TYPE FACES (CONTINUED).
THE LEARNED, FOREIGN, AND PECULIAR CHARACTERS.
GREEK.
Greek type first occurs in the _Cicero de Officiis_, printed at
Mentz in 1465, at the press of Fust and Schoeffer. The fount used is
exceedingly rude and imperfect, many of the letters being ordinary
Latin.[111] In the same year Sweynheim and Pannartz at Subiaco used a
good Greek letter for some of the quotations occurring in _Lactantius_;
but the supply being short, the larger quotations were left blank, to
be filled in by hand. The first book wholly printed in Greek was the
_Grammar of Lascaris_, by Paravisinus, in Milan, in 1476, in types
stated to be cut and cast by Demetrius of Crete. The fount (about
a Great Primer in body) is a curious one, and contains breathings,
accents and a few abbreviations. The headings to the chapters are
wholly in capitals, which are very bold.[112] It is to the glory
of Milan that not only was the first Greek book printed within its
walls, but also the first Greek classic and the first portion of the
Greek Scriptures. The former was the _Æsop_, printed, it is supposed,
in 1480, but without printer’s name. The resemblance, however, {58}
between the fount of this work and that of the _Lactantius_ is so
close that there seems much reason for crediting Paravisinus with the
performance. The Greek of the _Psalter_ of 1481 is very different, the
lower-case being larger, and remarkably bold and compact in appearance.
The capitals generally resemble the _Lactantius_ fount.
Jenson, at Venice, appears to have cut Greek type as early as
about 1470. In 1486 two Cretan printers produced respectively
a Greek _Psalter_, with accents and breathings, and Homer’s
_Batrachomyomachia_. It was, however, reserved to Florence to boast
of the first complete edition of _Homer_, which was printed in that
city in 1488. This work, one of the most glorious monuments of
the typographic art, appears in a beautiful Great Primer type, of
remarkable elegance and neatness, with few abbreviations. The printer
was Demetrius of Crete.
But it was at Venice that Greek printing was destined to reach its
greatest excellence in the fifteenth century, at the press of Aldus,
who in 1495 produced his famous _Aristotle_, in a beautiful letter
which eclipsed all its predecessors. His fount was about a Double Pica
in body, and much bolder and more imposing than any which had yet
appeared, as well as being better cast and justified. The splendid
Greek impressions of the elder Aldus are too well known to need further
notice here. Renouard mentions nine separate founts used at this press.
The fame of the Italian Greek presses early roused emulation in France.
Among the first printers of Paris, however, the Greek quotations and
words introduced in their works were scanty and indifferent. Gering
used but a very few letters, and Jodocus Badius, in 1505, excused the
poverty of his _Annotationes in Nov. Testamentum_, by pleading the
paucity of his types. The early works of the first Henri Estienne
were similarly defective. In 1507, however, Greek punches were cut
and matrices struck by Gilles de Gourmont, and the first wholly Greek
work was printed at his press in this year, being a Greek _Alphabet_,
with rules for pronunciation and reading. In the same year he also
printed the _Batrachomyomachia_. Greek printing, once started in Paris,
made rapid progress. Jodocus Badius, Vidouvé, Colinæus, and Christian
Wechel, all distinguished themselves. Geofroy Tory contributed largely
to the improvement in the form of the character. But it was not till
Robert Estienne, with the title of “Regius in Græcis Typographus,”[113]
commenced his career, that Greek printing reached its greatest
perfection in France. On the establishment of an Imprimerie Royale
by Francis I,[114] Claude Garamond, the first typographical artist
of his day, {59} was entrusted with the care of engraving punches
and preparing matrices for three founts of Greek, about an English,
Long Primer, and Double Pica in body, which henceforth became famous
throughout Europe as the “Characteres Regii.”[115] These characters,
modelled as to their capitals on the alphabet of Lascaris, and as
to their “lower-case” and abbreviations from the beautiful Greek
calligraphy of Angelus Vergetius of Candia, first appeared in the
_Eusebius_, printed, in 1544,[116] by Robert Estienne, to whom the
use of the types was, by virtue of his office, conceded, and who
employed them in the production of some of the most brilliant Greek
impressions Europe has ever seen.[117] During the seventeenth century
the Royal Greek punches and matrices lay for the most part idle; but
in 1691, Anisson, Director of the Imprimerie Royale, rescued them from
obscurity, and caused new punches to be cut and matrices struck, to
supply what were missing, by Grandjean, the famous Parisian founder.
In the Low Countries, as early as 1501, Thierry Martens, at Louvain,
had Greek types with which he printed occasional words. He produced
an edition of _Æsop_ in 1513, and in 1516 a _Grammar_ of Theodore
de Gaza’s, and a little book of _Hours_, in Greek. The latter is
considered an excellent piece of typography. Greek printing attained
to considerable celebrity in the Low Countries. The Greek fount used
in Plantin’s _Polyglot_, in 1569–72, is said to have been cut by the
famous French founder and engraver, Le Bé.
Spain claims a prominent place in the history of early Greek
printing in Europe, as it was at Alcala in that country that the
famous _Complutensian Polyglot_ of Cardinal Ximenes was printed in
1514–17,[118] including the entire text of the Bible in Greek. The
fount employed in the New Testament is very grand and imposing, and is
said to have been cut specially for the work on the models of Greek
manuscripts of the eleventh or twelfth century.
Before the completion of this great work, Germany had secured the
honour of producing the first entire _Greek Testament_ at the press
of Froben of Basle. Froben’s Greek is somewhat cramped and stiff.
Oporinus, who printed in the {60} same city in 1551, besides using a
fount identical with that of Froben, introduced a smaller and much
neater letter at the same time. Numerous printers produced Greek works
in Germany at this period, perhaps the most famous being Andrew Wechel,
who began at Paris with types inherited from his father, but in 1573
established himself at Frankfort, where he printed several very fine
works in a new and most elegant Greek, said to have been acquired from
the Estiennes, to whose letter it bears the closest resemblance.
The first appearance of Greek type in England is observed in De Worde’s
edition of _Whitintoni Grammatices_, printed in 1519, where a few words
are introduced cut in wood. Cast types were used at Cambridge in a book
entitled _Galenus de Temperamentis_, translated by Linacre, and printed
by Siberch in 1521. Siberch styles himself the first Greek printer in
England; but the quotations in the _Galenus_ are very sparse, and he
is not known to have printed any entire book in Greek. In 1524, Pynson
also used some Greek words and lines, without accents or breathings,
in Linacre’s _De emendatâ structurâ Latini sermonis_; but added an
apology for the imperfections of the characters, which he said were but
lately cast, and in a small quantity. The first printer who possessed
Greek types in any quantity was Reginald Wolfe, who held a royal patent
as printer in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, and printed, in 1543, _Two
Homilies of Chrysostom_, edited by Sir John Cheke, the first Greek
Lecturer at Cambridge. Eight years later, in the first volume of Dr.
