The Art & Practice of Typography / A Manual of American Printing, Including a Brief History up to the Twentieth Century, with Reproductions of the Work of Early Masters of the Craft, and a Practical Discussion and an Extensive Demonstration of the Modern Use of Type-faces and Methods of Arrangement

by Edmund G. Gress

EXAMPLE 276
Professional stationery must be treated with dignity and refinement. The type should be small

EXAMPLE 277
Suggested treatment for church stationery of the conventional kind. A text letter is appropriate and is usually satisfying

EXAMPLE 278
As a change from the style shown in Example [276], professional stationery could be treated in this manner in one body size of a modern job type

LETTERHEADS & ENVELOPS

Is there a standard size of letter sheet and envelop for commercial correspondence? A look thru the letter files of any business house will reveal the interesting fact that most of the letters are on sheets measuring 8½ × 11 inches. Letter sheets of about this size have been in use for many years. From De Vinne’s Price List of 1871 we learn that 10 × 16 inches (8 × 10 folded) was the favorite size of letter sheet, and that for commercial letters the size 10¾ × 17 inches (8½ × 10¾ folded) was sometimes required.

Note sheets were then in two sizes: Commercial note, 8 × 10 inches (5 × 8 folded); and packet note, 9 × 11¼ inches (5⅝ × 9 folded).