to the will of his mother, who died in 1733 and held the -same singular opinions in divinity as her son.[724] A second pamphlet, -entitled _A Dialogue between a Doctor of the Church of England and Mr. -Jacob Ilive upon the Subject of the Oration_, also appeared in 1733. -This strange _Oration_ is highly praised in Holwell’s third part of -_Interesting Events relating to Bengal_.[725] - -In 1751 Ilive perpetrated a famous literary forgery in a pretended -{348} translation of the _Book of Jasher_,[726] said to have been made -by one Alcuin of Britain. “The account given of the translation,” says -Mores, “is full of glaring absurdities, but of the publication, this -we can say, from the information of the Only-One who is capable of -informing us, because the business was a secret between the Two: Mr. -Ilive in the night-time had constantly an Hebrew _Bible_ before him -(_sed qu. de hoc_) and cases in his closet. He produced the copy for -_Jasher_, and it was composed in private, and the forms worked off in -the night-time in a private press-room by these Two, after the men of -the Printing-house had left their work. Mr. Ilive was an expeditious -compositor, though he worked in a nightgown and swept the cases to -_pye_ with the sleeves.”[727] - -In 1756, for publishing _Modest Remarks on the late Bishop Sherlock’s -Sermons_, Ilive was imprisoned in Clerkenwell Bridewell, where -he remained for two years, improving the occasion by writing and -publishing _Reasons offered for the Reformation of the House of -Correction in Clerkenwell_, in 1757. He also projected several other -reforming works.[728] - -In the last year of his life, 1762, he once more became notorious -as the ringleader of a schism among the members of the Stationers’ -Company, of which the following narrative (communicated by Mr. Bowyer) -is given by Gough:― - - “He called a meeting of the Company for Monday the 31st of May, - being Whit-Monday, at the Dog Tavern, on Garlick Hill, ‘to rescue - their liberties,’ and choose Master and Wardens. Ilive was chosen - chairman for the day; and, standing on the upper table in the - hall, he thanked the freemen for the honour they had done him—laid - before them several clauses of their two charters—and proposed - Mr. Christopher Norris and some one else to them for Master; the - choice falling upon Mr. Norris. He then proposed, in like manner, - John Lenthall, Esq., and John Wilcox, Gent., with two others for - Wardens; when the two first nominated were elected. A Committee - was then appointed by the votes of the Common Hall to meet the - first Tuesday in each month at the Horn Tavern, in Doctors’ - Commons, to inquire into the state of the Company, which Committee - consisted of twenty-one persons, five of whom (provided the Master - and Wardens were of the number), were empowered to act as fully as - if the whole of the Committee were present. July the 6th being the - first Tuesday in the month, the newly-elected Master, about twelve - o’clock, came into the Hall, and being seated at the upper end of - it, the Clerk of the Hall was sent for and desired to swear Mr. - Norris into his office; but he declined, and Mr. Ilive officiated - as the Clerk in {349} administering the oath. A boy then offered - himself to be bound; but no Warden being present, he was desired - to defer until next month, when several were bound; some freemen - made; and others admitted on the livery; one of whom, at least, - has frequently polled at Guildhall in contested elections.”[729] - -No particular notice appears to have been taken of the proceedings, -and the rebellion was short lived. Previous to its outbreak, Ilive -had published a pamphlet on _The Charter and Grants of the Company of -Stationers; with Observations and Remarks thereon_, in which he recited -various grievances and stated the opinion of counsel upon several -points. “I have a copy of this pamphlet,” says Mr. Hansard, “now -lying before me, the twentieth page of which concludes with the line, -‘Excudebat, edebat, donabat, Jacob Ilive, Anno 1762.’ ” Ilive died in -the following year. - - -THE WESTONS. - -Some founders of this name are mentioned by Ames; but Mores supposes -that Ames, “who,” he adds, “was an arrant blunderer,” has made -Englishmen of the Wetsteins of Amsterdam, who founded in that city -about 1733–43. The Wetsteins, though they doubtless had considerable -type dealings with this country, are not known at any time to have -practised type-founding in England. - - -JOHN BAINE, 1749. - -After the dissolution of partnership between Wilson and Baine in -1749,[730] the latter appears to have come to London, where, Rowe Mores -informs us, “he published a specimen (very pretty) without a date. It -exhibits Great Primer and Pica Greek and (we take no notice of title -letters) the Roman and Italic regulars beginning at Great Primer; and -the bastard Small Pica. Mr. Baine left England and is now (1778), we -think, alive in Scotland.” He appears to have carried his foundry -with him, for we find in a specimen of types belonging to a printer, -John Reid, in Edinburgh, in 1768,[731] two founts, a Small Pica and a -Minion marked as having been supplied by him. In 1787 was published a -_Specimen by John Baine and Grandson in Co._ at Edinburgh, a copy of -which is in the Library of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, -Massachusetts. {350} - -About the same date they established a foundry in Philadelphia, the -grandson having probably taken charge of the new venture before being -joined by his relative. Isaiah Thomas[732] speaks in high praise of -the mechanical ability of the elder Baine, and adds that his knowledge -of type-founding was the effect of his own industry; for he was -self-taught. Both, he says, were good workmen and had full employment. -They appear to have been moderately successful in America.[733] The -elder Baine died in 1790, aged 77. His grandson relinquished the -business soon after, and, says Mr. Thomas, died at Augusta in Georgia -about the year 1799. - - -SPECIMENS. - - No date. Specimen by John Baine, London, 1756 (?). (Noted by - Mores.) . . . . (_Lost._) - - 1787. A Specimen of Printing Types by John Baine & Grandson in - Co., Letter Founders, Edinburgh, 1787. . . . . (Amer. Ant. Soc.) - - -GEORGE ANDERTON, 1753. - -George Anderton, of Birmingham, appears to have been one of the -earliest of English provincial letter founders. Mores says he -“attempted” letter founding, and in the year 1753 printed a little -specimen of Great Primer Roman and Italic. Samuel Caslon, brother to -Caslon I, worked as a mould maker in this foundry after having left the -latter on account of some dispute. - - -SPECIMEN. - - 1753. A Specimen of Great Primer by George Anderton, Birmingham, - 1753. (Noted by Mores.) . . . . (_Lost._) - - -HENRY FOUGT, _circ._ 1766. - -This man, a German, lived in St. Martin’s Lane about the year 1766, -and, in the following year, took out a patent for “Certain new and -curious types by me invented for the printing of music notes as neatly -and as well, in every respect, as hath usually been done by engraving.” -The Invention consisted in the use of sectional types “in many respects -similar to what in former ages was used in printing-offices and known -by the name of choral type.” An explanatory note, {351} setting forth -the details of his scheme, accompanies the specification.[734] Fougt -issued a specimen of his new type in 1768, and is said to have been the -only printer of music from type of his day who produced any good work. -Mores says that he returned to Germany, after selling his patent to one -Falconer, a disappointed harpsichord maker. - - -SPECIMEN. - - 1768. Specimen of a New Type for Music by H. Fougt. In Six Sonatas - by Uttini. 3 vols. London, 1768. Folio. . . . . (Bibl. Pr. i, 226.) - - -JOSEPH FENWICK, _circ._ 1770. - -Mores’ quaint account of this unlucky person is as follows:—“Mr. -Joseph Fenwick was a locksmith, and worked as a journeyman in David -Street in Oxford Road. Invited by an advertisement from Mr. Caslon for -a smith who could file smooth and make a good screw, he applied, and -is now mould-mender in ordinary to Mr. Caslon. But his ingenuity hath -prompted him to greater things than a good screw. He hath cut a fount -of Two-line Pica Scriptorial for a divine, the planner of the Statute -at Plaisterers’ Hall for demising and to farm letting servants of both -sexes and all services. Of him Mr. Caslon required an enormous sum -when he thought that nobody could do the work but himself. Mr. Fenwick -succeeded at a very moderate expence; for he has not been paid for his -labour. The plausible design of the fount was the relief and ease of -our rural vineyarders, and the service of those churches in which the -galleries overlook the pulpit.” In the synopsis of founts given at the -end of Mores’ book, Fenwick’s Scriptorial, or Cursive, is mentioned as -being at that time (1778) obtainable. - - -T. RICHARDS, 1778. - -Mores says he lived near Hungerford Bridge, and called himself letter -founder and toyman; but appeared to be an instrument maker for marking -the shirts of soldiers “to prevent plunder in times of peace.” “But we -have seen no specimen,” he adds, “either on paper or on rags.” - - -McPHAIL, 1778. - -Mores describes him as a Scotchman without address. “It is said -that he hath cut two full-faced founts, one of Two-line English, the -other of Two-line Small Pica; hath made the moulds, and casts the -letter his self. If this be true {352} (and we have reason to believe -it is not altogether false) he must travel like the circumforanean -printers of names from door to door soon after the invention of the -art, with all the apparatus in a pack upon his shoulders; for he is -a _nullibiquarian_, and we cannot find his founding house.” To this -account Hansard adds in 1825:—“I have reason to believe that, some -years ago, the foundry of McPhail, which Mores has commemorated by a -most humorous paragraph, was carried on either by the same individual -or a descendant; but it continues to be screened from observation by -the same cloud which obscured it from the curiosity of that illustrious -typographical historian.” - - -IMISSON, 1785. - -Lemoine mentions an ingenious person of this name, “who, among other -pursuits, made some progress in the art of Letter Founding, and -actually printed several small popular novels at Manchester with -wood-cuts cut by himself. But other mechanical pursuits took him off, -and death removed him in 1791.”[735] - - -MYLES SWINNEY, 1785. - -This provincial typographer was printer and proprietor of the -_Birmingham Chronicle_ in 1774, and appears to have commenced a letter -foundry shortly after the breaking up of Baskerville’s establishment. -His shops were in the High Street, Birmingham; and in Bisset’s -_Magnificent Directory_ (1800) a view of his premises is given, -including the Type Foundry. He is styled Letter Founder, Bookseller -and Printer, in the Directories of 1785, and subsequently added to his -other pursuits that of Medicine Vendor. In 1793 he was a member of -the Association of Founders at that time in existence; and, about the -year 1803, issued a neat Specimen Book of twenty pages, comprising a -series of Roman and Italic and a few Ornamented and Shaded letters. -The notice accorded to him in the _Magnificent Directory_ is very -complimentary:—“This useful Branch of the Typographic Art, immediately -on the demise of the late celebrated Baskerville, was resumed and is -now continued, with persevering industry and success, by Mr. Swinney, -whose elegant Specimens of Printing add celebrity to the other -manufactures of this Emporium of the Arts.” {353} - -The _Poetic Survey round Birmingham_ accompanying the Directory, -immortalizes our founder in the following couplet: - - “The Gods at Swinney’s Foundry stood amaz’d, - And at each curious Type and Letter gaz’d.” - -Among his workmen was John Handy, a former punch cutter for -Baskerville.[736] Mr. Swinney died in 1812, aged 74; having been -printer and proprietor of the _Birmingham Chronicle_ for nearly fifty -years. - - -SPECIMEN. - - No date. Specimen of part of the Printing Types cast by Myles - Swinney, of Birmingham. Swinney and Hawkins, Printers, Birmingham. - (1802?) 8vo. . . . . (S.T.) - - -SIMEON & CHARLES STEPHENSON, 1789. - -This short-lived foundry was established in the Savoy prior to 1789, -in which year it appears to have been known as Bell and Stephenson’s -British Letter Foundry, and to have issued a specimen. In 1793 the -style was altered to Simeon Stephenson & Co., and subsequently to -Simeon and Charles Stephenson, who removed the foundry to Bream’s -Buildings, Chancery Lane. Both the partners were members of the -Association of Founders existing at that time. - -Of their foundry little is known beyond what may be gathered from -their elegant Specimen Book of Types and Ornaments issued in 1796. The -title-page of this volume states that their punches were cut by Richard -Austin; and the address to the trade[737] (which is dated 1797) refers -to the flattering encouragement hitherto received by the proprietors -from the public. The specimen exhibits ten pages of large titling -letters, fourteen pages of Roman and Italic, from Double Pica to -Minion, and the remainder chiefly ornaments. The types, especially in -the larger sizes as well as some of the ornaments, are very good. {354} - -Despite the merit of its productions the British Foundry was not -successful, and in 1797 was put up for auction. Whether it was -purchased as a whole by some other founder, or whether it was -dispersed, we cannot say. It seems probable, however, that Austin -recovered some of the punches cut by him, and used them when starting -his own foundry in Worship Street. - - -SPECIMENS. - - 1789. A Specimen of Printing Types cast at Bell & Stephenson’s - British Letter Foundry in the Savoy. London, 1789. 8vo. . . . . - (Bodleian.) - - 1796. First part of a specimen of Printing Types cast at the - Foundry of S. & C. Stephenson, Bream’s Buildings, Chancery Lane. - The punches cut by R. Austin. London, 1796. 8vo. . . . . (W. B.) - - 1797. Catalogue of the Stock in Trade of S. & C. Stephenson, which - will be sold by Auction by Mr. C. Heydinger. 1797. 8vo. . . . . - (W. B.) - -[Illustration] - -{355} - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XX. - -WILLIAM MILLER, 1809. - - -William Miller, the originator of this now great foundry, was for some -time a foreman in the Glasgow Letter Foundry. About the year 1809 he -left that service to begin a foundry of his own in Edinburgh under the -style of William Miller and Co. The first specimen is stated to have -been published in this year,[738] but no copy unfortunately has been -found still to exist. - -A further specimen was issued in 1813, followed in the ensuing year by -another of 28 pages, consisting entirely of Roman and Italic letter, -of which there was a complete series from Double Pica to Pearl, with -2-line letters and one page of borders. As Hansard observes respecting -early founts of this foundry, the letters so much resemble those of -Messrs. Wilson as to require minute inspection to distinguish the one -from the other.[739] - -The business, once started, made rapid progress, and in due time became -a formidable rival not only to the Glasgow foundry, but to the London -founders. The specimen of 1815 showed further additions to the founts, -some of which, we have it on Hansard’s authority, were cut by Mr. -Austin, of London.[740] - -In 1822, the firm is described as William Miller only, Letter Founder -to His Majesty for Scotland. The energy and care displayed by Mr. -Miller in the {356} prosecution of his business rapidly brought his -foundry to the front rank, and secured for him the support not only of -English printers but of some of the most important newspapers of the -day, including _The Times_. - -In 1832, Mr. Richard was admitted a partner; and the style of the firm -became once more William Miller and Co., and so continued until 1838, -when it became Miller and Richard. - -Of the later history of this foundry it is beyond the scope of this -work to treat, further than to say that it was the first house -successfully to introduce machinery for the casting of type in this -country; and that on the revival of the old style fashion about 1844, -it took a prominent and successful part with its series of “Modern Old -Face” letter. For the Exhibition of 1851, the proprietors produced a -“Brilliant” type, the smallest then in England,[741] and subsequently -cut a “Gem” expressly for Mr. Bellows’ _French Dictionary_[742]—a book -which for clearness and minuteness combined ranks as a typographical -curiosity. - -After the death of Mr. Miller in 1843, the business was carried on by -Mr. Richard and his son, until 1868; when, on the retirement of Mr. -Richard, senior, the active management of the Foundry (which since 1850 -has had a branch house in London) devolved upon his sons, Mr. J. M. -Richard, and Mr. W. M. Richard, the present proprietors. - - -LIST OF SPECIMENS, 1809–33. - - [1809. Specimen of Printing Types by W. Miller and Co., Edinburgh, - 1809.] . . . . (B. P. ii, 42.) - - 1813. Specimen of Printing Types by William Miller and Co., - Edinburgh, 1813. 4to. . . . . (B. P. ii, 42.) - - 1814. Specimen of Printing Types by William Miller and Co., Letter - Founders, Edinburgh. Edinburgh, printed by A. Balfour. 1814. 4to. - . . . . (M. & R.) - - 1815. Specimen of Printing Types by William Miller and Co., Letter - Founders, Edinburgh. Printed at the Stanhope Press by R. Chapman. - 1815. 4to. . . . . (Ox. Univ. Pr.) - - 1822. Specimen of Printing Types by William Miller, Letter - Founder to His Majesty for Scotland, Edinburgh. Printed by James - Ballantyne and Co. 1822. 4to. . . . . (Caxt. Cel. 4401.) - - 1833. Supplement to William Miller and Company’s Specimens of - Printing Type, Edinburgh, 1833. 4to. . . . . (Ox. Univ. Pr.) - -{357} - -[Illustration] - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. - -THE MINOR FOUNDERS, 1800–1830. - - -G. W. BOWER, _circ._ 1810. - -This foundry was begun in Sheffield about the beginning of the -present century. In 1810, Mr. Bower issued a price list below those -of the London founders, whose founts he succeeded occasionally in -underselling. Hansard mentions the foundry in 1824, under the style of -Bower, Bacon and Bower. No specimen is known with an earlier date than -1837, when the firm was G. W. Bower, late Bower and Bacon. - -A later specimen bears the name of Mr. G. W. Bower alone, and in 1841 -the firm was Bower Brothers, who published _Proposals for establishing -a graduated scale of sizes for the bodies of Printing Types, and fixing -their height-to-paper, based upon Pica as the common standard_.[743] - -After the death of Mr. G. W. Bower, the foundry was continued by Mr. -Henry Bower till his death about 1851, in September of which year the -plant and stock were sold by auction and dispersed among the other -founders. The Catalogue of this Sale contained about 50,000 punches and -matrices; many of them, however, being obsolete or of small value. {358} - - -BROWN, 1810.—LYNCH, 1810. - -These two individuals are included among the Letter Founders whose -names are given in Mason’s _Printer’s Assistant_[744]—the former having -had his place of business in Green Street, Blackfriars, and the latter -in Featherstone Buildings. They do not appear to have continued long -in business, and their names are not included in the list of Letter -Founders given in Johnson’s _Typographia_ in 1824. - - -MATTHEWSON, _circ._ 1810. - -This man was founding in Edinburgh in 1810, at which date he had some -correspondence with the Associated Founders respecting prices. Hansard -mentions him as an incipient founder even in 1825, and a competitor of -Mr. Miller’s. Nothing is known of the fate of his foundry; nor has any -Specimen of his types come under notice. - - -ANTHONY BESSEMER, 1813. - -Anthony Bessemer was a man of remarkable inventive genius. In his -twentieth year he distinguished himself by the erection at Haarlem -in Holland of pumping-engines to drain the turf pits; and before he -had attained the age of twenty-five, he was elected a member of the -Académie at Paris for improvements in the microscope. He subsequently -turned his attention to letter founding, and established a foundry -at Charlton, near Hitchin. Of the exact date of this undertaking we -are uncertain; but, as his son, the present Sir Henry Bessemer, was -born at Charlton in 1813, it is evident that the father was already -settled there at that date. Hansard states[745] that “Mr. Bessimer” cut -the Caslon Diamond letter. If the person referred to is Mr. Anthony -Bessemer, as is probable, it would appear that during the early years -of his business as a founder, he placed his energies occasionally at -the disposal of his brethren in the art. - -In 1821 he issued a specimen of Modern-cut Printing Types, and shortly -afterwards took into partnership Mr. J. J. Catherwood, formerly a -partner of Mr. Henry Caslon II, who, since his retirement from that -business, appears for a short time to have had a foundry of his own at -Charles Street, Hoxton.[746] Messrs. Bessemer {359} and Catherwood -issued a Specimen in 1825, on the title-page of which the new partner -styles himself “late of the Chiswell Street Foundry, London.” - -Bessemer’s Romans were, in conformity with the fashion of the day, -somewhat heavy, but finely cut. His chief performance was a Diamond, -which was, as Hansard informs us, cut to eclipse the famous Diamond of -Henri Didot, of Paris, at that time the smallest known. The execution -of this feat, particularly in the Italic, was highly successful. The -partnership between Messrs. Bessemer and Catherwood was not of long -duration, and terminated either by the death or the retirement of the -latter prior to 1830. Mr. Bessemer then removed his foundry to London, -and established it at 54, Red Lion Street, Clerkenwell, whence, in -1830, he issued his final specimen book, consisting almost entirely of -Roman founts. - -In 1832 he retired from the business, and his foundry was put up to -auction and dispersed. The Catalogue of the Sale mentions that the -2,500 punches included in the plant had been collected at an expense of -£4,000, and that not a single strike had been taken from them but for -the proprietor’s own use. From a marked copy of the Catalogue in our -possession, it appears that several of the lots of punches and matrices -fetched high prices. The list of implements and utensils shows that the -foundry employed about seven casters and an equal number of rubbers and -dressers. - -Mr. Bessemer’s son, Henry, appears to have been for some time in -his father’s foundry, where he mastered the mechanics of the trade. -In 1838, being then twenty-five years old, he took out a patent for -improvements in type-founding machinery, embodying several ingenious -contrivances, some of which have since been adopted. - - -SPECIMENS. - - 1821. Specimen of the last modern cut Printing Types by A. - Bessemer, Letter Founder, Hitchin, Herts. 1821. 8vo. . . . . - (Caxt. Cel., 4400.) - - 1825. Specimen of the last modern cut Printing Types by A. - Bessemer & J. J. Catherwood, Letter Founders, Hitchin, Herts. (J. - J. Catherwood, late of the Chiswell Street Foundry, London.) 1825. - 8vo. . . . . (W. B.) - - 1830. Specimen of the last modern cut Printing Types by A. - Bessemer, Letter Founder, 54, Red Lion Street, Clerkenwell, - London. 1830. 8vo. . . . . (T. B. R.) - - -RICHARD AUSTIN, _circ._ 1815. - -Richard Austin began business as a punch cutter in the employ of -Messrs. S. and C. Stephenson of the British Type Foundry, about the -year 1795. On the Title-page of the specimen issued by that foundry in -1796, his name is {360} mentioned as the cutter of the punches, and -the excellent specimen itself is no mean testimony to his abilities. - -The activity prevailing throughout the trade generally at that period, -consequent on the transition of the Roman character from the old style -to the modern, brought the punch cutter’s services into much request, -and Hansard informs us that Mr. Austin executed most of the modern -founts both for Messrs. Wilson of Glasgow and Mr. Miller of Edinburgh. - -Prior to the year 1819 he began a foundry of his own at Worship Street, -Finsbury, in which subsequently his son, George Austin, joined him; -and, in the year 1824, succeeded to the business. This foundry was -styled the Imperial Letter Foundry, and carried on under the style of -Austin & Sons. The earliest known specimen was issued in 1827. This -8vo volume is prefaced by a somewhat lengthy address to the Trade, -in which, after criticising the letter founding of the day, the -proprietors boldly claim to be the only letter founders in London who -cut their own punches, which they do in a peculiar manner so as to -insure perfect sharpness in outline. They also announce that they cast -their type in an extra hard metal. - -Mr. Austin appears to have been a man of considerable force and -independence of character. It is related of him that once, on -receiving—what to any founder at that day must have been a momentous -mandate—an intimation that _The Times_ wanted to see him, he replied, -with an audacity which sends a shudder even through a later generation, -“that if _The Times_ wanted to see him, he supposed it knew where to -find him!” - -On the death of Mr. Austin, his foundry was acquired by Mr. R. M. -Wood, who subsequently, in partnership with Messrs. Samuel and Thomas -Sharwood, transferred it to 120 Aldersgate Street, under the title of -the Austin Letter Foundry. Messrs. Wood and Sharwoods’ first specimen -was issued in 1839. In their preface, reference is again made to the -late Mr. Austin’s hard metal, the superiority of which, it is stated, -“was owing to one peculiar article being used in the mixture which is -unknown to our brethren in the Art.” - -Mr. Wood died in 1845, and the firm subsequently became S. and T. -Sharwood, who, in 1854, published two specimens, one of Types, the -other of Polytyped Metal Ornaments. - -This latter collection had been begun more than twenty years previously -by Vizitelly, Branston & Co.,[747] who, in 1832, had issued a specimen -of Cast Metal {361} Ornaments, “produced by a new improved method.” -This method appears to have consisted of the soldering of the casts -on metal mounts—at that time a novelty. The Sharwoods subsequently -acquired this collection of blocks and considerably increased it. - -On the death of the two Sharwoods, which occurred about the same time -in 1856, the Austin Foundry was thrown into Chancery and put up for -auction, and its contents dispersed among the trade. - - -SPECIMENS. - - 1827. Specimens of Printing Types cast at Austin’s Imperial Letter - Foundry, Worship Street, Shoreditch, London. 1827. 8vo. . . . . - (Caxt. Cel., 4407.) - - 1839. A Specimen Book of the Types cast at the Austin Letter - Foundry, by Wood & Sharwoods. No. 120, Aldersgate Street, London. - 1839. 4to. . . . . (Caxt. Cel., 4429.) - - * * * * * - - 1832. Specimen of Vizitelly, Branston & Co.’s Cast Metal Ornaments - produced by a new and improved method, greater in number and - variety, superior in design and execution, and considerably - cheaper in price than any collection hitherto offered to the - notice of printers. 76, Fleet Street, London, January 1832. 4to. - . . . . (Caxt. Cel., 4416.) - - -LOUIS JOHN POUCHÉE, _circ._ 1815. - -This Frenchman started a foundry in Great Wild Street, Lincoln’s Inn. -He had probably been established a few years when his first specimen -was issued in 1819, the most interesting portion of which was a -somewhat lengthy address to the public, setting forth the principles -on which his “New Foundry” was to be conducted. He mentions that “only -four Type Foundries (exclusive of mine) are worked in London at this -time,” and declares his intention of breaking down the monopoly they -assumed. The specimen itself is not remarkable. - -In 1823, he took out the patent for this country for Henri Didot’s -system of polymatype[748] which consisted of a machine capable of -casting from 150 to 200 types at each operation, each operation being -repeated twice a minute. This result was to be obtained by means of -a matrix bar which formed one side of a long trough mould into which -the metal was poured; and, when opened, “the types are found adhering -to the break bar like the teeth of a comb, when they are broken off -and dressed in the usual way.” Pouchée became agent in England for -this novel system of casting which, says the editor of the partial -reprint of Hansard’s _Typographia_, writing in 1869, was still used -successfully in France at that date. {362} - -The attempt to introduce this system into England went far to ruin -Pouchée; and, according to the above authority, “on his failure to -sustain the competition of the associated founders,[749] Didot’s -machine and valuable tools were purchased by them through their agent, -Mr. Reed, Printer, King Street, Covent Garden, and destroyed on the -premises of Messrs. Caslon and Livermore.” - -Despite this unfortunate speculation, Pouchée (who appears for some -time to have had a partner named Jennings),[750] issued another -Specimen Book in 1827, dated from Little Queen Street, London, in the -advertisement of which he again referred to the fact that there were -still only four letter-foundries in London (exclusive of his own), and -took credit to himself for bringing about a reduction of 12 per cent. -in the prices of his opponents. The specimen, which shows Titlings, -Roman and Italic, Egyptians, Blacks and Flowers, is of little merit and -is marked by a great preponderance of heavy faces. - -About the same time,[751] he issued a price list of all kinds of -printers’ materials, styling himself “Type Founder and Stereotype -Caster.” In the beginning of 1830 he abandoned the business, which was -sold by auction. The Catalogue included a large quantity of stereotype -ornaments, as well as 20,000 matrices and punches, moulds, presses, -and 35 tons of Type. The lots were variously disposed of at low prices -among the other founders. - - -SPECIMENS. - - 1819. Specimen of Printing Types by L. J. Pouchée, at the New - Foundry, Great Wild Street, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London. 1819. - 8vo. . . . . (Caxt. Cel., 4397.) - - 1827. Specimens of Printing Types by Louis J. Pouchée, Little - Queen Street, London. 1827. 8vo. . . . . (Ox. Univ. Pr.) - - -RICHARD WATTS, _circ._ 1815. - -Richard Watts, a printer of Crown Court, Strand, who, from 1802–9, -had held the office of printer to Cambridge University, distinguished -himself towards the close of the first quarter of the present century -as a cutter and founder of Oriental and foreign characters, of which he -accumulated a considerable collection. His first printing office was at -Broxbourne, whence in 1816 he removed to Crown Court, Temple Bar, and -here, chiefly under the patronage of the Bible {363} - -Society and the Mission Presses in India and elsewhere, he produced -the punches of a large number of languages hitherto unknown to English -typography. He received the assistance and advice of many eminent -scholars in his work, some of whom personally superintended the -execution of certain of the founts. His collection increased at a rapid -rate, and at the time of his death included almost every Oriental -language in which, at that time, the Scriptures had been printed. His -death occurred in 1844 at Edmonton, in which place his foundry appears -to have been for some time located. - -He was succeeded in business by his son, Mr. William Mavor Watts, who -printed a broadside specimen of the founts, numbering 67 languages and -dialects, of which several were shown in different sizes of character. -This number was largely augmented during the following years, and, -in the specimen prepared by Mr. Watts for the Exhibition of 1862, -nearly 150 versions were exhibited. To this specimen was prefixed an -interesting note respecting the origin of many of the founts. The -collection was subsequently acquired by Messrs. Gilbert and Rivington, -in whose possession it still remains and increases. - - -HUGH HUGHES, 1824. - -This artist, described as a very able engraver, was for some time in -partnership with Robert Thorne at the Fann Street Foundry. In 1824, he -commenced a foundry of his own in Dean Street, Fetter Lane, whence he -published a specimen of Book and Newspaper type, without date, which, -besides Romans, Scripts, and Egyptians, included also Saxon, Greek, -Flowers, and Music. - -He appears specially to have applied himself to the production of -this last-named character, and attained the reputation of being the -best music type cutter in the trade. Savage, in his _Dictionary of -Printing_, shows a specimen of Hughes music, observing that “the -English musical types have never to my knowledge undergone any -improvement till within a few years, when Mr. Hughes cut two new -founts,” (Nonpareil and Pearl), “which are looked upon as the best we -have and the largest of which I have used for this article (‘Music’).” -Hughes’ system appears to have been that originally introduced by -Breitkopf in 1764, and the scheme of a pair of cases by which his -specimen is accompanied shows that a complete fount comprised as many -as 238 distinct characters. Besides music of the modern notation, -Hughes had matrices for the Gregorian Plain Chant Music, of which a -specimen is also shown by Savage. - -After the death of Mr. Hughes, which took place before 1841, the -punches and matrices of his different music founts, Gregorian and -modern, were purchased by Mr. C. Hancock, of Middle Row, Holborn, by -whom they were considerably {364} improved, and who, subsequently, -after his removal to Gloucester Street, Queen Square, issued a -specimen. Of the disposal of the other contents of Mr. Hughes’ foundry -we have no information. - - -SPECIMENS. - - No date. A Specimen of Book and Newspaper Printing Types by Hugh - Hughes, Letter Cutter and Founder, 23 Dean Street, Fetter Lane. - 8vo. . . . . (Caxt. Cel., 4398.) - - No date. Specimen Sheet of Modern Music Types by H. Hughes, 23 - Dean Street, Fetter Lane, together with a scheme of Music Cases. - 8vo. . . . . (T. B. R.) - - -BARTON, 1824. - -Hansard states that this founder was early initiated in mechanical -science by Mr. Maudsley, the engineer; he was formerly in partnership -with Mr. Harvey, an engraver, by whom his founts were principally cut. -His foundry was in Stanhope Street, Clare Market, and is mentioned by -Johnson as one of the nine foundries carried on in London in the year -1824. No Specimen has come under observation. - - -HEAPHY, 1825; SIMMONS, 1825; BLACK, 1825. - -To complete the list of minor founders prior to 1830, should be added -the names of these three individuals, who are mentioned by Hansard in -his _Typographia_ as distinct London letter founders in 1825. - -[Illustration] - -{365} - -[Illustration] - - - - - CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE - OF ENGLISH LETTER-FOUNDERS’ SPECIMENS - NOTED IN THIS WORK. - 1665–1830. - PAGE - 1665. Nicholls 179 - 1669. Moxon 192 - 1693. Oxford 162 - 1695. Oxford 162 - 1706. Oxford 162 - (1708?) Oxford 162 - 1734. Caslon 256 - 1749. Caslon 256 - 1749. Caslon and Son 256 - 1749. Caslon and Son 256 - (1752?) Baskerville 287 - 1753. Anderton 350 - (1756?) Baine 350 - (1757?) Baskerville 287 - (1758?) Baskerville 287 - (1762?) Baskerville 287 - (1760?) Cottrell 297 - 1763. Caslon and Son 256 - 1764. Caslon and Son 256 - (1765?) Jackson 329 - 1766. Caslon 256 - (1766?) Cottrell 313 - 1768. Moore (London) 313 - 1768. Fougt 351 - 1768–70. Oxford 163 - 1770. Caslon 256 - 1770. Caslon 256 - 1770. Cottrell 297 - 1770. Moore 313 - 1772. Wilson 266 - (1778?) Oxford 163 - 1782. James 230 - (1783?) Jackson 329 - 1783. Wilson 266 - 1784. Caslon and Son 256 - 1785. Caslon 256 - 1785. Caslon 256 - 1785. Caslon 297 - (1785?) Cottrell 297 - 1785. Fry and Sons 313 - 1785. Fry and Sons 313 - 1786. Oxford 163 - 1786. Caslon 256 - 1786. Wilson 266 - 1786. Fry and Sons 313 - 1787. E. Fry and Co. 313 - 1787. Baine 350 - 1788. E. Fry and Co. 313 - 1789. Wilson 266 - 1789. Bell and Stephenson 354 - 1790. Fry and Co 313 - (1792) Figgins 344 - 1793. E. Fry and Co. 314 - (1793) Figgins 344 - 1794. Oxford 163 - 1794. Thorne 297 - 1794. Fry and Steele 314 - 1794. Fry and Steele 314 - 1794. Figgins 344 - 1795. Fry and Steele 314 - 1796. S. and C. Stephenson 354 - 1797. S. and C. Stephenson 354 - 1798. Thorne 297 - (1798?) Jackson 329 - 1798. Caslon III 329 - 1798. Caslon III 329 - 1800. Fry, Steele, and Co. 314 - 1801. Fry, Steele, and Co. 314 - 1802. Figgins 344 - (1802?) Figgins 344 - 1802. Swinney 353 - 1803. Fry, Steele, and Co. 314 - 1803. Thorne 297 - 1803. Caslon III and Son 329 - 1805. Caslon & Catherwood 256 - 1805. Fry and Steele 314 - (1805?) Fry and Steele 314 - 1807. Caslon IV 329 - 1808. Caslon & Catherwood 256 - 1808. Fry and Steele 314 - (1809) Miller 356 - (1812?) Caslon and Catherwood 256 - 1812. Wilson 266 - 1813. Miller 356 - 1815. Wilson 266 - 1815. Figgins 344 - 1815. Miller 356 - 1816. Ed. Fry 314 - 1817. Figgins 344 - (1819) Blake, Garnett 329 - 1819. Pouchée 362 - 1820. Ed. Fry and Son 314 - 1821. Thorowgood 297 - 1821. Figgins 344 - 1821. Bessemer 359 - 1822. Thorowgood 297 - 1822. Miller 356 - 1823. Wilson 266 - 1824. Ed. Fry 314 - 1824. Figgins 344 - (1824?) Hughes 364 - 1825. Bessemer and Catherwood 359 - 1826. Blake, Garnett 329 - 1826. Figgins 344 - 1827. Fry 314 - 1827. Blake, Garnett 329 - 1827. Figgins 344 - 1827. Austin 361 - 1827. Pouchée 362 - 1828. Wilson 267 - 1828. Thorowgood 297 - 1828. Blake, Garnett 329 - 1830. Caslon and Livermore 256 - 1830. Thorowgood 297 - 1830. Thorowgood 297 - 1830. Blake and Stephenson 329 - 1830. Bessemer 359 - -{366} - -[Illustration] - - - - -LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL AUTHORITIES CONSULTED OR REFERRED TO. - - - AMES (JOSEPH), Typographical Antiquities; being an Historical - Account of Printing in England. London, 1749, 4to. - - AMES (JOSEPH), Typographical Antiquities; augmented by William - Herbert. 3 vols. London, 1785–90, 4to. - - AMMAN (JOST.), Eygentliche Beschreibung aller Stände - und...Handwerker. Frankfurt, 1568, 4to. - - ARBER (EDWARD), Transcripts of the Registers of the Stationers’ - Company. London, 1875–77, 4 vols. 4to. - - ASTLE (THOS.), The Origin and Progress of Writing. London, 1784, - 4to. - - BELOE (W.), Anecdotes of Literature and Scarce Books, 6 vols. - London, 1807–12, 8vo. - - BERJEAU, (J. PH.), Speculum Humanæ Salvationis: Reproduit en - facsimile. Londres, 1861, 4to. - - BERNARD (A. J.), Antoine Vitré et les Caractères orientaux de la - Bible Polyglotte de Paris. Paris, 1857, 8vo. - - BERNARD (A. J.), Les Estienne et les types grecs de Francis 1er. - Paris, 1856, 8vo. - - BERNARD (A. J.), De l’Origine et des Débuts de l’Imprimerie en - Europe, 2 vols. Paris, 1853, 8vo. - - BIBLIANDER (T.), In Commentatione de ratione communi omnium - linguarum et literarum. Tiguri, 1548. - - BIGMORE and WYMAN, A Bibliography of Printing, 3 vols. London, - 1880–6, 4to. - - BLADES (WILLIAM), Life and Typography of William Caxton, 2 vols. - London, 1861–3, 4to. - - BLADES (WILLIAM), Some Early Type Specimen Books of England, - Holland, France, Italy and Germany. London, 1875, 8vo. - - BODONI (G.), Manuale Tipografico, 2 vols. Parma, 1818, 4to. - - BOWERS BROS., Proposals for Establishing a Graduated Scale of - Sizes for the Bodies of Printing Types. Sheffield, 1841, 12mo. - - BRITISH MUSEUM, Catalogue of Early English Books to 1640, 3 vols. - London, 1884, 8vo. - - BUTLER, (A. J.), Ancient Coptic Churches of Egypt, 2 vols. Oxford, - 1884, 8vo. - - CAILLE (J. DE LA), Histoire de l’Imprimerie et de la Libraire. - Paris, 1689, 4to. - - CAXTON CELEBRATION....Catalogue of the Loan Collection at South - Kensington. London, 1877, 8vo. - - CHALMERS (ALEX.), The General Biographical Dictionary, 32 vols. - London, 1812–17, 8vo. - - CHAMBERS (EPHRAIM), Cyclopœdia, 2 vols., 1728, folio (also - editions, 1738 and 1784–6). - - CHEVILLIER (A.), L’Origine de l’Imprimerie de Paris. Paris, 1694, - 4to. - - COTTON (HY.), A Typographical Gazetteer attempted. 1st series, 2nd - ed., Oxford, 1831, 8vo; second series, 1866, 8vo. - - D’ANVERS (Mrs.), Academia, or the Humours of the University of - Oxford, 1691. - - DAUNOU (P. C. F.), Analyse des opinions diverses sur l’Origine d - l’Imprimerie. Paris, 1810, 8vo. - - DE GEORGE (LÉON), La Maison Plantin à Anvers. 2nd ed. Bruxelles, - 1878, 8vo. - - DE VINNE (THEODORE), The Invention of Printing. New York, 1877, - 8vo. - - DIBDIN (T. F.), The Bibliographical Decameron, 3 vols. London, - 1817, 8vo. - - DIBDIN (T. F.), Introduction to the Knowledge of the rare and - valuable Editions of the Classics. 