The Art & Practice of Typography - A Manual of American Printing, etc.

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Title: The Art & Practice of Typography - A Manual of American Printing, etc.
Author: Gress, Edmund G.
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Art & Practice of Typography - A Manual of American Printing, etc." ***

_The_ ART & PRACTICE _of_
TYPOGRAPHY

[Illustration:

THE FIRST PRINTED DECLARATION

Fac-simile in reduced size (original type form about twelve by
seventeen inches) of the Declaration of Independence officially
printed about July 5, 1776. It was this setting of the Declaration
that was read before Washington’s army. Reproduced direct from the
original in the Congressional minute book of July 4, 1776
]

[Illustration]

_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

Second Edition

[Illustration]

_By_

EDMUND G. GRESS

EDITOR THE AMERICAN PRINTER

AUTHOR THE AMERICAN HANDBOOK OF PRINTING

NEW YORK·OSWALD PUBLISHING COMPANY·1917

[Illustration]

------------------------------------------------------------------------

TO THE TYPOGRAPHERS OF THE PAST WHO
MADE THE ART HONORED AMONG MEN AND
TO THE TYPOGRAPHERS OF THE PRESENT
WHO ARE RESTORING TO PRINTING ITS
ANCIENT DIGNITY THIS BOOK IS
DEDICATED

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

AUTHOR’S PREFACE vii

SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS ix

LIST OF REPRODUCTIONS xvi

LIST OF DESIGNERS xx

WHEN BOOKS WERE WRITTEN 1

THE ORIGIN OF TYPOGRAPHY 7

THE SPREAD OF TYPOGRAPHY 13

TYPOGRAPHY IN COLONIAL DAYS 19

TYPOGRAPHY IN THE 19TH CENTURY 27

THE “LAYOUT” MAN 35

HARMONY AND APPROPRIATENESS 41

TONE AND CONTRAST 47

PROPORTION, BALANCE AND SPACING 53

ORNAMENTATION 59

THE TYPOGRAPHY OF BOOKS 67

BOOKLETS, PAMPHLETS, BROCHURES, LEAFLETS 75

CATALOGS 83

PROGRAMS 91

ANNOUNCEMENTS 99

TICKETS 107

LETTERHEADS AND ENVELOPS 111

BILLHEADS AND STATEMENTS 119

PACKAGE LABELS 123

BUSINESS CARDS 127

THE BLOTTER 131

POSTERS, CAR CARDS, WINDOW CARDS 135

ADVERTISEMENTS 139

NEWSPAPERS 147

PERIODICALS 151

HOUSE-ORGANS 161

TYPE-FACES 169

IMPRINTS 195

APPENDIX—GREETING CARDS

[Illustration]

AUTHOR’S PREFACE

In the preface to the first edition of “The Art and Practice of
Typography,” the author stated that he did not “anticipate again having
the pleasure of producing a book as elaborate as this one,” but the
favor with which the volume was received made another edition advisable,
and in consequence he has had the additional pleasure of enlarging and
revising it and of producing a volume even more elaborate and with a
better selection of examples.

The task of rewriting and replanning the second edition was near
completion when America entered the war against Germany, and now, a few
months later, the book is presented to the public. The first edition was
published in February, 1910. Work on the new edition was begun by the
author in the latter part of 1913, and so great has been the task, in
addition to his customary editorial labors, that almost four years have
passed.

The extent of the work will be comprehended when it is mentioned that
there are twenty-eight chapters, in which the illustrations or
typographic arrangements, numbering six hundred and fifteen, include
forty full-page specially-printed inserts. Most of these illustrations
or typographic arrangements are in color. The text matter, which makes
direct reference to the examples, totals nearly one hundred thousand
words.

That these examples are mostly high-class and by many of the best
typographers in America (Europe also being represented), is due to the
fact that the author during his connection with _The American Printer_
has received several thousand pieces of printing, from which selections
were made for this work.

Great care was exercised in the choice of examples in order that the
book would not become obsolete, and it is believed that most of the type
arrangements shown will be considered good for a hundred years to come.
That this is possible is proved by the Whittingham titles on page 32,
one of which is sixty-eight and the other seventy-three years old at
this writing. These titles were set up when most typography was poor,
yet few other type arrangements of that time would meet approval today;
which indicates that it is not _when_ printing is done, but _how_ it is
done that makes it good or bad.

Attention should be called to the plan of this volume. There are two
parts, the first having to do with typography of the past and the second
with typography of the present. Good printing of the present has a basic
connection with that of the past, and for this reason one part is
incomplete without the other.

The entire first part should be studied before any of the ideas in the
second part are applied to present-day problems, and especially should
the chapter on Type-Faces be patiently read and studied. The printer
should first know type-faces and then learn how to use them.

In the chapters on Harmony, Tone, Proportion, Ornamentation and other
art principles the author does not intend to advocate that his readers
shall make pictures with type or build pages that are merely beautiful.
The first requirement of typography is that it shall be easy to read;
the second is that it shall be good to look at. The efficient
typographer studies the copy and arranges it so that the reader’s task
is an easy and pleasant one.

* * * * *

In planning the second edition the general style of the first edition
was retained. However, an effort was made to change the style,
especially of the binding, but so satisfactory was the original that it
was again adopted.

The historical chapters in the first part have been revised and slightly
altered, but they are practically as before. Extensive changes have been
made in the second part. The text has been thoroly revised, and better
typographic examples substituted in many cases. These chapters
especially have been greatly altered: Booklets, Catalogs, Announcements,
Letterheads, Billheads, Business Cards, Posters, Advertisements,
Imprints.

The chapter on Type-Faces is all new and has been enlarged from ten to
twenty-four pages. New chapters on the following subjects have been
added: Package Labels, Blotters, Newspapers, Periodicals, House-Organs.
In place of the medley of contest specimens in the appendix of the first
edition, there are halftone reproductions of more than one hundred
attractive holiday greetings.

No one realizes more than does the author the minor defects in
typography, presswork and other details that are present in this volume,
yet the effort of a Hercules and the patience of a Job have been
expended in making everything as correct as possible. As the book now
stands, it is a reaching after the ideal, with human inability to attain
perfection. It is needless to point out imperfections; the reader will
discover them.

In his selection of examples and recommendation of type-faces the author
has been entirely free from pressure from any source. If certain
type-faces are favored, it is because the author believes he is doing
something for the cause of good printing by favoring them. What has been
written has been written with sincerity.

* * * * *

It is well to mention that the “Pilgrim’s Progress” title on page 21 is
not genuine. Having seen the book on exhibition at the New York Public
Library, the author arranged to have it photographed and included in
this work. The sequel to this is interesting and rather humorous. When
the chapter on Type-Faces was being written and Caslon types were being
studied, the author was startled to find that the types used on the
“Pilgrim’s Progress” page were the same as those William Caslon was
supposed to have designed forty-four years later. Greatly puzzled, the
author made a trip to the library and examined the original. He
immediately saw that the type-face used on the body of the book differed
from that on the title. Discovering a note on the fly-leaf signed by
William Pickering, the explanation dawned on him. The book was probably
owned by Pickering in the middle of the last century and the title-page
being missing a new one was set up, printed and inserted when the book
was rebound. It was Whittingham, Pickering’s printer, who revived the
Caslon types about that time, and he naturally used these types as the
nearest approach to the English types of the period, 1678, when
“Pilgrim’s Progress” was first published.

* * * * *

It is impossible to mention by name all of those who have in one way or
another assisted and encouraged the author in the production of this
volume. A list of acknowledgments would include typographers of
international note and typographers-to-be whose prentice hands need
guidance. It would include office associates and those of the workrooms
whose interest and attention to technical details helped much in the
effort to make the work worthy.

There is one, however, were such a list printed, whose name would lead
all the rest, the man who, back in 1903, conceived the idea of this
book; without whose business support this elaborate and costly work
would have been impossible; whose ideals have been an inspiration; whose
confidence and encouragement generated the energy and enthusiasm that
have attended the author during the fourteen years in which this work
has been building. It is a privilege to pay this tribute to John Clyde
Oswald.

EDMUND G. GRESS.

New York, July, 1917.

SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS

PART ONE

WHEN BOOKS WERE WRITTEN

_Page 1_

The printer and typography—Definitions and derivations of trade words—
Printing with separate types practiced between 1450–1455—Books
previously written by hand or printed from wood—The Middle and Dark
Ages—Latin in written books kept knowledge alive—Meaning of
“manuscript”—Writing materials—Arrow-shaped writing of the Chaldeans—
Papyrus rolls of the Egyptians—Ink, paper and block-printing supposedly
invented by the Chinese—Dressed skins and palm leaves used by Hindoos—
The Hebrews wrote upon stones and animal skins—We owe the present Roman
alphabet to the Phœnicians—The word “alphabet” derived from the first
two letters of the Greek alphabet, Alpha and Beta—The bards of Greece—
Manuscripts written by slaves—Papyrus imported from Egypt—Development of
parchment, and what it is—The great Alexandrian library—Length of rolls—
Story of “Septuagint”—Destruction of the Alexandrian library—Rome
supersedes Alexandria as an intellectual center—Cæsar credited as the
founder of the first newspaper—“Short-hand” writing—The period of
Emperor Augustus a memorable one in literature—Producing large editions
of manuscript rolls—Books were plentiful and cheap—Elaborate parchment
rolls—Origin of flat-sheet books—Hinged waxed tablets—Destruction of the
library at Constantinople—Drift of literature toward the East—
Transcribing and decorating holy writings in the monasteries of Europe—
Monopoly of learning gave power to Church of Rome—Since the seventh
century monastery manuscripts in Latin, the official language of that
church—Translation of Bible into “Vulgar tongue” forbidden—William
Tyndale’s English translation—Martin Luther’s German translation—Making
of manuscript books in the Middle Ages—St. Benedict sets the monks to
work copying manuscripts—Popularity of cloisters—The scriptorium and the
rules governing scribe or copyist—Tools and materials—Rubrics—
Illuminating—The copyist at work—A beautiful Irish book—Illuminators’
colors and binding of manuscript books—Missal, Psalter, Book of Hours—
Donatus, books associated with the Middle Ages—First types were
imitations of current Gothic lettering—Types cut in style of Roman
lettering—Ancient Roman writing all capitals—Evolution of Roman capitals
into small or lower-case letters—The uncial and half-uncial—Minuscule
and majuscule—Development of writing toward both heavy pointed Gothic
and the Roman style used by Nicholas Jenson—Cursive, a “script” letter.

THE ORIGIN OF TYPOGRAPHY

_Page 7_

The invention of typography marked the beginning of a new civilization—
The beginning and end of the Middle Ages—Printing with separate metal
types an evolution—Demand for playing cards and sacred pictures—Engraved
wood blocks—Block books, and method of printing them—Coloring cards and
pictures by means of stencils—The oldest dated specimen of printing—The
first block books probably Latin grammars—The “Art of Dying,” the “Bible
of the Poor,” and the “Mirror of Human Salvation”—When, where and by
whom was typography invented?—The inventor failed to print his name on
his product—Almost every European country claimed the honor—All claims
disproved excepting those of Germany and Holland—Weight of evidence is
with Germany—Typography was practiced by Gutenberg at Mainz some time
during 1450–1455—Claims of priority for Coster of Haarlem—Story of the
invention by Ulrich Zell the earliest testimony on the subject—Dierick
Coornhert’s version—The unfaithful servant—Dignified gray heads point
out the house of “the first printer”—Hadrian Junius and his “Coster
Legend”—Fashioning the bark of a beech tree in the form of letters—
Changing the letters to lead and then to tin—Old wine flagons melted
into type—A workman, John Faust, steals the type-making instruments—
Cornelis, an old book binder—The story dissected—Peter Scriverius has
another version—A clap of thunder—Confusion of dates—A statue erected to
Coster in Haarlem—“True and rational account” by one Leiz—Gerard
Meerman’s story—The sheriff who printed with wooden types—Robbed by a
brother of Johann Gutenberg—Jacob Koning awarded a prize for his essay
on the invention—Makes researches in Haarlem archives—Corroborates some
details in preceding stories—For many years Coster given equal honor
with Gutenberg—Investigations by Dr. Anton Van der Linde—Forgeries and
misrepresentations revealed—Haarlem practically surrenders its claim and
alters its school books—Records of Louwerijs Janszoon and Laurens
Janszoon Coster—Van der Linde goes to Germany, alters his name and
writes a book—Hessels translates the book into English, and afterward
becomes a Haarlem advocate—Coster proofs are weak—Haarlem claimants
unable to agree as to Coster’s identity—Gutenberg a tangible human
being, and probable inventor of the art—Parentage of Gutenberg—The
family removes from Mainz presumably to Strassburg—Was the new art
practiced at Strassburg?—Records of a lawsuit—Gutenberg agreed to teach
Andrew Dritzehen certain trade secrets—Fust lends money to Gutenberg and
takes a mortgage on his printing office—Fust seizes all types, presses
and books—Records of this suit evidence of Gutenberg’s invention—The
famous Forty-two Line Bible—Gutenberg again establishes himself as a
printer—An appointment from the Bishop of Mainz—Dies about 1468—H. Noel
Humphrey’s tribute—Peter Schœffer—Copies books at the University of
Paris—Becomes Gutenberg’s assistant—Assumes charge after his master’s
death—Marries Fust’s daughter—The new firm publishes a Psalter—First
book with a printed date—Features of the book.

THE SPREAD OF TYPOGRAPHY

_Page 13_

The city of Mainz—A conflict between two archbishops—The city is set
afire—Fust and Schœffer’s printing office burned—The workmen flee to
various parts of Europe—A table of the spread of typography from Mainz—
In Germany—John Mentel at Strassburg—Albrecht Pfister at Bamberg—Ulrich
Zell at Cologne never printed a book in the German language—Arnold Ter
Hoorne first to use Arabic numerals—Gunther Zainer at Augsburg first in
Germany to print with Roman characters—Heinrich Keffer at Nuremberg—John
Sensenschmidt at Nuremberg and Bamberg—The Bamberg Missal—Anthony
Koburger at Nuremberg had twenty-four presses in operation—In Italy—
First type printing done in the monastery at Subiaco—Conrad Schweinheim
and Arnold Pannartz brought from Germany—Ulrich Hahn first printer in
city of Rome proper—John de Spira first typographer at Venice and had
exclusive right—Nicholas Jenson comes to Venice and uses a new Roman
type-face—Story of his introduction to the art—The first page of
displayed type composition—J, U and W not in books printed by Jenson—His
office passes to Aldus Manutius—Italic introduced—Aldus reduces the size
of books and suggests the printing of a polyglot Bible—Works of Peter
Paul Porrus and Augustin Justinian—Aldus assisted by scholar-refugees
from Constantinople—His complete name—Venetian printing offices and
their product—Bernardo Cennini at Florence—Johann Numeister at Foligno—
In Switzerland—Bertold Ruppel at Basel—This city gave France its first
typographers—John Froben at Basel—Erasmus has him print his books—In
France—Ulrich Gering, Martin Crantz and Michel Friburger at Paris—Gering
becomes rich—Sectional wood border on book printed by Philip Pigouchet
for Simon Vostre—Henry Estienne at Paris—First of illustrious family of
typographers—Robert Estienne best known and most scholarly—Flees to
Geneva, Switzerland, for safety—Dies there after a labor of love—In the
Netherlands—A press erected at Utrecht—Colard Mansion and William Caxton
at Bruges produce the first book printed in English—Van der Goes at
Antwerp—Christopher Plantin at Antwerp gave renown to that city—His
printing office now a museum—A polyglot Bible his greatest work—Louis
Elzevir, founder of a family of learned printers, at Leyden—The second
Louis Elzevir at Amsterdam—Johannes Andriesson at Haarlem—In England—
William Caxton the first to set type in that country—Apprenticed to a
merchant and goes to Bruges—Becomes Governor—Enters the service of the
Duchess of Burgundy—Translates a “Historie of Troye” and learns how to
print it—Returns to England and sets up a press at Westminster Abbey—
Peculiarities of Caxton’s work—Wynken de Worde succeeds to Caxton’s
business—Introduced the Roman letter into England—Richard Pynson at
London—Richard Grafton as a printer of English Bibles translated by
William Tyndale and Miles Coverdale—Tyndale suffers death—Grafton
imprisoned for printing the “Great Bible”—Edward Whitechurch his
partner—John Daye also imprisoned—Fox’s “Acts and Monuments”—In
Scotland—Androw Myllar and Walter Chepman at Edinburgh—In Ireland—
Humphrey Powell at Dublin—In North America—John Cromberger at Mexico
City—In the United States—Stephen Daye at Cambridge, Mass.

TYPOGRAPHY IN COLONIAL DAYS

_Page 19_

Martyrs in typographic history—Ecclesiastical and political conditions
in Europe from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries—A book of treaties
on the intended marriage of Queen Elizabeth—Oliver Cromwell encourages
printing and literature—First edition of Milton’s “Paradise Lost”—Thomas
Roycroft prints Brian Walton’s Polyglot Bible—The first book published
in England by subscription—Paper for the work allowed to come in duty
free—Cardinal Mazarin discovers a copy of Gutenberg’s Forty-two Line
Bible—Chap-books and something about them—Poor representatives of the
art of typography—Woodcuts and type battered and worn—Peddled by
chapmen—Dicey books—Broadsides—Puritans land at Charlestown and begin to
settle Cambridge and Boston—Rev. Jesse Glover solicits money for press
and types—Contracts with Stephen Daye to come to new country—Rev. Glover
dies—Daye reaches Cambridge with outfit—Begins printing in 1639—The
first work—The first book—Poorly printed—President Dunster of Harvard
College appoints Samuel Green to succeed Daye—Another press and types
added—An inventory—The printing office discontinued—Printing in the
colonies of Massachusetts and Virginia—Pennsylvania second English
colony to have typography—William Bradford prints an almanac—Bradford
arrested in Philadelphia for printing an address—Type pages as evidence—
“Pied” by a juryman—Bradford goes to New York—First printshop there—
Official printer—Publishes the first New York newspaper—Benjamin
Franklin—Indentured to his brother James—The New England “Courant”—James
is imprisoned—Benjamin becomes the publisher—The brothers disagree—
Benjamin ships to New York—Meets William Bradford and goes to
Philadelphia—Secures employment with Samuel Keimer—Leaves for England to
buy printing equipment—Goes to work in London—Returns to Philadelphia
and starts a printing office—One of the first jobs—Publishes “Poor
Richard’s Almanack”—Proverbs widely quoted—Sells his shop to David Hall—
Quaintness of Colonial typography—Comments on reproductions—Page from a
Caslon specimen book of 1764—The work of Bodoni.

TYPOGRAPHY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

_Page 27_

William Morris’s declaration—The first printed book a testimony to
genius—The first cylinder press and first linotype were crudely
constructed—Typography at its highest point—Italian and German styles
contrasted—These styles blended into the Colonial—Franklin as a
typographer compared to Aldus and Plantin—Beginning of the nineteenth
century—Utility and art—William Nicholson plans a cylinder press—Dr.
Kinsley constructs a model—A new roman type-face designed—Ornaments and
borders discarded—Style of typography becoming uninteresting—Transition
illustrated by four title-pages—Charles Whittingham and William
Pickering—Artistic qualities introduced—Punches of Caslon Oldstyle
recovered—A page in Colonial style—Punctuation marks omitted—Fifty years
ahead of their time—Job printing of modern development—Newspaper, book
and job work—Typography should be based upon art foundations—A Book of
Common Prayer—Title-pages without ornamentation—Job printers take to
fancy typography—Imitations of copperplate engravers’ work—A business
card and a bill of fare—Changing styles applied to commercial headings—
MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan—A card with apologies—A longing for pictures,
color and decoration—Brass rule and tint blocks—Remarkable skill
exhibited—The “Modern Renaissance”—Machinery led typography away from
art—Printers thought they were doing artistic work—Inspiration wrongly
interpreted—Forming of a curious chain of events—The Kelmscott Press—
William Morris, artist, poet, designer and craftsman—Franklin and the
Franklin stove—Morris and the Morris chair—The influence of Morris on
house furnishing and typography—His home—Learned to print and to make
paper—Designs type-faces—“Golden”—“Troy”—Draws decorative initials and
borders—Additional designs by Burne-Jones—Morris criticised—
Revolutionizes typography—Aubrey Beardsley—Will Bradley—A country
printer—Studies art in Chicago—The “Wayside Press”—“Bradley: His Book”—
Inspired by both past and present—A new typography—Combines with the
University Press—Becomes an interesting subject for discussion—An
opinion by George French—Attempts another new style of typography—
Profuse ornamentation—Works rapidly—Bradley and his clients—His
personality—Influence upon the American style of typography—Other
influences-Theodore L. De Vinne—Has a college degree—Apprentice in a
country printshop—Job compositor with Francis Hart—Takes charge of the
business—A writer on printing subjects—Exponent of the conservative and
dignified in typography—Should be no conflict between the styles of
Morris, De Vinne and Bradley—For different purposes—The compositor must
decide—De Vinne a leader in perfecting modern methods—Designs a
type-face—Persuades printers to group wording—Charles T. Jacobi—Has done
much for typography in England—Responsibilities of the modern
typographer—Underrating the value of history—All knowledge is valuable.

[_The chapters following are devoted to the consideration of
typography as practiced in the twentieth century._]

PART TWO

THE “LAYOUT” MAN

_Page 35_

Typography in the twentieth century—Compared with the past—Perfection
not attainable—The spirit of the master craftsman—Inspired work—The
necessity of careful preparation—Every printshop should have a layout
man—When a building is erected—Quality printing is not accidental—Shop
style—Layout men in large and small shops—Please the customer—Typography
essentially a business vocation—Orders obtained thru “dummies”
submitted—Selecting a layout man—Type equipment should be appropriate
and sufficient—A working outfit for the layout man—Portfolio of sample
sheets—Laying out a small booklet—Paper, margins, type page and size of
type—Words to a square inch—Arrangement of title-page—Specimen pages in
available body type—Use of crayon and pencil—Dummy submitted to
customer—Duplicating it in the workrooms—Dummy sheets for periodicals
and large catalogs—Incorporating illustrations in the text matter—
Marking copy for machine composition—The average stationery job—A
patchwork of typographic styles—Different results if handled by a layout
man—Studying color harmony—Determining color combinations—The colder
color should predominate—Indicating the finished result—Proofs in the
colors and on the stock to be used—Blending paper stock—Laying out
advertisements.

HARMONY AND APPROPRIATENESS

_Page 41_

“Leit-motif”—The central idea in composition—Harmony and
appropriateness—Undervaluing their importance—What is appropriate?—
Discriminating judgment required—Discreet selection of type, ink and
paper—It makes a difference—As to type-faces—As to inks—As to papers—
Simplicity synonymous with good typography—The ideal printshop—
Harmonious type-faces, ink colors and paper stock—Certain amount of
contrast desirable—All capitals or all lower-case—Harmony of type-faces
and borders illustrated—Typographic sins—In typography there should be a
motive—“Is it appropriate?”—An architectural motive—In which strength is
the motive—Design suggested by an old lock-plate—Typographic motive
found in woodcut borders and initials of early printers—A millinery
booklet cover—A page severely plain and non-sentimental—A program for a
church service appropriate to the environment—A page in keeping with a
festive spirit—Typographers should give support to artists—The Colonial
arch and a title-page—The better the typographer, the more restraint
will he exercise.

TONE AND CONTRAST

_Page 47_

A story of white and black—A combination popular with writers, printers
and readers—Uniformity of tone or depth of color—A mixture of irregular
gray and black tones inexcusable—Art principles too often ignored—
Contrast necessary, but uniformity should not be sacrificed—Art makes
concession to utility—A right way and a wrong way—Unjust blaming of the
customer—A German example of uniform tone—Practical demonstration of
uniform tone—Four ornaments, upon which four pages are constructed—
Contrast, from the viewpoints of art and utility—Lessening the contrast
between print and paper—A compromise—Impressing the print firmly on
antique paper—Setting the print daintily upon glossy paper—Lack of
artistic feeling responsible for unpleasant contrasts—Great contrast is
eccentricity—Mark Twain and contrasts—Cover-page should be darker than
title-page—The tone of a massed page—Controlled by spacing—Duplicating
the tone of a pen-and-ink illustration—A spotted black tone—Equalizing
the tone by using lighter ink—Spaced capitals and open-line
illustration—A classic interpretation of uniform tone—Characteristics
and tone superbly blended—Initial and headpiece should approach the tone
of the type page—Uniform tone between display line and border—Catalog
illustrations should stand out in relief—Outline type-faces to obtain
gray tone on newspaper page—Letterspacing—All lines should be similarly
spaced—An unusual heading.

PORTION, BALANCE AND SPACING

_Page 53_

Symmetry is necessary to beauty—What has art to do with printing?—Two
views—The book printer and the job printer—Pleasing the few or being all
things to all men—Printing as a business and as an art—Art is essential
to printing—Study of art arouses ambition—Unfolds a new world—
Proportion—Book pages—The width and length of a page—Position of the
page—Margins—The job printer and proportion—Relation of shape of
type-face to page—Condensed types for narrow pages—Extended types for
wide pages—Architecture as an example—Vertical and horizontal lines—The
relation of lines to proportion—A page with ornament, type-face and page
design in proportion—Irregularity and when it may be introduced—A type
line large or small by contrast—The happy medium—Balance, an important
subject—Type lines horizontally centered—Safety from blunders—
Out-of-the-center balance—The point of vertical balance above center—
Testing balance to the limit—Diagonal arrangements show lack of
imagination—Spacing—Its proper apportionment—An important feature when
letters are designed—The capital L—Emphasis by means of spacing—The
effect of separate lines—Should be an even page tone—Distributing
display lines over the entire page—Grouping them at the point of
balance—Spaced words in narrow measures—A good sign when one recognizes
imperfections.

ORNAMENTATION

_Page 59_

The human race has a liking for ornamentation—Natural and artificial
beauty—Nature furnishes motives for man’s work—The average man giving
thought to art—Beautiful things all about—Privileges of museums and art
galleries available to printers—Take less thought of food and raiment
and these things shall be added—Is ornamentation necessary to art
typography?—Paper as embellishment—Covering poor stock with decoration—
Ornaments under lock and key—Revising ideas of art—Abstinence—Using
ornaments with discrimination—Study of significance and appropriateness—
Motive or reason in ornamentation—Italian and German influences—Harmony
because of sympathy between arts and crafts—Inharmonious ideas of
several persons—Relation of typography to architecture shown in
alphabets—Roman and Gothic—Ornamentation both inventive and imitative—
Conventionalized ornament—With or without perspective—Things which have
inspired the decorator—Artists’ work full of meaning—Leaves, mythical
beings, sacred animals—Architectural designs on title-pages—Egg-and-dart
and bead ornaments—Results of observation—Designs thousands of years
old—Typographic borders—Triple division of taste—The severely plain,
Doric—The slightly ornamental, Ionic—The elaborately ornamental,
Corinthian—Sturdiness and grace—Difference in ideals and preferences—
Some delight in magnificence, others in plainness—The three divisions of
taste applied to typography—The style of architecture and home
furnishings influence typography—The “mission” style and straight lines—
The frivolous rococo style and curved lines—Rococo type ornamentation
not successful—A style to please those who like neither the severely
plain nor the elaborately ornamental—Ornament secondary—Should not
distract attention—Excess of embellishment—Chippendale first made
furniture serviceable, then added ornament—Regularity and variety in
repetition—Four classes of ornament—Based upon geometrical lines, upon
foliage, upon the inanimate, and upon the animate—Initials as means of
ornamentation—Corner ornaments—Decoration with a motive—Reversing half
of a design—A page with but a single ornament—Present-day preferences
are for Gothic rather than for Italian type ornaments—The reason—
Ornamentation.

THE TYPOGRAPHY OF BOOKS

_Page 67_

Good taste important in production of books—Judgment perfect in one
respect and erratic in others—Good taste and conservatism—Catering to
fashion leaves unsalable stock—Conservatives are few—Printed things that
please for the moment—Art reasons in book typography applicable to job
typography—The job compositor drawing closer to his book brother—The
book typographer governed by precedent—The conservative man
constructive—The radical destructive—Masterpieces discarded for
frivolous things—Morris set out to change book typography—He offered the
good things of the old masters—Age not proof of merit—Good typography
always good—Book industry in America tremendous—Carnegie at first
ridiculed, now acknowledged a benefactor—The need of good books well
printed—Majority of books poorly printed—Rarely do reading pages,
title-page and cover harmonize—Cover only part given artistic attention—
Should be honestly what it seems—A book model in its way—Not a line in
capitals—Only two sizes of type on title-page—Chapter headings cling to
type page—Margins—Surface covered—Proportion—Bruce Rogers—Designs books
for the Riverside Press—Regard for the appropriate—The literary motive
the cue—Suggesting a product of the middle nineteenth century—Two pages
with faults—Inharmonious typography—The cost of an appropriate
title-page ridiculously small—Provide display faces to match machine
letters—Artist and typographer and the literary motive—Composite
Colonial and modern—Unfinished effect—Books that lend themselves to
decoration—Serious books—Typographic results exceptionally good—General
use of border—Title page an excellent example—Reading matter close to
border—One margin—Style of the modern novel—Modern book composition set
on the linotype—An unconventional page—Page from a book written and
illustrated by Will Bradley—Harmony between type-face and decoration—
Effectiveness of a plain initial—Title-page of classic design—Dignified
beauty—Classic feeling in a modern title-page—A serious effort by the
Roycrofters—Page from a book by De Vinne—An ecclesiastical book by
Updike—Improving typography in America—A book with a French motive—
Avoiding commonplace types—Fonts from old matrices—Specially designed
faces—Arrangement of a book—Fly leaf, sub-title, title-page, copyright
notice, imprint, table of contents and illustrations, preface,
frontispiece, dedication, index—Numbering the pages—The space under
running titles—Lowering of the chapter headings—The space around
initials—Position of a book page—Em-quad or en-quad between sentences?

BOOKLETS, PAMPHLETS, BROCHURES, LEAFLETS

_Page 75_

Misuse of the word “booklet”—Definitions of booklet, pamphlet, brochure,
leaflet—Chap-books—The booklet’s mission educational—Users—Ideas of
writer and artist should be blended—Harmonious and complete—Printers
have many artists to select from—The connecting link between job
typography and book typography—Blending the typography with a lettered
title-page—Pure typographical effects—Approved faces—Three series only—A
page one likes to read—Reluctance to explore the past—Understanding of
typography—Type alone can be effective—Good typography to be preferred
to poor art work—Distinctive features—Space between sentences—Dignity in
lettering and decoration—Title labels—A small amount of reading matter—
Placing an illustration that is out of proportion—Care in the details of
typesetting—Results of careless typography—Buyers slaves to
conventionality—Newness and bright coloring that gets attention—
Lower-case letters for capitals—Interesting decorative headings—The
initial furnishes a spot of black—No decoration of any kind—Depending on
type-faces and paper for results—Swash italic capitals and letterspaced
capitals—Chapter heading not sunk—Suggestions from lettered designs—A
standard type for old-style effects—Lettering in Caslon style on
blue-prints—A memorial volume—Strict typographic harmony—Suggesting such
volumes-Japanese paper printed on one side—Simple typography—Living in
an artistic atmosphere—Printing journals—Specimen booklets for study
purposes—Printers depend too much on artists—Possibilities of type
arrangement never exhausted—Working together.

CATALOGS

_Page 83_

Three branches of architectural virtue applied to the catalog—Act well,
speak well, look well—The days when the catalog was a heterogeneous
collection of woodcuts and type-faces—Now care and taste shown—The
catalog a portable show case—Proper display of goods makes selling
easier—Playing up the ordinary—A block of marble, rough and carved—
Standardizing the dimensions of catalogs—Engineers recommend standard
sizes—Other suggestions—Overlapping covers—Titles on exposed backs—Date—
Index card inclosed—Copy should be legible—A dummy should be passed on—
Decoration supplemental—Expressing personality—The penalty of being an
average typographer—The envy of master printers of old—Horizontal
position of illustration—Brass rule well used—A design full of
character—Description facing illustration—Small amount of reading
matter—Red borders—Variety and interest by simple means—Cover-page built
on an illustration—Modern German typographic ideas—Bold type desirable
when color is to be shown—An art museum catalog—Securing value from
background—Technical details kept orderly—A book-catalog page—Rule
border adds decorative quality—Typography seldom receives the attention
it deserves—An uncommon catalog page—Tabular treatment for a high-class
wine list—The stone rejected by the builder—A dainty German page—A
legible ornamental letter—Absence of roman lower-case—Appropriate
woodcut—Marginal distribution—Realistic pictures—Gloves well shown—Usual
method of selling—Tabular matter.

PROGRAMS

_Page 91_

“Let all things be done decently and in order”—Four classes of programs—
Programs of sacred services—Offer opportunity for artistic treatment—
Significance an important element—The key to ecclesiastical printing—
Rubrics—A modern interpretation of the historic—Pointed Gothic
type-face—Uncial rubricated initials—Red lines—A significant device—
Prejudices among clergymen—A churchly aspect by rubrication—Arranging
numerous small titles—Economizing space—An almost perfect specimen of
church program printing—A specialist on church typography—Program of
lenten services—A small program, with a page for each event—Arranging a
program with little matter—The dance program—Should be dainty—Stock
folders—Must “look like a dance program”—A typographic dance card—
Centered dots in place of periods—Uniform border treatment on an outing
program—An unconventional dance program—Banquet programs and varied
treatments possible—Value of the decorative border—Arrangement of type
matter—A background in olive—The menu program in small booklet form—Menu
dishes in the form of checks—“Hash” and “Rehash”—A bit of fun—A classic
menu-page—A style appropriately humorous—Eating in a foreign language—
Side hits—Artistic treatment simulating woodcut decoration—A simply
constructed menu page—Unique arrangement—Titles at the left—Symmetrical
arrangement—Programs for entertainments and exercises—The commonplace
program a disappointment—Artistic programs—A refined page by Updike—
Features of interest in a page by Rogers—Admirable treatment of a brief
program—Appropriate decoration overprinted by type—A page dominated by
the Gothic style—List of characters unusually displayed—A neat page in
Caslon type—The program containing small advertisements—Theater programs
exert influence on public taste.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

_Page 99_

Publicity essential to success—Announcements the modern representative
of the public crier—Not confined to any size or shape—Often consists of
only one page—The most personal of printed mediums of publicity—The
printer depended on for suggestions and advice—Confidence of the
customer an asset—Imitation engraved announcement the most common—Allows
of no original or decorative treatment—The cobbler and tinker—
Satisfaction from work well done—The uncommon typographer not governed
by usual warnings—An announcement folder of a quality seldom attained—
Points of interest in a Caslon page—Black text letter and a generous
size of sheet—Sturdy masculine lettering—The human quality of
imperfection—A cartoonist’s task—Broad strokes make a liberal showing of
color possible—Classic dignity—Ornaments as eye-attractors—A postal-card
announcement—One-tenth manual labor and nine-tenths brain exercise—
Mistake to make type-face very large or very small—Obtaining variety and
emphasis by use of italic and small capitals—Spacing of lower-case—One
size of type only—Division into two type groups—A study in tone values—
Harmony of type-face and decoration—A brief announcement—Colonial
effects—Appropriate typography based on an early newspaper—Lack of
margins and absence of print—Heavy- and light-faced rule—Greater
legibility when lines are separated—A misplaced initial—A blotter
announcement—Printers’ own announcements.

TICKETS

_Page 107_

Good results by accident—A good job of printing should be an everyday
occurrence—Lack of interest reason for non-development—Any man not
interested in his vocation to be pitied—Thought concentrated on
typography—Efficiency a guarantee—Accept responsibilities—The first
observations of a student—“None perfect, no not one”—Tickets afford
practice of art printing—Many themes and styles in typography—
Resourcefulness a valuable characteristic—Ticket forms especially
designed—One based upon a classic motive—An idea from ancient Rome—
Capitals slightly spaced—The historic Gothic or church style—Contrast by
the use of color—A modern conception with a masculine motive—The margins
of two styles—An odd and striking effect—Modern treatment based upon the
Colonial—A bookish effect—An idea for a lecture course—White or colored
stock?—A ticket of peculiar interest to women—The geometric or secession
style—Enthusiasm over new styles—Building a house in the sands—
Square-faced type and square ornaments—An adaptation of the missal
style—Inspiration from William Morris and Italian printers—For
educational and art functions—A motive from the art workers of the
Middle Ages—A modern application of classic type effects—A purely
Colonial effect—Dainty, refined treatment and symbolic decoration—
Typography that is distinctly masculine—Orange is lighter than black in
tone—An arrangement dictated by an ornament—A ticket not easily
duplicated—Color background—Corner decoration in keeping with the
subject—A motive from early French books—Typographers should go thru the
world with eyes open.

LETTERHEADS AND ENVELOPS

_Page 111_

Standard sizes—Single leaves and the folded note sheet—Official
envelops—Folding the sheets—Printing on fourth page—Society stationery—
Ruled sheets seldom called for—Paper and typographical treatment of
letterhead and envelops should have relation—Style of professional
stationery seldom changes—Simple, neat, refined typography—Color seldom
well used—Styles furnished by lithographers and steel-die printers—Work
along standardized lines—A letterhead one form of advertising—Two tones
of type-face for much copy—Elaborate treatment seldom advisable—All
matter in one group—Blank space a factor—Brief copy—Use of a decorative
device—A harmonizing border—A meeting announcement—Suggesting an
architectural panel—Appropriate to the business—All lines of same
length—For a general store—Resetting of a “brick” letterhead—Too
literal—Injection of individuality—Something different—Attractive club
stationery—Typographic neatness—A copperplate letterhead—Two distinct
groups—Italic on a heading—Inclosing type matter in a panel—A line
border finishing off the edges of a letter sheet—A spot of decorative
color—The cross-line panel—German treatment—Notehead by a book
typographer—Humor—Envelops a convenience—Its purpose and use—Advertising
possibilities—“After five days return to”—Medieval character—Bringing
out the business—An envelop corner that is artistic—Elaborate treatment.

BILLHEADS AND STATEMENTS

_Page 119_

Suitable and dignified type composition—Should correspond in style to
that of letterhead—Standard sizes—Allowance for head portion—Window
envelops—Change in arrangement—Billheads of a quarter of a century ago—
Features of the average billhead or invoice—Composition of a billhead—
Transforming a letterhead into a billhead—Classic typography—Typographic
art and good taste on a billhead—Stationery of a book dealer—Printing on
colored stock—Lower part divided into columns—A decorator’s stationery—
Business stated in firm name—Credit bills—Use of the statement—Other
forms used in business.

PACKAGE LABELS

_Page 123_

Effectiveness of an attractive package label—Good clothes and the
package—Selection of wrapping stock—Appreciation of neat wrapping—
Druggists excel—The art of making a good impression—Twine, gummed-paper
tape, corrugated board—The printed label as a spot of attraction—The
wrapping paper as a background—Two labels of contrasting treatment—
Stronger label striking—Labels not usually seen at close range—No
standard size—Stock that pastes easily—Hand lettered labels as studies—
Italic with a decorative quality—A label design with no border—
Suggestion of Italian art—Closely-spaced black-toned lettering—Artistic
quality and interest by means of typography—A study in black and white—
The Aldine combination—Border, decorative device and lettering in the
same key—A label design that could be improved—A Goudy type arrangement—
Label with address printed in—Stock labels should be studied.

BUSINESS CARDS

_Page 127_

Courtesies of business—The business card as an introduction—Sizes of
cards—White cards predominate—An attempt at standardization in
arrangement—A model of dignity—Featuring the individual’s name—Contrast
in tone—A specimen of hand lettering—A design of strength and interest—
An attractive black monogram—Decorative device in color—An interesting
contrast—High-hat and frock-coat treatment in French style—Arrangement
in blocked Caslon capitals—Decorative device in tint—Roman capitals with
italic—A representative German card—The word “decorators” furnishes the
cue—Italic for dainty effects—A strong, simple arrangement—Classic
arrangement in one size of type—Much information on a card—Decorative
treatment that could be merged with the stock—Horizontal rule lines—A
card in Bodoni—More than one right way—Styles available for all likes
and dislikes—Character and personality expressed typographically—More
individuality now permissible—Copperplate engravers set the style for
much business-card printing—How to obtain results.

THE BLOTTER

_Page 131_

Business cards and blotters—Less restraint and dignity—Coarseness should
be avoided—No longer an experiment—Advertising values—The size—Enameled
surfaces—A model typographic blotter with calendar—Treatment should be
simple—One design of type-face—Blank space liberally distributed—Natural
freedom—Most blotters contain too much type matter—Relief from
sledge-hammer advertising—Blotter for personal checkbook—Good taste—For
a convention—Pleasing factors—Strong contrasts—Reading the message as
the signature is blotted—Masculine treatment—The character of an
architectural panel—Pleasure in using—Material that is used and material
that is not used—A model of good taste in blotter typography—The test of
time—A neat, refined arrangement—The use of large type—The narrow way—
Gray features—A touch of appropriateness—Other features.

POSTERS, CAR CARDS, WINDOW CARDS

_Page 135_

Poster printing a specialty in large cities—Type equipment well
selected, but not elaborate—Blend of type-faces—Standard job faces
duplicated—Sizes of posters, car cards and window cards—Color and
lettering—What the poster should be—Viewed at closer range—Typographic
effects in poster printing—A poster that measures up—A study of
composition—Contrast of color—Card in conversational style—Using types
in a sane, simple manner—Strong simplicity—Refinement in theatrical
printing—A strong poster in gothic and “secession” border—Making the
typography appropriate-Shakespearean typography—Decoration reproduced
from original sources—Usefulness of a library of books—A hanger in one
size of type—The Colonial style of type arrangement—Why cardboard is
used—Suggested arrangement for excursion card—Printers and poster
printing—The best sale-bill compositor in the country—Work should be
done profitably—Poster printing on a large scale.

