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.
Printers alſo applied, through much of the Century, ſome Rules of Style which the modern Reader may find odd if not awkward. For Example, they began all Nouns with a capital Letter, thus diſtinguiſhing them from other Parts of Speech ſuch as Adjectives, Verbs, &c. In the ſame Faſhion, they capitalized Expreſſions of particular Emphaſis, and Titles of Honor and Eminence. The Names of Perſons and Places they not only began with capital Letters but usually ſet in Italic Type as well.
With the exception of certain Scottiſh faces, small Capitals were found in Roman Fonts of Type only. They were employed to denote Emphaſis and Streſs, and were uſed where the large Capitals would not fit, i.e., were too long. Small Capitals were alſo found in the firſt Word of the firſt Paragraph after every Break in Context of a Chapter or Section of Text.
Strange though ſome eighteenth-century Printing may appear to today’s Reader, there is one Point that ſhould be ſtreſſed. The Idioſyncracies of a Type Page of the Period were not merely Whims of individual Printers. They were the Faſhion of the Time. When a Printer uſed ſeveral Sizes and Styles of Type on a Page, he was practicing what he and his Contemporaries conſidered to be good Typography.
The Printer in
Eighteenth-Century
Williamsburg
The Printer in Eighteenth-Century Williamsburg