4th ed., 2 vols. London, 1827, - 8vo. - - DICKSON (R.), The Introduction of the Art of Printing into - Scotland. Aberdeen, 1885, 8vo. - - DIDOT (PIERRE), Epitre sur les Progrès de l’Imprimerie. Paris, - 1784, 8vo. - - DUNTON (JNO.), The Life and Errors of. London, 1705, 8vo. - - DUPONT (PAUL), Histoire de l’Imprimerie, 2 vols. Paris, 1854, 8vo. - - DÜRER (ALB.), Unterweissung der Messung. Nuremburg, 1525, folio. - - [DUVERGER (E.)], Histoire de l’invention de l’Imprimerie par les - Monuments. Paris, 1840, folio. - - EDWARDS (E.), Libraries and Founders of Libraries. London, 1865, - 8vo. - - [ENCYCLOPÆDIA], Article sur Fonderie en Caractères de - l’Imprimerie. Paris, n. d., folio. - - ENSCHEDÉ, Specimen de Caractères Typographiques Anciens. Harlem, - 1867, 4to. {367} - - ESSAY on the Original, Use, and Excellency of the Noble Art and - Mystery of Printing. London, 1752, 8vo. - - EVELYN (JNO.), Diary and Correspondence, 4 vols. London, 1850–2, - 8vo. - - FAULMAN (C.), Geschichte der Buchdruckerkunst. Vienna, 1882, 8vo. - - FIGGINS (V.), Facsimile of Caxton’s Game of the Chesse; with - remarks. London, 1855, folio. - - FINESCHI (V.), Notizie Storiche sopra la Stamperia di Ripoli. - Fiorenze, 1781, 8vo. - - FISCHER (G.), Essai sur les Monumens typographiques de Jean - Gutenberg. Mayence, 1802, 4to. - - FOURNIER (P. S.), Manuel Typographique, utile aux gens de lettres, - 2 vols. Paris, 1764–66, 8vo. - - FRANKLIN (BENJ.), Works of, 2 vols., London, 1793, 8vo; also - Bigelow’s edition, 3 vols. Philadelphia, 1875, 8vo. - - FREEMASON’S MAGAZINE. London, 1796, 8vo. - - FRY (EDMUND), Pantographia. London, 1799, 8vo. - - GAELIC SOCIETY OF DUBLIN: Transactions of, Dublin, 1808, 8vo. - - GAND (M. J.), Recherches Historiques et Critiques sur la Vie et - les Editions de Thierry Martens. Alost, 1845, 8vo. - - GED (WILLIAM), Biographical Memoirs of. London, 1781, 8vo. - - GENTLEMAN’S MAGAZINE. Vols. for 1792, 1793, 1803, 1836. - - GOUGH (R.), British Topography, 2 vols. London, 1780, 4to. - - GRESWELL (W. P.), A View of the Early Parisian Greek Press, 2 - vols. Oxford, 1838, 8vo. - - GUIGNES (J. DE), Essai Historique sur la Typographie Orientale et - Grecque de l’Imprimerie Royale. Paris, 1787, 4to. - - GUTCH (JNO.), Collectanea Curiosa, 2 vols. Oxford, 1781, 8vo. - - HANSARD (T. C.), Typographia. London, 1825, 8vo. - - [HANSARD (T. C.), the Younger.] Treatises on Printing and - Type-founding (from the Encycl. Britan.). Edinburgh, 1841, 8vo. - - HARLEIAN MSS.—The Bagford Collections. - - HARLEIAN MISCELLANY, 8 vols. Lond., 1744–46, 4to. Vol. 3. - - HARWOOD (EDW.), A View of the Various Editions of the Greek and - Roman Classics. Lond., 1775, 12mo. - - HAWKINS (SIR JOHN), A General History of the Science and Practice - of Music. London, 1776, 4to. Vol. 5. - - HEARNE (THOS.), Reliquiæ Hernianæ. Oxford, 1869, 4to, Vol. 2. - - HODGSON (T.), An Essay on the Origin and Progress of Stereotype - Printing. Newcastle, 1820, 8vo. - - IMPRIMERIE ROYALE (de Paris). Specimen: Ancienne Typographic. - Paris, 1819, 4to. - - JAMES (JOHN), Catalogue and Specimen of the large and extensive - Printing Type Foundry of. London, 1782, 8vo. - - LABORDE (LÉON), Débuts de l’Imprimerie â Strasbourg. Paris, 1840, - 8vo. - - LA CROIX, FOURNIER ET SERÉ, Histoire de l’Imprimerie, etc. Paris, - 1852, 4to. - - LAMBINET (PIERRE), Origine de l’Imprimerie, 2 vols. Paris, 1810, - 8vo. - - LANSDOWNE MSS., No. 231. - - LATHAM (H.), Oxford Bibles and Printing in Oxford. Oxford, 1870, - 8vo. - - LAUD (Arch.), Works of, 7 vols. Oxford, 1847–60, 8vo. Vol. 5. - - LEMOINE (HY.), Typographical Antiquities. London, 1797, 12mo. - - LINDE (M. A. VAN DER), The Haarlem Legend of the Invention of - Printing by L. J. Coster, critically examined. Lond., 1871, 8vo. - - LOMÉNIE (L. DE), Beaumarchais et ses Temps. Edwards’ translation, - 4 vols. London, 1856, 8vo. Vol. 3. - - LONDON PRINTERS’ LAMENTATION. (London, 1660) 4to. - - LONG (J. LE), Discours Historique sur les principales editions des - Bibles Polyglottes. Paris, 1713, 12mo. - - LUCE (L.), Essai d’une nouvelle typographie. Paris, 1771, 4to. - - [LUCKOMBE (P.)], A Concise History of the Origin and Progress of - Printing. London, 1770, 8vo. - - MCCREERY (JNO.), The Press, a Poem. Published as a Specimen of - Typography. Liverpool, 1803–27, 4to. - - MADDEN (J. P. A.), Lettres d’un Bibliographe, 5 vols. Paris, - 1868–78, 8vo. - - MASON (MONCK), Life of William Bedell, D.D. London, 1843, 8vo. - - MEERMAN (G.), Origines Typographicæ. 2 vols. Hagæ Com., 1765, 4to. - - MILTON (JOHN), Areopagitica. (Arber’s Reprint.) London, 1868, 8vo. - - MORES (E. ROWE), A Dissertation upon English Typographical - Founders and Founderies. London, 1778, 8vo. - - MOXON (JOSEPH), Regulæ Trium Ordinum Literarum Typographicarum. - London, 1676, 4to. - - MOXON (JOSEPH), Mechanick Exercises, or the Doctrine of - Handy-Works, 2 vols. London, 1677–83, 4to. - - MOXON (JOSEPH), Tutor to Astronomy and Geography, 4th ed. London, - 1686, 4to. - - NICHOLS (JNO.), Biographical and Literary Anecdotes of William - Bowyer, Printer, F.S.A. London, 1782, 4to. {368} - - NICHOLS (JNO.), Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century, 9 - vols. London, 1812–15, 8vo. - - NICHOLS (JNO.), Illustrations of the Literary History of the - Eighteenth Century, 8 vols. London, 1817–58, 8vo. - - NOBLE (MARK), Continuation of Granger’s Biographical History of - England, 3 vols. London, 1806, 8vo. - - OTTLEY (W. Y.), An Inquiry concerning the Invention of Printing. - London, 1863, 4to. - - OWEN (HUGH), Two Centuries of Ceramic Art in Bristol. 1873, 8vo. - - PACIOLI (LUCA), De Divinâ Proportione. Venice, 1509, folio. - - PALMER (SAM.), A General History of Printing. London, 1732, 4to. - - PANIZZI (SIR A.), Chi era Francesco da Bologna? London, 1858, 16mo. - - PANZER (G. W.), Annales Typographici, 11 vols. Nuremberg, - 1793–1803, 4to. - - PARR (RICHD.), The Life of James Usher, Archbishop of Armagh. - London, 1686, folio. - - PATENTS FOR INVENTIONS. Abridgments of Specifications relating to - Printing (1617–1857). London, 1859, 8vo. - - PATER (PAULUS), De Germaniæ miraculo, optimo, maximo, Typis - Literarum . . Dissertatio. Lipsisæ, 1710, 4to. - - PHILIPPE (J.), Origine de l’Imprimerie â Paris. Paris, 1885, 4to. - - PRINTER’S ASSISTANT, The. London, 1810. 12mo. - - PRINTER’S GRAMMAR, The. London, 1787, 8vo. - - PSALMANAZAR (GEO.), Memoirs of. London, 1765, 8vo. - - REID (JNO.), A Specimen of the Printing Types and Flowers - belonging to. Edinburgh, 1768, 8vo. - - RENOUARD (A.), Annales de l’Imprimerie des Alde. 3 vols. Paris, - 1825, 8vo. - - RENOUARD (A.), Catalogue de la Bibliotheque d’un Amateur. 4 vols. - Paris, 1819, 8vo. - - RICHARDSON (REV. J.), A History of the Attempts that have been - made to convert the Popish Native of Ireland. 1712, 8vo. - - RICHARDSON (WM.), A Specimen of a New Printing Type, in Imitation - of the Law-hand. London, n.d. broadside. - - RIVINGTON (C. R.), Records of the Company of Stationers. London, - 1883, 8vo. - - ROCCHA (ANGELO), Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana. Rome, 1591, 4to. - - ROSSI (J. B. DE), De Hebraicæ Typographiæ Origine ac Primitiis. - Parma, 1776, 4to. - - RUSHWORTH’S Historical Collections, 8 vols. London, 1659–1701, - folio. Vol. 2. - - SARDINI (G.), Storia Critica di Nicolao Jenson, 3 vols. Lucca, - 1796–98, folio. - - SAVAGE (WM.), A Dictionary of the Art of Printing. London, 1841, - 8vo. - - SAVAGE (WM.), Practical Hints on Decorative Printing. London, - 1822, 4to. - - SCHOEPFLIN (J. D.), Vindicisæ Typographiæ. Argentorati, 1760, 4to. - - SCHWAB (M.), Les Incunables Orientaux. Paris, 1883, 8vo. - - SHENSTONE (WM.), Works in Verse and Prose, 3 vols. London, 1791, - 12mo. - - SKEEN (W.), Early Typography. Colombo, 1872, 8vo. - - SMITH (JNO.), The Printer’s Grammar. London, 1755, 8vo. - - SMITH (THOS.), Vitæ quorundam eruditissimorum et illustrium - Virorum. London, 1707, 4to. - - STAR-CHAMBER. A Decree of Starre Chambre concerning Printing (11 - June, 1637). London, 1637, 4to. - - STATE PAPERS, Domestic, Calendars of, Various years. - - STOWER (C.), The Printer’s Grammar. London, 1808, 8vo. - - STRYPE (JNO.), Life and Acts of Matthew Parker. London, 1711, - folio. - - THIBOUST (C. L.), De Typographiæ Excellentiâ; Carmen. Paris, 1718, - 8vo. - - THOMAS (ISAIAH), The History of Printing in America, (2nd ed.), 2 - vols., Albany, 1874, 8vo. - - TIMPERLEY (C.), Encyclopædia of Literary and Typographical - Anecdote. London, 1842, 8vo. - - TIMPERLEY (C.), Songs of the Press, London, 1833, 8vo. - - TODD (H. J.), Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the Rt. Rev. - Brian Walton, D.D., 2 vols. London, 1821, 8vo. - - TORY (GEOFROY), Champ-Fleury. Paris, 1529, sm. folio. - - TRITHEMIUS (JOH.), Annales Hirsaugienses, 2 vols. St. Gall, 1690, - 4to. - - TWYN (JNO.), An Exact Narrative of the Tryal and Condemnation of. - Lond., 1664, 4to. - - UNIVERSAL MAGAZINE, London, 1750, 8vo. - - [WATSON (JAMES)], The History of the Art of Printing. Edinburgh, - 1713, 8vo. - - WETTER (JOH.), Kritische Geschichte der Erfindung der - Buchdruckerkunst. Mainz, 1836, 8vo., and atlas of plates. - - WILLEMS (A.), Les Elzevier; Histoire et Annales Typographiques. - Bruxelles, 1880. - - WILKINS (DAVID), Concilia Magnæ Britanniæ et Hiberniæ. London, - 1737, folio. Vol. 4. - - WOOD (ANTHONY À), Athenæ Oxonienses, 2 vols. Lond., 1791–2, folio. - - YCAIR (J. DE), Orthographia Practica. Caragoça, 1548, 4to. - -{369} - -[Illustration] - - - - -INDEX. - - -_Acta Apostolorum, Gr., Lat. (Laud. Codex)_, Oxford 1715; 321 - -_Acta Sanctorum Hiberniæ_, Louvain, 1645; 75 - -Adams (Geo.), successor to Moxon, 192 - -Advertisement of Caxton, 49, 87 - -_Ælfredi Res Gestæ_, Lond. 1574; 73, 95, 96, 98, 144, 176 - -_Ælfric’s Paschal Homily_, Lond. 1567; 73, 95: Lond. 1623; 73 - -_Æneas Silvius_, Louvain, 1483; 43 - -_Æsop’s Fables_, Milan, 1480; 57: Louvain, 1513; 59 - -Aldus Manutius, Specimen, 49, 169; ‘Silver type’, 106; Greek, 58; -Hebrew, 62; Initials, 80; Italic, 50; Ornaments, 82; Roman, 41 - -Alexandrian Greek, matrices, Grover, 198, 204, 321; James, 228, 303, -321; Fry, 303, 304, 311, 321; Jackson, 321, 322 - -_Alfieri, Works of_, Kehl, 1786–1809; 286 - -_Alphabet Irlandais_, Paris, 1804; 76, 191 - -_Alphabetarium Runic-Swed._, Stockholm, 1611; 72 - -_Alphabetum, Heb., Gr._, Paris 1507; 62: Paris 1516; 63 - -Amerbach, Roman type of, 43 - -America, first letter-founders in, 350 - -Ames (Jos.) on Caxton’s types, 84, 242; on Caslon’s, 242; inaccuracy -of, 349 - -Amharic, same as Ethiopic, 69, 177; Castell’s, 177; Oxford, 177; Fry, -309, 311 - -Amman (Jost), _Book of Trades_, 104 - -ANDERTON (GEO.) founder, 246, 350; specimen of, 350 - -ANDREWS (ROB.) 157, 166, 194–197; succeeds Moxon, 194; punches cut by, -74, 157, 196; summary of foundry, 195; foundry sold, 197 - -——— Matrices: Anglo-Norman, 196; Arabic, 195; Blacks, 194, 196, 312; -Ethiopic, 194, 193; Greek, 195, 197; Hebrew, 194, 195; Irish, 194, 196; -Music, 77, 196; Roman and Italic, 195, 197; Samaritan, 70, 195; Saxon, -74, 157, 196; Secretary, 196; Signs, etc., 196; Syriac, 195, 241 - -ANDREWS (SYL.) son of above, 149, 195, 209; supplies Baskett, 210; -foundry sold, 211; epitaph, 211 - -ANDREWS (SYL.) Matrices: Hebrew, 209; Roman and Italic, 209, 210 - -‘ANONYMOUS FOUNDRY,’ 206 - -——— Matrices: Anglo-Norman, 207; Arabic, 207; Black, 207; Ethiopic, -207; Gothic, 207; Greek, 207; Roman, 207 - -Anglo-Norman Matrices: Andrews, 196; ‘Anon,’, 207; James, 223, 228 - -Anglo-Saxon; _see_ Saxon - -_Anthologia, Gr._, Florence 1494; 57 - -Antimony, discovered, 20; use of in type metal, 20, 117; prices of, 118 - -Antiqua, German name for Roman, 42; Italian ditto, 42 - -_Antiques linguæ Brit, rudimenta_, Lond. 1621; 64 - -Applegarth (A.) type-casting machine of, 121 - -Apprentice-founders, regulation of, 130, 133; in France, 129 - -_Aquinas (St. Th.) Summa_, 1462; 54 - -Arabic, first types of, 65; printed in Black or Hebrew, 65; early in -Italy, 65, 66; Paris, 65; Leyden, 65, 141, 144; Upsala, 66 - -——— in England, first types, 66; printed in Italic, 66; written by -hand, 66; De Worde’s, 66, 91; Bedwell’s, 66, 145; none at Oxford, 1639, -66: Flesher’s, 66 - -——— Matrices: Oxford, 66, 147, 148, 155, 161; Polyglot, 66, 173, 174, -177, 198; Andrews, 195; Grover, 198, 235; ‘Anon,’ 207; James, 67, 223, -228, 303; Caslon, 67, 235, 240, 247, 254; Fry, 67, 303, 309, 311; -Caslon III, 326 - -——— Punches: James, 229 - -_Arabian Trudgman_, Lond. 1615; 66 - -_Arba Turim_, Pheibia, 1475; 62 - -Arber (E.) on early English printers, 125 - -_Archaionomia_, Lond. 1568; 95 - -_Areopagitica_ of Milton, 130 - -_Aristotle_, Venice, 1495; 58 - -Armenian, first types, 68; at Rome, 68; Paris, 68; Amsterdam, 68; -Marseilles, 68; Constantinople, 68 - -——— Matrices: Oxford, 62, 148, 153, 161; Caslon, 69, 239, 240, 247, -254; Caslon III, 326 - -Aspinwall (T.) type-casting machine of, 122 - -Astle (T.) on early type ‘bills,’ 28; on Day’s Saxon, 96 - -Atanasia, Spanish type body, 37 - -Athias (Jos.) Dutch founder, 114, 215; Hebrew type of, 64, 215, 238, 264 - -_Attempts to convert the Native Irish_, Lond., _n.d._, 190 - -Augustin, a type body, 32, 37 - -_Augustini, De Civitate Dei_, Rome, 1474; 37: Basle, 1506; 37 - -AUSTIN (RICHD.) letter founder, 359; cuts punches for Stephenson, 353, -359; Wilson, 360; and Miller, 355, 360; starts a foundry, 360; specimen -and advertisement, 360; anecdote of, 360; his successors, 360 - -——— Matrices, Roman and Italic, 360 - -Baber (H. H.) facs. of Alexandrian _Codex_, 322 - -Badius Ascensius, French printer, 20; device, 106; Greek, 58; Hebrew, -63; Roman, 43 - -Bagford (Jno.) notes on printing, 84, 139, 140, 144, 146, 165; on -Oxford Specimen, 154; on Oxford Printing House, 156 - -Bagster (S.), Polyglot _Bible_ of, 65, 308, 311, 341; Hebrew, cut for, -65, 341; Syriac, 308, 311, 342 - -BAINE (JNO.) partner with Wilson, 239, 260; begins a foundry in London, -349; in Edinburgh, 349; specimens, 263, 349, 350 - -Barclay (R.) patent punches of, 119 - -Barker (Chr.) report on printers, 1582: 126 - -Barker (F.) printer of ‘Wicked’ _Bible_, 142, 143 - -Barnes (Jos.) Oxford printer, 140 - -BARTON—letter founder, 364 - -Base-Secretary, peculiar type, 55, 56, 289 - -BASKERVILLE (JNO.) 268–87; early training, 268; first types cut by, -268, 269, 275; letters to Dodsley, 270–2; _Virgil_, 1757, 271, 272, -273; specimens, 271, 276, 277, 287; preface to _Milton_, 275; tribute -to Caslon, 243, 275; employed by Oxford Press, 160, 273, 274; dazzling -impressions of, 275, 279; relics of, at Oxford, 160, 162, 274; -privilege from Cambridge, 276, 278; type bodies, 276; punch-cutters -for, 269, 277, 353; letter to H. Walpole, 278; prejudice against, 278, -279, 280, 284; folio _Bible_, 1763, 279; tries to sell business, 278, -281, 284; correspondence with Franklin, 280, 281; various tributes -to, 263, 272, 277, 280, 284; retires from printing, 281, resumes 281; -death, 281; personal notices of, 282; epitaph and burial, 282, 283; -portrait, 283; his influence on English typography, 284, 299, 305, 310, -332, 333; destination of his types, 287, 286 - -——— Matrices: Roman, 47, 48, 263, 270, 271, 275, 276, 277, 279, 280, -284; Greek, 61, 160, 273, 274; Initials, 81, 270 - -Bakerville (Mrs.) notice of, 282, 283; her advertisements, 283; book -printed by, 238 - -Baskett (Jno.) printer at Oxford, 210; his ‘Vinegar’ _Bible_, 1717–16, -210; inventory of his types, 210; ‘silver initials’ of, 107, 211 - -Batarde, a class of type, 36, 53, 55 - -Bay (Jno.) early American founder, 350 - -Beaumarchais, purchases Baskerville’s foundry, 284; typographical -establishment at Kehl, 285; editions of _Voltaire_, 285, 286 - -_Beauties of the Poets_, Lond. 1788; 306 - -Bebel, Hebrew type of, 63 - -_Bede’s Works_, Camb. 1644; 74 - -Bedell (Bp.) _A B C. or Catechism_, Dublin, 1631, 188; Irish _Old -Testament_, Lond. 1685; 188 - -Bedwell (Wm.) buys Arabic abroad, 66, 145 - -BELL and STEPHENSON, letter founders, 353 - -_Bellows’ French Dictionary_, Edinburgh, 1873; 356 - -Bengalee matrices, Jackson, 317, 318; Wilkins, 318 - -Bensley (T.) printer, employs Figgins, 336 - -Bernard (A.) on sculpto-fusi types, 8; sand-cast type, 10, 12; ‘getté -en molle,’ 13; on early founts, 27 - -Berte (A. F.) type-casting machine of, 119, 120 - -Berthelet (T.) types of, 94; _Boke named the Governour_, 94 - -BESLEY (ROBT.) partner of Thorowgood, 296 - -BESSEMER (ANT.) letter founder, 254, 265, 358; starts at Charlton, 358; -joined, by J. J. Catherwood, 358; removes to London, 359; minute types -cut by, 358, 359; foundry sold, 359; specimens, 358, 359 - -——— Matrices:—Roman and Italic, 359 - -Bessemer (H.) son of above, type casting machine of, 265, 359 - -Bettenham (Jas.) printer, 234; assists Caslon, 234 - -Bewick (T.) wood-engraver, 306, 330, 331 - -_Bible_ (_Polyglot_), Complutum, 1514–17; 59, 63, 169, 170; Antwerp, -1569–72; 51, 59, 64, 169, 170; Heidelberg, 1586; 170; Hamburg, 1596; -170; Nuremburg, 1599; 170: Paris, 1645; 66, 67, 70, 169, 170, 171; -London, 1657; 47, 66, 68, 69, 70, 98, 136; account of, 168–176; London, -1817–28, &c., 65, 68, 308, 341 - -——— (_Hebrew_) Soncino, 1488; 62; Basle, 1534: 63; Hamburg, 1587 -and 1603; 63, 247; Amsterdam, 1639; 64; Amsterdam, 1667; 64, 215; -Amsterdam, 1705; 64 - -_Bible_, (_Greek_) Alexandrian Codex, Lond. 1816–21; 322 - -——— (_Latin_) Mentz _n.d._, 26, 27, 53 - -——— (_English_) Lond. 1539 (Grafton’s) 124; Edinburgh 1576 (Bassendyne) -46; Lond. 1631 (Barker) 142, 198; Lond. 1653 (Field) 47; Oxford, -1717–16 (Baskett) 210; Cambridge 1763 (Baskerville) 279; Lond. 1774–6 -(Moore) 301; Bristol, 1774 (Pine) 301; Lond. 1776 (Pasham) 324; Lond. -1777 (Fry) 302; Lond. 1800 (Macklin) 323, 336 - -——— (_Armenian_) Amsterdam, 1666; 68 - -——— (_Irish_) Lond. 1685; 75, 190; Lond. 1690; 190 - -——— (_Russian_) Prague, 1517–19; 71 - -——— (_Sclavonic_) Ostrog, 1581; 71: Moscow, 1663; 71 - -——— (_Syriac_) Lond. 1829; 68 - -Bible-height at Oxford, 155 - -Bible-printing, complaints of, 232 - -Bibliander, on wooden types, 4 - -_Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana_, Rome, 1591; 65, 67, 68 - -‘Bill’ of early founders, 28 - -Bill (Jno.) Hebrew type of, 64 - -Binneman (H.) types of, 96 - -BLACK, a founder, 364 - -Black letter, early use of in England, 54, 97; Caxton’s, 53, 87, 88, -89, 312, 343; De Worde’s, 53, 89, 90, 91, 197, 199, 225, 239; Faques’, -93; fashions in, 54; semi-gothic, 55, 94; mixed with Roman, 45, 80 - -——— Matrices:—Oxford, 148, 161; Polyglot, 173, 177; Andrews, 196, 312; -Grover, 197, 199, 225; Head, 206, 241; Mitchell, 206, 241; ‘Anon.’, -207; James, 54, 214, 217, 223, 228, 303; Caslon, 54, 239, 240, 248, -254; Wilson, 264; Fry, 303, 310, 311, 334; Thorne, 295; Caslon III, -326; Figgins, 340, 343 - -Blades (Wm.) on early schools of typography, 9; on page by page -printing, 26; _Life of Caxton_, 83; on early letter-founding, 102 - -BLAKE, GARNETT & CO., purchase Caslon IV’s foundry, 327; specimen, 328; -Orientals, 328 - -Blind type: Haüy’s, 78; Lucas, 79; Frere, 79; Moon, 79; Braille, 79; -Carton, 79; Alston, 78, 79, 309; Fry, 78, 79, 308, 309 - -Block books, not typographical, 2; latest printed, 2 - -Block-printing, _see_ Stereotype - -Bodies, _see_ Type-bodies - -Bodman on wooden types, 4 - -Bodoni (G. B.) notice of, 251, 252; specimens, 50, 252; influence on -English typography, 251, 331; _Manuale Tipografico_, 72, 252; Etruscan -letter of, 72; Greek, 61, 252, 332; Roman, 48, 251; Russian, 72 - -_Boëthius de Consolatione_, Oxon. 1698; 151 - -_Boke named the Governour_, Lond. 1531; 94 - -Bolts (W.) Bengalee type cut for, 317, 318, 319 - -Bomberg, Hebrew type of, 62 - -Bourgeoise, a class of type, 32 - -Bourgeois, an English type-body, 33, 39 - -Bourgeois (J. de) Rouen printer, 103 - -BOWER (G. W.) Sheffield founder, 357; specimen, 357; partners of, 357; -attempt to regulate type bodies, 35, 357; foundry sold, 357 - -Bowyer (Wm.) printer, account of, 234; Saxon type used by, 74, 157, -289; fire of his office, 157, 197, 205, 234; his aid to Caslon, 234, -236, 238, 316 - -Bowyer (Wm. II) his aid to Jackson, 315, 316, 323 - -Boydell (Jno.) founder of the Shakespeare press, 330 - -Boyle (R.) Irish type cut for, 189 - -Bradshaw (Henry) on the type of the _Mentz Psalter_, 11; on the first -Oxford types, 138 - -Branston, engraver and maker of cast ornaments, 360; his stereoplates -for music, 360 - -Breaking off, process in founding, 111, 115, 116, 117, 131 - -‘Breaks’ of early types, 22 - -Breitkopf (J. G.) Leipzig founder, 296; German type of, 296; Map type, -296; Music, 78, 296; Russian, 71, 72, 296 - -Brèves (Sav. de) Arabic cut for, 66; Syriac, 67 - -_Breviary_ (_Icelandic_), Hoolum, 1531; 73 - -Brevier, a type body, 32; English, 32, 33, 39, 129; German, 38 - -Brilliant, an English type body, 356 - -_British Theatre_, Lond. 1791–2; 52 - -Brotherly Meeting of Printers, 165, 166, 171, 178, 193, 194, 197, 205 - -BROWN, letter-founder, 358 - -Browne (J.) Hebrew used by, 64 - -Bruce (D.) type-casting machine of, 122 - -Buchanan (Cl.) Syriac cut for, 342 - -Buck (T.) Cambridge printer, 141 - -Buel (Abel) early American founder, 350 - -_Bullock’s Oratio_, Camb. 1521; 141 - -Bulmer (W.) fine printer, 330, 331, 333; employs Birmingham cutters, -284, 331; prints for Roxburghe club, 312, 334 - -Burghers (M.) Oxford University engraver, 151, 210 - -Bus (J.) Dutch founder, 114, 215 - -_Cædmon’s Paraphrase of Genesis_, Amsterdam, 1655; 74 - -_Calasio Concordantiæ_, Lond. 1747; 346 - -Cambridge University, early printing at, 139, 141; offer to buy the -Paris Greek, 61, 141; Greek types at, 60, 141; borrow type from Oxford, -61, 141; Saxon types of, 74; privilege to Ged for stereotype, 219; to -Baskerville, 276, 278; Orientals, cut by Fry for, 308 - -_Cambro-brytannicæ . . lingua Institutiones_, Lond. 1592; 64 - -Canon, a type body, 32, 36; Tory’s definition of, 32 - -_Carmen Tograi_, Oxon. 1661; 66, 68 - -Cartlitch (Miss), married Caslon II, 248 - -CASLON (WM.) the First, 233–246; gunsmith’s apprentice, 233; first -attempts at typography, 233–6; first foundry, 234; early patrons, 234; -Palmer’s conduct to, 235, 238; early difficulties, 237; offers for -Grover’s foundry, 237; reputation of, 237; first specimen, 240, 290; -view of his foundry, 108, 116, 243, 288, 316; specimens, 241, 242, 280; -various tributes to, 158, 241, 242, 243, 275; wager with Ged, 219, 238; -rival to James, 219, 222, 238; buys half Mitchell’s foundry, 206, 221, -241; made a Justice, 243; his workmen, 243, 288, 290, 315, 316, 350, -351; family, 245, 246; retires, 244; anecdote of private life, 245; -dies, 246; influence on English typography, 47, 249, 284, 301, 303, 305 - -——— Matrices: Armenian, 69, 239, 240, 247, 254; Arabic, 67, 235, -240, 247, 254, 311; Black, 54, 239, 240, 241, 248, 254; Coptic, 70, -236, 237, 240, 234; Ethiopic, 69, 240, 254; Etruscan, 72, 239, 240, -247,254; Flowers, 222, 240, 241, 248; Gothic, 73, 239, 240, 248, 254; -Greek, 240, 241, 247, 254; Hebrew, 65, 236, 240, 247, 254; Initials, -81; Music, 254; Roman and Italic, 47, 48, 52, 159, 197, 236, 240, 247, -254, 284; Samaritan, 70, 240, 241, 247, 254; Saxon, 74, 240, 248, 254; -Syriac, 68, 240, 241, 247, 254 - -CASLON (WM.) the Second, son of above, enters business, 241; specimens, -246; Mores’ prejudice against, 244, 247; anecdote of, 316; dies, 248; -wife and family of, 248 - -——— Matrices: Black, 248; Greek, 247; Hebrew, 247; Music, 248; -‘Proscription-type,’ 248; Saxon, 74, 248; Syriac, 246 - -CASLON (MRS. W.) wife of above, formerly Miss Cartlitch, 248; manages -for her husband, 248; succeeds to the business in 1792, 250; member of -trade Association, 250; death, 251; tributes to, 251; decline in value -of foundry under, 251 - -CASLON (WM.) the Third, son of W. Caslon II, succeeds to the business, -248; specimens, 248, 249, 250; founder to His Majesty, 249; altercation -with Frys, 249, 303, 304; large sand cast type of, 250; cast ornaments, -254, 326; leaves Chiswell Street, 250; relations with Jackson, 317, 325 - -——— Matrices (Chiswell Street): Script, 249 - -——— Buys Jackson’s foundry, 325; uses Chiswell Street Orientals -and Cast Ornaments, 325, 326; specimens, 325, 326; retirement and -character, 326, 327 - -——— Matrices (Salisbury Square): Arabic, 326; Armenian, 326; Black, -326; Greek, 326; Hebrew, 326; Samaritan, 326; Saxon, 326; Syriac, 326 - -CASLON (HENRY) the First, son of W. Caslon II, 248; joint heir to -foundry, 248; wife of, 250; death, 250 - -CASLON (Mrs. HENRY) wife of above, formerly Miss Rowe, 200, 250; joint -proprietor of foundry, 251, 252; sole proprietor, 251; regenerates -foundry, 251; cuts new founts, 251; her partner, 252; marries Mr. -Strong, 252; illness and death, 252; specimen, 252 - -——— Matrices: Roman and Italic, 251, 252, 253 - -CASLON (HENRY) the Second, son of above, 250; infant proprietor of -foundry, 251; sole proprietor, 253; partners of, 253, 254; additions to -foundry, 253, 254, 334; state of foundry in 1825, 234; revives the Old -Style, 255; death, 255 - -——— Matrices: German, 254; Greek, 254; Persian, 254; Diamond Roman, -358; Sanscrit, 254 - -CASLON (HY. WM.) son and partner of above, 235; unites Glasgow and -Caslon foundries, 253, 263; offers foundry for sale, 255; dies, the -last of his name, 255 - -CASLON (WM.) the Fourth, son and partner of Wm. Caslon III, 326; -succeeds to Salisbury Square Foundry, 327; improved types, 120, 327; -‘Sanspareil’ matrices, 327; sells foundry to Blake, 327; character, 328 - -Caslon (Saml.) mould-maker, brother to Wm. Caslon I. 246, 350 - -Caslon (Thos.) bookseller, son of Wm. Caslon I, 246 - -Caslon Foundry, type bodies in 1841, 34; changes in the value of, 251, -255; relics preserved at, 245 - -Cast Ornaments, introduced by W. Caslon III, 250, 326; Fry’s, 306; -Vizitelly, Branston’s, 360, 361 - -Castell (E.) his _Heptaglot Lexicon_, 176, 177 - -Casting, primitive methods of, 9; early irregularity of, 18, 25; in -sand, 9, 10, 12; in clay, 11, 12; Moxon’s account of, 111; improvements -in, 119–22 - -_Castle of Otranto_, Parma, 1791; 251 - -_Catechism and Articles in Irish_, Dublin, 1571; 75, 187 - -_Catechism in Irish_, Lond. 1680?; 189 - -_Catena on Job_, Lond. 1637; 98, 144, 176, 198, 201, 228 - -CATHERWOOD (NATL.) partner of Mrs. H. Caslon, 252 - -CATHERWOOD (J. J.) brother to above, 253; partner of Hy. Caslon II, -253; leaves Chiswell Street, 254; notice of, by Johnson, 254; starts a -foundry, 254, 358; joins A. Bessemer, 358; retires, 359 - -_Catholicon_, Mentz, 1460; 16 - -Caxton (Wm.) first English printer, 84; early training, 84, 85; -probable methods of type founding, 85, 86, 343; type cast by, 84, 85, -102; mould of, 88; types of, 86–9; Black, 53, 87, 88; Secretary, 55, -86, 87, 88; Initials, 79; type ornaments, 82; first books of, 86; his -advertisement, 49, 87; printed page by page, 26; translation of _Ovid’s -Metamorphoses_, by, 312; employs a foreign printer, 91; facsimiles of -his types, 343, 344 - -Celtis, his reference to cut types, 7 - -Certificate, letter founders’, form of, 135 - -‘Chalcographia,’ derivation of, 15 - -_Champfleury_, Paris, 1529; 32, 183 - -Chapel (a founders’), account of, 112, 166, 186 - -Chapman, prints with Baskerville’s types, 283 - -Charles II and the _London Polyglot_, 176; on the Alexandrian _Codex_ -facsimile, 203 - -Chevillier (A.) on the _London Polyglot_, 172 - -Chinese type cast in plaster moulds, 15 - -_Christian Doctrine_, Dublin 1652; 75, 188 - -_Christianæ Pietatis prima Institutio_, Lond. 1578; 98 - -_Chronological account of Irish writers_, Dublin 1820; 190 - -_Chrysostomi Homiliæ_, Lond. 1543; 60, 95: _Opera_, Oxon. 1586; 60, -140; _Translations from_, Oxon. 1602; 64: _Opera_, Eton 1610–12; 60, 140 - -Church (W.) Type casting machine of, 121 - -Cicero’s suggestion of mobile types, 3 - -Cicero, a type body, 32, 38 - -_Cicero de Officiis_, Mentz 1465; 38, 57; Rome 1469; 38 - -——— _de Oratore_, Rome 1465; 40 - -Civilité, Lettre de, a French cursive, 56; Plantin’s, 56 - -Clarendon Printing House, Oxford, 156 - -Clarke (S.) Oxford architypographus, 146 - -Classical ‘height-to-paper’ at Oxford, 155, 274 - -Claudin (A.) old Lyonnaise types of, 20; on early type markets, 103 - -Clayton (Robt.) patent matrices, 16, 121 - -_Clemens Romanus ad Corinthios_, Oxon. 1633; 143, 201 - -_Codex Alexandrinus_, history of, 200; attempts to facsimile, 200–5, -321 - -_Codex Bezæ_, facsimile of, Camb. 1793; 322 - -_Collection of Hymns_, Bristol 1769; 299 - -Colonel, a Dutch and German type body, 39 - -_Commentary on the Pentateuch_, Reggio 1475; 62 - -_Common Prayer_, Lond. 1550; 77: Cambridge 1760–2; 279 - -——— (_Irish_) Dublin 1608; 75, 187; Lond. 1712; 190 - -Complutensian _Polyglot_, types of, 59, 63, 169 - -Copland (R.) printer, types of, 94 - -Coptic types of the Propaganda, 69; Voskens, 70; Fournier, 70 - -——— Matrices: Oxford, 70, 147, 148, 153, 155, 161; Grover, ‘new-hand,’ -198, 200; Caslon, 70, 236, 237, 240, 247, 254 - -Cornish (J. D.) his specimen of Caslon’s types, 246 - -Corpus, a German type body, 39 - -Coster legend disposed of by Van der Linde, 2 - -COTTRELL (THOS.) 221, 288–92; apprentice to Caslon, 243, 288, 290, 316; -starts a foundry, 288, 316; his tribute to Caslon, 244, 290; specimens, -290, 291, 292; repairs the Elstob Saxon, 158, 289; Fournier’s notice -of, 290; private in the Guards, 290, 316; Nichols’ notice of, 291; his -foundry, 292 - -——— Matrices: Domesday, 74, 291, 292, 294, 320; Engrossing, 56, 289, -290, 291, 292, 295; Flowers, 290, 291, 292; “Proscription,” 291, 292, -317; Roman and Italic, 48, 289, 290, 291, 292; Russian, 72, 291 - -Court Hand, early English, 55, 289 - -——— Matrices: Grover, 199, 204; James, 228, 303; Fry, 303 - -Cromwell (Oliver), his aid to the London _Polyglot_, 172, 175 - -Cupi, a Dutch punch cutter, 114, 215, 216 - -Cursiv, a German name for Italic, 51 - -‘Cut matrices,’ a misnomer, 8 - -_Cyclopædia_, E. Chambers, Lond. 1728; 38: Lond. 1738; 241: Lond. -1784–6; 250, 203 - -Danish type at Oxford, 73, 151 - -Dawks (I.) Script type of, 173 - -Day (Jno.) printer, account of, 95–101; a letter-founder, 96; his Star -Chamber case _v._ Ward, 124. His types: Greek, 98; Hebrew, 64, 98; -Italic, 51, 96, 97, 98, 144; Music, 77, 98; Roman, 47, 96, 97, 98, 144; -Saxon, 73, 96 - -_De Antiquitate Britannicæ Ecclesiæ_, Lond. 1572; 97 - -_De Arte Supputandi_, Lond. 1522; 92 - -_De Divinâ Proportione_, Venice, 1509; 183 - -_De Emendatâ Structurâ_, Lond. 1524; 60, 93 - -_De Linguæ Arabicæ Utilitate_, Oxon, 1639; 66 - -_De Linguâ Etruriæ_, Oxon. 1735; 239 - -_De Siglis Arabum_, Lond. 1648; 66 - -De Vinne (Theo.) on early type moulds, 9, 17 - -_De Visibili Romanarchiâ_, Lond. 1573; 97 - -De Worde. _See_ Worde (W. de) - -Demetrius of Crete, Greek types of, 57, 58 - -_Demetrius Phalereus_: Glasgow, 1743; 261 - -Descendiaen, a Dutch type body, 38 - -Deva Nagari matrices: Jackson, 319; Wilkins, 318 - -Diamond, an English type body, 40; a Dutch body, 40, 304; matrices in -Grover’s foundry, 197, 199; founts cut in by Wilson, 264; Fry, 304; -Bessemer, 358, 359 - -_Diary of Lady Willoughby_, Lond. 1844; 255 - -Dibdin (T. F.) on Black letter fashions, 54; on Caxton’s types, 84; -Bibliographical Works of, 333 - -_Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers_, Westminster, 1477; 86 - -Didot (A. F.) improved Script type, 56, 120, 308, 312. - -Didot (F.) on Polytype printing, 13, 220 - -Didot (F. A.) typographical points of, 35; Roman type of, 48 - -Didot (H.) Semi-Nonpareil cut by, 40; Diamond, 359; Patent type-casting -machine, 121, 361 - -_Dilworth’s Spelling Book_, Lond. _n.d._ 306 - -_Dives et Pauper_, Lond. 1493; 91 - -_Diurnale Gr. Arab._ Fano, 1514; 65 - -_Doctrinale_, ‘getté en molle,’ 13 - -Domesday matrices:—Cottrell, 74, 291, 292, 294, 320; Jackson, 74, 291, -320, 321, 340; Figgins, 339, 340, 343 - -_Domesday Book_, Lond. 1783; 74, 320, 321, 340 - -_Domesday Book Illustrated_, Lond. 1788; 321 - -_Donlevey’s Irish Catechism_, Paris, 1742; 75 - -Double Pica, an English type body, 33, 36 - -Dressing, an operation in founding, 111, 115, 116 - -Drury (J. I.) letter cutter to Mrs. H. Caslon, 251 - -_Ductor in Linguas_, Lond. 1617; 64, 73, 171 - -DUMMERS, a letter founder, 345; Samaritan type cut for Caslon, 70, 241, -345 - -Dürer (A.) on the shape of letters, 32, 183 - -Dutch Founders, notices of, 113, 213–217; type of, in England, 46, 51, -61, 80, 114, 210, 233; in Scotland, 257, 238; cessation of trade with, -237, 249 - -Dutch ‘Bloomers,’ 80, 258 - -Duverger (E.) on early type moulds, 23 - -East (T.) Music type of, 77 - -East India Company, types cut for, 318, 319, 339 - -_Elementa Linguæ Persicæ_, Lond. 1649; 66 - -Elstob (Eliz.) Saxon works of, 74, 157; account of her, 157, 158: her -_Saxon Grammar_, 157, 158 - -Elzevirs, types of: Greek, 264; Hebrew, 64; Orientals, 66, 141; Roman, -44, 263 - -Emerald, an English type body, 34 - -English, an English type body, 32, 33, 37; a name for Black Letter, 37, -53 - -English Two-line, an English type body, 36 - -_English-Saxon Homily on St. Gregory’s Day_, Lond. 1709; 74, 156 - -Engrossing matrices; Cottrell, 56, 289, 290, 291, 292, 295 - -Enschedés, Dutch letter founders, 215; leaden matrices in their -foundry, 15; specimens of their old Italic, 52; Gothic, 53; Flamand, -54; Civilité, 56; Initials, 80 - -Enschedé (J.) on wooden types, 6 - -Erasmus at Cambridge, 141 - -Erpenius, Oriental matrices and types of, 65, 69, 144 - -_Essai sur l’Education des Aveugles_, Paris, 1786; 78 - -_Essay on the Original, Use and Excellency of Printing_, Lond. 1752; 242 - -_Essay towards a Real Character_, Lond. 1668; 191 - -_Essay on Melody of Speech_, Lond. 1775; 323 - -Estienne (H.) Greek types of, 58; flowers, 82 - -Estienne (P.) his compliment to Norton, 140 - -Estienne (R.) type of, Greek (Royal), 58, 262; Hebrew, 63; Initials, 80 - -Ethiopic, early founts at Rome, 69, 174; Leyden, 69; Frankfort, 69; -Amsterdam, 69 - -——— Matrices: Oxford, 69, 151, 154, 155, 161; Polyglot, 69, 173, 174, -177, 195; Andrews, 198; ‘Anon.’, 69, 207; James, 228, 303; Caslon, 69, -240, 247, 254; Fry, 303, 309, 311 - -——— Punches: James, 229 - -Eton, Greek printing at, 60, 140 - -Etruscan type at Rome, 72, Parma, 72 - -——— Matrices: Caslon, 72, 239, 240, 247 - -_Eusebii Præparatio_, Venice, 1470; 41 - -_Eusebius_, Paris, 1544; 59 - -Everingham (R.) printer in Irish, 189, 190; works printed by his widow, -190 - -_Exposicio Simboli_, Oxon. ‘1468’; 137, 138 - -_Exposition on St. John_, Wesel? 1557; 45 - -Facsimile types, the earliest, 200, 204 - -Faques (W.) printer, trained at Rouen, 93, 103; types of, 93; used by -De Worde, 94 - -Fann Street Foundry, 294, 295, 313 - -Farley (Abr.) Domesday type cut for, 320 - -Fell (Jno.) his services to Oxford Press, 146, 150; gift of matrices, -&c., 148; report on Oxford printing, 149; his printing house, 150; -Moxon’s compliment to, 150, 183 - -Fenner (W.) partner of Ged, 218, 219 - -FENWICK (Jos.) founder, account of, 351 - -——— Matrices:—Scriptorial, 351 - -Fergusson’s proposal for regulating type bodies, 35, 357 - -_Fidelis Servi Responsio_, Lond. 1573; 97 - -FIFIELD (Alex.) founder, nominated, 130, 165; account of, 166 - -_Fifteen O’s_, Westminster, 1490; 82, 85 - -FIGGINS (VINCENT) the First, apprentice and foreman to Jackson, 324, -335, 338; fails to succeed to that foundry, 325, 335; Nichols’ aid -to, 335, 336; his first foundry, 336, 341; facsimile Romans cut by, -336, 337; employed by Oxford Press, 338; cuts type for the Record -Commission, 339, 340; for Bagster, 341; various tributes to, 340, 342, -343. - -——— Matrices:—Black, 340, 343; Domesday, 339, 340, 343; German Text, -340, 342, 343; Greek, 338, 343; Hebrew, 65, 341, 342, 343; Irish, 76, -342, 343; Persian, 339, 343; Roman and Italic, 48, 336, 337, 340; -Saxon, 74, 343; Syriac, 68, 342, 343; Télegú, 339, 343 - -FIGGINS (VINCENT) the Second, son of above, enters business, 343; his -anecdote of a punch-cutter, 338; his facsimile of Caxton’s type, 87, -343; body-standards in his foundry in 1841, 34 - -FIGGINS (JAMES) the First, son of V. Figgins I, 343 - -FIGGINS (JAMES) the Second, son of above, 343 - -Filosofia, an Italian type body, 38 - -Finance (Lettre de) a Script letter, 56 - -Fischer (G.) on wooden types, 4 - -Flamand, a Dutch Black-letter, 54 - -Flemish school of typography, 102 - -Flesher (Jas.) printer, 171, 178; Arabic type of, 66; Polyglot specimen -of, 171 - -Flesher (Miles) printer, Arabic type of, 66 - -Flowers, early type-, 82; H. Estienne’s, 82; Day’s, 98 - -——— Matrices:—Oxford, 148; Grover, 199; James, 222, 303; Caslon, 222, -240; Cottrell, 290, 291, 292; Thorne, 293, 295; Fry, 303, 307 - -Forme, (Lettre de) Black-letter, 36, 53, 87, 88 - -FOUGT (H.) Founder of music type, 78, 350; Specimen, 350 - -——— Matrices:—Music, 350 - -Foulis (R. and A.) Scotch printers, 261; to Glasgow University, -261; employ Wilson, 261; their Glasgow _Homer_, 261, 262; beautiful -impressions of, 261; the poet Gray’s tribute to, 263 - -Foulis (Andrew), son of above Robert, 261; his patent for stereotype, -230, 261 - -Founts of early printers, size of, 26, 27 - -Fournier, (P. S.), on wooden types, 5; typographical points of, 35; -notes on English founders, 242, 290; account of founding in France, -117; his types; Coptic, 70; Etruscan, 72; Irish, 75, 191; Music, 78; -Roman, 48; Russian, 72 - -FOX (BENJ.) partner in Fann Street Foundry, 296 - -Fractur, a German Black-letter, 54 - -France, first Gothic type in, 53; Letter Founding in, 114, 116; control -of founders in, 129; typographical superiority of, 124 - -Francesco da Bologna, cut Aldine punches, 51 - -Frankfort, Letter founding at, in 1568, 105, 106 - -Franklin (Benj.), a journeyman in London, 218, 233, 235; experiments -in casting, 15; letters to Baskerville, 280, 281; starts foundry in -America, 350 - -Frères de la Vie Commune, Roman type of, 41, 42 - -Froben (J.) his supposed acquaintance with Pynson, 91; his types; -Greek, 59; Hebrew, 63; Initials, 80; Roman, 43 - -Froschouer (Chr.) Roman type of, 43; - -Froschouer (Jno.) Music type of, 76 - -FRY (JOSEPH) begins a foundry in Bristol, 298; imitates Baskerville’s -Romans, 284, 299, 305, 310; first specimens, 299; removes to London, -299; _Bibles_ printed by, 301, 302; his partners, 299, 300, 302; adopts -Caslon models, 284, 301, 305, 310; purchases at James’ sale, 230, 302, -303; quarrel with Caslon III, 249, 304; retirement and death, 304, 305 - -——— Matrices: Roman, 48, 284, 299, 300, 301, 310 - -FRY (EDMUND) son and partner of above, 302; philological talents, 302; -specimens, 305, 306, 307, 308, 313; removes foundry to Type Street, -305; his types used by Millar Ritchie, 306; his _Pantographia_, 306, -307; his partners, 306, 307, 308; new Romans of, 307, 310; dislike -to ornamented type, 307 310; letter founder to the King, 307; cuts -Orientals for Cambridge, 308; contents of foundry, 309; retires, 310; -his Address to the Public, 310; sells foundry to Thorowgood, 296, 313 - -FRY (EDMUND) Matrices: Alexandrian Greek, 303, 304, 309, 311; Amharic, -309, 311; Arabic, 303, 309, 311; Black, 303, 310, 311; Blind, 78, 79, -308, 309; Cast Ornaments, 306; Ethiopic, 303, 309, 311; Flowers, 303, -307; German, 309, 312; Greek, 303, 309, 311; Guzerattee, 309, 311; -Hebrew, 303, 304, 309, 311; Irish, 76, 303, 306, 309, 312; Malabaric, -309, 311; Music, 78, 310; Roman, 303, 305, 306, 307, 310; Russian, 72, -309, 312; Samaritan, 70, 303, 309, 311; Saxon, 74, 309, 312; Script, -308, 312; Syriac, 68, 303, 308, 310, 311, 342 - -FRY (HENRY) brother and partner of above, 302; becomes a printer, 306 - -FRY (WINDOVER) son and partner of Edmund Fry, 308 - -Fust and Schoeffer, music types of, 76; Initials, 79, 80 - -‘Fusus,’ use of word in colophons, 8 - -Fyner (C.), Hebrew type of, 62 - -Gaillarde, a French type-body, 39 - -_Galenus de Temperamentis_, Camb. 1521; 141 - -_Gallicantus_, Lond. 1498; 92 - -Gallie (Jno.) manager to Wilson, 266; partner with Dr. Marr, 266 - -_Game and Play of the Chesse_ (facs.), Lond. 1855; 87, 343 - -Garamond (Cl.) mould of, 23; Roman cut by, 44; Greek, 58 - -Garmond, a foreign type body, 39 - -Ged (Wm.) inventor of Stereotype, 218, 219, 258; misfortunes and -failure of, 219, 238; _Biographical Memoirs of_, 219 - -Gem, an English type body, 356 - -Gering, first Paris printer, Greek type of, 58; Roman, 43 - -German matrices: Caslon, 254; Thorne, 295; Thorowgood, 296; Fry, 309, -312 - -German-Text matrices: Figgins, 340, 342, 343 - -Geschreven Schrift, a German Script, 56 - -‘Getté en molle’, signification of, 13, 14 - -Glasgow University; fine printing at, 261 - -Glosa, a class of type, 32 - -Glosilla, a Spanish type body, 32, 39 - -Goes (H.) York printer, used De Worde’s types, 89 - -_Golden Legend_, Westminster, _n. d._; 88 - -_Goldsmith and Parnell_, Lond. 1795; 331 - -GORING (THOS.) letter-founder, 193; nominated 133, 193; notice of, 166 - -Gothic letter, origin of, 53; Petrarch’s aversion to, 53; Prevost’s -eulogy of, 53 - -Gothic language; types of at Amsterdam, 73 - -——— Matrices: Oxford, 73, 150, 151, 155, 161; ‘Anon.’, 207; James, 73, -225, 228; Caslon, 73, 239, 240, 248, 254 - -Gough (Jno.) his anecdotes of Jackson, 321, 323; of Ilive, 348 - -Gourmont (G. de) Greek type of, 58; Hebrew, 62, 63 - -Graff (Baltus de), partner of Cottrell, 288 - -Grafton (Rd.) Bible printed by, 124; Music type of, 77; Dibdin’s -tribute to, 101 - -_Grammar of the Bengal Language_, Hoogly, 1778; 318 - -_Grammar of the Sanskrita Language_, Lond. 1808; 319 - -Granjon (N.) French, letter-cutter, Greek types of, 59; Music, 77; -“Civilité”, 56 - -_Gray’s Poems_, Glasgow, 1768; 263: Parma, 1793; 251 - -_Great Charter_, Oxford, 1759: 159 - -Great Primer, an English type body, 33, 37, 86 - -Greek: earliest, Schoeffer’s, 57; early founts, Italy, 57, 58; -France, 58, 59, 60, 61; Netherlands, 59, 61; Spain, 59; Germany, 60; -Switzerland, 59; Lascaris “litteræ majusculæ,” 57; French “Characteres -Regii,” 59, 60, 61, 141, 262 - -——— In England: De Worde’s, 60, 91; Siberch’s, 60, 141; Pynson’s, 60, -93; Day’s, 98; Wolfe’s, 60, 95; Mierdman’s, 60; Oxford, 60, 140, 141; -Eton, 60, 140, 145; Royal founts, 60, 142, 144, 167, 201, 202; borrowed -by Cambridge from Oxford, 60, 141; Dutch founts in England, 61; -Cambridge offers for Paris Greek, 61, 141; large number of ligatures, -61; minute sizes, 61, 62, 254; fashions in, 61, 274; Porson’s -improvement in, 62, 342 - -——— Matrices: Oxford, 61, 148, 160, 161, 273, 274; Polyglot, 173, 174; -Andrews, 61, 195, 197; Grover, 61, 198, 200; Head, 206; Mitchell, 206, -241; “Anon.”, 207: James, 195, 197, 213, 214, 217, 221, 223, 228, -303; Caslon, 240, 241, 247, 254; Wilson, 61, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265; -Baskerville, 61, 160, 273, 274; Thorowgood, 296; Fry, 303, 307, 309, -311; Jackson, 61, 311, 317, 321, 322; Caslon III, 326; Martin, 61, 332; -Figgins, 338, 343; Ilive, 347 - -——— Punches: James, 229 - -Greek, Alexandrian; _see_ Alexandrian Greek - -Grierson (G.) Irish printer, his patent, 260; establishes -letter-founding, 261 - -Grierson (Boulter), son of above, his petition, 260 - -GRISMAND (JOHN) Star Chamber founder, 130, 165; notices of, 165, 166 - -Gromors, Arabic types of, 65 - -Gros Bâtarde, a French Secretary type, 55; Colard Mansion’s, 55, 86, 87 - -Gros Romain, a French type body, 37 - -GROVER (JAS.) letter-founder, 166, 197 - -GROVER (THOS.) son of above, letter-founder, 157, 166, 197–205; Royal -founts in his foundry, 197, 203; Caslon offers for foundry, 205, 237; -disposal of it, 205 - -——— Matrices: Alexandrian Greek, 198–205; Arabic, 198; Blacks, 197, -109, 225; Cursives, 199; Greek, 198; Hebrew, 198; Music, 77, 199; -Roman and Italic, 197, 198, 199; Samaritan, 70, 198; Saxon, 199; -Scriptorials, 199; Signs, 199; Syriac, 198, 241 - -Gutenberg’s types, migrations of, 28 - -Guzerattee matrices: Fry, 309, 311 - -Hahn (Ul.) Roman type of, 41; his _Cicero_, 38; his _St. Augustine_, 37 - -Halhed (N. B.) his _Bengal Grammar_, 318; his account of C. Wilkins, 318 - -Hanbey (Mr.) son-in-law of Caslon I, 246 - -Hancock (C.) buys Hughes’ Music matrices, 363 - -Handy (J.) a punch-cutter employed by Baskerville, 269, 353 - -Hansard (T. C.) on type fashions, 48; notices of founders from his -_Typographia_, 251, 253, 254, 258, 264, 296, 309, 310, 312, 326, 328, -332, 336, 342, 343, 352, 355, 361, 364 - -Hare (Bp.) transactions with Caslon, 238 - -Harris (Messrs.) use Baskerville’s types, 286 - -Hautin, Music type of, 77 - -Haüy, Blind type of, 78 - -Hawkins (Sir J.) his anecdote of Caslon, 245 - -Hazard, Bath printer, notice of, 307 - -HEAD (GODFREY) letter founder, 133, 166, 205 - -——— Matrices: Black, 206; Greek, 206 - -HEAPHY, letter founder, 364 - -Hebrew type, first use of, 62; early founts in Italy, 62; France, 62, -63; Spain, 63; Germany, 63; Netherlands, 63, 64, 65 - -——— in England: De Worde’s, 64, 91; Day’s, 64, 98; at Oxford, 64; -London, 64 - -——— Matrices: Oxford, 64, 147, 148, 154, 160, 161; Polyglot, 64, 171, -173, 174, 177, 194; Andrews, 195; Grover, 198; James, 64, 65, 223, 227, -303; Caslon, 65, 236, 238, 240, 246, 247, 254; Wilson, 264, 265; Fry, -303, 304, 309, 311; Jackson, 317; Caslon III, 326; Figgins, 65, 341, -342, 343; Thorowgood, 296; Jalleson, 346 - -_Hebrew Dictionary_, Louvain, 1520? 