ADVERTISEMENTS

_Page 130_

Newspaper advertisement arranged without thought, 379

Easier to read and more pleasing to look at, 380

A city department-store advertisement, 381 (insert)

The conversational style, 382

Name and trademark sell the goods, 383

One word thoroly advertised, 384

Interesting use of white space, 385

A bordered advertisement, 386

Study in advertising values, 387

Pictorial store advertisement, 388

The store name does not appear, 389

Four country-newspaper advertisements, 390 (insert)

A good-looking advertisement, 391

Suggested by building architecture, 392

A long list of agents, 393

Planned to sell high-priced cars, 394

Roman lettering and architecture, 395

Uncommon placing of blank space, 396

Modest display of a magazine advertisement, 397

Blank space emphasizes illustration, 398

A country-newspaper advertisement, 399

Classified advertisements, 400

NEWSPAPERS

_Page 147_

First number of America’s first newspaper, 401

The first newspaper issued regularly, 402

Make-up of a suburban newspaper, 403 (insert)

Front-page make-up of a Hearst newspaper, 404

Same news story by the “Times,” 405

A four-deck heading, 406

Sporting-page make-up, 407

Pyramid make-up of advertisements, 408

PERIODICALS

_Page 151_

Decorative treatment of a Thanksgiving number, 409 (insert)

Dignity in make-up and typography, 410

Samples of actual type matter, 410-A, 422-A, 424-A

Typographical harmony of heading and text, 411

Advertising the story to the readers, 412

Inserted feature panel, 413

Illustration separated from heading, 414

Headings and text in same face, 415

Use of a small illustration, 416

Box headings on editorial pages, 417

Another way to feature editorials, 418

Excellent editorial typography, 419

Use of rules on editorial page, 420

News photograph on front page, 421

Fine typographic make-up, 422

Attractive first text page, 423

Running around illustration, 424

Feature page of a Christmas number, 425

Convention feature of a trade journal, 426

News headings and make-up, 427

Conservative, readable editorial page, 428

Caslon headings and old-style text, 429

Caslon typography on a magazine, 430

Typography of a pocket magazine, 431

HOUSE-ORGANS

_Page 161_

Two pages in Kennerley typography, 432 (insert)

Three pages from a quaintly-treated house-organ, 433, 434, 435

Distinctive lettering and typography, 436

Interpolated paragraphs in italic, 437

A house-organ in miniature, 438

Another on the same plan, 439

Attractive rule treatment of headings, 440

Contents outlined on cover, 441

Simple, effective typography, 442

Dark-toned typography, 443

Suitable treatment for silverware, 444

Rubricated typography on a house-organ, 445, 446

Easily read and pleasingly illustrated, 447

A typographic house-organ, 448

Editorial page typographically neat, 449

Attractive use of rules and italic, 450

Elaborate house-organ title-page, 451

A page in Cloister type, 452

Use of paragraph marks, 453

Good specimen of house-organ cover, 454

Blank space used to good advantage, 455

Cover of the “Philistine,” 456

An “almanack” feature, 457

Bodoni typography, 458

Cover of a small house-organ, 459

Suggestions for return post cards, 460, 461, 462

TYPE-FACES

_Page 169_

Comparison of the same type forms on two finishes of paper, 463
(insert)

Roman alphabet from Trajan column, 464-A

Proportions of Roman capitals, 464-B

Evolution of Roman lower-case, 465

Two standard legible type-faces, 466

Six standard representative Roman type-faces, 467

Types of Sweinheim and Pannartz, 468

Roman types of John and Wendelin of Spires, 469

Roman type-face of Nicholas Jenson, 470

Manuscript of the fifteenth century, 471

Type-face used by Paul Manutius, 472

Cloister Oldstyle as a Jenson title, 473

Type-face used by National Printing Office, 474

Comparison of old-styles, 475

Cheltenham Oldstyle in Plantin typography, 476

Type-faces used by Daniel Elzevir, 477

Roman types of Fournier, 478

Capital alphabet drawn by Moxon, 479

Moxon’s lower-case alphabet, 480

Moxon’s alphabets inked in and reduced, 479-A, 480-A

Earliest Caslon specimen sheet, 481

Two slightly different faces to Caslon fonts, 482

Baskerville types, 483

Possible descent of Scotch Roman, 484

A study in French Oldstyle, 485

Resetting in Bodoni Book, 486

Comparison of original Bodoni with present types, 487

Modern Roman of the nineteenth century in three tones, 488

Modern Roman as used on newspapers, 489

Optical changes by adding serifs, 491

Differences in serif construction, 492

Oldstyle changed to modern, 493

Modern changed to old-style, 494

Comparison of strokes, 495

Thick and thin strokes in the alphabet, 496

Serifs and stroke contrasts, 497

Vertical thick strokes, 498

Diagonal thick strokes, 499

Heavy strokes in the letter “O,” 500, 501

Letters with ascending and descending strokes, 502

Descending strokes long in lettering, 503

Cramped descenders and compressed ends, 504

Descending and ascending numerals, 505

The space between words in good lettering, 506

Lower-case letters grouped according to formation, 507

Legibility and other qualities, 508

Sizes of type set to proper lengths, 509

Ascertaining the proper optical length, 510

Moxon’s Italic capitals of 1676, 511

Italic lower-case of Moxon, 512

Resetting in Cloister types, 513

Decorated capitals or Swash letters, 514

Roman and Italic compared, 515

A few representative Italic type-faces, 516

Complete Roman and Italic Caslon alphabets, 517

Text capitals of Moxon, 518

Text lower-case of Moxon, 519

Two standard German type-faces, 520

A half-Gothic and half-Roman type, 521

Several representative Text types, 522

Block types, serifless and of one thickness of stroke, 523

Modern art poster type, 524

A bold-face from French Oldstyle, 525

A few representative bold types, 526

Eighteenth-century ornamental types of Fournier, 527-A

Early nineteenth-century ornamental types of English founders, 527-B

Recent American types of the ornamental kind, 527-C

IMPRINTS

_Page 195_

The first “imprint,” as found on Fust and Schœffer’s Psalter, 1457,
528-A (insert)
.pn=xx

Colophon and imprint by Peter Schœffer, 1476, 528-B (insert)

The first imprint-device, and three adaptations, 529

Aldus’s anchor and dolphin device, and adaptations by modern printers,
530

The most popular imprint-device as early used by printers, and modern
interpretations, 531

Arms supposedly granted the Typothetæ, German master printers, 532

The imprint-device of England’s first printer, its probable derivation,
and two notable devices evolved from it, 533

Two designs with ancient motifs, 534

The pun, as found in two ancient printers’ marks, 535

Devices used by notable printers of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries, 536

A printer’s device and imprint that monopolizes two-thirds of the
title-page, 536-A

Colophon-imprint by D. B. Updike, 537

The Lion of St. Mark adapted to a book on Venetian life, 538

The Lion of St. Mark and its use by the Oswald Press, 539-A, 539-B

Robert Estienne’s mark and Bruce Rogers’s adaptation, 540

An appropriate mark for a printer, 541

Use of oval shape in the designing of printers’ marks, 542

Modern imprints suggested by ancient forms, 543

Printers’ marks based upon architectural motifs, 544

An imprint that has to do with mythology, 545

The monogram is an attractive form for printers’ devices, 546

Representative of the large variety of devices in use by printers, 547

Decorative imprints constructed with typefounders’ ornaments and
suitable type-faces, 548

Type imprints and the various effects possible with them, 549

Quaint book-ending as used by Elbert Hubbard, 550

APPENDIX

HOLIDAY GREETINGS

Reproductions of more than a hundred greetings, in various forms,
received by the editors of “The American Printer.”

LIST OF DESIGNERS

PART ONE

Aldus Manutius, p. 15

Barker, Christopher, p. 18

Bodoni, John Baptist, p. 26

Bradley, Will, opp. p. 32, 33, 34

Caxton, William, p. 17

Daye, John, p. 18

Daye, Stephen, p. 19

De Vinne, Theodore L., p. 34

Franklin, Benjamin, p. 25

Fust and Schœffer, opp. p. 7

Gutenberg, Johann, p. 12, opp. p. 12

Jacobi, Charles T., p. 33

Jenson, Nicholas, p. 14

Koburger, Anthony, p. 14

MacKellar, Thomas, p. 29

Morris, William, opp. p. 27

Newcomb, Thomas, opp. p. 19

Parker, Peter, p. 24

Plantin, Christopher, p. 16, 17

Rand, George C., and Avery, p. 29, 30

Roberts, James, p. 20

Sensenschmidt, J., opp. p. 14

Thomas, Isaiah, p. 28

Whittingham, Charles, p. 21, 32

PART TWO

(_Figures refer to the example numbers_)

Adams-Brander Company, 301

Advertisers Press, 300

Anger, Harry A., 121, 292, 296

Baker, William Henry, 155, 156, 239, 340, 457, 458, 462

Bartlett-Orr Press, 335

Becker, August, 362

Beran, C. R., 207

Blanchard Press, 170

Bradley, Will, 62, 76, 100, 139, 167, 211, 219, 237, 339, 409, 425, 430

Bradley, William Aspenwall, 141

Cadillac Printing Company, 187

Calkins & Holden, 384

Calumet Press, 241, 245

Capon, Charles R., 283, 311, 326, 454

Carr, Horace, 252, 361

Chasmar-Winchell Press, 195

Cleland, T. M., 49, 160, 175, 176, 188, 233, 250, 394

Colonial Press, 136, 137

Cook Printing Company, 124

Cooper, Frederick G., 338

Cooper, Oswald, 234, 235, 328

Corday & Gross, 172, 295

Crittenden, Lee L., 204, 351

Currier, Everitt R., 230, 231, 448

De Vinne Press, 217

De Vinne, Theodore L., 144

Douglas, Lester, 423

Dunn, H. H., 367

Dwiggins, Will, 177, 435

Fell Company, William F., 289, 325

Fleming & Carnrick, 96

French, George, 126, 127, 294

Frommader, E. A., 363

Gilliss, Walter, 183, 184, 410, 411

Glover, John, 304

Goudy, Frederic W., 142, 149, 170, 334, 366

Government Printshop, Berlin, 118

Gress, Edmund G., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20,
21, 22, 25, 26, 27-A, 28, 30, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 46, 48, 58,
64, 65, 68, 69, 82, 85, 86, 106, 107, 115, 116, 119, 168, 169, 171,
200, 205, 208, 214, 218, 220, 240, 242, 243, 246, 256, 257, 258,
259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271,
272, 273, 274, 276, 277, 278, 282, 285, 287, 289, 291, 307, 310,
313, 316, 317, 319, 322, 323, 324, 329, 330, 336, 337, 343, 345,
348, 352, 355, 356, 357, 358, 364, 365, 372, 373, 374, 375, 376,
377, 378, 391, 393, 399, 400, 415, 416, 426, 427, 428, 438, 439

Greenleaf, Ray, 308

Gress, Walter B., 346

Griffith-Stillings Press, 210, 213, 443

Haime, Harry, 221

Hall-Taylor Company, 193, 393

Heintzemann Press, 45, 281

Jacobson, E. G., 165, 166

Kehler, J. H., 40

Kleukens, F. W., 32

Lang, Fred S., 226

Leader, Leon I., 288, 297

Lewis, Barnard J., 157, 158, 159

Mackay, A. F., 232, 244

Marchbanks Press, 150, 151, 331, 460, 461

Matthews-Northrup Works, 125, 178, 179, 192

Munder-Thomson Company, 122

Nash, J. H., 134, 135, 147, 185, 279, 442, 450, 451

Neal Press, 306

Nelson, Arthur, 138, 249, 284, 286, 290, 440

Peabody, Charles Edward, 342

Radcliffe, B. Walter, 360

Rogers, Bruce, 43, 128, 129, 148, 223, 224, 449-B, 451

Roycroft Shop, 143, 456

School of Printing, Boston, 42, 75, 335

Seaver-Howland Press, 433, 434

Sherbow, Benjamin, 152, 153, 236, 238, 247, 248, 380, 412, 413, 414,
420

Smith Company, Eugene, 452

Stetson Press, 225, 228

Stillson Company, Robert L., 186

Stutes, Edward W., 206, 350

Taft, Henry D., 353

Tapley Company, J. F., 344

Taylor & Taylor, 163, 164, 194, 445, 446

Trow Press, 140

University Press, 41

Updike, D. B., 70, 145, 146, 180, 181, 190, 191, 203, 215, 222, 227,
303, 314, 315

Warde Press, 447

Winchell, Edward Everett, 161, 162, 209

PART ONE

[Illustration:

THE SCRIBE AT WORK

Representing a secretary to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy and
patron of learning, copying manuscript books at the Hague about the
time typography was invented
]

[Illustration]

WHEN BOOKS WERE WRITTEN

To many persons the words “Printing” and “Typography” are synonymous.
The Standard dictionary, in its leading definition of the word
“Printer,” says: “One engaged in the trade of typographical printing;
one who sets type or runs a printing press; specifically a compositor.”

But in these days there are so many kinds of printers (lithographic
printers, steel- and copper-plate printers, linotype printers, textile
printers, etc.) that to define the sort of printer who does his work
with type the use of the adjective “typographic” is necessary.

The word “typography” is derived from the Greek _typos_, or type; and
_graphe_, or writing—type-writing. Typography, then, as I shall use it,
means printing from movable, or separate, types.

The origin of typography may be open to dispute, but it is an undeniable
fact that the art of printing with separate types was practiced at
Mainz, Germany, during the years 1450–1455, and from there spread over
Europe.

Before that period books were written by hand or printed from crudely
engraved blocks of wood.

* * * * *

The thousand years preceding the invention of printing (the fifth to the
fifteenth century) are known in history as the Middle Ages, and the
first six centuries of this period (the fifth to the eleventh) are
called the Dark Ages, because during those years civilization in Europe
relapsed into semi-barbarism, and scientific, artistic and literary
pursuits were almost entirely abandoned.

Latin had been the language of intellectual Europe up to the time of the
fall of Rome (476 A.D.) and one of the influences that led up to this
benighted period was that Southern Europe was overrun by so-called
barbarians from Germania in the north—the Angles and Saxons, who settled
in Britain; the Franks, Burgundians and Goths, who settled in Gaul (now
France) and Germany; the Vandals who settled in Spain, and the Lombards,
who settled in Italy.

In Italy, Spain and Gaul the Latin-speaking natives far outnumbered the
invaders, and the Germanic conquerors were forced to learn something of
Latin. The present languages of those countries are the result of that
attempt. The language of the Germanic Angles and Saxons was used in
Britain after their invasion of that country, but was modified by the
French-speaking Normans who conquered England in the eleventh century.
Thus Latin as a common language died.

* * * * *

Altho dead to most of the population of Europe, Latin was made the
official language of the Christian church, and, during that period of
the Middle Ages when French, Spanish, Italian and English were in a
state of evolution, it afforded a means of keeping alive in written
books the knowledge the world had gained before the dark curtain of
ignorance was rung down.

Manuscript books are so-called from the Latin words _manu scripti_,
meaning “written by hand,” and the initials of these two Latin words are
frequently used for the word manuscript, i.e., “MS.”

The materials upon which books were written have at various times been
clay, stone, wood, lead, skin, papyrus and paper.

[Illustration:

ASSYRIAN CLAY TABLET

Showing the cuneiform (arrow-shaped) writing
]

Looking back six thousand years to the beginning of recorded time we
find the Chaldeans (Babylonians and Assyrians) writing arrow-shaped
characters with a sharp tri-pointed instrument upon damp clay, which was
then made permanent by baking. In 1845 a library of baked clay tablets
was discovered among the ruins of Nineveh. Thousands of these tablets
have been collected in the British Museum, the most interesting of which
is one which had been broken in eighteen pieces, containing an account
of the Flood.

Twenty-five hundred years before the Christian era, when the great
pyramids were being built, the Egyptians wrote upon papyrus, a plant
growing on the banks of the Nile. The inner portion of the plant was
stripped, the strips laid across each other, pressed and dried. The
squares of material thus made were then joined together to form a long
strip which was rolled around a rod.

Upon papyrus is written one of the oldest “books” in the world, “The
Book of the Dead,” now in the British Museum. This is a literary work of
a semi-sacred character, and copies were placed in the tombs with
deceased Egyptians, whence its name. A reproduction of a portion of this
book is given on page three.

Supposedly under the patronage of the Egyptian ruler, Rameses II., about
thirteen hundred years before Christ, many books on religion, law,
medicine and other subjects were written, and a great library was
accumulated.

The Chinese wrote with a stylus or brush upon tablets of bamboo fiber.
It is impossible accurately to determine the antiquity of Chinese
methods, as the extravagant and often unsubstantiated claims of
historians antedate those of modern discovery. Ink, paper, and printing
from blocks were all supposedly invented by the Chinese early in the
Christian era, and even the first use of separate types is credited to
Pi-Shing, a Chinese blacksmith. It may be relevant to suggest that the
old-time “blacksmith” joke and the printing-term “pi” are derived from
this source.

Dressed skins and palm leaves were used by the Hindoos, and writings in
Sanscrit were probably done in the temples by the Brahmins, the priests
and philosophers of early India. The Vedas, sacred writings as old as
2000 B.C., formed a big portion of the Hindoo literature.

The Hebrews wrote upon stones and animal skins. In this manner they
preserved the Old Testament portion of the Bible, and gave to posterity
one of the most wonderful books ever written.

* * * * *

The ancient Phœnicians were commercial people, and being such did very
little in producing literature; yet it is to them that we owe the
present Roman alphabet. The illustration on a following page shows how
this transition probably came about. There is a slight resemblance
between some of the twenty-one characters in the Phœnician alphabet and
certain picture writings of the Egyptians, whose hieroglyphic alphabet
consisted of several hundred characters and was as cumbersome as is the
Chinese alphabet with its several thousand characters.

The Greeks received their alphabet directly from the Phœnicians, there
being a tradition that one Cadmus introduced it into Greece. Some
writers claim that “Cadmus” merely signifies “the East” and does not
refer to an individual. The names of the first two letters of the Greek
alphabet, Alpha and Beta, are similar to those of many other languages,
and the word “alphabet” is derived from these two words.

* * * * *

In Greece, especially at Athens, before manuscripts became numerous,
lectures and public readings were important features of intellectual
life.

The poems of Homer, supposed to have been composed about 880 B.C., were
not put into writing until 560 B.C., and during this period of more than
three hundred years they were retained in the memory of bards, by whom
they were sung or recited.

“Plutarch’s Lives,” one of the best known Greek literary works, was
written in the second century, A.D.

The Greek nation is generally acknowledged to have been one of the most
intellectual of ancient times, yet it is a peculiar fact that only the
boys were given an education, the intellectual development of women
being considered unnecessary.

Copying of manuscripts was often a labor of love. Demosthenes, the great
philosopher, is said to have transcribed with his own hands the eight
books of Thucydides on the history of the Peloponnesian War.

Many of the Greek manuscripts were written by scribes and copyists who
were slaves, and some of these slaves developed much talent of a
literary kind.

The Greeks imported papyrus as a writing material, until one of the
Ptolemies, in the interests of the Alexandrian library, decreed that no
papyrus should go out of Egypt. This led to the development of
parchment, so named from the city of Pergamus, where it was first made.
Parchment is the skin of calves, goats or sheep, cleaned and smoothed.

In the days of militant Greece, Alexander the Great conquered Egypt, and
in the year 332 B.C. founded Alexandria. When at his death Alexander’s
empire was divided among his generals, Egypt fell to the lot of Ptolemy,
surnamed Soter. Thus began a dynasty of Egyptian kings known as
Ptolemies, ending in 30 B.C. with the death of Cleopatra, the last of
the line. The second Ptolemy, surnamed Philadelphus, founded the great
Alexandrian library, which accumulated over five hundred thousand rolls
of manuscript, mostly brought from Greece. The length of the rolls
varied from small ones of two hundred lines to massive scrolls of one
hundred and fifty feet when unwound.

There is a legend that Ptolemy Philadelphus was so impressed with the
appearance of a roll of parchment containing in gold letters the sacred
scriptures of the Hebrews, that, about 270 B.C., he caused their
translation to be made into Greek. This, it is said, was done in
Alexandria in seventy-two days by seventy-two learned Jews from
Jerusalem. Hence the name “Septuagint,” which has always been applied to
that Greek version of the Old Testament.

[Illustration:

ANCIENT ROMAN READING A MANUSCRIPT ROLL

From a painting found at Pompeii
]

Julius Cæsar, the Roman conqueror, whom Shakespeare designated “the
foremost man of all this world,” about the year 30 B.C. visited the city
of Alexandria and became interested in Cleopatra, the Egyptian queen.
This led to a war with King Ptolemy, and during a fierce battle Cæsar
set fire to the Egyptian fleet. Unfortunately the flames extended to the
Alexandrian library and destroyed the greater part of its magnificent
collection of manuscripts.

Gradually after that, Rome superseded Alexandria as an intellectual
center, as Alexandria had previously superseded Athens. The conquest of
Greece, over a hundred years before, had been the cause of many Greek
scholars and philosophers taking up their abode in Rome. This, with the
fact that a great number of scribes and copyists had involuntarily come
to the Eternal City because of the fortunes of war, helped to develop in
the Romans an interest in literature.

During the period of Roman history identified with Julius Cæsar there
were customs in manuscript making that are interesting in their
suggestion of modern newspaper methods. In fact, Cæsar is credited with
having been the founder of the newspaper.

He introduced the daily publication of the news of the Roman Senate and
People, a radical change from the previous custom of issuing yearly
news-letters known as the Annals. The acts of the senate were reported
by trained writers known as tabularii, or inscribers of tablets, and
were revised and edited before publication by a senator appointed to
that duty. Abbreviated forms of writing were used in “reporting,” a sort
of short-hand which enabled the scribe to write as rapidly as a man
could speak. Cæsar himself wrote his letters in characters which
prevented them being read by his enemies.

[Illustration:

ROMAN WAXED TABLET

The present method of binding flat books might have originated with
these old tablets
]

The “Acts of the Senate” grew into a diary of general news, known as the
“Acts of the City,” and it is likely that the educated slaves in the
families of public men were called into service to duplicate copies for
circulation.

Altho the Emperor Augustus, who reigned in Rome at the beginning of the
Christian era, discontinued publishing the Acts of the Senate, he
encouraged the writing and copying of books to such extent that the
period is a memorable one in literature. The classic authors, Virgil and
Horace, wrote at that time, and many other important manuscripts were
produced.

Slave labor was utilized for copying, and large editions of manuscript
rolls were produced with an ease that rivaled the later method of the
printing press. In such instances it was the custom for a reader to read
aloud, to, say, one hundred trained writers. The possibilities of this
process may be imagined. Horace allowed his slaves rations which were so
meager that the entire cost of production, including papyrus and
binding, of a small book was equivalent to about twelve cents in United
States coin.

Thus it will be seen that in the days of the Roman Empire books were
plentiful and cheap because of slave labor, just as they are cheap in
modern times because of machinery.

For most of their books the Romans, as had the Egyptians and Greeks
before them, used rolls of papyrus wound about rods.

Ordinarily these rods were made of wood, but for highly-prized
manuscripts, rods made of ivory with gold balls at the ends were used,
and the writing in such cases was on purple-colored parchment,
elaborately decorated with gold or red ink.

The present style of flat sheet books might have originated with the use
by the Romans of tablets of wood or metal, wax-coated, on which
memoranda were scratched with the stylus. Several tablets were hinged
together and the wax surface was protected by raised edges in the manner
of the modern school slates (see illustration). This led to the use of
several leaves of vellum fastened together and enclosed by richly carved
ivory covers, a form that came into use about 300 A.D., shortly before
Constantine removed the Roman capital to Constantinople. Constantinople
naturally became the center of civilization, and the work of
transcribing manuscripts was taken up in that city. In the eighth
century the reigning emperor, in order to punish the transcribers for
insubordination, caused the library at Constantinople to be “surrounded
by vast piles of fagots, which being fired at a given signal, the whole
building was totally destroyed, along with its twelve scribes and chief
librarian and more than thirty thousand volumes of precious
manuscripts.” It seems to have been a favorite method of punishment
during the Middle Ages for those in authority to destroy valuable
manuscripts.

* * * * *

While, as we have seen, with the fall of the Western Empire of Rome, the
drift of literature was toward the East, there remained in the West a
dim light that was kept burning thru the six hundred years so fittingly
called the Dark Ages. This light came from the monasteries of Europe, in
which little bands of devoted men were transcribing and decorating the
holy writings used by the Christian church.

[Illustration:

THE FAMOUS “BOOK OF THE DEAD”

Part of the seventeenth chapter of the “Book of the Dead,” showing
hieroglyphics and illustrations. This book was written upon papyrus,
and copies were placed by ancient Egyptians in tombs with their dead
]

The Christian church as an organization became powerful after the Roman
Empire declined, and the monopoly of learning which the church possessed
during the Dark Ages gave it such a superior knowledge and power that
the Church of Rome granted authority to kings, and took it away, at its
pleasure. A memorable instance of this power took place in the eleventh
century, when Hildebrand, who as head of the church was known as Pope
Gregory VII., forced Henry IV. of Germany, who had offended him, to seek
pardon in a most humiliating manner. Henry stood barefoot in the snow
for three days, before Hildebrand would pardon him.

On one occasion previous to the event mentioned above, Charlemagne
(Charles the Great), king of the Franks, who was crowned by Pope Leo
III. and saluted as Emperor of the West, was so mistakenly zealous in
extending along with his own kingdom that of the Lowly Nazarene, that he
ordered the hanging of more than four thousand prisoners before the
Saxons would consent to be baptized and conquered.

[Illustration:

EVOLUTION OF THE ALPHABET

This table shows how the present-day Roman alphabet came to us from
the ancient Phœnicians
]

Latin as a language is dead, so far as the secular world is concerned,
but since the seventh century it has been the official language of the
Church of Rome. All manuscripts produced by monks after that time,
whether written in Britain, Germany or Italy, are in Latin, and the
services of the Roman Catholic Church are conducted in that language
even today. In the year 1080, the King of Bohemia asked Hildebrand, the
Papal head of the church, for permission to have the services performed
in the language of the people. This request Hildebrand refused, saying:
“It is the will of God that his word should be hidden, lest it should be
despised if read by every one.”

In 1229 a council of the church published a decree which not only
strictly forbade the translation of the Bible into a “vulgar tongue,”
but also forbade all but the clergy to have copies in their possession.

In spite of these mandates, translations of various portions of the
Bible were made into common tongues, but at great risk. William Tyndale
set about to translate the Bible into English, vowing that ere many
years he would cause the plough-boy to know more of the Scriptures than
did the priests. By 1526 he had completed the New Testament, but his
books were burned in the public squares as soon as completed. Ten years
later Tyndale was burned, as had been his books.

In 1534 Martin Luther completed his wonderful translation into German of
the entire Bible, and gave to the people what had previously been denied
them.

* * * * *

We will now consider the making of manuscript books in the Middle Ages.
In the early days of the Christian church, persecution was so severe
that Christians lived in hiding, or secluded themselves from the outer
world to worship. This condition led to the existence of a class of men
known as monks (from a Greek word _monos_, meaning “alone”). At the
beginning of the sixth century, an earnest, conscientious Christian, now
called Saint Benedict, set out to reform the evils then prevalent in
monastic life. One of his theories was that the monks should spend their
time, not in idleness, but in manual labor, in teaching the youth, and
in copying manuscripts. The Benedictine monks, as the followers of
Benedict are known, were the main agents in spreading Christianity and
keeping learning alive during the Dark Ages. Their mode of living became
so popular that, it is said, there were at one time thirty-seven
thousand monasteries or cloisters in existence.

[Illustration:

CAPITAL LETTERS OF THE ANCIENT ROMANS

From inscriptions carved in stone
]

One of the occupations of the Benedictine monks was that of copying
manuscripts, and in some monasteries a room known as the scriptorium was
set apart for such work. The office of scribe or copyist was one of
great importance, and stringent rules governed the work. No writing was
done by artificial light, talking was prohibited, and none but the
scribes was allowed in the room. The tools were quill pens, knives to
cut the quills, pumice stone to smooth the surface of the parchment,
awls and rulers with which to make guide-lines, and weights to keep down
the pages. Parchment and vellum, the former made of the skins of calves,
goats or sheep, the latter of the skins of unborn lambs and kids, were
the materials written upon. Black ink was commonly used for the text of
books; and vermilion, an orange-red ink made of red clay, was used for
titles and important parts of the text. The portions in red were known
as rubrics, from _rubrica_ (red earth.)

Illuminating was done to some extent in the monasteries, but
illuminators other than monks were often called upon to assist in this
work. This practice led to queer combinations, as sacred writings were
frequently decorated with monkeys and other animals and birds, which
might have afforded appropriate decoration for an account of the Flood.

[Illustration:

UNCIAL LETTERS OF THE SIXTH CENTURY

These letters show the Roman capitals assuming the shape of the later
Gothic, or text, letters
]

After the parchment was prepared and before beginning to write the
scribe would scratch his guide-lines upon it with an awl. The position
of the page and the lines of lettering were thus indicated, the page
guide-lines extending to the edge of the parchment. The scribe’s work
was principally that of copying (setting reprint, printers would say)
from a book on the reading desk at his side. He was supposed strictly to
“follow copy,” and his work was compared occasionally by a person known
as a corrector. The black writing finished, the skins were passed to the
rubricator or illuminator, if the manuscript was to be elaborately
treated.

The colored plate shown as a frontispiece is from an old print and
pictures a scribe at work. He is writing the text on a sheet of
parchment held in place by a weight. The book from which he is copying
is in front of him, above his writing desk, and his copy is indicated by
a guide such as printers still use. Ink pots and pens are in place and
an elaborate library is evidently at his disposal. The picture is
defective in perspective but is withal rather interesting.

[Illustration:

HALF-UNCIAL LETTERS

Demonstrating the transition of Roman capitals into small, or
lower-case, letters
]

The most beautiful and elaborate specimen of the illuminator’s art now
in existence is the famous “Book of Kells,” a copy of the Gospels
written about the seventh century. It is notable because of the
excellence of its decoration, the endless variety of initial letters it
contains, and the careful lettering. The scribes and illuminators of
Ireland have a lasting monument in this book, as it is supposed to have
been produced in the monastery of Kells, founded by St. Colombo.

Gold, red and blue were favorites with the illuminators, the burnished
gold leaf adding richness to the brilliancy of the effect.

Manuscript books were ordinarily bound in thick wooden boards, covered
with leather, but there are books yet preserved the boards of which are
of carved ivory, and others that are inlaid with precious stones.

The books associated with the Middle Ages most familiar to us are the
Missal (mass-book), containing the services of the celebration of the
mass; the Psalter (book of psalms), containing the psalms used in church
services; the Book of Hours, containing prayers and offices for the
several hours of the day, and the Donatus, a short Latin grammar, the
work of Ælius Donatus, a Roman grammarian of the fourth century.

* * * * *

[Illustration:

GOTHIC LETTERS OF THE FIFTH CENTURY

Also showing the decorative uncial-like initials used on manuscript
Missals
]

When printing was invented the first types used were imitations of the
current Gothic lettering, known to us as Black Letter, Old English, etc.
A few years later, when typography was introduced into Italy, the types
were cut in imitation of the lettering selected for use by the scribes
of the Italian Renaissance, which lettering is familiarly known in our
time as Roman. The capitals of this Roman lettering are fashioned after
those used in ancient Rome, and the small or lower-case letters are
after the Roman writing known as minuscule, of the twelfth century.

The ancient Roman writing was all capitals, and as found on stamps and
coins was of the character of the modern so-called “gothic” (plain
strokes, without the small cross strokes known as serifs). The more
carefully made Roman capitals, as carved on monuments and buildings, are
not unlike the present type-faces known as Caslon and French old style.

The evolution of Roman capitals into the small or lower-case letters of
the present day is traced in the writing called _uncial_, in which the
letters A, D, E, H, M, Q are rounded and altered in appearance. More
changes developed the writing known as _half-uncial_, in which only the
N and F retain the appearance of Roman capitals. The small (lower-case)
letters became known as _minuscule_, as contrasted with _majuscule_, or
capital letters. (See reproductions on preceding pages.)

From this point book writing developed in two directions: one toward the
heavy pointed stroke of the churchly Gothic style, and the other, guided
by Charlemagne in the eighth century, to the style of Roman letter used
by Jenson and other printers of Venice, Italy, in their classic printing
of the fifteenth century. Our old-style Roman types are from this
source.

Another style, called _cursive_, was the carelessly executed handwriting
used for ordinary purposes, and in that respect may be likened to our
own business script.

Thus as the fifteenth century dawned upon Europe we find literature and
learning locked in the cells of the monks, while outside, the hosts of
people who for ten centuries wandered in semi-darkness had reached an
elevation which showed them a new existence coming with the intellectual
awakening that was then already upon them.

[Illustration:

LETTERED PAGE FROM THE “BOOK OF KELLS”

Showing the beautiful writing of the Irish scribes of the seventh
century
]

[Illustration:

Portion of a page (full size) from Fust and Schœffer’s Psalter of 1457

The first book with a printed date: showing initials and decoration
cut in wood
]

[Illustration]

THE ORIGIN OF TYPOGRAPHY

The invention of typography in the fifteenth century marked the
beginning of a new civilization and the end of the medieval thousand
years. The Middle Ages may be said to have begun with the capture of
Rome by the Vandals in 455 A.D., and to have ended with the production
of what is considered the first printed book in 1455.

[Illustration:

FRENCH PLAYING CARD

A block print of the fifteenth century
]

As has been shown, during most of the thousand years preceding the
invention of typography, ignorance and superstition reigned thruout
Europe, despite the efforts of Charlemagne and others to revive learning
and encourage interest in books. The popular mind had become so
perverted that ability to read and write and love for art were
considered proofs of effeminacy.

As the medieval period neared its close, the brain of man became more
active; he began to reason and to understand much that before had been
mystery. Interest was manifested in the problems of science and
religion, and notable things were accomplished by artists and craftsmen.
It seemed as if the intellect of mankind was awakening from a long
sleep, and civilization was being born again.

As the light of the new intelligence shone upon the earth and Europe
rubbed its dazzled eyes, TYPOGRAPHY, the star that was to light the way
to modern knowledge and achievement, appeared.

Printing with separate metal types, while involving a new principle, was
to some extent a development of other methods. The evolution from
manuscript books to block books, and from block books to books printed
from types occurred quietly in the natural course of events; so quietly,
indeed, that there is mystery surrounding each change of method.

In the early part of the fifteenth century, when writing was the only
agency used for making books, the demand for playing cards and sacred
pictures necessitated a method of reproduction more rapid than the old;
and thus engraved wood blocks were introduced.

[Illustration:

IMAGE PRINT OF 1423

The first block print with a date
]

As the desire for knowledge outgrew the productive resources of the
russet-gowned scribes, men with a mechanical turn of mind began to
engrave pages of books on wooden blocks, a process which, tho extremely
tedious, afforded a means of partly satisfying the need, and which
became the stepping stone to the invention of printing with separate
types. The block books, as they were called, sometimes contained whole
pages of reading matter, each letter cut in relief on the face of the
wood, and frequently the page included a large illustration carelessly
drawn and crudely engraved. The early method of printing block books was
by placing the paper on the inked surface and rubbing the back. Only one
side was printed and a brown distemper ink (a kind of watercolor) was
used. Simply constructed presses, prototypes of the modern hand press,
were employed by block-book makers in later years. Playing cards and
image prints were popular products of the block-book period, and after
being printed were colored by means of stencils. A French playing card
of the fifteenth century is reproduced on the preceding page, as well as
a print illustrating the old legend of St. Christopher carrying the
infant Jesus across a river. This last-mentioned print is dated 1423, is
8⅛ × 11¼ inches in size, and is the oldest dated specimen of printing.

The invention of _printing_ really dates from the time books were
printed from wooden blocks, altho the more important invention, that of
_typography_ (printing with separate types), is also known by the
general word “printing.” The first block books, probably Donatuses, may
have been printed in Holland. The “Donatus” is a Latin grammar, and
received its name from its author, Ælius Donatus, a Roman grammarian of
the fourth century. It is a small book of not more than thirty-four
pages printed on parchment, and had a large sale.

[Illustration:

BIBLE OF THE POOR

Famous block book of the fifteenth century
]

There is a morbid side to human nature, and it has been with us since
the beginning. Today it finds delight in perusing in the sensational
newspapers detailed descriptions of murders, train wrecks, and other
happenings in which blood is spilled. During the Middle Ages it
prevailed, and is reflected in the pictures that have come down to us in
the block books. A doleful atmosphere is present in the block book, “Ars
Moriendi” (Art of Dying), whose illustrations show weeping angels and
leering demons, weird settings that are magnified by the crudeness of
the engravings.

[Illustration:

TEXT PAGE FROM A BLOCK BOOK

“Ars Moriendi,” printed in the fifteenth century
]

The “Biblia Pauperum” ( Bible of the Poor) is another block book very
popular in the days preceding the invention of typography. It is a book
of about forty pages, consisting principally of illustrations of the
important happenings as told in the Scriptures. The book was for the use
of illiterate monks and those that did not have access to the elaborate
manuscript Bibles.

A book of similar purpose, but more complete than the Bible of the Poor,
is called “Speculum Humanæ Salvationis” (Mirror of Human Salvation).
This book literally presents the transition from block books to
type-printed books, for of the sixty-three pages in one edition twenty
are printed from wood blocks and forty-three from separate types (see
reproductions herewith). The printed page of the “Mirror” is a trifle
larger than the page that is now being read. Almost every monastery in
Europe contained copies of the “Speculum.”

* * * * *

When, where and by whom was typography invented? It is surprising that
there should be any real uncertainty about the facts connected with the
invention of typography, but some uncertainty does exist, and various
opinions and conclusions are set forth in books on the subject. The new
method of printing was invented in the midst of indifference and
ignorance, and for many years but few cared that it had come among them.

The inventor of typography, whether Coster or Gutenberg, was too modest
to claim the credit in a substantial way, as he failed to print his name
on the first books done by the new method.

This modesty, or whatever else it may have been, opened the way for
almost every European country to claim the honor of having been the home
of the invention. However, all claims have been disproved excepting
those of Germany and Holland, and as the argument now stands the weight
of the evidence is with Germany.

C. H. Timperley, in his “Dictionary of Printing” (1839) says that of
those who had written on the subject up to his time, one hundred and
nine favored Mainz and twenty-four favored Haarlem as the birthplace of
typography.

There is indisputable evidence to prove that typography was practiced by
Gutenberg at Mainz, Germany, from 1450 to 1455, and that the art spread
from that city to all parts of Europe. There is no doubt about that. The
only thing which can lose to Gutenberg and Germany the credit of the
invention is proof that another man printed from separate types in
another country previous to 1450. Certain investigators have attempted
to supply this proof, as we shall see.

[Illustration:

PAGE PRINTED FROM AN ENGRAVED WOOD BLOCK

From the “Mirror of Human Salvation”

By an unknown Dutch printer
]

[Illustration:

PAGE PRINTED FROM SEPARATE METAL TYPES

From the “Mirror of Human Salvation”

By an unknown Dutch printer
]

The pretensions of Holland are that one Laurens Janszoon Coster
(Lawrence, son of John, the sexton or sheriff) printed with separate
types about the year 1430 at Haarlem.

The earliest testimony on the subject is a chapter in the “Chronicle of
Cologne” (1499) wherein the author speaks of information about the
invention of typography received by him from Ulrich Zell, who printed
books at Cologne, Germany, as early as 1464. He states that the “art was
discovered first of all in Germany, at Mainz on the Rhine,” and that the
“first inventor of printing was a citizen . . . named Junker Johann
Gutenberg.” This statement is added to by the assertion that the new art
“found its first prefiguration in Holland in the Donatuses which were
printed there before that time.” It has been argued that the last
assertion refers to block books.

An extract from the Cologne-Chronicle account may be of interest:

This highly valuable art was discovered first of all in Germany,
at Mainz on the Rhine. And it is a great honor to the German
nation that such ingenious men are found among them. And it took
place about the year of our Lord 1440, and from this time until
the year 1450, the art, and what is connected with it, was being
investigated. And in the year of our Lord 1450, it was a golden
year, they began to print, and the first book they printed was the
Bible in Latin; it was printed in a large letter resembling the
letter with which at present missals are printed. Altho the art
was discovered at Mainz, in the manner as it is now generally
used, yet the prefiguration was found in Holland, in the
Donatuses, which were printed there before that time. And from
these, the beginning of the said art was taken, and it was
invented in a manner much more masterly and subtle than this, and
became more and more ingenious.... But the first inventor of
printing was a citizen of Mainz, born at Strassburg, and named
Junker Johann Gutenberg. From Mainz the art was introduced first
of all into Cologne, then into Strassburg, and afterwards into
Venice. The origin and progress of the art was told me verbally by
the honorable master Ulrich Zell, of Hanan, still printer at
Cologne, anno 1499, by whom the said art came to Cologne.

There was printed in the year 1561 an address to the town officers at
Haarlem by Dierick Coornhert, an engraver, in which he stated that he
was

often told in good faith that the useful art of printing books was
invented, first of all, here in Haarlem, altho in a crude way, as
it is easier to improve on an invention than to invent; which art
having been brought to Mainz by an unfaithful servant, was very
much improved there, whereby this town, on account of its first
having spread it, gained such a reputation for the invention of
the art, that our fellow-citizens find very little credence when
they ascribe this honor to the true inventor. . . . And because I
implicitly believe what I have said before, on account of the
trustworthy evidence of very old, dignified and gray heads, who
often told me not only the family of the inventor, but also his
name and surname, and explained the first crude way of printing,
and pointed with their finger the house of the first printer out
to me.

It will be noticed that Coornhert fails to mention the name of the
alleged inventor, the location of his house, or the date of the
invention. The claim that “the useful art of printing books was
invented, first of all, here at Haarlem, altho in a crude way,” may
refer to the printing of block books and not to typography.

The claims of Holland were first presented definitely about 1566 in a
history of the Netherlands called “Batavia,” the author of which was
known in his own tongue as Adrian de Jonghe; in English as Adrian the
Younger, and in Latin as Hadrian Junius. The story as written by Junius
has been dubbed the “Coster Legend” and it reads in part as follows:

About one hundred and twenty-eight years ago there dwelt in a
house of some magnificence (as may be verified by inspection, for
it stands intact to this day) in Haarlem, near to the market, and
opposite the royal palace, Laurentius Joannes, surnamed Æditus, or
Custos, by reason of this lucrative and honorable office, which by
hereditary right appertained to the distinguished family of that
name. . . . When strolling in the woods near the city, as citizens
who enjoyed ease were accustomed to do after dinner and on
holidays, it happened that he undertook as an experiment to
fashion the bark of a beech tree in the form of letters. The
letters so made, he impressed the reverse way, consecutively, upon
a leaf of paper, in little lines of one kind and another....
Thereupon he made, by the addition of letters, explanations for
pictures on engraved wood. Of this kind of printing, I myself have
seen some stamped block books, the first essays of the art,
printed on one side only, with the printed pages facing each
other, and not upon both sides of the leaf. Among them was a book
in the vernacular written by an unknown author, bearing the title
“Spieghel onzer Behoudenis” [_Dutch edition of the “Mirror of
Salvation,” two pages of the Latin edition of which are here
shown_].... He subsequently changed the beech-wood letters for
those of lead, and these again for letters of tin, because tin was
a less flexible material, harder and more durable. To this day may
be seen in the very house itself ... some very old wine flagons,
which were made from the melting down of the remnants of these
very types. The new invention met with favor from the public and
... attracted purchasers from every direction.... He added
assistants to his band of workmen, and here may be found the cause
of his troubles. Among these workmen was a certain John. Whether
or not, as suspicion alleges, he was Faust ... or another of the
same name I shall not trouble myself to ascertain. This man, altho
bound by oath to the typographic art, when he knew himself to be
perfectly skilled in the operation of type setting, in the
knowledge of type founding, and in every other detail appertaining
to the work, seized the first favorable opportunity ... and flew
into the closet of the types, and packed up the instruments used
in making them that belonged to his master, and ... immediately
after slunk away from the house with the thief. He went first to
Amsterdam, thence to Cologne and finally regained Mainz.... Within
the space of a year, or about 1442, it is well known that he
published, by the aid of the same types which Laurentius had used
in Haarlem, the “Doctrinal” of Alexander Gallus ... and also the
“Treatises” of Peter, of Spain.... I remember that Nicholas
Gallius, the preceptor of my boyhood, a man of tenacious memory,
and venerable with gray hairs, narrated these circumstances to me.
He, when a boy, had more than once heard Cornelis, an old
bookbinder and an underworkman in the same printing office when
not an octogenarian and bowed down with years, recite all these
details as he had received them from his master.

This is the strongest proof the friends of Coster can present, and it
has been thoroughly dissected by investigators representing both sides
of the controversy. The weak points of the document appear to be:

(1) The date of the experiment with wood letters in the garden
(about 1440) does not leave enough time for completion of the
invention of separate metal types and the equipment of a large
printing office until the theft which Junius says occurred in
1441.

(2) The date of the theft of 1441 does not reconcile itself with the
fact that Gutenberg in 1436 was probably experimenting with his
invention at Strassburg.

(3) The claim that a Dutch edition of the “Mirror of Salvation” was
printed with separate types cut from wood seems doubtful, because
even the best modern machinery has not demonstrated that wood type
can be made as accurately as is necessary for arrangement of small
types in a massed page. When it is considered that the size of
types used on the edition mentioned was about fourteen point, and
the lines were printed in alignment, the modern printer is sure to
question the accuracy of the assertion.