Turner’s _Herbal_, printed at Mierdman’s press in London, the Greek
words were given in Black, and quotations in Italic. In Edinburgh, in
1563, and as late as 1579, the space for Greek words was left blank
in printing, to be filled in by hand. The Oxford University press,
re-established in 1585, was well supplied with Greek types, which were
used in the _Chrysostom_ of 1586, and the _Herodotus_ of 1591. The
beautiful Greek fount used in the Eton _Chrysostom_[119] in 1610–12—a
work which takes rank with the finest Greek impressions in Europe—is
supposed to have been obtained from abroad, probably from Paris or
Frankfort. Its similarity to the Greek of the Estiennes is remarkable.
Indeed, the “characteres regii” of France were at that time, and for
long afterwards, the envy and models for all Europe. The Eton Greek
types, of which probably the matrices were not in England, were
acquired by the Oxford University, to which body, in 1632, application
was made by Cambridge for the loan of a Greek fount to print a _Greek
Testament_, the sister University possessing no Greek types of her
own. A Greek press was established in London in 1637, under peculiar
circumstances, which are detailed in our account of the Oxford press.
There is every reason to suppose that of the handsome Greek letter
provided {61} for this press,[120] not only the types, but the
matrices were acquired. After this, Greek printing became general in
London and Oxford. The various typefounders all provided themselves
with a good variety of sizes, some of which were very small and neat.
There was a very fine Brevier Greek in Grover’s foundry in 1700, and a
Nonpareil in that of Andrews in 1706; but for minute Greek printing,
England could produce nothing to equal the Sedan _Greek Testament_,
printed by Jannon in 1628.
As was the case with the Roman letter, many of our printers at the
close of the seventeenth century preferred the Dutch Greeks, which
at that time were good, particularly those cut by the Wetsteins.
Thomas James, in 1710, brought over the matrices of four founts from
Vosken’s foundry at Amsterdam. In 1700, Cambridge University, still
badly off for Greek, made an offer for the purchase of a fount of the
King’s Greek at Paris; but withdrew on the French Academy insisting
as a condition that every work printed should bear the imprint,
“Characteribus Græcis e Typographeo Regio Parisiensi.” The large number
of ligatures and abbreviations in the Greek of that day made the
production of a fount a serious business. The Oxford Augustin Greek
comprised no fewer than 354 matrices, and the Great Primer as many as
456, and the Pica 508; Fournier, however, went beyond all these, and
showed a fount containing 776 different sorts! The impracticability of
such enormous founts brought about a gradual reduction of the Greek
typographical ligatures—a reform for which the Dutch founders, under
the guidance of Leusden, deserve the chief credit. Fournier, in 1764,
stated that for some years previously, in Holland, Greek printing had
been carried on with the simple letters of the alphabet. Wilson’s
beautiful Double Pica Greek,[121] used in the Glasgow _Homer_ of 1756,
was in its day the finest Greek fount our country had ever seen. A
new departure, however, was initiated by the production, in 1763, of
Baskerville’s Greek fount[122] for the Oxford _New Testament_. The
letter is neat, but stiff and cramped, and apparently formed on an
arbitrary estimate of conventional taste, and without reference to
any accepted model. The fount was praised, and provoked imitation.
Baskerville’s apprentice, Martin, produced a letter still less Greek
than his master’s, and the general tendency was countenanced by the
form of Bodoni’s types, which were so much admired in this country
at the close of the century. A reaction, however, had begun before
Bodoni’s time. The Glasgow Greek kept its place in Wilson’s specimens;
and Jackson, encouraged by the younger Bowyer’s remark, that the Greek
types in common use “were no more Greek {62} than they were English,”
cut a beautiful Pica about 1785 for his rising foundry. Early in the
nineteenth century, a new fashion of Greek, for which Porson was
sponsor and furnished the drawings, came into vogue, and has remained
the prevailing form to this day. It may be doubted if the Porsonian
letter would be recognised by an ancient Greek scribe as the character
of his native land; but at any rate it is neat, elegant, and legible,
and dispenses with all useless contractions and ligatures. In taking
leave of this subject, it would be an omission not to mention the most
beautiful little fount in which Pickering printed his _Homer_, in 1831.
Probably no finer masterpiece of minute Greek printing exists anywhere.
HEBREW.
The first Hebrew types are generally supposed to have appeared in 1475,
in a work printed by Conrad Fyner, at Esslingen in Wirtemburg, entitled
_Tractatus contra perfidos Judæos_. In Pheibia, in Austrian Italy,
also in 1475, a Hebrew work in four folio volumes, entitled the _Arba
Turim of Rabbi Jacob ben Ascher_, is stated by De Rossi[123] to have
been printed; while in the same year, a few months earlier, at Reggio
in Italy, appeared Salamon Jarchi’s _Commentary on the Pentateuch_,
by Abraham ben Garton ben Isaac. The type of this last-named work
(which Schwab[124] considers without doubt to be the first Hebrew book
printed) is in the Rabbinical character, somewhat rudely cut, but neat.
Numerous other Hebrew works followed, earlier than 1488, at which date
the first entire Hebrew _Bible_ was printed at Soncino, by a family
of German Jews. This rare Bible is printed with points, and is neat
and regular in appearance. The volume itself is highly decorative, and
shows a considerable amount of typographical skill on the part of its
Jewish printers.
Hebrew printing did not spread very rapidly. De Rossi mentions several
works printed at Constantinople during the fifteenth century, as also
in the Italian towns to which the family of Soncino printers carried
the art. Aldus was possessed of some rude Hebrew characters; but it was
Bomberg, who established his Hebrew press in Venice in 1517, who raised
the fame of that already famous city by the excellence of his types
and workmanship. But as late as 1520, at Naples, in a treatise on the
Hebrew, Greek, and Latin letters, by De Falco, the Hebrew words, for
lack of types, were written in by hand.
In Western Europe, France was next to Italy in producing Hebrew type.
Mention is made of an _Alphabetum Hebraicum et Græcum_, printed by
Gilles de Gourmont in 1507; and in 1508 that able typographer, whose
distinction as {63} the first cutter of Greek type in France we have
already noticed, produced, under the conduct of his patron, Tissard,
a Hebrew _Grammar_, together with the _Oratio Dominica_, and other
passages in the sacred language. The types made use of were ill-formed
and imperfect. Although thus early initiated, Hebrew printing made
little or no progress for some years. Jodocus Badius showed a few
lines in 1511; and in 1516 Gourmont printed an _Alphabetum Hebraicum
et Græcum_. In 1519, Augustino Giustiniani, a native of Genoa, who
had already distinguished himself by superintending the production of
Porrus’ _Polyglot Psalter_ at that city in 1516, being invited to Paris
by the King, caused new punches and matrices of the Hebrew to be made
by Gourmont. The work took a year and a half to complete; when, in
1520, was published the _Grammar_ of the Rabbi Moses Kimhi, the first
wholly printed Hebrew work produced in Paris. From this time Hebrew
printing made steady progress in France. Most of the printers possessed
types, the Wechels and the Estiennes being the most distinguished in
their use of them.
In Spain the printers of the _Complutensian Polyglot_ made use of a
fine Hebrew fount in 1514–17.