63 - -_Hebrew Grammar_, Paris, 1508; 63; Leipsic, 1520, 63; Paris, 1520; 63: -Louvain, 1528; 63 - -Height-to-paper of sand-cast types, 10; of old Lyons types, 21; of old -Cologne types, 25; varieties of at Oxford, 155 - -Heilman, Gros Bâtarde type of, 55 - -Henfrey (J.) type-casting machine of, 121 - -Herbert (W.) his account of Caxton’s types, 84; on early use of Roman -and Italic, 91, 97 - -_Herodotus_, Oxford, 1590; 60, 140 - -Hibernian type, _see_ Irish - -_Hickes’ Thesaurus_, Oxon. 1703–5; 72, 73, 74, 150, 156 - -——— _Saxon Grammar_, Oxon. 1711; 74 - -_History of England_ (Hume’s) Lond. 1806; 323, 336 - -Hogarth and Baskerville’s types, 47 - -_Homeri Opera_, Florence, 1488; 58: Glasgow, 1756–58; 62, 261, 262: -Parma, 1808; 251: Lond. 1831; 62, 254 - -——— _Batrachomyomachia_, Venice, 1486; 58: Paris, 1507; 58 - -Hooght (Van der) Hebrew types of, 64 - -_Horæ_ (_Greek_), Louvain, 1516; 59 - -_Horatii Opera_, Sedan, 1627; 46: Glasgow, 1744; 261: Birmingham, 1762; -277 - -Horman (W.) his indenture with Pynson, 92 - -Hostingue, a Rouen printer, 103 - -HUGHES (HUGH) partner with Thorne, 294, 363; starts a foundry, 363; -specimen, 363; his music type, 363 - -——— Matrices: music, 78, 363 - -Hunte (Thos.) early Oxford printer, 137, 138 - -Hutter, curious Hebrew type of, 63, 247; his Polyglot _Bible_, 170 - -_Iberno-Celtic Society’s Transactions_, Dublin, 1820; 190 - -Iceland, early printing in, 73 - -Icelandic matrices at Oxford, 73, 151, 155 - -ILIVE (JACOB) letter founder, 346–9; his eccentricities, 347, 348; -forged _Book of Jasher_, 348; heads schism in Stationers’ Company, 348; -his foundry bought by James, 221, 347 - -——— Matrices: Greek, 221, 347; Roman, 347 - -IMISSON, letter founder, 352 - -Imprimerie Royale, Paris, establishment of, 58; Greek type of, 58, 59, -60, 61; Roman, 44, 48 - -Initials of Mentz _Psalter_, 79; early cutters of, 79, 80; Caxton’s, -79; Day’s, 98; ‘Two-line letters,’ 80; Pictorial, 80; Dutch, 80; Bible, -80; Armorial, 80; pierced, 81; Oxford copperplate, 80, 159; fashions -in, 81; Baskett’s ‘Silver initials,’ 107, 211 - -_Introductio ad Lectionem Ling. Oriental._ London, 1655; 172 - -Ireland, letter foundry in, 260, 265; printing patent for, 260; Scotch -and English type supplied to, 260, 265. Vernacular printing in, 75, 76, -186, 187, 188 - -Irish type in Dublin, 75, 186, 187; Antwerp, 75; Louvain, 75, 188, 191; -Rome, 75, 191; Paris, 75, 76, 191; revival of Irish printing, 76, 191 - -——— Matrices: Moxon, 75, 76, 155, 186, 189, 190, 194, 306; Andrews, -194, 196; James, 229, 303; Fry, 229, 303, 306, 309, 312; Figgins, 342, -343 - -——— Punches: James, 229 - -Iron, an ingredient in type metal, 21, 112 - -Irregular type bodies, origin of, 33 - -Isla (Lord) patron of Wilson, 258 - -Italic, first cut by Aldus, 50; early foreign founts, 51; Van Dijk’s, -52; various uses for, 52 - -——— In England, fashions in, 52; De Worde’s, 52, 91; Day, 52, 96, -97, 98, 144, 176; Vautrollier, 51, 98; James, 214, 217; Caslon, 52; -Baskerville, 275 - -——— See also _s.v._ Roman and Italic - -Italy, first Roman type in, 40; first Gothic type in, 53 - -JACKSON (JOS.) apprentice to Caslon I, 243, 288, 315; first punch -cut by, 315; dismissed, 243, 288, 316; partner with Cottrell, 288, -291, 316; goes to sea, 289, 316; starts a foundry, 291, 316; first -specimens, 316, 317; Bowyer’s aid to 317, 323; removes to Salisbury -Square, 317; makes a hollow square, 317; his foundry, 317; employed by -Nichols, 320, 321; Bensley, 323; Oxford Press, 338; fire of foundry, -324; elegy on, 324; death and tributes to, 324, 325; portraits of, 288, -316, 325 - -——— Matrices: Alexandrian Greek, 321; Bengalee, 317; Black, 317; -Codex-Bezæ Greek, 322; Deva Nagari, 319; Domesday, 74, 320, 321, 340; -Greek, 61, 311, 317, 323; Hebrew, 317; Music symbols, 323; Persian, -317; ‘Proscription’ letter, 317; Roman, 48, 317, 323; Script, 56, 317 - -JALLESON, letter founder, 346; his system of type bodies, 346; Hebrew -type, 346 - -JAMES (THOS.) letter founder, 157, 212–220; his family, 212; apprentice -to R. Andrews, 196, 212; his letters from Holland, 113, 213–17; his -foundry, 217; buys Greek of Grover, 195, 197; rivalry with Caslon, 218, -220; transactions with Ged, 218, 219; second visit to Holland, 219; -decline of his business, 220; buys Andrews’ foundry, 197, 211, 220; -death, 220; advertisement by his widow, 220 - -JAMES (THOS.) Matrices: Black, 214, 217; Greek, 213, 214, 217: Roman -and Italic, 46, 213, 214, 217 - -JAMES (JNO.) son and successor of above, 220; buys half Mitchell’s -foundry, 206, 221; Ilive’s, 221, 347; Grover’s, 205, 221; his projected -specimen, 222, 224; dies, 222; last of the Old English Founders, 221, -230 - -——— Matrices and Punches: Anglo-Norman, 228; Arabic, 67, 228, 229, 303; -Black, 91, 228. 303; Court Hand, 228, 303; Ethiopic, 228, 229, 303; -Flowers, 229, 303; Gothic, 73, 228; Greek, 220, 228, 229, 303; Hebrew, -65, 220, 227, 303; Irish, 229, 303; Runic, 72, 228; Samaritan, 70, 227, -229, 303; Saxon, 220, 228; 229; Scriptorial, 228, 303; Secretary, 228; -Syriac, 228, 229, 241 - -James (Dr. T.) first Bodleian Librarian, 212 - -James (Elianor) aunt of Thos. James the founder, 212 - -James (George) son of above, City Printer, 212 - -James (Jno.) architect, brother of Thos. James the founder, 212; -partner with Ged, 218 - -James’ Foundry acquired by Mores, 222; arranged for sale, 223; -catalogue and specimen, 226–30, 303; matrices lost,223, 227, 228; -punches lost, 229; obsolete founts, 224, 225; leaden matrices, 16, 228; -moulds, &c., 229, 230; sale of, 230, 302 - -Jannon, Sedan printer, Roman type of, 46, Greek, 61 - -Jansson, Hebrew type of, 64, 65 - -_Jasher, Book of_, Lond. 1751; 348 - -_Jason_, Westminster (1477), 86 - -Jenson, Greek type of, 58; Roman, 41 - -Jerome’s suggestion of mobile types, 3 - -Joly, a Dutch type body, 40 - -Journeyman founders, regulation of, 131, 133 - -Jungfer, a German type body, 39 - -Junius (Fr.) his gift to Oxford, 150, 151; Dr. Nicholson’s note on, -151; portrait of, 151 - -Junius (Pat.) _see_ Young (Pat.) - -Jurisson, _see_ Imisson - -Justifying of matrices, 10, 111, 186; a secret operation, 117 - -_Justinian_, Mentz, 1468; 49 - -Kehl, typographical establishment at, 285, 286; _Voltaire’s Works_, -printed at, 285, 286; Works by _Alfieri_ at, 286 - -Kerning, a process in founding, 22, 111 - -‘King’s House,’ Roman types, 197, 199, 203 - -Kipling (T.) his facsimile of _Codex Bezæ_, 322 - -Kirkpatrick (W.) Sanscrit type cut for, 319 - -KNOWLES (G.) a partner of Ed. Fry, 307 - -_Koran_, Venice, 1518; 65 - -Laborde (Leon) on wooden types, 5 - -Lackington (Jas.) bookseller, 325 - -_Lactantius_, Subiaco, 1465; 40, 57 - -_La Lèpre morale_, Cologne, 1476; 24 - -Lambinet (P.) on early polytype printing, 12 - -_Lascaris Anthologia_ (in Greek Capitals), Florence, 1494; 57: _Greek -Grammar_, Milan, 1476; 57 - -_Last Judgment_, Irish poem on, Dublin, 1571; 187 - -Laud (Archbp.) his services to Oxford press, 142–5, 166; letter to, -from King Charles I, 143 - -Le Bé (G.) cuts punches for Plantin, 107; his Arabic, 64; Hebrew, 59; -Music, 77 - -LEE (JOS.) letter founder, 166, 193 - -Lee (Dr. S.) Orientals cut for by Dr. Fry, 308 - -L’Estrange (R.) Surveyor of Imprimery, 132 - -Le Tailleur, Rouen printer for Pynson, 92 - -Letter-cutting by eye, not by rule, 184 - -Letter Founders, one named in 1597, 128, 164; regulations of, in -1622, 129, 164; in 1637, 130; in 1662, 132; in 1674, 133; in 1693, -134; called to account, 133, 134, 193, 205; petition and ‘Cause of -Complaint’ of one, in 1637, 167; To His Majesty, 178, 249, 296, 307, -329, 356; limited number of, 118, 134; Association of, 118, 250, 352, -353, 358 - -Letter Founding of the first printers, 9, 12, 14, 18; early secrecy of, -28; spread of, 28 - -——— In France: State control of, 129; Thiboust’s account of, 114; views -of in _Encyclopædia_, 116; Fournier’s account of, 117 - -——— In Germany: at Frankfort, in 1568, 105 - -——— In Netherlands: Plantin’s Foundry, 106; James’ account of Dutch -founders, 113, 213–7 - -——— In England: came after printing, 84; earliest record of, 93; -early practice of, 103; curious cut in the Bagford MSS., 105; divorce -from printing, 164; practised by Day, 96; early unlicensed, 128; the -London _Polyglot_ a land-mark of, 175; Moxon’s account of, 1683, -107–13, 183–6; at Oxford, in 1695, 113; custom of lending casters and -matrices, 113, 216; division of trades in, 114, 184; trade jealousies -in, 114, 118; _Universal Magazine_, 1750, account in, 108, 116; secret -operations in, 117, 288, 315, 338; rules of Thorne’s Foundry, 1806, -117, 294; conservatism of, 118; competition in, 118; State-control of, -123–136; liberty of, 134; final emancipation of, 135 - -Lettres Tourneures, initials, 79 - -Lettres de Forme, 36, 53, 87, 88 - -Lettres de Somme, 53, 54 - -Lettou and Machlinia, types of, 89 - -Leusden, simplified Greek types of, 61 - -Lever-mould, introduced, 120 - -_Lexicon Heptaglotton_, Lond. 1669; 176 - -_Liber de laudibus Mariæ_, Cologne? 1478? 24 - -_Life of Jewell_, Lond. 1573; 64, 98 - -Ligatures in old founts, 10, 27, 41, 50, 224 - -_Liguarum XII AIphabeta_, Paris, 1538; 67 - -Linde (A. Van der) on the essence of typography, 2; on ‘getté en -molle,’ 13 - -Literæ Florentes, initials, 79 - -_Littleton Tenures_ (Pynson’s), Lond. 1527; 93; (Redman’s), Lond. _n. -d._, 94 - -LIVERMORE (MARTIN) partner to Henry Caslon II, 254; retires from -Chiswell Street, 255 - -_Logique d’Okam_, 1488, contractions in, 51 - -_London Printer’s Lamentation_, 1660: 127, 130, 165 - -Long Primer, an English type-body, 32, 33, 38 - -Long ſ, disappearance of, 52 - -Louvain, Irish type at, 75, 188, 191 - -Lübeck, leaden matrices at, 16 - -Lucas (M.) printer of the ‘Wicked’ _Bible_, 142, 143 - -Luce (L.) Roman type of, 40, 48 - -_Lucerna Fidelium_, Rome, 1676; 75 - -Luckombe (P.) his _History of Printing_, Lond. 1770; 246, 291, 301 - -Ludolf, Ethiopic type used by, 69 - -_Ludolph’s Grammatica Russica_, Oxon. 1696; 71 - -LYNCH, letter founder, 358 - -_Lyndewode Constitutiones_, Oxon. _n.d._; 139 - -Lyons, early printing at, 20; fifteenth century types at, 20; nicks -used at, 120 - -Lyons (Israel) Hebrew type cut for, 247 - -_McCuirtin’s Irish Dictionary_, Paris, 1732; 75 - -McCreery (J.) prints with Martin’s types, 333, his poem on _The Press_, -277, 333 - -Machine for type casting, first, 122, 265 - -Machlinia and Lettou, types of, 89 - -McPHAIL, letter founder, 351 - -Madden (J. P. A.) on 15th Century type, 24; on the Wiedenbach -typographers, 41 - -Malabaric matrices:—Fry, 309, 311 - -Mansion (Colard) Caxton’s master, 84, 85, 86, 87, Gros Bâtarde type of, -55, 86, 87 - -Marcel (J. J.) his _Oratio Dominica_, 72, 76; his _Alphabet Irlandais_, -76, 191; Russian type of, 72; Irish, 76 - -_Marprelate Tracts_, types of, 127 - -MARR (DR. J.) acquires part of Glasgow Foundry, 266 - -Martens (Th.) Greek type of, 59; Hebrew, 63 - -Martin (Robert) agent and manager for Baskerville, 281, 330; works -printed by, 281 - -MARTIN (WM.) brother to above, 330; cuts punches in London, 330; starts -foundry, 330; employed by Shakespeare Press, 331–3; tributes to, 331, -332, 333; supplies McCreery, 333; foundry sold to Caslon, 254, 334; -Orientals of, 332 - -——— Matrices:—Greek, 332; Roman and Italic, 332, 333 - -Mascall (W.) proposal to register founders, 134 - -Mathematical signs in type, 98, 148, 191, 196, 199, 217, 342 - -Matrices, early forms of, 14; of lead, 14, 15, 16, 228; of clay, 15; -of wood, 16, 121; justification of, 16; struck inverted, 204; without -sides, 208; of steel, 312; ‘Sanspareil,’ 327 - -MATTHEWSON, letter founder in Edinburgh, 358 - -Maynyal, Paris printer for Caxton, 91 - -Mediaan, a Dutch type body, 38 - -Meerman on sculpto-fusi types, 7 - -Mentelin, Roman type of, 42 - -Mentz, Sack of, 28; school of typography of, 9 - -Meres (Jno.) son-in-law of T. Grover, 205 - -Metals used in type alloy, 19, 106, 112, 121; softness of, in early -types, 26; Moxon’s directions for mixing, 112 - -Meurs (Dr. Van) on ‘getté en molle,’ 13 - -Mierdman, Greek types of, 60 - -Miller (Peter) American printer, anecdote of, 17 - -MILLER (WM.) manager for Wilson, 264, 355; starts foundry, 355; his -early founts, 355; employed by the _Times_, 356; specimens, 355, 356; -partner and successors of, 356 - -——— Matrices:—Roman and Italic, 355, 356 - -MILNE & Co., founders, 266 - -Milton (Jno.) _Areopagitica_, 130; _Works_, Birmingham, 1758; 275; -Lond. 1794–7; 331; _Paradise Lost_, Lond. 1796; 337, 338 - -Minion, an English type body, 33, 39, 210; a foreign body, 39 - -Minsheu’s _Ductor in Linguas_, Lond. 1617; 64, 73, 171 - -Missal, a German type body, 36 - -_Missal_, printed at Lyons, 1485; 76 - -MITCHELL (ROBT.) founder, 206; partition of his foundry, 206, 221, 241 - -——— Matrices; Black, 206, 241; Greek, 206, 241; Music, 78, 206, 241; -Roman and Italic, 206; Signs, 206 - -Mitchelson, first American founder, 350 - -Mittel, a German type body, 37 - -Model types for clay or sand moulds, 11; as punches for lead or clay -matrices, 15, 16 - -Moderne, Italian name for Black letter, 43 - -Molloy’s _Lucerna Fidelium_, Rome, 1676; 75: _Irish Grammar_, Rome, -1677; 75 - -_Monasticon_, Lond. 1655; 74 - -MOORE (ISAAC) manager and partner of Fry and Pine, 299; specimens of, -299; inventions of, 300; retires, 302 - -Moreau, Script type of, 56 - -Mores (Ed. Rowe) account of, 222; possessor of James’ foundry, 222, -223; his _Dissertation_, 222, 223; account of early printers by, 84, -90, 92, 94; of Miss Elstob, 157; his correspondence as to her Saxon -matrices, 158, 159; his account of James’ foundry, 223; strictures on -Oxford specimen, 160; allusion to Coster, 225; prejudice against Caslon -II; 244, 247; against Baskerville, 274, 280; notice of Fry’s specimen, -300; as a compositor, 347 - -Morton (Dr.) Domesday type cut for, 291, 320 - -_Moses Choronensis_, Lond. 1736; 69, 239 - -Motteroz (M.) ideal Roman letter of, 48 - -Mould, _see_ Type-mould - -MOXON (JOS.) letter founder, 180–192; specimen, 181; a printer, 182; -his offices, 181, 182; his _Regulæ Trium Ordinum_, 182; his _Mechanick -Exercises_, 107–112, 183–186; his standards of type bodies, 33, 34; -employed by Boyle, 189 - -——— Matrices: Irish, 75, 76, 186–191; Roman and Italic, 47, 181 - -_Musæus, Hero and Leander_, Lond. 1797; 332 - -Music; De Worde’s, 76,91; early printing abroad, 76, 77; improvements -in, 78; Grafton’s, 77; Day’s, 77, 98; Vautrollier’s, 77; East’s, 77; -‘new-tyed note’, 77; at Aberdeen, 77 - -——— Matrices: Oxford, 77, 148, 161; Walpergen, 77, 148, 153, 208; -Andrews, 77, 196; Grover, 77, 199; Mitchell, 78, 206, 241; Caslon, 77, -241, 248; Fry, 78, 310, 312; Fougt, 78, 350; Branston’s (stereo), 360; -Hughes, 78, 363; Jackson’s symbols, 323 - -Myllar (A.) Scotch printer, types of, 103 - -Negus (S.) list of printers by, 346 - -_Neilson’s Irish Grammar_, Dublin, 1808; 76, 191 - -_New Testament_ (_Greek_), Basle, 1516; 59: Sedan, 1628; 61: Cambridge, -1632; 60, 141: Oxford, 1763; 61, 160, 273, 274: Lond. 1786 (_Codex -Alex._); 321 - -——— (_Latin_), Lond. 1574; 46, 51 - -——— (_Arabic_), Lond. 1727; 67, 235 - -——— (_Coptic_), Oxon. 1716; 70, 237 - -——— (_Ethiopic_), Rome, 1548; 69: Lond. 1826 (_Gospels_); 69 - -——— (_Irish_), Dublin, 1602; 75, 187; Lond. 1681; 75, 189 - -——— (_Russian_), St. Petersburg, 1819–23; 72 - -——— (_Saxon_), Lond. 1571 (Gospels), 95 - -——— (_Sclavonic_), Ugrovallachia, 1512 (_Gospels_), 71: Moscow, 1564 -(_Acts and Epistles_), 71 - -——— (_Syriac_), Paris, 1539; 67: Vienna, 1555; 67: Cothon, 1621; 67: -Hamburg, 1663; 67: Lond. 1816; 68, 342 - -——— (_Tamulic_), Tranquebar, 1714–19; 234 - -NICHOLLS (ARTHUR) letter founder, nominated, 130, 165; petition to -Archbishop Laud, 166, 167; ‘Cause of Complaint,’ 167 - -NICHOLLS (NICHOLAS) son of above, letter founder, 166, 177; his -father’s account of, 168; his petition to the king, 178; his specimen, -178, 181; letter founder to the king, 178 - -NICHOLS, an Oxford letter founder, 148, 178 - -Nichols (Jno.) his _Anecdotes of Bowyer_, 233; _Domesday_, facsimile -of, 320, 321; assists Figgins, 335, 336 - -Nicholson (W.) patent for type casting, 119, 327 - -Nicks, origin of, 120; early substitutes for, 22 - -Nicol (Geo.) founder of the Shakespeare Press, 330; employs W. Martin, -330 - -Nicol (W.) son of above, succeeds to the Shakespeare Press, 330 - -_Nomenclator Syriacus_, Rome, 1622; 67 - -Nonpareil, an English type body, 32, 33, 39, 129; a foreign body, 39 - -Norfolk (Duke of) employs Jackson, 317 - -Norton (J.) printer of the Eton _Chrysostom_, 60, 140; distinctions -conferred on, 140 - -Nutt (Richd.) successor to Grover’s foundry, 203 - -_O’Brien’s Irish Dictionary_, Paris, 1768; 75 - -Ogilby (Jno.) Roman letter of, 47 - -_O’Hussey’s Irish Catechism_, Antwerp, 1611; 75: Rome; 1707, 75 - -_O’Kearney’s Irish Catechism_, Dublin; 1571; 75, 187 - -Oporinus, Greek type of, 59 - -_Opusculum Musices_, Bologna, 1487; 76 - -_Oratio Dominica_, Lond. 1700; 64, 66, 68, 69, 70, 71, 73, 74, 154, -177, 190: Lond. 1713; 69, 155, 177, 190: Amsterdam, 1715; 69, 71, 73, -74, 154, 236: Paris, 1805; 72, 76: Parma; 1806, 72 - -_Oratio in pace nuperrimâ_, Lond. 1518; 44, 92 - -_Oratio trium linguarum_, Lond. 1524; 51, 64, 66, 91 - -_Oriental Collections_, Lond. 1797–1800; 339 - -Ornamental type, introduced, 307, 310 - -Ornaments, _see_ Type ornaments - -_Orthographia Practica_, Saragossa, 1548; 32, 183 - -Orwin, Arabic type of, 64 - -Ottley (W. Y.) on early clay moulds, 11 - -Ouseley (Sir W.) Persian type cut for, 339 - -_Ovid’s Metamorphoses_, Lond. 1819; 312 - -Oxford University Press, first printing at 137–9; types of the early -press, 55, 137, 138; Scolar’s press, 139; revival of printing, 140; -early Greek founts, 60, 61, 140, 141, 145; lends Greek type to -Cambridge, 141; Laud’s services to, 142–5, 166; charter in 1632, 142; -early Oriental types, 64, 66, 144: Archi-typographus appointed, 146; -Fell’s services to, 146–150; loyalty of, 146; large purchases in 1672, -149; Junius’ gift to, 150, 151; fine printing at, 159 - -——— Foundry established, 153; state of, in 1665, 113; matrices lost at, -151; removed to Sheldonian Theatre, 153; first specimen, 153; types -used in the _Oratio Dominica_, 1700, 154; heights to paper in, 155; -removed to Clarendon Building, 156; gift of Elstob Saxon to, 158, 159; -Greek cut for, by Baskerville, 160, 273, 274; specimens, 160, 162; -types cut for, by Caslon, 160, 161, 246; by Figgins, 338; inventory of, -in 1794, 161, 162; relics at, 150, 159, 160, 162, 274 - -——— Matrices: Amharic, 177; Arabic, 66, 147, 148, 155, 161; Armenian, -69, 148, 153, 161; Coptic, 70, 147, 148, 149, 153, 155, 161; Danish, -73, 151; Ethiopic, 69, 151, 154, 155, 161, 177; Gothic, 73, 151, 155, -161; Greek, 148, 160, 161, 273, 274, 338; Hebrew, 64, 147, 148, 154, -161; Icelandic, 73, 151, 155; Initials, 80; Music, 77, 148, 153, -154, 161, 209; Roman and Italic, 150, 152, 179; Runic, 72, 151, 155, -161; Russian, 71; Samaritan, 70, 148, 154, 161; Saxon, 74, 151, 161; -Sclavonic, 71, 148, 153, 155, 161; Swedish, 73, 151; Syriac, 68, 147, -148, 155, 161 - -Pacioli (L.) on the shape of letters, 183 - -Palmer (S.) his note on De Worde, 90; his printing-house, 217; _History -of Printing_, 90, 235, 236; projected account of letter-founding, 114; -discreditable conduct to Caslon, 235, 238 - -_Pantographia_, Lond. 1799; 72, 76, 306, 307, 308 - -_Paradigmata de IV Linguis_, Paris, 1596; 67 - -Paragon, an English Type body, 33, 36, 86, 343; a foreign body, 36 - -Parker (Archp. M.) patron of Day, 95; Saxon cut for, 95; Roman and -Italic for, 96, 97, 98 - -Patents relating to letter-founding, 119–122 - -Pater (Paulus) on wooden types, 4 - -Paterson, the auctioneer, notice of, 230, 311 - -_Pauli de Middleburgo Epistola_, Louvain, 1488; 63 - -Pearl an English type body, 33, 40 - -Peek (Jno.) type-casting machine of, 120 - -_Pentateuch_ (Polyglot) Constantinople, 1546; 170 - -——— (_Coptic_) Lond. 1731; 70, 237 - -——— (_Irish_) Lond. 1819 (_Gen. and Exod._), 312 - -Perforated wooden types, 4, 5; sand-cast types, 10; mould-cast types, -22, 25 - -Perle, a French type body, 40 - -Persian Matrices: Caslon, 254; Jackson, 317; Figgins, 339, 343 - -_Persian Moonshee_, Lond. 1801; 339 - -Petit, a French and German type body, 39 - -Petit Romain, a French type body, 38 - -Petrucci, music type of, 77 - -_Phalaridis Epistolæ_, Oxon. 1485; 137, 138 - -Philosophie, a French type body, 32, 38 - -Pica, an English type body, 32, 33, 38 - -_Picas_ or _Pies_, of the early Church, 38, 87 - -Pickering (W.) minute Greek used by, 62, 254; book printed for, in -Baskerville’s types, 286 - -PINE (WM.) Bristol printer and founder; partner with Fry, 298; his -inventions, 300; _Bible_ printed by, 301; retires from founding, 302 - -Plantin (Chr.) his foundry, 106; supposed silver type of, 106; Types: -Greek, 59; Hebrew, 64; Italic, 51; Lettre de Civilité, 56; Roman, 43; -Syriac, 67 - -_Plinii Secundi Epistolæ_, Lond. 1790; 306 - -Ploos van Amstel, Dutch founders, 215 - -_Polychronicon_, Westminster, 1495; 76, 91 - -Polyglot _Bibles_, account of, 169 - -——— the London, _see Bible_ (_Polyglot_) Lond. 1657 - -POLYGLOT FOUNDRY Matrices: Arabic, 66, 173, 177; Black, 173, 177; -Ethiopic, 69, 173, 174, 177; Greek, 173, 174; Hebrew, 64, 173, 177; -Roman and Italic, 173, 176; Samaritan, 70, 173, 174, 177; Syriac, 68, -173, 174, 177, 241 - -Polytype, supposed early system of, 12; later attempts at, 122, 220 - -Porson’s improvement in Greek letter, 62, 342 - -Postel’s _Arabic Grammar_, Paris 1539–40, 65; Syriac type used by, 67 - -POUCHEE (L. J.) Letter Founder, starts a foundry, 361; agent for -Didot’s ‘polymatype,’ 121, 361; specimen, 362; abandons business, 362; -dispersion of his foundry, 362 - -_Practical Sermons_ (Irish) Lond. 1711; 190 - -_Press, The, a Poem_; Liverpool, 1803; 277, 333 - -Primer, an English type body, 32, 34; derivation of, 37 - -_Primers_ of the Early Church, 37, 38 - -Printing, invention of, 1; degeneration of, in England, 44, 136, 232, -269; comprehensiveness of the early trade of, 123; statutes relating -to, 124–136; rise of fine printing, 269, 272 - -Printers, their own founders, 88, 102, 103, 123, 125; number of, in -London, 126, 130, 132, 133, 134 - -_Prodromus Coptus_, Rome, 1636; 67, 69, 236 - -Propaganda Press, specimens, 66, 67, 69, 70; Types of:—Arabic, 66; -Coptic, 69; Ethiopic, 69; Irish, 75, 191; Samaritan, 70; Sclavonic, 71; -Syriac, 67 - -‘Proscription’ letter, Matrices:—Caslon, 248; Cottrell, 291, 292, 317; -Thorne, 292, 293; Jackson, 317 - -_Prosodia Rationalis_, Lond. 1779; 323 - -Psalmanazar (G.) anecdotes of Palmer by, 114, 238 - -_Psalms_ (_Polyglot_) Paris, 1513; 82: Genoa, 1516; 63, 65, 170: -Cologne, 1518; 69, 170 - -——— (_Hebrew_) Tübingen, 1512, (_Septem pœnit._), 63 - -——— (_Heb. Lat._) Lond. 1736; 238, 239 - -——— (_Greek_) Milan, 1481; 58: Venice, 1486, 58: Lond. 1812 (_Cod. -Alex._) 322 - -——— (_Latin_) Mentz, 1457; 11, 13, 53: Mentz, 1490; 76 - -_Psalms_ (_Arabic_) Rome, 1614; 66: Lond. 1725; 67, 235 - -——— (_Armenian_) Rome, 1565; 68 - -——— (_Ethiopic_) Rome, 1513; 69: Frankfort, 1701; 69 - -——— (_Saxon_) Lond. 1640; 73 - -——— (_Sclavonic_) Cracow, 1491; 71 - -——— (_Syriac-Lat._) Paris, 1625; 67 - -Pump for type-casting machine, 119 - -Punches, probable earliest, 14; of copper, 15, 16; of wood, 14, 15, -16; small value put on, 113, 209, 225, 229; defects of French, 116; -Barclay’s patent, 119 - -Punch-cutting, account of, 108, 185; a distinct trade in Holland, 114; -independent artists in England, 117, 338, 358, 360; secrecy of 117, -243, 288, 315, 338 - -Pynson (R.) servant to Caxton, 91; correspondence with Rouen printers, -91, 92, 103; types of, 91, 92, 93; his Roman, the first in England, 37, -44, 92; his indenture with Horman, 37, 92; Greek types cast by, 93; -apology for, 93 - -Quatremère, Coptic type used by, 70 - -Quintilian’s suggestion of mobile types, 3 - -‘Quousque tandem,’ formula for type specimens, 49, 52 - -Rabbinical Hebrew, Matrices:—Andrews, 194, 195; James, 65, 227, 303; -Fry, 303 - -Raphelengius, Arabic type of, 66, 145 - -Ratdolt, initials of, 79 - -_Rasselas_, Banbury, 1804; 119 - -Rastell (W.) types of, 94 - -_Rastell’s Grete Abridgement_, Lond. 1534; 94 - -_Readings on Jonah_, Lond. 1579; 64, 98 - -Record Commission, types cut for, 339, 340 - -——— _Reports_, Lond. 1800–19; 339: Edinburgh, 1811–16; 340 - -‘Real Character,’ Moxon’s, cut for Wilkins, 191, 196, 310 - -_Recuyell of the Histories of Troye_, Bruges, 1474; 86 - -Redman (R.) Pynson’s quarrel with, 93; types of, 94 - -REED (CHARLES) partner in the Fann Street Foundry, 296 - -Registration of founders, 133, 135 - -_Regulæ Trium Ordinum_, Lond. 1676; 182, 185 - -_Reliques of Irish Poetry_, Dublin, 1789; 191 - -RICHARD (MR.) partner of Mr. Miller, 356 - -RICHARD (J. M.) son of above, 356; ‘Brilliant’ type of, 356; ‘Gem’ type -of 356 - -RICHARD (W. M.) brother of above, 356 - -RICHARDS (T.) a letter founder, 351 - -Richardson (Rev. J.) Irish works of, 190 - -Richardson (W.) Engrossing type cut for, 289, 290 - -Ripoli Press, metals used in the foundry of, 19; matrices bought by, 28 - -Ritchie (Millar), fine printer, 306 - -Robijn, a Dutch type body, 40, 52 - -Roccha (Ang.) on early perforated types, 4; his _Bibliotheca Apostolica -Vaticana_, 65, 67, 68 - -Rolij (or Rolu), Dutch letter cutter, 114, 215, 216 - -Roman letter, origin of, 40; early founts in Italy, 40, 41; Germany, -42; France, 43, 44; Netherlands, 43, 44, 47; Switzerland, 44 - -Roman letter, in England: introduction of, 44, 91; Pynson’s, 44; 92; De -Worde’s, 91; Redman’s, 94; Day’s, 47, 96, 97, 98, 144; Vautrollier’s, -46, 98; degeneration of, 44, 232; called ‘White letter,’ 91; mixed -with Black, 45, 97; followed Dutch models, 46; first _Bible_ in, 46; -in Scotland, 46; Roycroft’s, 47, 173, 176; Ogilby’s, 47; Field’s, 47; -Moxon’s rules for, 47, 182, 184, 185; Caslon’s influence on, 47, 249, -284, 301, 303, 305; narrow faces, 46; Baskerville’s influence on, 47, -284, 299, 305, 332, 333; French influence on, 48; Bodoni’s influence -on, 48, 331; revolutions in, 48, 251, 253, 301, 328, 332, 340; French -obligations to, 48; heavy faced, 48; revival of the Old Face, 49; -Rusher’s improved, 119; Motteroz ideal, 48 - -——— and Italic matrices: Oxford, 148, 152; Polyglot, 173, 176; Moxon, -181; Andrews, 195; Grover, 198, 199; Mitchell, 206; ‘Anon,’ 207; James, -213, 214, 217, 223; Caslon, 47, 159, 235, 240, 247, 251, 252, 253; -Wilson, 48, 260, 263, 264, 265; Baskerville, 47, 48, 263, 270, 271, -275, 276, 277, 279, 280, 284; Cottrell, 48, 289, 290, 291, 292; Fry, -48, 299, 300, 301, 303, 305, 306, 310; Jackson, 48, 317, 323; Figgins, -48, 336, 337, 340; Thorne, 291, 293, 295; Thorowgood, 295; Martin, 332, -333; Ilive, 347; Stephenson (S. and C.), 353; Miller, 355, 356 - -Rood (Theo.) Oxford printer, 137, 138 - -Rosart, music type of, 78 - -Rouen, an early type market, 91, 93, 103 - -Rowe (Sir T.) family of, 200 - -Rowe (Eliz.) married H. Caslon, 200, 250 - -Roxburghe Club, works printed for, 312, 334 - -Royal Typography in England, proposal for a, 263 - -Roycroft (Thos.) printer of the London _Polyglot_, 171, 172; -distinction conferred on, 176; printing house of, 217; fire of his -office, 177; epitaph, 176; types used by, 47, 64, 66, 173–177 - -Rubbing, a process in founding, 111, 116, 117 - -Ruby, an English type body, 34 - -Runic, early foreign founts of, 72 - -——— Matrices: Oxford, 72, 150, 151, 155, 161; James, 72, 225, 228 - -Running Secretary, a French Cursiv, 56 - -Rusher (Ph.) his improved types, 119; his _Rasselas_, 119 - -Russian type, chief foreign founts, 71, 72; none in England in 1778; 72 - -——— Matrices: Cottrell, 72, 291; Fry, 72, 309, 312; Thorowgood, 72, 296 - -St. Alban’s, printing at, 89, 139 - -St. Augustin, a French type body, 32, 37 - -_Sallust_, Edinburgh, 1739; 219 - -Samaritan type, chief founts abroad, 70, 174 - -——— Matrices: Oxford, 70, 148, 154, 161; Polyglot, 70, 173, 174, 177, -198; Andrews, 70, 195; Grover, 70, 198; James, 70, 223, 225, 227, 303; -Caslon, 70, 240, 241, 247, 254; Caslon III, 326; Fry, 70, 303, 309, -311; Dummers, 70, 241, 345 - -——— Punches: James, 229 Sand moulds, early use of, 16 - -Sanscrit matrices: Caslon, 254; Jackson, 319; Wilkins, 318, 319 - -‘Sanspareil’ matrices invented, 327 - -Savile (Sir H.) his Eton _Chrysostom_, 60, 140 - -Saxon, early types of, in England, 73, 74; in Amsterdam, 74 - -——— Matrices: Day, 73, 95, 96; Oxford, 74, 150, 151, 158, 161; Andrews -(for Elstob), 74, 156, 157, 158, 196, 289; Grover, 199; James, 223, -228; Caslon, 74, 240, 248; Caslon III, 326; Wilson, 74, 264; Fry, 74, -309, 312; Figgins, 74, 343 - -——— Punches: James, 229 - -Schoeffer (P.) advertisement of, 28, 49; his Lettre de Somme, 54; -Greek, 57; Initials, 79 - -Schoepflin on sculpto-fusi types, 7 - -_Schola Syriaca_, Utrecht, 1672; 70, 174 - -_Scholar’s Instructor_, Camb. 1735; 247 - -Sclavonic, various founts abroad, 71 - -——— Matrices: Oxford, 71, 148, 153, 155, 161 - -——— modern: _see_ Russian - -Scolar (J.) early Oxford printer, 139 - -Scoloker, Ipswich printer, device of, 106 - -Scotland, first types in, 103; early use of Dutch types in, 46, 257, -258; condition of printing in, before 1720, 257; no foundry in 1725, -218, 257, 258 - -Script type, origin of, 56, 204; Dutch, 56; French and German, 56; -Moreau’s, 56; Didot’s, 56, 120, 308, 312; Dawks’, 173 - -——— Matrices: Caslon, 249; Cottrell, 56, 290, 292; Fry, 308, 312; -Jackson, 56, 317; Thorne, 293, 294, 295 - -Scriptorial matrices: Grover, 199, 204; James, 228, 303; Fry, 303; -Fenwick, 351 - -‘Sculpto-fusi’ types, theory of, 7, 8 - -‘Sculptus,’ use of the word in colophons, 7 - -Secretary type, early, at Paris, 55; Rouen, 55, 92; Caxton’s, 55, 86, -87, 88; Berthelet’s, 94, 95; variations of, 55; disappearance, 55, 94, -95 - -Secretary matrices: Andrews, 196; Grover, 199; James, 228 - -Sedan, small Roman type at, 40, 46; small Greek, 61, 254 - -Sedan, a French type body, 35 - -_Seldeni Opera Omnia_, Lond. 1726; 236 - -Semi-Nonpareil, a French type body, 40 - -Set-Court, _see_ Court Hand - -Setting-up, an operation in founding, 111, 114, 116, 117 - -_Shakespeare_, Lond. 1792–1802; 330, 331 - -Shakespeare Press, established, 331; works issued by, 331–3 - -Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, 153 - -Shewell (Mr.) son-in-law of Caslon I, 246 - -Siberch (Jno.) first Cambridge printer, 141; Greek types of, 60, 141 - -Signs cut by Moxon, 191 - -Silver, alleged use of for type metal, 40, 106, 140 - -SIMMONS, a letter founder, 364 - -SINCLAIR (DUNCAN) manager for Wilson, 266; starts a foundry in -Edinburgh, 266 - -SINCLAIR (JNO.) son of above; manager for Wilson, 265; joins his -father, 266 - -Skeen (W.) on wooden types, 6; on sculpto-fusi types, 8; on ‘getté en -molle,’ 14 - -SKINNER, a letter founder, 345 - -Small Pica, an English type-body, 33, 38 - -Smart (W.) purchased Baskerville remainders, 281 - -Smith (Jno.) his tribute to Caslon, 243; body-standards given by, 34 - -Smith, (Dr. T.) his tribute to Laud, 145; note by, on the Alexandrian -_Codex_, 201, 203 - -Smith (T. W.) manager to H. W. Caslon, 255 - -Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, notice of, 234; their press -at Tranquebar, 234; their Arabic _Psalms and Testament_, 235 - -Somme, Lettre de, 54 - -Soncino, Hebrew type at, 62 - -_Sophologium_ (Wiedenbach? 1465?) 42 - -Sower (Chr.) early American founder, 350 - -Spaces, early contrivances for, 21 - -Specimens, _see_ Type-specimens - -Specklin on wooden types, 4 - -_Speculum_, not printed with wood type, 4, 5, 6; nor with sculpto-fusi -types, 6; possible sand-cast types of, 10; curious ‘turn’ in 10; -possible clay-cast types of, 11; quantity of types and contractions in, -27 - -Star Chamber; case of Day _v._ Ward, 124; decrees affecting printers -and founders, 126, 130, 167; abolished, 131 - -Starr (E.) Type-casting machine of, 122 - -_Statham’s Abridgments_, Rouen, _n.d._, 92 - -Stationers, early brotherhood of, 124 - -Stationers’ Company, incorporation of, 124; powers against printers, -127, 128, 129; minutes relating to founders, 128, 129, 133, 134, 164, -165, 193; schism in, 348 - -Statutes affecting printers and founders, 124, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134 - -STEELE (ISAAC) partner of Edmund Fry, 306, 307 - -STEPHENSON (S. and C.) London founders, 353; first foundry, 353; -specimens, 353, 354; punch-cutter for, 353, 359; foundry sold, 354 - -——— Matrices:—Roman and Italic, 353; Ornaments, 353 - -STEPHENSON (HENRY) Sheffield founder, 329 - -Stereotype, early suggestion of, 13; first attempts at, 218; history of -Ged’s invention, 218; re-invention by Tilloch, 220, 261; perfected by -Wilson and Lord Stanhope, 220; Didot’s method of, 220 - -Strong (Mr.) married Mrs. H. Caslon, 252 - -Strype’s note on Day, 98; on early types, 97 - -Subiaco, Roman type at, 40; Greek, 57 - -Swedish Matrices:—Oxford, 73, 151 - -SWINNEY (MYLES) Birmingham founder, 269, 352; specimen of, 352, 353; -poetical tribute to, 353 - -Swynheim and Pannartz, Roman types of, 40, 41; Greek, 57 - -SYMPSON (BENJ.) the first recorded English letter-founder, 128, 164 - -Syriac, chief founts abroad, 67; printed in Hebrew, 67; Usher’s attempt -to procure types of, 67, 68 - -——— Matrices: Oxford, 68, 147, 148, 155, 160, 161; Polyglot, 68, 173, -174, 177, 198, 241; Andrews, 195, 241; Grover, 198, 241; James, 228, -241; Caslon, 160, 240, 241, 246, 247, 254; Fry, 68, 303, 308, 309, 311, -342; Caslon III, 326; Figgins 68, 342, 343; Watts, 68 - -——— Punches:—James, 229 - -Télegú matrices: Figgins, 339, 343 - -Tertia, a German type body, 37 - -Teste, a size of type, 32 - -Testo, a Spanish type body, 32, 37 - -Thiboust (C. L.) his account of French founding, 114, 115; his -_Typographiæ Excellentia_, 115 - -Thomas (Isaiah) his _Printing in America_, 17; note on the first -American founders, 350 - -Thomson (Jas.) his patent for type-casting, 12, 122 - -_Thomson’s Seasons_, Parma, 1794: 251: Lond. 1799: 336 - -THORNE (ROBT.) apprentice and successor to Cottrell, 292; removes to -Barbican, 292; and to Fann Street, 294; regulations of his foundry, -117, 294; specimens, 292, 293, 294; new fashions of Roman, 293; sale of -his foundry, 295 - -——— Matrices: Blacks, 295; Engrossing, 295; Flowers, 293, 295; German, -295; Ornamented, 295; ‘Proscription,’ 292, 294; Roman and Italic, 292, -293, 295; Script, 293, 294, 295; Shaded, 293, 295 - -THOROWGOOD (WM.) purchases Thorne’s foundry, 295; specimens, 295, 296; -purchases Dr. Fry’s foundry, 296, 313; successors, 296; standards of -type bodies in 1841, 34 - -——— Matrices: German, 296; Greek, 296; Hebrew, 296; Roman and Italic, -295; Russian, 72, 296 - -Tilloch’s patent for stereotype, 220, 261 - -Timmins (S.) Baskerville relics of, 268, 269, 271, 279 - -Tonson (J.) buys type in Holland, 216, 217, 233 - -Tory (Geof.) on shapes of types, 32, 53, 183; his _Champfleury_, 32, -183; Greek type of, 58; Initials, 80; Roman, 44 - -_Tractatus contra Judæos_, Esslingen, 1475 62 - -Trafalgar, an English type body, 34 - -Tranquebar, Scriptures printed at, 1714–19; 234 - -_Treatise of Love_, Westminster, 1491 ?; 89 - -_Treatyse of Fysshynge with an Angle_, Lond. 1827; 286 - -Trithemius on the Invention of Printing, 7 - -_Turner’s Herbal_, Lond. 1551; 60 - -Turner, a dishonest Oxford printer, 145 - -Two-line letters, early mention of, 32; use of, 80, 129 - -_Twyn’s Tryal and Condemnation_, Lond. 1664; 132 - -Types, early; first suggestion of mobile, 3; wooden, 3; perforated, -4; Wetter’s specimen of, 5; Laborde’s specimen, 5; ‘sculpto-fusi,’ 7; -sand-cast, 10; clay-cast, 11; irregularities in, 18; 15th century types -at Lyons, 20–23; and at Cologne, 24–26; ligatures and contractions, 22, -27; quantities of, in founts, 26, 27; one size only in a book, 126; -markets for, 20, 28, 90, 103; trade in, 103, 123; early control over, -126 - -Type-bodies, origin of, 31, 32; names of early, 32–40; irregular, 33; -standards of 33, 34; attempts to regulate, 35, 357; names of foreign, 35 - -Type-casting, Moxon’s account of, 111; machine for, origin of, 122; -patents for, 119–22; early machines, 265, 356 - -Type-ornaments, first at Subiaco, 82; Aldus’, 82; Caxton’s, 82; H. -Estienne’s, 82; used in combination, 82 - -Type patented, Rusher’s, 119; Caslon III, 120, 327 - -Type-mould, invention of, 9; of sand, 10; clay, 11, plaster, 15; -earliest adjustable, 14; in four pieces, 17, 120; peculiarities of -early, 23, 105; Garamond’s, 23; Dutch, of brass, 113, 216; ‘drags’ in -26; Moxon’s description of, 108, 186; abandonment of hand, 119; lever -introduced, 120, 186 - -Type-specimens, English, 49, 50; Dibdin on, 49; Bodoni’s, 50, 251 - -Type Street Foundry established, 305 - -‘Typi tornatissimi,’ initials, 79 - -_Typographical Antiquities_, Lond. 1749; 52, 242 - -_Typographiæ Excellentia, Carmen_, Paris, 1718; 115 - -Typography, essence of, 2; and xylography, 2; two early schools of, 9; -a mathematical science, 184 - -Union-Pearl matrices: Grover, 199, 204; James, 228, 303; Fry, 303 - -_Universal Magazine_, 1750: account of letter-founding in, 108, 116, -243, 288, 316 - -_Unterweissung der Messung_, Nuremburg, 1525; 32, 183 - -Usher’s attempt to procure Oriental types, 67, 69, 141 - -Van Dijk (Chr.) Dutch letter cutter, 114, 215; Moxon’s praise of, 182, -184; Roman letter of, 40, 44, 47, 182, 184; Italic, 52; Black, 47 - -Vatican Press, Oriental types of, 65, 67, 69 - -Vautrollier (Th.) Roman type of, 46, 98; Italic, 51; Music, 77 - -_Virgil_, Paris, 1648; 56: Lond. (Ogilby’s) 47: Florence, 1741; 204: -Birmingham, 1757; 272, 273 - -Vitré, French printer, Arabic types of, 66; Samaritan, 70; Syriac, 67 - -Vizitelly, Branston and Co.’s cast ornaments, 360 - -_Vocabularia_, St. Petersburg, 1786–9; 72 - -_Vocabulary_ (_Arabic_), Granada, 1505; 65 - -_Vocabulary, Persian, Arabic and English_, Lond. 1785; 319 - -_Voltaire, Œuvres de_, Kehl, 1784–9; 286 - -Voskens (Dirk) Dutch founder, 114, 215, 216, 290 - -——— Matrices of: Coptic, 70; Runic, 72; Russian, 71; Samaritan, 70; -Saxon, 74; Sclavonic, 71 - -Wages in Caslon’s foundry, dispute concerning in, 1757; 243: in -Thorne’s foundry, 1806; 118 - -Waldegrave (R.) a disorderly printer, 127 - -WALPERGEN (P.) Oxford founder, 149, 207; book printed by, at Batavia, -207; his Music type, 77, 148, 153, 162, 208, 209; inventory of his -chattels, 209; small value of his punches, 209 - -Walpole (Horace) Baskerville’s letter to, 278 - -_Walsingham, Historia Brevis_, Lond. 1574; 95, 96 - -Walton (Brian) editor of the London _Polyglot_, 170; his Proposals and -Specimen, 170; his _Introductio ad lectionem_, 172; timeservice of, -175; rewards to, 176; note by, on the Alexandrian _Codex_ facsimile, -201 - -Wanley (Humphrey) designs Saxon letter for Miss Elstob, 157 - -Ward (Roger) a disorderly printer, 125, 127 - -Watson (Jas.) Scotch printer, 257; his _History of Printing_, 257; -Specimen, 46, 49, 258; his Dutch Initials, 80, 258 - -WATTS (RICHARD) Cambridge University printer, 362; printer and founder -in London, 362; Oriental types of, 363; specimen by his successors, 363 - -——— Matrices: Syriac, 68 - -Watts (Jno.) printer, assists Caslon, 233, 234; Franklin his -apprentice, 233, 235 - -Wechels, Frankfort printers, Greek types of, 58, 60, 140; Hebrew, 63 - -Wertheimer (Jno.) Hebrew type cut for, 264 - -Weston, _see_ Wetstein - -Westfalia (Jno. de) Roman type of, 43 - -Wetstein, Dutch founders, 346, 349; Greek types of, 61 - -Wetter’s unhistorical wooden types, 5 - -White (Elihu) type-casting machine of, 120 - -White (Thos.) printer, uses Baskerville’s types, 286 - -‘White letter,’ a name for Roman, 91 - -Whittaker (Jno.) Caxtonian restorations by, 344 - -Whittingham (C.) printer, revives the Old Style Roman, 255 - -_Whitintoni Grammatices_, Lond. 1519; 60, 91: _De heteroclytis -nominibus_, Lond. 1523; 91: _Lucubrationes_, Lond. 1527; 91 - -Wiedenbach, typographical school at, 41, 42; Roman type at, 42 - -Wilkins (Dr. C.) Librarian to East India Company, 318; typographical -achievements of, 318, 319; Bengal type cut by, 319; Deva Nagari cut by, -319, 320; fire at his office, 319; Sanscrit cut for, 254 - -Wilkins (Dr. D.) notice of, 236; Coptic works of, 236 - -Wilkins (Dr. Jno.) Philosophical or Real character of, 191, 196, 310 - -WILSON (ALEX.) the First; begins as a doctor’s assistant in London, -258; patronised by Lord Isla, 258; starts a foundry, 259; his partner -Baine, 259, 260; attempts new method of founding, 259; earliest founts -of, 260; settles at St. Andrew’s, 260; Irish and foreign business, 260, -264; removes to Camlachie, 260; casts types for the Foulis, 261; the -Glasgow _Homer_ Greek type, 262; retires, 262; tributes to, 262, 263; -specimens, 263; foundry removed to Glasgow, 263 - -——— Matrices: Black, 264; Greek, 61, 261, 262, 264, 265; Hebrew, 261, -265; Roman and Italic, 48, 260, 263, 264, 265; Saxon, 74, 264 - -WILSON (ANDREW) son of above; assists and succeeds his father, 264; -state of the foundry in 1825; 264 - -——— Matrices: Greek, 264; Roman, 264, 355 - -WILSON (ALEX.) the Second, son of above, joins his father, 264; -succeeds to the foundry, 264; establishes branches at Edinburgh, 264, -London, 265, and Two Waters, 265; type casting machine of, 122, 265; -fails in business, 265; sells foundry, 265; joins Mr. Caslon, 255, 265 - -WILSON (PATRICK) brother and partner of above, 264 - -Wilson Foundry, type standards in 1841; 34: division and dispersion of, -255, 265 - -Woide (Dr.) his facsimile of the Alexandrian _Codex_, 311, 321 - -Wolfe (Jno.) disorderly City printer, 125 - -Wolfe (Rey.) types of, 95; Greek of, 60 - -Wolsey (Cardinal) his influence on printing, 139 - -Women, employment of, in foundries, 117 - -WOOD AND SHARWOODS, founders, successors to Austin, 360; Cast Ornaments -of, 360 - -Wooden types, the legend of, 3–6; Specimens of at Oxford, 6; used in -England, 129 - -Worde (Wynkyn de) account of, 89–91; used Caxton’s types, 87, 89; and -Faques’, 94; bought type abroad, 103; employed a Paris printer, 91; his -own letter founder, 89, 90, 103; types of: Arabic, 66, 91; Black, 53, -89, 90, 91, 197, 199, 225, 239; Greek, 60, 91; Hebrew, 64, 91; Italic, -51, 91; Music, 76, 91; Roman, 91 - -WRIGHT (THOS.) Star Chamber Founder, 165, 166; nominated, 130, 165 - -Wyer (R.) types of, 94 - -_Xenophon’s Anabasis_, Glasgow, 1783; 220 - -Xylography, a distinct art from Typography, 6; extinction of, 2 - -Ycair on the shapes of letters, 32, 53; his _Orthographia Practica_, -32, 53, 183 - -York, early printing at, 89, 139 - -Young (Patrick) Royal Librarian, 143, 167; his _Catena on Job_, 98, -144, 176, 198, 201, 228; his facsimile from the Alexandrian _Codex_, -201, 321 - -Zainer (Gunther) Roman type of, 42 - -Zell (Ulric) his narrative of the invention of printing, 1 - -[Illustration] - -[Illustration] - - - - -ENDNOTES: - -[1] _The Haarlem Legend of the Invention of Printing by Lourens -Janszoon Coster, critically examined._ From the Dutch by J. H. Hessels, -with an introduction and classified list of the Costerian Incunabula. -London, 1871. 