Four editions, two in Latin and two in Dutch, of the “Mirror of
Salvation,” are known to exist, all printed from types except twenty
pages of the second edition, which are printed from engraved blocks.
They are the work of some early printer of Holland; whether his name was
Coster or whether the books were printed before or after 1450 will
probably never be ascertained.

One Peter Scriverius in 1628 wrote a new version of the invention in
which he says that “In the year 1428, Laurens Coster, then a sheriff of
Haarlem, strolled into the Haarlem woods. He took up the branch of an
oak-tree, cut a few letters in relief on the wood, and after a while
wrapped them up in paper. He then fell asleep, but while he slept, rain
descended and soaked the paper. Awakened by a clap of thunder, he took
up the sheet, and to his astonishment discovered that the rain had
transferred to it the impress of the letters,” etc.

Junius had placed the date of Coster’s invention at about 1440;
Scriverius put it at 1428. The date was again changed, this time to
1420, by Marcus Boxhorn, who wrote on the subject in 1640.

In 1722 a statue of Coster was erected in Haarlem, but no date was
placed upon it.

A “true and rational account of the invention” was published at Haarlem
by one Leiz in 1742, which gives in detail the supposed events of
Coster’s life as a printer, from the cutting of the wood letters on the
tree bark in 1428 to his death in 1467, but does not reveal the source
of information.

Gerard Meerman, a learned but impractical writer of Rotterdam, in 1765
published a book, “Origines Typographical,” and comes to the conclusion
that typography was invented by Louwerijs Janszoon, known as Laurens
Coster, who was sheriff at various times between 1422 and 1434, and who
died between 1434 and 1440; he used separate wooden types about 1428 or
1430, and did not (as Junius had claimed) use lead or tin types; he was
robbed on Christmas night 1440 by Johann Gensfleisch (elder brother of
Johann Gutenberg), who carried the art to Mainz; he printed one edition
of the “Mirror” from wooden types.

In the early part of the nineteenth century a scientific society of
Holland offered a prize for the best treatise on the subject of the
invention and in 1816 Jacob Koning was given the award for his essay,
“The Origin, Invention and Development of Printing.” Koning was the
first writer on the subject to make researches in the Haarlem archives
and in his book he claimed to have carefully collected from the
registers, account books, and other official data all the entries that
could throw light on the subject, and to have got together all the
documentary evidence to be found.

The investigations of Koning, as reported by himself, corroborated some
of the details of the stories of those who preceded him, and he found
that Louwerijs Janszoon lived at Haarlem from 1370 to 1439, when he
died.

For many years the discussion stood as Koning had left it and Coster was
universally given equal honors with Gutenberg as the inventor of
typography; but for several years previous to 1869 rumors of errors and
defects in the Haarlem claim were in circulation in Holland.

Dr. Anton Van der Linde took up the task of investigating these rumors
and the results of his labors were given in a series of articles in the
_Dutch Spectator_ during 1870. These articles were revised and issued in
book form under the title, “The Haarlem Legend of the Invention of
Printing.”

Van der Linde showed how Coster’s cause had been bolstered by Koning and
others with misrepresentations, evasions and even forgeries, and Holland
practically surrendered its claims and altered its school books to meet
the new conditions.

The town records revealed no mention of printing in connection with
Louwerijs Janszoon, the sheriff, who died in 1439, or with Laurens
Janszoon Coster.

Van der Linde went to Germany as librarian of the royal library at
Wiesbaden, became _Von_ der Linde and in 1878 published an enlarged
edition of his former book under the title “Gutenberg,” in which he
argued that Gutenberg was the inventor of typography.

In 1879 J. H. Hessels, who had translated into English Van der Linde’s
first book, was asked to write a review of the new book, “Gutenberg,”
and in doing this he became so interested in the subject that he began a
careful investigation into the question. He afterward declared in the
preface of his book, “Gutenberg” (1882). “Had I myself been able to
realize beforehand the time, the trouble, and the expense that this
Gutenberg study would cost me, I should have abandoned the subject at
the outset.” But the work was so infatuating that in 1887 he published
another book: “Haarlem, the Birthplace of Printing; not Mentz.”

To demonstrate the fickle workings of the human mind it may be
interesting to note that in his book of 1882 Mr. Hessels wrote, “I have
never made any thoro examination of the Haarlem question, but such
inquiries as I have made have led me to believe that the Haarlem claim
cannot be maintained.” Contrast this with the title of his book of 1887:
“Haarlem, not Mentz,” and notice his change of base.

While Mr. Hessels had come to believe in Haarlem, Van der Linde’s faith
in the cause of Gutenberg was so strong he forsook his native land, and
in America Theodore L. De Vinne in his book “The Invention of Printing”
(1876) had reasoned out the tangle in a way to satisfy himself and many
others that Gutenberg, and not Coster, was the inventor of typography.

It is impossible here to go into detailed discussion of the points at
issue, and only because the burden of proof is upon the Holland
advocates has so much space been given to Coster.

While there may be some truth in the Coster story, the proofs are weak,
and Haarlem claimants do not seem able to agree as to the identity of
the man Coster.

Gutenberg, on the contrary, is shown by records too numerous to here
mention separately, to have been a real, tangible human being, one who
printed with separate metal types, and the probable inventor of the art.

It is believed that Gutenberg was born at Mainz, Germany, about the year
1399. His parents were Frielo Gensfleisch (goose-flesh) and Else
Gutenberg (good-hill). The boy Johann took the last name of his mother,
in accordance with the German custom of perpetuating a name.

Because of civil strife in Mainz, the Gensfleisch family left that city
about 1420 and took up residence presumably at Strassburg.

There is a possibility that typography spent its infant days at
Strassburg. Gutenberg lived there in 1439 and was practicing a secret
art, which resulted in a lawsuit. The records of the case had lain, with
other records of the time, in an old tower, and were not found until
about 1740. They were removed to the Library of Strassburg, remaining
there until the Franco-Prussian War (1870), when they were destroyed by
soldiers.

This suit against Gutenberg was brought by the relatives of Andrew
Dritzehen, one of his workmen, whom Gutenberg had agreed to teach
certain things connected with the business in which he was engaged. The
testimony of the several witnesses includes references to secrets which
Gutenberg would not impart to his associates: four pieces lying in a
press (which De Vinne claims was a type-mould); lead, melted forms, work
connected with printing, etc.

It is argued that Gutenberg could not have printed in such a perfect
manner at Mainz in 1455 if he had not devoted many of the years before
to perfecting the new art, and for this reason Strassburg may reasonably
claim to be the birthplace of typography.

* * * * *

Gutenberg’s greatest misfortune, the seizure by Fust of his printing
office and the just completed edition of the famous Forty-Two-Line
Bible, furnishes a strong link in the chain of evidence that goes to
prove him the inventor of printing.

The story has been often told how Johann Gutenberg, in need of cash to
finance his invention, went to Johann Fust, a citizen of Mainz, and
obtained a sum of money for which he mortgaged his printing office. This
was in 1450. Five years later we find Fust appearing before a public
notary in the convent of the Bare-Footed Friars to enforce his claim.
Fust evidently caught Gutenberg unawares, for the courts decided against
the inventor, and all types, presses and books in the possession of
Gutenberg were taken to the house of Johann Fust.

The records of the agreement and lawsuit just mentioned are proof that
Johann Gutenberg printed with separate metal types at Mainz, Germany,
during the years 1450–1455. While he did not print his name on any of
the products of his printing office, there are specimens of Mainz
printing such as Indulgences, Donatuses, etc., which corroborative
evidence shows to have been done before 1455.

The greatest achievement of Gutenberg, the culmination of his efforts in
the new art, was the famous Forty-Two-Line Bible. There are a number of
copies of this book in existence, some printed on vellum, some on paper.
It consists of almost thirteen hundred pages, about twelve by sixteen
inches, two columns to the page, the columns containing for the most
part forty-two lines, whence the name by which the book is known. The
types in size are equivalent to the present-day twenty-point, and in
style are a copy of the book-Gothic letters of the fifteenth century.

The reproduction of an illuminated page of the Bible herewith is less
than one-half the size of the original, which is in the British Museum,
but will give an idea of the style of treatment accorded what is
probably the first type-printed book. The text portion was printed in
black ink only. The illuminators put a dab of red on the initial
beginning each sentence, and filled all blank spaces with decoration,
with which the initials I and P are cleverly blended. The smaller
reproduction shows two pages from the copy that was sold for fifty
thousand dollars in 1911.

Johann Gutenberg, after his printing outfit was taken by Fust, did not
entirely lose heart, but again established himself as a printer, altho
he never afterward produced the equal of his great work, the
Forty-Two-Line Bible. In 1465 he was appointed a gentleman of the court
of the Bishop of Mainz, as a reward either for his invention or for
political activity.

Gutenberg died about 1468 and his printing material and equipment went
to one Conrad Humery, who had some rights of ownership in them.

* * * * *

Among Gutenberg’s workmen in 1455 was a young man about twenty-five
years of age named Peter Schœffer, who previously had copied books while
a student at the University of Paris. He was a valued assistant to
Gutenberg, and when Fust took over the equipment forfeited by the
inventor, Schœffer assumed charge, married Fust’s daughter and became a
partner in the business.

Two years later the new firm published a Psalter, which has become,
along with Gutenberg’s Bible, one of the great books of historic
printerdom. Seven copies are known to exist. The Psalter consists of one
hundred and seventy-five vellum leaves nearly square. The Psalms are in
types of about forty-point body, twice the size of those used on
Gutenberg’s Bible and of a similar style. The features of the Psalter
are the large printed two-color initials, generally credited to
Schœffer, altho some authorities have declared that they originated with
Gutenberg.

This Psalter was the first book with a printed date, the colophon at the
end containing “August 14, 1457.”

The portion of a page shown in this connection, being full size and in
colors, should convey an idea of the appearance of the Psalter. The four
cross lines are for the music notes, which were inserted by hand.

Fust died about 1466 from the plague while at Paris arranging for the
sale of books. Schœffer continued to print, and many books came from his
presses. The last book he printed, just before his death (about 1502),
was, a fourth edition of his Psalter.

[Illustration:

THE GUTENBERG BIBLE OF FORTY-TWO LINES

Photographed by Walter Gilliss from the copy for which Henry E.
Huntington paid fifty thousand dollars at the sale of Robert Hoe’s
library in 1911
]

[Illustration:

THE GUTENBERG BIBLE, ILLUMINATED

Less than half the size of the original which is in the British
Museum. Not all pages in the book were decorated like this, and
copies in other collections are illuminated in a different style.
From Humphrey
]

[Illustration:

The Venetian style of typography and decoration
]

[Illustration]

THE SPREAD OF TYPOGRAPHY

The city of Mainz is in the western part of Germany, on the banks of the
river Rhine, and even at the present time is heavily fortified. In the
year 1462, seven years after Gutenberg’s first Bible was completed, it
was the scene of a terrible conflict between two archbishops, Diether
and Adolph II., who contended for the office of elector. The elector had
a vote in the selection of the king or emperor, and Mainz was one of
seven principalities entitled to such an officer.

Diether was the choice of a majority of the citizens of Mainz, but
Adolph had the support of the pope in his claims and made war to
establish himself in the office. One night in October, 1462, there was
an uprising of the followers of Adolph within the city and hundreds of
the inhabitants were murdered. The soldiers of Adolph then entered Mainz
and set it afire. Most of the citizens fled, and industry and business
were paralyzed.

Gutenberg was not affected by these events, as his new shop was outside
of the city proper, in the village of Eltville, a short distance away.

The printing office of Fust and Schœffer, however, was burned, and the
workmen, fleeing for safety from the distressed city, took up residence
in various parts of Europe. Thus was the new art of typography spread
and its secrets made common property.

As an introduction to the consideration of the spread of typography, the
accompanying table may be of value. The information is as accurate as
can be given after carefully consulting numerous authoritative books on
the subject. Most writers disagree as to the years in which typography
was introduced into many of the cities of Europe, and for that reason in
cases where such doubt exists one of the later dates has been chosen for
the purpose of this table.

_In Germany_, before the capture of Mainz, John Mentel at Strassburg and
Albrecht Pfister at Bamberg, were printing books by the new process.
With this fact as a basis, both Mentel and Pfister were once proclaimed
inventors of typography by over-enthusiastic students of printing
history.

Of the printers driven from Mainz by the sacking of the city, Ulrich
Zell is probably the best known, because of his connection with the
Coster-Gutenberg controversy. Zell became rich as a printer and
publisher at Cologne, conducting an office there for more than forty
years. During all that time he never printed a book in the German
language. He had as business competitors twenty-one other master
printers, one of whom, Arnold Ter Hoorne, was the first to make use of
Arabic numerals.

Gunther Zainer began to practice typography at Augsburg in 1468 and was
the first printer in Germany to print a book in Roman characters. He was
also one of the first printers to encounter restrictions by labor
unions. Zainer illustrated his books with woodcuts, and this the
block-printers’ guild objected to. They induced the magistrates to pass
a law against typographers using woodcuts, but this law was afterward
modified to allow the use of woodcuts when made by regular engravers.

Heinrich Keffer printed at Nuremberg about 1470 under the direction of
John Sensenschmidt, who in 1481, at Bamberg, published his famous
Missal, printed with large Gothic types of about sixty-point body.
Keffer had been a witness for Gutenberg in his law suit of 1455.

Anthony Koburger opened a printing office at Nuremberg in 1473, and
later also conducted offices at Basel in Switzerland, and at Lyons in
France. Koburger was one of the most successful of the early printers;
he had twenty-four presses in operation at Nuremberg alone and is said
to have printed twelve editions of the Bible in Latin and one in German.

┌──────────────────────────────┬───────────┬──────────────────────┐
│ CITY AND COUNTRY │ YEAR THE │ BY WHOM │
│ │ ART WAS │ │
│ │INTRODUCED │ │
├──────────────────────────────┼───────────┼──────────────────────┤
│Mainz Germany│ 1450 │Johann Gutenberg │
│ │ │ │
│Strassburg Germany│ 1460 │John Mentel │
│Bamberg Germany│ 1461 │Albrecht Pfister │
│Cologne Germany│ 1464 │Ulrich Zell │
│Rome Italy│ 1465 │Conrad Schweinheim │
│ [Subiaco] │ │ Arnold Pannartz │
│Basel Switzerland│ 1468 │Bertold Ruppel │
│Augsburg Germany│ 1468 │Gunther Zainer │
│Venice Italy│ 1469 │John de Spira │
│Nuremberg Germany│ 1470 │Heinrich Keffer │
│ │ │ John Sensenschmidt │
│Paris France│ 1470 │Ulrich Gering │
│ │ │ Martin Crantz │
│ │ │ Michel Friburger │
│Florence Italy│ 1471 │Bernardo Cennini │
│Utrecht Netherlands│ 1473 │Nicholas Ketelaer │
│ │ │ Gerard de Leempt │
│Bruges Netherlands│ 1474 │Colard Mansion │
│London England│ 1477 │William Caxton │
│ [Westminster] │ │ │
│Barcelona Spain│ 1478 │Nicholas Spindeler │
│Oxford England│ 1478 │Theodoric Rood │
│Leipzig Germany│ 1481 │Marcus Brand │
│Vienna Austria│ 1482 │John Winterberger │
│Stockholm Sweden│ 1483 │John Snell │
│Haarlem Holland│ 1483 │Johannes Andriesson │
│Heidelberg Germany│ 1485 │Frederic Misch │
│Copenhagen Denmark│ 1493 │Gothofridus de Ghemen │
│Munich Germany│ 1500 │John Schobzer │
│Edinburgh Scotland│ 1507 │Androw Myllar │
│Mexico City Mexico│ 1540 │John Cromberger │
│Dublin Ireland│ 1551 │Humphrey Powell │
│Cambridge, Mass. [U.S.]│ 1639 │Stephen Daye │
└──────────────────────────────┴───────────┴──────────────────────┘

THE SPREAD OF TYPOGRAPHY FROM MAINZ

[Illustration:

PAGE PRINTED BY KOBURGER

Combination of woodcuts and typography in a book of 1493
]

_In Italy_ the first printing done with separate types was in the year
1465 in the monastery at Subiaco, a village on the outskirts of Rome.
The cardinal in charge of the monastery, impressed with the importance
of the new art and anxious to have it introduced into Italy, persuaded
Conrad Schweinheim and Arnold Pannartz to come from Germany for the
purpose. In 1467 these two printers removed to the city proper and there
printed more extensively. Many classical works were produced, but five
years later they complained that a large portion of the product had not
been sold and that they were in distress.

Ulrich Hahn was the first printer in the city of Rome proper, having
opened an office there soon after Schweinheim and Pannartz began work at
Subiaco.

John de Spira (born in Spire, Germany) was the first typographer at
Venice, the Italian city famous for the excellence of its printed books.
Setting up a press in 1469, his work was of such quality as to obtain
for him exclusive right to print by the new process at Venice. De Spira
died in 1470 and the privilege was forfeited.

Nicholas Jenson, who came to Venice in 1470, is known as the originator
of the Roman type-face. Schweinheim, Pannartz, Hahn and De Spira, all
had used type-faces based upon the letters of Italian scribes, but the
types had Gothic characteristics. Nearly all Roman type-faces of the
present day trace lineage, as it were, to the types of Jenson.

With the exception of Gutenberg, Fust and Schœffer, and perhaps Aldus,
who succeeded him, Jenson is the most conspicuous figure among the early
printers. The story of his introduction to the art is interesting:
Charles VII., King of France, in the year 1458 decided to send an
emissary to Mainz to learn the new art, which was supposed to be a
secret, and Jenson, then an engraver and master of the royal mint at
Tours, was selected for the mission. Three years later he returned to
Paris with a full knowledge of typography, but found the king had died
and that his successor was not interested in the matter. This condition
of affairs seems to have discouraged Jenson, for he did not begin to
print until 1470, and then at Venice, Italy. (A typographical error in a
printed date of one of his books makes it read 1461 instead of 1471, and
encourages some writers to claim that Jenson was the first Venetian
printer.) The death of John de Spira opened the field for other printers
in Venice, and Jenson was one of the first to take advantage of it.

Jenson cut but one set of punches for his Roman type-face, the cutting
being done so accurately that no changes were afterward necessary. The
Roman types, being less decorative and more legible than the Gothic
letters of the Germans, allowed the use of capitals for headings. A
colophon, the forerunner of the modern title-page, was set by Jenson
entirely in capitals with the lines opened up by liberal space. This
colophon, which was probably the first page of displayed type
composition, is reproduced below.

[Illustration:

THE FIRST PAGE OF DISPLAYED TYPE COMPOSITION

Arranged by Jenson at Venice in 1471
]

It is an interesting fact that the books of Jenson do not contain the
letters J, U and W, these characters not having been added to the
alphabet until some years later. To satisfy a demand he also cut and
used a round Gothic face. The product of Jenson’s presses represents the
highest attainment in the art of printing. His types were perfect, the
print clear and sharp, paper carefully selected, and margins nicely
proportioned.

Jenson died in 1481, honored and wealthy. His printing office passed
first to an association and then to one whose fame as a printer perhaps
surpasses that of Jenson.

Aldus Manutius was a learned Roman, attracted to printing about 1489 by
the pleasures it afforded in the publishing of books. He introduced the
slanting style of type known as italic, so named in honor of Italy and
fashioned after the careful handwriting of Petrarch, an Italian poet.
Italic at first consisted only of lower-case letters, small upright
Roman capitals being used with them. The reproduction below shows this
combination and also the peculiar style of inserting a space after the
capital letter beginning each line.

[Illustration:

A page (actual size) from the famous Bamberg Missal

Printed by Sensenschmidt in 1481
]

Aldus also introduced the innovation of considerably reducing the size
of books from the large folio to the convenient octavo. The size of a
folio page is about twice that of this one, which is known as a quarto,
and an octavo page is half the size of a quarto.

Aldus was the first to suggest the printing of a polyglot Bible. The
word polyglot means “many tongues” and here refers to a book giving
versions of the same text or subject matter in several languages. The
polyglot Bible of Aldus was to have been in Hebrew, Greek and Latin, but
got no further than a few specimen pages.

The first polyglot work ever printed was a Psalter of eight columns,
each a different translation, from the press of Peter Paul Porrus, at
Genoa, Italy, in 1516. This Psalter was the literary work of Augustin
Justinian, a Corsican bishop, who later also arranged an entire Bible on
similar plans.

[Illustration:

THE FIRST ITALIC TYPE-FACE

Page printed by Aldus at Venice in 1514
]

Aldus is honored wherever books are known, not only on account of the
excellence of his productions, but because of the sincerity of his
purpose and his love of printing. In the first book printed by him at
Venice he declares for himself and co-workers: “We have determined
henceforth to devote all our lives to this good work, and call God to
witness that our sincere desire is to do good to mankind.” In the
production of classical works Aldus was assisted by many
scholar-refugees from Constantinople, which city had been captured by
the Turks. Aldus’s fame spread thruout Europe, and many visitors came to
Venice to see him. This annoyed him to such an extent that he had a
notice placed above the entrance to his printing office which in part
read: “Whoever you are that wish to see Aldus, be brief; and when
business is finished, go away.” It can thus be seen that the present-day
motto cards popular in business offices are not a new idea.

Aldus’s complete name was Aldus Pius Manutius Romanus, the first word of
which is abbreviated from Theobaldus.

There were more than two hundred printing offices in Venice before the
year 1500 and two million volumes were produced. These figures may
surprise the average modern reader, who is not inclined to concede
extensive production to the past.

Bernardo Cennini, a goldsmith, introduced typography into Florence,
Italy, in the year 1471. It is claimed that he made his tools, cast his
types and printed without instruction from German typographers,
depending upon verbal reports of the process and examination of printed
books. Cennini produced only one book.

Johann Numeister, who had been a pupil of Gutenberg, after the death of
his master journeyed toward Rome, but for some reason stopped at the
little Italian city of Foligno and began to print there in 1470. He used
both Roman and Gothic types.

_In Switzerland_ the new art was first practiced at Basel about 1468 by
Bertold Ruppel or Rodt, who had been one of Gutenberg’s workmen. Basel
was an important printing center in the days when the art was young, and
gave to France its first typographers.

John Froben, who set up a press at Basel in 1491, is perhaps the best
known of the printers of that city, and because of his use of the then
new italic letters was called the “German Aldus.”

In those days lived the famous Dutch philosopher and theologian Erasmus,
one of the brightest minds of Europe. Erasmus, having heard of Froben,
came to Basel to arrange for the printing of his books, and thus began a
friendship which lasted many years. Erasmus became a guest at the house
of Froben, and his presence was a big factor in that printer’s success.
Erasmus once said of Froben that he benefited the public more than
himself, and predicted that he would leave his heirs more fame than
money. (A book of one of the works of Erasmus, printed by Hieronymus
Froben, son of John, recently sold for fifteen hundred dollars at a sale
in New York.)

_In France_ typography might have been introduced as early as 1461 had
not the death of Charles VII. interfered with the plans of Jenson and
caused him to go to Venice. As it was, in the year 1470 Ulrich Gering,
Martin Crantz and Michel Friburger, three German printers who had been
working at Basel, Switzerland, settled at Paris and began to print under
the patronage of two members of the University of Sorbonne. The early
books of this press were printed from a Roman type-face. The quality of
the work of these printers is said not to have been good. Types were
defective and presswork deficient, many of the printed letters needing
retouching by hand.

Gering became rich and upon his death left much of his fortune to the
university within whose walls he had first printed upon coming to Paris.

In order to demonstrate the success of the early printers in decorating
their books without the aid of illuminators, a page is reproduced,
printed about 1486 by Philip Pigouchet for Simon Vostre, a bookseller of
Paris. The decorations were printed from wood blocks, engraved in the
style of the Gothic period, with stippled backgrounds, and are
interesting to the printer because they show early use of the pieced
border, a method now familiar.

[Illustration:

SPECIMENS FROM THE FIRST TWO PAGES OF THE POLYGLOT BIBLE IN HEBREW,
LATIN AND GREEK. PRINTED BY PLANTIN AT ANTWERP. ABOUT 1569
]

[Illustration:

GOTHIC ORNAMENTAL PIECES

Book of Hours, printed for Simon Vostre at Paris in 1486
]

Henry Estienne settled in Paris in 1502 and was the first of an
illustrious family of typographers. The Estiennes flourished until 1664,
during that time printing many remarkable books. A grandson of Henry
Estienne was the first to apply the system of numbered verses to the
entire Bible.

Robert Estienne, a son of Henry, was the best known and most scholarly
of the Estiennes. He was patronized and favored by the King of France,
and his press may be said to have been the beginning of the celebrated
Greek Press of Paris.

Robert Estienne’s ambition, the printing of de-luxe editions of the
classics, was his undoing as well as his making. The priests of the
Sorbonne, upon the appearance of a polyglot Bible in Hebrew and Greek
from the Estienne press, became enraged and Robert had to flee to
Geneva, Switzerland, for safety. There was little demand in that city
for elaborate books, but Estienne patiently worked there until his death
in 1559. His life had been spent in a labor of love, for he had scorned
money as a reward for his work.

_In the Netherlands_ typography was not practiced so far as is known
until 1473, when a press was erected at Utrecht. While it is supposed
that printing was done before that time at Bruges, there is no direct
evidence to support the supposition. It is known, however, that Colard
Mansion printed at Bruges in 1474, and that he taught typography to
William Caxton, with him producing the first book printed in the English
language.

There is a book with the date 1472, printed at Antwerp by Van der Goes,
but this date is supposed to be a misprint, as in the case of Jenson’s
book of 1471.

Christopher Plantin, a Frenchman, who began to print at Antwerp in 1555,
gave to that city the renown which it enjoys in the printing world.
Plantin printed on a magnificent scale, his luxurious notions extending
to the casting of silver types. His printing office was considered one
of the ornaments of the city and is today used as a museum for the
display of paintings and typographical work. Plantin retained a number
of learned men as correctors of his copy and proofs, and the story is
told that his proof sheets, after undergoing every possible degree of
correction, were hung in some conspicuous place and a reward offered for
the detection of errors. Plantin’s greatest work was his polyglot Bible
of 1569, a portion of which is reproduced above.

Louis Elzevir, founder of the family of learned printers of that name,
first printed in 1595 at Leyden. The second Louis Elzevir opened an
office at Amsterdam in 1640. The product of the Elzevirs was of such
quality as to make them famous thruout Europe as printers of the
classics, and their books were extensively imitated and counterfeited.

While Haarlem is claimed to have been the birthplace of typography, a
book cannot be produced printed in that city with a date earlier than
1483, when Johannes Andriesson had an office there.

_In England_ the name of William Caxton is one to conjure with among
typographers, for Caxton was the first to set type in that country, the
event taking place about the year 1477. Perhaps the thing that endears
Caxton to the hearts of English printers is that he was born in England.
The first printers of Italy, Switzerland and France were Germans, but
Caxton was English; we have his own words to prove it: “I was born and
lerned myn englissh in Kente in the weeld where I doubte not is spoken
as brode and rude englissh as it is in ony place in englond.”

Caxton had been apprenticed when a young man to a merchant, and after
his master’s death took up residence at Bruges in the Netherlands, with
which city England did considerable trading. There he prospered and as
governor of the Merchant Adventurers had control over all English and
Scotch traders in the Low Countries. The device later used by Caxton for
his imprint is supposed to have been copied from some trading mark of
the Bruges merchants.

Caxton resigned as governor and entered the service of the Duchess of
Burgundy, who encouraged him in literary work. Under her patronage he
translated (1469–1471) a “Historie of Troye.” The demand for this work
was an incentive for Caxton to learn how to print it. This he did with
the assistance of Colard Mansion who had started a printing office at
Bruges.

Shortly afterward, Caxton returned to England and set up a press in the
vicinity of Westminster Abbey, then on the outskirts of London. The
first book with a date printed by him is “The Dictes and Sayinges of the
Philosophers,” completed in November, 1477. His type-faces are copies of
those of Mansion, who in turn imitated the letters of Dutch copyists. A
type-face based on Caxton’s letter is now made by an American foundry.

[Illustration:

PAGE BY ENGLAND’S FIRST PRINTER

How Caxton arranged a book title in 1483
]

The product of Caxton’s press during his life is estimated at eighteen
thousand pages, nearly all of folio size. Caxton did not print de-luxe
editions as did other of the early printers of Europe, but his
productions were no less interesting. On his first books the lines were
not spaced to the full length. This gave to the right side of the page a
ragged appearance, as in modern typewritten letters.

Caxton did not devote a separate page to a book title until late in his
life, when he printed a title alone in the center of the first page. The
reproduction (on the preceding page) of a part of Caxton’s “Fables of
Esope” shows how the title was arranged at the page head.

Wynken de Worde, a native of western Germany, was a workman under Caxton
and upon the latter’s death, about 1491, succeeded to the business of
his master. He continued to print in Caxton’s house for several years,
afterward removing to “Fleet-street at the sygn of the Sonne,” in London
proper. Old English black-letter, which is now so popular, was used by
De Worde to a great extent, and he was the first printer to introduce
the Roman letter into England.

Richard Pynson, another of Caxton’s workmen and friend of De Worde, set
up a press in Temple Bar, London, about 1492, and printed many useful
books.

[Illustration:

PAGE IN ENGLISH BY JOHN DAYE

From Fox’s famous “Acts and Monuments,” London, 1560
]

Richard Grafton is famous as a printer of English Bibles during the
troublous times of the Reformation. The church authorities believed it
was not good for the people in general to read the Sacred Scriptures,
and the Bible, translated into English by William Tyndale and Miles
Coverdale, and printed anonymously by Richard Grafton at Antwerp, was
the object of much concern to the ecclesiastics. The Bishop of London
complained that “Some sons of iniquity have craftily translated the Holy
Gospel of God into our vulgar English.” After a long imprisonment
Tyndale suffered death by strangulation and burning. Grafton was
imprisoned in 1540 for printing a large folio Old and New Testament
known as the “Great Bible.” This tremendous task of printing was
accomplished by Grafton in partnership with Edward Whitechurch at Paris
and London.

Shortly after this the prejudice against an English translation was
partly overcome, and in 1543 Parliament passed an act allowing the Bible
to be read by certain classes, but forbidding women, apprentices,
journeymen, husbandmen or laborers to read it privately or openly.

[Illustration:

THE FIRST PSALTER IN ENGLISH

Printed at London about 1565 by Christopher Barker
]

John Daye, who first printed about 1546, was another English typographer
to suffer imprisonment on account of activity in the Protestant cause.
Many important books were printed by Daye, and in character and
accomplishments he has been likened to Plantin who printed during the
same period at Antwerp.

The best known of the books printed by Daye is Fox’s “Acts and
Monuments,” on the subject of wrongs and persecutions in the days of the
Reformation. Dibden says it was “a work of prodigious bulk, expense and
labor.”

_In Scotland_ printing was introduced in 1507 at Edinburgh by Androw
Myllar, in partnership with Walter Chepman, under a patent granted by
King James IV.

_In Ireland_ a prayer book was printed by the new process in 1551 at
Dublin by Humphrey Powell.

_In North America_ typography was first practiced in 1540 at Mexico
City, Mexico, by John Cromberger.

_In the United States_, or rather the territory now included under that
name, typography was introduced in 1639 at Cambridge, Massachusetts, by
Stephen Daye.

[Illustration:

A title-page of many words and much type-display

(Actual size and color treatment)
]

[Illustration]

TYPOGRAPHY IN COLONIAL DAYS

Typography has been an important factor in the development of modern
civilization. In the battle for civil and religious liberty, in both
Europe and America, the man with the pen and he of the composing-stick
have been together on the firing line. With Paul they could well boast
that they had been “in perils of waters, in perils of mine own
countrymen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in
weariness and painfulness, in hunger and thirst.” William Tyndale died
at the stake, Richard Grafton and John Daye suffered imprisonment;
Robert Estienne became an exile from his own country; Jesse Glover on
his way to America found a grave in the waters of the Atlantic; Stephen
Daye set type in a wilderness; James Franklin, William Bradford and John
Peter Zenger were imprisoned, and Benjamin Franklin suffered hunger and
privation.

As ecclesiastical and political conditions in Europe strongly influenced
the practice of typography during the days of the American colonies, I
will briefly review the events of the sixteenth, seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries that the reader may better understand and
appreciate the subject.

In the year 1521, when Luther appeared before the Diet of Worms in
Germany, the English people were ardent Roman Catholics. Henry VIII. was
King of England and the great Cardinal Wolsey was in high authority.
Henry, in the early part of his reign, was exceedingly loyal to the
Catholic Church; he published a book in answer to the attacks of Luther,
for which the pope gave him the title “Defender of the Faith.” However,
when Henry wished to divorce his wife that he could marry Anne Boleyn,
the church authorities did not approve. This so angered the king that he
took from Wolsey his office and possessions, denied the authority of the
pope over the Church of England, and had himself declared the supreme
head of that organization. The king was excommunicated by the pope and
in return Catholics were persecuted and put to death, and their
monasteries, colleges and hospitals broken up. Henry repeatedly changed
his religious opinions, and for many years both Catholics and
Protestants were put to death for differing with him.

For six years after Henry’s death in 1547, during the reign of his son
Edward VI., the Protestants were in power. Then for five years under
Mary the Catholics controlled the religious affairs of the country, and
the flesh of “heresy” was toasted at the stake.

[Illustration:

THE FIRST BOOK PRINTED IN ENGLISH AMERICA

By Stephen Daye at Cambridge, Mass., 1640. (Page slightly reduced)
]

[Illustration:

TITLE-PAGE OF A SHAKESPEARE BOOK

Printed in 1600, while Shakespeare was in the midst of his literary
labors
]

Elizabeth, who began to rule in 1558, was proud of the appellation
“Virgin Queen” and gave the name “Virginia” to the English colony in
America. She never quit spinsterhood, but about the year 1570
considerable correspondence was carried on between the English and
French courts regarding her intended marriage. This resulted in the
accumulation of over three hundred letters, which eighty-five years
later were collected and printed as a 442-page quarto. (The title-page
is reproduced full size as an insert in this chapter.) A poor Puritan
named Stubbs and a poor bookseller named Page published a pamphlet
against the marriage of Queen Elizabeth to the French king’s brother,
and tho the queen herself had said she would never marry, these
unfortunate subjects were punished for their audacity by having their
right hands cut off.

Under Elizabeth, the “Protestant” religion was permanently established
in England, but the enactment of severe laws, such as prohibiting any
one attending the ministry of clergymen who were not of the established
religion, gave rise to dissenters derisively called Puritans because
they wished to establish a form of worship based on the “pure” word of
God. It was by these so-called Puritans that printing was introduced
into English America. Elizabeth reigned until 1603 and was the last of
the Tudor family of sovereigns. The first of the Stuart Kings, James I.
(son of Mary Queen of Scots), then ruled until 1625, when he was
succeeded by his son Charles I. Charles was a despot and claimed that
the people had no right to any part of the government. A civil war
resulted, Charles was beheaded (1649) and a form of government known as
the Commonwealth was established. Oliver Cromwell shortly afterward
became Lord Protector with more power than the king had possessed.

Cromwell was a Puritan, but of the radical element known as
Independents, differing from another element of Puritans known as
Presbyterians. The Independents have come to be known as
Congregationalists. Under Cromwell’s severe Puritanic rule, sculpture
and painting were declared as savoring of idolatry and public amusements
were sternly put down. However, Cromwell encouraged printing and
literature. He was an intimate friend of John Milton, the blind author
of “Paradise Lost” (see title-page reproduced on a following page),
which book was published in 1667, the year following the Great Fire.
Milton was Latin secretary to Cromwell, and published a book which
argued against royalty, for which, on the accession of Charles II., he
was arrested.

In 1657 (the year before Cromwell died) was published the sixth and last
volume of the London Polyglot Bible, compiled by Brian Walton and
printed by Thomas Roycroft. In this Bible there were used nine
languages: Hebrew, Chaldee, Samaritan, Greek, Syriac, Arabic, Ethiopic,
Persian and Latin. The work took four years in printing, and was the
first book ever published in England by subscription. Cromwell
encouraged the undertaking by allowing paper to be imported into England
duty free, and by contributing a thousand pounds out of the public money
to begin the work.

In those days the Puritans presented a curious contrast to the
Royalists. The Puritan, or “Roundhead” as he was also called, wore a
cloak of subdued brown or black, a plain wide linen collar, and a
cone-shaped hat over closely-cut or long, straight hair. The Royalist,
or “Cavalier,” wore clothes of silk or satin, a lace collar, a short
cloak over one shoulder, short boots, and a broad-brimmed beaver hat
adorned with a plume of feathers.

The period designated as the Restoration, long celebrated by the Church
of England, began soon after Cromwell’s death, when in 1660 Charles II.
ascended the throne. This period brought with it a reaction from the
Puritanic conditions that previously existed and all sorts of excesses
were practiced. Cromwell’s body was taken out of its grave in
Westminster Abbey, hanged on a gallows and beheaded.

It was during the reign of Charles II. (1665) that the Great Plague
killed one hundred thousand people in London, a terrible experience
followed by one equally terrible the next year: the Great Fire, which
consumed thirteen thousand houses.

In 1688 there was another revolution; the people passed a Bill of
Rights, and set a new King (William III.) on the throne.

George I., the head of the dynasty now represented in England by King
George V., came to the throne in 1714. He was a German, could not speak
English, and was the grandfather of George III., the “villain” in the
great drama of the American Revolution.

In France the Protestant Huguenots were persecuted by Cardinal
Richelieu, whose strong personality dominated King Louis XIII. from 1622
to 1642, and many of them left for America. In 1643 Louis XIV. became
King of France and his long reign of seventy-two years is renowned
because of the magnificence which found expression in sumptuous
buildings, costly libraries, splendidly-bound books, and gorgeous dress.

Cardinal Mazarin, in whose library was later discovered a copy of
Gutenberg’s Forty-Two-Line Bible, acted as advisor while Louis XIV. was
under age.

* * * * *

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries many mechanics in England
worked for a shilling a day; their chief food was rye, barley and oats;
and one-fifth of the people were paupers. Teachers taught their scholars
principally by means of the lash, masters beat their servants and
husbands their wives. Superstition was strong and children and grown
folks were frightened with lugubrious tales into being “good.” This
spirit is especially noticeable in the chap-books that were sold during
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. A title to one of these
chap-books (dated 1721) reads:

A Timely Warning to Rash and Disobedient Children; being a strange
and wonderful Relation of a young Gentleman in the Parish of
Stepheny in the Suburbs of London, that sold himself to the Devil
for twelve years to have the Power to be revenged on his Father
and Mother, and how his Time being expired, he lay in a sad and
deplorable Condition to the Amazement of all Spectators.

[Illustration:

THE FIRST ISSUE OF THE LONDON “TIMES” UNDER THAT TITLE. 1788

The heading mentions that logotypes were used in the composition of
this newspaper
]

Children in those days were either devilishly bad or ridiculously good.
Read this title-page:

The Children’s Example; shewing how one Mrs. Johnson’s Child of
Barnet was tempted by the Devil to forsake God and follow the Ways
of other Wicked Children, who us’d to Swear, tell lies, and
disobey their Parents; How this pretty innocent Child resisting
Satan, was Comforted by an Angel from Heaven who warned her of her
approaching Death; Together with her dying Speeches desiring young
Children not to forsake God, lest Satan should gain a Power over
them.

[Illustration:

FIRST EDITION OF “PILGRIM’S PROGRESS”

Title-page (actual size) of Bunyan’s well-known book, London, 1678
]

Jack the Giant Killer, the hero of our childhood days, was a favorite
subject for chap-book exploitation. There is shown on the following page
the title of such a “history.”

Chap-books are poor representatives of the art of typography in Colonial
days because they were to the book industry then what reprint books are
to the trade in our time. Today it is customary for some publishing
houses to buy up old electrotype plates of obsolete editions of
dictionaries and other popular books. The plates having already been put
to extensive use, are battered and worn, and impressions from them
cannot be accepted as criterions for determining the quality of modern
printing. Neither are the chap-books true printing representatives of
their times. The woodcuts, crudely drawn in the first place, were also
worn and battered by repeated use.

[Illustration:

PAGE FROM A “CHAP-BOOK”

Probably a Dicey product of the eighteenth century
]

In the early part of the seventeenth century chap-books were 8vos.
(sixteen pages of about 5 × 8 inches), but later were reduced to 12mos.
(twelve or twenty-four pages of about 4 × 6½ inches). The stories were
condensed to fit these small penny books, which were peddled by chapmen.
A chapman is described in a “Dictionarie” of 1611 as “A paultrie Pedlar,
who in a long packe, which he carries for the most part open, and
hanging from his necke before him hath Almanacks, Bookes of News, or
other trifling ware to sell.”

Many of the chap-books of the eighteenth century were printed and
published at Aldermary-Church-Yard and Bow-Church-Yard, London, by
William and Cluer Dicey, afterward C. Dicey only. The Dicey books were
better productions than those of their imitators. It is not possible to
determine the exact year in which the majority of chap-books were
printed, as many title-pages merely read “Printed and sold in London,”
etc., or “Newcastle; printed in this present year,” without the
formality of the date.

There were also other cheap productions known as broadsides, single
sheets about 12 × 15 inches, in most cases printed broadwise of the
paper and on one side only.

On December 21, 1620, there landed at Plymouth Rock, in what was
afterward the colony of Massachusetts, a band of Puritans from England.
These non-conformists, unable conscientiously to obey the laws of their
native country, had come to America to worship God in their own manner.
Ten years later Governor Winthrop with one thousand Puritans landed at
Charlestown, and in the following year these immigrants began to settle
Cambridge and Boston. A building for an academy (now Harvard University)
was erected at Cambridge in 1638, and in 1639 Stephen Daye began to
print there.

For the establishment of this, the first printing office in what is now
the United States, Rev. Jesse Glover, a Puritan minister of some wealth,
was chiefly responsible. Himself contributing liberally, he solicited in
England and Holland sufficient money to purchase a press and types, and
June 7, 1638, entered into a contract with Stephen Daye, a printer, to
accompany him to the new country. Rev. Glover (with his family, Stephen
Daye and the printing outfit) embarked on a vessel for New England, but
on the voyage across the ocean he was taken ill and died.

[Illustration:

PAGE FROM “DESCRIPTION OF TRADES.” LONDON, 1747

Showing use of decorative bands to separate subjects
]

The press and types having reached Cambridge were finally placed in
charge of Stephen Daye and printing was begun in 1639. The first work
produced was “The Freeman’s Oath,” probably a single sheet, and the
first book (1640) was the “Booke of Psalmes,” familiarly known as the
“Bay Psalm Book.” (The reproduction on the first page of this chapter is
from one of these books preserved in the public library, Forty-Second
Street, New York.) This book of Psalms is a revision of Ainsworth’s
version of 1612, and was in use in New England for upwards of a century,
more than fifty editions having been published. The size of the
type-page of the first edition is 3¼ × 6¼ inches.

In quality of presswork this first book of Stephen Daye affords a
decided contrast to the Bible of Gutenberg, near which it lies in the
cases at the public library. The print on the pages of the Psalm Book is
uneven in color and impression, while that on the pages of the Bible is
dense-black and firmly and evenly impressed. The reproduction of the
title-page of the Psalm Book does the original no injustice. It is
difficult to determine whether the shoulders of the border printed the
angular lines, or whether these are a part of the design. It is
interesting to note how in the word “Whole,” Daye formed a W by
combining two Vs, his font of types being one evidently intended for
Latin work only.

[Illustration:

FRENCH SPECIMEN OF 1742

(Actual size)
]

Daye continued in charge of the printing office for about ten years.
Jesse Glover’s widow had married Henry Dunster, the first president of
Harvard College, and Dunster, for his wife and as president of the
college, managed the printing office and received such profits as were
made. For some reason Daye in 1649 ceased to be master printer and
Dunster appointed Samuel Green to the position. Green had come from
England in 1630 with Governor Winthrop, but was not a printer at that
time.

