The Printer in Eighteenth-Century Williamsburg / An Account of His Life & Times, & of His Craft

An Account of his Life & Times, & of his Craft
Williamſburg Craft Series
WILLIAMSBURG Publiſhed by Colonial Williamſburg MMI
The paragraphs on this Page and the next have been ſet in an eighteenth-century Manner. The Type uſed is Caſlon , developed in the early Part of the eighteenth Century by William Caſlon , the greateſt of the Engliſh Letter Founders. Caſlon in 1734 iſſued his firſt Broadſide Specimen Sheet of Type Faces cut at his Foundry during the preceding Decade and a Half.
Although Caſlon is famous for the beautiful Type that bears his Name, he deſerves equal Credit for deſigning ſome of the moſt handſome Type Ornaments or “Flowers” ever developed, before or after his Time. Such Type Flowers had many Uſes—to embelliſh Initial Letters at the Beginning of a Chapter in a Book; as decorative Devices in a ſingle Row over a Type Heading ſtarting a new Page in a Book; or over Headings each Time a new Subject was introduced in a Text. Flowers were caſt to all the regular Bodies of the Letter from the ſmall ( Nonpareil ) to the large ( Great Primer ) Size. The Type Flowers uſed at the Head of this Page, in the built-up Initial opening the firſt Paragraph, and elſewhere in this Publication are reproduced from original eighteenth-century Flowers excavated at the Site of the Printing Office on Duke of Glouceſter Street in Williamſburg .
The longs “s” ſo evident in theſe Paragraphs originated in the German Hand Script. Early German Type Founders attempted to reproduce Handwriting as cloſely as poſſible. In the Attempt the long “s” was evolved and was adopted by the firſt Engliſh Printers who learned their Trade from the Germans . The long “s” remained in general Uſe until about the Year 1800. It was always uſed at the Beginning and in the Middle of a Word, but never to terminate a Word. It can eaſily be recognized by the Fact of having only half a Croſſbar or none at all, whereas the Letter “f” has a full Croſſbar.
Ligatures, ſuch as ct, ſb, ſſ, ſi, ſſi, ſk, ſl, ſſl, ſt, fi, ffi, ff, fl, ffl, were developed where a long “s” or an “f” overlapped the following Letter. Caſting the two Characters together avoided Damage to the overlapping Letter. Although ſome Ligatures have fallen into Diſuſe, the fi, ffi, ff, fl, and ffl are ſtill common today.