8vo. - -[2] Xylography did not become extinct for more than half a century -after the invention of Typography. The last block book known was -printed in Venice in 1510. - -[3] “Hic ego non mirer esse quemquam qui sibi persuadeat . . . . -mundum effici . . . . ex concursione fortuitâ! Hoc qui existimet -fieri potuisse, non intelligo cur non idem putet si innumerabiles -unius et viginti formæ litterarum, vel aureæ, vel qualeslibet, aliquò -conjiciantur, posse ex his in terram excussis, annales Ennii, ut -deinceps legi possint, effici” (_De Nat. Deor._, lib. ii). Cicero was -not the only ancient writer who entertained the idea of mobile letters. -Quintilian suggests the use of ivory letters for teaching children -to read while playing: “Eburneas litterarum formas in ludum offere” -(_Inst. Orat._, i, cap. 1); and Jerome, writing to Læta, propounds the -same idea: “Fiant ei (Paulæ) litteræ vel buxeæ vel eburneæ, et suis -nominibus appellentur. Ludat in eis ut et lusus ipse eruditio fiat.” - -[4] _In Commentatione de ratione communi omnium linguarum et -literarum._ Tiguri, 1548, p. 80. - -[5] In _Chronico Argentoratensi_, _m.s._ ed. Jo. Schilterus, p. 442. -“Ich habe die erste press, auch die buchstaben gesehen, waren von holtz -geschnitten, auch gäntze wörter und syllaben, hatten löchle, und fasst -man an ein schnur nacheinander mit einer nadel, zoge sie darnach den -zeilen in die länge,” etc. - -[6] _De Bibliothecâ Vaticanâ._ Romæ, 1591, p. 412. “Characteres enim a -primis illis inventoribus non ita eleganter et expedite, ut a nostris -fieri solet, sed filo in litterarum foramen immisso connectebantur, -sicut Venetiis id genus typos me vidisse memini.” - -[7] _De Germaniæ Miraculo_, etc. Lipsiæ, 1710, p. 10. “ . . . . -ligneos typos, ex buxi frutice, perforatos in medio, ut zonâ colligari -unâ jungique commode possint, ex Fausti officina reliquos, Moguntiæ -aliquando me conspexisse memini.” - -[8] _Essai sur les Monumens Typographiques de Jean Gutenburg._ Mayence, -an 10, 1802, p. 39. - -[9] _Débuts de l’ Imprimerie à Strasbourg._ Paris, 1840, p. 72. - -[10] _Erfindung der Buchdruckerkunst._ Mainz, 1836. Album, tab. ii. - -[11] The history of these “fatal, unhistorical wooden types” is -worth recording for the warning of the over-credulous typographical -antiquary. Wetter, writing his book in 1836, and desirous to illustrate -the feasibility of the theory, “spent,” so Dr. Van der Linde writes, -“really the amount of ten shillings on having a number of letters made -of the wood of a pear-tree, only to please Trithemius, Bergellanus, -and Faust of Aschaffenburg. . . . His letters, although tied with -string, did not remain in the line, but made naughty caprioles. -The supposition—that by these few dancing lines the possibility is -demonstrated of printing with 40,000 wooden letters, necessary to the -printing of a quarternion, a whole folio book—is dreadfully silly. The -demonstrating facsimile demonstrates already the contrary. Wetter’s -letters not only declined to have themselves regularly printed, but -they also retained their pear-tree-wood-like impatience afterwards.” -The specimen of these types may be seen in the _Album_ of plates -accompanying Wetter’s work, where they occupy the first place, the -matter chosen being the first few verses of the Bible, occupying -nineteen lines, and the type being about two-line English in body. -M. Wetter stated in his work that he had deposited the original -types in the Town Library of Mentz, where they might be inspected by -anyone wishing to do so. From this repository they appear ultimately -to have returned to the hands of M. Wetter’s printer. M. Bernard, -passing through Mentz in 1850, asked M. Wetter for a sight of them, -and was conducted to the printing office for that purpose, when it was -discovered that they had been stolen; whereupon M. Bernard remarks, -prophetically, “Peutêtre un jour quelque naïf Allemand, les trouvant -parmi les reliques du voleur, nous les donnera pour les caractères de -Gutenberg. Voilà comment s’établissent trop souvent les traditions.” -This prediction, with the one exception of the nationality of the -victim, was literally fulfilled when an English clergyman, some -years afterwards, discovered these identical types in the shop of -a curiosity-dealer at Mayence, and purchased them as apparently -veritable relics of the infancy of printing. After being offered to the -authorities at the British Museum and declined, they were presented in -1869 to the Bodleian Library at Oxford, where they remain to this day, -treasured in a box, and accompanied by a learned memorandum setting -forth the circumstances of their discovery, and citing the testimony -of Roccha and other writers as to the existence and use of perforated -types by the early printers. The lines (which we have inspected) -remain threaded and locked in forme exactly as they appear in Wetter’s -specimen. It is due to the present authorities of the Bodleian to say -that they preserve these precious “relics,” without prejudice, as -curiosities merely, with no insistence on their historic pretensions. - -[12] Van der Linde, _Haarlem Legend_. Lond., p. 72. - -[13] Skeen, in his _Early Typography_, Colombo, 1872, takes up -the challenge thrown down by Dr. Van der Linde on the strength of -Enschedé’s opinion, and shows a specimen of three letters cut in -boxwood, pica size, one of which he exhibits again at the close of -the book after 1,500 impressions. But the value of Skeen’s arguments -and experiments is destroyed when he sums up with this absurd dictum: -“Three letters are as good as 3,000 or 30,000 or 300,000 to demonstrate -the fact that words are and can be, and that therefore pages and whole -books may be (and therefore also that they may have been) printed from -such separable wooden types.”—P. 424. - -[14] _Annales Hirsaugienses_, ii, p. 421: “Post hæc inventis -successerunt subtiliora, inveneruntque modum fundendi formas omnium -Latini Alphabeti literarum quas ipsi matrices nominabant; ex quibus -rursum æneos sive stanneos characteres fundebant, ad omnem pressuram -sufficientes, quos prius manibus sculpebant.” Trithemius’ statement, as -every student of typographical history is aware, has been made to fit -every theory that has been propounded, but it is doubtful whether any -other writer has stretched it quite as severely as Meerman in the above -rendering of these few Latin lines. - -[15] _Origines Typographicæ_, Gerardo Meerman auctore. Hagæ Com., 1765. -Append., p. 47. - -[16] The constant recurrence in more modern typographical history of -the expression “to cut matrices,” meaning of course to cut the punches -necessary to form the matrices, bears out the same conclusion. - -[17] _Origine et Débuts de l’Imprimerie en Europe._ Paris, 1853, 8vo, -i, 38. - -[18] _Life and Typography of William Caxton._ London, 1861–3, 2 vols, -4to, ii, xxiv. - -[19] _The Invention of Printing._ New York, 1876. 8vo. - -[20] _Origine de l’Imprimerie_, i, 40. - -[21] Mr. Blades points out that there are no overhanging letters in -the specimen. The necessity for such letters would be, we imagine, -entirely obviated by the numerous combinations with which the type of -the printers of the school abounded. The body is almost always large -enough to carry ascending and descending sorts, and in width, a sort -which would naturally overhang, is invariably covered by its following -letter cast on the same piece. - -[22] It is well known that until comparatively recently the large -“proscription letters” of our foundries, from three-line pica and -upwards, were cast in sand. The practice died out at the close of last -century. - -[23] _An Enquiry Concerning the Invention of Printing._ London, 1863, -4to, p. 265. - -[24] In a recent paper, read by the late Mr. Bradshaw of Cambridge, -before the Library Association, he points out a curious shrinkage -both as to face and body in the re-casting of the types of the Mentz -_Psalter_, necessary to complete the printing of that work. The -shrinking properties of clay and plaster are well known, and, assuming -the new type to have been cast in moulds of one of these substances -formed upon a set of the original types, the uniform contraction of -body and face might be accounted for. If, on the other hand, we hold -that the types of this grand work were the product of the finished -school of typographers, the probability is that the new matrices (of -the face of the letter only) were formed in clay, as suggested at p. -15, and that the adjustable mould was either purposely or inadvertently -shifted in body to accommodate the new casting. - -[25] In connection with the suggested primitive modes of casting, the -patent of James Thomson in 1831 (see Chap. iv, _post_), for casting by -a very similar method, is interesting. - -[26] _Origine de l’Imprimerie._ Paris, 1810, 2 vols., 8vo, i, 97. - -[27] _Origine de l’Imprimerie_, i, 99, etc. The following are -the citations:—“_Escriture en molle_,” used in the letters of -naturalisation to the first Paris printers, 1474. “_Escrits en moule_,” -applied to two Horæ in vellum, bought by the Duke of Orleans, 1496. -“_Mettre en molle_,” applied to the printing of Savonarola’s sermons, -1498. “_Tant en parchemin que en papier, à la main et en molle_,” -applied to the books in a library, 1498. “_Mettre en molle_,” applied -to the printing of a book by Marchand, 1499. “_En molle et à la main_,” -applied to printed books and manuscripts in the Duke of Bourbon’s -library, 1523. “_Pièces officielles moulées par ordre de l’Assemblée._” -Procès verbaux des Etats Généraux, 1593. - -[28] _Coster Legend_, p. 6. - -[29] _Ibid._, p. viii. - -[30] A calculation given in the _Magazin Encyclopédique_ of 1806, i, -299, shows that from such matrices 120 to 150 letters can be cast -before they are rendered useless, and from 50 to 60 letters before any -marked deterioration is apparent in the fine strokes of the types. - -[31] Several writers account for the alleged perforated wooden and -metal types reputed to have been used by the first printers, and -described by Specklin, Pater, Roccha and others, by supposing that they -were model types used for forming matrices, and threaded together for -safety and convenience of storage. - -[32] _Works of the late Dr. Benjamin Franklin, consisting of his Life, -written by himself_, in 2 vols. London, 1793, 8vo, i, 143. It is a -very singular fact that in a later corrected edition of the same work, -edited by John Bigelow, and published in Philadelphia in 1875, the -passage above quoted reads as follows: “I contrived a mould, made use -of the letters we had as puncheons, struck the _matrices in lead_, and -thus supplied in a pretty tolerable way all deficiencies.” Whichever -reading be correct, the illustration is apt, as proving the possibility -of producing type from matrices either of clay or lead in a makeshift -mould. - -[33] _Origine de l’Imprimerie_, i, 144. - -[34] From this method of forming the matrices (says a note to -the Enschedé specimen) has arisen the name Chalcographia, which -Bergellanus, among others, applies to printing. - -[35] _Printer’s Grammar._ Lond., 1755, p. 10. - -[36] It has been suggested by some that wood could be _struck_ into -lead or pewter; but the possibility of producing a successful matrix -in this manner is, we consider, out of the question. In 1816 Robert -Clayton proposed to cast types in metal out of _wooden_ matrices -punched in wood with a cross grain, which has been previously slightly -charred or baked. - -[37] In the specimen of “_Ancienne Typographie_” of the Imprimerie -Royale of Paris, 1819, several of the old oriental founts are thus -noted: “les poinçons sont en cuivre.” - -[38] In the 2nd edition of Isaiah Thomas’ _History of Printing in -America_, Albany, 1874, i, 288, an anecdote is given of Peter Miller, -the German who printed at Ephrata in the United States in 1749, which -we think is suggestive of the possible expedients of the first printers -with regard to the mould. During the time that a certain work of Miller -was in the press, says Francis Bailey, a former apprentice of Miller’s, -“particular sorts of the fonts of type on which it was printed ran -short. To overcome this difficulty, one of the workmen constructed a -mold that could be moved so as to suit the body of any type not smaller -than brevier nor larger than double-pica. The mold consisted of four -quadrangular pieces of brass, two of them with mortices to shift to a -suitable body, and secured by screws. The best type they could select -from the sort wanted was then placed in the mold, and after a slight -corrosion of the surface of the letter with aquafortis to prevent -soldering or adhesion, a leaden matrix was cast on the face of the -type, from which, after a slight stroke of a hammer on the type in the -matrix, we cast the letters which were wanted. Types thus cast answer -tolerably well. I have often adopted a method somewhat like this to -obtain sorts which were short; but instead of four pieces of brass, -made use of an even and accurate composing-stick, and one piece of -iron or copper having an even surface on the sides; and instead of a -leaden matrix, have substituted one of clay, especially for letters -with a bold face.” De Vinne describes an old mould preserved among the -relics in Bruce’s foundry at New York, composed (with the matrix) of -four pieces, and adjustable both as to body and thickness. Bernard also -mentions a similar mould in use in 1853. - -[39] A curious instance of this occurs in the battered text of the _De -Laudibus Mariæ_, shown at p. 24, where the rubricator has added his -red dashes to capital letters at the beginning, middle and end of a -palpably illegible passage. - -[40] _Notizie storiche sopra la Stamperia di Ripoli._ Firenze, 1781, p. -49. _Prezzi de’ generi riguardanti la Getteria (letter foundry)._ - - _s._ _d._ - Acciaio (steel) liv. 2 8 0 la lib. ( = 9 0 per lb.) - Metallo (type-metal?) 〃 0 11 0 〃 ( = 2 0 3/4 〃 ) - Ottone (brass) 〃 0 12 0 〃 ( = 2 3 〃 ) - Rame (copper) 〃 0 6 8 〃 ( = 1 3 〃 ) - Stagno (tin) 〃 0 8 0 〃 ( = 1 6 〃 ) - Piombo (lead) 〃 0 2 4 〃 ( = 0 5 1/4 〃 ) - Filo di ferro (iron wire) 〃 0 8 0 〃 ( = 1 6 〃 ) - -[41] It would be more correct to say the discovery of the properties of -antimony, which were first described by Basil Valentin about the end of -the 15th century, in a treatise entitled _Currus triumphalis Antimonii_. - -[42] Printing was practised at Lyons in 1473, three years only later -than at Paris. From the year 1476 the art extended rapidly in the -city. Panzer mentions some 250 works printed here during the 15th -century by nearly forty printers, among whom was Badius Ascensius. The -earlier Lyons printers are supposed to have had their type from Basle, -and their city shortly became a depôt for the supply of type to the -printers of Southern France and Spain. - -[43] _Histoire de l’Invention de l’Imprimerie par les Monuments._ -Paris, 1840, fol., p. 12. - -[44] _Lettres d’un Bibliographe._ Paris, 1875, 8vo, Ser. iv, letter 16. - -[45] Begins “_Incipit Liber de Laudibus ac Festis Gloriose Virginis -Matris Marie alias Marionale Dictus per Doctores eximeos editus et -compilatus_”; at end, “_Explicit Petrus Damasceni de laudibus gloriose -Virginis Marie_.” The book is mentioned in Hain, 5918. The drawn-up -type occurs on the top of folio b 4 verso. - -[46] It will be understood that in each case the outline of the types -being merely a depressed edge in the original, the black outline of the -facsimiles represents shadow only, and not, as might appear at first -glance, inked surface. M. Madden’s facsimile is apparently drawn. In -the photograph facsimile of the “_De laudibus_” type, the distribution -of black represents the distribution of shadow caused by the somewhat -uneven or tilted indentation of the side of the type in the paper. - -[47] Such projections or “drags” in the mould are not unknown in modern -typefounding, where they are purposely inserted so as to leave the -newly cast type, on the opening of the mould, always adhering to one -particular side. - -[48] _Life of Caxton_, i, 39. Later on (p 52), Mr. Blades points out, -as an argument against the supposed typographical connection between -Caxton and Zel of Cologne, that the latter, from an early period, -printed two pages at a time. - -[49] _Haarlem Legend_, p. xxiii. - -[50] Mr. Skeen (_Early Typography_, p. 299) speaks of 300 matrices as -constituting a complete fount; he appears accidentally, in calculating -for two pages instead of one, to have assumed that a double number of -matrices would be requisite for the double quantity of type. - -[51] _Origin and Progress of Writing._ London, 1803. 4to. Chapter ix. - -[52] The cost-book of the Ripoli press contains several entries -pointing to an early trade in type and matrices. In 1477 the directors -paid ten florins of gold to one John of Mentz, for a set of Roman -matrices. At another time they paid 110 livres for two founts of Roman -and one of Gothic: and further, purchased of the goldsmith, Banco of -Florence, 100 little initials, three large initials, three copper -vignettes, and the copper for an entire set of Greek matrices. - -[53] - - “Natio quæque suum poterit reperire caragma - Secum nempe stilo præminet omnigeno.” - -[54] _Unterweisung der Messung._ Nuremberg, 1525. Fo. - -[55] _Champfleury._ Paris, 1529. 8vo. - -[56] _Orthographia Practica._ Caragoça, 1548. 4to. - -[57] Both _Testo_ and _Glosilla_ subsequently became the names of -Spanish type-bodies, the former being approximately equivalent to our -Great Primer, and the latter to our Minion. - -[58] _Dissertation upon English Typographical Founders and Founderies._ -London, 1778. 8vo. - -[59] See _post_, chap. v. - -[60] See _post_, chap. v. - -[61] Hansard’s _Typographia_. London, 1825, 8vo, p. 388. - -[62] See _post_, chap. xxi. - -[63] In several of the German specimens thus examined, not only do -the bodies of one founder differ widely from those of others, but the -variations of each body in the same foundry are often extraordinary. -Faulman, in his _Geschichte der Buchdruckerkunst_, Vienna, 1882, 8vo, -p. 488, has a table, professing to give the actual equivalents of each -body to a fraction; but we conceive that, in the absence of a fixed -national standard, such an attempt is futile. - -[64] Two-line English, Mores points out, was originally a primitive, -and not a derivative body, corresponding to the old German Prima. - -[65] Henry VIII, in 1545, allowed his subjects to use an English Form -of Public Prayer, and ordered one to be printed for their use, entitled -_The Primer_. It contained, besides prayers, several psalms, lessons -and anthems. _Primers_ of the English Church before the Reformation -were printed as early as 1490 in Paris, and in England in 1537. - -[66] We have nowhere met with the suggestion that Primer may be -connected with the Latin “premere,” a word familiar in typography, and -naturalized with us in the old word “imprimery.” Great Primer might -thus merely mean the large print letter. - -[67] The religious origin of the names of types is in harmony with the -occurrence in typographical phraseology of such words as _chapel_, -_devil_, _justify_, _hell_ (the waste type-pot), _friars_ and _monks_ -(white and black blotches caused by uneven inking), etc. - -[68] Ulric Hahn’s _St. Augustini De Civitate Dei_, Rome, 1474, is -printed in a letter almost exactly this body. Others derive the name -from the great edition of _St. Augustine_ printed by Amerbach at Basle -in 1506. - -[69] “Liber presens, directorium sacerdotum, quem _pica_ Sarum vulgo -vocitat clerus,” etc., is the commencement of a work printed by Pynson -in 1497. - -[70] Both the _Cicero_ of Fust and Schoeffer at Mentz, 1466, and of -Hahn at Rome, 1469, were in type of about this size. - -[71] _This Prymer of Salysbury use, is set out a long, wout ony -serchyng_, etc. Paris, 1532. 16mo. Many editions were printed in -England and abroad. - -[72] Fournier (ii, 144) shows a specimen of the lettre de Somme with -exactly a Bourgeois face. - -[73] The first of the family of Paris printers of this name, mentioned -by De la Caille, flourished in 1615. - -[74] The German Brevier, corresponding to our Small Pica, is of more -frequent occurrence in these works. - -[75] _De Germaniæ Miraculo._ Lipsiæ, 1710, 4to, p. 37. - -[76] The _Lactantius_, published the same year, and usually claimed -as the first book printed in Italy, appears, according to a note of -M. Madden’s (_Lettres d’un Bibliographe_, iv, 281), not to have been -completed for a month after the _Cicero de Oratore_. - -[77] “Il (Jenson) forma un caractère composé des capitales latines, qui -servirent de majuscules; les minuscules furent prises d’autres lettres -latines, ainsi que des espagnoles, lombardes, saxones, françoises ou -carolines.” (_Man. Typ._, ii, 261.) - -[78] M. Philippe, in his _Origine de l’Imprimerie à Paris_, Paris, -1885, 4to, p. 219, mentions two books printed in this fount, which -contain MS. notes of having been purchased in the years 1464 and 1467 -respectively. - -[79] _Lettres d’un Bibliographe_, iv, 60. - -[80] For a full account and analysis of Jenson’s Roman and other type, -the reader is referred to Sardini’s _Storia Critica di Nic. Jenson_. -Lucca, 1796–8, 3 parts, fol. - -[81] _Annales de l’Imprimerie des Alde._ Paris, 1803–12, 3 vols., 8vo. - -[82] Sardini (iii, 82) cites an interesting document wherein Zarot, in -forming a typographical partnership with certain citizens of Milan, -covenants to provide “tutte le Lettere Latine, e Greche, antique, e -moderne.” Bernard points out that “antique” undoubtedly means Roman -type, the traditional character of the Italians, while “moderne” -applies to the Gothic, which was at that time coming into vogue as a -novelty among Italian printers. - -[83] Renouard and others claim that these famous characters were cut by -the French artists Garamond and Sanlecques. This legend is, however, -disposed of by Mr. Willems, in his work, _Les Elzevier_. Brussels, -1880, 8vo. - -[84] Pynson was the first to introduce diphthongs into the -typographical alphabet. - -[85] Garamond’s Roman was cut for Francis I. The Roman character was -an object of considerable royal interest in France during its career. -In 1694, on the re-organisation of the press at the Louvre under Louis -XIV, arbitrary alterations were made in the recognised form of several -of the “lower-case” letters, to distinguish the “_Romain du Roi_” -from all others, and protect it from imitations. The deformity of the -letters thus tampered with was their best protection. - -[86] Amongst which should be named Vautrollier’s edition of Beza’s _New -Testament_ in 1574, which, both in point of type and workmanship, is an -admirable piece of typography. The small italic is specially beautiful. -Renouard says this type was cut by Garamond of Paris. - -[87] _History of the Art of Printing._ Edinburgh, 1713. 8vo. - -[88] The _Horace_, printed in 1627, may be mentioned as one of the most -interesting of these little typographical curiosities. The type is -exactly the modern pearl body. The text is 2 5/6 inches in depth, and -1 1/2 inch wide. - -[89] _The Holy Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments._ London, -printed by John Field, 1653, 32mo. The inexperience of English -compositors and correctors in dealing with this minute type is -illustrated by the fact that Field’s Pearl Bibles are crowded with -errors, one edition, so it is said, containing 6,000 faults. - -[90] In one of the Bagford MSS. (Harl. 5915) appear, with the title -“Mr. Ogilby’s Letters,” the drawings and proofs of this alphabet in -capital and lower-case. - -[91] See Specimen No. 21, _post_. - -[92] Tradition has asserted that Hogarth designed Baskerville’s types. - -[93] In recent years a French typographer, M. Motteroz, has attempted -to combine the excellences of the Elzevir and modern Roman, with a -view to arrive at an ideally legible type. The experiment is curious -but disappointing. For though the new “typographie” of M. Motteroz -justifies its claim to legibility, the combination of two wholly -unsympathetic forms of letter destroys almost completely the beauty of -each. - -[94] _Specimen Bibliorum Editionis Hebr. Gr. Lat._ (folio sheet); no -date. - -[95] _Bibliographical Decameron_, ii, 381–2. - -[96] _Origine de l’Imprimerie de Paris_, Paris, 1694, 4to, p. 110. -Chevillier gives a curious instance of this tendency of the old -printers to contract their words. The example is taken from _La -Logique d’Okam_, 1488, fol., a work in which there scarcely occurs a -single word not abbreviated. “Sic̃ hic ẽ faɫ s̃m q̃d ad simpɫr a ẽ -[*pro]ducibile a Deo g̃ a ẽ & sir hic a ñ ẽ g̃ a ñ ẽ [*pro]ducibile a -Do,”-which means: “Sicut hic est fallacia secundum quid ad simpliciter; -A est producibile a Deo; ergo A est. Et similiter hic. A non est; ergo -A non est producibile a Deo.” - -[97] Sir A. Panizzi, in his tract, _Chi era Francesco da Bologna ?_ -London, 1858, 16mo, shows that this artist was the same as the great -Italian painter, Francesco Francia. - -[98] The German practice of inserting proper names and quotations, -occurring in a German book, in Roman type, probably suggested a similar -use of the Italic in books printed in the Roman letter. - -[99] This reform, which was an incident in the general typographical -revolution at the close of last century, is usually credited to John -Bell, who discarded the long ſ in his _British Theatre_, about 1791. -Long before Bell’s time, however, in 1749, Ames had done the same thing -in his _Typographical Antiquities_, and was noted as an eccentric in -consequence. Hansard notes the retention of the long ſ in books printed -at the Oxford University press as late as 1824. - -[100] The suggestion that _Lettres de Forme_ may have meant merely -letters commonly used in print (adopting the early printers’ use of the -word _forma_ as type), appears to be somewhat far-fetched. The term, -though apparently distinctly typographical, was used both by Tory and -Ycair to denote a class of letter which the former denominated _Canon_, -or cut according to rule, as opposed to the more fanciful _lettres -bâtardes_. - -[101] Petrarch expressed a strong aversion to the character; but some -Italian and French printers adopted it, to the exclusion of the Roman, -and, like Nicholas Prevost in 1525, boasted of it as the type “most -beautiful and most becoming for polite literature.” Gothic printing -began in Italy about 1475 and in France in 1473. - -[102] See specimen No. 15, _post_. - -[103] See specimen No. 49, _post_. - -[104] _Bibliographical Decameron_, ii, 407. - -[105] The first part of this work is without date or printer’s name; -but the types are those of the 1462 Bible. The _Secunda Secundæ_ was -printed by Schoeffer at Mentz in 1467, in the types of the _Rationale_. - -[106] See specimens Nos. 5 and 6, _ante_, and 18A, _post_. - -[107] See specimen No. 27, _post_. - -[108] See specimen No. 52, _post_. - -[109] See specimen No. 73, _post_. - -[110] See specimen No. 51, _post_. - -[111] Thus, Ὁτι ἶσα τὰ ἁμαρτήματα appears Oτίcaτaaκaρτηaκaτa. - -[112] Lascaris caused to be printed at Florence, in 1494, an -_Anthologia Græca_, and several other works wholly in Greek capitals, -“litteris majusculis.” In the preface to the _Anthologia_ he vindicates -his use of these characters, which he says he has designed after the -genuine models of antiquity to be found in the inscriptions on medals, -marbles, etc. - -[113] Robert Estienne was not the first to hold this title, Conrad -Néobar, his predecessor, having enjoyed it from 1538–40. In some of his -early impressions before 1543, Estienne used occasionally Greek types, -apparently the same as those of Badius. - -[114] The Imprimerie Royale at the Louvre, of which the present -Imprimerie Nationale is the direct successor, was not founded till -1640, by Louis XIII. Francis I granted the letters patent in 1538, -whereby Néobar and his successors received the title of Royal Printers, -but did not create a royal printing establishment. - -[115] Renouard states that the last of the Greek founts of the Aldine -press was without doubt designed from Garamond’s models. - -[116] Gresswell mentions an _Alphabetum Græcum_, published in 1543, as -a preliminary specimen. - -[117] The history of these famous types, the matrices of which for some -years lay in pawn at Geneva, whence they were released at a cost of -3,000 livres in 1619, may be read in M. Bernard’s _Les Estienne et les -types grecs de François I^{er}_. Paris, 1856. 8vo. - -[118] Greek printing did not become common in Spain till a later -period. A book printed at Oriola in 1603 contains an apology for the -want of Greek types. - -[119] See specimen No. 28, _post_. - -[120] See specimen No. 29, _post_. - -[121] See specimen No. 69, _post_. - -[122] See specimen No. 71, _post_. - -[123] _De Hebraicæ typographiæ origine._ Parma, 1776. 4to. - -[124] _Les Incunables Orientaux._ Paris, 1883. 8vo. - -[125] _Recherches . . sur la Vie et les Editions de Thierry Martens._ -Alost, 1845. 8vo. - -[126] See specimens Nos. 34 and 35, _post_. - -[127] See specimen No. 47, _post_. - -[128] The English were in negotiation for the founts when Vitré -received his orders to purchase. - -[129] See _Calendar State Papers_, 1637–8, p. 245. Raphlengius died in -1597. Among Laud’s MSS. at the Bodleian is a printed work by Bedwell, -entitled _The Arabian Trudgman_, London, 1615, 4to, but no Arabic type -is used in it. An attempt to buy the Oriental matrices of Erpenius for -Cambridge, in 1626, was forestalled by the Elzevirs, who secured them -for their own press. - -[130] See specimen No 37, _post_. - -[131] See specimen No. 61, _post_. - -[132] Parr’s _Life and Letters of Usher_. London, 1686, fol., p. 488. - -[133] See specimen No. 38, _post_. - -[134] See specimen No. 41, _post_. - -[135] See specimen No. 63, _post_. - -[136] See specimen No. 39, _post_. - -[137] See specimen No. 66, _post_. - -[138] See specimen No. 40, _post_. - -[139] See specimen No. 36, _post_. - -[140] See specimen No. 62, _post_. - -[141] See specimen No. 42, _post_. - -[142] See specimen No. 78, _post_. - -[143] James’s foundry also had a set of punches in Long Primer, but -these appear never to have been struck. - -[144] See specimen No. 64, _post_. - -[145] See specimen No. 65, _post_. - -[146] See facsimile No. 20, _post_. - -[147] See specimen No. 48, _post_. - -[148] See specimen No. 45, _post_. - -[149] Music engraved on wood was used as late as 1845, in Oakley’s -_Laudes Diurnæ_. - -[150] See specimen No. 54, _post_. - -[151] _Essai sur l’Education des Aveugles._ Dedié au Roi. À Paris. -Imprimé par les Enfants Aveugles. 1786. 4to. The work is printed in -the large script letter of the press, but not in relief. Appended are -specimens of circulars, addresses, etc., printed in ordinary type, for -the use of the public. - -[152] A curious collection of these may be seen in the _Quincuplex -Psalterium_, printed by Henri Estienne I, at Paris, in 1513. - -[153] _The Life and Typography of William Caxton, England’s first -Printer._ 2 vols. London, 1861–3. 4to. - -[154] Mr. Figgins, apparently misled by the irregularities in form -consequent on the touching-up of Type No. 2, concluded that the whole -of the types in which this book was printed were cut separately by hand. - -[155] _The General History of Printing._ London, 1732, 4to, p. 343. - -[156] Among the rubbish of James’s foundry, Mores, who evidently -credited the legend, states that he discovered some of the punches from -which the two-line Great Primer matrices had been struck. “They are,” -he observed, “truly _vetustate formâque et squalore venerabiles_, and -we would not give a lower-case letter in exchange for all the leaden -cups of Haerlem” (_Dissertation_, p. 76). Hansard, in 1825, appears -also to have believed in the survival of De Worde’s punches, the form -of which he professed to recognise among the Black-letter shown in -Caslon’s specimen-book of 1785. - -[157] The first Roman, or (as it was sometimes called) White-letter, -noticed by Herbert in any of De Worde’s books was in the _Whitintoni de -heteroclytis nominbus_, 1523. - -[158] _Roberti Wakefeldi . . . oratio de laudibus et utilitate trium -linguarum Arabice, Chaldaicæ et Hebraice atque idiomatibus Hebraicis -quæ in utroque testamento inveniuntur. Londini apud Winandum de Vorde_ -(1524). 4to. - -[159] This is probably the first appearance of Italic type in England. - -[160] Pynson was not the first English printer who “put out” his work -to foreign typographers. Caxton, in 1487, employed W. Maynyal of Paris -to print a Sarum _Missal_ for him; and one book, at least, is known to -have been printed for De Worde by a Parisian printer. - -[161] _Oratio in Pace nuperrimâ, etc. Impressa Londini, Anno Verbi -incarnati_ MDXVIII _per Richardum Pynson, Regium Impressorem_. 4to. - -[162] _Thomæ Linacri de emendatâ structurâ Latini sermonis. Londini, -apud Richardum Pinsonum._ 1524. 4to. - -[163] _i.e._, “Greeting to the Reader: Of thy candour, reader, excuse -it if any of the letters in the Greek quotations are lacking either in -accents, breathings or proper marks. The printer was not sufficiently -furnished with them, since Greek types have been but lately cast by -him; nor had he the supply prepared necessary for the completion of -this work.” - -[164] Redman, who began to print about 1525, in Pynson’s old house, is -supposed to have succeeded to the types of his predecessor. His edition -of _Littleton’s Tenures_ (no date) shows the Roman letter in Long -Primer body. - -[165] _D. Joannis Chrysostomi homiliæ duæ, nunc primum in lucem æditæ_ -(Greek and Latin) _a Joanne Cheko. Londini_ 1543. 4to. - -[166] _Ælfredi Regis Res Gestæ_ (without imprint or date), fol. The -work was bound up and published with Walsingham’s _Historia Brevis_, -printed by Binneman, and his _Ypodigma Neustriæ_, printed by Day, both -in 1574. The text of the _Ælfredi_, though in Saxon characters, is in -the Latin language. - -[167] _i.e._, “And inasmuch as Day, the printer, is the first (and, -indeed, as far as I know, the only one) who has cut these letters in -metal; what things have been written in Saxon characters will be easily -published in the same type.” - -[168] Astle, in his _History of Writing_, p. 224, remarks: “Day’s Saxon -types far excel in neatness and beauty any which have since been made, -not excepting the neat types cast for F. Junius at Dort, which were -given to the University of Oxford.” - -[169] Parker, who, according to Strype (_Life of Parker_, London, -1711, fol., p. 278), extended his patronage to Binneman as well as to -Day, and at whose expense the _Historia_ was published, may possibly -have claimed the disposal of founts specially cut for his own use, and -in this manner secured for Binneman founts cast from Day’s matrices. -Binneman is described as a diligent printer, who applied through Parker -for the privilege of printing certain Latin authors, accompanying his -petition by a small specimen of his typography, “which the Archbishop -sent to the Secretary to see the order of his print. The Archbishop -said he thought he might do this amply enough, and better cheap than -they might be brought from beyond the seas, standing the paper and -goodness of his print. Adding, that it were not amiss to set our -own countrymen on work, so they would be diligent, and take good -characters.” - -[170] Timperley, _Encyclopædia_, p. 381. - -[171] _Life of Parker_, pp. 382, 541. - -[172] _Typographical Antiquities_, i, 656. - -[173] _Fidelis servi, subdito infideli Responsio. Lond._ 1573. 4to. - -[174] _De Visibili Romanarchia. Londini, apud J. Dayum._ 1572. 4to. - -[175] _De Antiquitate Britannicæ Ecclesiæ. Londini in ædibus Johannis -Daij._ 1572. Fol. - -[176] An illustration of this maybe seen in Vautrollier’s Latin -Testaments, where both Roman and Italic are exquisitely cut founts, but -not being of uniform gauge, mix badly in the same line. - -[177] _Introduction of the Art of Printing into Scotland._ By R. -Dickson. Aberdeen, 1885. 8vo. Appendix. - -[178] _Eygentliche Beschreibung aller Stände und . . . Handwerker. -Frankfurt_, 1568. 4to. _Der Schrifftgiesser._ - -[179] _Harleian MS._ 5915, No. 201. The cut is undated. The following -sentence from Mr. T. C. Hansard’s _Treatises on Printing and -Typefounding_, Edinburgh, 1841, 8vo, p. 223, may possibly refer to the -same device. “This evidence” (of the process employed by the early -letter-founders) “is afforded us by the device of Badius Ascensius, an -eminent printer of Paris and Lyon, in the beginning of the sixteenth -century, and also by that of an English printer, Anthony Scoloker -of Ippeswych, who modified and adopted the device of Ascensius, as -indeed did many other printers of various countries. This curious -design exhibits in one apartment the various processes of printing, -the foreground presenting a press in full work, the background on the -left the cases and the compositor, and on the right the foundery; the -matrix and other appliances bearing a precise resemblance to those at -present in use.” If the above be a description of the block here shown -(in which case Mr. Hansard has confused the matrix with the mould), we -are able to fix the date approximately at 1548, in which year Scoloker -printed at Ipswich. - -[180] A description of this interesting establishment will be found in -M. De George’s _La Maison Plantin à Anvers_. 2nd ed. Brussels, 1878, -8vo. - -[181] The legend of the silver types has been a favourite one in the -romance of typography. Giucciardini states that Aldus Manutius used -them; and Hulsemann describes the Bible printed by Robert Estienne in -1557 as “typis argenteis sanè elegantissimis.” The same extravagance -was attributed to Plantin. Possibly the famous productions of these -great artists impressed their readers with the notion that their -beautiful and luxurious typography was the result of rare and costly -material; and, ignoring the fact that silver type would not endure the -press, they credited them with the absurdity of casting their letters -in that costly material. It is difficult to believe that any practical -printer, however magnificent, would make even his matrices of silver, -when copper would be equally good and more durable. Didot was said, as -late as 1820, to have cast his new Script from steel matrices inlaid -with silver. The use of the term “silver” as a figurative mode of -describing beautiful typography is not uncommon. Sir Henry Savile’s -Greek types, says Bagford, “on account of their beauty were called -the Silver types.” Field’s Pearl Bible in 1653 has been spoken of as -printed in silver types. Smith, in 1755, referred to the fiction, -still credited, that “the Dutch print with silver types.” On the -other hand, we have the distinct mention in the inventory of John -Baskett’s printing-office at Oxford, in 1720, of “a sett of Silver -Initiall Letters,” which we can hardly believe to be a purely poetic -description, and probably referred to the coating of the face of the -letter with a silver wash. It should be stated here that Ratdolt, the -Venetian printer, in 1482 was reported to have printed one work in -types of gold! - -[182] Among the itinerant punch-cutters of Plantin’s day was the famous -French artist Le Bé who came to Antwerp to strike the punches for the -Antwerp _Polyglot_. - -[183] _Mechanick Exercises, or the Doctrine of Handy-Works applied to -the Art of Printing._ The Second Volume. London, 1683. 