The commissioners of the united colonies, who had in charge the
propagation of Christianity among the Indians, added another press to
the one already at Cambridge, together with types, etc., for the purpose
of printing the Bible and other books in the Indian language. In 1662
Green gave to the commissioners the following “account of utensils for
Printing belonging to the Corporation:”

The presse with what belongs to it with one tinn pann and two
frisketts.

Item two table of Cases of letters with one ode Case.

Item the ffont of letters together with Imperfections that came
since.

Item one brasse bed, one Imposing Stone.

Item two barrells of Inke, 3 Chases, 2 composing stickes, one ley
brush, 2 candlestickes one for the Case the other for the Presse.

Item the frame and box for the sesteren.

Item the Riglet brasse rules and scabbard the Sponge 1 galley 1
mallett 1 sheeting sticke and furniture for the chases.

Item the letters that came before that were mingled with the
colledges.

[Illustration:

CASLON TYPES AND ORNAMENTS

From the specimen book of W. Caslon and Son, London, 1764
]

In 1670 the commissioners presented this equipment to Harvard College.
Green continued to print until he was very old, and upon his death in
1702 the printing office was discontinued.

Before 1740 more printing was done in Massachusetts than in all the
other colonies. Printing was not introduced into the colony of Virginia
until about 1727, principally because the authorities deemed it best to
keep the people in ignorance.

Pennsylvania was the second English colony in America in which
typography was practiced. The charter of this colony was granted to
William Penn in 1681 and in 1687 William Bradford at his printing office
“near Philadelphia” printed an almanac. This was a sheet containing the
calendar of twelve months (beginning with March and ending with
February, as was customary in the seventeenth century). In England,
Bradford had worked for a printer who was intimately acquainted with
George Fox, founder of the Society of Friends (Quakers). This influenced
Bradford to adopt the principles of that sect and he was among the first
to emigrate to Pennsylvania in 1682.

[Illustration:

FIRST EDITION OF “PARADISE LOST”

Title-page (slightly reduced) of Milton’s famous book, London, 1667
]

Bradford became involved in a quarrel among the Quakers of Philadelphia
and in 1692 was arrested for printing a pamphlet. The sheriff seized a
form of type pages to be used as evidence, and it is said that Bradford
later secured his release because one of the jurymen in examining the
form pushed his cane against it and the types fell to the floor, “pied”
as it is technically expressed. The trouble into which Bradford found
himself in Philadelphia very likely influenced him in 1693 to leave that
city and establish a printing office in New York “at the sign of the
Bible” (the site at 81 Pearl Street is now marked by a tablet), his
being the first printshop in New York and the only one for thirty years.
He was appointed in 1693 official printer to the government. In 1725,
when Bradford was sixty-one years old, he began the publication of the
first newspaper in New York (the _Gazette_).

No review of Colonial printing would be complete without an account of
Benjamin Franklin, whose birthday (January 17) is each year widely
celebrated. Franklin’s father was an Englishman who came to New England
about 1685, and Benjamin was born in Boston in 1706, the youngest but
two of seventeen children. He came near being a minister, a seaman, a
tallow-chandler or a cutler, but love of books caused him finally to be
indentured to his brother, James Franklin, who had opened a printing
office in Boston. Benjamin was twelve years of age when indentured and
was to serve as apprentice until his twenty-first birthday. Making an
arrangement with his brother to be allowed to furnish his own board,
Franklin provided himself with meals “often no more than a biscuit or a
slice of bread, a handful of raisins, or a tart from the pastry cook’s
and a glass of water,” using the money thus saved for the purchase of
books. In 1721 James Franklin began to print a newspaper (the New
England _Courant_) and Benjamin tells how some of his brother’s friends
tried to dissuade him from the undertaking, “one newspaper being, in
their judgment, enough for America.” Some articles in this newspaper
giving offense to the Assembly, James Franklin was imprisoned for a
month, and on his discharge was forbidden to publish the _Courant_. To
evade this order Benjamin’s name was substituted for that of James
Franklin as publisher.

A short time afterward (1723) the brothers disagreed, and Benjamin left
Boston, coming by ship to New York. Here Franklin offered his services
to William Bradford, then the only printer in the city, but he could
give him no work. However, he suggested that Franklin go to Philadelphia
where Andrew Bradford, his son, had a shop. Franklin did not succeed in
getting work with Andrew Bradford, but was more fortunate with Samuel
Keimer. The printing house of Keimer, as described by Franklin,
consisted of an old damaged press, a small worn-out font of types, and
one pair of cases. Here Franklin worked until he left for England to
select an equipment for a new printing office to be established by him
in Philadelphia. At that time there was no type foundry or press
manufactory in the United States. Franklin had been encouraged by
Governor Keith with promises of financial assistance, but the trip to
London proved a fool’s errand and Franklin went to work in a printing
office there as a journeyman, first at the press, later in the
composing-room. (It is told that forty years afterward when Franklin was
residing in Great Britain, he went into this printing office and with
the men there drank “Success to printing.”) He returned to Philadelphia,
worked as a foreman for Keimer, and then with a partner, Hugh Meredith,
opened a printing office.

One of the first jobs done by the new firm was forty sheets of the
history of the Quakers, set in pica and long primer. Franklin tells how
he “composed a sheet a day and Meredith worked it off at press; it was
often eleven at night, and sometimes later, before I had finished my
distribution for the next day’s work. But so determined I was to
continue doing a sheet a day that one night, when, having imposed my
forms, I thought my day’s work over, one of them by accident was broken
and two pages reduced to pi, I immediately distributed and composed it
over again before I went to bed.”

In 1732 (for the year 1733) Franklin first published “Poor Richard’s
Almanack.” For this purpose he used the name of Richard Saunders, an
English astrologer. This almanac continued to be published by Franklin
for twenty-five years, nearly ten thousand copies being sold annually.
The two pages here reproduced are full size, and as it is likely that
Franklin gave close attention to the typography it will be interesting
to study their arrangement. They are good examples of title-page and
tabular composition of Colonial days.

Franklin considered this almanac a proper vehicle for spreading
instruction among the common people, and filled the little spaces that
occurred between the remarkable days in the calendar with proverbial
sentences. These proverbs, which contained the wisdom of many ages and
nations, were latter gathered together as a harangue of a wise old man
under the title “The Way to Wealth,” and the familiar phrase “As Poor
Richard says” is often repeated therein.

In 1748 Franklin took as a partner David Hall, the firm name being
Franklin & Hall until 1766, when Hall became sole proprietor.

* * * * *

[Illustration]

Quaintness is the chief characteristic of Colonial typography. While the
treatment lacks the artistic quality, the refinement, and the dainty
finish of the productions of Aldus, Froben and other printers of
classics, it has natural simplicity, human interest, and an
inexpressible something that makes it attractive to the average printer
of today.

[Illustration:

TWO PAGES FROM “POOR RICHARD’S ALMANACK”’

Printed by Benjamin Franklin in 1732
]

The title-page of the “Compleat Ambassador,” showing the actual size of
the original, is constructed in a severely plain manner, a style known
as the “long and short line,” with catchwords.

The “Midsommer Nights Dreame” title-page is one of the most artistic of
Colonial pages, printed when Shakespeare was in the midst of his famous
literary labors (1600). To get contrast the compositor alternated lines
of roman with lines of italic. The spacing material could not have been
accurate, and two capital V’s were used for a W, as in the Daye
title-page.

The “Paradise Lost” title-page is a poor specimen of composition and
presswork. It was common in Colonial days to surround the type-page with
a double rule border, and in this specimen the rules are bent and
battered. Printed in 1667, it is a part of the first edition of Milton’s
famous book.

The London _Times_ heading is interesting, representing as it does the
first number, under the new name, of a newspaper which has since become
world-famous. The heading mentions that the _Times_ was printed
“logographically.” Logotypes (two or three letters cast together) were
being experimented with to facilitate type composition, but did not
prove successful.

[Illustration:

ITALIAN SPECIMEN OF 1776

Showing use of decoration
]

The printers “At the Peacock in the Poultrey near Cornhil” surely were
good workmen. The “Pilgrim’s Progress” title-page is a finished bit of
printing.

The custom of using decorative border units to make printed books
attractive was seemingly practiced thruout Europe. The Italian page of
1776 is an example of this, as is also the French specimen of 1742.

The page from the Colonial book, “Description of Trades,” exhibits the
use of the decorative band for dividing subjects, which idea has
possibilities in the direction of general job printing that make it
worthy of experiment.

Because Caslon types and ornaments were extensively used by Colonial
printers I have reproduced on a previous page specimens of types and
ornaments from the type-specimen book of W. Caslon & Son, printed in
1764. The Caslon type-face was original in the sense in which the
type-face cut by Jenson was original; both had characteristics which
identified them with their designers, but both also had a general
resemblance to type-faces previously used. The Roman face cut by Caslon
bears a marked similarity in its capitals to the type-faces used by
Thomas Newcomb on the title-page of the “Compleat Ambassador” (see
insert).

There are shown here two specimens of type-faces designed by Bodoni,
which were the first of the so-called “modern” romans. The letters
reveal a thinning of the lighter lines and a thickening of the heavier
lines. The serifs are straight and sharp. The design of the letters was
such as to afford the typefounders of the nineteenth century a model
upon which to base their efforts at mechanical accuracy in the cutting
of type-faces. As a result of the introduction of Bodoni’s new type-face
there was not a type foundry in the world in 1805 making the old-style
roman type-faces. Giovan Battista (John Baptist) Bodoni was a
printer-typefounder of Parma, Italy.

The illustrations in this chapter were in most instances photographed
from originals in the New York Public Library, the library of the New
York Typothetæ, and the private library of _The American Printer_.

[Illustration:

Pages from Bodoni books of 1789 and 1806, showing the first “modern”
type-faces
]

[Illustration:

Title-page of the “Historyes of Troye” designed by Morris and engraved
on wood
]

[Illustration:

First text page of “The Story of the Glittering Plain” showing the
“Golden” type

The Morris style of typography and decoration
]

[Illustration]

TYPOGRAPHY IN THE 19th CENTURY

It was near the close of the nineteenth century when William Morris, the
distinguished exponent of strength and simplicity in art, declared that
“no good printing has been done since 1550.” According to this statement
one hundred years after its invention typography forfeited its place
among the esthetic arts, and then for three hundred years remained below
the standard set by its inventor. By setting his date at 1550 Morris
overlooked the achievements of such eminent printers as Plantin and the
Elzevirs, but his arraignment probably had some justification. Posterity
had defaulted in its administration of the legacy left by Gutenberg.

The first book printed from separate types, as an example of artistic
arrangement and careful workmanship, is a remarkable testimony to the
genius of the inventor, especially when the completeness of the
invention is compared with the initial productions of later inventors.
The first cylinder press and the first linotype machine were both
crudely constructed.

Typography attained its highest point toward perfection in Italy in the
days of Jenson and Aldus. The Italian style of lettering and decoration
differed greatly from the German. There were dignity, refinement, a
dainty neatness, in the printed pages of the Venetians, and their
type-faces were precise and of a dark-gray tone. The German page, with
its bold Gothic letters arranged in masses of black, was characteristic
of the religious fidelity and sturdiness of the dwellers on the banks of
the Rhine.

As the art of printing spread, the German and Italian styles became
mingled, finally resulting during Colonial days in a style of typography
which represented the Italian modified by the German just enough to make
it interesting. But typography as an art was in a state of
deterioration. Even Franklin, called by the printers of America their
“Patron Saint,” as a typographer lacked the artistic perception of Aldus
and Plantin, altho he was a superior mechanic and a shrewd business man.

The beginning of the nineteenth century found the practice of typography
leaning more than ever toward utility and away from art. William
Nicholson, an Englishman, had planned a cylinder printing press, and Dr.
Kinsley, of Connecticut, had constructed a model of one. A roman
type-face on severe, mechanical lines had been designed, and picturesque
old romans such as the Caslon were going out of use. Ornaments and
borders were being discarded, and the style of typography was getting
uninteresting and losing the personal element.

[Illustration:

PLEASING BORDER ARRANGEMENT

Letterpress imitation of the decoration of double-column pages on
early books. From the “Book of Common Prayer,” London, 1814
]

To illustrate this transition there are reproduced four representative
title-page arrangements. The first is that of a book on printing
published in 1810, containing several lines of the then new roman
type-face. In arrangement this page is similar to the “Queen Elizabeth”
page inserted in the chapter on Colonial typography which is perhaps the
source from which came the “long-and-short-line” and “catch-word” style
of the average title-page of the nineteenth century. The second example
of the group shows a displayed page of 1847 similarly treated, and the
third is a reproduction of the title-page of a printer’s manual of 1872.
This last-mentioned example is the product of a prominent type foundry
of that time and very likely was arranged in the style then accepted as
good typography. A more uninteresting page could hardly be conceived,
especially in a book intended for printers.

[Illustration:

DESIGN MADE WITH BRASS RULE

Executed in 1879, it is one of the best specimens of the rule-curving
period
]

The fourth example is a reproduction of the title-page of
MacKellar’s well-known manual, “The American Printer” (now out of
print), and presents what to the head of the most prominent American
type foundry was probably an ideal arrangement. While revealing the
long-and-short-line characteristics of the previously mentioned
pages, as a whole the effect is more interesting to printers. In
this page may be noticed the trend toward delicate, characterless
typography.

A printer, Charles Whittingham, of the Chiswick Press, and a publisher,
William Pickering, of London, England, furnish an example of effort made
in the middle of the nineteenth century to raise the practice of
typography to a more artistic standard. These men, both lovers of books,
and artists in temperament, had become intimate friends, and together
endeavored to introduce into their publications simplicity,
appropriateness, and other artistic qualities.

Desiring to use an old-style face on one of their books, Whittingham
inquired of the Caslon type foundry if any of the punches cut by the
first William Caslon were in existence. The original punches being
recovered after years of disuse, fonts of type were cast and used on a
book, “The Diary of Lady Willoughby,” printed in 1844. The title-page of
this book is reproduced on a following page, and it will be seen that
Whittingham arranged the typography in the Colonial style to harmonize
with the literary motive of the book. So well was this done that one has
to look twice at the date to satisfy himself it is not 1644. Other
typography from these men is not quite so radically different from that
of their contemporaries, but is more refined, artistic and tasteful, as
may be seen by the “Friends in Council” page further on in this chapter.
An innovation by Whittingham was the omission of punctuation marks
excepting where needed to make clear the significance of the wording.

Whittingham and Pickering, in the field of artistic typography, were
fifty years ahead of their time, as printers in general were not ready
to accept the good things offered them. The modern renaissance came
later.

* * * * *

Job printing as a distinct department is of modern development.
Typographers of old were primarily book and pamphlet printers, and in
many cases interest was chiefly centered in publishing newspapers or
almanacs; job printing was incidental. This caused similarity in the
typography of newspaper, book and job work, a condition that today
exists only in a small degree. Now these three classes of work are
generally separated into departments, each with its own rules, styles
and practices, job composition being less restrained by customs and
rules than any of the other departments.

[Illustration:

TITLE-PAGE OF 1810
]

[Illustration:

TITLE-PAGE OF 1847
]

[Illustration:

TITLE-PAGE OF 1872

Showing the development during the nineteenth century of a severe and
uninteresting style
]

Attractiveness is as necessary to the typography of the general job of
printing as dignity and legibility are to a law brief, but, endeavoring
to get attractiveness into their work, job printers often go astray.
They wrongly labor under the impression that to have a job distinctive
it must be made freakish. Typography is not good unless based upon art
foundations.

Ideas in plenty could have been plucked by the printer of the nineteenth
century from old books, especially from those printed for religious
organizations, such as the “Book of Common Prayer.” A handsome edition
of a book of this kind was printed in London by John Murray in 1814.
Each pair of pages is different in decoration and typography, the
designs being by “Owen Jones, architect.” The decorative treatment of
the page of Psalms reproduced from this book is worthy of study and
adaptation.

[Illustration:

THE TREND TOWARD DAINTINESS

Title-page of MacKellar’s manual, “The American Printer,” 1882
]

About the time of the Civil War the job printer was less fettered than
ever by the customs of the book printer. While title-pages of books were
being composed without ornamentation in severe-looking modern romans,
the job printer, influenced by the typefounder, took a liking to fancy
typography, for the production of which there were shaded, outlined,
rimmed and ornamental letters, in imitation of the work of the
copperplate engraver. The business card on the next page, and the “bill
of fare” here shown, are specimens of such work.

[Illustration:

BANQUET PROGRAM

As arranged in Boston in 1865
]

The changing styles of typography as applied to commercial headings are
well set forth by the group on the fifth page of this chapter. The first
specimen is a “plain” billhead of 1870. The second is a billhead of
1893, when the compositor was taught to corral all excess wording in an
enclosure of rules at the left side of the heading proper. In this
specimen there is a touch of ornamentation and a showing of seven
different type-faces, one of which is the then conventional script for
the date line. The third specimen of the group, a letterhead which won
first prize in a contest held in 1897, reveals further development of
simple typography. Only one face of type is used (Tudor black) and there
is no ornamentation excepting a few periods on each side of the word
“The.”

During the nineteenth century no type foundry did more toward
influencing the typography of the general job printer than the one known
at the time of its absorption by the American Type Founders Company as
MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan, of Philadelphia. The reproduction of a few
clippings from its specimen book of 1885 may recall memories to the
printer now of middle age.

The Free Press business card has peculiar interest to the author. It was
set and printed by him during dull hours about the year 1889, when his
thinking apparatus was controlled by influences from the underworld of
typographic practice.

There is another phase of late nineteenth-century typography which
should be mentioned. It seems that printers had developed a longing for
pictures, color and decoration. The process of photo-engraving not
having been perfected, job printers shaped brass rule into
representations of composing-sticks, printing presses, portraits and
architectural designs, and cut tint blocks from patent leather and other
material. The skill exhibited by many printers is remarkable; beautiful
combinations of tints were produced. It will be difficult for many
persons to believe that the “Boston Type Foundry” design (shown on a
preceding page) was originally constructed with pieces of brass rule,
but such is the fact. It was composed by C. W. L. Jungloew in 1879, and
is truly a wonderful example of the work of the printer-architect. The
perspective obtained by the designer is a feature. Black, gold, and
several tints were used in the printing.

[Illustration:

“IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS”

From a specimen book of 1885
]

Interesting as are these wonders of the curved-rule period, they are not
artistic in the true sense of the word; examples of skill indeed, but
not art as it is today understood.

* * * * *

We now come to one of the most interesting periods in the history of
printing, a period which may well be termed the “Modern Renaissance.” As
was intimated earlier in this chapter, the invention of printing
machinery served to lead typography away from art. The printers of that
time thought they were doing artistic work when they set their jobs in
fancy type-faces, twisted brass rule, or printed in many colors. They
did not know that art-printing was simplicity—and something else. The
apprentice was taught to set type as was his journeyman instructor
before him. Any inspiration he received came from the typefounders, and
even that was often interpreted wrongly.

Ten years before the close of the nineteenth century display typography
was in a chaotic state so far as art was concerned. Printers who before
had not doubted the appropriateness and quality of their own typography,
began to realize that it lacked something they were not able to supply,
and were ready to follow a Moses who could lead them to better things.
Then began to form a curious chain of events that was to have a
revolutionary influence upon commercial typography as well as upon
commercial art. The first link in this chain was the establishing of the
Kelmscott Press in England by William Morris.

William Morris was an artist, a poet, a designer and a craftsman.
Partiality for things medieval showed itself early in his life, and
before he took up printing he manufactured artistic house furnishings in
the ruins of an old abbey.

Years ago if the average American citizen were asked what great thing
Benjamin Franklin did, his answer might have been, “He invented the
Franklin stove.” The average person of today would connect the name of
Morris with the Morris chair. As the application of art principles to
typography has caused the compositor to turn from rule curving, to set
his lines straight, and to seek paper and ink without luster, so the
influence of Morris led to a distaste for gilt and polish and trimmings,
and created a demand for subdued colors and straight lines in home
furnishings. He who can influence others to think and act in manner
different and better than they have done before, is truly great.

Morris lived in a picturesque old manor-house in Kelmscott on the Thames
in England, and it was there at the age of fifty-seven years that he
began to print. He was not a printer by trade, but before a type was set
he studied the art from the beginning. He even learned to make a sheet
of paper himself. Kelmscott Press paper was made by hand of fine white
linen rags untouched by chemicals. Morris as a handicraftsman had an
abhorrence for machinery. It is doubtful if he would have used even a
hand-press if results equally good could have been obtained without it.

Morris’s idea seems to have been to take up good typography where the
early printers left off. When he wanted types for the new printshop he
had enlarged photographs made of the type pages of Jenson, Koburger and
other printers of the fifteenth century, and from these photographs
designed his type-faces, arranging the details of the letters to conform
to his own ideas.

His roman type-face he called “Golden,” probably because of its use on
the “Golden Legend.” This type-face was afterward reproduced by
foundries in America as Jenson, Kelmscott, and other type-names. Morris
was wont to say that he considered the glory of the Roman alphabet was
in its capitals, but the glory of the Gothic alphabet was in its
lower-case letters. He also designed a type-face characteristic of the
Gothic letters used by Koburger and other fifteenth-century printers,
and, probably because of its use on the “Historyes of Troye,” called it
Troy. This type also was reproduced by type foundries, and printers knew
it as Satanick and Tell Text.

The space ordinarily assigned to the page margins Morris covered with
foliage decoration in the manner of the early Italian printers, large
decorative initials blending with the borders. These initials and
borders, with few exceptions, were drawn by himself and engraved upon
wood by W. H. Hooper. Compare the right-hand page of the two pages here
reproduced with the Venetian specimen in the chapter on “The Spread of
Typography.”

[Illustration:

BUSINESS CARD

As displayed in 1865
]

One of Morris’s books, an edition of Chaucer, was additionally enriched
by upward of a hundred illustrations by Burne-Jones, a noted British
artist.

In both England and America Morris was the subject of much criticism.
Men who as art printers were not fit to touch the hem of his garment
were loud in condemnation of his work. Others, more fair, pointed out
the excellence of his printing, but claimed that neither his type-faces
nor his style of typography would be used many years. This last
prediction has proved partly true. The Jenson, or Kelmscott, type-face
was used so frequently and so generally that despite its virtues it
finally tired the public eye, and is now seldom seen. Satanick, the
“Troy” type-face, as made by the American Type Founders Company, is not
now displayed in that company’s specimen book.

[Illustration:

A BUSINESS CARD OF 1889

One of the author’s early attempts at artistic (?) printing
]

However, the work of William Morris, tho not accepted as the model for
general use, was the cause of a revolution in modern typography. Instead
of the delicate and inartistic type-faces and ornamentation of 1890, the
contents of type-foundry specimen books revealed strong, handsome,
artistic letters and common-sense art borders and ornaments. Morris’s
experience as a printer did not cover five years, yet his name will
always live because of the good he did typography in the nineteenth
century.

Decorative artists were wielding a big influence in the revival taking
place in the field of typography. Contemporary with Morris in England
was a young artist, Aubrey Beardsley, prominent in a new school of art
which saw merit in the flat masses of color as found in the seemingly
grotesque designs of the Japanese.

Here in America the work of Morris and Beardsley found favor in the eyes
of Will Bradley, who was destined to lead the forces in the typographic
revolution on American soil. Bradley had been a country printer; as
apprentice, journeyman and foreman he had tasted both the joys and
sorrows of practical work in the printshop. However, Bradley was more
than printer; he had artistic tendencies which finally influenced him to
go to Chicago to study art. There he frequented the art galleries and
public libraries, and developed into a poster artist of exceptional
merit. There were those who called him the “American Beardsley.”

The year 1896 found Bradley with a studio at Springfield, Mass., where
his love of printing influenced him to open a printshop which he called
the “Wayside Press.” In May of the same year he issued the first number
of “Bradley: His Book,” a unique publication for artists and printers.
The type-faces used were Jenson, Caslon and Bradley, and almost every
page contained decoration. There were many odd color combinations and
Bradley must have stood close to his presses when this first number was
printed. Purple-brown and orange, olive-green and orange-brown,
orange-yellow and chocolate-brown, purple-red and green-blue—these were
some of the color harmonies.

The Christmas number of “Bradley: His Book” was set entirely in
Satanick, the American copy of Morris’s “Troy” type, and bright
vermilion was nicely contrasted with dense black print.

While Morris was a medievalist, and received his inspiration from the
printed books of the fifteenth century, Bradley was inspired by both
past and present. Printers know him particularly because of his
adaptations of the styles of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
He demonstrated how Colonial printers could have done their work better.
In presenting the Colonial specimens which are here reproduced from the
November, 1906, “Bradley: His Book,” Bradley wrote:

Antique and deckle-edge papers enter so largely into the making of
books today that printers cannot do better than to study the
styles of type-composition that were in vogue when all books were
printed upon hand-made papers. A knowledge thus gained should
prove of great value, especially in the setting of title-pages....
The only face of Roman type which seems appropriate to antique
paper is that which is known as Caslon. When types were fewer, and
the craft of printing less abused than it is now, this was the
only type used in bookwork; and some of the title-pages in our
earlier books are extremely interesting and suggest motifs which
may well be carried out today. Taking suggestions from these books
we have set a few pages, using as subjects the titles of some
modern works. There seems to be an unwritten law which we are
supposed to follow in this class of composition; and yet one
should be a little brave and daring, purely for the joy of getting
out of the old beaten track.

[Illustration:

Stationery composition of 1870
]

[Illustration:

The panel as used in 1893
]

[Illustration:

A neat letterhead of 1897

THE CHANGING STYLES OF COMMERCIAL HEADINGS
]

The type foundries helped the spread of the new typography by supplying
a series of Bradley’s decorations, known as “Wayside Ornaments.”

Bradley discontinued the Wayside Press in 1898 and combined his
printshop with that of the University Press at Cambridge, Mass. There a
battery of presses was kept busy during the continuance of the
extraordinary interest in Bradley booklets.

In 1905 Bradley impaired the strength of his following by attempting for
the American Type Founders Company the introduction of a new style of
typography, the prominent feature of which was profuse ornamentation.
While this effort supplied job printers with many valuable ideas in type
arrangement and color treatment, happily the style as a whole was not
adopted by printers generally or typographic conditions might have
become as unfortunate as they were previous to 1890.

Frank B. Berry, associated with Bradley during his engagement with the
American Type Founders Company, tells in these words of the construction
of a thirty-two-page pamphlet of specimens entitled “The Green Book of
Spring”: “Starting in on this about half-past ten one morning Bradley
made up a dummy, prepared the copy and laid out the work—specifying the
size and style of type to be used, the form of display and designating
the exact position of each ornament with the required spacing. This was
in effect practically furnishing reprint copy for the compositors. Then,
to ‘give good measure,’ as he expressed it, copy was prepared for the
cover, and the work was ready for the printers before half-past one.”

[Illustration:

AN INTERESTING TITLE-PAGE

By Charles Whittingham, London, 1849
]

In the few years succeeding the establishment of the Wayside Press,
Bradley’s style of typography was closely followed by many printers, and
all the printshops of America were more or less influenced by it, but at
this date his ideas and Morris’s ideas are merged more or less with
those of De Vinne, Jacobi, Updike, Rogers, Cleland, Benton, Kimball,
Goudy, Goodhue, Winchell and others. From Germany, too, have lately come
suggestions in decoration that are visibly influencing general
typography.

[Illustration:

TITLE-PAGE IN THE COLONIAL STYLE

By Charles Whittingham, London, 1844. The first use in the nineteenth
century of the Caslon type-face
]

In recent years Bradley devoted his talents to the make-up of magazine
pages. His characteristic decoration has added interest to the text
sections of several leading magazines. He dictated the make-up and drew
the cover design and department headings for the twenty-fifth
anniversary number of _The American Printer_ issued July, 1910.

This versatile artist-printer also accomplished the unique task of
applying business and industrial methods to the making and selling of
art work. He had a staff of working artists, one of whom acted as
foreman. Bradley had a book in which he pasted his sketches of
decorative borders, ornaments and illustrations. These were classified
and numbered, and when a design was to be drawn he gave instructions to
the working artist indicating which sketches were to be worked up. In
this manner he eliminated the manual labor so far as he was concerned
and was able to accomplish much more than if he had attempted to do
everything himself. He also planned a series of decorative units and
illustrations and offered a quick art-service to advertisers and
printers.

Fred W. Goudy, who designed such type-faces as Pabst, Powell, Forum,
Kennerley and Goudy Old Style, has influenced printing styles in the
direction of classic effects. Goudy as a student of Roman architecture
and letter-carving has dignified the printing industry and enriched
typographic art.

This lesson would not be complete without a tribute to the work of
Theodore L. De Vinne, who had the distinction of being the only printer
but one in America to receive a college degree for accomplishments as a
printer.

[Illustration:

Bradley’s adaptation of the Colonial style as produced by him at the
Wayside Press in 1896
]

De Vinne’s introduction to typography was as an apprentice in a country
printshop. He went to New York in 1847 and worked at the case and press
in several offices before accepting a position as job compositor with
Francis Hart. Upon the death of Mr. Hart in 1877, Mr. De Vinne took
charge of the business, which is now known as the De Vinne Press.

As a writer on printing subjects, perhaps his greatest work is “The
Invention of Printing,” published in 1876. I have examined and read most
of the books on the subject of the invention, and De Vinne’s book is the
most reasonable, fair and understandable of all.

De Vinne had always been an exponent of the sane, conservative and
dignified in typography. The work of his shop was precise, exact and
thoro. While giving credit to Morris and Bradley for their
accomplishments, he had little sympathy for the styles of either. De
Vinne properly claimed that a writer’s words are of more importance than
the decoration of a designer. Morris intended his books for the shelves
of the book collector; De Vinne looked upon a book as something to be
read. However, there need be no conflict between the styles of Morris,
De Vinne and Bradley. The typographer should learn to discriminate, to
choose wisely when selecting a style for a book or a piece of job work.
For editions de luxe in limited numbers, and for booklets on art or
literary subjects, the Morris style is appropriate. For books on
scientific or legal subjects, and for booklets of conservative and
dignified nature, there is nothing better than the De Vinne style. For
booklets which are to attract attention and for job work that is to be
distinctive, Bradley shows the way.

[Illustration:

A JACOBI PAGE OF 1892

Arranged in squared groups in the form of a letter Z
]

With De Vinne beckoning to us from the point of conservatism and Bradley
from the point of radicalism, the typographer anxious to do work
properly must decide for himself how to treat it. I have seen a
jeweler’s booklet cover so filled with ornamentation by Bradley that it
was almost impossible to read the wording, and I have also seen a
children’s Bible typographically treated by the De Vinne company in a
style as severe as if it were a book of legislative acts.

[Illustration:

A BRADLEY PAGE

As produced at the Wayside Press, 1896
]

De Vinne had always been a leader in the perfecting of modern methods.
He was one of the pioneers in the use of dry paper and hard
press-packing, and gave much thought to modern type-faces. The type-face
known as Century was designed after his suggestions as a model roman
letter.

De Vinne did much in persuading printers to group the wording of
title-pages instead of equally separating the type lines as was done in
the middle of the nineteenth century.

Charles T. Jacobi, of the Chiswick Press, London, as an instructor and
writer on printing subjects has done much for typography in England. He
is not wedded to a particular style of typography, but advocates the
adaptation of any style that is good when by so doing clients are
pleased and the principles of art are not violated. The title-page
reproduced in this connection is unusual in arrangement. The type groups
and the device are all squared and their angularity is enhanced by the
exclusive use of capitals. Realizing that a page or design is defective
if it presents the appearance of disjointed sections, Mr. Jacobi has
avoided such results in this instance by arranging the page in the form
of a letter Z.

With this chapter the history of typography is brought down to the
twentieth century. The modern typographer has great responsibilities.
Upon him depends the solution of the problem whether or not our beloved
calling is to be ranked with the esthetic arts. Shall the product of the
village printer be only of the standard of that of the village
blacksmith? Every typographer, regardless of the nature of the work that
is his to do, should cultivate a love for the artistic and enlarge his
knowledge of the things that make for good printing. The chapters that
follow will help to this end.

Because printing as now practiced is in a great degree dependent upon
principles and styles developed during the early days of the art, the
student should not neglect carefully to read and digest the historical
facts and reproductions that have been presented. Too many typographers
underrate the value of a knowledge of history. “I do not care what
printers of old did; I want to know what the printer of tomorrow is
going to do.” This is almost a literal quotation of the remark of a
printer who prides himself on his progressiveness, and he is only one of
many who imagine that to be up-to-date it is sufficient to use new
type-faces, ornaments and borders, caring little if the resulting jobs
lack appropriateness, harmony, color, tone, and other elements that are
essential to perfect typography.

[Illustration:

A BRADLEY PAGE

As produced at the Wayside Press, 1896
]

[Illustration:

A DE VINNE PAGE

This probably presents De Vinne’s idea of title-page arrangement
]

He who labors without a knowledge of history is much like the young man
who started to work on a job press. He was allowed to make ready a form,
and after a while the pressman went over and examined the work. On the
back of the form he found something that looked like an underlay, but
could discover no reason for its use. Mystified, he inquired what it was
all about, and was told that the apprentice was doing only what he had
seen the pressman often do before—cut out several pieces of paper and
place them under the form. It had never occurred to the young man to ask
_why_ this was done. Thus it may be with the typographer. He arranges a
job of type composition in the style of something good he has seen, but
fails to get the quality of the original because he does not comprehend
just what has served to produce that quality.

Morris was a student of ancient printing. His thoughts were back in the
fifteenth century with Jenson, Aldus and Koburger, and when he began to
print, he printed understandingly. There was a well-defined plan, and
there was harmony in ornament, type, ink and paper. When the
“up-to-date” printer began to imitate Morris he did it with the same
degree of comprehension possessed by the young man who made the
“underlay.”

Will Bradley would not today be as famous as he is in printing circles
if he had labored under the false idea that it was useless to know
history. Bradley knows printing history and loves old books, and this
knowledge and affection are expressed in his work. The printer who
succeeds is the one who looks upon all knowledge as valuable and has a
good reason for everything he does.

PART TWO

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 16

Layout sketched with colored crayons for a catalog cover
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 17

The cover printed as indicated by layout sketch
]

[Illustration]

THE “LAYOUT” MAN

How does the work of the typographer of the twentieth century compare
with productions of the past? In the belief of some the good
typographer, like the good Indian, is dead. The truth is that much of
the printing done during the first four hundred years was not well done.
While the same proportionate result still prevails, the ancient did not
have the excuse of the modern—lack of time; nor has the modern the
excuse of the ancient—lack of facilities. However, while poor work in
any century or any industry is explainable, it is not excusable.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 1

Booklet cover page laid out with pencil and crayon on gray stock
]

Someone said, “The man who attained his ambition did not aim high
enough.” Perfection is not attainable, but it should be the goal in our
race. Many typographers are doing good work, altho each is doing it
differently. No one is producing perfect typography; but when perfection
is the pacemaker no result can be commonplace.

The good typographers of the past had the spirit of the master craftsman
and their product was inspired. The modern printer to succeed needs only
the inspiration that comes of study, hard work and love of his trade.

Inspired work, however, is generally the result of preparation.

Artists and advertising men realize the necessity of careful preparation
for the process of printing, but typographers as a class evidently do
not. If they did they would do even better work and make bigger profits
possible. Every printshop should have a “layout” man.

In spite of the fact that much good printing is done today, fully
nine-tenths of the product is partially unsatisfactory because of lack
of preparation. When a business man decides to erect an office building
he does not immediately go to a building contractor and tell him to
build it. He first consults an architectural engineer, examines drawings
and exchanges opinions, and when the building contractor starts his work
everything has been planned and specified.

Should printing be done in a less thoro manner? Is not the making of a
book, catalog or business card each proportionately as important and as
well entitled to proper attention as the larger undertaking? Good
typography cannot be produced if preparation is slighted.

Quality printing is not accidental. Shops famed for the artistic
excellence of their product have maintained their “shop style” despite
changes in the force of workmen and executives, and this individuality,
or “shop style,” as it is termed, has been obtained and retained only
because the copy has been carefully prepared and the work has been
intelligently laid out by some qualified person (artist, ad-writer or
typographer) who understands shop preferences in the matter of style. It
is the “institutional idea.”

In printshops extensive enough to allow of the expense, one or more
layout men should be employed, and in the smaller concerns the head job
compositor or foreman could do the work. Solicitors, when artistically
fitted, could in special cases lay out their own jobs of printing, as
personal contact with the customer peculiarly fits them to do it
satisfactorily. The important thing, anyway, is to please the customer.
While the art side of the practice of typography is important, it is not
all important. Typography is also a business.

If the customer’s tastes and prejudices were ascertained beforehand,
many of the changes now made after jobs are in type, frequently causing
inharmonious arrangements, could be avoided. The average printer rarely
parallels the experiences of a few fortunate printing concerns which,
when receiving an order for a booklet or catalog, are told the amount of
the appropriation and given carte blanche.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 3 EXAMPLE 2

Anticipating the appearance of the printed page by utilizing old
booklets or preparing specimen sheets of text matter which are cut
to proper size and pasted in position. The headings are roughly
sketched with pencil
]

Orders for much of the better class of work are obtained thru “dummies”
submitted by printers or solicitors. The customer advises a certain
number of such persons that he is in the market for a booklet and would
like to receive suggestions. Each competitor prepares a “dummy” on the
stock and in the binding intended for the completed booklet. The cover
design is roughly sketched or otherwise indicated and the inside pages
prepared to represent the finished job.

Let us imagine ourselves in a printshop of medium size, which cannot
afford the regular services of an artist. From the composing-room force
take the most artistic and practical job compositor and install him at a
desk. If there is not sufficient desk work to occupy his full time,
arrange with him to fill in spare time at the case. In selecting a man
for the position it should be remembered that few typographers have
qualifications combining artistic perception and thoro workmanship. It
is in a great measure true that a nervous, artistic temperament unfits a
typographer for thoro, finished work at the case or stone, while on the
contrary, a calm, precise, methodical disposition is often accompanied
by lack of imagination. Each workman should have opportunity to do that
which he can do best. He of the artistic temperament should lay out the
jobs, and he of the mechanical turn of mind should construct them.

[Illustration: EXAMPLE 5]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 6

Ascertaining color combination by means of crayons. The colder color
should predominate
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 4-a

After pasting in illustration and counting the lines for machine
composition. Reduced from the original
]

The proprietor or other person in authority should discuss with the
layout man the subject of shop style in typographical arrangement. The
matter of type equipment should also be gone over, as nothing hinders
the layout man so much as to be compelled to use type-faces selected by
another having ideas widely different. It is important that the type
equipment be appropriate and sufficient for the class of work done. An
equipment of a half dozen harmonizing faces of type is far better than
one of two dozen ill-assorted faces. Good typography is to a large
extent dependent upon the type-faces used.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 4-b

Instructions to operator
]

The layout man should make a study of the personality and tastes of a
customer. He should meet all such that come into the office, and arrange
to call once upon each of the regular customers. He must keep in close
touch with conditions in the composing-room, so that in the discharge of
his duties he does not call for type-faces already set out of the cases,
or not a part of the equipment.

The mechanic and the artist, to do satisfactory work, must have a
certain working outfit. The layout man is no exception; while he could
perhaps manage with only a lead pencil and foot rule, it would be
foolish to do so. His work will be expedited if he has an assortment of
good crayons; hard, medium and soft lead pencils; a pair of shears, a
T-square, a gelatine triangle, a type-line gage, a table for giving the
number of words to an inch in the various size type bodies; and a
library of books and periodicals on printing, especially of those
showing examples of type designs. To provide him also with a set of
water colors, a jar of Chinese white, a bottle of gold paint, a bottle
of india ink and several brushes would not be extravagance.

It would be economical and wise if several sample sheets of each kind of
stock were kept near his desk in a portfolio or convenient drawer. Book
papers could be cut in quarters, cover papers in halves, and cardboard
in various convenient sizes, all ready to be used at an instant’s
notice. Several each of ruled headings, cut cards and other standard
goods should also be included. In laying out jobs, especially large
runs, he should make them of such size as will cut from the sheet with
little or no waste. If an order is to be rushed, he should ascertain if
the stock may be had without delay.

WORDS TO THE SQUARE INCH

┌───────┬───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │ SIZES OF TYPE—_SOLID_ │
├───────┼──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┤
│SQUARE │ 5 │ 6 │ 7 │ 8 │ 9 │ 10 │ 11 │ 12 │
│INCHES │POINT │POINT │POINT │POINT │POINT │POINT │POINT │POINT │
├───────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┤
│ 1│ 69│ 47│ 38│ 32│ 28│ 21│ 17│ 14│
│ 2│ 138│ 94│ 76│ 64│ 56│ 42│ 34│ 28│
│ 4│ 276│ 188│ 152│ 128│ 112│ 84│ 68│ 56│
│ 6│ 414│ 282│ 228│ 192│ 168│ 126│ 102│ 84│
│ 8│ 552│ 376│ 304│ 256│ 224│ 168│ 136│ 112│
│ 10│ 690│ 470│ 380│ 320│ 280│ 210│ 170│ 140│
│ 12│ 828│ 564│ 456│ 384│ 336│ 252│ 204│ 168│
│ 14│ 966│ 658│ 532│ 448│ 392│ 294│ 238│ 196│
│ 16│ 1104│ 752│ 608│ 512│ 448│ 336│ 272│ 224│
│ 18│ 1242│ 846│ 684│ 576│ 504│ 378│ 306│ 252│
│ 20│ 1380│ 940│ 760│ 640│ 560│ 420│ 340│ 280│
│ 22│ 1518│ 1034│ 836│ 704│ 616│ 462│ 374│ 308│
│ 24│ 1656│ 1128│ 912│ 768│ 672│ 504│ 408│ 336│
│ 26│ 1794│ 1222│ 988│ 832│ 728│ 546│ 442│ 364│
│ 28│ 1932│ 1346│ 1064│ 896│ 784│ 588│ 476│ 392│
│ 30│ 2070│ 1410│ 1140│ 960│ 840│ 630│ 510│ 420│
│ 32│ 2208│ 1504│ 1216│ 1024│ 896│ 672│ 544│ 448│
│ 34│ 2346│ 1598│ 1292│ 1088│ 952│ 714│ 578│ 476│
│ 36│ 2484│ 1692│ 1368│ 1152│ 1008│ 756│ 612│ 504│
└───────┴──────┴──────┴──────┴──────┴──────┴──────┴──────┴──────┘

┌───────┬───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │ SIZES OF TYPE—_LEADED_ _with 2-point leas_ │
├───────┼──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┤
│SQUARE │ 5 │ 6 │ 7 │ 8 │ 9 │ 10 │ 11 │ 12 │
│INCHES │POINT │POINT │POINT │POINT │POINT │POINT │POINT │POINT │
├───────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┤
│ 1│ 50│ 34│ 27│ 23│ 21│ 16│ 14│ 11│
│ 2│ 100│ 68│ 54│ 46│ 42│ 32│ 28│ 22│
│ 4│ 200│ 136│ 108│ 92│ 84│ 64│ 56│ 44│
│ 6│ 300│ 204│ 162│ 138│ 126│ 96│ 84│ 66│
│ 8│ 400│ 272│ 216│ 184│ 168│ 128│ 112│ 88│
│ 10│ 500│ 340│ 270│ 230│ 210│ 160│ 140│ 110│
│ 12│ 600│ 408│ 324│ 276│ 252│ 192│ 168│ 132│
│ 14│ 700│ 476│ 378│ 322│ 294│ 224│ 196│ 154│
│ 16│ 800│ 544│ 432│ 368│ 336│ 256│ 224│ 176│
│ 18│ 900│ 612│ 486│ 414│ 378│ 288│ 252│ 198│
│ 20│ 1000│ 680│ 540│ 460│ 420│ 320│ 280│ 220│
│ 22│ 1100│ 748│ 594│ 506│ 462│ 352│ 308│ 242│
│ 24│ 1200│ 816│ 648│ 552│ 504│ 384│ 336│ 264│
│ 26│ 1300│ 884│ 702│ 598│ 546│ 416│ 364│ 286│
│ 28│ 1400│ 952│ 756│ 644│ 588│ 448│ 392│ 308│
│ 30│ 1500│ 1020│ 810│ 690│ 630│ 480│ 420│ 330│
│ 32│ 1600│ 1088│ 864│ 736│ 672│ 512│ 448│ 352│
│ 34│ 1700│ 1156│ 918│ 782│ 714│ 544│ 476│ 374│
│ 36│ 1800│ 1224│ 972│ 828│ 756│ 576│ 504│ 396│
└───────┴──────┴──────┴──────┴──────┴──────┴──────┴──────┴──────┘

EXAMPLE 7

Table for ascertaining the number of words to square inches. Use
of this table in laying out booklets and catalogs will not only
save time but will minimize the chance of a miscalculation

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 8

Notehead as set without instructions from layout man The three
specimens on this page lack relation in design
]

For an example of the workings of the layout system we will suppose that
the principal of a local business college has brought in typewritten
copy of about a thousand words to be made into a small booklet. A little
questioning brings out the information that the customer desires
something attractive, refined, and of good quality. He does not want a
cheap job, and neither has he money to spend upon expensive de luxe
booklets.