In Germany, as early as 1501, in a book supposed to have been printed
at Erfurt, Hebrew letters occur, cut rudely on wood; and at Basle,
Strasburg, and Augsburg a similar primitive method was adopted, as it
was also in the case of the _Hebrew Grammar_ printed at Leipsic in
1520. In 1512, however, at Tübingen in Wirtemburg, the _Septem psalmi
pœnitentiales_ were printed in cast metal type. In 1534, at Basle,
the first _Hebrew Bible_ printed by a Gentile was produced at the
press of Bebel. Froben’s _Bible_, in the same town, in 1536, is in a
type inferior to that of Bomberg. The running titles are all in the
Rabbinical character. In 1587, Elias Hutter printed at Hamburg a Hebrew
_Bible_ in large type, in which the “radical” letters appear black in
the usual way, and the “serviles” are open, or in outline, while the
“quiescents” are in smaller solid letters placed above the line. This
Bible was reprinted in 1603, and is a typographical curiosity.
In the Low Countries, Hebrew words, probably cut in wood, occur in
the _Epistola apologetica Pauli de Middleburgo_, printed at Louvain
in 1488; and Gand[125] gives 1506 as the probable date of a _Hebrew
Dictionary, sine notâ_, but attributed to Martens. This, however,
appears doubtful, as in 1518 Martens first announced his intention
to print in Hebrew. His first-dated Hebrew work was a _Grammar_, in
1528; though Schwab considers that the Dictionary above referred to
properly belongs to the year 1520. Martens’ earliest founts were a
large Hebrew with vowel points, and a small, without. Hebrew printing
was also practised at {64} Leyden in 1520. The splendid type cut by
Le Bé, the Frenchman, for Plantin’s _Polyglot_, printed at Antwerp in
1569–72, placed the Netherlands in the front rank of Hebrew typography.
Amsterdam, during the seventeenth century, excelled all other cities in
its Hebrew printing. Abraham and Bonaventura Elzevir printed here in
Hebrew about 1630, and the Hebrew _Bibles_ of Janson in 1639, Athias in
1667, and Van der Hooght in 1705, are justly regarded as masterpieces
of Hebrew typography.
The first specimen of Hebrew printing in England occurs in Wakefield’s
_Oratio de laudibus et utilitate trium linguarum_, printed by De
Worde in 1524, where a few words appear, rudely cut on wood. In the
same work the author complained that he was compelled to omit a third
part, because the printer had no Hebrew types. Hebrew words cut in
wood are also used in Humfrey’s _Life of Bishop Jewell_, printed by
John Day in 1573; and Todd, in his _Life of Walton_, mentions a work
of Dr. Peter Baro on _Jonah_, printed at the same press in 1579, in
the preface to which occur several verses of Hebrew. As late as 1603
Dibdin points out that in a poem, published at Oxford, composed by
Dr. Thorne, Regius Professor of Hebrew at that University, a phrase
in Hebrew is added, with the remark, “Interserenda hoc in loco . . .
sed enim Typographo deerant characteres.” Todd, however, mentions a
work printed at Oxford in 1597, in which Hebrew type is used, while
a translation from _S. Chrysostom_, of John Willoughbie, printed by
Barnes in 1602, shows two distinct founts in use. The first English
book in which any quantity of Hebrew type was made use of was Dr.
Rhys’s _Cambro-brytannicæ Cymræcæve linguæ institutiones_, printed
by Thomas Orwin in 1592. Minsheu’s _Ductor in Linguas_, in 1617,
printed by John Browne, shows Hebrew which serves not only for its own
language, but also for the Syriac. And in 1621 John Bill used a newer
and better letter for printing Dr. Davies’s _Antiquæ linguæ Britannicæ
. . rudimenta_. The Hebrew fount made use of in Walton’s _Polyglot_
in 1657 was probably the first important fount cut and cast in this
country; and, as we shall have occasion to notice, was found fault with
by the critics of that great undertaking. Oxford received a great and
small Hebrew[126] among the matrices presented to her by Dr. Fell; and
both there and in London several Hebrew works were printed at the close
of the seventeenth century, although none of striking importance. It
is significant of the superior reputation of the Oxford Hebrew, that
the Hebrew and Chaldæan versions in the _Oratio Dominica_ of 1700 were
among the versions printed for the London publisher of that work in the
University types. Thomas James, although he visited Amsterdam in 1710,
at that time the centre of the best {65} Hebrew printing in Europe,
failed to secure any matrices; and most of those which subsequently
were added to his foundry appear to have been cut by English founders.
Among them were four founts of Rabbinical Hebrew,[127] for which
character there existed no matrices in England in Walton’s time, as he
was compelled to cut the alphabet shown in his Prolegomena in wood.
Mores counted as many as twenty-three different founts in James’s
foundry in his day, eight of which were with points, the remainder
without. For those without points it was early the practice to cast
points on a minute body, to be worked in a separate line below the
letter. Caslon cut several good founts of Hebrew (one of which was of
the open or outline description first introduced by Hutter); and during
the eighteenth century the character became a necessary part of the
stock of every founder. It would be difficult, however, to point to
any striking achievement in Hebrew typography earlier than Bagster’s
_Polyglot_ in 1817–21, in which the Hebrew text is printed in a very
small and beautiful type cut by Vincent Figgins, which in its day had
the reputation of being the smallest Hebrew with points in England, and
of equalling in size and exceeding in beauty even the elegant letter of
Jansson of Amsterdam, two centuries before.
ARABIC.
The first book printed in Arabic types is supposed to be a _Diurnale
græcorum Arabum_, printed at Fano in Italy, in 1514. Two years later,
Porrus’ _Polyglot Psalter_, comprising the Arabic version, was printed
at Genoa; and two years later still, a _Koran_ in Arabic is said to
have been printed at Venice. Thus, says De Rossi, while no Arabic types
were to be found in any other part of Europe, three towns of Italy
possessed, and were making use of them at the same moment.
In 1505 an _Arabic Vocabulary_ at Granada had the words printed in
Gothic letter with the Arabic points placed over them; and in other
presses where there were no Arabic types, the language was expressed in
Hebrew letters or cut in wood. De Guignes and others mention a fount
of Arabic used by Gromors in Paris, in 1539–40, to print Postel’s
_Grammar_, and add that the fount subsequently disappeared and was
lost; and as late as 1596, in a book printed at Paris, the Arabic words
had to be rendered in Hebrew. In 1591 the Vatican press had a fine
fount of Arabic, a specimen of which is given by Angelo Roccha in his
_Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana_, printed at that press. The Medicean
and Borromean presses also had founts; and at Leyden, Raphlengius and
Erpenius {66} were both celebrated for their Arabic letter. In 1636
the foundry of the Propaganda showed specimens of Arabic, previous to
which date Savary de Brèves had had cut in Constantinople, and finished
by Le Bé of Paris, the famous Arabic founts which were used to print
the _Psalter_ at Rome in 1614, and subsequently were purchased by Vitré
for the French king,[128] and used in Le Jay’s magnificent _Paris
Polyglot_ of 1645. The punches and matrices of these founts still
exist. Cotton mentions an Arabic press in Upsala in 1640.
