Examples might be indefinitely multiplied from many an old book, so I will quote but one more instance. The word preserve spelt with a long s might without much carelessness be misread preferre (I Henry VI., iii. 2), and thus entirely alter the sense.
``III. Errors from a `foul case.'—This class of errors is of an entirely different <p 107>kind from the two former. They came from within the man, and were from the brain; this is from without, mechanical in its origin as well as in its commission. As many readers may never have seen the inside of a printing office, the following short explanation may be found useful: A `case' is a shallow wooden drawer, divided into numerous square receptacles called `boxes,' and into each box is put one sort of letter only, say all a's, or b's, or c's. The compositor works with two of these cases slanting up in front of him, and when, from a shake, a slip, or any other accident, the letters become misplaced the result is technically known as `a foul case.' A further result is, that the fingers of the workman, although going to the proper box, will often pick up a wrong letter, he being entirely unconscious the while of the fact.
``Now, if we can discover any law which governs this abnormal position of the types —if, for instance, we can predicate that the letter o, when away from its own, will be more frequently found in the box appropriated to letter a than any other; that b <p 108>has a general tendency to visit the l box, and l the v box; and that d, if away from home, will be almost certainly found among the n's; if we can show this, we shall then lay a good foundation for the re-examination of many corrupt or disputed readings in the text of Shakspere, some of which may receive fresh life from such a treatment.
``To start with, let us obtain a definite idea of the arrangement of the types in both `upper' and `lower' case in the time of Shakspere—a time when long s's, with the logotypes ct, ff, fi, ffi, ffl, sb, sh, si, sl, ss, ssi, ssl, and others, were in daily use.''
Mr. Blades then refers to Moxon's Mechanical Exercises, 1683, which contains a representation of the compositors' cases in the seventeenth century, which may be presumed to be the same in form as those used in Shakespeare's day. Various alterations have been made in the arrangement of the cases, with the object of placing the letters more conveniently. The present form is shown on pp. 110, 111. <p 109>
Mr. Blades proceeds: ``The chief cause of a `foul' case was the same in Shakspere's time as now; and no one interested in the subject should omit visiting a printing office, where he could personally inspect the operation. Suppose a compositor at work `distributing'; the upper and lower cases, one above the other, slant at a considerable angle towards him, and as the types fall quickly from his fingers they form conical heaps in their respective boxes, spreading out in a manner very similar to the sand in the lower half of an hour-glass. Now, if the compositor allows his case to become too full, the topmost letters in each box will certainly slide down into the box below, and occasionally, though rarely, into one of the side boxes. When such letters escape notice, they necessarily cause erroneous spelling, and sometimes entirely change the whole meaning of a sentence. But now comes the important question: Are errors of this kind ever discovered, and especially do they occur in Shakspere? Doubtless they do, but to what extent a long and careful examination alone can
<Table>
UPPER CASE.
<a'> <e'> <i'> <o'> <u'> <SE> <DDag> A B C D E F G
<a!> <e!> <i!> <o!> <u!> <||> <Dag> H I K L M N O
<a^> <e^> <i^> <o^> <u^> <?> <*> P Q R S T V W
X Y Z <AE> <OE> U J X Y Z <AE> <OE> U J
<a:> <e:> <i:> <o:> <u:> <c,> <Pd> A B C D E F G
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 H I K L M N O
8 9 0 <1/4> <1/2> <3/4> k P Q R S T V W
LOWER CASE.
& [ ] <ae> <oe> j ' Thin and ( ) ? ! ; Leaders. fl
middling spaces.
— e Leaders. ff
b c d i s f g
ffl Leaders. fi
ffi En Em
l m n h o y p , w quads. quads.
Hair
spaces.
z q :
v u t thick spaces a r Large quods.
x . <.>
<EndTable>
<p 112>show. As examples merely, and to show the possible change in sense made by a single wrong letter, I will quote one or two instances:—
`Were they not forc'd with those that should be ours,
We might have met them darefull, beard to beard.'
Macbeth, v. 5.[9]