The layout man looks over his sample papers and finds that there is on
hand a ten-cent white antique paper 25 × 38 inches in size. Taking a
quarter sheet he folds it repeatedly until the leaf appears to be about
the proper size. Measuring it he finds it to be 4¾ × 6¼ inches. The leaf
is then trimmed to 4⅜ × 5⅞ inches (thus allowance should always be made
for trimming the edges after binding).

For the cover the layout man selects from his samples a medium gray
antique stock of good quality. The cover stock should harmonize in
finish with the paper on the inside. In this instance an antique
finished stock is selected to cover the antique finished paper on the
inside. Many are the booklets that would have been improved by attention
to this rule of harmony. However, a rough finished cover stock and a
smooth inside paper is not as inartistic a combination as a smooth cover
stock and a rough inside paper.

The cover stock selected in this instance is 20 × 25 inches in size, and
an eighth of this sheet folded once gives a leaf 5 × 6¼ inches. Deciding
to have the cover lap three-sixteenths of an inch over the edges of the
inside leaves, it is trimmed to 4–9/16 × 6¼ inches.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 10

Label as set without instructions
]

On one of the inside leaves a page is penciled off, the layout man
judging how much of the paper should be covered by print. For cheap work
it is generally necessary to crowd the matter into the least possible
number of pages, and in such case narrow margins are allowed. For the
better quality of work, liberal margins are necessary to proper results.
A page should set toward the top and binding edges, the margins at these
places being each about the same. The margin at the right edge should be
a little more than at the top and back, and the margin at the bottom
should be a little more than at the right edge. For the booklet now
supposed to be in course of preparation, 2¾ × 4 inches has been
determined as the proper size of the type-page. Each page thus requires
eleven square inches of type-matter. The layout man refers to the table
(Example 7) which gives the number of words to a square inch and
ascertains that eleven square inches of ten-point type, the lines
separated by two-point leads, should accommodate one hundred and
seventy-six words. Multiplying this number by six, allowing two pages at
the front of the booklet for the title, etc., he finds the booklet will
take 1,056 words, about the number of words in the copy supplied.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 9

Business card as set without instructions
]

For a booklet of this kind the type should be no smaller than ten-point.
Instead of stinting margins and sacrificing legibility, as is often done
in endeavoring to force copy into a limited number of pages, additional
leaves should be added.

The cover and inside papers having been prepared in the proper size and
number of leaves, the dummy is stitched with wire or sewed with silk
floss as may be desired. The arrangements of the title-page, the first
text-page and a page entirely text matter are indicated in proper
position by means of pencil and crayon; or for booklets of a large
number of pages it is well to set the first text-page in type and paste
a proof of it in the dummy, getting by this means the customer’s
approval of both type-face and general effect.

The appearance of the printed page may be anticipated by pasting in
position a type-page cut from another booklet already printed. (Examples
2 and 3.) In a shop where much booklet work is done, it would be a
convenience to the layout man if a number of specimen pages, set in the
available body type (both solid and leaded), were printed for use in
preparing dummies. These specimen pages should be about 5½ × 7 inches, a
size that would make them usable for most purposes.

The cover arrangement was sketched on the gray stock (Example 1), the
border being represented by the gray lines of a hard lead pencil. The
type line was indicated by means of a soft black lead pencil and an
orange crayon. Ornaments are not specified because they are better
omitted on booklets where dignity is the principal feature.

The dummy booklet thus completed is submitted to the customer and when
approved goes to the workrooms with the copy. The compositor, make-up
man, stockman, pressman and binder have no excuse for any
misunderstanding, as, generally speaking, they have merely to duplicate
the dummy. The labor of the estimate man, too, is lessened, as the dummy
booklet affords a substantial basis upon which to figure the cost.

The plan of making a dummy booklet, just explained, can be adapted to
many jobs, but of course it should be varied to suit special
requirements.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 12

Business card as laid out
]

In cases of periodicals and voluminous catalogs, dummy sheets should be
printed with the outlines of the page indicated by light-faced rule.
With such sheets the layout man is enabled quickly to paste in position
prints of the illustrations and text matter from the galley proofs.
Getting his instructions in such methodical manner the make-up man can
do his work without confusion of orders, and the proofreader’s task is
made easy.

When illustrations are provided to be incorporated in the text matter
there is more or less trouble in making up the pages. To center all
illustrations so as to avoid changing the width of the type lines is
easy but not always artistic. It is economical to have plates made the
full width of type matter, but the printer is seldom consulted until
after the plates are made. However, various sizes of illustrations may
be attractively grouped on facing pages and the type-matter filled in
around them. This method may appear difficult because the text matter is
often composed on machines; but it is not difficult if prepared in this
manner: Take the prepared body-type sheets, cut them to the required
page size, paste them to the dummy sheets, and upon the pages of text
matter thus presented fasten the prints of the illustrations in proper
positions. The body-type sheets need not be used on pages for which
there are no illustrations; in such instances merely the number of lines
to a page is ascertained. Example 4-a demonstrates how the print of the
illustration is placed over the body-type page, and the “step” shape of
the pencil lines shows how the boundaries of the type lines are made to
fit the outline of the illustration. The length of type lines should
always be ascertained with the pica (twelve points) as the unit of
measurement.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 11

Notehead as laid out for compositor. The three specimens on this page
are related in design
]

Supposing Examples 2, 3 and 4 to be dummies of pages, the composition of
which is to be done on the linotype or monotype machine, the layout man
with his pica measure starts at the initial letter T and measures and
counts the lines, noting the results in the margins. (See Example 4-a.
The page as shown is slightly reduced, hence the lines do not measure as
set forth.) The figures are copied from the margins onto a slip and will
then appear as shown in Example 4-b.

This plan emphasizes the necessity of a layout man as a member of the
executive staff in the modern printshop. It may be a simple procedure to
reset run-around matter at the moment it is needed by the make-up man,
but it is an expensive habit.

* * * * *

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 13

Label as laid out
]

The average stationery job is sometimes given scant attention in the
larger printshops where long runs on cylinder presses overshadow it in
importance. This condition leads to unsatisfactory results and the
customer is the sufferer; his stationery as a whole is likely to be not
only inartistic but a patchwork of typographic styles and arrangements.
To illustrate this: A dealer in artists’ materials orders at various
times letterheads, business cards and package labels, and the copy is
sent to the workrooms with no instructions about style. Assuming that a
different compositor gets each order, the jobs are composed as shown in
Examples 8, 9 and 10. These specimens are above the average in
arrangement, but are faulty in that they have no relation to each other
in appearance; have nothing distinctive in their typography that
identifies the business card with the letterhead or the label.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 14

Layout of a cover-page, with instructions in detail as to material to
be used. Reduced from original
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 15

Cover-page as set from the instructions. Reduced from original
]

How different the results had an artistic layout man prepared each order
before it was given to the compositor. Examples 11, 12 and 13, roughly
sketched with pencil and crayon, demonstrate what could have been done.
With stationery thus harmoniously treated a business house would be
given credit for individuality and progressiveness.

In a printshop doing a good class of work (every printshop should
endeavor to do that) the layout man ought to make a study of color
harmony. Not that it is necessary for him to attend an art school or
devote most of his time and attention to experimenting with prisms and
light rays; charts and tables which help to solve the color problem are
easily obtainable. After a little study and practice he will learn that
while red, yellow and blue (the primary colors) harmonize with each
other, mixtures of two or all three give shades that are more pleasing.
Olive-green (an art shade) substituted for blue, in combination with
orange, produces an artistic blend in place of the gaudiness which
otherwise would prevail. This because olive-green is a mixture of blue
and orange; a relationship in color composition is established and
contrast lessened.

A black page increases in interest with the addition of a touch of red,
and for this purpose vermilion is recommended. The vermilion shade of
red is approximated by mixing white with orange-red.

The colored crayons with which the layout man should be supplied are
exceedingly useful in determining color combinations. The eye is a
reliable guide in this matter, if it is carefully trained to recognize
color harmonies. It should be easy to distinguish the right from the
wrong color treatment in Examples 5 and 6. The colder color should
always predominate; backgrounds of bright red and bright yellow are
difficult to harmonize with any color of ink excepting black.

From the insert (Examples 16 and 17) will be seen how a color
combination may be roughly sketched on the actual stock to be used and
the finished result indicated without setting a line of type or inking a
roller.

When the page is set in type it is well to have the proofs in the colors
and on the stock to be used, but it is unnecessary to separate the
design into several forms to do so. For a job such as Example 15, for
instance, two proofs may be pulled, one in black and one in orange, and
the initial cut out of the sheet printed in orange and pasted in
position on the sheet printed in black. Another and a more satisfactory
way is to ink the entire page with black, then clean the black from the
initials, and ink them with orange by means of a finger. It may be
relevant to suggest that the human skin is ideal for inking purposes,
and that a printer’s composition roller is an imitation of its
qualities.

The layout man, in addition to the study of ink harmony, should learn to
blend colors and tints of paper stock. He should know that a buff or
cream inside paper reflects the color of a yellow-brown cover stock, and
hence makes a prettier combination than white inside paper and brown
cover stock. Another important point is the color blending of a
tipped-on illustration and the stock acting as a background. The
prevailing shade in a color illustration should be matched by the
background or by a surrounding border, or by both.

When laying out advertisements or other display pages the size of the
type-face should be written in the margin (Example 14). Practice will
enable the layout man intuitively to approximate the size needed.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 20

An architectural subject appropriately treated
]

[Illustration]

HARMONY AND APPROPRIATENESS

In music there is that which the Germans call “Leit-motif”—the guiding
theme in the construction or interpretation of musical compositions. The
“Leit-motif” finds a parallel in the central idea or motive governing
the composition of a building, a painting, a book or a job of printing.
If Gothic is selected as the style of architecture for a building, every
detail from the arches to the smallest bit of ornamentation is kept in
harmony with the central idea of construction. If the building is to be
Colonial, every detail is made appropriate to the Colonial motive.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 18

To obtain Harmony it is frequently necessary to use but one series of
type, and either all capitals or all lower-case
]

The person is legion who undervalues the importance of harmony and
appropriateness. Houses are furnished without regard to a general plan
and furniture is added because it strikes the fancy at the moment of
purchase. A Morris chair in dull-finished wood, a Louis XV table with
dainty curves and gilt luster, and a mahogany or ebony piano case are
gathered in motley discord on an oriental rug. And when this same person
has printing done, or does it himself, there is again revealed an utter
disregard for the things that make for harmony.

What is appropriate? There are times when it is difficult to give an
unprejudiced answer, especially when an idealistic art interpretation of
the appropriate is combatted by the homely reasoning of a tiller of the
soil. As a finishing touch to the classic architecture of the
agricultural building at Washington the words Fructus, Cereales,
Forestes and Flores were carved in suitable places on the structure. The
secretary of agriculture noticed the Latin words and forthwith ordered
the architect to have them recarved in the English—Fruits, Grains, Woods
and Flowers. Now there are those who say the words as modified suggest a
sign on a country store. The architect probably reasons that the words
as originally carved were purely decorative, and in their English form
are not only unnecessary but are about as poetic as a page of stock
quotations in a newspaper or a package of little pig sausages.

It requires a discriminating judgment to distinguish between the
appropriate and inappropriate. The plain people of one of the new
sections of New York City were astounded recently to find the street
signs bearing such names as Socrates, Horatius, Poseidon, Aphrodite,
Pericles and Seleucus. Names such as Wall Street, Broadway, Bowery and
Fifth Avenue are unobjectionable, but Seleucus Street and Pericles
Street—!

Typographers frequently go wrong in the use of the old Roman V. The V as
part of the words PVBLIC LIBRARY on a stone building excites no comment;
it seems appropriate and in good taste; but as part of the words PVRE
MILK on a grocer’s letterhead it tempts the risibility in our natures.
After all, good judgment is one of the most valuable assets a man can
possess.

* * * * *

Harmonious and appropriate results in printing are brought about by
discreet selection and use of these three elements: type, ink, paper. It
is one thing to ink the type and pull an impression on paper, and it is
another thing to do it properly. It makes a difference what type is
used, what ink is used, and what paper is used. There are hundreds of
type-faces, many colors and qualities of inks, and a variety of finishes
and qualities of papers.

As to type-faces: Printers of law briefs and legal blanks need the
formal, legible modern romans. Printers making a specialty of commercial
stationery, wedding invitations and calling cards need scripts and
engravers’ romans. Printers whose chief product is high-class
announcements and booklets cannot do without old-style romans, italics
and text faces. When everything in printing from the diminutive calling
card to the massive catalog is solicited many styles of type-faces are
needed.

[Illustration:

Harmony. The heavy line and the light line are found in the
construction of both border and type-face.
]

[Illustration:

Harmony. The black, pointed characteristic is a peculiarity of both
type-face and border.
]

[Illustration:

Harmony. Type-face is made of strokes of one width; border is composed
of one line of similar width.
]

[Illustration:

Harmony. The two type faces are of the same design; one is stronger in
tone.
]

[Illustration:

Harmony. The two type faces are of similar design; one is slanted and
slightly altered to obtain contrast.
]

[Illustration:

Near-harmony. Type faces are sufficiently similar in design to blend
if contrasting sizes are used.
]

[Illustration:

Incongruous. Border has no characteristics that can be found in the
italic type-face.
]

[Illustration:

Incongruous. There is no relation in the style of these two
type-faces; one has serifs, the other none.
]

[Illustration:

Incongruous. Letters not related in design: one is condensed, the
other extended.

EXAMPLE 19—Harmonious combinations, and combinations that are
incongruous
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 21

A booklet cover, the coloring and typography of which is suggestive of
the subject
]

As to inks: There are inks ground in strong varnish for bond papers,
inks ground in soft varnish for coated papers, and heavy opaque inks for
dark cover papers, and it makes a deal of difference if they are not
used appropriately. And then, in the matter of harmony of colors there
is a subject for much study. The wise printer will use good black inks
and enliven his jobs with mere touches of orange or vermilion. Black and
orange are always pleasing in combination and look well on most papers.
There are pitfalls in the use of numerous colors, and until the subject
of color harmony is understood by the printer he will wisely adhere to
black and orange.

As to papers: Wove and laid antique papers, white and buff tinted, are
appropriate for announcements and booklets in combination with old-style
type-faces and black and orange inks. Dainty papers of linen finish in
combination with delicate engravers’ type-faces, are appropriate for
milliners, florists, jewelers and others catering to the esthetic tastes
of women. Dull-finished coated papers are considered more artistic than
highly enameled ones, and there are those who prefer it as being more
restful to the eyes.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 23

An old lock-plate
]

It is a stupendous undertaking, in face of the multitudinous elements
that are part of the production of printed work to point out a path that
will lead to good typography. There are many printers doing good work
and each of them has probably arrived at his point of attainment by a
different route. There is no royal road to learning. The student may be
assisted, but whether he succeeds depends to a great degree upon
himself. He must have an open mind, good judgment, and a liking for
simplicity.

Simplicity is synonymous with good typography and its path is a straight
and narrow one. He who would do worth-while typography must decide
wisely when accepting the good things offered by his friends, the paper
man, type man and ink man. They are generous in their offerings and
willingly assist the doubting one in deciding; but confidence in his own
judgment is a necessary qualification for the typographer who would
attain success.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 24

Inscription on a Roman arch
]

The ideal printshop is that one which contains only harmonious
type-faces, ink colors and paper stock. This ideal condition being
impossible except in a small shop, the best alternative is to have all
type-faces as nearly harmonious as possible. It would be wise to build
upon the body type as a foundation. Choose a body face that will be
suitable for most purposes, and then select a series or family of
display types that harmonize with it. If Caslon Old Style is chosen as
the body letter, Caslon bold, Caslon italic and Caslon text will afford
variety in display while retaining harmony. (Of course the large display
sizes of the Caslon Old Style should be included.) The Cheltenham family
probably provides the greatest variety of harmonizing faces. Scotch
Roman is a dignified and legible letter, and supplemented by its italic
and the larger display sizes is a satisfactory face for many purposes.
Old Style Antique is a useful letter where a black tone is desired and
is pleasing in its original form. There are many artistic letters now to
be had that give the effect of hand-lettering, which are admirable for
distinctive advertising literature.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 22

Type-design for catalog cover suggested by the old lock-plate
]

While harmony of type-faces is essential, yet a certain amount of
contrast is desirable. At one time it was customary to alternate a line
of capitals with one of lower-case. This arrangement gave contrast, but
not harmony. The best results are obtained by the use of either all
capitals or all lower-case. As explained in the chapter “When Books Were
Written,” our alphabet in its original Roman form consisted of capital
letters only. Lower-case letters, also known as minuscules, are the
result of evolution, and in form differ materially from the capitals.
Custom decrees that a capital letter be used to begin an important word
otherwise in lower-case, but with this exception either kind is better
used alone.

* * * * *

Example 19 illustrates harmonious combinations of type-faces and borders
and also presents several incongruous features.

Section A is an all-capital scheme enclosed in a border of heavy and
light rule. A border such as this owes its origin to the panels used by
the Romans to surround inscriptions on stone, and as these inscriptions
were in capital letters only, the appropriateness of the treatment is
manifest. As the letter is also formed of heavy and light strokes the
harmony is enhanced.

In section B there is harmony from both the historic and artistic
viewpoints. The black text face, representing as it does the direct
result of the evolution from capital letters, is appropriately used only
in its lower-case form. The use together of text capitals is objected to
on the ground of illegibility. This black text face (correctly called
Gothic) is historically associated with ecclesiastical printing, and the
border, consisting of pointed crosses of black tone, blends with the
pointed black letters of the type-face.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 25

Cover-page for a catalog of books, using type imitations of woodcut
initials and borders
]

Section C shows a plain letter of modern cut known erroneously as
gothic. Containing no serifs, it lacks a feature which has always been
considered necessary to beauty in type-faces. As a harmonious border for
this face there is nothing better than a plain rule of the width of the
type strokes.

The next three panels demonstrate such harmony as may exist between
type-faces of different series:

D.—This panel shows Caslon bold in combination with Caslon roman, and
demonstrates the close harmony existing between type-faces of the same
family.

E.—Another demonstration of the harmony of the family types.

F.—Harmonious, to a certain extent.

The type and rule in the next panel do not harmonize for these reasons:

G.—The border is too black and square in form. Italic, because of the
slant of its letters, looks better not surrounded by a border, but when
one is used it should be light and contain some of the characteristics
of the italic.

In all cases where ornamental borders are used more finished results are
obtained if a rule separates the border from the type, as in Section B.

The next two panels present the “horrible examples,” which are defective
for these reasons:

H.—The type-face of the upper group has nothing in common with that of
the lower group. That of the upper group is a distinctive old-style
roman, with serifs, and is set in lower-case, while that of the lower
group is a plain black modern letter, without serifs, and is set in
capitals. The main display should never be lighter in tone than the less
important type matter.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 26

A plain page without ornament or decorative types, for a plain purpose
]

I fails to harmonize because the type-face of the lower group is
slightly extended and the one of the upper group is condensed. The shape
of the letters of a type-face should conform to the shape of the page,
and so far as possible to the shape of the companion letter, when one is
used. Condensed letters should be avoided except for pages that are long
and narrow, and an extended letter should not be used except on a wide
page.

* * * * *

There are more typographic sins committed thru violation of the laws of
appropriateness than in any other way. In this regard it would not be
difficult to make out cases against the best of typographers, whose sins
are washed away by good work in other respects. As in architecture,
where one part of a building bears relation to all other parts, so in
typography there should be a motive that blends all elements in serving
one well-defined purpose. The phrase “Is it appropriate?” prominently
displayed above the type cabinets, over the presses, in the stock-room,
and over the layout man’s desk, would help to keep in mind this
important requirement.

An architectural motive was suggested by the copy for Example 20, and
type-face and decorative border were selected that the motive should be
emphasized. The architecture of the Romans was frequently embellished
with inscriptions (see Example 24), and in modern architecture the panel
of Roman lettering is a feature; the lettering is generally all capitals
of the same size, of a style near that of the ancient lettering; and the
panel is outlined with molding, plain or decorative. Serving a purpose
equivalent to the architect’s panel molding, the type or rule border is
a valuable addition to a page of type. A page of display type or a
halftone not surrounded by a border is like an oil painting without a
frame. The egg-and-dart border around Example 20 is historically
associated with architecture. The type-face is a Roman capital letter
designed by Fred. W. Goudy from an inscription found in the ancient
Forum at Rome.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 27-a

Treatment appropriate for a church program, in style based upon old
ecclesiastical manuscript books. (See specimen below.)
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 27-b

Portion of a page of an old manuscript missal
]

Bismarck was called the “Iron Chancellor” because of his great strength
of character and unbending will. Strength instantly associates itself
with the mention of iron or steel, hence the motive for the construction
of Example 22. It may be interesting to know that the design of this
page was further suggested by the old lock-plate (Example 23). A printer
with imagination can absorb ideas from many sources. The lock-plate is
not literally reproduced in type, but a few of its features, including
the key-hole, were borrowed and conventionalized. An artist-designer
does not copy his models closely; they serve the purpose of suggesting
shape and treatment and his imagination does the rest.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 28

Cover-page for a catalog of decorative materials, suggesting festive
gatherings, music and waving flags
]

For the cover of a small catalog listing rare books, a typographic
motive is found in the woodcut borders and initials of the early
printers. Example 25 shows what may be done with type-foundry material
on such a cover. The border is of black tone and the type and initials
are given the strength that harmonizes with it.

Old books suggest discolored leather, dusty shelves and plain men, and
it is an abrupt change to the subject of millinery, with its bright
colored feathers, ribbons and delicate finery. The milliner ornaments
his salesroom with vines and flowers and dainty colors, and the printer
gets his typographic motive from such sources. Example 21 illustrates a
booklet cover treated thus appropriately. The page size is
unconventional, the coloring is dainty, and the type lines are neatly
diminutive.

As a millinery store is unlike an office in which are maps and blue
prints and legal documents, so typography for these two purposes should
be unlike. Example 26 is a page severely plain and non-sentimental. The
types are merely to tell something in a blunt manner. There is needed no
touch of decoration or color to interest the reader, because those who
read it would do so whatever the treatment. This is the only example in
the present chapter in which the advertising element is unimportant. The
page may be commonplace because it need not be anything else, altho it
is well to do good work even here.

From the surveyor’s office our journey of instruction takes us into a
church during an elaborate Easter service. Light filtered of its
brightness by stained glass windows; high-placed Gothic arches pointing
toward the sky; soft organ-music—all these create an atmosphere of
solemnity and harmony. A program or pamphlet for use during a church
service should be as appropriate to the environment as a Book of Common
Prayer or Bible. Typographic treatment good as shown in Examples 22, 26
or 28 would be ridiculous for a church program. Example 27-a shows a
page historically appropriate. The type-face is peculiarly fitting
because of its pointed form, and also for the reason that a letter of
similar design was used by medieval scribes on ecclesiastical books (see
Example 27-b). The crossed rules, which should be printed in orange-red,
are adapted from the guide lines as made by the scribes for marking the
position of a page on the sheet.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 30

Title-page in semi-Colonial style, appropriate for use with a cover
design such as Example 29
]

When a holiday crowd is gathered, dignity is put aside and all enter
into the festive spirit of the occasion. Here is the motive for the
typographic treatment of a booklet or catalog of decorative materials as
presented by Example 28. It would be excessive emphasis of
appropriateness to print such a page in a combination of bright red and
blue. The colors should be softened. The page would look well printed in
a deep blue with a flat blue tint overprinting the star border.

There is room for improvement in the support typographers give artists
in the production of booklets and catalogs. In many cases title-pages
are constructed with no regard to the motive suggested by the design on
the cover. Bibliophiles judge a book not only by the excellence of its
execution, but by the harmonious unity that may be expressed in every
detail, from the literary contents to the last bit of tooling worked on
the cover. The type, ornamentation, paper, ink, margins, leather, the
arrangement of the title-page and the cover treatment, all must be
selected and utilized in expression of a dominant central motive. The
same rule presents the key to good typography in job work. Example 29
shows the Colonial arch adapted as the border of a booklet cover. The
artist gives this treatment to the cover because of the motive suggested
by the name “Colonial Trust Company,” and when the title-page is set it
would be a mistake not to use some Colonial arrangement. Example 30
blends with Example 29 and is modified from the old Colonial title-page
treatment just enough to give it a modern appearance without sacrificing
the old-time atmosphere. The border suggests both the widely-spaced
rules of the Colonial printers and the architectural pillars of Example
29. No letter spacing is used, despite the temptation offered.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 29

The Colonial arch
]

* * * * *

Discussion of the subject of harmony and appropriateness could be
extended much further than is allowed by these limits. Pages could be
filled with descriptions of instances in which the compositor had erred
in treating typography and ornamentation inharmoniously or with an
unimaginative appropriateness. The use of angelic ornaments on Y. M. C.
A. printing, where something more substantial is desirable; the
double-meaning that may be read into the use of a horseshoe ornament on
a printer’s letterhead; the placing of illustrations of live fish,
lobsters and animal food on banquet programs—these are a few of the
things that might be mentioned.

High-class catalogs have been marred by the use of stock decorative
initials which were at variance with the other decoration. In order to
save a few cents both printer and customer are inclined to use stock
decoration that happens to be on hand at the moment. Hundreds of dollars
are spent on the work and then for the sake of saving thirty cents (the
cost of a harmonious initial or ornament) many dollars in effectiveness
are sacrificed. Another way of injuring the appearance of a book is to
use a type-face on the title-page that does not harmonize with that used
for the body matter and the sub-headings. In order to secure complete
harmony even the lettering on the cover should blend in style with that
used for the title-page, sub-headings and text pages.

Altho strict adherence to the laws of harmony and appropriateness is
necessary in the production of good work in any field of endeavor,
Americans seem to be really proud when they violate such laws. We all
know the person who dresses in a slouchy manner because he read
somewhere that Horace Greeley dressed that way. And there is the modern
politician who wears a slouch hat and constantly carries a quid of
tobacco in his mouth because Henry Clay did so. There are also
house-organ publishers who use inharmonious and inappropriate type-faces
and decoration because Elbert Hubbard thus treats the cover of the
Philistine.

It is not a question of the sort of clothes a person actually needs to
go from one end of a street to another—Lady Godiva reached her
destination with no clothes at all—yet we often admire a person dressed
harmoniously and in good taste without knowing the reasons for our
admiration. As there is art in tailoring and in the selection of
clothes, there is also art in printing, and he who investigates will
find that the great natural laws of beauty apply even to typography,
which some by their work seem to think requires no more thought than
ditch-digging.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 43

Uniform tone in classic typography. Page by Bruce Rogers
]

[Illustration]

TONE AND CONTRAST

This chapter is a story of the alpha and omega of color—white and black.
Since the creation of the world, when light first illumined the
darkness, these two colors (if I may call them colors) have been
emblematic of extremes—white, the symbol of purity and goodness, black
of impurity and evil. White and black represent extremes in color.
Mixing of all the color rays of the solar spectrum produces white, and
mixing of all the colors in the solid form of printing ink produces
black. From this contrast of white and black maybe drawn a lesson in
color. (Example 31.) Light represents warmth, darkness cold. As the
colors are toward light they are warm; as they are toward darkness they
are cold. Red becomes warmer as it takes on an orange hue, and colder as
it takes on a purple hue. A warm color should be contrasted with a cold
color—as orange with black. The further in tone the color is from black
the more it contrasts with the black. As an illustration: Orange is more
pleasing than a deeper shade of red as a companion color for black.
Blue, purple or green, selected to be used with black, must be lightened
with white ink to get the desired contrast.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 31

Contrast in color and tone
]

White and black as a combination are and ever have been popular with
writers, printers and readers. Fully nine-tenths of the newspapers,
books, catalogs and other forms of reading matter are printed with black
ink on white stock. It is coincident that optical necessities require
for best results in reading a black-and-white combination, and black ink
and white paper are more cheaply and easily produced than other colors
of ink and paper.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 32

An example of uniform tone and contrast of black and white. Page by F.
W. Kleukens, Darmstadt
]

This chapter is also an illustrated sermon on uniformity of tone or
depth of color, in which is pointed out the necessity of bringing many
spots of black or gray into harmonious relation. The esthetic importance
of uniformity of tone is universally recognized. Choirs are robed in
white and black; fashion has its uniform clothing for the hours and
functions of the day and night; theater choruses and the soldiery are
living masses of uniform tone and color. As uniformity is important in
these things, so is uniformity important in the tone of a page of
printing. A type-page exhibiting a variegated mass of black and gray
tones is not unlike a squad of recruits in different styles of clothing
marching irregularly; while on the contrary a type-page of uniform tone
and arrangement maybe likened to a uniformly equipped regiment of
soldiers marching with rhythmic tread.

A page of display typography composed of a mixture of irregular gray and
black tones is inexcusable in the sight of the art-loving reader. As
combinations of inharmonious type-faces are wrong, equally so are
combinations of incongruous tones. For the sake of contrast and variety
in typography, art principles are too often ignored, the printer
confessing to ignorance or lack of ingenuity. Contrast is necessary, but
it may be had without sacrificing uniformity. Again making use of a
military simile: soldiers are marched in platoons, companies, battalions
and regiments that the monotony of solid formation may be broken; type
is arranged in groups and paragraphs for similar reasons. While an
absolutely solid page of type may present a pleasing tone, a slight
break in the regularity is desirable for reading purposes. Thus art
makes concession to utility, but such concession should always be
granted reluctantly. There is classic authority for the arrangement of
the type lines in Example 20 of the preceding chapter, but on the
majority of printing jobs it is necessary to compromise with utility and
emphasize important words, as in Example 19-a of the same chapter. The
secret of producing artistic typography in these practical times is to
pilot the ideas of the customer into artistic channels; emphasize the
words he wants emphasized, but do it in a way that will result in
creditable typography. There is a right way and there is a wrong way of
arranging type, and too many typographers arrange type the wrong way and
unjustly blame the customer for the result.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 34
]

* * * * *

The effectiveness of uniformly black tone on a background of white is
well illustrated on the beautiful book title shown as Example 32, in
which even depth of color is consistently maintained. There is not a
weak spot on the page; border, ornament and lettering are of equal tone,
and the white background is reflected thru the black print in agreeable
contrast. The Germans are masters in their treatment of contrast and
uniform tone, and he who bewails the limitations of black and white
printing should ponder over the results shown by this specimen from over
the sea.

Here is a practical demonstration of the workings of the theory of
uniform tone in typography. Example 33 displays four ornaments, each of
a different tone or depth of color. One of the customs when constructing
a booklet cover-page to be ornamented, is first to select an ornament
that is appropriate in design and of proper proportions. Upon this
ornament the page is constructed, and it dictates the characteristics of
the border and of the type-face; its tone determines the tone of the
entire page. This is also true of a trademark furnished by the customer,
altho such plates are frequently so inartistic that a compromise is
necessary.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 35
]

Assuming that a cover-page is to be designed and that ornament A has
been selected for use on the page, a rule border is chosen with triple
lines approximating the strength of those in the ornament. (Example 34.)
The lines are very thin, and white space is a large factor in producing
a tone that is light and dainty, in keeping with the subject of the
illustration. A perfect result would be obtained with a type-face of
very thin strokes, yet Caslon capitals, slightly separated to let in
white space, give good results.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 33

Four ornaments, each of a different depth of tone, used in the
construction of the four pages shown as examples 34, 35, 36 and 37
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 36
]

The ornament shown as B has been formed of lines darker than those used
in the first ornament, and a mass of white forms a spot of contrast.
Rules of the proper tone are selected and a border unit adopted that
reflects the spot of white in the ornament. (Example 35.) Cheltenham
capitals maintain the tone scheme. In this case, as in others, the
type-face is a trifle stronger in tone than ornament and border. This is
well. Type-lines on a cover are usually of more importance than the
decoration.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 37
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 38. Dark tone—solid
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 39. Light tone—spaced

Two extremes of tone on book pages. The same type-face is used on both
pages; the spacing between words and lines alters the tone
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 40

A page by J. H. Kehler, in which illustration and text are blended in
uniform tone
]

Ornament C differs from ornament A in that it is composed of light lines
contrasted with solid blacks. A border is made of a light line and a
dark one, and the Bodoni type-face, containing light and heavy strokes
in contrast with a white background, assists in producing a decidedly
pleasing medium black tone (Example 36).

This combination of ornament, type and rule demonstrates there is
considerable tone beauty in a well-selected contrast of light and dark
lines when set off by liberal white space between lines and in the
background.

The dense black tone of ornament D is duplicated in the dark-line border
filled with black decorative units (Example 37). The black-printing
Chaucer Text reflects not only the tone but the decorative
characteristics of ornament and border. The tone of this example
approximates that of the German page (Example 32).

These four examples afford an interesting study in uniform tone.

As the tone or depth of color increases from the light gray of Example
34 to the dense black of Example 37, it will be observed that the
contrast between the print and the paper background also increases. This
leads to the subject of contrast. What amount of contrast is needed on
the ideal job of printing? There is conflict between art and utility on
this question, but there need be none. Art demands that the print be a
part of the paper upon which it is impressed, much as the plant is a
part of the earth in which its roots are buried, and utility demands
that the print shall be strong and clear that reading may be made easy.
The artist-printer lessens the contrast between print and paper by
printing with gray ink on gray stock, brown ink on light brown stock,
and so forth. The utility printer gets the maximum of contrast by
printing with black ink on white stock. As printing is both art and
business some compromise must be made, and it is this: On two-color
printing have all reading matter in the stronger color and subdue the
color of the decoration so that the contrast between the paper and the
print of the reading portion of the page is softened by this
intermediate tone. Black print on white paper is made artistic by
impressing the print firmly on antique paper. This roots the print to
the paper, and the result is more idealistic than that presented by the
print daintily set upon the surface of glossy, enameled papers.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 41

The spotted black tone of the border is reflected in the treatment of
the text. The tone is made uniform by printing the border in a light
color. Page by University Press, Cambridge
]

Lack of artistic feeling among typographers and customers is responsible
for unpleasant contrasts in tone. A dense black illustration or initial
will be set in a page of light gray reading matter, or type of black
tone will be used on a page with an illustration of light lines. Great
contrast in any detail of typography is not art but eccentricity; this
statement may be made plain by a comparison. One winter’s day when the
conventional folk of New York were wearing clothing of a somber hue,
they were startled by the appearance among them of Mark Twain in a suit
of white. Six months later the humorist’s garb would have excited no
comment, but the black clothed mass of humanity around him emphasized
the whiteness of his attire, and the conspicuousness thus produced
separated him from his surroundings and made him an object of curiosity.
Such things are done by great men to show their disregard for custom and
by others because they are foolish or are advertising something; but it
is common-sense right from Cervantes to do when in Rome as the Romans do
(meaning that printed work which both attracts and repels by its gaudy,
unconventional appearance is not nearly so good or desirable as the more
conventional printed work which tastefully and quietly presents its
message in subdued tones). One man will become widely known because he
has dived from a big bridge or gone over Niagara Falls; another because
he has painted a great picture or modeled a great statue. The one
thrills, the other impresses. It may be easier to produce typography
which attracts attention by contrast, but such results do not bring the
lasting satisfaction that comes from typography thoughtfully and
artistically designed.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 44

A study in uniformity of tone as found in combinations of type and
decoration
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 42

The tone of the illustration and type-face is here blended. Card by
School of Printing, Boston, Mass.
]

Several other points are suggested by Examples 34 to 37. A page for a
cover should be of darker tone than a page to be used as a title inside
the book; this where the body-type of the inside pages is of the
customary gray tone. A cover placed upon a book to protect it suggests
strength, and the typography of the cover should conform to this
suggestion. The reason for the uniform tone presented by each of the
four examples above mentioned is another important point. Were the
border darker than the ornament and type lines, the ornament darker than
the border and type lines, or the type lines darker than the ornament
and border, there would not be uniformity of tone, and a consequent loss
in the effectiveness that comes from tone harmony.

* * * * *

The tone of a massed page is of vital importance in the typography of a
book, and a happy medium is somewhere between the under-spaced black
type-page of Morris and the over-spaced hair-line type-page against
which the Morris page was a protest. Examples 38 and 39 show the manner
in which the tone of a page may be controlled by spacing. In Example 38
the page is moderately spaced between words and lines and in Example 39
the page is liberally spaced, presenting two extremes and vividly
picturing the manner in which spacing influences the page tone.

The tone of the pen-and-ink outline illustration in Example 40 is
admirably duplicated in the typographical treatment accorded the page.
The result would not have been so satisfactory if there had been no quad
lines to break the solidity of the page.

The spotted black tone of the decorative border in Example 41 is
reflected in the typography of the page, a result obtained by using a
bold-faced body-type and separating the words with a liberal amount of
space. However, the tone would not be equal printed in one color, but by
printing the border in a lighter color the tones are equalized. Here is
a suggestion for obtaining even tones. Where one portion of the page is
bolder than the other, print it in a lighter shade of ink, or if any
part of a type-page must be printed in a lighter color, set that part in
a type-face of darker tone (Example 47).

Job printers should be interested in Example 42, as it is a good
presentation of the theory of uniform tone. The effect of the open-line
illustration is duplicated in the spaced Jenson capitals and cross
lines. The result would have been even better had the small groups on
both sides of the illustration been slightly letterspaced and the line
at the bottom spaced less.

Example 43, on the insert, is a classic interpretation of uniform tone.
The architectural design is formed of lines about the same strength as
the strokes of the type-face and the massed capital letters admit
sufficient light to give them a tone near to that of the open-spaced
border.

Example 44 (insert) is a pleasing blend of tone and characteristics. The
delicate light-gray tone of the Camelot type-face is closely matched in
the decoration and border, and altogether this is an almost perfect
exemplification of the subject of this chapter. It is seldom that an
artist so carefully considers the characteristics of a type-face and
reproduces these characteristics in so admirable a manner as was done in
this instance.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 45

In which the tone of the initial and headpiece is lightened to near
that of the text portion. Page by Heintzemann Press, Boston
]

Initials and headpieces should approach closely the tone of the
type-page of which they are parts. Example 45 shows such a combination,
with the tone of the decoration just a trifle darker than that of the
text portion. An initial has other duties to perform than merely to look
pretty; it must direct the eye to the beginning of the reading matter.
In the manuscript books of the Middle Ages, written without paragraphs,
the starting point of a new thought was denoted by an initial more or
less elaborate. The utilitarian purpose thus served by the initial is
reason for making it a trifle darker than the remainder of the page.
However, if there is great contrast in tone, the page will be difficult
to read because of the initial claiming too much attention. The effect
would be much like attempting to listen to one speaker while another is
calling and beckoning.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 46
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 48

Display lines in tone should match the border
]

Every rule has its exception and I wish to record one in the matter of
uniform tone. On a page composed of display lines and a large amount of
reading matter it is an offense against legibility to set the reading
matter in a type-face of black tone to correspond with the display
lines, considerable contrast being necessary in such cases to make
reading easy. (Example 48.) Notwithstanding this exception in the case
of reading matter, uniform tone should be retained between display lines
and border.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 47
]

If a catalog is illustrated (and the majority are) it is important to
have the illustrations prominent on the page, sacrificing tone to
utility if necessary. Sometimes the illustrations are printed in dense
black and the remainder of the page in gray or brown. While this causes
the illustrations to stand out in relief—an important point when
machinery is depicted—it should not be forgotten that the type matter
must be read.

In advertising composition it is seldom possible to have an even tone on
the entire page. The New York _Herald_ advertising pages are unique in
this respect. Outline type-faces are used, and all illustrations are
redrawn in outline before they are published. This serves to give a
uniformly gray tone to the pages, but the advertisers are not
enthusiastic over the effects. While other newspapers may not be able to
maintain uniform page tone, it is possible at least to have each
advertisement present a tone uniform in its displayed parts and border,
and the good typographer will secure such effects. The gray shaded
type-faces now available should enable printers and publishers to obtain
tone uniformity where gray effects are desired and large type sizes
used.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 49

Equal spacing is necessary to obtain uniform tone
]

Irregular letterspacing has been the cause of many pages of
unsatisfactory tone. In a displayed page where one line is spaced
between letters, all lines should be similarly spaced. Example 49
presents a decidedly unconventional letterhead by reason of the
letterspacing, and it illustrates the point that all lines should be
spaced equally. It may be well to warn job compositors inclined to
imitate the style of this heading that there are few customers who would
concede any merit to such an arrangement, and it should be used
sparingly. Unconventional treatment, even tho good along the lines of
the style chosen, is not always appreciated.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 58

In which the ornament, the border and the type-face are in proportion
]

[Illustration]

PROPORTION, BALANCE AND SPACING

Symmetry is necessary to beauty. This law of esthetics is as applicable
to typography as to sculpture and architecture. Proportion and balance—
the things that make for symmetry in typography—are obtained only by
giving the work more attention than seems necessary to the average
producer and buyer of printing.

Why should the printer worry about esthetics—about symmetry? What has
art to do with printing, anyway? Questions such as these find too
frequent voice in the printing trade, coming from the employee whose
interest and ambitions end when he “gets the scale,” and the employer
who is satisfied merely to deliver so many pounds of paper and ounces of
ink for so much money. Pity the man whose work is drudgery and who
denies that art and beauty are meant for him. He has his antithesis in
the man who, appreciating the higher blessings, neglects to give value
to the more common and practical things.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 50

One method of determining the page length. The page should measure
diagonally twice its width
]

There have always been two opposing classes—in religion, politics, art,
music, business. On all questions one portion of humanity is “for” and
the other “against,” mostly because of the influence of environment upon
tastes and interests. Mozart’s and Beethoven’s music charms and enthuses
and also lulls to sleep. One class should try to understand the other.
Each has good reasons for its preferences, but none at all for its
prejudices. The painter Rubens, gathering inspiration in the courts of
royalty, portrayed luxury and magnificence. Millet, painting in a barn,
pictured poverty, sorrow and dulled minds. What pleased one found little
sympathy in the other. During the Middle Ages learned men talked, wrote
and thought in Latin, and when it was proposed to translate the
Scriptures into the language of the masses these men held up their hands
in horror.