4to. - -[184] The index-letters following each part refer to Moxon’s -illustration of a mould in the _Mechanick Exercises_, a reduced copy of -which is placed by the artist of the _Universal Magazine_, 1750, at the -foot of his View of the Interior of Caslon’s Foundry, of which we give -a facsimile in the frontispiece. - -[185] Iron does not appear to have continued much longer as a staple -ingredient of English type-metal. There was, however, no rule as to the -composition of the alloy. The French type-metal at the beginning of -the eighteenth century was notoriously bad, and drove many printers to -Frankfort for their types, where they used a very hard composition of -steel, iron, copper, brass, tin and lead. - -[186] See _post_, chapter ix. - -[187] See _post_, chapter x. - -[188] Psalmanazar, in referring to Samuel Palmer’s projected second -part to his _History of Printing_, which should describe all the -branches of the trade, says that this project, “though but then as -it were in embryo, met with such early and strenuous opposition from -the respective bodies of letter-founders, printers and bookbinders, -under an ill-grounded apprehension that the discovery of the mystery -of those arts, especially the two first, would render them cheap and -contemptible . . . that he was forced to set it aside” (_Timperley_, p. -647). - -[189] _Typographiæ Excellentia. Carmen notis Gallicis illustratum à C. -L. Thiboust, Fusore-Typographo-Bibliopôlâ._ Paris, 1718. 8vo. - -[190] “LIQUATOR. - - “Ecce Liquator adest; en crebris ignibus ardet - Ejus materies; præbet Cochleare, Catillum - Et Formas queis mixto ex ære fideliter omnes - Conflat Litterulas; Hic paret sponte Peritis, - Sive Latina velint conscribere, Græcáve dicta; - Sive suam exoptent Hebræâ dicere mentem - Linguâ, seu cupiant Germanica verba referre, - Cunctas ille suâ fabricabitur arte figuras. - Cernis quâ fiat cum dexteritate character - Singulus Archetypo, quod format splendida signa, - Cum mollis fuerit solers industria scalpri. - Illum opus est fusi digito resecare metalli - Quod superest, Ferulisque Typos componere lêves, - Ut queat exæquans illos Runcina parare. - Sed solet esse gravis nimiis ardoribus æstus.” - -[191] _Fonderie en caractères de l’Imprimerie._ 4 pp., and 4 pp. of -plates. Fol. No date. - -[192] Smith (_Printers’ Grammar_, p. 8) blames the French founders of -his day for the shallow cut of their punches, which being naturally -reproduced in the types, was the cause of much bad printing. Some -sorts, he said, as late as 1755, only stood in relief to the thickness -of an ordinary sheet of paper. He contrasts English punch-cutting -favourably with French in this particular. - -[193] _Manuel Typographique, utile aux gens de lettres._ 2 tom. Paris, -1764–6. 8vo. - -[194] _Patents for Inventions.—Abridgments of Specifications relating -to Printing_ (1617 to 1857). London, 1859. 8vo. - -[195] This misguided reformer lived at Banbury, where, in 1804, he -printed an edition of _Rasselas_, 8vo, in his “improved” types. The -result is more curious than beautiful, and the public remained loyal -still to the alphabets of Aldus, Elzevir, Caslon, Baskerville, and -Bodoni. Nevertheless, Rusher’s edition of _Rasselas_, “printed with -patent types in a manner never before attempted,” will always claim a -place among typographical curiosities. - -[196] This is apparently the first suggestion in England of the -“hand-pump,” which was subsequently adopted by all the founders, and -formed, in combination with the lever-mould, the intermediate stage -between hand and machine casting. - -[197] The origin of type-nicks is doubtful. Some have considered them -to have resulted from a modification of the old alleged system of -perforation, and to have been intended as a receptacle for the wire or -string used to bind the lines together. The types of the first printers -were certainly without them, and as late as 1540 French moulds had -none. A nick forms part of Moxon’s moulds in 1683. In French founding -the nick is at the back of the type, while in England it is always on -the front. In Fournier’s day the Lyonnaise types were an exception to -the general French rule, and had the nick on the front, as also did the -types of Germany, Holland and Flanders. Some of the old founts procured -abroad by English founders were struck in the copper inverted, so that -when cast in English moulds they have always had the nick at the back. - -[198] The lever mould was first used in America about 1800. - -[199] Clayton issued a pamphlet printed from plates produced by this -process. - -[200] It was calculated that 75,000 types could be produced by two men -in an hour. - -[201] See _post_, chap. xxi. Prior to Pouchée’s introduction of this -system of casting into England, Hansard informs us, Henry Caslon made -trial of it, but it was not found eligible to pursue it. - -[202] The type-casting machine, of which this is the first patented -attempt in England, was not generally adopted till after the -International Exhibition of 1851, at which the hand-mould alone was -shown. The model generally adopted was the machine patented in America -in 1838, by David Bruce, which Alexander Wilson introduced in this -country about 1853. Previous to David Bruce’s machine, a machine -invented by Edwin Starr had been introduced at Boston in 1826, and -tried for five years. - -[203] The reader is referred to the concise summary given under the -title “Parliamentary Papers,” in Bigmore and Wyman’s _Bibliography -of Printing_, also to the _Abridgments of Specifications relating to -Printing_, 1617 to 1857, published by the Commissioners of Patents in -1859, and for more minute particulars to Mr. Arber’s _Transcript of the -Registers of the Stationers’ Company_, and the _Calendars of Domestic -State Papers_. - -[204] Notwithstanding this flattering announcement, we find that -five years later Grafton and Whitchurch, who held the King’s Bible -patent, received the royal permission to print the revised edition of -Matthews’s Bible in Paris, “because at that time there were in France -better printers and paper than could be had here in England.” The -project, as history records, was cut short by the Inquisition; but the -presses, types, and workmen were with great difficulty brought over -from Paris to London, where the Bible was finished in 1539. - -[205] A brotherhood of Stationers, consisting of “writers of text -letter,” “lymners of bokes,” and subsequently admitting printers to its -fellowship, had existed since 1403. The term Stationer, at the time -of the incorporation, included booksellers, printers, bookbinders, -publishers, type-founders, makers of writing-tables, and other trades, -amongst which were “joiners and chandlers.” - -[206] Arber’s _Transcripts_, ii, 753–69. - -[207] This unruly printer troubled the Company’s peace for eleven -years, and demonstrated, by his persistent defiance of their authority, -the insufficiency of their powers to execute the control they nominally -possessed. John Wolfe, the City printer, distinguished himself in a -similar way. - -[208] Arber’s _Transcripts_, ii, 22. - -[209] A commission appointed to inquire into the disputes at that -time agitating the Company, gave as one of its chief reasons why the -monopolies should be sustained, that if anyone were to print any book -he chose, this inconvenience would follow, viz., “want of provisions of -good letters,” in other words, the quality both of type and printing -would degenerate. - -[210] Arber’s _Transcripts_, i, 114, 144. - -[211] A return of presses and printers made in the same year to the -Master and Wardens of the Company after the publication of the decree, -shows that this provision had reduced the number to twenty-five -printers, with fifty-three presses. A list of these is given in Mr. C. -R. Rivington’s _Records of the Company of Stationers_ (London, 1883, -8vo), p. 28. - -[212] The provisions of this decree were commended in The _London -Printer his Lamentation_, published in 1660, and reprinted in the third -volume of the _Harleian Miscellany_. The writer contrasts it favourably -with subsequent decrees. - -[213] Arber’s _Transcripts_, ii, 816. - -[214] A licensed stationer might, with the leave of the Company, employ -an unlicensed stationer to reprint a work of his own, on payment of a -fine. (_Ibid._, ii, 19.) - -[215] In France, as early as 1539, typefounding had been legally -recognised as a distinct trade. The edict of 1539 contains the -following clause, applying the provisions and penalties of the decree -to typefounders: “Et pour ce que le métier des fondeurs de lettres -est connexe à l’art de l’imprimeur, et que les fondeurs ne se disent -imprimeurs, ne les imprimeurs ne se disent fondeurs, lesdicts articles -et ordonnances auront lieu . . . aux compagnons et apprentifs fondeurs, -ainsi qu’en compagnons et apprentifs imprimeurs, lesquels oultre les -choses dessus dictes seront tenus d’achever la fonte des lettres par -eux commencée et les rendre bonnes et valables.” The whole decree is -in curious contrast with the Acts regulating English printing and -founding. The French “compagnons” are forbidden to band together for -military, festive, or religious purposes, to carry arms, to beat and -neglect their apprentices, to leave any work incomplete, to use any -printer’s marks but their own; and so great is the fatherly solicitude -of the Crown for the honour of the press, that printers are made -amenable to law for typographical errors in their books. (Lacroix, -_Histoire de l’Imprimerie_. Paris, 8vo, pp. 124–8.) - -[216] In 1635 the journeymen printers presented a petition to the -Stationers’ Company respecting certain abuses which they desired to -have reformed. The report of the referees appointed to inquire into -the matter, with their recommendations, is still preserved. Amongst -other things is a provision against standing formes; also that no -books printed in Nonpareil should exceed 5,000 copies, in Brevier -3,000 (except the privileged books); and further, that compositors -should keep their cases clean, and dispose of “all wooden letters, and -two-line letters, and keep their letter whole while work is doing, and -after bind it up in good order.” The Company approved of the report, -and ordered it to be entered on the books. (_Calendar of State Papers, -Domestic_, 1635. London, 8vo, 1865, p. 484.) - -[217] _A Decree of Starre-Chamber, concerning Printing. Made the -eleventh day of July last past, 1637._ London, 1637, 4to. The “London -Printer,” previously quoted, writing in 1660, styles this decree “the -best and most exquisite form and constitution for the good government -and regulation of the press that ever was pronounced, or can reasonably -be contrived to keep it in due order and regular exercise.” It was the -lapse of its authority in 1640 which led to the abuses over which he -lamented. - -[218] This famous speech has been reprinted by Mr. Arber among his -_English Reprints_, together with a verbatim copy of the decrees which -evoked it. London, 1868, 12mo. - -[219] That is, the Master and Wardens are obliged to find employment -for all honest journeymen out of work, the master-printers and founders -being bound to give work to anyone thus brought to them. Masters -requiring additional hands can compel the services of any journeyman -out of work, who can only refuse the summons at his peril. - -[220] In a rare tract entitled _An Exact Narrative of the Tryal and -Condemnation of John Twyn, for Printing and Dispersing of a Treasonable -Book, etc._ (London, 1664, 4to), several curious particulars are -given as to the operation and enforcement of this Act as regards -printers. But although a bookseller and bookbinder were arraigned at -the same time, no reference was made to the founder of the types, who -was apparently not held responsible for a share in the offence. In -the evidence given by L’Estrange, however, as to Dover, one of the -prisoners, we have a curious glimpse of the technical duties devolving -on the Surveyor of the Imprimery and Printing Presses under this Act. -He states, “I was at his (Dover’s) house to compare a _Flower_ which -I found in the _Panther_ (a dangerous Pamphlet), that flower, that -is, the very same _border_, I found in his house, the same mixture of -Letter, great and small in the same Case; and I took a Copy off the -Press.” The sentence passed upon the unfortunate John Twyn gives a -vivid idea of the amenities of a printer at that period: “That you be -led back to the place from whence you came, and from thence to be drawn -upon an Hurdle to the place of Execution, and there you shall be hanged -by the Neck, and being alive shall be cut down, and your privy Members -shall be cut off, your Entrails shall be taken out of your body, and -you living, the same to be burnt before your eyes: your head to be cut -off, your body to be divided into four quarters, and your head and -quarters to be disposed of at the pleasure of the King’s Majesty. And -the Lord have mercy upon your soul.” - -[221] Printers were ordered to enter into a bond of £300 to the Crown -not to misconduct themselves, but no bond appears to have been exacted -by this Act from letter-founders. - -[222] The Act of 1662 was a probationary Act for two years. In 1664 it -was continued till the end of the next session, and again until the end -of the session following; and in 1666 again until the end of the first -session of the next Parliament. In 1685 it was revived for seven years, -at the end of which, in 1692, it was continued for one year more, after -which it dropped. According to this account, it must have been dormant -at any rate between 1679 and 1685. - -[223] In 1724, according to the list presented by Samuel Negus to -Lord Townsend, the number of printers in London had increased to -seventy-five, and in the provinces to twenty-eight. There were also at -that time eighteen newspapers. - -[224] _A Proposal for Restraining the great Licentiousness of the Press -throughout Great Britain, etc._ No date. - -[225] _An Act for the more effectual Suppression of Societies -established for Seditious and Treasonable Purposes; and for better -preventing Treasonable and Seditious Practices._ [12 July, 1799.] - -[226] “VI. FORM _of Notice to the Clerk of the Peace that any person -carries on the Business of a Letter Founder, or Maker or Seller of -Types for Printing, or of Printing Presses_.—To the Clerk of the Peace -for (_as the case may be_) or his Deputy.—I, A. B., of ———— do hereby -declare, That I intend to carry on the Business of a Letter Founder, -or Maker or Seller of Types for Printing, _or_ of Printing Presses -(_as the case may be_), at ———— and I hereby require this Notice to be -entered in pursuance of an Act passed in the 39th Year of the Reign of -His Majesty, King _George_ the Third.” - -[227] “VII. FORM _of Certificate that the above Notice has been -given_.—I, G. H., Clerk (or Deputy Clerk) of the Peace for ———— do -hereby certify that A. B. of ———— hath delivered to me a Notice in -Writing, appearing to be signed by him, and attested by E. F. as a -Witness to his signing the same, that he intends to carry on the -Business of a Letter Founder, or Maker or Seller of Types for Printing -or of Printing Presses, at ———— and which Notice he has required to be -entered in pursuance of an Act of the 39th Year of His Majesty, King -_George_ the Third.” - -[228] The clauses relating to printers and typefounders were repealed -by the 32 and 33 Vict., cap. 24: _An Act to Repeal certain enactments -relating to Newspapers, Pamphlets, and other Publications, and to -Printers, Type-founders, and Reading Rooms_. [12 July, 1869.] - -[229] - - “Now register’d—now ticketed we move, - Our slightest works the double label prove.” - - (McCreery, _The Press_, p. 25.) - -[230] - - . . . . . “O Veneti, - Que fuerat vobis ars primum nota Latini, - Est eadem nobis ipsa reperta premens.” - -[231] In the following observations on the first Oxford types we -are mainly indebted, in common with all students of the subject, to -the careful researches and notes of the late Mr. Henry Bradshaw of -Cambridge. - -[232] Bagford attributes this general cessation of printing in Oxford, -Cambridge, York, Tavistock, St. Albans, Canterbury and Worcester to -Cardinal Wolsey’s interference while legate. - -[233] _S. Joannis Chrysostomi opera Græce, octo voluminibus. Etonæ, -in Collegio Regali, Excudebat Joannes Norton, in Græcis &c. Regius -Typographus._ 1610–13. Fol. - -[234] Sir Henry Savile (who is not to be confounded with his kinsman -and namesake, Long Harry Savile, Camden’s friend) was formerly Greek -tutor to Queen Elizabeth. In 1585 he was made Warden of Merton, and in -1596 became Provost of Eton College, where he died in 1621, ætat. 72. - -[235] _Anecdotes of Literature and Scarce Books._ London, 1807–12. 6 -vols., 8vo, v, 111, 122. - -[236] The passage referred to is the following vague reply to an -inquiry addressed by Sir Henry Savile to Casaubon: “De characteribus -Stephanicis longa historia, longæ ambages. Itaque melius ista coram.” - -[237] Dupont, _Histoire de l’Imprimerie_. Paris, 1854. 2 vols., 8vo, i, -488. - -[238] _Diary and Correspondence._ London, 1850–2. 4 vols. 8vo, iii, 300. - -[239] Printing was introduced into Cambridge in 1521, when John Siberch -printed Bullock’s _Oratio_ and seven other works. He styled himself -the first printer in Greek in England, although none of his works were -wholly printed in that language. The fount used for the quotations -in the _Galeni de Temperamentis_ was probably procured from abroad. -The residence of Erasmus at Cambridge lent undoubted impetus to the -art, which progressed actively while the Oxford press was idle. The -first University printers, three in number, were appointed in 1534, by -virtue of a charter granted by Henry VIII, in terms considerably more -liberal than those first granted to Oxford. At no period of its career -has the Cambridge press boasted of a type-foundry. In 1626 Archbishop -Usher made an effort to procure from Leyden, for the use of the press, -matrices of Syriac, Arabic, Ethiopic and Samaritan letters, which, -had he been successful, might have formed the nucleus of a foundry. -Unfortunately, the Archbishop was forestalled by the Elzevirs, who -secured the matrices for their own press (Parr’s _Life of Usher_. -London, 1686, fol., p. 342–3). The University made an effort in 1700 -to enrich their press by the purchase of a fount of the famous Paris -Greek types of Francis I, known as the King’s Greek. But as the French -Academy insisted, as a condition of the purchase, that all works -printed in these characters should bear the imprint “characteribus -Græcis e Typographeo regio Parisiensi,” the Cambridge Syndics, unable -to accede to the terms, withdrew from the negotiations (Gresswell’s -_Early Parisian Greek Press_. Oxford, 1833, i, 411; and De Guignes’ -_Typographie Orientale et Grecque de l’Imprimerie Royale_. Paris, 1787, -p. 85). - -[240] _Novum Testamentum. Cantabrigiæ. Apud Tho. Buck._ 1632. 8vo. - -[241] _Anecdotes_, i, 119. Elsewhere (v, 111) Beloe asserts that the -type thus used was the Greek of Sir Henry Savile. Although the same -size, and in many points closely resembling this letter, it differs -from it materially in other respects. This may possibly be accounted -for on the supposition that some of the Savile characters having been -lost, they had been replaced either by new matrices, or by the addition -of letters from some other fount. Buck discarded many of the cumbrous -abbreviations used in the _Chrysostom_, greatly to the advantage of his -text (see _4th Report Historical MSS. Commission_, p. 464). - -[242] _Rushworth’s Collections_, ii, 74. - -[243] _Works of Laud._ Oxford, 1847–60. 7 vols., 8vo, v, 80. - -[244] _The Holy Bible, containing the Old Testament and the New, etc. -Printed at London by Robert Barker . . . and by the Assignes of John -Bill._ _Anno_ 1631. 8vo. - -[245] Bagford and others erroneously mention the fine as £3,000. - -[246] _Clementis ad Corinthios Epistola prior._ 4to. Oxonii, 1633. - -[247] Augustin Linsdell. - -[248] _Wilkins (D.) Concilia_, iv, 485. - -[249] According to documents in the Record Office, the fine was entered -Feb. 18, 163 3/4, “Fined for errors in printing the Bible, Barker -£200, Lucas £100.” It was allowed to stand over from time to time, “to -see whether they would set up their press for the printing of Greek.” -On June 23, 1635, it was ordered that all Bibles now in Stationers’ -Hall which had been erroneously printed should be redelivered to them -“with charge to see all the gross faults amended before they vent the -same.” - -[250] _Catena Græcorum Patrum in Beatum Job . . . operâ et studio -Patricii Junii, Bibliothecarii Regii, etc. Londini, ex Typographio -Regio._ 1637. Fol. In his dedication to the Archbishop, Young thus -refers to the care taken by Laud in the purchase of the type: “Quod -quidem si eâ fronte acceperis . . . quâ Britanniam denique characterum -elegantiâ in omni linguarum genere locupletas, ac vicinis gentibus, non -minus pulchrâ, quam politâ et accuratâ veterum scriptorum editione, -invidendam reddis, etc.” - -[251] The matrices of this fount, as will be seen hereafter, passed -into Grover’s foundry, and were sold at the dispersion of James’s -foundry in 1782. - -[252] _State Papers, Domestic_, 1637–8. No. 75. - -[253] Probably from the Elzevirs, who in 1626 (as noticed p. 66, -_note_) had succeeded in outbidding the representatives of Cambridge -University for the Oriental press and matrices of Erpenius. - -[254] Thomas Smith at a later date referred to the same gift:—“Circa -id temporis . . . D. Guilielmus Laudus . . . postquam ingentem Codicum -omne genus manu exaratorum molem pecuniis largissime effusis, ubi ubi -merx ista literaria erat reperienda, conquisivisset, elegantissimos -typos, omnium ferè linguarum, quæ hodie obtinent, efformari procuravit” -(_Vitæ, quorundam Virorum . . . Patricii Junii_, London, 1707, 4to., p. -27). - -[255] _Works of Laud_, v. 168. - -[256] _Ibid._, v, 236. - -[257] Latham’s _Oxford Bibles and Printing in Oxford_. 1870, p. 46. - -[258] The University supplied a press and type to King Charles I during -the Civil War (Gutch, _Collectanea Curiosa_. Oxford, 1781. 2 vols., -8vo., i, 281). - -[259] Lemoine, _Typographical Antiquities_. London, 1797. 8vo, p. 87. -The office of Archi-typographus had been instituted by Laud, about 1637. - -[260] He it was on whom Tom Brown wrote his famous epigram:― - - “I do not love thee, Doctor Fell, - The reason why, I cannot tell; - But this alone I know full well, - I do not love thee, Doctor Fell.” - -[261] Bagford (_Harl. MS._ 5901, fo. 89) mentions that Dr. Fell -encouraged the fitting-up of a paper mill at Wolvercote, by Mr. George -Edwards, “who was a cutter in wood of the great letters, and engraved -many other things made use of in the printing of books, and had a -talent in maps, although done with his left hand.” Of this mill, Hearne -wrote in 1728, “Some of the best paper made in England is made at -Wolvercote Mill” (_Reliq._, ii, 85, ed. 1869). - -[262] This list, which was appended to the specimen of 1695, doubtless -includes a few items acquired by the Press since Dr. Fell’s death. -(_Harl. MSS._ 5901, 5929.) - -[263] The Coptic fount included in his gift is said to have been cut, -not only at his expense, but under his personal supervision, from a -character (Mores states) delineated by Mr. Wheeler, rector of St. -Ebbe’s, in Oxford. - -[264] _Harl. MS._ 5901, fol. 85. - -[265] Gutch, _Collect._, i, 271. - -[266] _Athenæ Oxonienses._ London, 1691–2. 2 vols., fol., ii, 604. -Wood, in speaking of Mill’s _Greek Testament_, begun in 1681, says that -the first sheets were begun at his Lordship’s cost, “at his Lordship’s -printing house, _near the Theater_” (_Fasti Oxon._, 3rd ed., ii, 381). -This was probably the hired house occupied by the University press -prior to its removal to the Theatre, concerning the site of which -Hearne remarks (_Reliq._, i, 254), “One part of the wall, being a sort -of bastion, is now to be seen, just as we enter into the Theater-yard, -at the west corner of the north side of the Schools, viz., where the -late printing-house of Bp. Fell stood.” Moxon, in 1683, recognised the -Bishop’s “ardent affections to promote Typographie” in England, by -dedicating to him the second volume of his _Mechanick Exercises_, the -first practical work on printing written by an Englishman. - -[267] A copy of this letter may be seen in the preface to Hickes’ -_Thesaurus_, 1705, p. xliii. - -[268] The Gothic and Runic punches, and the punches and matrices of the -Saxon, formed part of the interesting exhibit of the Oxford University -Press at the Caxton Exhibition in 1877. - -[269] Nichols, _Literary Anecdotes_, iv, 147. - -[270] The Oxford Ethiopic types appear to have gone astray, if not -at this period, shortly afterwards; for Dr. Mawer, writing to the -Archbishop of Canterbury in 1759 respecting his proposed Supplement -to Walton’s _Polyglot_, says that the use of the University types had -been offered him (in 1743) for printing a specimen of his work, “but,” -he adds, “an obstruction was here thrown in my way by reason of the -Ethiopic types being most of them lost, and incapable of printing half -a page.” (Todd’s _Life of Walton_, London, 1821, i, 332.) - -[271] Nichols, _Lit. Anec._, iv., 146. One of the first works printed -in the recovered types was King Alfred’s Saxon version of Boethius’ -_Consolationis Philosophiæ Libri_. Oxford, 1698, 8vo. It was edited by -Mr. Christopher Rawlinson, from a transcript by Francis Junius among -the MSS. at Oxford. Opposite the title is a head of Junius by Burghers, -from a sketch by Van Dyck, in the Picture Gallery. - -[272] A. J. Butler, _Ancient Coptic Churches of Egypt._ Oxford, 1884. 2 -vols., 8vo, ii, 257. - -[273] These additions duly appeared in the second Oxford specimen of -1695, from which the inventory at p. 148 is quoted. - -[274] There is an amusing account of a visit to the University Press in -1682 in Mrs. D’Anvers’ _Academia: or the Humours of the University of -Oxford, in Burlesque verse_ (1691), pp. 25–27. - -[275] _Harl. MS. 5901_, fo. 4. The _Specimen_ is given in 5929. - -[276] _Oratio Dominica_, πολύγλωττος πολύμορφος, _nimirum, plus -centum Linguis, Versionibus, aut Characteribus reddita et expressa_. -_Londini_, 1700, 4to. 76 pp. The editor was B. M(otte). Typogr. Lond. - -[277] This circumstance is thus frankly noted in the preface: “Porrò, -ne Characterum alienorum copiâ me jactitare videar, scias velim, -schedas duas, Linguas Hebraicam, et cæteras usque ad Slavonicam -complexas, in Typographéo instructissimo inclytæ Academiæ Oxoniensis -excusas esse, cui faustissima quæque comprecator quisquis est qui -patriam amat, et bonam mentem colit.” - -[278] These include the Malabaric, Brahman, Chinese, Georgian, -Sclavonic (Hieronymian), Syriac (Estrangelo), and Armenian. The -Anglo-Saxon versions are from type, as is also the Irish, which is -Moxon’s fount cut for Boyle. - -[279] A second edition appeared in 1713. In 1715 a similar work was -published by Chamberlayne in Amsterdam, entitled _Oratio Dominica in -diversas omnium fere gentium linguas versa et propriis cujusque linguæ -characteribus expressa_. _Amstelodami_ 1715. 4to, with dissertations -by Dr. Wilkins and others. This production is superior in general -appearance to the English book, but the Oriental and other foreign -characters being almost entirely copperplate, its typographical value -is decidedly inferior. - -[280] The Bible-side height is slightly above the ordinary English -height. The Learned-side height is about the same as the French height. -Ancient jealousies between the two rival “Sides” have much to answer -for in the growth of this anomaly. Happily, the difference of “height” -is now the only difference between the Bible and the Learned Presses. - -[281] Writing in 1714, Bagford boasted that the Sheldonian Theatre, -Plantin’s Office at Antwerp, the King’s Office in Paris, the King of -Spain’s Printing House, (Plantin’s Office at Leyden—since Elzevir’s—is -a sorry shed), Janson’s in Amsterdam, and that of the Jews in the same -city, were not to compare with the Oxford House (_Harl. MS. 5901_). The -imprint, _E Theatro Sheldoniano_, was continued on Oxford books till -1743. - -[282] _Linguarum Vett. Septentrionalium Thesaurus Grammatico-Criticus -et Archæologicus._ _Oxon._ 1703–5. Fol., 3 vols. - -[283] This learned lady, mistress of eight languages besides her own, -was the daughter of Ralph Elstob, a Newcastle merchant, and was born -in 1683. Besides making the English translation which accompanies her -brother’s Latin version of the _Homily on St. Gregory’s Day_, she -transcribed and translated many Saxon works at an early age. “Miss -Elstob,” says Rowe Mores, “was a northern lady of ancient family and -a genteel fortune. But she pursued too much the drug called learning, -and in that pursuit failed of being careful of an one thing necessary. -In her latter years she was tutoress in the family of the Duke of -Portland, where we have visited her in her sleeping-room at Bulstrode, -surrounded with books and dirtiness, the usual appendages of folk -of learning. But if any one desires to see her as she was when she -was the favourite of Dr. Hudson and the Oxonians, they may view her -pourtraiture in the initial G of the _English-Saxon Homily on the -Birthday of St. Gregory_” (_Dissertation_, p. 29). Miss Elstob died in -1756, and was buried at St. Margaret’s, Westminster. - -[284] It is interesting to note that among the money contributors on -this occasion (a list of whom is preserved in Nichols’ _Anecdotes -of Bowyer_, pp. 496–7), Robert Andrews and Thomas James, the -letter-founders, appear as donors of five guineas each, and Thomas -Grover of two guineas. - -[285] Humphrey Wanley, son of Nathaniel Wanley, was secretary to the -Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and afterwards librarian -to the Earl of Oxford. He was an adept in the Saxon antiquities and -calligraphy, and was an important contributor to Hickes’ _Thesaurus_, -for which work he compiled the historical and critical catalogue of -Saxon and other MSS. He died in 1726, aged fifty-four. Much of his -correspondence is preserved among the Harleian MSS. - -[286] Nichols’ _Anecdotes of William Bowyer_. London, 1782, 4to., p. -498. - -[287] _The Rudiments of Grammar for the English Saxon Tongue._ London, -1715. 4to. A specimen of the letter is given in chapter ix, post. - -[288] “This type Miss Elstob used in her _Grammar_, and in her -_Grammar_ only. In her capital undertaking, the publication of the -_Saxon Homilies_, begun and left unfinished, whether because the -type was thought unsightly to politer eyes, or whether because the -University of Oxford had cast a new letter that she might print the -work with them, or whether (as she expresses herself in a letter to -her uncle, Dr. Elstob), because ‘women are allowed the privilege of -appearing in a richer garb and finer ornaments than men,’ she used a -Saxon of the modern garb. But not one of these reasons is of any weight -with an antiquary, who will always prefer the natural face to ‘richer -garb and finer ornaments.’ And on his side is reason uncontrovertible.” -(Rowe Mores, _Dissert._, p. 29.) - -[289] _i.e._, William Caslon. - -[290] Nichols’ _Anecdotes of Bowyer_, p. 319. _Literary Anecdotes_, ii, -361, etc. - -[291] _Dissertation_, p. 28. - -[292] A few of the punches and matrices were shown in the Caxton -Exhibition of 1877. - -[293] _The Great Charter and Charter of the Forest._ Oxford, at the -Clarendon Press, 1759, 4to. This fine work is printed in Caslon’s Great -Primer Roman. The copperplate initials and vignettes are very fine, the -former containing views of several of the different colleges and public -buildings at Oxford. - -[294] _Novum Testamentum, juxta exemplar Millianum. Typis Joannis -Baskerville. Oxonii e Typographeo Clarendoniano 1763. Sumptibus -Academiæ_, 4to & 8vo. (See also _post_, chap. xiii). The Baskerville -Greek punches, matrices and types still preserved at Oxford, are -supposed to be the only relics in this country of the famous Birmingham -foundry. - -[295] Though dated 1768 on the title, this specimen appears not to have -been completed for two years, as it bears the date Sept. 29, 1770, on -the last page, and includes specimens of purchases made in that year. - -[296] _Dissertation_, p. 45. These strictures we cannot but regard -as somewhat hypercritical. It was no uncommon thing to cast a small -face of letter on a body larger than its own; and in the case of -Hebrew and other Orientals, where detached points were cast to work -over the letter, it was by no means unusual at that time, and till a -later period, to designate the latter by the name of the body which -it and the point in combination collectively formed. With regard -to the gradual lapse of obsolete and superannuated founts from the -specimen, Mr. Mores’ antiquarian zeal appears to have blinded him to -the fact that the Oxford press may have issued their specimens as an -advertisement of their present resources, rather than as an historical -collection of their typographical curiosities. - -[297] _Harl. Miscell._, Lond., 1745, 4to, iii, 277. The full title and -description of this curious tract is as follows:—“_The London Printer, -his Lamentation; or the Press oppressed, or over-pressed. September -1660. Quarto, containing 8 pages. In this sheet of Paper is contained, -first, a short account of Printing in general, as its Usefulness, -where and by whom invented; and then a Declaration of its Esteem and -Promotion in England by the several Kings and Queens since its first -Arrival in this Nation; together with the Methods taken by the Crown -for its better Regulation and Government till the year 1640; when, says -the Author, this Trade, Art and Mystery was prostituted to every vile -Purpose both in Church and State; where he bitterly inveighs against -Christopher Barker, John Bill, Thomas Newcomb, John Field and Henry -Hills as Interlopers, and, under the King’s Patent, were the only -instruments of inflaming the People against the King and his Friends, -etc._” - -[298] Mores makes a serious mistake in calling this founder Arthur -Nicholas. - -[299] In the British Museum _Catalogue of Early English Books to 1640_, -the name of John Grismand appears as publisher of twenty-four books -between 1597 and 1636. It is probable that the earlier of these, at any -rate, were issued by the father of our founder. The name of one Thomas -Wright also occurs as a publisher in 1610. - -[300] _Harl. MS. 5910_, pt. i, p. 148. - -[301] Moxon, in his account of the Customs of the Chapel (_Mechanick -Exercises_, ii, 363), gives a full description of this yearly Feast, -which, he says, “is made by Four Stewards, _viz._, two Masters and -two Journey-men; which Stewards, with the Collection of half a Crown -apiece of every Guest, defray the Charges of the whole Feast.” The -List of Stewards, above referred to, contains, among others, the -names of nearly all the seventeenth century letter-founders. Seventy -feasts were held between 1621 and 1681, the first few probably being -half-yearly. Three or four Stewards officiated at each. The names of -the founders occurring in the list are as follows, the figures appended -to each indicating the number of the feast at which each served his -stewardship, with the approximate date: - - (24) Thomas Wright (1635). - (26) Arthur Nichols (1637). - (31) Alexander Fifield (1642). - (42) Nicholas Nichols (1653). - (61) James Grover (1672). - (63) Thomas Grover (1674). - (64) Joseph Leigh (Lee?) (1675). - (66) Godfrey Head (1677). - (67) Thos. Goring (1678). - (69) Robert Andrews (1680). - -[302] Arber’s _Transcripts_, iii, 363–8. - -[303] _Calendar of State Papers, Domestic_, 1649, pp. 362, 523. Among -the entries of admission to Merchant Taylors’ School occurs: “Johannes -Grismond, filius unicus Johannes Grismond, Typographi, natus Londini, -in parœciâ de Giles, Cripplegate, Aprilis 1, 1647: an. agens 8. -Admissus est Aprilis 3, 1654.” - -[304] _Domestic_, 1637–8. Vol. 376, Nos. 13 and 14. - -[305] The list of matrices is given on p. 173, _post_. - -[306] _Dissertation_, p. 40. - -[307] The first project of a Polyglot Bible is due to Aldus Manutius, -who, probably between 1498 and 1501, issued a specimen-page containing -the first fifteen verses of Genesis, in collateral columns of Hebrew, -Greek and Latin. The typographical execution is admirable. A facsimile -is shown in Renouard’s _Annales de l’Imprimerie des Aldes_, 2nd and 3rd -editions. - -[308] It was begun in 1502; completed in 1517, but not published till -1522. - -[309] In addition to the four great _Bibles_, the following polyglot -versions had also appeared before 1657:― - - 1516. _Psalter_ in Hebrew, Arabic, Chaldee, Greek and Latin, published - by Porrus at Genoa. - - 1518. _Psalter_ in Hebrew, Greek, Latin and Ethiopic, published by - Potken at Cologne. - - 1546. _Pentateuch_ in Hebrew, Chaldee, Persian and Arabic, published - at Constantinople (but all in Hebrew type). - - 1547. _Pentateuch_ in Hebrew, Spanish and modern Greek, published at - Constantinople. - - 1586. _Bible_ in Hebrew, Greek and Latin (two versions), published at - Heidelberg. - - 1596. _Bible_ in Greek, Latin and German, published by Wolder at - Hamburg. - - 1599. _Bible_ (portions) in Hebrew, Chaldee, Greek, Latin, German, - Sclavonic, etc., published by Hutterus at Nuremberg. - -[310] These _Proposals_ were printed by R. Norton for Timothy -Garthwaite at the lesser North Gate of St. Paul’s Church, London, 1652. - -[311] It is described by the Rev. H. J. Todd in his _Memoirs of the -Life and Writings of the Right Rev. Brian Walton, D.D._ London, 2 -vols., 8vo, 1821. Mr. Todd’s work contains much valuable information -respecting the _Polyglot_. - -[312] Among the MSS. in Sydney College is a letter written by Abraham -Wheelock to the Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge, dated Jan. 5, 1652, in -which, referring to the specimen, he says: “When the sheete, here sent, -was printed off, I corrected at least 80 errata in it. It as yet serves -to show what letters Mr. Flesher, an eminent printer, my friend and -printer of my booke, hath” (Todd’s _Memoirs_, i, 56). James Flesher, -son (?) of Miles Flesher (one of the twelve Star Chamber printers named -in the Act of 1637), entered into a bond of £300 to the Stationers’ -Company in 1649, and held the office of City printer in 1657. His name -occurs in the list of the _Brotherly Meeting of Printers_ as Steward at -the 42nd Feast. In 1664 he served, together with Roycroft, on the jury -at the trial of John Twyn; see _ante_, p. 132. - -[313] Walton’s _Polyglot_ is supposed to be the second book printed -by subscription in England. In 1617, Minsheu’s _Dictionary in Eleven -Languages_ was published by subscription, the names of those who took a -copy of the work being printed. Minsheu’s venture, however, turned out -a failure. In Dr. Walton’s case this mode of publication was, owing to -the energy of the promoter and the number of his friends, successful. -The subscription was £10 per copy, or £50 for six copies. The estimated -cost of the first volume was £1,500, and of succeeding volumes £1,200 -each. Towards this, £9,000 was subscribed four months before the first -volume was put to press. - -[314] Parr’s _Life and Letters of Usher_. Lond., 1686, fol., p. 590. -Dr. Walton received the Protector’s permission to import the paper for -his work, duty free. - -[315] _Origine de l’Imprimerie de Paris._ Paris, 1694, 4to, p. 59. - -[316] _Discours Historique sur les principales editions des Bibles -Polyglottes._ Paris, 1713, 12mo, p. 209. - -[317] This useful little tract was reprinted with improvements in -the following year, entitled: “_Introductio ad lectionem linguarum -Orientalium, Hebraicæ, Chaldaicæ, Samaritanæ, Syriacæ, Arabicæ, -Persicæ, Æthiopicæ, Armenæ, Coptæ . . . in usum tyronum . . . præcipuè -eorum qui sumptus ad Biblia Polyglotta (jam sub prelo) imprimenda -contulerunt. Londini. Imprimebat Tho. Roycroft_, 1655. 18mo.” -Republished at Deventer in 1658. The Armenian and Coptic alphabets were -cut in wood, and reappeared in the Prolegomena of the _Polyglot_. - -[318] “The latter part,” says Bowyer, “is much more incorrectly printed -than the former, probably owing to the editor’s absence from the press, -or to his being over-fatigued by the work. The Hebrew text suffered -much in several places by the rapidity of the publication.” - -[319] Rev. Mr. Twells, author of _Life of Dr. Pocock_. - -[320] _Biblia Sacra Polyglotta, complectentia Textus Originales, -Hebraicum cum Pentateucho Samaritano, Chaldaicum, Græcum; Versionumque -antiquarum, Samaritanæ Græcæ LXX Interpr. Chaldaicæ, Syriacæ, Arabicæ, -Æthiopicæ, Persicæ, Vulg. Lat. Quicquid comparari poterat. Cum Textuum -et Versionum Orientalium Translationibus Latinis . . . Omnia eo ordine -disposita, ut Textus cum Versionibus uno intuitu conferri possint. Cum -Apparatu, etc. etc. . . . Edidit Brianus Waltonus, S.T.D. Londini. -Imprimebat Thomas Roycroft_, 1657. 