In England it was not till early in the seventeenth century that Arabic
printing began to be practised. In Wakefield’s _Oratio de laudibus . .
trium linguarum, Arabicæ, Chaldaicæ et Hebraicæ_, printed by De Worde
in 1524, a few rude Arabic letters are introduced, cut in wood. In
Minsheu’s _Ductor in Linguas_, 1617, the Arabic words are printed in
Italic characters. Laud’s gift of Oriental MSS. to Oxford in 1635, and
the appointment of an Arabic lecturer, was the first real incentive
to the cultivation of the language by English scholars. Previous to
this, it is stated that the Raphlengius Arabic press at Leyden had been
purchased by the English Orientalist, William Bedwell; but if brought
to this country, it does not appear that it was immediately made use
of.[129] The Arabic words in Thomas Greave’s oration, _De Linguæ
Arabicæ Utilitate_, printed at Oxford in 1639, were written in by hand;
and the same author, when publishing his _Elementa Linguæ Persicæ_ at
the press of James Flesher at London, in 1649, explained in his preface
that his work had been ready for publication nine years before, but
having no types with which to print it, it had been delayed. A year
earlier, in 1648, Miles Flesher, predecessor to James and one of the
Star Chamber printers, had published in the same type, and at the same
press, a work entitled _De Siglis Arabum et Persarum Astronomis_. James
Flesher was the printer who printed in his own types the original
specimen-page of the London _Polyglot_ in 1652. His Arabic, however,
is a smaller character than that subsequently made use of by Roycroft
for this grand work. Dr. Fell’s gift of matrices to Oxford in 1667
included a fount of Arabic,[130] which appeared in the specimen of the
foundry, and was used also in the _Oratio Dominica_ of 1700. Prior to
this, however, Pocock’s _Carmen Tograi_ was printed at Oxford by Hall
in 1661, “Typis Arabicis Academicis,” in a letter differing both from
Flesher’s {67} and Dr. Fell’s. In 1721, William Caslon cut for the
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge the fount of Arabic for the
_Psalter_ of 1725, and the _Testament_ of 1727. This fount,[131] with
those of Oxford and the _Polyglot_, shared among them nearly all the
Arabic printing in England for about a century later, when new faces
began to be cut or imported. The _Polyglot_ Arabics passed through
Grover’s foundry into that of Thomas James, at the sale of which, in
1782, they were bought in an imperfect state by Dr. Edmund Fry for
the Type Street foundry. Mores mentions three other Arabic founts cut
by English founders, but includes them among the lost matrices in his
collection.
SYRIAC.
Syriac type, probably cut in wood, first appeared in Postel’s
_Linguarum xii Alphabeta_, printed in Paris in 1538; but the characters
are so rude in form and execution as to be scarcely legible. In 1555,
however, Postel assisted in cutting the punches for the famous Syriac
Peshito _New Testament_, printed at Vienna, in two vols. 4to, the first
portion of the Scriptures, and apparently the first book printed in
that language. In 1569–72 Plantin at Antwerp included the Syriac New
Testament in his _Polyglot_, and reissued it in separate form in 1574.
The Vatican press had a good fount in 1591, which appears in Roccha’s
_Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana_. Mores mentions a _Nomenclature_
by Ferrarius at Rome in 1622 with Syriac type. In 1636 the press
of the Propaganda issued a specimen of the Estranghelo and Syriac
alphabets, and in the same year Kircher’s _Prodromus Coptus_, published
at the same press, contained passages in both these characters, and
in Heraclean. A Syriac _Testament_ was printed at Cothon, in Upper
Saxony, in 1621, and at Hamburg in 1663; and later, Gutbier printed
the same work in several editions. In France, after the disappearance
of Postel’s types, there was no Syriac printing for nearly a century.
Henri Estienne printed his Syriac _New Testament_ in 1539, in Hebrew
characters; and in Cajetan’s _Paradigmata de iv lingis_, which appeared
in 1596, the Syriac character was cut on wood, and longer passages
expressed in Hebrew type. In 1614 Savary de Brèves brought Syriac
matrices along with those of other Oriental characters to Paris, and
these were made use of by Vitré, in 1625, to print a _Syriac and Latin
Psalter_, and appeared subsequently in the great _Polyglot_ of Le Jay.
Syriac did not make its appearance in England till the middle of
the seventeenth century. The language was usually expressed in the
earlier works in Hebrew characters. A letter of Bishop Usher’s, in
1637, mentions a project to {68} purchase Syriac type abroad, and
negotiations appear to have been made both in Paris (where the Bishop’s
correspondent informed him there were at that time three or four
founts) and at Geneva, with a view to procuring the characters.[132]
But it was not till the prospectus and preliminary specimen of Walton’s
_Polyglot_ were issued in 1652 that we find Syriac type in use in this
country. The _Polyglot_ contains the entire Bible in Syriac. In 1661
there was a fount at Oxford, which appears in Pocock’s _Carmen Tograi_,
and differs from the fount subsequently presented by Dr. Fell,[133]
which was used in the _Oratio Dominica_ of 1700, and other Oriental
publications of the University. The _Polyglot_ fount[134] found its
way to Caslon’s foundry, who added two new founts of his own cutting.
In 1778 Mores noted six founts altogether in the country. A fresh
interest was taken in Syriac printing by the exertions of Dr. Claudius
Buchanan, who, in 1815, had the _Gospels and Acts_ printed in types cut
and cast under his supervision by Vincent Figgins. After his death,
his work fell into the hands of Dr. Lee to complete, who, objecting to
the omission of the vowel points, printed the entire _New Testament_
in 1816. In 1825 Dr. Fry produced the beautiful Nonpareil Syriac
for _Bagster’s Polyglot_, and in 1829 Mr. Watts cast the fount of
Estranghelo for the edition of the _Bible_ published that year, which
at the time was the only Syriac Bible in Nestorian characters printed
in this country.
ARMENIAN.
The press of the Vatican at Rome possessed a good fount of this
character in 1591, when Angelo Roccha showed a specimen in his
_Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana_. Previous to this a _Psalter_ is
said to have been printed at Rome in 1565, and Rowe Mores mentions
doubtfully a _Liturgy_ printed at Cracow in 1549. In 1662 the Armenian
Bishops applied to France for assistance in printing an Armenian Bible,
but being refused, although Armenian printing had been practised in
Paris in 1633, went to Rome, where, as early as 1636, the press of
the Propaganda had published a specimen of its Armenian matrices.
The Patriarch, after fifteen months’ residence in Rome, removed to
Amsterdam, where he established an Armenian press, and printed the
_Bible_ in 1666, followed, in 1668, by a separate edition of the _New
Testament_. In 1669 the press was set up at Marseilles, where it
continued for a time, and was ultimately removed to Constantinople.
In England the first Armenian types were those presented by Dr. Fell
to {69} Oxford in 1667. In the Prolegomena of Walton’s _Polyglot_, the
alphabet there given had been cut in wood. In 1736 Caslon cut a neat
Armenian[135] for Whiston’s edition of _Moses Chorenensis_, and these
two were the only founts in England before 1820.
ETHIOPIC.