Not so many years ago the book printer looked upon the job printer as
the Roman patrician looked upon the plebeian, but the job printer has
absorbed dignity and typographic taste from the book printer. While the
book printer’s highest ideal is a volume with uncut leaves ornamenting
the book shelves of the collector, the job printer’s mission is to be
all things to all men. He prints the refined announcements of art
schools one day and another day finds him placing wood type to tell the
story of a rural sale of articles “too numerous to mention.”

There should be more sympathy between the book printer and the job
printer, and also between the printer who regards his calling as a
business and the printer who regards it as an art. The employer and
employee who consider printing only a means to an end and that end
money, are as near right and as near wrong as they who produce art
printing for art’s sake and forget the pay envelop and the customer’s
check. The first starve their souls, the last their bodies.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 51

Another method of determining the page length. The length of the page
should measure fifty per cent more than its width. These examples
also present proportionate margins, the foot margin in each instance
being the largest
]

The printer who does things artistically in an economical manner
“strikes twelve” (in the slang of Elbert Hubbard). Printing need not be
shorn of beauty to be profitable to both printer and customer, tho
beauty too conspicuous turns attention from the real purpose of the
printed job—which, in the case of a booklet, is the message the words
convey. An equestrian statue of Napoleon should feature the great
conqueror, not the horse, but would be impossible with the horse left
out.

Art is essential to printing; so are Uncle Sam’s specimens of steel
engraving. The more art the printer absorbs the larger should grow his
collection of these engravings. Study of art arouses ambition; ambition
brings better and harder work. It reveals in the typographer the
difference between mere lead-lifting and the artistic selection and
arrangement of types. The boy who sweeps the floor and does his best is
nearer art-heaven than he who sets type and cares not how he does it.

The printer who determines to learn about art—who makes continued effort
to find the reason why one man’s work is good and another’s is not, will
be surprised and gratified at the new world that unfolds itself as he
studies. He will find that altho having eyes, he has really seen only as
he has appreciated. There is no easy road to the appreciation of the
beautiful. Art does not consist merely of a set of rules to be observed;
there are few beacon lights placed by those who have trod the road.
Beyond a certain point the novice must depend upon intuition or
“feeling.” Great painters have been asked their method of producing
masterpieces, and have been unable to explain.

* * * * *

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 53

In which vertical lines predominate
]

In introducing the subject of “Proportion” it is well first to dispose
of book pages. In olden times the sizes of books were known by the
number of folds to a sheet of paper about 18 × 24 inches. A book made
from such sheets, folded once into two leaves, was known as a folio
volume and measured about 12 × 18 inches. Folded twice into four leaves,
a quarto, measuring 9 × 12 inches. Folded three times into eight leaves,
an octavo, measuring 6 × 9 inches. Paper is now made in a variety of
sizes, which allow of individual preferences being satisfied. For the
sizes of catalogs 9 × 12 and 6 × 9 are becoming standard. The sizes do
not depart far from the rule of proportion which holds that the width of
the page should be two-thirds its length.

Examples 50 and 51 illustrate two widely-used methods of determining
page lengths. By the first method (Example 50) the page should measure
diagonally twice its width. In this instance the width being eight
picas, the diagonal measurement is sixteen picas. By the second method
the length of the page should measure fifty per cent more than its
width. Here the width being eight picas, the length is twelve picas.
These measurements may or may not include the running titles or folios.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 54

Compare with Example 53
]

If only small margins are possible, the page (exclusive of running
title) should be about centered, with a slight inclination toward the
head and back. But when margins are reasonably ample the page should set
liberally toward the head and back; the margins of the head and back
(exclusive of the running title) should be about the same, the outer
side margin should be fifty per cent more than the back margin, and the
foot margin one hundred per cent more than the back margin. Various
explanations of this rule have been put forward, a few of which are: The
old book-owner making marginal notations as he read, needed wide margins
for the purpose. Early manuscript books were bound on wood, and this
wood was extended at the foot and used to hold the book when reading.
Two pages being exposed to view were treated as one page, much as double
columns are now treated. As book illuminators required room for their
handiwork the margins may have thus originated. The principal reason why
we should observe such margins is that the arrangement has the sanction
of long usage and the approval of the best bookmakers since books were
written.

* * * * *

The job printer, it is reasonable to suppose, is more interested in
proportion as it refers to display typography. He asks: What relation
has type, in the shape of its face, to the page of which it is a part?
And the answer is: A type-face should conform in the proportion of its
letters to the proportion of the page. Let us thoroly understand this.
In Example 52 there are shown three widths of type—condensed, medium and
extended. The type of medium width is more used than the condensed or
extended kind, and most pages have a proportion such as Example 55. From
viewpoints of both economy and art, the type-face of medium width should
be given preference when selecting type equipment. Condensed types are
properly proportioned for use as headings in the narrow columns of
newspapers and for narrow folders and booklets.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 55

The conventional page shape, with type and ornament in proportion
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 52

Three widths of type-faces
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 57

Compare with Example 56
]

Many of the laws that are necessary to good typography also govern the
other arts. As an instance, in architecture it is requisite that a tall
and narrow building contain a preponderance of vertical lines, a feature
most noticeable in church buildings of Gothic style (Example 54).
Because the extent of vertical lines is greater than that of horizontal
ones in a condensed type-face, such a face is proper for a long and
narrow page (Example 53). The proportion of page shown by Example 55 is
about that met with most frequently in printing production. Here the
vertical lines are in a slight majority, but it is interesting to
observe that in Example 56 where the page is more wide than long,
horizontal lines are more numerous than vertical ones.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 56

In which horizontal lines predominate
]

It is not always possible to follow out in every detail the requirements
of proportion. Architects must sacrifice much in the interests of
utility and in deference to the wishes of their clients. Printers must
do likewise, but as a rule they travel farther from true art principles
than do architects. Consider the contrasting proportions of the
structures in Examples 54 and 57. In Example 54 notice that the openings
have been made to conform to the general proportions, and that vertical
lines have been multiplied to emphasize narrowness and hight. As a
contrast, in Example 57 observe the width of the openings; how it blends
with the general proportion of this structure. Now to ascertain that
typography parallels architecture compare Example 53 with 54, and 56
with 57.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 59
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 60

The type-faces of these two examples are not in proportion with the
pages
]

An exaggerated idea of the relation of lines to proportion is furnished
by Examples 62 (see insert) and 63. The vertical lines of Example 62 run
with the length of the page as smoothly as a canoe floating down stream.
The horizontal lines of Example 63 are irritating in their disregard of
proportion. For the eye to take in at a glance both the page lines
running vertically and the rules running horizontally is as difficult as
watching a three-ring circus. Examples 59 and 60 also illustrate this
point.

I have prepared in Example 58 (see insert) a page in which not only are
ornament, type-face and page-design in proportion, but the
characteristics of the ornament are reflected in the border, and the
tone is uniform.

Irregularity of form is valuable in breaking monotony, and in some forms
of art may be essential, but as contained in Example 61 this feature is
inharmonious. Before experimenting with variety or becoming agitated
about monotony the typographer should perfect himself in the things that
make for regularity. When he learns to set a page that is harmonious and
in proportion then it may be well to introduce irregularity—in
homeopathic doses.

* * * * *

There is much uncertainty manifested among typographers as to the
proportionate strength of display lines on a page. A type line is
proportionately large or small as it contrasts with its environment.
Gulliver was a giant when among pigmies. The foremost citizen of a
country town is considerably reduced in importance when he rubs elbows
with the big men of the cities. The homely adage that “a big frog in a
small puddle is a small frog in a big puddle,” is applicable to
typography. A display line surrounded by other type lines (Example 64)
must be made larger or by strengthened strokes made bolder than when
alone on the page (Example 65). The old City Hall in New York is claimed
to be the most beautiful work of architecture in the city, but is
ridiculously out of proportion with the towering office buildings
surrounding it.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 63

Horizontal lines are not suitable for a vertically narrow page (See
Example 62, insert)
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 61

Type-faces and borders are mismated
]

Examples 66, 67 and 68 are studies in the proportion of a type-face to
the page of which it is a part. In Example 66 the page is largely
covered with type, treatment that is necessary on poster, dodger and
other printed matter that must force its presence upon the public. In
Example 67 the page consists mostly of blank space, the type standing
modestly and apologetically in the midst of that space. This treatment
is proper on dainty works of poetry or when the demands of extreme
refinement are to be satisfied. Example 68 is the “happy medium,” the
compromise—a strength of display that will be satisfactory in almost
every case. This method of arriving at correct treatment emphasizes the
need in the typographer of a judicial as well as an artistic
temperament. The wise judge knows that truth is about midway between the
claims of opposing counsel.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 64
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 65

A display line surrounded by other type lines must be made larger than
when alone on the page, to obtain proportionate emphasis
]

* * * * *

Balance is another important subject, as it has a big share in making
typography good or bad. The builder works with plumb-line and
spirit-level that his walls may be in perfect balance, tho sometimes he
is tempted, as the printer is tempted, to work away from the center of
gravity. In Italy there is a building, an architectural curiosity—the
leaning tower of Pisa (Example 73) in the construction of which gravity
has been defied to the limit, and in Canada only recently a bridge in
course of construction on this gravity-defying principle, fell in a mass
into the river. In typography, safety from blunder lies in type lines
horizontally centered. Typographic experts experimenting with
out-of-the-center balance, both succeed and fail. Compositors imitating
them generally fail. Example 76 is an out-of-the-center arrangement that
is fairly successful. Balance is saved by the type-lines in the upper
left corner and by the border surrounding the page. Examples 69 and 75
show out-of-center balance adapted to a business card and a booklet
cover.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 69

Out-of-center balance, adapted to a business card
]

While horizontally the center is the point of perfect balance,
vertically it is not. Stick a pin thru the very center of an oblong
piece of cardboard and twirl the card; when movement ceases the card may
not hang uprightly. Mark off the card in three equal sections and stick
the pin thru the horizontal center of the line separating the upper two
thirds. After being twirled the card will cease to move in a perfectly
upright position. Example 71 shows a word placed in exact center, yet it
appears to be low. Example 72 shows a line above center at the point of
vertical balance. On a title-page, business card, and on most jobs of
printing the weight should come at this point. The principal line, or
group, should provide strength necessary to give balance. Example 70
presents a page with type group and ornament placed unusually high. The
typographer responsible was undoubtedly testing balance to the limit.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 66

Type proportionately too large for the average page
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 67

Type proportionately too small for the average page
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 68

This proportion is about right for the average page
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 62

In which the lines of the design run in the proper direction. Arranged
by Will Bradley
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 70

In which the upper type group is unusually high. Page by D. B. Updike
]

Sometimes the customer gets a notion he wants a type-line placed
diagonally across the page in a manner like Example 74. Such
arrangements generally show lack of imagination and are crudely
freakish. There are so many orderly ways of arranging type that such
poorly balanced specimens are deplorable.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 74

A disorderly arrangement
]

Spacing is seemingly one of the little things—merely incidental to the
mechanical practice of typography. When the apprentice compositor is
told to divide his spaces evenly among all the words in a line; not to
thin space one line and double-thick space another; to transpose a
two-point lead, or make some other what to him may appear to be trivial
alteration in spacing, he judges his instructor to be over-particular.
Yet the proper apportionment of space on a page determines the tone and
the balance and aids in giving proportion and emphasis.

In type-making, when a font of type is designed, not only is each letter
considered separately, but in combination with every other letter of the
alphabet, that when the letters are assembled into words space may be
evenly distributed. The designers of the best type-faces have given
attention to this feature and have demonstrated that legibility is
increased with proper space distribution. Because of the excessive open
space it contains, the capital L gives the most trouble of any letter
used as an initial. As part of the word “Millinery” the irregularity of
spacing is particularly prominent (Example 79-a). Partly to overcome
this irregularity the companion letters should be spaced as shown in
79-b. When the letters A T occur together, and the space between them
should be decreased, it is necessary to file the metal in the upper
right of the type A and the metal in the lower left of the type T.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 71

A word placed in exact center appears to be low
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 72

Showing the point of vertical balance
]

With roman type-faces, important words are usually emphasized by italics
or small capitals. The Germans, using for body purposes a text letter
which has no italic or small capitals, space the letters to get emphasis
(Example 80-a). Letter-spaced words thus used are perhaps as neat as
italic, and the idea may well be adapted to roman types (Example 80-b).

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 73

Balance out of center
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 75

The ornament balances the design. Page by School of Printing, Boston
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 76

Out-of-center balance. Page by Will Bradley
]

The relation of lines to proportion, as illustrated by Examples 62 and
63, is also to be considered in the composition of plain reading pages.
Example 77 shows how the effect of horizontal lines is given by narrow
spacing between the words and wide spacing between the lines. This gives
a result, like that of Example 63, contrary to the principles of
proportion. How this may be overcome is illustrated in Example 78, which
contains the same amount of space between the words as is between the
lines. This treatment not only gives better proportion, but improves the
tone of the page.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 77

The effect of horizontal lines is given by narrow spacing between the
words and wide spacing between the lines
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 79

Other letters must be spaced because of the open appearance of the
letter “L”
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 81

The erroneous and obsolete practice of spreading the lines over the
page
]

Adapting this principle to display composition, Examples 81 and 82 are
enlightening. Example 81 shows the manner in which some years ago
display lines were erroneously distributed over the entire page,
presenting in effect the faults of Example 77. The manner of rectifying
these faults is demonstrated in Example 82, where main lines are grouped
at the point of balance in the upper part of the page.

The narrow measure to which these words are set necessitates
letterspacing. The resulting appearance is far from satisfactory yet it
enables illustrations to be grouped pleasingly and makes possible a
squaring of the pages which could not be done otherwise.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 78

The effect of horizontal lines is avoided by having the space between
the words approximate that between the lines
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 80

Emphasis obtained by letterspacing, in lieu of italics and small
capitals
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 82

The correct modern practice of grouping the lines at the point of
balance
]

It is not always that results are as perfect as we desire them. In New
England there is a printer who, in the opinion of those fortunate to
have viewed his work, is producing typography classically perfect; yet
this man goes from his work at the close of the day almost discouraged
because of the faults that are evident to his trained eye. The artist’s
ideal always eludes him and the chase seems a hopeless one, yet he
continues on lest he lose sight of it altogether. It is a good sign when
one recognizes imperfections; it means that he is gaining ground on
success.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 125

Illustrating the significance of ornamentation, as applied to a
booklet. Design by the Matthews-Northrup Works, Buffalo, N. Y.
]

[Illustration]

ORNAMENTATION

Offer a child the choice of two toys, alike excepting that one has a
flower painted upon it, and he will doubtlessly select the ornamented
one; proving that the human race has a natural liking for ornamentation.
When the old-time trader visited savage countries, he took with him
colored glass and brought back gold. The glass soon after ornamented the
somber bodies of the savages, and the gold became rings and bracelets
worn by the whites. There are those in this day who love the trees and
the flowers and hear music in the brooks, but more find pleasure in
artificially ornamented ball-rooms with music blown and sawn and
hammered from brass and catgut and sheepskin.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 83

The egg-and-dart ornament
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 84

The bead ornament
]

Man was created in a garden of flowers and trees pleasant to the sight,
yet he has ever been yearning for a new Eden of pure gold, garnished
with precious stones, forgetting that Solomon in all his glory was not
arrayed like the lily of the field. Nature is the great artist, and
man’s ornamentation at best is a poor imitation of natural things. The
trees of the forest gave the motive for the stone columns and ornamental
capitals of architecture, and the plant and animal world furnished
themes for talented calligraphers in the days when books were literally
written. The blue vault of the skies inspired Michelangelo to plan the
great dome of St. Peter’s at Rome, as the sun furnished a model for the
Indian while decorating his tepee, and the flowers of the field have
provided inexhaustible color harmonies.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 85

The egg-and-dart ornament as a typographic border
]

In the early days of this country most of the inhabitants devoted their
working hours to the struggle for existence, and it has been only within
recent years that the average man has given thought to art. Many a one
has thrown off his lethargy to discover beautiful things all about which
he had never before noticed.

Art galleries and libraries all over the United States are aiding
greatly in the cultivation of taste for art, and the printer to whom
these privileges are accessible, yet who does not avail himself of their
advantages, is much like the man who was lost in the Adirondacks, not
knowing he was but a half-mile from a railroad. China, who could conquer
the world if she only knew her power, has been sleeping for centuries,
while a little handful of intelligent people on a small island of Europe
wields an influence that is felt wherever the sun shines.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 86

The bead ornament as a typographic border
]

The printer and he of an allied vocation should take less thought of
food and raiment and devote more thought to learning the things of today
and yesterday with which he may be but little acquainted. If one knows
just enough to “make a living” he will never make more than a living. A
study of art, of history, of the larger things in the printing business,
will result in the good things of the earth being added.

* * * * *

Is ornamentation necessary to art-typography? Ask one good printer and
he will answer, yes. Ask another and he will answer, no. One of the
meanings of ornament as given by the Standard dictionary is: “A part or
an addition that contributes to the beauty or elegance of a thing.” A
paper may be so pleasing in texture as to give beauty or elegance to an
otherwise plain page of printing; in fact, it is sometimes a mistake to
use type ornaments or other embellishment on a richly finished hand-made
paper. On the contrary, a stock poor in quality or color had better be
covered with decoration to divert attention from the paper.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 87

Conventionalized papyrus plant (Egyptian)
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 88

The winged ball, an ornament much used by the Egyptians
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 89

The acanthus leaf, much used by the Greeks and Romans in ornamentation
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 90

Palm-like ornament, used by Greeks and Romans
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 91

Plain and dignified. The Doric pillar
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 92

Slightly ornamental. The Ionic pillar
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 93

Elaborately ornamental. The Corinthian pillar
]

There are printshops in which all ornaments are kept under lock and key;
a compositor wishing to use decoration must present good reasons before
he gets it. Customers have become suspicious of type ornamentation
because of the peculiar use to which printers sometimes put it. A young
man some years ago became possessed of a desire to do artistic printing
and had a number of type ornaments purchased with which to express his
ideas. When one proof after another came from the customer with ominous
blue marks upon the cherished ornaments, he realized the necessity of
revising his ideas of art. For fully a year after that he worked without
voluntarily using an ornament, meanwhile developing all the
possibilities of good type-faces and appropriate paper stocks and color
combinations. It has been claimed that fasting has a beneficial effect
on the body; be that as it may, our friend certainly improved his
artistic taste by his abstinence. When he again began using ornaments it
was with discrimination and after study of their significance and
appropriateness.

* * * * *

This leads to the subject of motive or reason in ornamentation. The
styles of typography may be generally divided into two classes, one
dominated by Roman or Italian influence and the other by Gothic or
German influence. During the Middle Ages the Gothic influence was felt
chiefly because the pointed style of architecture and embellishment was
sanctioned by the Christian church. As art was practically dead outside
the church, the art-workers absorbed the Gothic style.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 94

Ornamentation as used by the Romans on an entablature and a Corinthian
pillar, showing egg-and-dart, bead, and acanthus ornaments
]

When typography was invented Gutenberg’s first book was based upon the
Gothic style—the type-face a pointed black letter, such as was then used
on manuscript books, and the ornamentation pointed foliage (done by
hand). It was some years after this that typography came under the
influence of the Italian Renaissance, and both type-faces and decoration
assumed the Roman style. In the old days there was sympathy between the
various arts and crafts, and it worked for harmony in effects.
Building-decoration, metal-carving and wood-engraving were governed by
the same artistic motive, and were often done by the same man, much as
the printer at one time was compositor, pressman, binder, typefounder,
ink-maker and paper-maker, all in one. Now, many a piece of printing
goes wrong because the ideas of several people, inharmonious from lack
of relation, are injected into the work during the several stages
necessary for its production.

The relation of typography to architecture is plainly shown in the
formation of the Roman and Gothic alphabets. The letters of the Roman
alphabet, dignified in their straight strokes and symmetrical in their
rounded lines, suggest features of Roman architecture (Example 106; also
see Example 43 of a previous article). In the interesting
picturesqueness of the pointed black Gothic letter may be seen
reflections of the graceful arches of the cathedral pointing upward like
hands in prayer—and of the pointed leaf ornamentation of the Gothic
period. (Example 107.)

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 98

Dainty, elaborate rococo ornament, as applied to a program title-page.
Compare with the chair, Example 97
]

Ornamentation is both inventive and imitative. An ornament purely
inventive or one purely imitative is seldom artistic. A child may make a
jumble of lines that altho original means nothing; when it is older it
may draw a flower so realistic and imitative that little is left to the
imagination. When a flower or plant is used as a model in designing an
ornament it is “conventionalized,” that is, it is blended with its
environment. A flower in a garden surrounded by other vegetation should
be as the other flowers, but as an ornament on the flat surface of paper
it should be without perspective. Example 108-a shows how commonplace an
ornament looks when its details are carefully shaded in perspective.
Examples 108-b and 108-c show how more decorative an ornament is when
either outlined or filled in. Sometimes shadows are merely suggested, as
on the fruit basket and book ornaments in Example 113.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 95

Square-lined, ornamentless furniture
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 97

Dainty and elaborate rococo ornament, as applied to furniture. Compare
Example 98
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 100

Slightly ornamental typography. Compare with chair opposite. Design by
Will Bradley
]

In the conventionalized decorative art of all ages may be found traces
of the things which have inspired the decorator. The lotus leaf, and the
papyrus plant (which once gave writing material to the world) thousands
of years ago influenced Egyptian design (Example 87). Religion dictated
many of the decorative forms in ancient art. The winged-ball-and-asps
(Example 88) was a favorite device in Egyptian decoration and has come
to us by way of Roman mythology as the winged staff of the herald
Mercury, the ribbons on the staff supplanting the Egyptian asps, but
later evolving into serpents as in the decorative border of Example 125.
The work of the best artists is full of meaning. The Egyptians
considered certain animals sacred, and they were reproduced numerously
in the picture-writing and ornamentation of the time. The sacred beetle
as conventionalized was much used. In Example 125 the cog-wheel of
commerce is conventionalized as the rim of the ball, which also contains
a seal. The anchor and rope, hour glass, wreath, torch, acanthus leaves,
all are conventionalized and blended pleasingly in outline drawing. The
tone of the border approximates that of the type matter it surrounds.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 96

Square-lined, ornamentless typography. Compare with chair opposite.
Design by Fleming & Carnrick, New York
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 99

Slightly ornamental furniture
]

The acanthus leaf (Example 89) is the model for much of the elaborate
leaf decoration found on the capitals of Corinthian columns and wherever
rich imposing leaf ornament is desired. The anthemion (Example 90) is a
palm-like ornament used by the Greeks and Romans, now frequently found
in decorative work of an architectural nature.

* * * * *

It may not occur to the average printer that architecture is in any way
allied with typography—that there is any connection between the
ornamentation of a building and a job of printing. Fred W. Goudy, Bruce
Rogers and D. B. Updike employ conventionalized architectural columns
and arches to ornament title-pages of classic motives. The average
typographer, tho, finds more inspiration in the ornamentation that is
only an embellishment to architecture. There are several ornamental
units that are used more frequently than others, and these are the
egg-and-dart (Example 83) and the bead (Example 84). You, who are
reading this, are invited to verify by observation this last statement.
A printer who did so was astonished at the eggs, darts, and beads that
were to be seen wherever he looked. Cut into the stone of buildings,
carved into the wood of furniture, used on molding about doors and
windows, on office partitions, on library lamps, in the ceiling panels
of restaurants, about the prosceniums in theaters, around the mirror in
the barber shop—wherever he looked there were the ornaments. It is
remarkable how non-observant the average printer is. The hands of
artists—Greeks and Romans—who lived thousands of years ago made similar
designs, and yet a knowledge of history is counted non-essential by
printers and others!

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 101

Regularity of repeat
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 102

Variety of repeat
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 103

Monotony
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 104

Less monotony
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 105

Contrasted shapes prevent monotony
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 106

Type border of Roman architectural ornament. Compare the straight and
curved lines with the Roman type-face
]

Let us apply the egg-and-dart and bead ornaments as borders in
typography, and notice how admirably they serve the purpose. Example 85
shows the egg-and-dart ornament perhaps too carefully drawn as to
detail; and Example 86 demonstrates how the bead ornament may be adapted
to panel work.

From early times there seems to have been a triple division of taste
regarding ornament. In the days of Rome these divisions were given
expression in the treatment of supporting columns, the three styles
being known respectively as Doric, Ionic and Corinthian. The Doric
column is severely plain, the Ionic slightly ornamental, and the
Corinthian elaborately ornamental.

The Doric style (Example 91) is emblematic of dignity, simplicity and
strength, and appeals to the man preferring these qualities in printing.

The Ionic style (Example 92) represents refinement in ornament, and
pleases the man able to discriminate between the severely plain and the
over-ornamented—a quality of judgment worth cultivating by every
typographer.

[Illustration:

Outlined Filled in
Illustration, not ornament Ornaments without perspective

EXAMPLE 108
]

The Corinthian style (Example 93) expresses the preference of many who
delight in ostentation and elaboration in ornament. The elaborate, showy
acanthus leaf usually forms the chief decoration for the capital
surmounting the column, and the entablature (Example 94) is particularly
rich in ornamentation.

The Doric pillar has been called masculine and the Ionic feminine, the
sturdiness of the one and the grace of the other also being likened to
the warlike Spartans who emphasized the development of the body and the
artistic Athenians who especially developed the intellect.

This difference in ideals and preferences has come down the centuries to
our time. A few years after Cromwell, plain, blunt, and even
disapproving of sculpture and painting, was ruling England, across the
channel Louis XIV. strutted in corsets and on high red heels amid gilt
and glamour in the courts of France.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 107

Type-border of English-Gothic pointed ornament.

Compare the black pointed effects with the Gothic type-face
]

Monks and nuns lived plainly in the company of bare walls and squarely
cut chairs, and dressed in subdued browns and blacks, while at Rome
surrounded by the art works of Michelangelo and Raphael the higher
dignitaries were clothed in brilliant reds, and gold and white.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 109

Extravagant wall border ornamentation, designed during the Renaissance
in Italy
]

Morris loved an old worn-out house, squarely-cut furniture, burlap, and
subdued colors; while the Newly-riches boast of the magnificence of
their mansions, Louis Quinze ball-rooms and imported tapestry.

Only recently two church buildings were remodeled. In one were placed
ornamental brass railings, lectern, pulpit and candelabra, and
stained-glass pictorial windows; the walls were covered with gilt
fleurs-de-lis on maroon backgrounds, and the entire effect was one of
cheap magnificence. The other church had been an old Colonial structure
of square proportions. Dignified mahogany furnishings were selected, the
walls were ornamented in pure geometric designs, pale gold on tinted
backgrounds, and the windows were made of small panes of glass subdued
in color, in harmony with the architecture of the building, with a
result that spoke good taste and refinement.

Examples 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, present the three divisions of taste—
the plain, ornamentless; the slightly ornamental, and the elaborately
ornamental—applied to typography and reflected in furniture. The
typographer should learn that the arts are related, that the styles of
home-furnishings and architecture influence the styles of typography. A
few years ago mission furniture was introduced and along with it came
architecture that called for exposed roof supports, squarely-cut
moldings, coarse fabric wall coverings, subdued green and brown
tapestries. And before they knew the reason, printers were using heavy
brass rules, rugged type-faces and printing on dark-hued antique papers.
Example 96 is a program page produced under these influences. Compare it
with the so-called “mission” chair (Example 95) and note the resemblance
of motive. Both are rugged, angular and plain.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 110

Roman scroll ornament cut in stone
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 111

Type ornament based upon geometric lines
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 112

Type ornament based upon foliage
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 113

Type ornament based upon the inanimate
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 114

Type ornament based upon the animate
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 115. Ornamental hand-lettered effect; obtained by initials,
text letter and rule
]

Now for contrast, compare them with the dainty, elaborately ornamental
chair (Example 97) and the title-page (Example 98). Both chair and
title-page designs are based upon the frivolous rococo style of the
period known as Louis XV. (or Louis Quinze). In that period, shells and
leaves conventionalized into graceful, golden curves were blended with a
profusion of roses and other flowers. Straight lines were avoided, and
furniture and architecture took on curves even to the extent of causing
structural weakness.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 116

Corner ornaments may have been suggested by the bolts on inscription
plates or by the cross lines on books
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 117

Ivy-leaf ornamentation, and spaces filled in by decoration. From an
old manuscript book
]

Because a majority of type-faces are built upon horizontal and vertical
lines, rococo type ornamentation is seldom successful in typography. The
pen-and-ink border design (Example 98) is a clever adaptation of the
Louis XV. rococo style. There is not an absolutely straight vertical or
horizontal line in the border, and with the curves and flowers, ribbons,
lattice-work and cupids it makes an appeal to women. The type-face
combined with the border has similar characteristics—a freedom of line
and an abundance of curves.

Examples 99 and 100 show a chair and an announcement page, both slightly
ornamented to please those folks who like neither the severely plain nor
the elaborately ornamental.

* * * * *

Ornament is secondary to the real purpose of the thing it embellishes;
it should not be so lavish as to distract attention from the more
important object. A booklet is issued to convey a message, and should
the reading matter be overshadowed by ornamentation, this purpose may
not be accomplished. A “flowery” oration may entertain and please an
audience, but it may not convince. In 1896 Bryan stampeded a convention
by his extemporaneous eloquence and metaphor, but when he came to the
“enemy’s country” and faced an audience which wanted facts, he read his
address from carefully prepared manuscript.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 118

Filling blank spaces with ornamentation, as was done on manuscript
books. Page by Government Printshop, Berlin, Germany
]

During the Middle Ages, when nations were fighting for existence and
necessities of life were barely obtainable, there was little
ornamentation except in isolated instances, but when, about the
fifteenth century, the Renaissance came, art received an enthusiastic
reception. Ornamentation was indulged in to excess, the artists using
all the classic forms and inventing new ones. Example 109, showing wall
border decoration, looks to the printer like a specimen sheet of type
borders. This brings to mind that there is always the temptation to
over-ornament when an artistic job is desired, and the necessity of
advising printers to restrain themselves and save a few ornaments for
other work. Our brethren of the cloth like to repeat the story of the
theological student preaching his first sermon before the Seminary
authorities. He began at Genesis and took his hearers thru the entire
Bible to Revelation. When he had finished an old professor gravely asked
what he would preach about the next Sunday.

The famous designer Chippendale, first made his furniture serviceable
and then added ornament, from which fact the printer should profit. Have
a printed job serve its purpose, and ornament it only so far as is
consistent to this end. It is frequently advisable to omit decoration
and let the type talk without interruption.

* * * * *

Ornamentation when used for border purposes has two features which may
not be apparent to the superficial glance—regularity in repetition and
variety in repetition. Example 101 shows repeated strokes of the same
length. In Example 102 by alternating the length of the strokes the
design is made more interesting. Examples 103, 104 and 105 illustrate
this principle in rounded forms. In the first there is monotonous
repetition, in the second there is less monotony because the oval form
is less regular than the circle, and in Example 105, by contrasting the
forms in both size and shape the design acquires new decorative
interest. This principle of contrast and variety is exemplified in most
border designs. In Example 107 the light scroll lines contrast with the
black leaves, and in Example 106 curves are contrasted with angles.
Contrast is sometimes obtained with color, as shown in Example 123.

* * * * *

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 119

Semi-ornamental ecclesiastic style
]

Ornament as used by the printer may be divided into four classes:
Ornament based upon geometric lines (Example 111), ornament based upon
foliage (Example 112), ornament based upon the inanimate (Example 113)
and ornament based upon the animate (Example 114). The center ornament
in Example 111 contains the cross and circle, ecclesiastic devices, and
its conventionalized pointed leaves would also admit it to the group
shown as Example 112—ornament based upon foliage. Leaves and flowers
from the beginning have been a prolific source of inspiration to
artists. Before the invention of typography the decorator of manuscript
books reveled in foliage, as will be seen by Example 117, and today when
decoration is added by the process of printing the same liberal use of
foliage is evidenced (Example 118). In both examples should be noticed
the custom of filling blank spaces with decoration.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 120. INITIALS

a—Foliage decoration based on the acanthus leaf
b—Imitation of mortised woodcut initials
c—Simple geometric treatment
d—Rugged Colonial style
e—Suggesting literary use
f—Italian ornamentation
g—Plain black and white effect
h—Modern adaptation of Roman torch
i—German scroll decoration
j—Based upon the uncial character
k—Woodcut effect as used by Morris
]

The inanimate (Example 113) lends itself better for ornamental purposes
than does the animate (Example 114), and the less familiar the subject
the better ornament it makes. An ornament based upon the animate is
shown in Example 124, and as will be seen it is not as pleasing as the
one in Example 121, which is based upon the inanimate.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 121

Simple ornamentation applied to letterhead. Design by Harry A. Anger,
Seattle, Wash.
]

Initials afford a convenient means of ornamentation (Example 120). An
initial well chosen as to tone and appropriateness often satisfies all
demands in this line. The mortised Colonial initial indicated by _b_
looks well with Caslon roman and printed on antique paper. The acanthus
design _a_ looks well with Washington Text; the Italian design _f_, with
a letter such as Bodoni. Initials are used in a highly decorative manner
in Example 115, after the style found in ecclesiastical manuscripts. The
possibilities of type and rule are here well set forth.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 122

Appropriate ornamentation applied to the modern booklet. Page by the
Munder-Thomsen Company, Baltimore, Md.
]

Sometimes ornaments in the corners of a plain rule border (Example 116)
are sufficient decoration. These effects may have been suggested by the
corner bolts with which brass plates are fastened to walls.

In the booklet decoration (Example 122) the artist has taken his motive
from the word “Washington” making the capitol dome and its supports the
central figure in the design, which is Colonial in character. Drawing a
line down thru the center of the design it will be found that with a few
minor exceptions the right half is a duplicate in reverse of the left
half. The effect is frequently found in decorative work, as it gives
balance and differentiates between illustration and decoration. An
illustrative design, showing an actual scene, would not be effective.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 123

Effect of alternating colors, for covers and end-leaves of booklets
and catalogs
]

Wall paper and linoleum designs are made in patterns that repeat at
intervals and for this reason answer the purpose of decoration.

Example 119 presents a program page, which, while attractive, has but
one ornament, an ecclesiastic design. The arrangement of bands above and
below the main display assists in forming a decorative effect.

Type decoration in use today shows a preference for forms from Italian
sources. Several years ago the Colonial spirit had influenced a
preference for Gothic-English forms. The work of Goudy, Cleland and
others has had a part in developing taste for the Italian.

In closing this chapter it may be well again to warn the printer not to
over-ornament. The relation of ornament to typography is well covered in
the caution of an experienced architect to a novice: “Ornament
construction, but do not construct ornament.”

The best art is that which is concealed, and which unobtrusively adds
effectiveness to a piece of printing.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 124

This ornament, based upon the animate, not well suited for business
purposes
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 126
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 127

These pages are model specimens of book typography. Shown here in the
actual size of the originals, from zinc etchings
]

[Illustration]

THE TYPOGRAPHY OF BOOKS

Good taste, a quality essential to the successful production of all
kinds of printing, is of great importance in the typography of books. In
the matter of good taste most of us are specialists—we perfect our
judgment in some one respect and let it remain erratic in others. A
musician or other artist may stand high in his class and yet, perhaps,
show poor taste in dress and manners.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 128

Appropriate title-page of a book of classic poems. By Bruce Rogers
]

A person of good taste is usually conservative. He weighs all new things
in the balance of judgment, and allows enthusiastic faddists to push him
off the sidewalk rather than join the crowd and shout with it. He knows
the fickleness of mobs and remembers that in a week hosannas have been
changed to shouts of bitter invective. The merchant catering to the
whims of fashion ever has unsalable stock on his shelves. In the days of
militant Rome the crowd which one day cheered Sulla, the next day
crowned Marius with laurel.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 129

Title-page with a nineteenth century motive. By Bruce Rogers
]

The natural tendency of humanity is radical. The conservatives are in
the minority, yet their influence is great because their opinions are
generally based upon sure foundations. Of course a person can be
progressive and possess a present-day mind without being either radical
or conservative. The natural tendency of job printers is radical. Left
much to their own whims and fancies they produce printed things which
may please only for the moment. The test of gold is not in its
appearance when purchased, but in years of wear. Because a job of
printing is made for short service is no reason why it should not be as
well done as book composition is required to be. All the art-reasons in
book typography are equally applicable to job typography. The two
methods should not be judged by separate standards—a thing is good, or
it is not. At the present time educational work is elevating the
standard of job typography, and the designer of job composition, drawing
closer to his book brother, is beginning to notice the faults and flaws
in the latter’s work.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 130
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 131

Poor examples of book typography. Two pages which set forth the common
practice of inharmonious type treatment, the title-page containing
old-style type-faces and the text-page modern type-faces. The
type-face should be of the same design
]

* * * * *

The book typographer, like the lawyer, is governed by precedent. When
the legal man presents an argument he cites Doe v. Doe, and Smith v.
Jones, and with each new discovery of precedent is increasingly happy.
The common law under which we in America are governed originated in
England centuries ago, and the radicals who would dispense with this law
catalog themselves as anarchists. The right-thinking man is
constructive. When a new thing has been proved good he believes in
adding it to what has already been constructed. The radical is
destructive in that he would destroy what has been constructed and
without always setting some new thing in its place. Attics have been
known to hold masterpieces which have been discarded for new, frivolous
things that from an art viewpoint are worthless.

William Morris set out to change book typography, and in contrast to the
typography of the day his ideas may have seemed radical. What he really
offered was the good things found in the works of the old masters of
Venice and Nuremberg—typography and decoration that had well stood the
test of centuries. Book pages produced fifty years ago by Pickering and
Whittingham look well today; not because they are old, but because they
were in good taste then, and are in good taste now. Pages set by their
contemporaries in condensed roman look abominable now, because they were
contrary to true art principles then.

* * * * *

The book industry in America is tremendous—so much so that because of
its magnitude quality in typography is likely to be lost sight of. In
New York City in one year eight million books are read or consulted thru
its public library system! Could the monk, with his mere score of books
chained to shelves, have had a vision of this, what would have been his
thoughts? Or, Benjamin Franklin, as he founded the first circulating
library? Andrew Carnegie, ridiculed when announcing his intention to use
his wealth in providing buildings for public libraries, lived to see
himself acknowledged a benefactor of mankind.

Next to providing books is the necessity of providing good books and of
printing them according to the laws of art and good taste. Continual
association develops a taste for the things associated with. If the
majority of books are poorly composed or poorly printed, they will
unconsciously be taken as standards of book style by the reading public.
The style of book typography, averaged in this way, is today far from
flattering. It is rarely that the reading pages, title-page and cover
harmonize in style and motive. On the average volume the text-pages seem
to have been set in any face that chanced to be on the composing machine
at the time; the title-page is in some type foreign in style and design
to the face used on the body of the book, and the cover (usually the
only part of the work given artistic attention) is designed without
regard to what is on the inside. The whole effect reminds one of a box
of berries with only the healthy members of the family in view. Many a
time I have picked up a book in artistic binding, only to lay it down
disappointed at the typographical treatment of the inside pages. Even a
book should be honestly what it seems, and not a wooden nutmeg.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 132
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 133

Two pages of composite Colonial and modern typography. Relation is
established between the title-page and text-page thru use of the
same kind of decoration
]

* * * * *

The book-page reproductions used in connection with this chapter may
prove more valuable if each is considered separately in the order of its
appearance.

EXAMPLES 126 AND 127 (Insert).—The title-page and an inside page of a
book which in its way is a model. From the viewpoints of art,
legibility, good taste, typography, printing, and binding, the book is
very satisfactory. The classic restraint of the Italian school and the
human interest of the Gothic are here blended harmoniously. These pages
will please the lover of lower-case letters, as from the label-title on
the cover to the last paragraph of this volume not a line has been set
in capitals. The type-face is a handsome old-style roman based upon the
Caslon model, and in the book itself is printed upon a hard hand-made
paper in a dense and clear black ink. The only decoration used in the
book is found in the chapter initials, altho decoration is suggested in
the use of brackets on each side of the page numbers. Only two sizes of
type are on the title-page, and the chapter headings cling to the
type-page in a manner that helps the tone effect of the whole. The
reproduced pages are shown in the actual positions of the originals. The
margins of a full reading page measure five picas at the fold, six picas
at the head, seven-and-a-half picas at the outer edge, and eleven picas
at the foot. The type-page covers slightly more than one-third of the
surface of the leaf upon which it is printed. The type-page in
proportion measures diagonally twice its width, a point illustrated in
Example 50 of a previous article.

EXAMPLE 128.—A reduced facsimile of the title-page of a limited edition
of classic poems, produced at the Riverside Press under the supervision
of Bruce Rogers. This typographer stands among those in America who are
giving themselves to the work of steering the printing craft back to the
waters in which it sailed in the days of Aldus Manutius. Bruce Rogers
came from Indiana with no technical knowledge of typography, but
artistic talent soon enabled him to gather the details, and for a number
of years he designed books for the Riverside Press that brought him fame
and helped to raise the standard of printing in America.

EXAMPLE 129.—There is one feature of Bruce Rogers’ work which stands out
prominently, and that is his regard for the appropriate. The literary
motive of a book gives the cue for its typographic treatment, and he
prints as if he were living in the period so presented, and influenced
by its tastes. The “John Greenleaf Whittier” title-page suggests a
product of the middle nineteenth century, when Whittier lived, and
Example 128 is imbued with the spirit of the Greek Theocritus. But two
sizes of type are used in the Whittier page, and these are apportioned
according to the importance of the wording.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 134
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 135

Two pages, the typography of which shows unusual care and
consideration for detail. Typography by J. H. Nash
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 136

A text-page in modern roman. By Colonial Press
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 137

A text-page in old-style type-faces. By Colonial Press
]

EXAMPLES 130 AND 131.—Two pages from a book issued by a prominent
publishing house and printed by a prominent press. They are reproduced
for the purpose of pointing out a fault common to a majority of books of
the present day—inharmonious typography. While the text pages are
consistent in the use of plain modern roman, the title-page with no
regard for the face used on the text pages is composed in Caslon roman
and modernized old-style. It would seem that, true to the title, the
printer had aimed to present three representative type-faces used during
a hundred years. And, to make matters worse, the cover contains an
elaborate twentieth century design. Why do not publishers realize that
these things are wrong? Why do not printers realize it? After the six
hundred pages of this book had been set in modern roman, the cost of
setting a title-page also in modern roman would have been ridiculously
small. Printers doing work for publishers should provide display faces
to match their machine letters, or else when buying matrices of a body
face, assure themselves that display faces may also be had. Artists,
too, should be cautioned to make their design not only after the motive
suggested by the literary contents of the book, but also after the
typography (which should of course be based upon the literary motive).

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 138

Title-page with an Italian motive. By Oswald Press, New York
]

EXAMPLES 132 AND 133.—Two pages in style composite Colonial and modern.
Relation between the reading pages and the title-page is established
thru use of type of the same series and also by adapting the flower
decoration to the running head. Certain books lend themselves to
decoration; this is one of them, because it is of the entertaining sort.
Serious books, such as those on the subjects of law, medicine and
science, should have no decoration. The wise book typographer will not
use decoration unless he comprehends just what he is doing.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 139

Page from a children’s book, designed and written by Will Bradley
]

EXAMPLES 134 AND 135.—J. H. Nash, who designed the typography of the
book of which these two pages are a part, produced results that are
exceptionally good from a typographic point of view. The border as seen
in Example 134 was used on the title, introduction and contents pages,
and the border in Example 135 was used thruout the text pages. The
crossed-line border effect was even adapted to the frontispiece. The
title-page is an excellent example of consistent typography; not a line
of lower-case is to be found on the page, and prominence is
proportionately given the title of the book and the names of author and
publishers. The reading matter is set within six points of the rule
border, that the page should have but one margin. If the space between
type and border were larger it would give the appearance of another
margin. The initial letters assist the reader in locating the beginning
of each story.