6 vols., fol. - -[321] One of the compositors employed on the work was Ichabod Dawks -(grandfather to Wm. Bowyer), of whose son and his curious script type, -see _The Tatler_, No. 178, etc. - -[322] See _ante_, p. 98. - -[323] In some cases a few of the matrices have undergone renovation in -the hands of their successive owners. - -[324] “The Æthiopic of the Congregation,” _i.e._, of the Propaganda -at Rome, “is not to be compared with ours. And Ludolphus, whose abode -was at Gotha, sent his Lexicon to be published at London, where it -was printed by Mr. Roycroft upon the type of the English _Polyglot_” -(Mores, p. 12). - -[325] “The elegant face of the Samaritan is justly attributed by -Cellarius to the English, for it was first used in our _Polyglot_. It -differs widely from the type used by Scaliger in his _Emend. Temp._, -and by Leusden at the end of his _Scholæ Syriacæ_, and from another -used in an encomiastic of Abr. Ecchelensis upon F. Kircher, which type -belonged to the Congregation at Rome; and which was afterwards more -neatly cut by Voskens” (_ibid._, p. 13). - -[326] In his “loyal” dedication, Walton asserts that from the outset he -had intended to dedicate the work to Charles II, and that Cromwell’s -patronage of the work had been offered only as the price of a public -compliment for himself (Todd, i, 82 _et seq._). - -[327] “The first view of this dedication,” he says, “will prove it to -have been printed with different and inferior types, the hasty produce -of a courteous after thought” (_Introd. Classics_, i, 27). - -[328] “Thomas Roycroft died August 10, 1677. In 1675 he was master of -the Stationers’ Company, and in 1677 he gave to them two silver mugs, -weight 27 ozs. 3 dwts. In the rear of the altar at St. Bartholemew’s -the Great is this epitaph:—‘M.S. Hic juxta situs est Thomas Roycroft, -armiger, linguis Orientalibus Typographus Regius, placidissimis moribus -et antiquâ probitate ac fide memorandus, quorum gratiâ optimi civis -famam jure merito adeptus est. Militiæ civicæ Vicetribunus. Nec minus -apud exteros notus ob libros elegantissimis suis typis editos, inter -quos sanctissimum illud _Bibliorum Polyglottorum_, opus quam maxime -eminet. Obiit die 10 Augusti, ann. Reparatæ Sal. MDCLXXVII, postquam -LVI ætatis suæ annum implevisset. Parenti optimè merito, Samuel -Roycroft, filius unicus, hoc monumentum pie posuit.’ ” - -[329] _Lexicon Heptaglotton_, _Hebraicum_, _Chaldaicum_, _Syriacum_, -_Samaritanum_, _Æthiopicum_, _Arabicum_, conjunctim; _et Persicum_ -separatim, _etc._, _etc._ _Authore Edmundo Castello, S.T.D._, _etc._ -_Londini, Imprimebat Thomas Roycroft, L.L._ _Orientalium Typographus -Regius, 1669_. Two vols., fol. - -[330] _State Papers, Domestic_, 1665. Vol. 142, No. 174. - -[331] _State Papers, Domestic_, 1667. _Ent. Book 23_, p. 337. - -[332] In the List of Stewards of the _Brotherly Meeting_ of printers -referred to p. 166, Nicholas Nicholls’ name occurs with James Flesher’s -as a Steward at the 42nd Feast. - -[333] _Dissertation_, p. 46. - -[334] See _ante_, p. 148. - -[335] Nicholas Nicholls’ tiny specimen, printed four years earlier, -exhibited only a few lines specially cut, and dedicated privately to -the King. - -[336] In 1677 he published _Geometrical Operations_, London, 4to, -translated by himself from Dutch into English. - -[337] _Regulæ Trium Ordinum Literarum Typographicarum; or the Rules -of the Three Orders of Print Letters, viz.: the Roman, Italick, -English,—Capitals and Small; showing how they are compounded of -Geometrick Figures and mostly made by Rule and Compass. Useful for -Writing Masters, Painters, Carvers, Masons and others that are Lovers -of Curiosity; by Joseph Moxon, Hydrographer to the King’s Most -Excellent Majesty. London. Printed for Joseph Moxon on Ludgate Hill at -the Sign of Atlas._ 1676. 4to. (Dedicated to Sir Christopher Wren.) - -[338] The theory of the proportion of letters had been dealt with by -several foreign authors in the sixteenth century. In 1509 Fra Luca -Pacioli’s book, entitled _De Divinâ Proportione_, was printed at -Venice, containing woodcut illustrations of the various letters of the -alphabet. In 1525 Albert Dürer published in Nuremberg his _Unterweisung -der Messung mit dem Zirkel und Richtscheit_, reducing all letters to -a combination of circles and straight lines. In 1529 Geofroy Tory’s -_Champfleury_ appeared at Paris, an extraordinary treatise, deriving -every letter of the Latin alphabet from the goddess IO, of the letters -of whose name every other letter is formed; and proportioning each to -the human body and countenance in their various poses and aspects. -Fantastic as his work was, it is credited with having revolutionised -the form of the Roman letter in France. Like Moxon, Tory sub-divided -the square of each letter into a number of minute squares, in which he -constructed his model letters. A somewhat similar work was published -at Saragossa, in Spain, in 1548, by Ycair, entitled _Orthographia -Practica_, containing specimens of alphabets, and intended, like all of -the above-named works, more for the use of the caligrapher and sculptor -than for the printer. - -[339] _Mechanick Exercises, or the Doctrine of Handy-Works. Began -Jan. 1, 1677. And intended to be Monthly continued. By Joseph Moxon, -Hydrographer to the King’s Most Excellent Majesty. London. Printed for -Joseph Moxon on Ludgate Hill at the Sign of the Atlas._ Two vols., 4to. - -Vol. I (14 numbers). _The Smiths, the Joyners, the Carpenters, and the -Turner’s Trades._ 1677–80. - -Vol. II (24 numbers). _Applied to the Art of Printing_, 1683–6. -(Dedicated to Dr. Fell, Bishop of Oxford.) - -[340] Mores says that before Moxon’s time letter-cutters worked by eye -and hand only, and practised their art by guess-work (_Dissert._, p. -43). - -[341] See chap. iv. - -[342] Or rather a hair space, of which seven go to the body; so that -one such space divided by six would give a 42nd part! - -[343] See _ante_, p. 109. - -[344] Of the eighteen letters of the alphabet, the b, c, h, l, m, n, o, -s, u, are in Roman, the _a_ and _e_ in Italic. - -[345] A copy of this rare broadside is in the Library of Corpus Christi -College, Cambridge. - -[346] The full title of this rare little tract, consisting of -eight leaves only, is translated as follows:—_Aibidil Gaoidheilge -Caiticiosma, etc._ (_The Irish Alphabet and Catechism, precept or -instruction of a Christian, together with certain articles of a -Christian faith which are proper for everyone to adopt who would be -submissive to the ordinance of God and the Queen of this Kingdom. -Translated from Latin and English into Irish by John O’Kearney . . -Printed in the town of the Ford of Hurdles, (Dublin), at the cost of -Master John Ussher, Alderman, at the head of the Bridge, the 20th of -June 1571, with the privilege of the great Queen._ 1571.) 8vo. - -[347] _Tiomna Nuadh, etc._ (_The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour -Jesus Christ, faithfully translated from the Greek into the Irish by -William O’Donnell._) _Séon Francke: a mBaile athá Cliath_ (_Dublin_), -1602. Fol. This work was printed in the house of Sir William Ussher, -Clerk of the Council. - -[348] _Leabhar na nurnaightheadh gcomhchoidchiond agus -mheinisdraldachda na Sacrameinteadh, etc._ (Translated from the English -by W. Daniel, Archbishop of Tuam), _a dtigh Shéon Francke, alias -Franckton, a Mbaile athá Cliath_ (_Dublin_), 1608. Fol. Not published -till 1609. In his dedication, Daniel says that, “having translated the -book, I followed it to the presse with jealousy and daiely attendance, -to see it perfected; payned as a woman in travell desirous to be -delivered.” - -[349] _A B C_, _or the_ _Institution of a Christian_. _Printed by the -Company of Stationers_. Dublin, 1631. 8vo. - -[350] _The Catechism, with the Six points of W. Perkins_, _translated -into Irish by Godfrey Daniel_. Dublin, 1652. 8vo. - -[351] “The publication of everything valuable in this language by the -fathers of Donegal was unfortunately prevented by the troubles of the -time of Charles I, by Cromwell’s usurpation. These fathers had procured -a fount for this purpose, which, when forced to fly, they carried -with them to Louvain, where some fragments of this fount are yet to -be found” (_Theoph. O’Flanagan on the Ancient Language of Ireland. -Transac. of the Gaelic Soc._ 8vo, Dublin, 1808, p. 212). Others stated -that the fount had been removed to Douay, and there used to print -several Catholic tracts. No Irish work whatever is known to have been -printed at Douay. Respecting the various foreign Irish founts, the -reader is referred to the account given in chapter ii, p. 75. - -[352] _Life of William Bedell, D.D._, by H. J. Monck Mason. Lond., 8vo, -1843, p. 287. - -[353] In addition to the _A B C_ _and_ _Catechism_, already referred -to as published by Bedell in 1631, some of his biographers record that -he had printed a later edition about 1641, and at the same time the -following tracts in Irish, viz.: Some forms of prayer, a selection of -passages from Scripture, the first three of Chrysostom’s Homilies on -the rich man and Lazarus, and some sermons by Leo. Copies of these have -not been seen. - -[354] Most of the copies were stated to have been bought up, like the -type, by Roman ecclesiastics. - -[355] Of this work a copy has not yet been seen. - -[356] _Tiomna Nuadh._ (_The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus -Christ, faithfully translated from the Greek into the Irish by William -O’Donnell_). London. Robert Everingham. 1681. 4to. - -[357] “Mr. Everingham and Mr. Whiteledge,” says Dunton (_Life_, p. -331), “were two partners in the trade; I employ’d ’em very much, and -look’d upon ’em to be honest and thriving men. Had they confin’d -’emselves a little sooner to Household Love, they might possibly have -kept upon their own Bottom; however, so it happen’d, that they lov’d -themselves into Two Journey-men Printers again.” Everingham was the -printer, in 1680, of a _Weekly Advertisement of Books_ for some London -publishers. - -[358] Writing to Dr. Marsh of Dublin, Jan. 17th, 1681–2, Boyle refers -to a projected Irish Grammar, and offers the use of his type. “I am -glad that so useful a designe as that of frameing a compendious Irish -Grammar has been conceived by one that is so able to execute it well; -but I presume you will want letters for many of the Irish words; in -which case you may please to consider what use may be made of those -I have already, that may be consistent with the printing of the Old -Testament in the language they relate to; for all the designe I had in -having them cut off was, that they might be in a readiness to print -useful bookes in Irish, whether there or here” (Mason’s _Life of -Bedell_, p. 301). - -[359] Leabhuir na Seintiomna, etc. (_The Books of the Old Testament -translated into Irish by Dr. William Bedell, late Bishop of Kilmore._ -_London._) 1685. 4to. - -[360] _An Biobla Naomhtha._ (_W. Bedell’s and W. O’Donnell’s Irish -Bible, revised, and printed at London by R. Everingham._) 1690. 8vo. - -[361] Mason’s _Life of Bedell_, p. 305. - -[362] _The Book of Common Prayer, Irish and English, with the Elements -of the Irish Language_, by John Richardson. London, 1712. 8vo. - -[363] _Practical Sermons._ London, 1711. - -[364] _Dissertation_, p. 33. It is worthy of note that at the date when -Mores wrote an almost universal cessation in Irish printing was taking -place at home and abroad. At Louvain no work had appeared since 1663, -at Rome since 1707, or at Paris (with the exception of the specimen in -Fournier’s _Manuale Typographique_, 1764), since 1742. In the few Irish -works issued at home during this period (with the notable exception of -Miss Brooke’s _Reliques of Irish Poetry_, printed by Bonham of Dublin -in 1789, in a new fount, apparently privately cut) the Irish character -is generally rendered in copperplate, or in Roman type. It was not -till Marcel published his _Alphabet Irlandais_, at Paris in 1804, and -Neilson his _Irish Grammar_, at Dublin in 1808, that a revival of Irish -typography took place, both abroad and at home. - -[365] _An Essay towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language, -by John Wilkins, D.D., Dean of Ripon. London, printed . . . for the -Royal Society._ 1668. Fol. - -[366] _Dissertation_, p. 43. Mores mentions a James Moxon who in 1677 -lived near Charing Cross, and sold Joseph Moxon’s books at his house -(p. 44). - -[367] Joseph Leigh (_sic_) served at the sixty-fourth Feast (_i.e._, -about 1675), and Thos. Goring at the sixty-seventh (1678). In the same -List occurs the name of John Goring, probably a relative of Thomas -Goring, at the forty-sixth Feast (1657). - -[368] His name occurs in the list of Masters and Workmen Printers, as -having served as Steward at the sixty-ninth Feast (1680). - -[369] Mores’ _Dissert._, p. 13. - -[370] See _ante_, p. 157. - -[371] The names of both occur among the stewards who had served office -at the annual Brotherly Meetings of Masters and Workmen Printers; -James Grover at the sixty-first Feast (1672), and Thomas Grover at the -sixty-third (1674). - -[372] See _ante_, p. 96. - -[373] See _ante_, p. 90. - -[374] See _ante_, p. 144. - -[375] “The Arabic (of the _Polyglot_) is Great Primer, in our (_i.e._, -James’s) foundery; and it came from Mr. Grover” (Mores’ _Dissert._, p. -13; and again, p. 63). Mores, however, only mentions an imperfect set -of Double Pica matrices in the summary of this foundry, whereas Andrews -possessed a complete fount of Great Primer. A few odd punches of the -_Polyglot_ Arabic are still in existence. - -[376] Mores’ _Dissert._, p. 46. - -[377] _Ibid._, p. 67. - -[378] This distinguished ambassador belonged to an honourable family, -of whom by no means the least worthy member was Miss Elizabeth Rowe, -who in 1785 married Henry Caslon, and subsequently—first with her -mother-in-law, and afterwards by her own exertions—ably conducted the -affairs of the Chiswell Street foundry. See _post_, chap. xi. - -[379] See _ante_, p. 144. - -[380] _Gent. Magaz._, vol. 56, p. 497. Nichols’ _Lit. Anec._, ix, 9. - -[381] Proposuit quidem D. Junius multis antehac annis MS. hoc typis -evulgare, cujus etiam specimen impressum vidi; sed consilium illius, -multis viris doctis merito improbatum, ejus progressum retardavit; -dum multa pro arbitrio ex MS. detruncaret et mutaret, idque cùm nulla -premebat necessitas, prout ex Catalogo satis magno vocabulorum per -pauca _Geneseos_ capita, quæ ipse mutaverat et expunxerat (quem mihi -ostendit Typographus) constat (_Proleg._, sec. ix, § 34). - -[382] _Vitæ quorundam eruditissimorum et illustrium Virorum.—Patricii -Junii. Lond._, 1707. 4to. “Utcunque futuri operis specimen, quod -jam præ oculis meis habeo, primum nimirum caput libri _Geneseos_, -una cum doctissimis Scholiis, edere placuit. Omnes illud certamen -arripiunt, avidisque oculis legunt perleguntque, ac optimâ spe de -promissâ editione, quam cum maximo et vix continendo affectu exspectant -efflagitantque, conceptâ, quasi moram pertæsi, Orbem Christianum hoc -eximio thesauro, quod dudum fuisset locupletandus, nimium diu hactenus -caruisse amicè queruntur” (p. 32). - -[383] Parr’s _Life of Usher_, 1686, p. 621. Usher to Boate, June 1651: -“ . . . the Alexandrian copy (in the Library of St. James) which he -intendeth shortly to make publick, Mr. Selden and myself every day -pressing him to the work.” - -[384] Wood, _Athen. Ox._, 1691, i, 796; also Edwards, _Libraries and -Founders of Libraries_, Lond., 1865, 8vo, p. 168. - -[385] _Lansd. MSS._, No. 231, fo. 169. - -[386] See _post_, chap. xvi. - -[387] The matrices of all these curious founts have survived to the -present day, and, indeed, lie before us as we write. They bear strong -evidence of having been justified and finished by the same hand. - -[388] From this assertion we except, of course, the letter of the -first printers, which, if not imitating the actual handwriting of one -particular scribe, was a copy of the conventional book-writing hand -of the period. Some of the earliest scripts, italics and cursives are -also reputed to have been modelled on the handwriting of some famous -caligrapher or artist. One of the first instances of printing with -facsimile types was the copy of the famous Medicean _Virgil_, produced -at Florence in 1741. The types are for the most part ordinary Roman -capital letters with a certain number of “discrepants” or peculiar -characters. The title of this fine work is:—_P. VergiliI Maronis Codex -Antiquissimus . . qui nunc Florentiæ in Bibliotheca Mediceo-Laurentiana -adservatur. Bono publico Typis descriptus Anno MDCCXLI. Florentiæ. -Typis Mannianis._ 8vo. - -[389] This is possibly the printer respecting whom Nichols (_Illust. -Lit._, viii, 464) notes that on Nov. 20, 1732, John Mears, bookseller, -was taken into custody for publishing a _Philosophical Dissertation -on Death_ . . . Meares succeeded to the business of Richard Nutt, -and printed the _Historical Register_. Among the Bagford Collections -(_Harl. MS._ No. 5915) is a _Specimen by H. Meere, printer, at the -Black Fryar, in Blackfriars, London_. No date. - -[390] Richard Nutt, printer in the Savoy, died March 11, 1780, aged 80 -years. - -[391] Grover contributed £2 2_s._ in 1712 towards defraying the loss -incurred by the elder Bowyer on the occasion of the fire at his -printing-house. - -[392] His name occurs in the List of Masters and Workmen Printers in -1681; see _ante_, p. 166. - -[393] See _ante_, p. 149. - -[394] Cotton’s _Typographical Gazetteer_. Second Series, 1866, p. 17. - -[395] Vol. ii, p. 120. - -[396] Some of the matrices are without sides, which were probably -supplied by a peculiar adaptation of the mould. - -[397] Bagford (writing in 1714) states that Walpergen “was succeeded by -his son, who has long since been succeeded by Mr. Andrews.” If this be -the case, the Peter Walpergen whose death occurred in 1714 was probably -the son, of whom nothing is known as distinguished from his father. - -[398] We are indebted to the kindness of Mr. F. Madan, of the Bodleian -Library, for our transcript. - -[399] _The Holy Bible, containing the Old Testament and the New, etc. -Oxford, Printed by John Baskett, Printer to the King’s Most Excellent -Majesty, for Great Britain; and to the University_, 1717, 1716. 2 -vols., folio. The running title of Luke xx reads, “_The parable of the -vinegar_.” - -[400] This, in all probability, was the fount used for printing the -“Vinegar” _Bible_. - -[401] The contents of this very interesting document were communicated -to the _Athenæum_ of September 5, 1885, by Mr. J. H. Round, in whose -possession the original is. - -[402] Timperley’s _Songs of the Press_. London, 1833, 8vo, p. 85. - -[403] Nichols’ note on the James family (_Anecdotes of Mr. Bowyer_, -pp. 585, 609) is at variance with the account given by Rowe Mores. -According to the former, Thomas, John and George James were all -brothers, and sons of the notorious half-crazy Elianor James, -whose husband, Thomas James, the printer, was a large benefactor -to Sion College, and died in 1711. On this point, however, Mores, -whose relations with the family gave him special opportunities for -information, may be considered as more correct in representing -Thomas and John as sons of the Rev. John James. George James, the -son of Thomas and Elianor, was City Printer in 1724. His office was -in Little Britain, where he wrote and printed the _Post Boy_. He -was Common Councilman for the Ward of Aldersgate Without, and died -in 1735. His greatgrandfather, Dr. Thomas James, Dean of Wells, was -the first Keeper of Bodley’s Library at Oxford in 1605. Portraits -of this Dr. Thomas James, and of Thomas and Elianor, the parents of -George James, are preserved in Sion College, as is also a portrait of -Elizabeth, their daughter, who married Jacob Ilive, the printer, and -who was herself a benefactor to the College. Nichols mentions another -member of the family, one Harris James, who, he says, was originally -a letter-founder, and “formerly of Covent Garden Theatre, where he -represented fops and footmen.” - -[404] _Dissertation_, p. 51, _et seq._ - -[405] Rabbi Joseph Athias, son of Tobias Athias, who printed a Spanish -Bible for the use of the Jews, was a printer, publisher and typefounder -in Amsterdam. He succeeded to the Elzevir foundry as improved and -added to by Van Dijk. In 1662–3 he issued an edition of the _Old -Testament_ printed in Hebrew type, specially cut by Van Dijk, for -the accuracy and beauty of which he received great renown; and in -1667, when a new edition of the _Bible_ was published, the Government -of the United Provinces signified their satisfaction by presenting -him with a gold medal and a massive gold chain. He is said to have -printed a great number of English Bibles. Van Dijk, whose models were -so warmly applauded by Moxon, was a letter-cutter only, and worked -for various foundries. His founder was John Bus, who cast in Athias’ -house, as the title of the following specimen-sheet, issued about -1700, indicates:—_Proeven van Letteren die gesneden zijn door Wylen -Christoffel van Dijck, welke gegoten werden by Jan Bus, ten huyse van -Sr. Joseph Athias woonst in de Swanenburg Street, tot Amsterdam_. Demy -broadside (showing five Titlings, sixteen Roman and Italic, eight Black -and two Music). After passing through several hands, Athias’ foundry -was purchased by John Enschedé of Haerlem in 1767, in whose family it -still remains. - -[406] This should be Dirk Voskens of Amsterdam, who bought the foundry -of Bleau in 1677, and was the first Dutch founder who kept types for -the Oriental and recondite languages. Like Athias and others, he was a -founder only, his punches and matrices being cut and sunk by Rolij. The -foundry descended to his great-grandson, and was ultimately put up to -auction in 1780, and purchased by the brothers Ploos Van Amstel, and -subsequently became absorbed by the Enschedé foundry. - -[407] Rolij seems to be Rowe Mores’ way of spelling Rolu, of whose -types the following specimen-sheet exists:—_Proeven van Letteren -dewelcke gegooten worden by Mr. Johannes Rolu, Letter-Snyder woonende -tot Amsterdam in de laetste Lelydwars-streat_, _c._ 1710 (probably the -specimen referred to by James further on). - -[408] Voskens. - -[409] “The matter was first composed in the usual way, then the form -was affused with some sort of _gypsum_, which after it was indurated, -became a complication of matrices for casting the whole page in a -single piece” (_Mores_, p. 59). As early as the year 1705 a Dutchman, -named J. Van der Mey, had, with the assistance of Johann Muller, a -German clergyman, devised a method of soldering together the bottoms -of common types imposed in a forme, so as to form solid blocks of -each page. By this method, two Bibles, a Greek Testament and a Syriac -Testament with Lexicon were produced, the plates of all of which, -except the last named, were preserved in 1801. See T. Hodgson’s _Essay -on the Origin and Progress of Stereotype Printing_, Newcastle, 1820, -8vo. - -[410] “Being called into our company,” says Ged, in his _Narrative_, -“he bragged much of his great skill and knowledge in all the parts of -mechanism, and particularly vaunted, that he, and hundreds besides -himself, could make plates to as great perfection as I could: which -occasioned some heat in our conversation.” - -[411] Hansard (_Typog._ p. 823), shows an impression of two pages of -a _Prayer Book_, from plates which had escaped “Caslon’s cormorant -crucible.” - -[412] _C. Crispi Sallustii Belli Catilinarii et Jugurthini Historiæ. -Edinburgi; Guilielmus Ged, Aurifaber Edinensis, non typis mobilibus, ut -vulgo fieri solet, sed tabellis seu laminis fusis, excudebat._ 1739, -8vo (reprinted 1744). According to the account given by Ged’s daughter -in the narrative above referred to, the _Sallust_ was completed in -1736. No copy of that date is, however, known. Some of the plates of -the work are still in existence. - -[413] The story may be read in detail in _Biographical Memoirs of -William Ged, including a particular account of his progress in the art -of Block printing_. London, 1781, 8vo. Fenner died insolvent about the -year 1735. James Ged, after working for some time with his father, -engaged in the rebellion of 1745, and narrowly escaped execution. He -ultimately went to Jamaica, a year before his father’s death. - -[414] Despite Mores’ prophecy that Ged’s invention, even if at first -successful, would soon have sunk under its own burden, the method was -successfully revived, or rather re-invented, about the year 1781 by Dr. -Tilloch of Edinburgh, in conjunction with Mr. Foulis, printer to the -University of Glasgow, at whose press were printed a stereotype edition -of _Xenophon’s Anabasis_ in 1783, and several chap-books. Messrs. -Tilloch and Foulis did not persevere with their venture, which was -about the year 1800 successfully revived and perfected by Mr. Wilson, -a London printer, aided by Earl Stanhope. In France, Firmin Didot, in -1795, attempted a method similar to that of Van de Mey in 1705; but -abandoning this, succeeded in 1798 in producing good stereo plates by -a system of _polytypage_, as described _ante_, p. 13. The reader is -referred to Hodgson’s _Essay_ for specimens and particulars of the -successive efforts to perfect the stereotype process at home and abroad. - -[415] Mores contradicts himself as to this date, giving it as 1738 -in one place, and 1736 in another. As, however, he is particular to -mention that John James, in 1736, _after his father’s death_, commenced -his specimen of the foundry, the earlier date may be assumed to be -correct. - -[416] Timperley, who quotes this document (_Encycl._ p. 655), gives no -particulars as to the letter in which it is printed. - -[417] See _ante_, p. 206. - -[418] See _ante_, p. 205. - -[419] The Oxford University foundry must, of course, be included as a -fourth foundry existing at this time, but does not rank as a trading -establishment. Cottrell’s foundry was also started in 1757, but it is -doubtful whether he had yet finished cutting his punches. Smith, in -_The Printer’s Grammar_, 1755, in comparing the standard bodies in use -at that time in England, names Caslon and James as the only English -founders. - -[420] Smith’s _Printer’s Grammar_, 1755, in referring to the use of -flowers in typography, makes mention of “the considerable augmentation -which Mr. Caslon has made here in flowers, and in which Mr. James -likewise has so far proceeded that we may soon expect a specimen of -them” (p. 137). - -[421] Nichols, _Illust. Lit._, viii, 450. - -[422] Edward Rowe Mores was born about the year 1729, at Tunstall in -Kent, of which place his father was rector. He was educated at Merchant -Taylors’ School and Queen’s College, Oxford, and being originally -intended for holy orders, took his M.A. degree. He did not, however, -enter the Church, but devoted himself to literary and antiquarian -pursuits. Besides his _Dissertation upon English Typographical -Founders_, he spent some time in correcting Ames, and in other -investigations into the early history of printing. On one occasion, as -he himself narrates, he assisted Ilive in correcting the Hebrew proofs -of _Calasio’s Concordance_ for the press. His latter life was marred -by habits of negligence and intemperance, which hastened his death in -1778 at Low Leyton. His valuable library of books and MSS. was sold by -auction by Paterson in August 1779, on which occasion the eighty copies -of the _Dissertation_, being the entire impression, were bought up by -Mr. Nichols and given to the public with a short Appendix. - -[423] _A Dissertation upon English Typographical Founders and -Founderies, by Edward Rowe Mores, A.M. and A.S.S._ (London) 1778. 8vo -(only 80 copies printed). - -[424] Consisting of eight founts of Hebrew, four of Samaritan, three of -Arabic, four of Greek, five of Roman or Italic, three of Saxon, one of -Anglo-Norman, and four of Black. - -[425] “Such as those which being uniques cannot be perfected without -new punches, and if they were made complete, it would be no more -than _oleum et operam, etc._, because they are either out of use or -the times afford better, as the Antique Hebrew (spec. 7); Leusden’s -Samaritan (spec. 27); 2-line Great Primer Hebrew (spec. 38); the -Runic, Gothic, and some other recondites, the matrices for which -are incomplete or useless. But of the founts which are in daily use -the imperfects will continue, as they mutually aid and help out one -another. For the same reason also will continue those which have been -cast aside (not by their owner) under the name of _waste_.” - -[426] In another place Mr. Mores states that the “waste and pye” of the -foundry contained upwards of 6,000 matrices. - -[427] This is the old Black from Grover’s foundry; see _ante_, p. 199. - -[428] This sly allusion leaves little doubt as to the light in which -Mr. Mores viewed the Coster legend so industriously defended by such -writers of his own day as Meerman, Bowyer and Nichols. - -[429] “Excusatos nos habeant eruditi quibus obvenerit typorum -_Jamesianorum_ specimen accuratis perlustrare oculis, quod minus -quam expetendum esset, in linguis præsertim reconditoribus, elimatum -prodeat; in animo erat de dedisse emendatissimum et si sat se fecisse -existiment opifices, si, posthabitis preli, ceterisque maculis, -ostendatur literarum facies—limæ non defuit labor,—at cessante Fusore -cessavit Fornax et defuerunt fusi ad emaculandum typi.”—_Preface to the -Specimen._ - -[430] _i.e._, [P.] Polyglot, [A.] Andrews, [G.] Grover, [R.] Rolij, -[N.] Nicholls, [S.A.] Sylvester Andrews, [Anon.] “Anonymous.” Of founts -marked *, punches or matrices still exist. - -[431] Two sets of Small Pica and two sets of Pearl not shown in -Specimen, were also sold. A Canon, 2-line Great Primer, three Great -Primers, an English, Pica, and Bourgeois, had been lost. - -[432] It is to be borne in mind that Andrews’ foundry included that of -Moxon, from whom many of his oldest founts doubtless came. - -[433] A Great Primer, Pica, Small Pica and Long Primer had been lost, -but the Long Primer punches remained. - -[434] A 2-line English, Double Pica and Pica had been lost. - -[435] There were also, not in Specimen, a 2-line Great Primer, Double -Pica, Pica, two Small Picas and a set of 2-line Nonpareil Capitals. A -Paragon, Bourgeois and two sets of Nonpareil had been lost. - -[436] This was the fount used in the _Catena on Job_, 1637. - -[437] “Remarkably beautifully cut and justified.” - -[438] A Double Pica, Pica and Long Primer had been lost. - -[439] A 2-line English had been lost. - -[440] Also a Double Pica not in specimen. - -[441] _i.e._, Black—of which the following sets, not in Specimen, -were also sold:—Double Pica, two Great Primers, two English, four -Small Picas, Long Primer, three Breviers and Nonpareil. A 2-line Great -Primer, Double Pica, Long Primer and Bourgeois had been lost. - -[442] Of these, one was a 4-line, to which belonged a set of “leaden” -lower-case matrices. - -[443] There is more difficulty in tracing these to their original -sources than in the case of the matrices, as not only are the numbers -not given, but the bodies named may very likely vary from the actual -bodies to which the matrices were justified. - -[444] See p. 191. Though the matrices of this fount do not appear in -the Catalogue, they were evidently in James’s foundry, as they are -mentioned in the list drawn up by James in 1767, and are not specified -among the matrices lost. They were acquired at the sale of Dr. Fry, and -may possibly have been included with the Saxons, or with the imperfect -lots. - -[445] _Lit. Anec._, iii, 438. - -[446] See our facsimiles from the Specimen at pages 200 and 204, _ante_. - -[447] In 1703, in the Convocation of Clergy in the Lower House, a -complaint was exhibited against the printers of the _Bible_ for the -careless and defective way in which it was printed by the patentees. -The editions specially complained of were those printed by Hayes, -of Cambridge, in 1677 and 1678, and an edition in folio printed in -London in 1701. The printers continued, however, to print the _Bible_ -carelessly, with a defective type, on bad paper; and when printed, to -sell copies at an exorbitant price. - -[448] The following sketch of William Caslon is mainly taken, and in -parts quoted, from the interesting particulars of his career preserved -in Nichols’ _Anecdotes of Bowyer_ and the larger work into which that -was subsequently expanded. The elder Bowyer’s intimate connection with -Caslon’s first ventures in letter-founding give Nichols’ work a special -authority in the matter. At the same time there exists a certain -confusion in the earlier part of the narrative which it is difficult -completely to harmonise. - -[449] John Watts, a printer of first-rate eminence, for some time -partner with Jacob Tonson II in Covent Garden. It was in Watts’ -printing office in Great Queen Street, Lincoln’s Inn, that Benjamin -Franklin worked as journeyman in 1725. Watts died in 1763, aged 85. - -[450] William Bowyer, the elder, regarded as one of the foremost -printers of his time, was born in 1663. In 1699 he had his office in -Dogwell Court, Whitefriars. His premises were burnt in 1713, and in -the conflagration he lost all his types and presses. By the liberality -of his fellow-printers, however, this loss (estimated at over £5,000) -was partly made good, and he was enabled to start again and rise -once more to a foremost place in his profession. For all particulars -respecting Mr. Bowyer and his learned son, see Nichols’ _Anecdotes of -William Bowyer_, London, 1782, 4to, and _Literary Anecdotes of the 18th -Century_, London 1812–15, 9 vols., 8vo, a work the foundation of which -is a bibliography of the productions of this celebrated press. See also -_ante_, p. 157. - -[451] James Bettenham, husband of the elder Bowyer’s step-daughter, was -born 1683. He printed in St. John’s Lane, and attained to considerable -eminence as a printer, although after sixty years’ labour he left -behind him only £400. “He died,” says Rowe Mores, “in 1774, _ferè -centenarius sanæque mentis et memoriæ_.” - -[452] _Anecdotes of Bowyer_, p. 585. - -[453] A tradition in the Caslon family that William Caslon began his -career as a letter-founder in 1716, induced the late Mr. H. W. Caslon -to adopt this as the date of the establishment of the Foundry. In the -absence, however, of any testimony in support of the statement, and in -the face of the clear announcement by Caslon himself that his Foundry -was begun in the year 1720, there seems to be no ground for attaching -any importance to the use of this earlier date. - -[454] This Society, which was established in 1698, had already -displayed considerable activity in the introduction of printing into -the distant fields of its missionary effort. In 1711 it sent out to -the missionaries of Tranquebar, on the Coromandel Coast, a printing -press furnished with Portuguese types, paper, etc., which, after an -adventurous voyage, in which the vessel was plundered by the French -of all her other cargo, reached its destination and enabled the -missionaries to commence the printing of a Tamulic _New Testament_, of -which the _Gospels_ appeared in 1714, with the imprint “_Tranquebariæ -in littore Coromandelino, typis Malabaricis impressit G. Adler_, 1714.” -It is related that the publication of the remainder of the work was -delayed from a scarcity of paper, their types being very large; till at -length the expedient was adopted of casting a new fount of letter from -the leaden covers of some Cheshire cheeses, which had been sent out to -the missionaries by the Society. The attempt succeeded, and with these -new and smaller types the remainder of the _Testament_ was printed, -the whole being published together in 1719. (Cotton, _Typographical -Gazetteer_, 2nd edit., p. 289.) - -[455] _Liber Psalmorum . . una cum decem Præceptis . . et Oratione -Dominicâ . . Arabicè; sumptibus Societatis de Propagandâ Cognitione -Christi apud Exteros._ London, 1725. 8vo. - -[456] _Novum Testamentum, Arabicè. Londini. Sumptibus Societatis de -Propagandâ Cognitione Christi apud Exteros._ 1727. 4to. - -[457] “This circumstance,” says Nichols (_Anec. Bowyer_, p. 317) “has -lately been verified by the American, Dr. Franklin, who was at that -time a journeyman under Mr. Watts, the first printer that employed Mr. -Caslon.” - -[458] Dibdin, in repeating this anecdote, uses rather stronger -language. “Caslon,” he says, “after giving (I would hope) that wretched -pilferer and driveller Samuel Palmer (whose _History of Printing_ is -only fit for chincampane paper) half a dozen good canings for his -dishonesty, betook himself to Mr. Bowyer.” (_Bibl. Decam. II._, 379.) - -[459] _Joannis Seldeni Jurisconsulti Opera Omnia, tam edita quam -inedita. In tribus voluminibus. Colligit ac recensuit . . . David -Wilkins, S.T.P. . . . Londini, Typis Guil. Bowyer._ 1726. Fol. (Begun -in 1722.) - -[460] Dr. David Wilkins, F.S.A., was Keeper of the Lambeth Library -under Archbishop Wake, and drew up a Catalogue of all the MSS. -and books there in his time. Besides editing the _Selden_ and the -_Coptic Testament_ and _Pentateuch_, he published some important -works in Anglo-Saxon Literature, and edited the learned Prolegomena -to Chamberlayne’s _Oratio Dominica_ in 1715. He died in 1740. Rowe -Mores considers that in his Coptic studies Dr. Wilkins was indebted to -Kircher, the Jesuit, whose _Prodromus Coptus_, published in Rome in -1636, the Doctor had severely handled. - -[461] _Quinque Libri Moysis Prophetæ in Linguâ Ægyptiâ. Ex M.S.S. . . . -descripsit ac Latine vertit Dav. Wilkins. Londini_ 1731. 4to. Only 200 -copies were printed. - -[462] See _ante_, p. 147. Nichols, writing about 1813, mentioned that -the Coptic fount, having escaped the conflagration of his printing -office in 1808, was still in his possession. - -[463] _Typographia_, p. 349. - -[464] See _ante_, p. 205. - -[465] See _ante_, p. 218. - -[466] _Anec. Bowyer_, p. 537. - -[467] See _ante_, p. 215. - -[468] _Psalmorum Liber. (Heb. et Lat.) in Versiculos metrice divisus, -etc. Londini_ 1736. 2 vols., 8vo. - -[469] _Moses Choronensis Historiæ Armeniacæ Libri iii. Armeniacè -ediderunt, Latinè verterunt notisq: illustr. Guil. et Geo. Whistoni. -London_, 1736. 4to. - -[470] _De Linguâ Etruriæ. J. Swinton. Oxon._, 1738. - -[471] This fount may be seen also in Nichols’ Appendix to Rowe Mores’ -_Dissertation_, p. 96, and in _Ames’ Typographical Antiquities_, 1st -edit., p. 571. - -[472] If these were the matrices which Mores, in his summary of the -Polyglot Foundry (p. 172, _ante_), described as Great Primer, it is -difficult—unless they were duplicates—to determine through whose -foundry they passed into Caslon’s hands. Andrews had a Great Primer, -and Grover a Double Pica and Pica; but all these came to James, in -whose foundry they remained when Mores wrote in 1778. - -[473] _Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of the Arts and Sciences, -etc._, by E. Chambers, F.R.S., London, 1738. 2 vols., fol. (Caslon’s -Specimen faces the article “Letter.”) The first edition of this -valuable work—the first repertory of general knowledge published in -Britain—appeared in 1728. It subsequently formed the basis of Rees’ -_Encyclopædia_. - -[474] See _ante_, p. 206. - -[475] Rowe Mores’ account of the Caslon foundry in 1778, wherein he -attributes several of the founts which originally appeared in the -1734 Specimen to Mitchell, might suggest at first sight that Caslon -had acquired Mitchell’s foundry prior to 1739. Mores is, however, -particular to give the exact date of the purchase, 26th July 1739. -It seems more probable that, finding the bodies in Caslon’s Specimen -corresponding generally with the description of the matrices he was -known to have bought from Mitchell, he concluded hastily that the -founts shown were Mitchell’s, whereas a reference to the Specimen would -have proved that Caslon preferred his own original faces, in most -cases, to those he had bought. See also our notes, _post_, pp. 247, 248. - -[476] _Anec. Bowyer_, p. 317. - -[477] _Anec. Bowyer_, p. 586. - -[478] “Les caractères de Caslon ont été gravés, pour la plus grande -partie, par Caslon fils, avec beaucoup d’adresse et de propreté. Les -epreuves qui on out été publiées en 1749 contiennent beaucoup de sortes -différentes de caractères” (_Man. Typog._, II, xxxviii). - -[479] _Typographical Antiquities._ London, 1749, 4to, p. 571. The names -of William Caslon, sen., and William Caslon, jun., letter-founders, -figure among the subscribers to the work; and the plate of facsimiles -of Caxton’s types is dedicated “to Mr. Wm. Caslon, a good promoter of -this work, and as suitable to the principal Letter Founder.” - -[480] _An Essay on the Original, Use, and Excellency of the Noble Art -and Mystery of Printing._ London, 1752. 8vo. The work is of little -interest apart from the references to the Caslons, and a curious poem -at the end. - -[481] See _post_, chap. xiii. - -[482] _The Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure._ London. Vol. -vi. June 1750, p. 274. - -[483] See _post_, chap. xvi. - -[484] A copy of this Specimen, dated 1763, evidently an advance copy, -is in the library of the American Antiquarian Society, the gift of -Isaiah Thomas, the printer, and is, as far as is known, the only copy -in existence bearing this date. Copies of the 1764 Specimen occur in -8vo and 4to. - -[485] Forty-four new founts appear in all, viz.: 2 Titlings, 15 Romans, -4 Greeks, 9 Hebrews, 1 Ethiopic, 1 Etruscan, 2 Saxons, 8 Blacks, and 2 -Music, while the Flowers now number 63 varieties. - -[486] “ ‘This New Foundery was begun in the year 1720 and finished -1763.’ So we are told by a note at the end of their Specimen published -in 1764, although the same note tells us that though it was finished, -yet it was not finished, ‘but would (with God’s leave) be carried on, -etc.’ Amen!” (_Dissert._, p. 80.) - -[487] Among the relics of the Caslon Foundry is a copy of the 1764 -specimen book presented by Mr. Caslon to his friend Phil. Thicknesse -the poet. At the end of the book appears Mr. Thicknesse’s letter of -thanks to the donor, execrably printed by the poet himself, in type -given him by Mr. Caslon. - -[488] This Concert Room remains at Chiswell Street in pretty much its -old form, and is now the repository of the interesting collection of -portraits and relics, still preserved, of this venerable Foundry. - -[489] _A General History of the Science and Practice of Music._ London. -1776. 4to. Vol. v, 127. - -[490] The Rev. Dr. Lyttelton writes to Ames, April 25, 1744, “Some -unforeseen business prevents Dr. Pococke and myself dining with -Mr. Caslon to-morrow. I give you this notice that you may defer -your visit till some day next week, when we will endeavour to meet -there.”