The earliest type of this language appeared in Potken’s _Psalter and
Song of Solomon_, printed at Rome in 1513. The work was reprinted at
Cologne in 1518, in Potken’s polyglot _Psalter_. In 1548 the _New
Testament_ was printed at Rome by some Abyssinian priests. The press
of the Propaganda issued a specimen of its fount in 1631, and again
in Kircher’s _Prodromus Coptus_ in 1636. Erpenius at Leyden had an
Ethiopic fount, which in 1626 was acquired by the Elzevirs. Usher
attempted to procure the fount for this country, but his attempt
failing, punches were cut, and matrices prepared by the London founders
for the _London Polyglot_, which showed the Psalms, Canticles, and
New Testament in the Ethiopic version. Various portions of Scripture
were printed at Leyden and Frankfort about the same time, of which the
most important work was the _Psalter_, etc., of Ludolfus, printed at
the latter place in 1701, in a letter bolder and larger than either
the Vatican or London fount. The Oxford press possessed a fount of
Ethiopic[136] prior to 1693, which appears, with the other Oxford
Orientals, in the _Oratio Dominica_ of 1700 and 1713—the Amharic being
in the same character. Chamberlayne’s _Oratio Dominica_, printed at
Amsterdam in 1715, shows these versions in copperplate. Mores mentions
a second English fount in his list of the matrices of the “Anonymous”
foundry, besides the fount cut by Caslon[137] for his foundry. There
were thus four founts in England in 1778. The Polyglot fount[138] and
that of the anonymous founder came into the possession of James, and at
the sale of his matrices in 1782, were acquired by Dr. Fry. The reprint
of Ludolfus’ _Psalter_ by the Bible Society in 1815 was in the latter
type. But the Ethiopic _Gospels_ printed by the same society in 1826
were in a fount of types cast from the matrices presented by Ludolfus
to the Frankfort Library in 1700. No new fount of Ethiopic in England
had been added to the four already named, when Hansard wrote in 1825.
COPTIC.
Of this character the press of the Propaganda possessed a fount, of
which a specimen was issued in 1636, in which year also Kircher’s
_Prodromus Coptus_ {70} appeared at the same press. No fount, however,
appeared in England till 1667—the alphabets shown in the Introduction
and Prolegomena to the London _Polyglot_ in 1655 and 1657 being cut on
wood. In 1667 Dr. Fell presented Coptic matrices[139] to Oxford, and
it was from these that the types were cast for David Wilkins’ edition
of the _New Testament_, printed in 1716. In 1731 the same scholar
published an edition of the _Pentateuch_, this time at the press of
Bowyer, in types specially cut by William Caslon.[140] Mores further
mentions a Coptic fount cut by Voskens of Amsterdam; and abroad,
besides the fount at Rome, there was one (or more) at Paris. A specimen
is shown in Fournier; and in 1808, in Quatremère’s work on the Language
and Literature of Europe, considerable portions of Scripture in Coptic
were included. In our own country the Oxford and Caslon founts were the
only two in 1778, when Mores wrote, nor had the number been increased
when Hansard compiled his list of foreign founts in 1825.
SAMARITAN.
Samaritan type appears to have followed closely on the purchase of
the celebrated MS. of the Samaritan Pentateuch, which was deposited
in the Oratory at Paris in 1623. The press of the Propaganda had a
fount in 1636, and the Paris Polyglot, completed in 1645, contained
the entire _Pentateuch_ in type of which the punches and matrices had
been specially prepared under Le Jay’s direction. The fount used in the
London _Polyglot_ in 1657 is admitted to be an English production,[141]
and was probably cut under the supervision of Usher, who between 1620
and 1630 was most active in procuring Samaritan MSS. for this country.
Samaritan type was used in Scaliger’s _De emendatione temporum_,
printed at Geneva in 1629; also in Leusden’s _Schola Syriaca_, at
Utrecht, in 1672; besides which, Mores mentions a fount neatly cut by
Voskens of Amsterdam. Another fount was included in Dr. Fell’s gift
to Oxford in 1667, and this appears in the _Oratio Dominica_ of 1700.
The Polyglot Samaritan passed into Grover’s hands, thence to James,
at whose sale it was bought, together with another fount of the same
character, by Dr. Fry. The Leusdenian fount belonging to Andrews
also came to James’s foundry, but was there lost. Caslon had a fount
cut by Dummers,[142] which, with those of James and Oxford, were the
only founts in the country in 1778.[143] In Hansard’s list of learned
founts in 1825, these four founts were still the only Samaritans in the
country. {71}
SCLAVONIC.
Types in this character existed at an early date, a _Psalter_ having
been printed at Cracow in 1491, and reprinted at Montenegro in 1495.
In 1512 the _Gospels_ were printed at Ugrovallachia, and again in
1552 at Belgrade, and in 1562 at Montenegro. There was, in 1553, a
Sclavonic press established by the Czar Ivan Vasilievitch at Moscow,
whence, in 1564, appeared the _Acts and Epistles_, a volume which has
the distinction of being the first book printed in Russia. The type and
material for this press are said to have been brought from Copenhagen.
The first Russian printers were persecuted, but succeeded in producing
several other works in Sclavonic type. In 1581 the first _Bible_ in
that language was printed at Ostrog, and after that printing became
more general. The second Moscow press, established in 1644, was famous
for its excellent typography; the second edition of the _Bible_, in
1663, is a splendid performance. Sclavonic printing appears to have
been but little practised out of Russia, yet we find matrices with
Voskens of Amsterdam about 1690; from which, probably, the improved
types introduced into the Moscow press in 1707 were cast.
The only Sclavonic fount in England was that given by Dr. Fell to
Oxford, and this, Mores states, was replaced in 1695 by a fount of
the more modern Russian character, purchased probably at Amsterdam.
The _Oratio Dominica_ of 1700 gives a specimen of this fount, but
renders the Hieronymian version in copperplate. Chamberlayne’s _Oratio
Dominica_ at Amsterdam in 1715 does the same; but the Cyrillian type
differs from that of Oxford. The press of the Propaganda showed founts
both of Cyrillian and Hieronymian in 1753, and founts occur in nearly
all the Polyglot specimens of the chief European foundries.
The MODERN SCLAVONIC, better known to us as RUSSIAN, is said to have
appeared first in portions of the _Old Testament_, printed at Prague in
1517–19. Ten years later there was Russian type in Venice. A Russian
press was established at Stockholm in 1625, by order of Gustavus
Adolphus, and in 1696 there were matrices in Amsterdam, from which came
the types used in Ludolph’s _Grammatica Russica_, printed at Oxford in
that year, and whence also, it is said, the types were procured which
furnished the first St. Petersburg press, established in 1711 by Peter
the Great. At Amsterdam, also, a second attempt to translate and print
the _Bible_ into Russian, begun about 1698, was frustrated by the loss
of the MSS. and library of Ernest Gluck, the editor and translator,
at the siege of Marienburg, in 1702. The presses at St. Petersburg
increased, and it is probable that on the establishment of the press in
connection with the Academy of Sciences, in 1727, Russian types were
cast in that city. Breitkopf of Leipsic {72} had matrices prior to
1787; Fournier, at Paris, in 1766, showed a specimen of a fount in his
foundry; Marcel, in his _Oratio Dominica_, 1805, showed another; and
Bodoni of Parma, in his _Manuale Tipografico_, 1818, had no less than
twenty-one sizes.
The Emperor Alexander, in 1813, promoted the publication of a Bible
by the Russian Bible Society, which resulted in the printing of the
_Gospels_ in 1819, and of the entire _New Testament_ in 1823.
