But a certain differentiation in the direction of squareness soon became apparent, as we have already noticed in the case of rock inscriptions; it was found easier to cut squarely-shaped letters than rounded or cursive forms.
So letters cut for the purpose of being printed tended gradually to differentiate themselves from their written analogues, and a new kind of designing came into existence. It was, however, always necessary to preserve as much of the original form of the letters as possible, otherwise they might fail to be recognised.
Printers have always liked to show their types, and from the catalogue printed by Schöffer about 1469 to Caslon’s eighteenth century specimens, there have been numbers of them made and issued. A short study of these specimens will show, firstly, how very much they are copied one from another, and secondly, that no designer of genius seems ever to have appeared. All that can be said is that some are uglier than others. It has not been for want of trying, as Geoffrey Tory shows in his Champfleury, but, except as to Greek types, in which Robert Procter has, by his counsel, met with much success, there is no doubt that good types for printing are rare.
In the eighteenth century P. E. Fournier caused much improvement in French types, both by his example and his writings. He was the son of a typefounder, and began as a wood engraver, but eventually followed in his father’s footsteps and became a typefounder himself. Fournier published a table of types in 1737, with suggestions for designing them, but his most important work is the Manuel typographique, which is an important work on the subject, and had widespread influence.
In the matter of facsimiles of early printed books, it may be well here to say a word or two of warning. Photography has revolutionised many things, it has destroyed some of the minor arts, but in book production it has had far-reaching effect, much of which is good.
It has also opened up several new industries, and now photo-lithographs, collotypes, half-tone blocks, and prints from line blocks made by the swelled gelatine or other processes, can be so wonderfully like the original, that a page of old printing made by one or other of these methods will often deceive an ordinary purchaser. There are many such facsimiles in the market, and the best advice I can give as to them is that very great attention should be given to the paper on which they are done, as this will often give the secret away. The texture and appearance of old paper is worthy of careful study, because nearly all the photo-mechanical processes need a paper which is radically different to the thick good rag-made papers which were used before cheap modern papers were thought of.
Type founding in England was first carried on in the sixteenth century, when John Day made some Anglo-Saxon types for Archbishop Parker.
Moxon, who wrote the “Mechanics of Printing” in 1693, issued the first English specimen sheet of types in 1669, and in 1776 William Caslon, “Letter-founder of London,” issued a specimen of his printing types.
Page from William Caslon’s “Specimen of Printing Types.” (London, 1766.) [To face p. 98.