—_Nichol’s Illustrations of Literature_, iv, 231. - -[491] Copies of which he continued to circulate, erasing with pen and -ink the words “and Son” from the title-page and advertisement. - -[492] _A Concise History of the Origin and Progress of Printing, etc._ -London, 1770. 8vo. Reprinted in the following year with the title:—_The -History of the Art of Printing, in two Parts, etc., J. P. Luckombe, -M.T.A._ London, 1771. 8vo. - -[493] _Dissertation_, p. 81. - -[494] Mores calls this “excavated” or “Hutter’s leading-string” Hebrew. -A specimen may be seen in _The Scholars Instructor_. _An Hebrew Grammar -of Israel Lyons_, Cambridge, 1735, 8vo. The open Hebrew is here used to -distinguish the servile from the radical letters. Lyons in his preface -deprecates Hutter’s method of printing the entire _Bible_ in this -character, thereby keeping the learners “too long in leading-strings” -(see also _ante_, p. 63). - -[495] Mores omits a Small Pica Hebrew, which is the same as the Brevier -shown in the sheet of 1734. - -[496] These founts are not Head’s or Mitchell’s, as Mores states, but -were cut by Caslon I, and shown on the 1734 sheet. - -[497] The Pica Greek shown on the 1734 sheet was discarded in favour of -this fount. - -[498] “But,” adds Mores, “Mr. Caslon is cutting a _Patagonian_ which -will lick up all these diminutives as the ox licketh up the grass of -the field.” - -[499] “Supported by arches.” Doubtless cast in sand. - -[500] These were not cut, as Mores states, by Caslon II, but by Caslon -I, and appeared on the sheet of 1734, when Caslon II was but 14 years -of age. - -[501] “These,” says Mores, “are one and the same. The Acts of -Parliament are printed in them, therefore we call them as Dr. Ducarel -and the Act call them, ‘the common legible hand and character.’ ” - -[502] Mores omits here the Pica Black, cut by Caslon I, and shown on -the sheet of 1734. - -[503] Not Cartledge, as erroneously given by Nichols. This lady was -the only child of Mr. Cartlitch, an eminent refiner in Foster Lane, -Cheapside, and was born May 31, 1730. - -[504] With the addition of the Long Primer Syriac cut for Oxford -University, the “learned” founts in the 1785 Specimen are precisely the -same as those which appeared in the book of 1764. - -[505] The address is a literary curiosity: “The acknowledged excellence -of this Foundry, with its rapid success, as well as its unexampled -Productions having gained universal Ecomiums on its ingenious Improver -and Perfecter (whose uncommon Genius transferred the Letter Foundry -Business from HOLLAND to ENGLAND, which, for above Sixty years, has -received, for its beauty and Symmetry, the unbounded praises of the -Literati, and the liberal encouragement of all the Master Printers -and Booksellers, not only in this Country but of all EUROPE and -AMERICA) has excited the Jealousy of the Envious and the Desires of the -enterprising, to become Partakers of the Reward due to the Descendants -of the Improver of this most useful and important Art. - -“They endeavour, by every method to withdraw, from this Foundry, that -which they silently acknowledge is its indisputable Right: Which is -conspicuous by their very Address to the Public, wherein they promise -(in Order to induce Attention and Encouragement) that they will use -their utmost Endeavours to IMITATE the Productions of this Foundry; -which assertion, on inspection, will be found impracticable, as the -Imperfections cannot correspond in size. - -“The Proprietor of this Foundry, ever desirous of retaining the -decisive Superiority in his Favour, and full of the sincerest Gratitude -for the distinguished Honour, by every Work of Reputation being printed -from the elegant Types of the Chiswell Street Manufactory, hopes, -by every Improvement, to retain and merit a Continuance of their -established Approbation, which, in all Quarters of the Globe, has given -it so acknowledged an Ascendency over that of his Opponents.” - -The address prefixed to the 1785 Specimen Book of the Worship Street -Foundry had evidently been the inspiration of this tirade, which in -turn evoked a spirited reply from the Frys in the following year. See -_post_, chap. xv. - -[506] The sheets appear (along with some of Fry & Son’s and Wilson’s) -in _Chambers’ Cyclopædia—incorporated in one Alphabet by Abraham Rees, -London_, 1784–86. 4 vols. folio. - -[507] These are sometimes (as in the case of the British Museum copy) -bound up with the 1785 8vo specimen book as folding plates. - -[508] See _ante_, p. 200. Hansard observes that besides Queen -Elizabeth’s Ambassador, the same family had produced Sir Henry Rowe, a -Lord Mayor of London; and Owen Rowe, the Regicide. - -[509] This celebrated typographer was born at Saluzzo, in the Sardinian -States, in 1740. At an early age he visited Rome, and obtained a -situation in the printing office of the Propaganda, where he gained -great credit for his printing. In 1768 he settled at Parma, where he -published many famous works, and established a European reputation. -His _Homer_ in 3 vols. folio, published in 1808, is his most famous -work. He never visited England, although one or two works were printed -by him in our language, viz., Lord Orford’s _Castle of Otranto_, 1791, -8vo, _Gray’s Poems_, 1793, 4to, _Thomson’s Seasons_, 1794, folio and -quarto. He died in 1813, and his widow finished and published in 1818 -the _Manuale Tipografico_, 2 vols., royal 4to, a most sumptuous work, -containing upwards of 250 exquisite specimens of type and ornaments. -A monument was erected to him in Saluzzo in 1872. Of Bodoni’s office -at Parma the following interesting particulars are preserved in Dr. -Smith’s _Tour on the Continent_, 2nd edit., vol. iii: “A very great -curiosity in its way, is the Parma printing-office, carried on under -the direction of M. Bodoni, who has brought that art to a degree of -perfection hardly known before him. Nothing could exceed his civility -in showing us numbers of the beautiful productions of his press, of -which he gave us some specimens, as well as the operations of casting -and finishing the letters. The materials of his type are antimony -and lead, as in other places, but he showed us some of steel. He -has sets of all the known alphabets, with diphthongs, accents, and -other peculiarities in the greatest perfection. His Greek types are -peculiarly beautiful, though of a different kind of beauty from those -of old Stephens, and perhaps less free and flowing in their forms.” - -[510] _Typographia_, p. 352. - -[511] - - 2-line Gt. Primer—1803 - Great Primer—May, 1802 - English 1—August, 1802 - English 2—April, 1805 - Pica 2 and 3—March, 1805 - Small Pica 1, 2, and 3—July, 1804 - Long Primer 1, 2, and 3—July, 1804. - Bourgeois 1 and 2—July, 1802 - Brevier 1 and 2—May, 1805 - Minion—May, 1805 - Nonpareil 1, 2—October, 1803. - -[512] _The Printers’ Grammar, etc., by C. Stower, Printer._ London, -1808. 8vo. The following note is prefixed to the specimen: “A 4-line -Pica, Canon and Double Pica of a bold and elegant shape, were not quite -ready to introduce with these specimens.” - -[513] Savage, in his _Hints on Decorative Printing_, London, 1822, 4to, -chapter ii, shows specimens of Mrs. Caslon’s Roman letter contrasted -with the old models of the Foundry on the one hand, and its more recent -developments on the other. - -[514] “Chiswell Street, January 19, 1814. Henry Caslon respectfully -informs his friends and the printers in general, that the term of his -partnership with the executors of the late Mr. Nathaniel Catherwood -having expired, he has entered into a new engagement with Mr. John -James Catherwood, brother to his late partner, and that the firm is -now carried on under the firm of Henry Caslon and J. J. Catherwood. -He embraces this opportunity of expressing his grateful sense of -the distinguished patronage the Foundry has received, and the kind -encouragement he has individually experienced from his friends in the -printing business, since the death of his mother and late partner.” - -[515] _Typograpia_, p. 353. - -[516] See _post_, chap. xvii. - -[517] See _post_, chap. xxi, s.v. Bessemer. In the Directory at the end -of Johnson’s _Typographia_, 1824 (ii, 652), a Catherwood is mentioned -among the Letter Founders, Charles’ Sq., Hoxton. - -[518] Cut by William Martin. - -[519] This beautiful little fount was cut for Pickering’s _Greek -Testament_ 1826, and for clearness and minuteness eclipses both the -Sedan Greek, and that of Blean of Amsterdam. It was also used in the -_Homer_ of 1831. Dibdin (_Introd. to the Classics_, 1827, i, 166) shows -a specimen of the type. - -[520] Cut for Dr. C. Wilkins, Oriental Librarian to the East India -Company. - -[521] _The Diary of Lady Willoughby, as relates to her Domestic History -in the Reign of King Charles I._ London, 1844. 4to. - -[522] _Particulars of a most valuable property for Investment called -the Caslon Letter Foundry; also a most extensive Modern Foundry on -which has been expended upwards of £50,000, which will be sold by -auction by W. Lewis and Son . . . on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 1846, at 11 -for 12 precisely (unless previously disposed of by private contract)._ -In the list of matrices catalogued, the cutters’ names are added, those -of Hughes, Bessemer, and Boileau being among the most frequent. - -[523] _The History of the Art of Printing, containing an Account of -its Invention and Progress in Europe, with the names of the famous -Printers, the places of their birth and the works printed by them, and -a Preface by the Publisher to the Printers in Scotland. Edinburgh, -printed by James Watson. Sold at his shop opposite the Lucken Booths, -and at the shops of David Scot in the Parliament Close, and George -Stewart a little above the Cross_, 1713, 12mo. Watson’s preface is -stated to have been written by John Spotswood, Advocate. The historical -portion is a condensed translation of De la Caille’s _Histoire de -l’Imprimerie_, published at Paris in 1689. - -[524] _Specimen of Types in the Printing House of James Watson._ 1713. -48 pp., of which 26 are devoted to Dutch “Bloomers” or Initials, and -the remainder to Romans and Italics from French Canon to Nonpareil, -with a fount of Greek, one of Black, and a few signs, etc. - -[525] See _ante_, p. 218. - -[526] _Typographia_, p. 362. - -[527] Ireland, during a portion of the eighteenth century appears to -have been well supplied with type from native sources. Of the fortunes -of Wilson’s branch foundry here alluded to, we have no further record, -unless we are to connect the following statement with the enterprise of -the Scotch typographers:—Boulter Grierson in 1764 petitioned the Lord -Lieutenant for a renewal of the Patent granted to his distinguished -father George Grierson by George II in 1731, for King’s printer in -Ireland. Among other reasons in support of his prayer, he states: “That -the art of making types for printing was unknown in Ireland until very -lately, when your petitioner’s father encouraged it by laying out -about One Thousand pounds in that article alone, in order to establish -that art in the said kingdom, and there are now as good types made -here as any imported, by which means there is a great saving to the -public, and great part of the money that would be otherwise sent to -foreign country’s is left in this kingdom.” (We are indebted to the -kindness of a lady descendent of George Grierson for this interesting -extract.) According to a note of Lemoine which we quote at p. 264_n_, -Dublin printers in 1797 were getting their types either from Wilson -of Glasgow, or from London. It is therefore probable that, whether -George Grierson’s enterprise may have consisted in the encouragement of -Wilson’s foundry or in the establishment of another foundry of his own, -the art did not long hold its ground in Ireland, and was discontinued -in the latter half of the century, only to be once revived, and that -for a short period only, by Dr. Wilson’s grandsons in 1840. See p. 265. - -[528] For an account of Baine’s subsequent career as a type-founder, -see _post_, chap. xix. - -[529] These eminent printers, the most elegant typographers of which -Scotland can boast, produced in their day some of the finest editions -ever printed. Robert was originally a barber, but began as a printer -in 1740. In 1743 he was appointed printer to Glasgow University, one -of his first productions being an edition of _Demetrius Phalereus_ in -that year. In 1744 he brought out his famous “immaculate” edition of -_Horace_ in 12mo at Glasgow. Shortly afterwards his brother Andrew, who -had been a teacher of French at the University, joined him, and the two -together, by great industry and excellent artistic taste, produced a -large number of beautifully printed works, some of which will rank with -the finest achievements of Bodoni, or Barbou, or even the Elzevirs. -Their classics, both Greek and Latin, were as remarkable for their -exactness as for their beauty, and it is recorded that the brothers, -following the example of some of the old masters, were in the habit of -publicly exhibiting their proof sheets and offering a reward for the -detection of any error. Andrew Foulis died in 1775, and Robert in the -following year. The business was carried on under the old name of R. & -A. Foulis for some years by Andrew Foulis, son of Robert. This printer -it was who was associated with Tilloch in his patent for stereotype in -1784. He died in 1829 in great poverty. - -[530] _Homeri Opera, Græce (ex edit. Sam. Clarke). Glasguæ; in Ædibus -Academicis excudebant Robertus et Andreas Foulis, Academii Typographi -1756–8_, 4 vols., fol. This work is one of the most splendid editions -of Homer ever printed. Each sheet was corrected six times before being -finally worked. Flaxman’s illustrations were designed for the work. - -[531] After stating that it was the ambition of the publishers of this -work to rival the finest productions of the Stephani of Paris, the -preface continues (p. viii):—“Omnes quidem tres regios Stephanorum -characteres græcos expresserat jam apud nos, atque imitatione -accuratissimâ repræsentaverat _Alexander Wilson_, A.M., egregius ille -Typorum artifex, quem et hoc nomine adscripserat sibi Alma Mater. -In his autem grandioris formæ characteribus Stephanianis id unum -desiderari quodammodo videbatur, scilicet, si res ita ferre posset, -ut, salvâ tamen ilia solidæ magnitudinis specie quâ delectantur omnes, -existeret una simul elegantiæ quiddam, magis atque venustatis. Rogatus -est igitur ille artifex, ut, in hoc assequendo solertiam suam, quâ -quidem pollet maximâ, strenue exercet. Quod et lubenter aggresus est, -et ad votum usque videtur consecutus vir ad varias ingenuas artes -augendas natus.” - -[532] _Poems of Mr. Gray. Glasgow, printed by Robert and Andrew Foulis, -Printers to the University._ 1768. 4to. This edition was published -simultaneously with Dodsley’s first collected edition of _Gray’s -Poems_, in London; and far exceeded it in beauty of typography and -execution. Writing to Beattie in 1768, Gray says, “I rejoice to be in -the hands of Mr. Foulis (the famous printer of Glasgow) who has the -laudable ambition of excelling the Etiennes and the Elzevirs as well in -literature as in the proper art of his profession.” - -[533] “This is the first work in the Roman character which they (A. -and R. Foulis) have printed with so large a type, and they are obliged -to DOCTOR WILSON for preparing so expeditiously, and with so much -attention, characters of so beautiful a form.” - -[534] _A View of the Various Editions of the Greek and Roman Classics._ -London, 1775. 12mo. Improved editions in 1778, 1782, and 1790. - -[535] Renouard, speaking of the twenty volume edition of _Cicero_ -printed by the Foulis in 1749, prefers its type to that of the -Elzevirs. _Catalogue de la Bibliothèque d’un Amateur._ Paris, 1819. 4 -vols. 8vo. ii, 75. - -[536] Hansard states that the Long Primer Greek matrices of the foundry -were “from the type cast in which the Elzevirs printed some of their -editions”—(_Typographia_, 404). - -[537] In a later specimen is shown a “New Small Pica Italic” cut for -the King’s printer in Edinburgh, 1807. - -[538] Lemoine, _Typographical Antiquities_, 1797, says, “Ireland, -by its connection with London and Scotland, produces some very neat -printing; Wilson’s types are much approved of at Dublin. Alderman -George Faulkner may be considered as the first printer in Ireland in -his time; but it must be remembered his letter was all cast in London.” -p. 99. - -[539] This fount (according to Savage, _Dict. of Printing_, p. 320) -was cut after the classical and elegant type of Athias, for Mr. Jno. -Wertheimer, of Leman Street, and was used in printing the Rev. D. A. De -Sola’s edition of the _Prayers of the Sphardim_. - -[540] “In conformity,” says the preface, “with ancient immemorial -usage, we have in Part I displayed our Founts in the Roman Garb—the -venerable _Quousque tandem_—but lest it should be supposed we had -adopted the flowing drapery of Rome for the purpose of shading or -concealing defects, we have in Part II shown off our founts in a dress -entirely English.” Mr. Figgins was the first to introduce this practice -in his Specimens. - -[541] The following extract from the preface to the 1834 Specimen, -announces the removal: “We had the honour some time ago of announcing -the removing of the Glasgow Letter Foundry to London, and we beg leave -to inform you that we have now carried our intentions into execution, -and are prepared to receive your commands in our establishment in Great -New Street, Gough Square, London. The operative department will be -conducted by Mr. John Sinclair, whose integrity of conduct and thorough -knowledge of his profession we now reward by making him a partner in -our business.” London, Aug. 1, 1834. The London Foundry was carried on -under the old name of Alex. Wilson & Sons, or occasionally Wilsons and -Sinclair; the Edinbro’ branch, and that subsequently started in Dublin, -being styled A. & P. Wilson. - -[542] See _post_, chap. xxi. - -[543] There still exists, in Mr. Timmins’ collection of Baskerville -relics, a slate tablet beautifully engraved with the words “Grave -Stones cut in any of the Hands by John Baskervill, Writing Master,” in -which the admirable models of Roman and Italic for which he afterwards -became famous are clearly prefigured. - -[544] “His carriage,” says Nichols, “each panel of which was a distinct -picture, might be considered the pattern-card of his trade, and was -drawn by a beautiful pair of cream-coloured horses” (_Lit. Anec._, iii, -451). - -[545] He appears to have continued his original business to the end -of his days. Writing in 1760, Mr. Derrick, in a letter to the Earl of -Cork, dated July that year, after describing Baskerville’s printing -achievements, adds: “This ingenious artist carries on a great trade -in the Japan way, in which he showed me several useful articles, such -as candlesticks, stands, salvers, waiters, bread-baskets, tea-boards, -etc., elegantly designed and highly finished.” The name of Baskerville -had previously been associated with typography, as we find in the lists -of the Stationers’ Company a Gabriel Baskerville, who took up his -freedom in 1622, and a John Baskerville, who took up his freedom in -1639. - -[546] Dibdin (_Intr. to Classics_, ii, 555) says £800. - -[547] “Towards the end of 1792 died Mr. John Handy, the artist who cut -the punches for Baskerville’s types, and for twelve years was employed -in a similar way at the Birmingham Typefoundry of Mr. Swinney.” (_Gent. -Mag._, 1793, p. 91.) - -[548] “John Baskerville proposes, by the advice and assistance of -several learned men, to print from the Cambridge Edition, corrected -with all possible care, an elegant edition of _Virgil_. The work will -be printed in quarto, on a very fine writing Royal paper, and with the -above letter. The price of the Volume in sheets will be one guinea, no -part of which will be required till the Book is delivered. It will be -put to press as soon as the number of subscribers shall amount to five -hundred, whose names will be prefixt to the work. All persons who are -inclined to encourage the undertaking, are desired to send their names -to John Baskerville in Birmingham, who will give specimens of the work -to all who are desirous of seeing them. Subscriptions are also taken -in, and specimens delivered by Messieurs R. and J. Dodsley, Booksellers -in Pall Mall, London.” - -[549] Of the two copies in the possession of Mr. S. Timmins, one is -printed on very fine banknote paper, and the other, more heavily, on a -coarse brown. - -[550] _Publii Virgilii Maronis Bucolica, Georgica, et Æneis. -Birminghamiæ Typis Johannis Baskerville._ 1757. 4to. As Baskerville -reprinted this work in 1771 with the old date 1757 on the title-page, -it is necessary to note that, in the genuine edition, among other -peculiarities, the 10th and 11th Books of the _Æneid_ are headed -“Liber Decimus. Æneidos”, and “Liber Undecimus. Æneidos”, whereas in -the re-impression they appear, uniform with the other titles, “Æneidos -Liber Decimus.” “Æneidos Liber Undecimus.” A _Virgil_ was printed in -8vo, in 1766. - -[551] “I have always considered this beautiful production as one of the -most finished specimens of typography” (Dibdin, _Introduction to the -Classics_, 2nd ed. II, 335). - -[552] “My neighbour Baskerville at the close of this month (March 1757) -publishes his fine edition of _Virgil_; it will for _type_ and _paper_ -be a perfect curiosity” (_Shenstone’s Letters and Works_, 1791, Letter -88). - -[553] Other type was used for this work. - -[554] _Lit. Anec._, ii, 411. - -[555] “Η Καινη Διαθηκη”. _Novum Testamentum juxta exemplar Millianum. -Typis Joannis Baskerville. Oxonii e Typographeo Clarendoniano._ 1763. -_Sumptibus Academiæ_, 4to and 8vo. - -[556] Some of the Punches were exhibited by the University Press at -the Caxton Exhibition in 1877. Since then, thanks to the energy of -the present Controller, Mr. Horace Hart, to whom we are indebted for -the above extracts and specimens, the matrices of the fount have come -to light as well as the punches and matrices of the two-line letters -and figures belonging to it. These were exhibited at the British -Association Meeting at Birmingham in August 1886, being catalogued as -follows:― - -“PUNCHIONS of the Great Primer Greek—a large proportion of the fount, -but not the whole. - -“MATRICES of the same. - -“PUNCHIONS of the Two-line Great Primer, with Initial Letters. Complete. - -“MATRICES of the same, also complete. - -“PUNCHIONS of one set of Figures, supplied with the above. - -“MATRICES of the same.” - -Still more recently, Mr. Horace Hart has been fortunate enough -to discover part of the actual type in its original cases. It is -interesting to note that these types, which are of rather a soft metal, -are cast to the Oxford Learned-Side “height-to-paper.” - -[557] _Paradise Lost, etc._, _Paradise Regain’d, etc._ Birmingham, -1758. 2 vols., 4to. The work was also published in the same year in -8vo, and again in 4to in 1759. The 4to edition of 1758 appears to be -overlooked by some bibliographers, Hansard, among others, who refers in -the extract here given to the reprint of 1759. - -[558] _Typographia_, p. 310. It is worthy of note that the very high -gloss on the paper which characterised most of Baskerville’s later -works, is not always observable either in the _Virgil_ of 1757, or the -_Milton_ of 1758. - -[559] _Catalogue de la Bibliothéque d’um Amateur_, i, 310. After -noticing the folio specimen following, he says: “Un autre essai de -Baskerville, sur une plus petite feuille, contient seulment quatre -caractères romains et deux en italique . . . Outre cette épreuve de -grand essai, j’ai l’un et l’autre réunis à la fin de son _Virgile_ -in 4.” The only example we have met with is that bound up with Lord -Spencer’s beautiful copy of the _Virgil_ in the Althorp Library. - -[560] Writing to Mr. R. Richardson of Durham on Oct. 29, 1758, Dr. -Bedford says: “By Baskerville’s specimen of his types, you will -perceive how much the elegance of them is owing to his paper, which he -makes himself, as well as the types and ink also; and I was informed -whenever they came to be used by common pressmen and with common -materials they will lose of their beauty considerably. Hence, perhaps, -this specimen may become very curious (when he is no more, and the -types cannot be set off in the same perfection), and a great piece of -_vertû_.” (Nichols, _Illust. Lit._, i, 813). - -[561] Amongst which should be particularly singled out the _Horace_ -in 12mo printed in 1762, which Dr. Harwood describes as “the most -beautiful little book, both in regard to type and paper, I ever beheld.” - -[562] _The Press, a poem. Published as a Specimen of Typography by John -McCreery._ Liverpool, 1803, 4to. p. 19. - -[563] An interesting notice of Lord Orford’s famous private press at -Strawberry Hill, with a Catalogue of the—many of them—finely printed -works that issued from it, is given in Lemoine’s _Typographical -Antiquities_, p. 91. - -[564] The original of this important letter, with the specimen -attached, is in Mr. Timmins’s possession. - -[565] _The Holy Bible, containing the Old Testament and the New, -translated out of the Original Tongues, and with the former -translations diligently compared and revised. By His Majesty’s special -command. Appointed to be read in Churches. Cambridge: printed by John -Baskerville, Printer to the University._ 1763. _Cum Privilegio._ Fol. -The prospectus of this work, with a specimen of the type, appeared -in 1760. The folio _Bible_, printed at Birmingham in 1772, is a much -inferior performance. - -[566] _The Book of Common Prayer, Cambridge_, 1760, roy. 8vo, (with -long lines); 1760, roy. 8vo, (in double columns); 1761, roy. 8vo; 1762, -roy. 8vo (with long lines): 1762, 12mo. - -[567] He appears always to have kept a large number of hot plates of -copper always ready, between which, as soon as printed, just as they -were discharged from the tympan, the sheets were inserted. The moisture -was thus expelled, the ink set, and the smooth, glossy surface put on -all simultaneously. However well the method may have answered at the -time, the discoloration of his books still preserved in the British -Museum and elsewhere, shows that the brilliance thus imparted was most -tawdry and ephemeral. - -[568] “Les caractères sont gravés avec beaucoup de hardiesse, les -italiques sont les meilleures qu’il y ait dans toutes les Fonderies -d’Angleterre, mais les romains sont un peu trop larges.” . . And of his -editions he adds, “Quoiqu’elles fatiguent un peu la vue, on ne peut -disconvenir que ce ne soit la plus belle chose qu’on ait encore vue en -ce genre.” (_Man. Typ._, ii, xxxix.) - -[569] “Mr. Baskerville . . . made some attempts at letter-cutting, -but desisted, with good reason. The Greek cut by him or his for the -University of Oxford is execrable. Indeed, he can hardly claim a place -amongst letter-cutters. His typographical excellence lay more in trim, -glossy paper to dim the sight.” (_Dissert._, p. 86.) - -[570] _The Life of Benjamin Franklin, written by himself, etc._ -(Bigelow’s edition). Philadelphia, 1875, i, 413. Nichols, in error, -gives the date of this letter as 1764. - -[571] The apparatus was first offered, it is said, to the French -Ambassador in London for £8,000. Subsequently Baskerville wrote, on -Sept. 7, 1767: “Suppose we reduce the price to £6,000. . . . Let the -reason of my parting with it be the death of my son and intended -successor, and having acquired a moderate fortune, I wish to consult my -ease in the afternoon of life.” - -[572] The following works were printed by Martin between 1766 and 1769, -viz., _Christians’ Useful Companion_, 1766, 8vo; _Somerville’s Chace_, -1767, 8vo; _Shakespeare_, 9 vols., 1768, 12mo; _Bible with cuts_, 1769, -4to; and editions of the _Lady’s Preceptor_. - -[573] Letter dated 21 Sept. 1773. “You speak of enlarging your -Foundery” (_Works_, viii, 88). - -[574] The remaining copies of Baskerville’s impressions, were, after -his death purchased for £1,100 by W. Smart, bookseller, of Worcester, -and publisher of the _Worcester Guide_. - -[575] Hutton, _History of Birmingham_, 1835, p. 197. - -[576] _Biographical History of England_, ii, 362. - -[577] - - “Stranger, - beneath this cone, in _unconsecrated_ ground, - a friend to the liberties of mankind directed his - body to be inurn’d. - May the example contribute to emancipate thy mind - from the idle fears of _Superstition_, - and the wicked arts of Priesthood.” - -Touching this epitaph Archdeacon Nares has the following note:—“I heard -John Wilkes, after praising Baskerville, add, “But he was a terrible -infidel; he used to shock me!” - -[578] “On Friday last, Mr. Baskerville, of this town, was married -to Mrs. Eaves, widow of the late Richard Eaves, Esq., deceased” -(_Birmingham Register_, June 7, 1765). Mrs. Baskerville d. 1788. Two -works exist, printed at Birmingham, with the imprint, Sarah Baskerville. - -[579] In 1776, Chapman used Baskerville’s type for Dr. W. Sherlock’s -_Discourses concerning Death._ 8vo. - -[580] This preference was so marked, that about this time the -proprietors of Fry and Pine’s foundry, who had begun with an avowed -imitation of the Baskerville models, were constrained to admit their -mistake, and discard that fashion for new founts cut on the model of -Caslon. - -[581] As early as 1775, Dr. Harwood, in the preface to his _View of -the Editions of the Classics_, had pleaded urgently for the purchase -of Baskerville’s types, and Wilson’s famous Greek, as the nucleus of a -Royal Typography in England. - -[582] _Lit. Anec._, iii, 460. - -[583] _Proposals for Printing by Subscription a Complete Edition of -the Works of Voltaire, printed with the Types of Baskerville for the -Literary and Typographical Society_, 1782, 12 pp. 8vo, with 2 pp. -specimens of the type. The French proposal appears to have been put -forward in 1780. - -[584] _Beaumarchais and His Times. Translated by H. S. Edwards._ -London, 1856. 4 vols. 8vo (iii, chap. 24). - -[585] _Œuvres Complètes de Voltaire. De l’Imprimerie de la Société -litteraire et typographique_, (Kehl) 1784–1789. 70 vols. in 8vo; and 92 -vols. in 12mo. - -[586] Renouard mentions having seen at Paris a broadside specimen of -all the Baskerville types transported to Beaumarchais’ establishment: -“Ce sont les mêmes types,” he adds, “mais quelle différence dans leur -emploi!” (_Catalogue_, i, 310). - -[587] - - _La Virtu Sconosciuta Dialogo_, 1786, 8vo. - _Del Principe e delle Lettere_, 1795, 8vo. - _L’Etruria Vendicata Poema_, 1800, 8vo. - _Della Tirannide_, 1809, 8vo. - -[588] _The Treatyse of Fysshynge wyth an Angle. Attributed to Dame -Juliana Berners, reprinted from the Book of St. Albans. London; printed -with the types of John Baskerville for William Pickering._ (Thos. -White, imp.) 1827. 8vo. - -[589] A statement that they were acquired at the beginning of the -century for the printing offices of the Imperial Academy of Sciences at -St. Petersburg, appears, after careful inquiry, to rest on no further -foundation than rumour. - -[590] See frontispiece. Cottrell is the figure marked 4. - -[591] See _ante_, p. 158. - -[592] _Dissertation_, p. 82. - -[593] _A Specimen of a New Printing Type, in Imitation of the Law-Hand. -Designed by William Richardson, of Castle Yard, Holborn._ London, n. d. -Broadside. - -[594] The Double Pica Script sheet occasionally bound in with this -specimen, is evidently an interpolation of a later date, as it neither -has the border round, nor does it conform to the measure or gauge of -theother sheets. It was not finished in 1778 when Mores wrote. See -_Dissert._, p. 83. - -[595] _Manuel Typographique_, ii, xxxviii. This whole notice is so -exceedingly incorrect as to call for mention here. “L’Angleterre a -peu de Fonderies, mais elles sont bien fournies en toutes sortes de -caractères: les principales sont celles de Thomas Cottrell à Oxfort; de -Jacques Watson à Edimbourg, de Guillaume Caslon & Fils à Londres, et de -Jean Baskerville à Birmingham”! It would almost appear as if, having -before him the names of Cottrell, Oxford, James, Wilson of Glasgow, -Caslon of London, and Baskerville of Birmingham, the then existing -foundries in this kingdom, Fournier had taxed his ingenuity to make -four foundries out of six and had succeeded, altering Wilson’s name to -that of his long defunct fellow citizen, Queen Anne’s printer, in the -process. This feat has, however, been eclipsed in his notice of the -Voskens’ foundry at Amsterdam, which, after the death of Dirk Voskens, -passed to his widow and sons. “Cette Fonderie” Fournier informs us, “a -passée à sa veuve et au Sieur Zonen”! - -[596] Mores (_Dissert._, p. 83), says he was the first to produce -letters of this size. - -[597] _Lit. Anec._, ii, 358. - -[598] “R. Thorne, Letter-Founder, takes the Liberty of informing the -Trade in general that he has begun business upon his own account, and -intends serving them at the following old-established prices: [here -follows price list]. He respectfully informs those gentlemen that -choose to favour him with their orders, that they may depend upon the -best workmanship and materials. Barbican, July 1, 1794.” - -[599] It appears to have been no uncommon practice in the trade to make -use of a predecessor’s book, corrected on the title-page in pen and -ink. Our copy of Cottrell’s specimen is thus altered to the name of a -broker; and the specimens of the Type Street Foundry are many of them -similarly corrected to adapt them for the frequently changing style of -that firm. - -[600] In a note, he says, “R. T. informs those gentlemen to whom he is -at present unknown, that the Types of the Barbican Foundry are cast to -the usual Height and Body; and that great care has been taken to have -the Counterpart deeply cut, by which means they will wear much longer -than any hitherto in use.” - -[601] Pica, which in 1798 had been 1_s._ per lb., is raised to 1_s._ -2 1/2_d._, and Nonpareil is advanced from 5_s._ to 5_s._ 6_d._ The -other sizes are in similar proportion. - -[602] “Sir,—Having published a Specimen of Improved Printing Types, I -have taken the liberty of sending you a Copy, which I hope you will -approve of; and be assured that every possible exertion shall be used -in completing those orders you may favor me with. - -“Barbican, 1803. - -“I remain, your obedient Servant, ROBERT THORNE.” - -[603] See _ante_, p. 117. - -[604] See _post_, chap. xxi. - -[605] In the Directory at the end of _Stower’s Printers’ Grammar_, -1808, Thorne’s name is given without address. - -[606] _Particulars of the Lease and Valuable Plant of the Type Foundry -of Mr. Robert Thorne, deceased, situate in Fann’s Street, Aldersgate -Street,.........which will be Sold by Auction by Mr. W. Davies, at -Garraway’s Coffee House, on Wednesday, the 21st of June, 1820, at -Twelve o’clock, in One Lot._ Besides the lease, plant, and fixtures, -the Catalogue comprised 316 lots of matrices and about 340 moulds. The -matrices were as follows:― - - _Roman and Italic._― - 5-line (3), 4-line (3), Canon (4), 2-line Double Pica (3), 2-line - Great Primer (4), 2-line English (4), 2-line Pica (1), Double Pica - (4), Great Primer (4), English (5), Pica (6), Small Pica (3), Long - Primer (6), Bourgeois (3), Brevier (5), Minion (1), Nonpareil - Roman (2), Pearl (1) - - _Black (plain or open)._― - 5-line (5), 4-line (2), Canon (2), 2-line Great Primer (5), 2-line - English (2), Double Pica (2), Great Primer (2), English (1), Pica - (1), Small Pica (1), Long Primer (2), Bourgeois (1). - - _Shaded._― - 5-line to Brevier (21). - - _Flowers._― - All bodies (15). - - _Ornamented._― - Canon to 2-line Bourgeois (6). - - _Egyptian._― - 2-line Great Primerto Brevier (6). - - _Script._― - 2-line Pica, Double Pica, Great Primer. - - _Engrossing._― - 2-line English. - - _German._― - English. - - _Two-line Letters, Signs_, etc., etc. - - _Sanspareil Founts._― - 14-line to 4-line (24). - -[607] He had a brother (?) a printer, in Wood Street, Cheapside. - -[608] It is curious to note that the matter of not a few of -Thorowgood’s early specimens has reference to the lucky numbers “always -found in great variety in the Grand State Lotteries.” Such gratuitous -advertisements are no doubt so many grateful acknowledgments of his own -obligations to a time-honoured institution. - -[609] The address to the printers, prefixed to this specimen, is as -follows: “I cannot omit the opportunity offered in presenting my first -specimen to your notice, to return my most sincere thanks to the -profession for that portion of their patronage which I have received -since my succession to Mr. Thorne. Although some difficulties presented -themselves in redeeming the pledge I made of renovating my small founts -and casting them of metal more durable than those in common use, yet -I flatter myself that those friends who relied on my professions will -bear ample testimony that they have not been disappointed, and that -the superior facilities of manufacturing types possessed by myself in -common with the other founders of the metropolis has been used to their -advantage,” etc. - -[610] This famous foundry, which still exists, was established by -Bernard Christopher Breitkopf in 1719. His son, Johann Gottlieb -Immanuel Breitkopf, was the inventor (simultaneously with Haas of -Basle) of the art of map printing with movable types, and is claimed -also as the inventor of movable music types about 1748. Many eminent -punch cutters were employed on the founts of this foundry, which was in -1800 one of the largest in Germany. The first specimen appeared in 1739. - -[611] Hugh Owen. _Two Centuries of Ceramic Art in Bristol_, 1873, 8vo. - -[612] Of these books we have one before us—_A Collection of Hymns -adapted for Public Worship_. Bristol, (1769), 12mo, in the Long Primer -of the foundry, showing, besides, several varieties of title-letters -and flowers. - -[613] _Catalogue_, i, 310, “Grande feuille collée sur une toile ou -batiste fine.” - -[614] Rowe Mores, after quoting the above, adds drily: “Their letter is -neat. We _do_ ‘set aside the influence of custom,’ and call it the law -of fools, but we must recommend to the consideration of the proprietors -the difference between scalping and counterpunching.” (_Dissertation_, -p. 84.) - -[615] “The Inventors, sensible of the great utility of their -Discovery, have mentioned it to several of the Trade, who have made -very considerable offers to encourage the laying open the Secret: -But as their desire is, that every Printer in the Kingdom might be -benefited by it they propose to make the Discovery as universal as -possible, by making an honourable and generous present of it to the -whole trade: To many of whom they are under some Obligations for the -kind encouragement of their new Foundery. And as that is an object -they desire here to recommend, they would further propose, (as they -have nearly compleated all their founts, and can serve the Trade on -as good Terms as any in the Kingdom, and with Types they will warrant -to wear as long) that every Printer who shall give them an order for -Ten Pounds worth of Type or more (Five Pounds of which to be paid on -ordering and the Remainder on the Delivery) shall be made acquainted -with the above improvements. So that the whole Advantage proposed is -the selling some Founts of Letter which every Printer does or will -want. And as they expect that the Trade in general will approve of -their Plan, they beg that the Encouragers of it would send their orders -with all convenient Speed to the above Foundery; (as they intend as -soon as they have got a sufficient Number to lay open the whole) which -they hope will not be less universal than the desire of being made -Partakers of so interesting a Discovery: for it merits nothing less -than the most cordial Encouragement of every Printer in Europe, though -here so freely offered. And it will appear when laid open to be of such -Service as nothing like it has been discovered in Printing for some -Centuries. . . . The whole expence of altering the present presses to -the above Improvement will be but about forty shillings.” A notice of -this invention, as well as of a patent type-case designed by the same -partners, is found in the _Abridgments of Specifications for Printing, -1617–1857_, London, 1859. 8vo, p. 88. - -[616] _History and Art of Printing_, p. 244. - -[617] After commending Caslon and Jackson, he says: “As to the -productions of other Founderies we shall be silent, and leave them to -sound forth their own good qualifications, which by an examiner are not -found to exist” (p. 230). - -[618] _The Holy Bible, containing the Old and New Testament, with Notes -Explanatory, Critical and Practical, selected from the Works of several -Eminent Divines. London, I. Moore and Co., Letter Founders and Printers -in Queen Street, near Upper Moorfields._ 1774. Folio. - -_The Same_, in 5 vols., 8vo:—_Vols._ 1, 2, 3, 1774; _Vol._ 4, 1776; -_Vol._ 5 (_Apocrypha_) 1775. - -[619] _A Commentary on the Holy Bible, containing the Whole Sacred Text -of the Old and New Testaments, with Notes, etc. Bristol, Printed and -Sold by William Pine._ 1774, 12mo. - -[620] _The Holy Bible, containing the Old and New Testament, with Notes -Explanatory, Critical and Practical, selected from the Works of several -Eminent Authors. London. Printed and Sold by J. Fry and Co., Letter -Founders and Printers in Queen Street, near Upper Moorfields._ 1777. -Folio. - -_The Same_, 4 vols., 1777. 