In England, Mores notes that in 1778 there was no Russian type in
the country, but that Cottrell was at that time engaged in preparing
a fount. It does not appear that this project was carried out, and
the earliest Russian we had was cut by Dr. Fry from alphabets in the
_Vocabularia_, collected and published for the Empress of Russia in
1786–9. This fount appeared in the _Pantographia_ in 1799. About 1820
Thorowgood procured matrices in two sizes from Breitkopf, and these
three founts were the only ones enumerated by Hansard in 1825.
ETRUSCAN.
The fount of this character cut by William Caslon[144] about 1733 for
Mr. Swinton of Oxford was apparently the first produced. Fournier,
in 1766, showed an alphabet engraved in metal or wood. In 1771 the
Propaganda published a specimen of their fount, and Bodoni of Parma, in
1806, exhibited a third in his _Oratio Dominica_. The character is one
rarely used, and prior to 1820 it is doubtful whether there were more
than the three founts above mentioned in existence.
RUNIC.
Types of this character were first used at Stockholm in a Runic and
Swedish _Alphabetarium_, printed in 1611. The fount, which was cast at
the expense of the king, was afterwards acquired by the University.
About the same time Runic type was used at Upsala and at Copenhagen.
Voskens, at Amsterdam, had matrices about the end of the century,
and it was from Holland that Junius is supposed to have procured the
matrices which in 1677 he presented to Oxford. This fount appears in
the _Oratio Dominica_ of 1700, and in Hickes’ _Thesaurus_, 1703–5.
Mores mentions a second fount, incomplete, in James’s foundry, which,
however, was lost; so that the Oxford fount remained the only one in
the country. Fournier and Fry show the alphabet engraved. {73}
GOTHIC.
Matrices of this language were presented to Oxford by Junius in 1677.
There appear to have been other matrices in Holland, as the neat Gothic
type used in Chamberlayne’s _Oratio Dominica_ at Amsterdam in 1715
differs from the Oxford fount which had appeared in the edition of
1700, as well as in Hickes’ _Thesaurus_. Mores speaks of another fount
in James’s foundry, whither it had come from the “Anonymous” foundry.
But the matrices were lost. Caslon, however, cut a fount,[145] which
appeared in his first specimen in 1734. This and the Oxford fount were
the only two in England in 1820.
ICELANDIC, SWEDISH AND DANISH.
Founts of these characters were also included in Junius’ gift to
Oxford in 1677, and were probably specially prepared in Holland. The
first-named is shown in the _Oratio Dominica_ of 1700, and in Hickes’
_Thesaurus_. Printing had been practised in Iceland since 1531, when a
_Breviary_ was printed at Hoolum, in types rudely cut, it is alleged,
in wood. In 1574, however, metal types were provided, and several
works were produced. After a period of decline, printing was revived
in 1773; and in 1810 Sir George McKenzie reported that the Hoolum
press possessed eight founts of type, of which two were Roman, and the
remainder of the common Icelandic character, which, like the Danish and
Swedish, bears a close resemblance to the German.
SAXON.
The first type for this language was cut by John Day in 1567, under
the direction of Archbishop Parker, and appeared in _Ælfric’s
Paschal Homily_ in that year, and in the _Ælfredi Res Gestæ of Asser
Menevensis_, published in 1574. Parker, in his preface to the latter
work, makes mention of Day as the first who had cut Saxon characters.
This interesting fount[146] is rather less than a Great Primer in body,
and in general appearance is handsomer than many of its successors.
Day used the type in several other works, and added another fount on
Pica body. Saxon type was used by Browne in 1617, in Minsheu’s _Ductor
in Linguas_; and Haviland, who printed the second edition of that work
in 1626, had in 1623 already made use of the character in Lisle’s
edition of _Ælfric’s Homily_. Another fount was used by Badger in 1640
for Spelman’s _Saxon Psalter_, {74} so that, as Mores points out, at
that date there were already four founts in the country. Hodgkinson,
one of the Star Chamber printers, had a Pica Saxon, which was used
in _Dugdale’s Monasticon_, 1655; and Mores mentions two founts, a
Great Primer and a Pica, in use at Cambridge in 1644, in Wheelock’s
edition of _Bede_. In 1654 Francis Junius had a fount of Saxon “cut,
matriculated, and cast,” at Amsterdam, which, after printing _Cædmon’s
Paraphrase of Genesis_ in 1655, and some other works in that town, he
brought over to England, and in 1677 presented to the University of
Oxford. As early as 1659 the University had possessed a Saxon fount,
and a second had been included among the purchases made, probably,
about the year 1672. Junius’ fount was used in Hickes’ _Thesaurus_,
1705, and his Saxon _Grammar_ in 1711, but was not employed by the
printer of the _Oratio Dominica_ of 1700, where a different fount
appears—the same, apparently, which in 1709 Bowyer used to print
Miss Elstob’s _Homily on the Birthday of St. Gregory_. The Amsterdam
printers of the _Oratio Dominica_ of 1715 used a handsome fount of
their own. The great interest taken in the study of the Northern
languages at this period in England produced many Saxon works, and
some of our scholars devoted themselves to the study of the most
beautiful of the old manuscripts, with a view to the improvement of the
character in print. But the failure of the typefounder Robert Andrews
to do justice to Humphrey Wanley’s drawings, in cutting the punches
for Bowyer’s new fount in 1715,[147] apparently discouraged further
endeavours. Miss Elstob’s _Anglo-Saxon Grammar_ was printed in that
year in the new type, the matrices of which were subsequently presented
to Oxford, where they still remain.
Voskens, the Dutch founder, had Anglo-Saxon matrices at the beginning
of the eighteenth century, but, except in England and Holland, the
character was not used. Caslon and most of his successors cut Saxon
founts. Mores noted eleven different founts existing in England in
1778. This number was afterwards increased by numerous new founts cut
by Fry, Figgins, and Wilson; and Hansard enumerated twenty-three in
1825.
The Anglo-Norman Saxon character in which the _Domesday Book_ was
written, was twice imitated in type during the eighteenth century,
once by Cottrell, whose attempt was not wholly successful, and again
by Joseph Jackson, under the supervision of Abraham Farley, in 1783.
Jackson’s types were used in the facsimile printed by Nichols in that
year, and the matrices, it is stated, were deposited with the British
Museum. {75}
IRISH.
The first fount of this character was that presented by Queen Elizabeth
to O’Kearney in 1571, and used to print the _Catechism_, which appeared
in that year in Dublin, at the press of Franckton. The fount, which is
on English body, is only partially Irish, many of the letters being
ordinary Roman or Italic. Its general appearance is, however, neat. It
was used in several works during the early years of the seventeenth
century, notably in the Daniel’s _New Testament_, printed by Franckton
in 1602, and the _Common Prayer_, issued from the same press in 1608.
This interesting fount was stated by some to have been secured by the
Jesuits, and transferred by them to one of their seminaries abroad;
but there appears to be no foundation for such a statement. As late as
1652 it was used in Godfrey Daniels’ _Christian Doctrine_, printed in
Dublin; and still later occasional words mark its gradual extinction.