EXAMPLE 136.—This page is in a style associated with the modern novel
and was set on the linotype in eleven-point Scotch Roman; the lines
twenty picas wide, leaded with two-point leads. The running head is in
capitals of the body letter, separated from the reading page by a
half-point rule, and the page number is centered at the foot.

EXAMPLE 137.—A good example of modern book composition, set on the
linotype in twelve-point Caslon Old Style, the lines twenty picas wide,
separated by four points. The running head is in a black text letter
suited to a book of this kind. An amount of space equal to a line of
type and the leading following it, has been placed between the running
head and the reading page.

EXAMPLE 138.—No style of typography is in such good taste as that which
is based on the old Italian, in which but one style of type-face,
usually the Caslon, is used, and the capitals letterspaced a trifle.
This style has been worked into a symmetrical page and an ornament
included that because of its Italian treatment blends neatly with the
typography. It might be interesting to note that the illustrations in
this book were in line, and where emphasis was needed in side headings
small capitals were used and the letters separated by slight spacing.

EXAMPLE 139.—A page from a book for children, written and illustrated by
Will Bradley. The type-face is a wide, legible letter and was specially
designed by Mr. Bradley. Each chapter is begun with a line of old
English black letter, followed by several lines of highly decorative
italic. The illustrations are interpreted in the grotesque decorative
style that Bradley does so well. The running heads and page numbers are
in the italic.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 140

Harmony in tone of type-face and decoration. Typography by the Trow
Press, New York
]

EXAMPLE 140.—A page notable for the harmony between the tone of the
type-face and decoration. The illustration has been treated by Beatrice
Stevens in a decorative spirit, and is very effective. The capitals of
the body matter are used for the “Chapter III” line, and smaller
capitals for the descriptive line under it. The plain initial is more
effective than an ornamental one would have been.

EXAMPLE 141.—A title-page of classic design in Scotch Roman type. The
anchor and dolphin, originally the device of Aldus, as enlarged in
outline has much to do with the effectiveness of the page. The dignified
beauty of this page makes it worthy of close study.

EXAMPLE 142.—A further demonstration of the beauty of classic
typography. Fred. W. Goudy has done many things worth while, but none
better than this. He not only designed the smaller type-faces and
lettered the large lines in harmony, but arranged the page and, in its
original form, printed it. American typography owes much to Mr. Goudy
and it is a pleasure to include this page here.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 141

A title-page of classic design, with an Aldine anchor device. By
William Aspenwall Bradley
]

EXAMPLE 143.—This is a page from one of the Roycrofters’ serious efforts
in bookmaking. It was printed in dense black ink on white stock, the
large text initials standing forth in pleasing contrast.

EXAMPLE 144.—This is a page from a book by Theodore L. De Vinne, and
probably presented his personal ideas in book typography. Notice the
spacing around the subheading, and the treatment of footnotes. The first
line under the subheading is not indented.

EXAMPLES 145 AND 146.—D. B. Updike, of the Merrymount Press, is
responsible for the typography of these pages, which are a portion of a
book containing the ceremony of marriage as performed in the Protestant
Episcopal Church. The type is a special letter based upon early forms.
The book was printed in black and vermilion. Mr. Updike, with Rogers,
Goudy and others, believes that the way to improve typography in America
is to do typography as well as it can be done. He established the
Merrymount Press in 1898, and has arranged and printed many fine
volumes, in addition to much high-grade small work.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 142

Classic feeling expressed in a modern title-page. Designed by Fred. W.
Goudy
]

EXAMPLE 147.—Books of poetry are usually treated in a typographic style
that is light and dainty. The typographer who has the spirit of the
artist in him puts more into a book than is required by the traditions
of the craft and endeavors to express with type and decoration the
spirit of the poet’s message. The verses of Edgar Allan Poe, with their
suggestion of dark shadows and pathos, make the book designer’s task
difficult, but in this example Mr. Nash has given the work a decorative
treatment that in its dark tone helps to beautify the sad spirit of the
great American poet. Washington Text shows forth admirably as a type for
these pages and the decorative panel harmonizes with it in both tone and
design. In its original form the book was printed in dull black and dull
red inks on a toned hand-made paper. The liberal margins assisted in
giving that touch of exclusiveness and taste that is essential in good
book-printing.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 143

Text-page of a de luxe volume. By the Roycrofters, East Aurora, N. Y.
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 144

Text-page from a book by De Vinne. Note treatment of running titles,
sub-headings and footnotes
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 145
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 146

Two pages from a small ecclesiastical book. By D. B. Updike
]

EXAMPLE 148.—French title-pages of the eighteenth century are furnishing
motives for the designing of cover and title-pages for the uses of
publishing and advertising, and to many this page by Bruce Rogers will
have considerable interest. The design carries the spirit of an age when
decoration was rampant and when architecture and books were festooned
and adorned with cupids. The decorative lettering used in the main title
shows such influence. This book in its first edition was printed in
1789, and when recently reprinted the typographic spirit of the old
volume was incorporated in it. It does not measure up to the recently
accepted ideas of tone-harmony and shape-harmony, yet the element of
appropriateness is so strong that those shortcomings are not to be held
against it.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 147

Gothic treatment of a book of poetry. Typography designed by J. H.
Nash for Paul Elder & Company
]

Custom has developed a law for the arrangement of the several parts of a
book. There is first a blank leaf known as the fly-leaf, followed by a
leaf with the title of the volume in small type slightly above center or
placed toward the upper right corner. The frontispiece, if one is used,
is then inserted. The next leaf contains the title-page, which usually
gives the title of the work, name of author or editor, place of origin,
name of publisher and date of issue. On the back of this leaf, slightly
above center, is the copyright notice, and in the lower center or right
corner the imprint of the printer. The table of contents and the table
of illustrations follow, taking as many pages as are necessary. The
preface, or author’s introduction, is next, after which another
half-title may be inserted ahead of the first chapter. The dedication,
at one time occupying a page in the fore part of the book, is
occasionally used. The index is inserted in the rear of the book. This
rear-index is not found in novels, but in books on technical subjects
and those used for reference purposes.

It is customary to number book pages with Arabic numerals beginning with
the first chapter, all pages in advance of the first chapter being
numbered with lower-case Roman numerals. The page numbers, when at the
foot, should be separated from the type-page by the same amount of space
used between the lines. There is tendency among inexperienced printers
to place the numbers too far from the type-page.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 148

Where a French style of treatment is appropriate. Designed by Bruce
Rogers
]

There is a rule that the running title should be separated from the
type-page by space equivalent to a quad line of the size of body-type
used, altho the best typographers prefer only about half that amount of
space.

Pages containing chapter headings are lowered at the head below the
regular page hight. Example 127 shows a lowering of five picas space.
Other books show more or less than this amount of space, but the space
allowed in this example is pleasing.

When an initial is used the space between it and the type should be the
same, both at the right side and foot of the initial.

The position of a book page should be toward the binding and the head.
In elaborate books of wide margins this inclination should be great, but
in the conventional book of narrower margins it should be less
noticeable—say six points toward the binding and eighteen points toward
the head.

The use of an em-quad between sentences on a book page is encouraged by
many printers, but the new-thought compositor uses two three-to-em
spaces or less. By referring to example 127 it will be found that the
same amount of space separates all words in one line. The capital letter
seems sufficient indication of the beginning of a sentence. In the first
book printed from separate types (see reproduction of page from
Gutenberg’s Bible in the chapter on “The Origin of Typography”) there
was no space used between sentences, the period in the judgment of the
printer separating the words sufficiently.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 149

Title-page lettering and decoration by F. W. Goudy, for the Caxton
Co., Cleveland, O.
]

[Illustration]

BOOKLETS, PAMPHLETS, BROCHURES, LEAFLETS

Did I wish to be flippant I would open this chapter by asking, “When is
a booklet not a booklet?” and might even be pardoned for doing so, for
no other word has been so misused as has “booklet.”

A booklet, the dictionaries tell us, is just a little book, as is
indicated by the suffix “-let,” which termination forms diminutives from
French and English nouns. Yet “booklet” has been used to designate not
only little books, but big books, and has led to the rather tautological
description, “a little booklet.” When does a booklet cease to be little,
and is its littleness in its dimensions, in the number of printed
sheets, or in some other feature not recognized in a hurried
consideration of the subject?

Going back to the lexicons—

A booklet, as has been said, is a little book.

A leaflet, according to the Standard Dictionary, is “a little leaf; also
a tract.” Webster says it is “a sheet of small pages which are folded,
but not stitched; a folder.”

A pamphlet, we understand from the Standard, is “a printed work stitched
or pasted, but not permanently bound; a brief treatise or essay.”
Webster says it is “A book of a few sheets of printed matter, or
formerly of manuscript, commonly with a paper cover; specifically,
sometimes, any such work not in excess of eighty pages, and not bound.”
The word “pamphlet” was derived from a popular Latin poem, “Pamphilus,”
of the twelfth century.

“Brochure” is a French word often used for “pamphlet.” Webster gives its
meaning as “a printed and stitched book containing only a few leaves; a
pamphlet; a treatise or article published in such form.”

A circular is a letter or a note, usually printed.

However, for the purposes of this chapter, while I shall endeavor so far
as possible to use one of the above approved terms in designating the
various examples of printing, the word “booklet” in some instances may
have a wider application than “a little book.”

* * * * *

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 150
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 151

Two pages from a leaflet designed without decoration or color, a
noteworthy exponent of simplicity in typography. By the Marchbanks
Press, New York
]

The chap-books sold in the seventeenth century, containing abbreviated
stories, were, perhaps, prototypes of the booklet; but as now used the
booklet is a modern conception. It is a result of development in
æsthetical knowledge among advertisers and the buying public, who have
learned to discriminate and to demand artistic, tasteful workmanship.
When the “dodger” or handbill ceased to be effective as a publicity
auxiliary to the newspaper, the booklet was born. State laws consider a
few placards or publication in one or two obscure newspapers sufficient
notification to the public, but the advertiser knows the futility of
such obsolete methods and gets his message to the public in numerous
ways—traveling salesmen, newspapers and magazines, trade, technical and
class publications, house-organs, catalogs, booklets, circulars,
posters, novelties, car cards, electric signs, etc. To an extent the
booklet’s mission is educational; it introduces the business house,
gives authoritative answers to questions that the prospective buyer
would naturally ask, explains advantages and gives reasons for
superiority. The booklet is best if written in a style that is
non-technical, and should be treated by the artist and printer in a
manner that will interest the recipient.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 152
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 153
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 154

Three pages from an easily read booklet in Scotch Roman, showing the
typographic style of Benjamin Sherbow, New York
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 155
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 156

Two pages from an eight-page leaflet, in which the typography was
relied upon for results. The rule borders were printed close to the
edges of the paper. By William Henry Baker, Cleveland, O.
]

Among the users of the booklet as a publicity medium are railroads,
cities, hotels, real-estate companies, banks, clothiers, educational
institutions, printers, and manufacturers of automobiles, musical
instruments, cameras, and tools and equipment of many kinds. If one
wishes to purchase intelligently a piano or other expensive article he
obtains a booklet on the subject, and whether he buys or not depends
largely upon the impression obtained from the booklet; if it is well
written, informative, carefully illustrated and handsomely printed, it
will be likely to exert an influence in favor of a sale. The printer’s
share in producing such a booklet is large, altho he is called upon to
work in conjunction with the writer, the artist and the engraver.

Much of the booklet printing is planned by advertising writers and
commercial artists. The best results are obtained when artist and writer
blend their ideas harmoniously; this is possible only when the writer
has artistic tastes and a definite understanding of typography. In many
booklets the text matter does not fit the decoration. I have in mind an
instance in which the artist laid out sixteen pages of marginal
illustrative decoration, and the writer supplied only about half the
copy necessary to fill the sixteen pages. To overcome the deficiency the
printer set the text matter in an excessively large size of type, but
even then the space left for the reading matter was only partly filled.
If the writer was unable to fill the space, the artist should have
decreased the number of decorative pages or else planned his decoration
to cover more surface.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 157
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 158
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 159

Three pages that demonstrate the possibilities of type and rule in
obtaining effective results. By Barnard J. Lewis, Boston, Mass.
]

Those houses that have made a success of booklet printing produce a job
that is harmonious and complete. Reading matter, illustrations,
decoration, paper, ink and color treatment, all blend on their booklets.
There is a central motive around which all concerned in the make-up of
the booklet weave their ideas.

Altho such a condition is ideal, it is not absolutely necessary, and it
is not always profitable, for a printshop to have under its roof a
complete equipment for producing every detail of a booklet. One of the
successful producers of booklets—an artist with associates able to
interpret his ideas—had in his artistic suite of offices a palm which he
enjoyed showing to visitors who asked to see the “plant.” On the other
hand, there is the head of a large printing concern producing high-class
booklets who has artistic ideas but who depends upon the open field of
artists and engravers to develop and perfect his plans. He manages to
meet a prospective customer and from conversation with him learns
something of his tastes and preferences. This printer then selects an
artist whose style of work will most likely appeal to the customer and
be best for the purposes of the booklet. He assumes that the most
successful artists are those who have specialized on some one kind of
work—classic Roman lettering and decoration; seventeenth-century French
decoration; Old English or American colonial effects; modern German
coloring and decoration; art-nouveau creations, the serious and the
humorous; illustrations of child life, or of the Civil War period. While
there are versatile artists like Will Bradley who can do good work in
many styles, they are not numerous.

Some printers retain typographic artists who serve clients by the hour.
These artists sometimes are advertising writers who have studied the art
side of printing and know that much depends upon the type-face used.

To plan a booklet properly the commercial printer must know something of
the principles of art and advertising and of good book typography.
Booklet printing is really the connecting link between job printing and
book printing. The unconventionality of job typography and the dignity
and conservatism of book typography can successfully be blended in the
booklet.

* * * * *

EXAMPLE 149 (Insert).—This style of title-page is appropriate for a
booklet or brochure in which the typography plays an important part in
the production. The printer having plates of this kind delivered to him
should for the remaining pages endeavor to use a type-face which has
some relation in style to the lettering found in this example. The page
having been drawn by Frederick W. Goudy, one of his type-faces would, of
course, be most harmonious, but other old-style letters such as Cloister
Oldstyle, Caslon Oldstyle and Old-Style Antique would also be suitable.
Some of the pages would possibly include initial letters drawn in the
same style as the decoration, and thruout the work the motif established
by the title-page should be maintained. An antique-finished paper blends
best with the general decorative plan, but if coated stock must be used
it should be of a dull finish. Art work of the quality of this example
cannot be procured from every artist. This example is expressive of the
personal taste and talent of Goudy.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 160

A label pasted on a brilliant cover stock is striking. Designed by
Thomas Maitland Cleland for the Oswald Press, New York
]

EXAMPLES 150 AND 151.—The printer in the main must be his own artist,
and he can best serve himself and his customers on such occasions by
providing pure typographical effects. This is difficult. The printer
must have studied good typography—he must know typography not only as a
worker at the trade but as a student of the art. He must be thoroly
acquainted with type-faces. His type equipment usually shows his
knowledge in this regard; if it consists of odds and ends of type-faces
aimlessly selected, he is not in a position to give his customer the
proper service, but if his equipment mainly consists of those type-faces
that have been approved by the leading typographers and type designers
of the country, he will not only render good service to his customer but
will confer a benefit on every one who receives a copy of the printed
matter. The public learns to like whatever is served to it most
frequently, and if it is provided with good printing and especially good
typography, the tone of printing generally will be elevated and further
dignity given to the business. The examples under consideration are from
a nationally known printing office which confines its type equipment to
three series and at one time practically used but one series on all its
work. The leaflet was made to fit a business envelop. The stock was
Japan vellum and there was no decoration—only a standard approved
type-face of a readable size (fourteen-point). Such a leaflet attracts
attention above most advertising matter because of its simplicity. It is
good more because of what is left off than for what is put on.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 161

Admirable treatment for a small amount of reading matter. Both pages
by Edward Everett Winchell, New York
]

EXAMPLES 152, 153 AND 154.—These are the cover-page and first and second
text pages of a booklet which is purely a typographical product. There
was also a title-page similarly treated. The first two words of the
title, “Getting into Print,” were on each of the four pages set in
italic lower-case, and the word “Print” was in roman capitals. Scotch
Roman was used, and Mr. Sherbow has produced other effective booklets
with this type-face. He has a preference for the eleven- and
twelve-point sizes and frequently separates his lines with a two-point
lead. The result, especially in the narrow measure made necessary by the
smallness of the booklet, is a page that one likes to read. There is a
freshness, an individuality, about his type arrangement, which quality
is probably due to the fact that he never was a practical printer. He
began as an advertising writer and studied typography and its use for
advertising purposes unrestrained by the traditions of the craft as
handed down from compositor to apprentice. His work, however, is
influenced by the study he has made of the work of typographers and
calligraphers of the past five or six centuries. By this study he has
obtained a knowledge that most printers lack because of their reluctance
to explore the past. The borders surrounding these pages are made from
typefounders’ brass rule, and otherwise the only ornamentation is a
floret on the cover and a smaller one on the first text page. Perhaps no
new note is struck in the arrangement of the cover-page, but the
treatment of the upper part of the first text page is different from
that which would be given by the average good compositor.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 162

A good way to arrange a page when the photograph is of proportions
different from those of the booklet page. Note treatment of caption
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 163
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 164

Two booklet pages in which typography was the chief dependence in
securing artistic results. The borders were made with brass rule and
the illustration was tipped on. By Taylor & Taylor, San Francisco,
Cal.
]

EXAMPLES 155 AND 156.—These are from an eight-page leaflet, and, like
the previous examples, they give evidence of an understanding of
typography that comes from study of the subject. Mr. Baker in these
pages provides practically no margins outside or inside the rule border.
This border is merely a one-point rule which serves a good purpose
without forcing itself upon the attention. The type-face is Old-Style
Antique, which as the years go by does not seem to lose its “flavor.” It
is a readable type-face and one that is at its best when used on
antique-finished paper, as in this case. The leaflet was printed in
black ink on a greenish cream-tinted paper. Mr. Baker’s personal device
adds decorative value to the title-page. It will be noticed that the
headings are set in a larger size of the body type and lined at the
left. There is no indention excepting for the reprinted letters, which
are set in a small size of the same type. These letters treated in this
manner are only incidentally made a part of the advertising argument.

EXAMPLES 157, 158 AND 159.—Caslon Oldstyle and Caslon Text are factors
in the effectiveness of the booklet of which these three pages are
representative. These three examples are additional evidence that type
alone when properly used is almost as effective from an advertising
point of view as if supported by the best decoration and illustration.
It might be said that good typography is to be preferred at all times to
poor art work, altho really good art work properly subordinated will
undoubtedly add attractiveness and interest to a booklet otherwise well
treated typographically. The border of contrasted heavy and light rule
adds typographic value to the booklet under consideration, and the use
of the light rule in other ways on the title-page and under the headings
in Examples 158 and 159 also has an influence for good. A two-line
initial in color at the beginning of each paragraph and the setting off
of one paragraph from another by blank space are distinctive features in
the make-up of the pages. Ornaments are used in the running headings,
and they are the same design as that used on the title-page. The size of
this booklet was 3½ × 5½ inches. It should be noticed that Mr. Lewis in
these pages places no more space between sentences than between the
various words of the line, altho Mr. Sherbow and Mr. Baker on the
preceding examples use more. There is difference of opinion among good
printers as to the amount of space between sentences. Some of them
prefer the em-quad, which has been used by the average printer for a
great many years. Others believe with the ancient printers that the
period and the capital are sufficient indication of the beginning of a
new sentence without the insertion of a square of white space that
affects the tone of the page. It should be noted in Mr. Lewis’s pages
that while he has allowed fair margins around the outside of the rule
border, he has arranged for very little margin inside, and to this is
due a certain compactness that is agreeable.

EXAMPLE 160.—This is the cover of a small book of information. The cover
stock was deep red in color and the title was printed on Japan vellum
stock and pasted as a label on the cover. The label design is by Thomas
Maitland Cleland, whose carefully formed lettering offers suggestions to
good printers who know the value of dignity in lettering and decoration.
A title label, especially when dark cover stock is used, makes it
possible to include a typographic effect on the cover, thus insuring
harmony consistent with the type-face that may be used on the inside of
a booklet. The title-page that was a part of this small book was shown
as Example 138 of the chapter on books.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 165
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 166

Attractive rear and front cover designs of an unconventional booklet.
The arrowheads in the original were in emerald-green ink. By E. G.
Jacobson, New York
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 167

One of the eight pages of a prospectus for “The American Printer.” The
initial “A” was in color. By Will Bradley
]

EXAMPLES 161 AND 162.—Two facing pages from a booklet designed by Edward
Everett Winchell and presenting the attractive features of a large New
York hotel. There is but a small amount of descriptive matter, confined
mostly to two pages in the front of the book, yet the treatment is such
that more words would have spoiled it. The plain rule border gives
uniform shape to the pages and pleasingly contrasts with the liberal
white space inside. In Example 161 the descriptive matter is grouped at
the head of the page in Avil, an interesting old-style roman type-face.
The fading of the vignetted edges of the halftone into the surrounding
white space is effective. Example 162 demonstrates how an illustration
which is out of proportion to the page may be placed to get good
results. The caption, set in capital letters slightly spaced, is in
keeping with the squared style of the page. Compositors should study the
position of this caption. Many would be inclined to center it directly
under the illustration; this would cause the lower part of the page to
seem empty and unfinished. By moving the caption down, so as to break
into the white space and divide it, the sense of vacancy is not
experienced.

EXAMPLES 163 AND 164.—These are two pages from a booklet in which
typography was the chief dependence of the printer in securing artistic
effects. The border is made of brass rules and four small ornaments; a
decorative initial is introduced at frequent intervals thruout the
booklet; otherwise, the effect is due to care in the details of
typesetting. The space between sentences is the same as that between the
words of a line, and widely spaced lines are not to be found. It should
be kept in mind that the best typography is that in which the spacing
between words is not excessive. Carelessness in typesetting and in the
operation of composing machines is responsible for unpleasant effects
produced by wide spacing and by “rivers” running thru the page. In
Example 164 the illustration was tipped on. The paper used in this book
was a buff antique, the tipped-on prints being on dull-coated stock. The
dark-brown ink used for the text pages was also used for the prints,
making a pleasing color harmony.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 168
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 169

Two pages from a booklet in which no decoration was used, the
decorative quality of the type-face impressed on hand-made paper
having been depended on to provide a dignified beauty. By the Oswald
Press, New York
]

EXAMPLES 165 AND 166.—These are rear and front booklet covers, the
design of which is striking because of the disregard for
conventionality. No capital letters are used, an idea that should be
adopted with reluctance by printers unless their customers approve of
the innovation. Most buyers of printing are slaves to conventionality
and hesitate to accept typography or especially drawn work which is
bizarre or in any way a departure from the usual methods of treating
printed work. The activity of German, Austrian and French artists in
this country, however, has caused some business and advertising men to
be more tolerant in these things, as the bright coloring, dashing
decoration and the newness of it all seem to get attention where
conventional effects fail. It might be said in reference to the
lettering on these examples that the designer has not produced anything
really new so far as the use of the so-called lower-case letters instead
of capitals is concerned. There was a period in the development of the
modern alphabet when its characters were neither “capitals” nor
“lower-case” as we know them—a period in which the minuscules were being
evolved from the ancient Roman capitals or majuscules. Altho modernized,
the lettering here used can be traced historically to the uncial
lettering of the days of manuscript books. The arrowheads were in
emerald green.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 170

A hand-lettered cover-page. By the Blanchard Press, New York
]

EXAMPLE 167.—This page, designed for the prospectus of the twenty-fifth
anniversary number of _The American Printer_, in my opinion is among the
best things that Will Bradley has done. There were eight pages and on
all the decorative headings were similar, altho each had sufficient
change in the treatment to give special interest to the page. The fine
line decorative borders were in pleasing contrast to the dark-toned
illustrations and the liberal apportionment of blank space.
Fourteen-point Caslon Oldstyle, the kind with the long descenders, was
used for the text matter. The large Caslon initial added another
interesting spot of black. The decoration and type matter were printed
in black ink on buff-tinted dull-coated paper, and the large drawn
initial on each page was in sepia brown. The original size of this
pamphlet was 6¾ × 9½ inches.

EXAMPLES 168 AND 169.—No decoration of any kind was used in this
booklet, unless the period groups may be counted as such. The purpose
was to produce artistic printing in good taste by depending upon the
type-face and the paper for results. Decorative interest (usually
welcome in a mild way) was supplied by the swash capitals of the italic
and by letterspacing capitals and small capitals wherever they appeared.
The chapter headings of all the pages in this book were aligned with one
another and not “sunk” as is sometimes done. The pages are made
interesting by the varied use of italic lower-case and roman capitals.
The size of this booklet in the original was five by eight inches, and
the margins were made to conform to those used on good book composition,
each margin increasing in this order: Head, inner side, outer side,
foot.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 171

Page from a typographically treated commemoration book
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 172

Unconventional arrangement of a booklet page. By Corday & Gross,
Cleveland, O.
]

EXAMPLE 170.—Lettering, as has been pointed out, has an important place
in booklet designing along with decoration, illustration and typography,
and from well-lettered designs the printer can obtain valuable
suggestions. This example was printed on hand-made paper, and the deckle
edges and rough surface of the paper blended with the freehand drawing
of letters and border. There was a further blend of the hand-lettering
and the Caslon type-face used on the inside pages. The lettering was
based upon the same model as the Caslon, which is standard for old-style
effects. Here is a hint for printers: Distinction will be added to
booklets otherwise printed from Caslon or similar type-faces if the
cover and the display headings are hand-lettered. This may be done with
fair results by setting them first in Caslon type. After the type has
been arranged satisfactorily, take a print in blue tint on paper
suitable for drawing with ink. The letters may then be traced freehand
with black india ink over the blue print and any desired ruggedness or
variation introduced. As light-blue ink will not reproduce when a zinc
etching is made, the blue proof need not be carefully adhered to. Italic
and small capitals should be introduced in such lettered designs.

EXAMPLE 171.—This is a page from a souvenir booklet containing an
account of the exercises held in commemoration of the fiftieth
anniversary of the New York Typothetæ. Almost the entire book was set in
fourteen-point Cloister Oldstyle and Italic and printed in black and
orange ink on a white antique-finished paper of good quality. The cover
was a domestic vellum-like paper which contained the words, “Golden
Anniversary of the Typothetæ,” set in Cloister Italic with swash
initials, the two lines being deeply stamped into the paper on gold
leaf. In this manner strict typographic harmony was maintained thruout
the booklet. Large decorative initials were introduced in several
instances and two-line initials of Cloister capitals were used in a
minor way. This page should offer suggestions to printers who are called
upon to print souvenir volumes; in fact, much work of this kind can be
created by the printer suggesting the publishing of such volumes after
historic or memorial meetings are held in his city.

EXAMPLE 172.—This is the first inside page of a booklet, the stock of
which consisted of a thin straw-colored Japanese paper, printed on one
side only. The cover, a heavy, rough dark-green paper, contained only
the wastebasket illustration printed on both front and rear in gold ink
set into the stock by a heavy impression. The simplicity of the
typography accords with the treatment as a whole.

* * * * *

Printers will accomplish the most in booklet printing, as in other
branches of the craft, if they live in an artistic atmosphere. Sir
Joshua Reynolds, the great English painter, said: “The more extensive
your acquaintance is with the works of those who have excelled, the more
extensive will be your powers of invention.” That is the reason painters
haunt Italy and other art centers where the works of the old masters are
accessible. The printer should take journals such as _The American
Printer_, devoted to the art of typography; for these journals bring to
the great army of craftsmen specimens of the work of famous printers and
of those who are contributing their mite to the cause of good
typography.

The helpful atmosphere of the trade papers can be supplemented by
specimen booklets for study purposes. These booklets can be obtained by
writing to the printers producing them, or to the advertiser; and many
can be had from retail houses selling the articles advertised in the
booklets.

The printer must learn more than he now knows about art or he will
become only a caddie in the game of booklet printing, with the artist
and ad.-writer making all the puts. The printer is depending too much
upon the artist and too little upon himself. The possibilities of type
arrangement have not been exhausted and never will be, yet many workers
at the printing trade act upon the assumption that good printing is
impossible without the artist’s initiative and co-operation. Many a good
job of printing has been spoiled by inferior lettering or decoration,
the work of a poor artist.

Withal, there is nothing more ideal than a good printer and a good
artist working together to produce perfect printing.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 175

Page from an automobile catalog designed by Thomas Maitland Cleland.
The caption is grouped in spaced capitals of Bodoni Book. The
illustration is from a pen-and-ink drawing
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 176

Unusual treatment of a specifications page. Words in capitals are
letterspaced. Rules are used to add character to the page. These
reproductions are one-half the size of the originals
]

[Illustration]

CATALOGS

Ruskin, enumerating three branches of architectural virtue, requires of
a building (1) that it act well, and do the things it was intended to
do, in the best way; (2) that it speak well, and say the things it was
intended to say, in the best words; (3) that it look well, and please us
by its presence, whatever it has to do or say.

These three requirements, like many others that are important in the
eyes of the architect, can be applied to the illustrated catalog, which
most printers at one time or another are called upon to produce:

(1) The catalog should act well; it should be constructed in a manner
fitting the purpose for which it is issued. If, say, it contains a list
of plumbers’ supplies, it should be bound in strong stock of a color
that will not easily soil. If it contains a list of jewelry and is for
retail purposes, it could be bound delicately in light stock.

(2) The catalog should speak well; the illustrations should be faithful
presentations of the articles to be sold, and the descriptive matter
should be well written, accurate and informative.

(3) The catalog should look well; the type-faces, paper, ink, binding
and other elements should be harmonious; the illustrations and
descriptive matter should be arranged with regard to balance and
proportion, and the treatment as a whole should be pleasing and
interesting.

There was a time when catalogs were printed without attention to these
things, or if the first two requirements were complied with the third
was ignored. It will necessitate no effort for the reader to recall the
days when merchants had no orderly plans for displaying their wares—when
the average storeroom and window looked like a curiosity shop. Those
were the days when the catalog was a heterogeneous collection of
woodcuts and type-faces, packed on the pages to the very edge of the
paper.

Now many show windows and salesrooms are delights to the eye, and
similar care and taste are shown in the printing of the catalog.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 177

Architectural title treatment by Will Dwiggins. The lettering contains
typographical suggestions
]

The catalog is a portable showcase and from it the customer makes
selection, often without seeing the article itself. These facts make it
essential that goods be displayed invitingly and in good taste. An
article well displayed requires few words to sell it.

Place a girl of plain features, but handsomely dressed, in the midst of
beautiful colors and lights, and a dozen millionaires will want to marry
her—an extreme illustration of the power of attractive display,
emphasizing the necessity of “playing up” the ordinary to create the
desire of possession. It is possible, also, to accomplish this purpose
by different methods. It is told of Josephine that, wishing to gain the
admiration of Napoleon, she appeared at a reception in a gown of pure
white, without ornament. The contrast of her simple dress with the
elaborate costumes of the other women and with the elegant furnishings
of the room was such as to draw compliments from the emperor. It should
be remembered, however, especially by the typographer, that mere
plainness of dress did not win Josephine her triumph, but that artistic
simplicity did. A block of marble rough-hewn from the quarry is plain,
but, carved into statuary by a Rodin, is far more than that.

This point is worthy of meditation by all who wish to produce the
effective and attractive catalog.

Efforts have been made to standardize the dimensions of catalogs; it
would be well for printers and others to assist in accomplishing this
purpose. A committee of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers,
after investigating the sizes of catalogs in common use, recommended
that the standard size of catalogs be six by nine inches. The
recommendation was also made that the size of bulletins and large
catalogs be eight and a half by eleven inches.

Other suggestions by the committee were: Paper-covered catalogs intended
to be permanently filed should be trimmed to exact size, cover and all,
barring deckle edges. Overlapping covers are favored only when the
covers are stiff enough to support the catalog’s weight when standing on
edge. Titles should be printed on the exposed backs of the catalogs,
reading from top downward. The date of publication should appear on the
title-page. An index card of standard size (three by five inches),
containing the title and character of the contents, should be inclosed
in every catalog.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 178
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 179

Facing pages that show effective results obtained in a simple way. The
plain, legible typography ably supports the strong illustration and
attractive border treatment. By the Matthews-Northrup Works,
Buffalo, N. Y.
]

Before proceeding with the composition of a catalog the printer should
insist that the copy be legible, orderly prepared, and all points
settled as to type-face, headings and position of illustrations. A dummy
page should be planned and set up, and it should be studied and
discussed by customer and printer before work is begun on the catalog as
a whole.

If the catalog is to be elaborately treated, all drawings should be
approved and plates made before the type work is commenced. If the
printer is assisting in the general preparation of the catalog, he
should keep before the customer the fact that decoration is merely
supplemental, and should urge first attention to the type matter and
illustrations.

EXAMPLE 175.—This catalog is one of those productions which in style so
closely express the personality of an individual that they are not a
direct help in teaching typography or catalog planning to others. Most
typographers must proceed according to defined requirements and plan
their work with regard to set styles. Mr. Cleland and a few other
typographic artists in this country carry out their ideas without the
assistance of an advisory board. The average typographer or artist, on
the other hand, must not only incorporate the suggestions of half a
dozen persons, but must submit to the deletion of most of the little
things that to his way of thinking give his work character and make it
worth while—the penalty of being merely an average typographer. Mr.
Cleland is a student of the best printing of past centuries, and his
refined taste and wonderful skill with the pen enable him to produce
effects that would be envied by the master printers of old.

On this page he has used Bodoni Book, slightly spacing the capital
letters and grouping the matter so that it dominates the blank space in
the lower portion of the page.

The cartouche, or panel, as here used for the car name was in favor in
Bodoni’s day, a hundred or more years ago. The horizontal position of
the illustration adds to the pleasure in examining the catalog, for when
an illustration runs the long way of such a page the necessary turning
of the book is an annoyance.

EXAMPLE 176.—Brass rules are seldom well applied in typographic work,
but when they are, as in this instance, the results are pleasing. This
page, because of its tabular nature, was doubtlessly difficult to
arrange, and every compositor, appreciating that fact, will admire what
Mr. Cleland has accomplished. It should be noticed that words of roman
capitals have in every instance been letterspaced, while those in
lower-case have not. This treatment gives effects that are unusual and
well liked by persons of good taste.

EXAMPLE 177.—This shows the cover of a catalog of plays. Will Dwiggins
in his usual clever manner has made a design full of character, human in
the absence of the mechanical. The lettering contains suggestions for
effects that could be approximated with some well-designed type-face. It
will probably be well to warn against the careless use of typographic
ornaments in any attempts that may be made to imitate the effect of this
decorative border. Architectural designs formed with the average
printshop material seldom look well. Simple rule effects would be
better.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 180
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 181

Inside page and cover of a publication catalog designed by D. B.
Updike. The typographic treatment of these two pages is suitable and
pleasing. The cover stock was green-gray of a rough antique finish
]

EXAMPLES 178 AND 179.—In many catalogs a page illustration is faced with
a page of reading matter describing it. In this instance the descriptive
matter is small in amount and for that reason presented a problem in
typography. The printer, however, solved the difficulty by using a
type-face fairly large in size, but of good design, and placing the
group in the upper part of the page aligned with the top of the
illustration. It is well to keep in mind that in booklets, catalogs and
similar work good results are frequently obtained by aligning all pages
at the head. The effectiveness of these two pages is helped also by the
fact that a red border surrounds each page and the halftone has a dark
background.

EXAMPLE 180.—There is evidence in this specimen that it is possible to
obtain variety and interest by simple means. The italic, especially with
the decorative quality found in swash letters, is a factor, and the rule
at the head, with bits of decoration at the ends, also helps. It will be
noticed that no leaders have been used; their omission is sometimes
advisable, at other times not. An antique-finished white paper is best
for old-style effects such as this.

EXAMPLE 181.—This cover-page has been built on the small illustration.
From the old fireplace the view of the room fades into the paper stock.
After the border line is extended from the drawing, there remains a
large amount of blank space, on which the title, in a well-balanced
position, is arranged in type. The address neatly fitted in the space at
the foot finishes the design at that point.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 182

German poster type on a grocery catalog with characteristic block
grouping
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 183
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 184

Typographic arrangement of the title-page and one of the inside pages
of a museum catalog. The proportions of this type-face blend
harmoniously with the dimensions of the page. Example 184 shows some
details of catalog composition
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 185

Rules add a decorative quality to this book catalog. By J. H. Nash
]

EXAMPLE 182.—Modern German typographical ideas have found expression in
this grocery-catalog page. The lettering is type, the black tone and
decorative form of which were probably inspired by strong lettering
designed for poster purposes. Rules seem to have a place in the building
of modern German art effects, as will be seen by this design. Bold type
as used here is possibly unnecessarily forceful, but when color is to be
shown in its true values it is desirable. Color never shows to advantage
in thin lines, while broad lines bring out the color qualities of the
ink. This is why colored inks printed from light-faced types seem to
lack the brilliancy of the prints from flat-surfaced plates in
ink-makers’ sample books.

EXAMPLES 183 AND 184.—Every printer at some time is called on to produce
catalogs in which books or other published articles are listed and
priced, and on such occasions wishes to see what “the other fellow” has
done in this line. For this reason the two pages are of interest. They
show a title-page and a representative inside page from a catalog issued
by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The type-face is of the
class usually designated as French Oldstyle, and its proportions blend
harmoniously with the dimensions of the page. The distribution of blank
space on the title is pleasing; the type lines are so grouped as to
secure value from the background of white. In Example 184 the heads and
subheads are pleasingly contrasted by the use of capitals in some cases
and small capitals in others. Each item is grouped, and the technical
details are kept orderly by being placed in a line with the price. No
period is used after the item number.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 186

An automobile catalog page in which the type matter was prominently
treated. The original page (about twice this size) was printed in
dark-gray and orange inks on white antique paper. By the Robert L.
Stillson Company, New York
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 187

Unusual treatment of an automobile catalog page. The original was more
than twice this size. The matter is liberally supplied with
headings, the arrangement in the panel at the left taking care of
most of them. By the Cadillac Printing Company, Detroit, Mich.
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 188

Page in reduced size from a wine list designed by T. M. Cleland for
the Oswald Press. Interesting use of rules in tabular style
]

EXAMPLE 185.—Scotch Roman type is used to excellent advantage in this
book-catalog page. The title in each case is in large capitals, the
sub-title and the name of the author are in smaller capitals, the
explanatory matter in roman lower-case and the technical details in
small italic. It will be seen that the advertising points have been
carefully considered. A rule border and two ornaments add decorative
quality. The closeness of the border to the type matter merges it with
the page in an attractive manner. As in this case, decorative treatment
should be a part of the general design and not something separate.

EXAMPLE 186.—On automobile catalogs typography seldom receives the
attention it deserves. Illustration and decoration are given great
attention, and what type matter is used seems to be like a guest invited
at the eleventh hour. However, this example is from a catalog in which
type acts an important part. In its original form this page was about
twice the size of the reproduction and was printed in dark gray and
orange on white antique paper. It will be seen that beginning with a
colored initial the reader can without effort or eyestrain read the
descriptive matter, which is followed by technical details in smaller
type and a line illustration of the car. Scotch Roman was used, and it
was not found necessary to introduce italic.

EXAMPLE 187.—The treatment of this page is uncommon for catalog
purposes. A Goudy type-face was printed in dark brown (border rules in
light brown) on an Italian hand-made paper. The size was more than twice
that shown here. Sub-headings have all been grouped in the panel at the
left, each so placed as to be opposite the paragraph to which it
belongs. The effect was one of richness and suggestive of quality.
Illustrations of the cars were of page size printed by the gravure
process.

EXAMPLE 188.—Few printers would use rules in tabular form for a
high-class wine list; tabular work is supposed to offer no opportunity
for art expression. We know of the stone rejected by the builder which
became the headstone of the corner. We have also heard of Michelangelo
carving a masterpiece from an ill-shaped block of stone that had been
discarded by other sculptors. Mr. Cleland did an equally interesting
thing when he selected rules to give decorative quality to this wine
list, supplementing characteristically drawn head- and tail-pieces.
Caslon Oldstyle was used and the paper was hand-made. A pleasing effect
was obtained by letterspacing the capitals in the headings.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 189

German treatment of a wine list, showing neat typography and
attractive decoration
]

EXAMPLE 189.—We usually expect strong, masculine effects from German
typographers and decorators, and when we come across a wine list as
dainty as this one we are surprised and pleased. There is remarkable
harmony of type-face, decoration and illustration. The type-face is
uncommonly legible for so ornamental a letter, and the light decorative
lines of the illustration and border reflect the qualities of the
type-face. In the original there was an additional border around the one
here shown, and it was printed in a very light gray-brown tint. The tint
also appeared in parts of the illustration.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 190
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 191

Title-page of a catalog of exhibits, and a page showing the use of
capitals and italic for the descriptions. By D. B. Updike
]

EXAMPLES 190 AND 191.—These pages are from an exhibition catalog. D. B.
Updike is responsible for the typography, hence the pages afford an
interesting study. The catalog is printed in four sizes of type, altho a
cursory view of the pages would lead to the impression that a less
number is used. There are three sizes of capitals and one size of
italic. A fact that makes the catalog unique is the absence of roman
lower-case. It is difficult to visualize an eighty-two-page book without
roman lower-case, but here is one. The title-page (Example 190) is
composed in three closely related sizes of capitals, corresponding to
the sizes used on the inner pages. The important words, “Catalogue,”
“Memorial Exhibition” and “Augustus Saint-Gaudens,” are set a size
larger than the minor words “of a” and “of the works of,” altho the
difference is but a point. The small woodcut is an appropriate
accompaniment of the classic style of the type composition, and the
harmony is further enhanced by printing in a clear black ink on thin
white antique paper. Example 191 shows a page from the body of the
catalog, the features of which are worth noting. All lines excepting the
exhibit number are set flush at the left, and the paragraphs or groups
are separated by space. The title of the exhibit is set in the larger
capitals, the descriptive matter in italic lower-case, and quoted words
in the smaller capitals. Punctuation at the ends of lines is sometimes
omitted and sometimes used. The rule adopted by modern typographers—to
omit punctuation points at the ends of display lines—leads to nice
distinctions when a page such as this one is to be treated. As a help in
deciding on proper marginal distribution on work of this sort, it is
well to mention that the size of the leaf of this catalog was 4¾ × 7¾
inches, the type pages measuring 2⅝ × 5½ inches or less, the type pages
not being of regular length. The margin at the head was ⅝ inch; at the
binding edge, ⅞ inch; at the outer edge, 1¼ inches; at the foot, 1⅝
inches or more.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 192

Interesting page from a sewing-machine catalog. By Matthews-Northrup
Works, Buffalo, N. Y.
]

EXAMPLE 192.—This shows a page from a catalog of sewing machines and
sewing-machine parts. The workings of the machine were pictured in such
a realistic manner that the effect was almost equivalent to a
demonstration on the machine itself. The border did not force itself on
the attention, yet furnished the decorative element to the page. The
type matter, in Caslon roman, was stylishly arranged in harmony with
illustration and border, and was notable because it was probably given
as much consideration as the designing and plate-making.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 193

Neat typography on an attractive background. Glove catalog by the
Hall-Taylor Company, Milwaukee, Wis.
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 195

Clever treatment of tabular matter in a catalog page. By the
Chasmar-Winchell Press
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 194

An artistic treatment of a commercial catalog showing what is possible
in typography. By Taylor & Taylor, San Francisco, Cal.
]

EXAMPLE 193.—This firm has gloves to sell and in a particularly pleasing
and artistic manner catalogs them for the information of the buying
public. By means of the four-color process the gloves are shown in their
natural colors, and placed in the “spotlight,” as it were, by the
gradual fading away of the dark background about them. A general talk on
the subject of gloves is carried from page to page, while the number and
description are placed in smaller type directly beneath the articles.