8vo. - -[621] Amongst other works printed by him there is preserved a tract, -entitled _An Answer to a Narrative of Facts . . . lately published -by Mr. Henry Burgum as far as relates to the Character of Wm. Pine. -Bristol. Printed in the year 1775._ 8vo. This is a letter of rejoinder -addressed by Pine to Burgum, repelling charges relating to the -publication of an offensive pamphlet. Pine also printed several works -for the Wesleys. - -[622] See p. 226 _et seq._ - -[623] The pedigree of the matrices is indicated, as far as can be -ascertained, by the initials (see our note 2 at p. 227); but in -several cases, particularly in the case of the Blacks, the origin -is considerably more remote than the foundry named. The error of -inferring anything as to their origin from the names of famous old -printers appearing on the drawers in which they were stored at James’s -foundry has already been pointed out—see _ante_, p. 230. Several of -these founts Dr. Fry appears to have received in a defective state, -necessitating in some cases a complete re-justifying of the matrices, -and in others the cutting of a considerable number of punches, and -casting on bodies which did not always agree with those named in the -sale Catalogue. This circumstance will account for many of the apparent -discrepancies between the original founts and the renovated founts as -they appear in the Type Street specimens. - -[624] “It affords them”—the proprietors—“great Satisfaction to observe -that the original Shape of their Roman and Italic Letters continues to -meet the Approbation of the Curious, both in and out of the Printing -Trade: nevertheless, to remove an Objection which the difference in -Shape, from the letters commonly used here, raised in some, whereby -their Introduction into several Capital Offices have been prevented; -they have cut entire new sets of Punches, both Roman and Italic; -and they flatter themselves they have executed the Founts, as far -as they are done, in an elegant and masterly Manner, which in this -Specimen are distinguished by the title NEW, and which will mix with -and be totally unknown from the most approved Founts made by the late -ingenious Artist, William Caslon.” For Caslon’s acknowledgment of this -compliment, see _ante_, p. 249. - -[625] “However desirous the proprietor of another Foundery may be to -persuade the public into an idea of a superiority in his own favour, -owing to _Rapid_ improvements for upwards of _Sixty_ years, a little -time may, perhaps, suffice to convince impartial and unbiassed Judges -that the very elegant Types of the WORSHIP STREET MANUFACTORY, though -they cannot indeed boast of their existence longer than about _Twenty_ -years ! will yet rank as high in Beauty, Symmetry, and intrinsic Merit -as any other whatever, and ensure equal approbation from the Literati -not only in this Country but in every quarter of the Globe.” - -[626] For a short time following Mr. Fry’s death his widow is -said to have been associated with her sons in the conduct of the -letter-foundry. Mrs. Fry lived at Great Marlow, and afterwards in -Charterhouse Square, London, where she died, Oct. 22, 1803, aged 83. - -[627] _The Printer’s Grammar. London, printed by L. Wayland._ 1787. 8vo. - -[628] We have the following volume very beautifully printed:—_C. Plinii -Cæcilii Secundi Epistolarum Libri x. Sumptibus editoris excudebant M. -Ritchie et J. Samuells. Londini_, 1790. 8vo. At end:—_Typis Edmundi -Fry_. - -[629] This excellent artist was a Scotchman, and printed in Bartholomew -Close in 1785. He was one of the first who started in emulation of -Baskerville as a fine printer; his series of Mr. Homer’s Classics -(_Sallust_, 1789; _Pliny_, 1790; _Tacitus_, 1790; _Q. Curtius_; -_Cæsar_, 1790; _Livy_, 1794) established his reputation. His quarto -_Bible_ and the _Memoirs of the Count de Grammont_ are also celebrated. -He printed on Whatman’s paper with admirable ink and most careful -press-work, and is stated to have produced most of his books by his own -personal and manual labour. - -[630] From this press the following elegantly printed volume was issued -in 1788:—_The Beauties of the Poets, being a Collection of Moral and -Sacred Poetry, etc., compiled by the late Rev. Thomas Janes of Bristol. -London, printed at the Cicero Press by and for Henry Fry, No. 5 Worship -Street, Upper Moorfields._ 1788. 8vo. At one time Henry Fry appears to -have had a partner named Couchman. - -[631] _A New Guide to the English Tongue in five parts by Thomas -Dilworth . . . Schoolmaster in Wapping. Stereotype Edition. London. -Andrew Wilson, Camden Town._ 8vo. Contains portraits, tail piece and 12 -fable cuts. - -[632] _Pantographia; containing accurate copies of all the known -Alphabets in the World, together with an English explanation of the -peculiar Force or Power of each Letter; to which are added specimens of -all well authenticated Oral Languages; forming a comprehensive Digest -of Phonology. By Edmund Fry, Letter Founder, Type Street, London, -1799._ Roy. 8vo. A few copies were printed on vellum, one of which is -in the Cambridge University Library. - -[633] _The Printer’s Grammar or Introduction to the Art of Printing: -containing a concise History of the Art, etc., by C. Stower, Printer. -London. Printed by the Editor._ 1808, 8vo. The same work also shows -extracts and specimens from _Pantographia_. - -[634] Hazard was also the designer of a pair of cases, a plan of which -is shown by Stower, p. 463. - -[635] The Rev. Samuel Lee, B.D., Regius Professor of Hebrew at -Cambridge, was a constant visitor at Type Street, and personally -directed the cutting of many of the founts. - -[636] Dr. Fry’s system was virtually that first introduced by Mr. -Alston, of Glasgow, to which reference is made _ante_, p. 78, where -details are also given as to the other principal systems of type for -the Blind. A “lower-case” was subsequently added to Dr. Fry’s fount -by his successors, and in this form the type was largely used by the -various Type Schools following Mr. Alston’s method. Full particulars of -this award, with specimens, maybe seen in Vol. I of the _Transactions -of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts_. - -[637] Hansard mentions a Two-line English Engrossing, two sizes of -Music, and the matrices of Dr. Wilkins’ _Philosophical Character_; none -of which, however, formed part of this Foundry. - -[638] Of the supposed antiquity of this interesting fount an -account has already been given at pages 200–5, _ante_. By a curious -confusion of names and dates, Dr. Fry, in his specimens stated that -“this character was cut by _Wynkyn de Worde_, in exact imitation -of the _Codex Alexandrinus_ in the British Museum” ! This absurd -anachronism—the more extraordinary as emanating from an antiquary of -Dr. Fry’s standing—appears to have arisen from the fact that at the -sale of James’ Foundry the matrices lay in a drawer which bore the -name, “De Worde.” This circumstance misled Paterson, the auctioneer, -into advertising the fount as the genuine handiwork of De Worde, a -printer who lived a century before the Codex was brought into this -country. The further coincidence that Dr. Woide of the British Museum -was, at the time of the sale, engaged in producing an edition of -the _Codex_, with facsimile types prepared by Jackson the founder, -doubtless added—by the similarity of the names De Worde and Dr. -Woide—to the confusion. After its purchase, the fount first appeared -in Joseph Fry and Sons’ Specimen of 1786, without note. But, in the -subsequent specimens of the Foundry, bearing his own name, Dr. Fry -introduced the fiction, which remained unchallenged for a quarter of a -century. - -[639] In addition to which Dr. Fry possessed, in an imperfect condition -(many of the characters having been recut), the Great Primer Arabic -of Walton’s _Polyglot_. According to Hansard he also had a set of -matrices, English body, from the first punches cut by William Caslon; -but this seems to be an error. - -[640] Used in Bagster’s _Polyglot_. The same fount was cast on Long -Primer with movable points. Hansard is in error in stating that Dr. Fry -cut a Nonpareil Syriac. - -[641] An error still less explicable than that of the Alexandrian -Greek, but which not only Dr. Fry’s successors, but Hansard himself has -copied. The following seems to be the “good authority” on which the -assertion is based. In 1819, Mr. Bulmer, the eminent printer, printed -for the Roxburghe Club, Mr. Hibbert’s transcript of the MS. fragment of -the translation of _Ovid’s Metamorphoses_, made by Caxton about 1480, -and preserved in the library of Pepys at Magdalen College, Cambridge. -The body of the work was set in the English Black bought by Dr. Fry at -James’ Sale—but in two places a smaller size of type was required to -print passages omitted in Caxton’s translation, but supplied by the -Editor in the original French of Colard Mansion’s edition. For these -passages the Pica Black was selected, and as the French text contained -several accents and contractions, these had to be specially cut. This -task Dr. Fry performed, and understanding that the letter was to be -used for printing a work of Caxton’s, he appears, without further -enquiry, to have assumed that the work in question was a fac-simile -reprint, and that his old matrices had been discovered to bear the -impress of the veritable character used by that famous man. Had he seen -the book in question he would have discovered that not only was it a -transcript from a MS. of which no printed copy had ever been known to -exist, but that the very passages in which the boasted type was used, -were passages which did not even appear in a work of Caxton at all. The -matrices are very old. They were in Andrews’ foundry about 1700, and in -all probability came there from Holland, as they closely resemble the -other old Dutch Blacks in James’ Foundry. - -[642] In the Small Pica, No. 2, was printed _The Two First Books of the -Pentateuch, or Books of Moses, as a preparation for learners to read -the Holy Scriptures. The types cut by Mr. Edmund Fry, Letter Founder -to His Majesty, from Original Irish Manuscripts, under the care and -direction of T. Connellan (2nd Edit.) Printed at the Apollo Press, -London, J. Johnson, Brook Street, Holborn, 1819._ 12mo. - -[643] Whatever singularity M. Didot may have indulged in in the first -strikes from his famous punches for his own use, the matrices now -in the possession of Dr. Fry’s successors are of most unmistakeable -copper throughout. And it does not appear that more than one set of the -strikes was needed to meet all the demands made upon this complicated -letter by the printers of the day. - -[644] _Gentleman’s Magazine_, May, 1836. - -[645] Nichols’ _Lit. Anec._, ii, 358–9; and _Gentleman’s Magazine_, -1792, p. 93. - -[646] _Dissert._, p. 83. - -[647] Probably as a rubber, in which occupation he is represented as -engaged in the View of the Caslon Foundry given in the _Universal -Magazine_ for June 1750 (see frontispiece). - -[648] _Dissertation_, p. 83. - -[649] Mr. Halhed thus refers to this circumstance in the introduction -to his _Bengal Grammar_ (see post): “That the Bengal letter is very -difficult to be imitated in steel will readily be allowed by every -person who shall examine the intricacies of the strokes, the unequal -length and size of the characters, and the variety of their positions -and combinations. It was no easy task to procure a writer accurate -enough to prepare an alphabet of a similar and proportionate body -throughout, with that symmetrical exactness which is necessary to the -regularity and neatness of a fount. Mr. Bolts (who is supposed to be -well versed in this language) attempted to fabricate a set of types -for it with the assistance of the ablest artists in London. But, as he -has egregiously failed in executing even the easiest part, or primary -alphabet, of which he has published a specimen, there is no reason to -suppose that his project when completed would have advanced beyond the -usual state of imperfection to which new inventions are constantly -exposed.” - -[650] This distinguished scholar and self-made typographer was born -in the year 1751. He entered the East India Company’s Civil Service, -where he devoted himself not only to the study of the Oriental -languages, but to the actual production of the types necessary to -extend the study of those languages among his fellow-countrymen, with -extraordinary skill and perseverance. He succeeded in cutting the -punches and casting the types for Halhed’s _Grammar of the Bengal -Language_, published at Hoogly in Bengal in 1778, 4to. In his preface -to that work, Mr. Halhed, after referring to Mr. Bolts’ failure, -in the passage quoted in the preceding note, thus describes the -undertaking:—“The advice and even solicitation of the Governor-General -prevailed upon Mr. Wilkins, a gentleman who has been some years in -the India Company’s Civil Service in Bengal, to undertake a set of -Bengal Types. He did, and his success has exceeded every expectation. -In a country so remote from all connection with European artists, he -has been obliged to charge himself with all the various occupations -of the Metallurgist, the Engraver, the Founder, and the Printer. To -the merit of invention he was compelled to add the application of -personal labour. With a rapidity unknown in Europe, he surmounted all -the obstacles which necessarily clog the first rudiments of a difficult -art, as well as the disadvantages of solitary experiment; and has -thus singly, on the first effort, exhibited his work in a state of -perfection which in every part of the world has appeared to require -the united improvements of different projectors and the gradual polish -of successive ages.” Mr. Wilkins persevered in his noble undertaking -of rendering the Oriental languages available to the English scholar -through the medium of typography. With this view he compiled from the -most celebrated native Grammars and Commentaries a work entirely new to -England on the Structure of the Sanskrita tongue. Of the difficulties -and discouragements attendant on the execution of this self-imposed -task he thus speaks in his Preface:—“At the commencement of the year -in 1795, residing in the country and having much leisure, I began to -arrange my materials and prepare them for publication. I cut letters -in steel, made matrices and moulds, and cast from them a fount of -types of the Deva Nagari character, all with my own hands; and, with -the assistance of such mechanics as a country village could afford, I -very speedily prepared all the other implements of printing in my own -dwelling-house; for by the second of May of the same year I had taken -proofs of 16 pages, differing but little from those now exhibited in -the first two sheets. Till two o’clock on that day everything had -succeeded to my expectations; when alas! the premises were discovered -to be in flames, which, spreading too rapidly to be extinguished, the -whole building was presently burned to the ground. In the midst of -this misfortune, I happily saved all my books and manuscripts, and the -greatest part of the punches and matrices; but the types themselves -having been thrown out and scattered on the lawn, were either lost or -rendered useless.” About ten years afterwards the Directors of the East -India Company encouraged Dr. Wilkins, then Librarian to the Company, to -resume his labours and cast new types, as the study of the Sanskrita -had become an important object in their new College at Hertford. Dr. -Wilkins complied, and the _Grammar of the Sanskrita Language_, London, -1808, 4to, duly appeared from Bulmer’s Press, and was allowed to be a -monument at once of beautiful typography and erudite industry. Dr., -subsequently Sir Charles, Wilkins died May 13th, 1836, at the advanced -age of 85. Specimens of his Bengali and Sanskrit may be seen in -Johnson’s _Typographia_, ii, 389–94. - -[651] _A Vocabulary, Persian, Arabic, and English, containing such -words as have been adopted from the two former of these languages, and -incorporated into the Hindvi; together with some hundreds of compound -verbs formed from Persian or Arabic nouns and in universal use. Being -the seventh part of the new Hindvi Grammar and Dictionary._ London, -1785. 4to. - -[652] The Domesday letter of Cottrell and Jackson may be seen in -juxtaposition in Fry’s _Pantographia_, 1799, pp. 50 and 314; also in -Stower’s _Printer’s Grammar_, 1808, p. 253. Jackson’s also appears in -Johnson’s _Typographia_ (ii, p. 248), from which work our account is -chiefly taken. - -[653] _Domesday Book seu Liber Censualis Willelmi primi Regis Angliæ -inter Archivos Regni in Domo capitulari Westmonasterii asservatus. -Jubente Rege Augustissimo Georgio Tertio prelo mandatus. Londini. Typis -J. Nichols._ 2 vols. Folio. 1783. - -[654] _Domesday Book Illustrated._ London. 1788. 8vo. - -[655] Dr. Woide was appointed Assistant Librarian at the British Museum -in 1782. - -[656] See _ante_, p. 200–5. - -[657] A specimen of this letter may be seen in Dr. Fry’s specimens, -also in his _Pantagraphia_, p. 126. - -[658] Gough, writing in the _Gentleman’s Magazine_, vol. lvi, p. 497, -says:—“It was reserved, therefore, for the industry and application of -Dr. Woide . . . to rescue this valuable MS. from the fate which befel -a MS. of the Septuagint in the Cottonian Library of equal antiquity, -type, and, value, of which a very few fragments escaped the fire in -1733, by adopting the facsimile mode of reproduction, which, from the -great expense attending it, has unfortunately been adopted in so few -instances.” The facsimile of the Laudian Codex, comprising the _Acts -of the Apostles_, published by Hearne at Oxford in 1715, had been the -only previous successful attempt of this kind in England. Hearne’s -facsimile, however, was engraved, and not from type. A list of the most -important subsequent facsimile reproductions from Codices of the Holy -Text is given in Horne’s _Introduction_ (edit. 1872), iv, pp. 682–3. - -[659] _Novum Testamentum Græcum è Codice MS. Alexandrino qui Londini in -Bibliothecâ Musei Britannici asservatur, descriptum a Carolo Godofredo -Woide . . . Musei Britannici Bibliothecaria Londini. Ex prelo Jeannis -Nichols. Typis Jacksonianis, 1786._ Folio. - -[660] _Psalterium Græcum è Codice MS. Alexandrino qui Londini in -Bibliothecâ Musei Britannici asservatur Typis ad similitudinem ipsius -Codicis Scripturæ fideliter descriptum. Curâ et labore H. H. Baber. -Londini, 1812._ Folio. - -[661] _Vetus Testamentum Græcum è Codice MS. Alexandrino qui Londini -in Bibliothecâ Musei Britannici asservatur, Typis ad similitudinem -ipsius Codicis Scripturæ fideliter descriptum. Curâ et labore H. H. -Baber, Londini, 1816–21._ 4 vols., Folio. Mr. Baber, the better to -preserve the identity of the original in his fac-similes, introduced a -considerable number of fresh types as well as numerous woodcuts. - -[662] _Codex Theodori Bezæ Cantabrigiensis, Evangelia et Acta -Apostolorum complectens, quadratis literis, Græco-Latinus. Academia -auspicante summâ qua fide potuit, adumbravit, expressit, edidit, -codicis historiam præfixit, notasque adjecit T. Kipling. Cantabrigiæ è -prelo Academico, impensis Academiæ, 1793._ 2 vols., Folio. - -[663] _Gent. Mag._, 1793, p. 733. - -[664] Mores’ _Dissert._, Appendix, p. 98. - -[665] _Prosodia Rationalis, an Essay towards establishing the Melody -and Measure of Speech by Symbols._ London, 1779. 4to. - -[666] _An Essay towards Establishing the Melody and Measure of Speech, -to be expressed and perpetuated by peculiar Symbols._ London, 1775. 4to. - -[667] _The Holy Bible, embellished with Engravings from Pictures and -Designs by the most eminent Artists. London: printed for Thomas Macklin -by Thomas Bensley, 1800. 7 vols._ Folio. - -[668] See p. 336, _post_. Jackson’s fount is used to the end of -_Numbers_. - -[669] _Lit. Anec._, ii, 360. - -[670] _The History of England from the Invasion of Julius Cæsar to the -Revolution in 1688. By David Hume. London: printed by T. Bensley, for -Robert Bowyer, 1806._ 10 vols. Folio. - -[671] _Gent. Mag._, 1792, p. 166. - -[672] John William Pasham, originally of Bury St. Edmund’s, where he -published the _Bury Flying Weekly Journal_. He removed to Blackfriars -in London, where, in 1776, he published a beautiful pocket edition -of the _Bible_ in 24mo, which obtained the title of the _Immaculate -Bible_, on account of the rarity of its errors. It had foot-notes, -which could be cut off in the binding if required. Of this _Bible_, -Lemoine says “it is spoiled by being dried in a kiln, which has -entirely changed the colour of the paper; besides, the colour of the -print is uneven, one side being darker than the other.” This _Bible_ -is said to have been printed in a house on Finchley Common. Mr. Pasham -died Dec. 1783. - -[673] See _ante_, p. 250. - -[674] The prefatory note to this specimen runs as follows:—“Sir, Having -completed my new Specimen, I take the opportunity of sending you a -copy, and flatter myself it will meet with your approbation. I shall -be happy to receive your future orders, and you may be assured of -every possible attention being paid to the execution of those you may -favour me with. I remain, your obedient humble servant, William Caslon. -Salisbury Square, Jan. 1, 1798.” - -[675] He made an offer in 1817 to travel on commission for the founders -generally, but his services in this direction were not made use of. - -[676] The Circular announcing this improvement is dated Salisbury -Square, Jan. 1, 1810. The new types are offered at 1_s._ 10_d._ per -lb., and, as an encouragement to buyers, 1_s._ per lb. is offered for -old metal. - -[677] See _ante_, p. 120. This appears to have been intended as an -improvement on the invention of Nicholson, who was the first (in 1790) -to suggest the casting of types wedge-shaped, for fixing on cylinders. -(p. 119.) - -[678] Considerable prominence is naturally given to the large letters -“cast in moulds and matrices” by the new “Sanspareil” method. - -[679] See _ante_, p. 281. - -[680] George Nicol was born in 1741, and was for many years bookseller -to King George III. He married a niece of the first Alderman Boydell -in 1787. The idea of the Boydell _Shakespeare_ originated with him. He -was a prominent member of the literary clubs of his day, and a personal -friend of the Duke of Roxburghe. He died in 1829, aged 88. - -[681] A history of this celebrated Press would almost involve a history -of fine printing in the first quarter of the present century. Dibdin, -in the second volume of his _Bibliographical Decameron_, has given a -list of its most famous impressions. Bulmer was a personal friend of -Thomas Bewick, the engraver, many of whose blocks were cut for his -books. He spared no pains to render the typography of his press the -most correct and beautiful England had hitherto known. He retired in -1819, leaving Mr. Wm. Nicol, only son of his friend George Nicol, to -carry on the business. Mr. Bulmer died Sept. 9, 1830, in his 74th year, -greatly honoured and respected. - -[682] _The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare. Revised by G. -Steevens._ London: 1792–1802. 18 parts in 9 vols. Atlas folio. With 100 -engravings. - -[683] _Bibl. Decam._, ii, 384. - -[684] _The Poetical Works of John Milton, with a life of the Author by -William Hayley._ London: 1794–7. 3 vols. Folio. - -[685] See _ante_, p. 251. - -[686] _Bibl. Decam._, ii, 384. - -[687] _Poems by Goldsmith and Parnell._ London: 1795. 4to. This work -was illustrated with woodcuts by Bewick. It is said that George III -ordered his bookseller to procure the blocks of the engravings for -his inspection, that he might convince himself they were wood and not -copper. - -[688] _Typographia_, p. 311. - -[689] Nichols, _Illust. Lit._, viii, 485. - -[690] _Musæus. The Loves of Hero and Leander. (Greek and English.) -London. Printed by W. Bulmer & Co. Typis Gulielmi Martin._ 1797. -4to. This work was privately printed by Mr. Bulmer for Mr. Grosvenor -Bedford, the translator. - -[691] _The Press: a Poem. Published as a Specimen of Typography by John -M^cCreery. Liverpool: printed by J. M^cCreery._ Houghton Street, 1803. -4to. - -[692] _Typographical Antiquities, &c., greatly enlarged, with copious -notes, by T. F. Dibdin_, London: 1810–12–16–19. 4 vols. 4to. The work -was not completed. The first volume was not printed at the Shakespeare -Press. - -[693] _Bibliotheca Spenceriana; or, a Descriptive Catalogue of Books -printed in the XV Century, and of many valuable First Editions in the -Library of George John, Earl Spencer._ London: 1814–15. 4 vols. 8vo. - -[694] _The Bibliographical Decameron; or, Ten Days’ Pleasant Discourse -upon Illuminated Manuscripts, and Subjects connected with early -Engraving, Typography and Bibliography._ London, 1817. 3 vols, 8vo. - -[695] Amongst which were the early publications of the Roxburghe Club, -instituted by Earl Spencer, in 1812, for the republication of rare -books or unpublished MSS. M. Renouard censures Bulmer for the use of -worn type in the Edition of _Ben Jonson’s Works_, 1816. 9 vols. 8vo. -“L’habile M. Bulmer aurait dû jeter à la fonte les caractères usés -dont il a fait usage pour cette volumineuse édition, et les libraires -entrepreneurs n’auroient pas dû lui en permettre l’emploi.” - -[696] _Illust. Lit._, viii, 485. - -[697] An early specimen of Thorowgood’s shows a Black, the matrices of -which, it is stated, “were purchased by Messrs. Fry & Steele at the -breaking up of the Cleveland Row Foundry.” As, however, Messrs. Fry -& Steele’s partnership terminated about 1808, we consider the whole -statement doubtful. - -[698] _Lit. Anec._, ii, 361. - -[699] Hansard. _Typographia_, 359. - -[700] See _ante_, p. 323. - -[701] _The Seasons. By James Thomson. Illustrated with Engravings by -F. Bartolozzi, R.A., and P. W. Tomkins, Historical Engraver to their -Majesties, from original pictures painted for the work by W. Hamilton, -R.A. London: Printed for P. W. Tomkins, New Bond Street. The letter -press by T. Bensley. The Types by V. Figgins._ 1799. Folio. - -[702] _Typographia_, p. 360. - -[703] _Paradise Lost, by John Milton, with Notes and Life of the -Author. . . . By Samuel Johnson, LL.D. Engravings by Heath, &c. London: -Printed for J. Parsons, 1796._ 2 vols. 8vo. - -[704] Sir William Ouseley was born in 1771, and accompanied his -brother Sir Gore Ouseley, the ambassador to Persia, to that country as -secretary. He published _Persian Miscellanies_ in 1795, and _Oriental -Collections_ in 1797–1800. In the advertisement at the close of the -1st volume of the latter work, he states, “I have employed a few -leisure hours in superintending the execution of a new Persian Type, -which will, I trust, exhibit as faithful a representation of the -true Taleek character as can be effected by any imitative powers of -the Typographick Art.” Of this new fount he shows a single line as -specimen, which, however, if cut by Mr. Figgins, is not the Paragon -Persian which subsequently appeared in his specimen books. Nor did -it appear, as promised, in the _Oriental Collections_ of 1798, the -quotations in which continued to be printed in Arabic characters. - -[705] _The Persian Moonshee, by Francis Gladwin, Esquire. Calcutta. -London, reprinted 1801._ 4to. - -[706] This important enquiry was the result of an address of the -House of Commons to the King, in 1800, setting forth the necessity of -a better provision for the arrangement, preservation and use of the -various Public Records scattered among the numerous offices of the -kingdom. The Commission thereupon appointed were empowered to take all -necessary measures to “methodize, regulate and digest the records, -etc.”, preserved in all Public Offices and repositories, and “to -superintend the printing of such calendars and indexes and original -records and papers” as it should be deemed desirable to print. With -this large task before them, the Commissioners went actively to work, -and in 1800 and 1806 published their first Reports. The following -important publication, issued under the Direction of the Commission, -was commenced in 1800:—_Reports from the Commissioners appointed to -execute the measures recommended by a Select Committee of the House of -Commons respecting the Public Records of the Kingdom, etc._, London, -1800–19, 2 vols., folio. The appendix forming the second volume -contains facsimiles of all the Charters (including Magna Charta) and -Inrollments from Stephen to William and Mary, with the Seals inserted -in the several works printed under the Commission. The list of the -subsequent publications of the Commission is very extensive, and -includes verbatim copies, with all abbreviations and contractions, of -the most important documents in the kingdom. - -[707] The first important work in connection with the Scotch Record -Commission was _Inquisitionum ad Capellam Domini Regis retornatarum quæ -in publicis Archivis Scotiæ adhuc servantur Abbrevatio cum Indicibus_, -Edinburgh, 1811–16, 3 vols., folio, and a Supplement. - -[708] These types perished in the fire of Mr. Nichols’ printing office -in 1808, see _ante_, p. 321. - -[709] _Lit. Anec._, ii, 361. - -[710] _Biblia Sacra Polyglotta, Textus Archetypos, Versionesque -præcipuas ab Ecclesiâ Antiquitùs receptas complectentia._ London: -1817–28. 5 parts, 4to, 4 vols., 8vo. This Bible comprises the original -Hebrew text of the Old Testament, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the -Septuagint Greek version of the Old Testament, the Vulgate Latin and -the Authorised English version of the entire Bible, the original Greek -of the New Testament, and the venerable Peschito or Syriac version -of it. This _Polyglot_ was republished with the addition of Spanish, -French, Italian, and German versions in 1831, with learned prolegomena -by Dr. Samuel Lee. - -[711] See _ante_, p. 308. - -[712] _Novum Testamentum Syriace denuo recognitum atque ad fidem -Codicum MSS. emendatum. Impressit R. Watts._ London 1816, 4to. -Dr. Buchanan was born in 1766 and went to India in 1796, where -his researches led to the discovery, among other things, of some -interesting Hebrew Manuscripts of portions of the Bible, on goat skins -and tablets of brass. He died in the year 1815. The Syriac _Testament_ -was corrected by him as far as the _Acts_, and completed by Dr. Lee, -Arabic Professor at Cambridge. See _ante_, p. 68. - -[713] _Typographia_, p. 360. - -[714] The matrices of the Long Primer and Brevier cut for the Scotch -Record Commission were given up to the Government. - -[715] Hansard omits the Double Pica Greek cut for Oxford University, -the matrices of which were retained by Mr. Figgins. A specimen appears -in the book of 1823. - -[716] The fount for Bagster’s _Polyglot_. - -[717] The punches, matrices and moulds of this fount were deposited in -the East India Company’s Library. - -[718] It would be an omission not to mention here Mr. Vincent Figgins -II’s interesting reprint of the 2nd Edition of Caxton’s _Game of the -Chesse_, London, 1855, sm. folio. Mr. Figgins cut a fount of type -after the original, “which” he remarks, “is a mixture of black-letter -and the character called secretary,” the black predominating. The -“Caxton Black” so produced has been the only attempt made to approach -a facsimile of Caxton’s letter by means of type. In his remarks, Mr. -Figgins gives his reasons for concluding, from the variety in the -form of the letters, that they were not cast from a matrix but cut -separately by hand. This theory Mr. Blades, in his “_Life of Caxton_,” -disproves, pointing out that the Type No. 2* used in the second edition -of Caxton’s work is really an old fount originally cast from matrices, -and, when worn, trimmed up by hand to form the punches for a new -fount—a circumstance amply sufficient to account for the irregularities -observed. These irregularities are, of course, sufficient to prevent -the absolute possibility of anything like an exact facsimile by means -of type. It is, however, interesting to note that John Whittaker’s -famous restorations of Caxtonian and other early printed works, were to -a certain extent accomplished by means of typography. Mr. Dibdin, in -his _Bibliographical Decameron_ (ii, 415), describes the operation as -follows:—“He has caused to be engraved or cut four founts of Caxton’s -letter. These are cut in the manner of binders’ tools for lettering, -and each letter is separately charged with ink, and separately -impressed on the paper. Some of Caxton’s types are so riotous and -unruly that Mr. Whittaker found it impossible to carry on his design -without having at least twenty of such irregular letters engraved. -The process of executing the text with such tools shall be related in -Mr. Whittaker’s own words:—‘A tracing being taken with the greatest -precision from the original leaf, on white tracing paper, it is then -laid on the leaf (first prepared to match the book it is intended for) -with a piece of blacked paper between the two. Then by a point passing -round the sides of each letter, a true impression is given from the -black paper on the leaf beneath. The types are next stamped on singly, -being charged with old printing ink prepared in colour exactly to -match each distinct book. The type being then set on the marks made -by tracing, in all the rude manner and at the same unequal distances -observable in the original, they will bear the strictest scrutiny -and comparison with their prototype; it being impossible to make a -facsimile of Caxton’s printing in any other way, as his letters are -generally set up irregularly and at unequal distances, leaning various -ways,’ ” etc. - -[719] See _ante_, p. 241. - -[720] _Printers’ Grammar_, p. 31. - -[721] See _ante_, p. 212, _n._ - -[722] Mr. Ilive the elder is named in Samuel Negus’s list of Printers, -published by Bowyer in 1724, as one of those “said to be high flyers”. -He was a benefactor to Zion College, and printed the classical -catalogue of their library from the letter P. - -[723] _Marius de Calasio. Concordantiæ Bibliorum Hebr. et Lat. edente -Guil. Romaine_, 4 vols., Lond. 1747, folio. - -[724] _Anecdotes of Bowyer_, p. 130. - -[725] “Emboldened by his first adventure, he determined to become the -public teacher of infidelity. For this purpose he hired the use of -Carpenters’ Hall, where for some time he delivered his Orations, which -consisted chiefly of scraps from Tindal and other similar writers” -(Chalmers’ _Biog. Dict._, xix, 228). - -[726] _The Book of Jasher. With Testimonies and Notes explanatory -of the Text. To which is prefixed various Readings. Translated into -English from the Hebrew, by Alcuin of Britain, who went a Pilgrimage -into the Holy Land, etc. Printed in the year 1751._ 4to. The fraud -was immediately detected and exposed. The work was reprinted, without -acknowledgment and with some variations, at Bristol in 1829, by a Rev. -C. R. Bond. Both editions are now rare. - -[727] _Dissert._, p. 65. - -[728] These are enumerated in Gough’s _British Topography_, i, 637. - -[729] _British Topography_, i, 597. - -[730] See _ante_, p. 260. - -[731] _A Specimen of the Printing Types and Flowers belonging to John -Reid, Printer, Bailie Fyfe’s Close, Edinburgh, etc._ Edinburgh, 1768. -8vo. All the other founts shown are either Wilson’s or Caslon’s. - -[732] _History of Printing in America. 2nd Edit. Albany_, 1874. i, 31. - -[733] The first attempt to introduce type-founding in America had been -made by Mitchelson, a Scotchman, in 1768, and failed. In 1769, Abel -Buel, of Connecticut, succeeded in casting several founts of Long -Primer. Christopher Sower, in 1772, brought over a foundry from Germany -to Germantown in Pennsylvania. John Bay also founded in the same town -about 1774. Benj. Franklin and his grandson Bache brought over a -foundry from France in 1775 to Philadelphia, which, however, had ceased -its operations when Baine and his grandson, some ten years later, -established their foundry in the same city. - -[734] See _Abridgments of Specifications relating to Printing_, p. 87. -See also _ante_, p. 78. - -[735] _Typog. Antiq._, p. 81. This appears to be the person whom Gough, -in his list of departed worthies of the eighteenth century, includes -among the letter founders, as “Jurisson, d. 1791”. (_Gent. Magaz._, -lxxiii, part i, p. 161.) - -[736] See _ante_, p. 269. - -[737] “British Foundry. S. & C. Stephenson respectfully submit the -present edition of their Specimen to the public with the hope that they -shall continue to experience the flattering encouragement hitherto -received, and for which they beg to return their most sincere thanks. - -“To those of the Trade who have not hitherto used the Types of the -British Foundry, it may be necessary to observe, that they are composed -of the very best Metal, and that they are justified to paper and body -agreeable to the usual standard. - -“As the Establishment of this Foundry comprises eminent engravers on -wood and brass, orders in either of these branches will be executed in -the best stile of the Art. _February_, 1797.” - -A first part of the specimen appears to have been issued in 1796, and -the whole book in 1797. - -[738] _Bibliography of Printing_, ii, 42. - -[739] _Typog._, p. 366. - -[740] _Ibid._, p. 361. - -[741] A specimen of this type “the smallest ever manufactured in this -country,” was exhibited, and contains the whole of Gray’s _Elegy_ in 32 -verses, in 2 columns, measuring 3 3/4 inches each in depth. - -[742] _Dictionary for the Pocket; French and English; English and -French, &c., by John Bellows, Gloucester, from type cast specially for -the work by Miller and Richard, Type founders to the Queen, Edinburgh._ -1873. 24mo. - -[743] Sheffield, 3rd edit., 1841, 12mo. A similar proposal, only with -Nonpareil as the standard, was made about 1824 by James Fergusson, -whose scheme is quoted _in extenso_ by Hansard in his _Typographia_, p. -388. - -[744] _The Printer’s Assistant, containing a Sketch of the History of -Printing, etc. London, 1810._ 12mo. - -[745] _Typog._, p. 382. - -[746] See _ante_, p. 253–4; also Johnson’s _Typographia_, ii, 652. - -[747] Mr. Branston was an engraver, and resided at Beaufort Buildings, -Strand, in 1824. He attempted a new system of printing music, by -striking the punches deeper than usual in the plate, so that when a -stereo cast was taken from it, the notes appeared sufficiently in -relief to be printed at a type press. - -[748] See _ante_, p. 121. M. Didot’s invention had been previously -tried by Henry Caslon, but unsuccessfully. - -[749] This appears to be an anachronism. There was no association of -Type Founders between 1820 and 1830. - -[750] Hansard, _Typog._, p. 361. - -[751] Johnson, in 1824, gives a list of nine founders (including -Pouchée), at that time trading in London. (_Typog._, ii, 652.) - - - - -TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE - -Original spelling and grammar have generally been retained, with some -exceptions noted below. Original printed page numbers are shown like -this: {52}. Original small caps are now uppercase. Italics look _like -this_. The transcriber produced the cover image and hereby assigns -it to the public domain. Original page images are available from -archive.org — search for “historyofoldengl00reed”. Single superscripted -letters are shown like this: “M^cCreery”. Superscripted groups of -letters (e.g. “er”) are shown like this: “I^{er}”. - -Footnotes have been renumbered 1–751 and converted to ENDNOTES. Anchors -and labels for endnotes are shown as numbers within square brackets, -e.g. “[751]”. However, there are two exceptions: on page 256, “[11]” -and “[2]” do not reference footnotes or endnotes, but are shown as -originally printed. - -Ditto marks have generally been eliminated, using text replication -when necessary. Large curly brackets “{ }” used as graphic devices to -combine information over two or more lines have been removed from the -text everywhere. Example: in the table on page 35, first column, 9th -and 10th rows, there was a two-row bracket “{” suggesting that “9.” -applies to both rows. Herein, “9.” was simply duplicated to indicate -that fact. The row headed by “17. Pearl” contains in the second -column, in the original printed book, two rows containing “Parisienne -or Sedan.” and “Perle.”, enclosed in two-row brackets “{ }”. Herein, -table-cell borders have been drawn to suggest this combination. - -Page xi, CONTENTS. Chapter 3 page reference was changed -to 83, from 13. - -Page 32n. “fromer” to “former”. - -Page 35. “Grobe” to “Große”, in two places in the table. - -Page 38. “Geeek” to “Greek”. - -Page 49. The left double quotation mark in ‘observed in 1825, “have -left’ has no closing mark. Several other puzzling usages of quotation -marks elsewhere have also been retained. - -Page 51n. The proofreading code “[*pro]” is used herein to represent a -symbol originally printed as a latin small p with a hook, used as an -abbreviation for _pro_. - -Page 52. The proofreading code “[*Q]” on this page represents the -stylized Q originally printed. - -Page 138. The proofreading code “[*Q]” on this page represents two -glyphs, a Gothic Q, and the same glyph turned about 90° clockwise. - -Page 156. The illustration has been changed from number 41 -to 31, to agree with the List of Illustrations. - -Page 159. The proofreading code “[*AT]” on this page represents a glyph -that appears to be a ligature of T and A. - -Page 190n. The phrase _or here (Mason’s_ was changed to _or here” -(Mason’s_, by inserting the missing right double quotation mark. - -Page 205n. The phrase “P. VergiliI Maronis Codex” is retained as -printed. - -Page 274n. A matching right double quotation mark was inserted after ‘Η -Καινη Διαθηκη’. - -Page 320. Changed “emploeyd” to “employed”. - -Page 369 INDEX. The use of punctuation, particularly semicolons, -colons, and the 3-em dashes that function as ditto marks, seems often -inconsistent or strange. It is generally retained herein as printed. -The organization and structure of the original index is retained as -well. - - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A History of the Old English Letter -Foundries, by Talbot Baines Reed - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF THE OLD ENGLISH *** - -***** This file should be named 54365-0.txt or 54365-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/4/3/6/54365/ - -Produced by Chris Curnow, RichardW, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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