The Irish seminaries abroad, meanwhile, were better supplied with Irish
type than our countrymen. At Antwerp, in 1611, O’Hussey’s _Catechism_
was printed in an Irish fount, which subsequently reappeared in 1616 at
Louvain, and was afterwards used to print a number of works published
by the Irish College in that place. In 1645 a second and larger Irish
fount appeared at Louvain, in Colgan’s _Acta Sanctorum Hiberniæ_. In
1676 the press of the Propaganda at Rome published Molloy’s _Lucerna
Fidelium_ in a handsome and bold character, Great Primer in body,
which was used again in the following year in Molloy’s _Grammar_, and
in 1707 for the _Catechism_ of O’Hussey. Previous to this, however,
Irish printing had revived in England, and Moxon, in 1680, had cut
the curious fount of Small Pica Irish,[148] used in Boyle’s _New
Testament_, printed by Robert Everingham in 1681, followed by Bedell’s
_Old Testament_ in 1685, and in several further publications from
the same press. Until the year 1800 this fount was the only Irish in
this country. Abroad, a new fount appeared at Paris in 1732, where
it was used in McCuirtin’s _Dictionary_, and in 1742 in Donlevey’s
_Catechism_, printed by Jas. Guerin. The matrices for this fount appear
to have been held, if not prepared, by Fournier, as in the _Manuale
Typographique_ (ii, p. 196), issued by him in 1766, a specimen of it
appears among the foreign founts of his foundry. The fate of this fount
is a matter of uncertainty. After 1742 a general cessation of Irish
typography at home and abroad took place; and the few Irish works which
appeared between that date and 1800 were for the most part in Roman
type (like O’Brien’s _Dictionary_, Paris, 1768), or with the Irish
{76} characters in copperplate (like Vallancey’s _Grammar_). In 1804,
however, a revival took place, beginning in Paris, where Marcel, being
at that time in possession of several of the founts belonging to the
press of the Propaganda, which Napoleon had impounded for the use of
the press of the Republic, repaired and re-cast the Irish founts of
the _Lucerna Fidelium_, and issued a short sketch of the character and
language, illustrated with readings in this type. In his beautiful
_Oratio Dominica_, printed in 1805 in presence of Napoleon, the same
type is used. “Strikes” of these founts were retained in Paris, and
the letter has reappeared in specimens issued in 1819 and 1840. The
matrices probably remain part of the stock of the Imprimerie Nationale
to this day. The revival in our kingdom was more rapid. Moxon’s fount,
which had passed through the hands of Robert Andrews, came in 1733
into the foundry of Thomas James, at the sale of which, in 1782, the
punches and matrices were purchased in a somewhat defective condition
by Dr. Fry. A specimen was shown in Dr. Fry’s specimen of 1794, and in
his _Pantographia_, 1799, after which the fount occasionally reappeared
until 1820, when it was last seen in O’Reilly’s _Catalogue of Irish
Writers_, printed in Dublin in that year. By this time, however, there
were some six new founts in the country. _Neilson’s Grammar_, printed
at Dublin in 1808, appeared in a type apparently privately cut, as
it is not found in the specimens of any of the British founders.
Vincent Figgins cut an elegant fount after the copperplate models
in _Vallancey’s Grammar_; Dr. Fry, under the inspection of Thaddeus
Conellan, cut a Long Primer, Small Pica, and Pica, and Watts shortly
afterwards added three others.
MUSIC.
The earliest specimen of music-type occurs in Higden’s _Polychronicon_,
printed by De Worde at Westminster in 1495. The square notes appear to
have been formed of ordinary quadrats, and the staff-lines of metal
rules imperfectly joined. In Caxton’s edition of the same work in 1482
the space had been left blank, to be filled up by the illuminator or
scribe. In other countries music was occasionally shown, but not in
type. The plain chant in the _Mentz Psalter_ of 1490, printed in two
colours, was probably cut on wood. Hans Froschauer of Augsburg printed
music from wooden blocks in 1473, and the notes in Burtius’ _Opusculum
Musices_, printed at Bologna in 1487, appear to have been produced in
the same manner[149]; while at Lyons, the _Missal_ printed by Matthias
Hus in 1485 had the staff only printed, the notes being intended to
be filled in by hand, {77} either with a pen or by means of an inked
stamp or punch. About 1500 a musical press was established at Venice
by Ottavio Petrucci, at which were produced a series of _Mass-books_.
In 1513 he removed to Fossombrone, and obtained a patent from Leo X
for his invention of types for the sole printing of figurative song
(_cantus figuratus_). Petrucci’s notes were lozenge-shaped, and each
was cast complete, with its correspondent proportion of staff-lines.
Before 1550 several European presses followed Petrucci’s example,
and music-type, among other places, was used at Augsburg in 1506 and
1511, Parma in 1526, Lyons in 1532, and Nuremburg in 1549. In 1525
Pierre Hautin cut punches of lozenge-shaped music at Paris. Round
notes were used at Avignon in 1532, and Granjon cut this kind at Paris
about 1559. In 1552, Adrian Leroy, musician to Henri II of France, and
Robert Ballard were appointed King’s printers for music. Their types
are said to have been engraved by Le Bé. In England, after its first
use, music-printing did not become general till 1550, when Grafton
printed Marbecke’s _Book of Common Prayer_, “noted” in movable type;
the four staff lines being printed in red, and the notes in black.
There are only four different sorts of notes used,—three square and
one lozenge. The appearance of the music is very bold and distinct.
Day, Vautrollier, and East, all printed with music-type, which was
of the kind generally used during the sixteenth century in Italy,
Germany and France. Vautrollier was the printer for Tallis and Bird,
who obtained a patent from Elizabeth for the sole printing of music.
After the expiration of their patent, and another granted to Morley
in 1598, music-printing was exercised (as Sir John Hawkins states) by
every printer who chose it. A larger variety of founts appeared, and
in some works two or more founts of music appear mixed in the same
work. About 1660 the detached notes hitherto used began to give place
to the “new tyed note,” by which the heads of sets of quavers could
be joined. But at the close of the seventeenth century music-printing
from type became less common, on account of the introduction of
stamping and engraving plates for the purpose. There was music-type in
Aberdeen in 1666 at the press of Forbes. Oxford University possessed
music matrices, some apparently presented by Dr. Fell about 1667, and
others cut by Walpergen. The punches and matrices of the latter are
still preserved,[150] and are very curious; many of the matrices being
without sides in the copper, and justified so that the mould shall
supply the side, and the lines thus be cast so as to join continuously
in the composition. Grover’s foundry also had a Great Primer music,
and Andrews had matrices of several sizes of the square-headed or
plain chant character. Caslon possessed a set {78} of round-headed
matrices in two sizes, which came to him from Mitchell’s foundry. In
1764 Breitkopf of Leipsic succeeded in casting a music-type, in which
the notes were composed of several pieces, which were “built up” by
the compositor. Fleischman cut an improved music on the same principle
for the Enschedés at Haarlem. Rosart of Brussels, and Fournier of
Paris, succeeded in reducing the number of pieces of a fount to three
hundred and one hundred, respectively. Henry Fought, in our own country
in 1767, invented sectional types, which divided so as to admit the
staff lines. The principal improvements after Fought’s time aimed at
overcoming the hiatus caused by the joining of the lines. Attempts
were made to cast the notes separately from the lines, or to adopt a
logographic system of casting several notes in one piece. After the
beginning of the present century the production of music-type was left
in the hands of specialists, amongst whom Mr. Hughes, as late as 1841,
had the reputation of possessing the best founts in the trade. Of the
plain chant and psalm music, both Dr. Fry and Hughes had matrices in
several sizes.
BLIND.
Printing for the blind was first introduced in 1784, by Valentin Haüy,
the founder of the Asylum for Blind Children in Paris. He made use of a
large script character, from which impressions were taken on a prepared
paper, the impressions so deeply sunk as to leave their marks in strong
relief, and legible to the touch. Haüy’s pupils not only read in this
way, but executed their own typography, and in 1786 printed an _Essai_
giving an account of their institution and labours, as a specimen of
their press.[151]
The first School for the Blind in England was opened in Liverpool
in 1791, but printing in raised characters was not successfully
accomplished till 1827, when Mr. Gall, of the Edinburgh Asylum, printed
the Gospel of St. John from angular types. Mr. Alston, the Treasurer of
the Glasgow Asylum, introduced the ordinary Roman capitals in relief,
and this system was subsequently improved upon by the addition of the
“lower-case” letters by Dr. Fry, the type-founder, whose specimen
gained the prize of the Edinburgh Society of Arts in 1837.
A considerable number of rival systems have competed in this country
for adoption, greatly to the prejudice of the cause of education among
the blind. The most important of these we here briefly summarize: {79}
1. LUCAS SYSTEM. The letters were represented by curves and lines,
having no connection with the form of the characters they denoted. In
this type the Scriptures occupied about 36 volumes.
2. FRERE’S SYSTEM. Wholly phonetic, the sounds being represented by
circles, angles, and lines. These symbols were cut in copper wire, and
soldered upon sheets of tin. From this form a stereotype-plate was
taken.
3. MOON’S SYSTEM. Based upon the two preceding, but professed to be
alphabetic. Nearly each symbol represents the form of a portion of the
Roman letter it denotes. The plates were prepared by Frere’s method.
4. BRAILLE’S SYSTEM. A series of dots in various combinations, designed
as a universal system. This system was introduced in the “Institution
pour les jeunes aveugles” in Paris, in place of the alphabetical system
which had prevailed since Haüy’s time.
5. CARTON’S SYSTEM. Also arbitrary, though following somewhat the form
of the lower-case alphabet.
6. ALSTON’S SYSTEM. This great improvement consisted in the rejection
of all arbitrary symbols, and the adoption of the plain Roman alphabet
of capitals. In addition to the simplicity both to the teacher and
the scholar, its adaptability to typography was obvious. Instead of
soldering the wire outlines on to tin, the letters were now cut and
cast by the ordinary process of typefounding.
The subsequent alphabetical systems have all been modifications of or
attempted improvements on that of Alston, as perfected by Dr. Fry,
and there seems every probability that this system will eventually
become the recognised method of printing for the blind in all European
countries.
INITIALS.
[Illustration: 46. Dutch Initial Letters used in Boyle’s Irish
_Testament_, 1681. From the original matrices in the Enschedé foundry,
Haarlem.]
[Illustration: 13. Blooming Initials, at the Oxford University Press.
_Circa_ 1700.]
In the earliest printed books, with the exception of the _Mentz
Psalter_, where engraved letters are undoubtedly used, a blank space
was left for initial letters, which were inserted by hand. A small
index-letter, indicating what the letter was to be, was generally
printed or written in the space by the printer before handing the
work over to the illuminator. The trouble and cost involved by this
system early suggested the use of wood-cut initials, and Erhard
Ratdolt of Venice, about 1475, is generally supposed to have been the
first printer to introduce the “Literæ florentes,” which eventually
superseded the hand-painted initials. These ornamental initials, called
also _lettres tourneures_, or sometimes _typi tornatissimi_, were
not generally adopted till the close of the century, by which time,
however, they had found their way to England, where, in 1484, Caxton
had introduced one or two kinds. The more elaborate initials, such as
{80} that used in the _Mentz Psalter_, and the later beautiful letters
used by Aldus at Venice, by Schoeffer at Mentz in 1518, by Tory and
the Estiennes at Paris, by Froben at Basle, and by the other great
printers of their day, were known as _lettres grises_. Besides these,
the ordinary “two-line letters,” or large plain capitals, came into
use; and these were generally cast—the ornamental letters being for the
most part engraved on wood or metal, and shifted about from one forme
to another. The general debasement of artistic taste in the latter
half of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries is very apparent in
the initial letters, particularly in England. Large black-letters were
frequently used as initials to books in Roman type, the large plain
caps appear to have been most rudely cut and cast, and when pictorial
letters were made use of, the effect was not infrequently grotesque.
Dutch initials found their way into this country in large numbers. They
were, as a rule, heavy and indistinct, and lacked the elegance of the
letters which, even as late as 1650, characterised some of the best
printing in France. The best initial letters we had were those used at
Oxford, and these were for the most part copperplate, and engraved by
an artist specially retained by the University for the purpose. The
“Dutch Bloomers” shown by Watson in 1711 probably represented the _ne
plus ultra_ of typographical ornament at that day. With Bible printers
it was not uncommon to use appropriate pictorial {81} letters, and
we frequently find in their works, both sacred and profane, the
initial “I” of Genesis representing the Creation, the “D” representing
David playing on his harp, the “P” representing the conversion of
St. Paul, and so on. Armorial initials were also occasionally used,
and sometimes letters embodying portraits or landscapes. About the
beginning of the seventeenth century, pierced initial ornaments—that
is, wood block devices, in which a space is pierced out to admit of
any letter—came into use. The great letter-founders of the revival,
Caslon, Baskerville, and their immediate successors, confined their
attention to the large plain initials, uniform in shape and design with
their Roman letters; and it was not till a taste for fancy type arose,
early in the present century, that founders cut punches for and cast
ornamental initials. {82}
[Illustration: 14. Pierced Initial, at the Oxford University Press.
_Ante_ 1700.]
[Illustration: 55. Pierced Initial. London, _circa_ 1700.]
TYPE ORNAMENTS AND FLOWERS.
These began, like the initials, with the illuminators, and were
afterwards cut on wood. The first printed ornament or vignette is
supposed to be that in the _Lactantius_, at Subiaco, in 1465. Caxton,
in 1490, used ornamental pieces to form the border for his _Fifteen
O’s_. The Paris printers at the same time engraved still more elaborate
border pieces. At Venice we find the entire frame engraved in one
piece; while Aldus, as early as 1495, used tasteful head-pieces, cut in
artistic harmony with his _lettres grises_. Of the elaborate woodcut
borders and vignettes of succeeding printers we need not here speak. As
a rule, they kept pace with the initial letters, and degenerated with
them. Early in the sixteenth century we observe detached ornaments and
flourishes, which have evidently been cast from a matrix, and the idea
of combining these pieces into a continuous border or head-piece was
probably early conceived.[152] Mores states that ornaments of this kind
were common before wood-engraved borders were adopted, and Moxon speaks
of them in his day as old-fashioned. In Holland, France, Germany and
England, however, these “type-flowers” were in very common use during
the eighteenth century, and almost every foundry was supplied with a
considerable number of designs cast on the regular bodies. Some of the
type-specimens exhibit most elaborate figures constructed out of these
flowers, and as late as 1820 these ornaments continued to engross a
considerable space in the specimen of every English founder.
[Illustration]
{83}
[Illustration]