EXAMPLE 194.—In commercial catalog work the illustration of the article
to be sold is of the same importance as the article on the counter in
the salesroom. The usual method of selling is to show the customer the
article and then by giving information about it and telling of its good
qualities to persuade the customer to buy. The illustration, then, is
important, and by looking on Example 194, we can see how one printer
recognized this fact. The roll of yarn is prominent in the page and the
name of the yarn is second in seeking attention. The goods are displayed
attractively in surroundings that are interesting. The decorative border
(made of rule) has merged with it the name of the manufacturer.

EXAMPLE 195.—It requires the skill of a typographer and the talent of an
artist to make a good-looking page from tabular matter. Where this
combination is lacking the result is commonplace and unsatisfactory. It
was not lacking on this example, for one seldom sees a tabular page so
attractively arranged.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 200

Program cover page in ecclesiastical style
]

[Illustration]

PROGRAMS

“Let all things be done decently and in order.” These words of Paul,
while possible of wide application, have peculiar significance applied
to the program. The program exists because of recognition of the
necessity of orderly procedure “where two or three are gathered
together.” Historically, the program has come to us from the early
times, when all knowledge was transmitted by word of mouth. Church
services are the result of evolution from ancient ceremonies, and other
exercises for which programs are used originated in the far past.

Programs familiar to printers could be divided into four classes:
Programs of sacred services, dance programs, banquet programs, and
programs for various entertainments. In this order they will be
considered.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 201

Excellent arrangement for economizing space on a program containing
numerous small titles
]

The historical side of the program of sacred services should not be
overlooked. It is a mistake for printers to produce church programs in
the same style of typography employed on secular forms. Church programs,
more than any other line of printing, offer opportunity for artistic
treatment, and their production is pleasure to the artist-printer who
believes significance is an important element in good typography.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 202

An almost perfect specimen of church-program printing, showing the
missal style
]

The key to the proper treatment of ecclesiastical printing lies in the
old manuscript books written in the monasteries. Black ink was commonly
used for the main portion of books, and vermilion, a red earth
(_rubrica_), for titles and important parts of the text. In the writing
of Missals (containing services of the celebration of mass), of Psalters
(containing the psalms), and of Books of Hours (containing prayers and
offices for the several hours of the day), maltese crosses and uncial
capitals were written in vermilion. Uncial capitals are now made by
several type foundries as Missal initials, Caxton initials, Sylph
initials, etc., and maltese crosses are easily procured. As black text
letters were also used on these missals and psalters, the type-faces now
known as Caslon Text, Cloister Black, Flemish Black, etc., being copies
of these early text letters, are appropriate faces for display portions
of church programs. Text letters were long ago discontinued for body
purposes in English printing, hence they have become unfamiliar to the
general reader and it is not desirable to use them for such purposes. A
roman letter such as Caslon is the best companion for these black text
letters.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 203

Classic treatment of church-program page. By D. B. Updike, Boston,
Mass.
]

The Church of England, the American branch of which is known as the
Protestant Episcopal Church, deserves much credit for the modern
development of an ecclesiastical style of printing. Because of the
custom of using red ink in forms of service, for the parts giving
direction as to the conduct of the services, these parts have become
known as “rubrics.” It is necessary to mention to printers generally
that when colors are used on programs or books of service the “rubrics”
should be in red. This treatment is illustrated in the page from the
marriage service shown as Example 146 in the chapter on “Books” which
also shows an uncial initial. When only black is used it is customary to
set the rubrics in italic.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 205

Generous margins on a church program are pleasing
]

EXAMPLE 200 (Insert).—This title-page presents a modern interpretation
of the historic ecclesiastical treatment. The black type-face is Caslon
Text, and is a copy of one of the early manuscript letters, as before
mentioned. As pointed Gothic is usually accepted as the style of church
architecture, so pointed Gothic type-faces have been adopted for church
printing by typographers who know. Uncial rubricated initials as used on
this title-page are known commercially as Caxton initials. The red lines
which are a prominent part of the page have historic significance. Now
grown to possess decorative value, they originated thru the necessities
of writers of manuscript books, and were originally guide lines for
writing. They designated the position of the page and the lines of
letters. With the ancient churchmen the maltese cross was the symbol of
Christ, and today also these crosses have that significance, altho to a
great extent they are now considered merely as ecclesiastical
decoration. The square device in the center is in the Celtic style of
ornament. The significance of the design lies in the decorative cross
and the letters I. H. S. (_Iesus Hominum Salvator_, Latin, meaning
“Jesus Saviour of Men”). It may be well to suggest that treatment of
church printing should be varied sometimes with the denomination for
which the work is done. The majority of clergymen will be pleased with
printing treated in the accepted ecclesiastical style, yet there are
some, prejudiced against “high church” liturgies and emblems, and others
with individual ideas of what is appropriate, who must be considered.
The writer recalls an instance in which the customer, an Episcopal
clergyman, objected to what he called a “Latin” cross, used as an
ornament on a title-page, and was satisfied when a maltese cross was
substituted for the purpose. Many church programs which now appear
commonplace would take on a churchly aspect if rubricated, even tho that
be possible only on the title-page.

The example under consideration (No. 200), it will be noticed, is
constructed on squared lines, a shape dictated by the large decorative
device. While the page as arranged is interesting and fairly harmonious,
the pointed letters in the type lines would blend better with a device
of the pointed Gothic kind; or, again, the squared device would be in
closer harmony with a squared type effect such as could be obtained with
roman capitals.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 204

Program cover-page in semi-missal style. By Lee Crittenden, New York
]

EXAMPLE 201.—This page presents an excellent suggestion for the
arrangement of a program in which numerous small titles appear. If each
title were set in a measure the full width of the type page, as is
frequently done, the matter would not come into one page. The
arrangement as shown not only economizes space but gives symmetry and
tone, which otherwise would not be had. The portions in red are well
selected for printing in that color. There is artistic value in the
shape formed by the vertical dividing rule and the page heading.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 206

A dance card by Edward W. Stutes, Spokane, Wash.
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 208

Unconventional treatment of a dance program
]

EXAMPLE 202.—This page has not the compactness of the preceding one, yet
esthetically it is more pleasing. It is an almost perfect specimen of
church-program printing. As already mentioned, the horizontal red lines
and the black text letter used for titles have an ecclesiastical motive.
Careful disposition of blank space has given a pleasing tone to the
page, which is also helped by the position of the second stanza of the
hymn at the foot. The type-faces are harmonious, the use of black text,
old-style roman and italic affording a pleasing variety. By including in
the color the initial letters and the title “Holy Communion,” all parts
of the page are blended and related.

EXAMPLE 203.—The printer may be naturally curious to know how a
typographer such as D. B. Updike, who is known to specialize on
ecclesiastical typography, treats church programs. Here is an Updike
page, from a program of Lenten services, arranged in the simple, classic
style of typographic treatment that he always renders so well. As will
be noticed, the main portion of the type page is aligned at the left.
The manner of using capitals, small capitals, lower-case and italic is
an interesting study. While examining the page it is enlightening to
note that A.M. and P.M. are in small capitals, and that no space other
than furnished by the period is placed between these abbreviations or
the degrees D.D., Ph.D., etc.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 207

Page from a booklet program. By C. R. Beran, Denver, Colo.
]

EXAMPLE 204.—This is the title-page of a small program which was in
booklet form, a page being devoted to each event on the program. The
title-page is in missal style, with cross rules and uncial initials. The
spaced Pabst capitals at the foot are not sufficiently strong in tone to
balance the upper part of the page. Perhaps the effect would be better
had the missal style of treatment been extended to the lower portion of
the page.

EXAMPLE 205.—This is the second page of a small program used at the
laying of the corner-stone of a new church building. It would have been
possible to get all the type matter on one page, but crowding into small
space is often done at the sacrifice of beauty, and this program profits
by the liberal margins. The rule lines at the head were used to obtain
uniformity of page width and hight. The outline type ornament gives
ecclesiastic dignity to the program. The two-line initial at the
beginning of each hymn adds style and finish to the typography.

* * * * *

The dance program is a far step from the church program. The contrast
between the subdued and reverent atmosphere of the house of worship and
the gayety and frivolity of the brilliantly lighted ball-room emphasizes
the necessity of printers using their best powers of discrimination in
treating the various programs that come to their shops.

The dance program should be dainty. White seems to be more acceptable
than colored stock on which to print the order of dancing. The type and
ink treatment should be neat and delicate. If a bold type-face be used,
it should be printed in a light tint of ink, such as gray, pale blue,
pale green, and the like. It is possible for printers to produce
attractive dance programs with the material generally found in the shop,
yet stock folders may save wear of the thought machinery and probably be
more satisfactory to the customer. Young people are imitative and may be
suspicious of a dance program which does not resemble those they have
seen before; it has got to “look like a dance program.” For fifty years
or more dance programs have consisted of folded cardboard with tassel
and pencil dangling therefrom. The stock folder is to be had in a
variety of designs printed or embossed on the first page, appropriate
for many occasions. However, there are shown three typographic dance
programs.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 209

The decorative border on a banquet program. By Edward Everett
Winchell, New York
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 211

Page from a booklet program. By Will Bradley
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 212

The banquet program in the form of a checkbook
]

EXAMPLE 206.—An Indian border was used around this dance card, but its
strong lines were softened by printing in gray and red. White stock was
used. In the headline, instead of the customary periods, dots are
centered decoratively. Artists often place a dot or small ornament
between words of a lettered design for the purpose of benefiting the
tone. More often practically no space at all is placed between words if
in lower-case beginning with capital letters.

EXAMPLE 207.—A part of an outing program, this page carries the style of
all the other pages as regards border and head panel. It illustrates the
effectiveness and economy of uniform border treatment on a program.
There are very few programs that would not be benefited by decorative
borders in color. But one border need be set in type, duplicates being
obtained by electrotyping. If there are to be only a few hundred
programs, two borders may be set in type and printed on all the sheets,
running only two pages on. If desired, a hand-drawn decorative border
could be engraved and afterward duplicated by electrotyping.

EXAMPLE 208.—There is nothing conventional in the design of this dance
program. It is different from most others. The rule lines extend to the
border, and the heading “Dances” sets slightly to the right of center,
supported underneath by the graceful flower ornament. Punctuation is
omitted. This page is recommended for dance cards, when the printer
desires to have the job exclusively typographic.

* * * * *

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 210

A halftone decorative background on a program. Design by
Griffith-Stillings Press, Boston, Mass.
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 213

Humorous treatment of titles and odd menu arrangement. Design by the
Griffith-Stillings Press, Boston, Mass.
]

The banquet program not so many years ago here in America and in England
was commonly called a bill of fare. Now only the cross-roads hotel and
the cheap city eating house have bills of fare. The polite title is now
“menu,” pronounced men-yu or meh-noo. Some writers claim the word came
to us from “Manu,” a mythical sage said to have sprung from the god
Brahma. Yet the dictionary would seem to indicate that the word is
French, meaning small, and was derived from the Latin _minutus_, little.
It is possible that the small portions now served in many restaurants
suggested the use of “menu” because of the contrast with the generous
“helpings” of the old-fashioned meal. In 1512 a “shore dinner” for an
individual consisted of “a quart of beer, a quart of wine, salt fish,
red herring, white herrings and a dish of sprats.”

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 214

Suggestion for a menu page, introducing a bit of fun
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 215

A classic menu page. Designed by D. B. Updike, Boston, Mass.
]

In the banquet program the printer has great opportunity to make use of
his inventive faculties. No other kind of program allows of such varied
treatment. There is no limit to the shapes, the type arrangements and
the color treatments that are suitable for banquet programs. An
association of leather merchants holds a dinner and the members may find
beside their plates a program bound in a miniature hide, the sheets of
the program attached by a leather thong.

Bankers meet and the program may be in the form of a checkbook.

For an athletic association an oval-shaped program suggesting a football
will “score.”

Newspaper publishers will appreciate the menu list presented as a
papier-mache matrix of the type form.

Commercial travelers would be pleased were their banquet programs
designed in imitation of a mileage book.

A literary society dinner would be appropriately graced were the program
printed on parchment and wound around a wooden or ivory rod, as “books”
were bound in ancient times.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 217

Dignified style for menu page. By the De Vinne Press, New York
]

Pyrography could be blended with typography in producing odd effects in
banquet programs. One way of getting results by this method is to print
the menu page on a piece of soft wood, say a quarter of an inch thick,
and then, by means of the pyrographic writing tool, burn a decorative
border around it. Type ornaments and borders could be printed on the
wood as a guide for burning the designs.

Many effective menu forms could also be evolved with the assistance of
the bookbinder. Pulp board covered with an artistic cover paper makes a
handsome background for mounting the menu page, which should be printed
on a harmonizing stock. Italian and Japanese hand-made papers are
particularly suitable for such work, and when the style of typography is
made to blend with the stock the effect is rich. Domestic manufacturers,
too, make a large line of artistic papers applicable to the purpose.

EXAMPLE 209.—This page is from a booklet program, and is companion to
Example 125 inserted in a preceding chapter. It sets forth the value of
the decorative border on programs. The arrangement of the type matter is
the customary one. The minor dishes are set in small type, while the
damp stuff from the wine cellar is represented at the left in rubricated
text letters.

EXAMPLE 210.—A halftoned decorative background in olive was a feature
that lent value to this page, which is one of a number of similarly
treated pages in a booklet program. The classic panel design makes a
good background for a menu page. The idea is applicable in many other
ways.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 216

A menu program used by master printers. By Charles Edward Peabody,
Toronto, Ont.
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 218

Treatment simulating woodcut decoration
]

EXAMPLE 211.—This chapter would be incomplete without one or two Bradley
specimens. Here is an idea in menu printing born while he was with the
American Type Founders Company in 1905. It took the form of a small
booklet 2¾ by 4¾ inches, eight pages and cover, and each page was
devoted to one of the dishes on the menu. Below the name of the dish was
a chap-book ornament. Altho the small booklet has been little used as a
form for menu purposes, it has possibilities for development that should
not be overlooked by the printer.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 219

The missal style adapted to a menu program. By Will Bradley
]

EXAMPLE 212.—Here is a novel banquet program. Each dish on the menu was
presented in the form of a check on the “Printers’ Bank of Dyspepsia,”
and the “bank” was ordered to pay to the order of the guest a portion of
food or drink, in this instance oysters on the half-shell. The checks
were signed by appropriate names, “A. Shellgame” in this instance. The
entire lot of checks was bound in the customary checkbook style.

EXAMPLE 213.—In this program the menu is termed “Hash” and the toasts
“Rehash.” The treatment is unique, especially in the arrangement of the
list of palate ticklers.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 220

Unique treatment of a menu page in which the minor dishes are arranged
at the right
]

EXAMPLE 214 (Insert).—Suggested for a menu page in two colors. Banquets
are occasions of gayety and enjoyment, and humor is appreciated.
Displaying choice drinks prominently, and then in a note at the foot
calling attention to the fact that they can be had at the bar at regular
rates, is a bit of fun that has not been widely perpetrated.
Typographically the page is refined, yet is sufficiently decorative to
appeal to a large class of customers.

EXAMPLE 215.—A classic menu page by Updike. Roman capitals and italic
lower-case only are used. Perhaps this is the way Aldus would set the
page were he alive today. The page as a mass is symmetrical.

EXAMPLE 216.—This page is from a program used at a master printers’
banquet, all pages being treated in a style appropriately humorous. The
word “Stock” tops the page instead of the usual “Menu.” “Make-up” heads
the list of officers, and in this manner were the guests’ funny-bones
agitated.

EXAMPLE 217.—Here is a program for those accustomed to eat in a foreign
language. The typographic treatment is refined and dignified, the roman
capitals and the italic blending classically. Little side hits such as
those to the right are always appreciated, especially when carefully
selected.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 222

Refined entertainment program page. Design by D. B. Updike, Boston,
Mass.
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 221

Excellent typographic treatment. By Harry Haime, Boston, Mass.
]

EXAMPLE 218.—An artistic treatment simulating woodcut decoration
suitable for many occasions is presented by this page. The four initial
letters give the appearance of a decorative heading and blend well with
the border. It is appropriate that capitals should be used thruout the
page and that the type-face should be Old-Style Antique. The florets
dividing the dishes distribute the color pleasingly. The fact that this
program was used by an organization of mechanical engineers explains the
queer wording of the list of good things to be eaten.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 223
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 224

These two pages are from an entertainment program by Bruce Rogers,
Cambridge, Mass., and furnish interesting material for study
]

EXAMPLE 219.—Bradley suggests another good arrangement in this page. It
is simply constructed, yet possesses interest and style. The original
was in black and light-brown inks on buff antique stock.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 225

A program page in lower-case. By Stetson Press, Boston, Mass.
]

EXAMPLE 220.—This page has the merit of being unique while containing
elements of the artistic. The important dishes are set forth
prominently, the minor dishes appearing in small type grouped at the
right. Uncial initials blend with the Old-Style Antique type. The
horizontal rule and the large flower ornament play necessary parts in
obtaining a balance.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 226

The decoration was in color. By Fred S. Lang, Los Angeles, Cal.
]

EXAMPLE 221.—The treatment of the titles at the left side and the
symmetrical arrangement at the foot of this example are highly
commendable. The details of the entire page denote the finished
typographer. The combination of capitals and small capitals is pleasing,
and the manner in which variety has been secured in a design of orderly
arrangement is commendable.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 227

Program in the Gothic style. Designed by Merrymount Press, Boston,
Mass.
]

* * * * *

Programs for entertainments and exercises, while not allowing the
unrestrained workings of the fancy that those for banquets do, are yet
proper vehicles for carrying artistic ideas. The program should be
artistic. The commonplace program is a disappointment to the intelligent
auditor and an evil in that it influences the public taste towards
mediocrity. The printer who cannot produce a good entertainment program
has need to study art principles and observe the artistic programs being
produced by others.

EXAMPLE 222.—A refined program page by Updike. In the original the
border was printed from a copper intaglio plate on smooth-surfaced
hand-made paper, the reading portion being printed clearly and sharply
from type. Updike’s work is noted for the clearness of the print. Just
enough ink is carried to prevent the print being called gray. Of course
the type must be clean and unaffected by wear, the ink well ground and
the impression firm. This specimen is almost entirely in italic, with
“swash” or decorative capitals that add interest to a page of dignified
typography. Swash italic capitals properly used are valuable aids in
securing attractive yet refined typographic effects.

EXAMPLES 223 AND 224.—These two pages by Bruce Rogers should have
interest for every printer who loves good typography. The zinc
reproductions of these pages, also that of the preceding example, fail
to present the sharp print of the originals. Roman lower-case is absent
from this program. Rogers and Updike, with Aldus, have demonstrated that
roman lower-case is not essential to typography. Perhaps that is why
their work has distinction—other printers set most of their type from
the roman lower case.

On the title-page the features of particular interest are the long s in
the word “music,” the swash italic capitals and the woodcut ornament.

The program page is interesting in its construction and its details
should be studied closely. Unless suitable ornamentation is available,
program pages had better be treated plainly as here, with such attention
to the details of the type arrangement as will obtain finished results.
It is a test of typographic ability in the production of a program page
to compose work that, without the friendly aid of decoration, is
pleasing to look upon.

EXAMPLE 225.—This page shows admirable treatment of a brief program. The
various sizes of type are well distributed, and the consistent use of
roman lower-case is pleasing.

EXAMPLE 226.—The type in this page overprinted the decoration which was
in pale orange and pale green. The decoration was appropriate in that
the program was for a meeting held on the fruit-growing Pacific Coast.

EXAMPLE 227.—The Gothic style dominates this page. Excepting the two
uncial initials, only one size of type has been used. That fact alone is
interesting, as the result is remarkably finished. Decoration of quality
for similar effects can be obtained by having historic decorative
borders from old books photographed and redrawn upon the photograph with
such alterations as are desired. The face of the photograph can then be
washed away, leaving only the drawing, from which the plate is made.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 228

A well-arranged page. By Stetson Press, Boston, Mass.
]

EXAMPLE 228.—The list of characters in a dramatic entertainment is here
displayed in an unusual manner. It is so easy for compositors to set
copy such as this in the conventional type-leader-type method, but this
compositor has arranged it to conform to the proportion of the page.

The program containing small advertisements, especially the theater
program, is possible of much improvement. Such typography should be
given better attention, as theater programs exert large influence in
forming public taste.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 229

Classic capitals combined with rules. Suitable for announcements
having to do with art, architecture, literature and music
]

[Illustration]

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Publicity is doubtlessly essential to success in every business and
profession. The public is interested in the man who does things, but
this interest is obviously confined to the man who it knows does things.
The great men are advertised men. The great deeds of history are those
advertised by poets and historians. Shakespeare made famous many ancient
characters, as did Plutarch before him, and the most famous acts of the
American Revolution are those performed near the homes of poets and
writers. We would not be familiar with the rides of Paul Revere and
“Phil” Sheridan had they not been advertised by means of printers’ ink.

Several years ago in New York an influential art society recognized the
work of a mural painter by awarding him a medal. In accepting it the
artist sadly remarked that the recognition came too late in life for him
to “use it as a help to live with,” which proves that in the heart of
the most proud and sensitive artist or professional man there is a
feeling that he needs publicity—recognition, if that word is less
offensive—in order that his life work may be successful.

It is fashionable for prominent persons to employ press agents, and
goings and comings and doings are told to the public at every
opportunity. In the days before the development of newspapers and other
typographical mediums for advertising, the people depended upon the
public crier to make all sorts of announcements. He would attract a
crowd by sounding blasts with a horn or by ringing a bell, and then make
known his message.

The modern representative of the crier is the printed announcement. It
is not confined to any definite size or shape, often consisting of one
page only, printed on card or paper stock.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 230
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 231

Two pages from a dignified, refined and artistic announcement folder,
printed in black ink on brown-tinted hand-made paper
]

The announcement form may be considered the most personal of the printed
mediums of publicity. It presents a direct, individual appeal or
invitation, and the recipient, influenced by this fact, is likely to
give it more consideration than some other form of advertising.
Recognition is flattering to all of us, and upon receipt of an
announcement we are apt to feel pleased that our patronage or
personality is thus recognized.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 232

Announcement in Colonial style. By A. F. Mackay
]

The printer is depended upon by most customers to furnish suggestions
for the physical make-up of the announcement, and he is also frequently
asked for advice in regard to the phraseology. This places a
responsibility upon him that he cannot well ignore, and he should be
able to respond with proper suggestions. Being thus qualified to assist
the customer has many times led to further and profitable business. The
printer possessing the confidence of his customers has an asset of great
value.

The most common form of typographic announcement is that printed from
roman, text, gothic or script type-faces in imitation of engraved
intaglio printing. The styles of this form of announcement change
slightly with the fashions in copperplate effects. Printers desiring to
do such work would do well to obtain samples from one of the leading
society stationers and follow them closely in arrangement, spacing of
words and lines, and size and kind of stock. This class of work allows
of little original or decorative treatment. If other forms or treatments
are desired a standard type-face, such as Caslon or Cloister, should be
used. Many compositors err in combining copperplate-engravers’ faces
with rules and borders, or in other ways misusing them; for such results
are “neither flesh, fish nor fowl,” as the saying goes.

If the customer requests an imitation copperplate effect, give it to him
as closely as you can; that is good business policy, and is in
accordance with the sound advice to “Do your best, no matter what the
circumstances,” reminding one of the old rhyme:

If I were a cobbler, it would be my pride
The best of all cobblers to be;
If I were a tinker, no tinker beside
Should mend an old kettle like me.

But, whenever possible, get on higher ground. If you must be a tinker,
be a good one, but rather be a producer of new things than a builder of
patches and something that is “as good as new.” Printers should test
their earnestness with tasks that develop their art instincts and,
accompanied by proper financial return, bring that satisfaction which
comes from work well done.

* * * * *

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 233

Odd treatment of an announcement. By T. M. Cleland
]

EXAMPLE 229 (Insert).—Usually the printer should not set an advertising
page all in capitals, nor should he use many rules in its composition;
but when the typographic designer has skill and artistic taste in
addition to a developed sense of fitness and refinement, the warnings
and “thou-shalt-nots” that apply to most printers are not for him. Mr.
Nash, with the use of Fred W. Goudy’s Forum type-face and rules that
suggest the guide lines of old manuscript books, has produced an
announcement that is classic in composition, pleasant to look upon, and
a page that carries the message in an especially effective and
appropriate manner. The original was printed on hand-made paper. This
type-face has been modeled on ancient Roman lettering and for that
reason has a classic character that makes it suitable for announcements
and other printing having to do with art, architecture, literature and
music.

EXAMPLES 230 AND 231.—These are the first and third pages of an
announcement originally printed in black ink on brown-tinted hand-made
paper. The type-face, Caslon, was sharply impressed into the stock. It
may be advisable to state here that all Caslon romans are not alike. The
face usually sold by typefounders has the descenders shortened, that the
letters may conform to the system of alignment adopted some years ago in
America. This shortening of descenders, seemingly a trivial matter,
affects the general appearance of the type-face. Attempts to “improve”
the Caslon face are apt to end disastrously to the effectiveness of the
letter. It has characteristics that are essential to its beauty, and
shorn of any of those characteristics it loses attractiveness
proportionately. This announcement folder is of a quality seldom
attained in printing, depending as it does upon detail in typesetting
and presswork. The reproduction cannot present these points, because the
finish of the paper, the clearness of the print, the spacing, the
apportionment of margins, the tone, all counted in the finished result.

EXAMPLE 232.—This circular announcement in its original form was 9½ ×
12½ inches in size, the paper upon which it was printed being gray-green
laid hand-made. The positions of the groups of type matter and the sizes
of margins are features worthy of study. Other points of interest are:
the treatment of heading and initial, the use of florets at the
beginning of each paragraph, and the committee signatures. The
last-named lines are set in italic lower-case with roman capitals, Aldus
style. The border was printed in dull red, close to the edge of the
paper.

EXAMPLE 233.—This meeting announcement is of the same series as the
preceding example, but, set all in black text letter without border, the
effect is totally different. The peculiar black and gray tones of the
Caslon ornaments blend well with similar characteristics presented in
the massed black letter. The page was printed in vermilion and black on
buff laid hand-made stock. The effectiveness of this style of
announcement is due not alone to the typography and stock, but to the
generous size of the sheet used—good paper and plenty of it. This
announcement was mailed without envelops, the double sheet being folded
into thirds and the lower end inserted into the upper end.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 234
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 235

These specimens are lettered in a style that suggests the sturdy
masculine character of the lettering developed with the new German
decorative poster art. Designed by Oswald Cooper, Chicago
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 236

A classic arrangement based upon the architectural inscription plate.
By Benjamin Sherbow, New York
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 237

Ornaments as eye-attracters. An idea that could be adapted to many
jobs of printing. Designed by Will Bradley
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 238

Postal-card announcement, the typography of which is attractive, not
because of what is put on, but because of what is left off
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 239

Good advertising typography. Type groups and blank space well
proportioned, and an interesting decorative spot of color
]

EXAMPLE 234.—This announcement page is lettered in a style that suggests
the sturdy masculine character of the lettering that has been developed
with the new German decorative art. Typographers should not make the
mistake of assuming that a page set in the so-called gothic types of the
typefounders would give this effect. While the letters are without
serifs, as are the gothic types, yet they have not the mechanical
perfection of those types. Type-faces, lettering and drawing of any kind
seem to be better liked when they possess the human quality of
imperfection. I once called on Boardman Robinson, then cartoonist of the
New York _Tribune_, and found him at work on a cartoon for the day. I
noticed that he had considerably altered the picture on which he was
working, and I asked him about it. With a smile, he stated that he had
been working on the cartoon for several hours in order to make it look
as if it had been drawn in fifteen minutes. German typefounders have
made type-faces that carry the qualities of this poster style of
lettering. The young printer should not infer from this that careless
and unfinished typographic work is preferable to a careful, finished
product. It will be found that the artist or printer who can best give
this little touch of human nature to designs is one who first learned to
do the work as perfectly as possible.

EXAMPLE 235.—This design was the first page of a folder of which Example
234 was the third page. Oswald Cooper, who lettered this announcement,
used the figure of a dog that had been drawn by the German poster artist
Hohlwein, but gave him due credit in the upper left corner. This style
of lettering, as has already been mentioned, is appropriate to the
subject of German posters and in harmony with the poster illustration
used. Heavy treatment of this kind offers a rich opportunity for the use
of strong and harmonious colors. Light-faced type is very unsatisfactory
as a carrier of color, but the broad strokes of this style of lettering
make possible a liberal showing of color on the page. An extra color has
been introduced, altho the original announcement was entirely in brown
on a brown-tinted card.

EXAMPLE 236.—From the viewpoints of art and dignity an announcement card
such as this one is always in good taste. Its style is classic, being
arranged along the lines of an architectural inscription plate. The
border is the reliable egg-and-dart pattern and the type-face is Caslon.
Capitals are essential to best results in this sort of design.

EXAMPLE 237.—The idea suggested in this page, of using ornaments as
eye-attracters, is a good one. While the design as a whole is decorative
in character, the advertising element is not overlooked. The several
articles of merchandise are prominently displayed, as is also the name
of the store. In the series of type designs of which this was a part,
the designer strongly emphasized ornamentation. There was a reason for
his doing this, as he was engaged in introducing new typographic
decorative material, but printers working for the commercial public are
engaged in a different vocation. In attempting such designs as this,
compositors should decrease the prominence of the ornaments and border
and increase that of the reading portion of the page.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 240

Showing the use of roman, italic and spaced small capitals on an
organization announcement
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 241

Unusual division into two groups, providing for fold. By the Calumet
Press, New York
]

EXAMPLE 238.—This announcement was printed in black ink on a Government
postal card. The young compositor will, no doubt, recognize the small
amount of actual typesetting necessary for this page; however, he should
not overlook the fact that the results were really secured by one-tenth
manual labor and nine-tenths brain exercise. A specimen such as this is
good not because of what is put on but because of what is left off.
There are only a rule border, a small silhouette illustration and four
lines of type exclusive of the signature, yet the busy man gets the
message and experiences pleasure in getting it. The type in the original
was no larger than was necessary to be easily read. Compositors
frequently forget that announcements of this kind are read at a distance
of only a foot from the eyes, and that twelve-point type is really large
enough for the purpose. It is usually a mistake to make the type-face
very large or very small. One is an unnecessary size and the other is an
illegible size.

EXAMPLE 239.—This is another announcement set in twelve-point type, with
a liberal distribution of blank space. The personal mark of Mr. Baker
adds a decorative touch of color that attracts attention and helps to
make the page distinctive.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 243

Harmony of type-face and decoration
]

EXAMPLE 240 (Insert).—This announcement has typographic interest in that
it shows how variety and advertising emphasis can be obtained by the
proper use of italic and small capitals with lower-case roman,
especially with a type-face such as Cloister Oldstyle. The small
capitals are letterspaced; they usually respond pleasingly to such
treatment. Typographers who have studied the matter of spacing have
found that capitals and small capitals can be letterspaced with good
results, and that roman and italic lower-case seldom look well if the
letters are separated by spacing. It is probably an exaggeration to say
that lower-case should never be spaced, as typographic artists such as
Will Bradley have produced very effective results with letterspaced
lower-case; but the average compositor had better adhere to the rule of
never letterspacing lower-case letters. It will be noticed that on this
announcement the name of the organization, the words “Dinner” and
“Exhibit” and the name of the guest, are set in capitals and small
capitals with letterspacing. The names of the books, the title of the
talk, and the request to return a card, are in italic. Only one size of
type has been used, excepting for the committee group at the foot. In
order that the words “Program Committee” should not look exactly like
the other lines in this group, they were letterspaced.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 242

A study in tone values and margins
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 244

Artistic form for brief announcement. By A. F. Mackay, New York
]

EXAMPLE 241.—This announcement form, like No. 240, is conventional in
size, the paper upon which the original was printed measuring 5½ × 7
inches. The arrangement of the type page was designed to provide for the
fold which horizontally crossed the center of the page. The division
into two groups, each in a different type-face, is unusual, and the
manner in which this has been accomplished is instructive to the student
of typography. The use of a large initial gives distinction to the upper
group, and spacing of the Caslon capitals in the lower group maintains a
distinction there. This page illustrates two points recognized by good
typographers—that the printed effect of old-style roman capitals is
usually improved by a slight increase of space between letters, and
that, on the other hand, the printed effect of text letters would be
impaired by increased space between them. There is danger of too great
contrast of tone in a page, and had this example been executed less
skilfully, it would have failed in effect.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 245

Colonial treatment of an announcement page. By the Calumet Press, New
York
]

EXAMPLE 242.—This announcement circular affords a study in tone values,
especially in the original size, which was 9 × 12½ inches. The type, Old
Style Antique, was twelve-point, with six-point slugs between lines. The
black tone of the type-face and the liberal spacing found relationship
in the black tone and open lines of the initial letter at the head. This
harmony was carried out in the entire page, the black and white tones
contrasting thruout. No gray lines were used; even the monogram at the
foot was constructed of strong lines. In obtaining an effect like this
it is necessary that the type-face be of medium black tone somewhere
between the gray tone of the Caslon face and the heavy black tone of the
John Hancock or other extra-black faces. It may be well to call
attention to the margins inside the rule border. The artist avoids
monotony in margins. In old books the four margins surrounding a type
page differed. The foot margin was the largest, the others being smaller
in this order: outer side, head, inner side. In this announcement page
the foot margin is larger than the others, and the head presents the
smallest amount of marginal space. The side margins were made equal
because, unlike the paired book page, this page stands alone.

EXAMPLE 243.—Harmony of type-face and decoration is the chief attraction
of this announcement card. Some of the characteristics of Washington
Text in tone and stroke are also found in the initial letter and border,
and to this the harmony is due. Placing of the initial letter so low on
the page was a bit of daring, yet balance is retained, due to the
heading.

EXAMPLE 244.—While only a little folder, 3½ × 4½ inches in size, this
job was exceedingly effective. It was printed in black on white antique
stock. Such a form could well be adapted to many brief announcements.

EXAMPLE 245.—This form was set in type during the Colonial revival that
interested good printers about the year 1900. Caslon type and Colonial
decoration give an individual character to the page. Colonial effects
are not so common just at this time, which fact is quietly digested by
the wise typesetter as he recognizes his opportunity.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 246

An announcement literally treated in Colonial typography, even to the
use of the long “ſ”
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 247
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 248

First and second page of an artistic, unembellished announcement
circular. Designed by Benjamin Sherbow, New York
]

EXAMPLE 246.-This announcement demonstrates the possibilities of
typography along the lines of appropriateness. A Colonial organization
wished to announce a meeting at which would be celebrated the founding
of the first American newspaper, and desired something in Colonial
style. The printer looked up a reproduction of an early newspaper and
set the heading in a style such as was given the headings of newspapers
in the early days. The society had an emblem or seal engraved in the
serifless and characterless style of lettering that the average engraver
will give an organization. The printer had the emblem redrawn, giving
instructions to the artist to draw the entire design in freehand and to
be careful that the lines and lettering be not too regular. Instructions
were also issued to have serifs on the lettering and to have it contain
the contrasted light and heavy strokes of the roman type-face of the
Colonial period. As will be seen by the example herewith, the idea was
well carried out by the artist. The society had appropriately phrased
the announcement. The printer carried the idea along by using a small
size of “e” in the word “ye,” and a long “s,” made by cutting a part of
the cross from the “f.” A suitable hand-made paper was selected and the
paper was dampened before printing it. The announcement was then folded
up and sealed in the style of Colonial times, without an envelop.

EXAMPLES 247 AND 248.—These are the first and second pages of a large
circular announcement printed in black and light olive-brown on
buff-tinted laid antique paper. No embellishment is used, nor is any
needed, the treatment being sufficiently artistic. The arrangement of
the first page is uncommon. The lack of margins around the type group
and the absence of print on three-fifths of the page would be counted by
some printers as mere eccentricities, yet to others these things spell
art. Compositors interested in this arrangement should notice how the
type lines fit the phraseology. The advertising element has been
considered by the designer along with æsthetic requirements. The double
line of capitals at the head of the second page was duplicated on the
third. The second page shows simplicity and legibility that are
admirable, the liberal margins and the three-line initial being
noteworthy features.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 249

One of four pages of a convention announcement, showing the
attractiveness of rules when properly used with headings
]

EXAMPLE 249.—This is the second page of a convention announcement and is
evidence of the success that is possible with the proper use of a
well-designed type-face, an appropriate initial, and rules to separate
the headings. A combination of a heavy- and light-faced rule has always
looked well with the Caslon style of type-face.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 250

Announcement designed by an artist who believes in the liberal leading
of type lines
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 252

Blotter announcement in rugged Colonial style
]

EXAMPLE 250.—This announcement, originally printed on hand-made paper,
all in black ink, was designed by a famous New York artist-typographer,
who believes that there is greater legibility when the lines are
separated by a liberal use of leads than when they are “set solid.” The
arrangement is unusual in several respects—the placing of the name in
the far-off upper corner, the use of the initial “A” in the midst of a
sentence, the setting of the names of the officers in italic and their
titles in roman, and the liberal leading previously referred to.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 251

Announcement in black and gray on gray fabric-finished stock,
illustrating harmony of type-face and decoration
]

EXAMPLE 251.—This specimen also has the feature of an initial in the
midst of a sentence, and it may be well to suggest to young compositors
that it is better not to use an initial in this manner. This page would
probably be even more effective if the entire word “announces” were in
lower-case. The announcement was printed in black and gray on a
light-gray stock. The foundry that made this series of type also made
ornaments that would harmonize with it and thus enabled the printer to
produce an artistically pleasing page. This letter is one of a few that
closely suggest good hand-lettering. The selection of type sizes and the
arrangement and apportionment of margins help to make a result that
reflects credit on the printer’s art.

EXAMPLE 252.—A blotter was the vehicle that carried this announcement,
which is in the rugged Colonial style of typography of the year in which
this piece of work was produced. The tone is pleasing, as is also the
contrast of white and black. The ornament blends in shape and style with
the accompanying typographical treatment.

In the production of his own announcement forms the printer is not
hampered by the requirements of customers. He works with the
unrestricted freedom of a Michelangelo and there is little reason why
his work should not be of the best, if he will read and study books and
trade magazines.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 257

The historic Gothic, or pointed style
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 258

Strong treatment, the motive of modern origin
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 259

A striking effect that should please the college student
]

[Illustration]

TICKETS

It is said of printers who make no attempt to learn the principles
governing art typography, that once or so in a lifetime they produce an
artistic job of printing. They become much elated at the phenomenon, not
realizing that it was brought on by the unconscious introduction into
their product of art principles. The experience may be likened to that
of a child who accidentally touches an electric button, causing the room
suddenly to be illuminated. The child knows the light is there, but does
not comprehend how it got there.

Now instead of being the cause of an oriental handshake, a good job of
printing ought to be an everyday occurrence, and the stirring of the
waters should be left for the bad job of printing when, unfortunately,
it happens along.

Lack of interest is the reason for the non-development of many printers
in the art side of typography. Because, to many compositors, printing is
merely a means of making a living, only enough knowledge is acquired to
enable them to “hold their jobs,” or, in the cases of employers, to
retain their customers. Time spent in the printshop is considered
drudgery and the pleasures of life come after the whistle has blown.
There are young printers who know comparatively nothing about good
typography, yet are authorities on the rules of pinocle, baseball, or
other pastimes. And there are older printers, too, who could write a
book about chicken-raising, yet do not know when type-faces harmonize.

Any man who is not interested in his vocation is to be pitied. Unless
his heart is in his work, a lawyer, preacher, editor, ad-writer, artist
or printer will not be successful.

Interest may be developed. If the typographer will devote a portion of
the time now spent on outside matters to the study of his craft, and
especially the art side of printing, his work will become lighter and
the hands on the clock will chase each other. The same concentration of
thought now devoted to unimportant side interests would bring large
dividends if invested in the study of typography. Efficiency is a
guarantee of steady work and good pay to the employee, and an assurance
of steady customers and better prices to the employer.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 256

Classic, refined treatment, for art and literary purposes
]

The typographer who prefers freedom from care, and the blissfulness of
ignorance, is a poor member of society. He should line up among the
world’s workers and accept some of the responsibilities. The first
things he observes, should he become a student, are the imperfections of
his own product. Work that before looked good to him, now, viewed in a
new light, is defective, and finally the old verdict is reached, “There
is none perfect, no, not one.” While to the experienced art-printer
expectations of absolutely perfect results are known to be futile, he
tries for one hundred per cent just the same. A man lacks something in
his make-up when he is satisfied to be rated as a twenty-five or fifty
per cent printer.

* * * * *

Tickets, altho only a minute part of the printing-office product, afford
opportunity for the practice and development of art printing. In
typography there are many themes and styles and their incorporation into
type-designs is an interesting and instructive study. The compositor or
layout man should know and understand these various styles, that he may
be able to adapt himself to any demand made for “something different.”
Resourcefulness is a valuable characteristic for any printer to possess,
and close examination of the nineteen ticket forms, and careful reading
of what follows, should serve to develop that quality. These forms were
designed by the author especially for this chapter.

EXAMPLE 256.—It is fitting, in commencing a series of type arrangements,
first to show one based upon a classic motive. The design is old to
students of art, yet may be new to printers in general. The arrangement
has been used for many years by leading architects on inscription
tablets, and the idea itself comes from ancient Rome. The egg-and-dart
border is a standard embellishment in architectural designing. The roman
type-face is historically proper, especially the adherence to capitals,
as originally there was none but what we call capitals, the small
“lower-case” or minuscule letters having been evolved during the Middle
Ages. The letters of roman type-faces usually set very close together
and to get certain results the capitals should be slightly spaced.
One-point spaces have been used in this example. White cardboard is
preferable to a colored one on which to print this design.

EXAMPLE 257 (Insert).—The historic Gothic or church style furnished the
motive for the treatment of this ticket. Both border and type-face
possess characteristics peculiarly Gothic—notably the pointed form of
the letters and floret. There is also blend of tone, and similar
contrast of heavy and light strokes in letter and border. Ancient
features are consistently carried out in the arrangement. The lines are
set close to the border and made full length. Contrast is obtained by
the use of color and the emphasis in type size of two important phrases.
This style of treatment is appropriate for tickets used by churches or
kindred organizations.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 260

Modern treatment based upon the Colonial
]

EXAMPLE 258 (insert).—The style of this ticket is a modern conception
and originated in the art revival of the latter part of the last
century. The motive is masculine and its features are contrast of tone,
massing of lettering, and liberal blank space. It will be noticed that
while in this specimen the margin inside of border is wide, on the
previous specimen (Example 257) there is practically no space inside of
the border. These features are necessary in the correct interpretation
of the respective styles. The motive of the specimen under consideration
is particularly applicable to tickets for minstrel performances,
smokers, club outings, and other affairs in which men are interested.

EXAMPLE 259 (Insert).—The color border on this specimen suggests a means
of varying the treatment of tickets, the extension of the border into
two of the corners adding distinction. Such a design as this is likely
to meet approval among college students, as they welcome odd and
striking effects. The strong italic lower-case is a relief from the many
more familiar roman faces used on such tickets. Emphasis of important
parts is obtained by increasing the type sizes until proper contrast is
obtained.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 262

Daintily appropriate in type-face and illustration
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 263

The secession or mission style applied to ticket composition
]

EXAMPLE 260.—The treatment of this example may be described as modern
based upon the Colonial. The Caslon type-face furnishes a Colonial
atmosphere, and the border treatment of color inside surrounding rules
blends with the type-face. Only two sizes of type are used and
lower-case is consistently adhered to. The shape of the main group gives
a pleasing symmetry to the arrangement, the floret serving well to
complete this result. The effect as a whole is bookish, and may be
adapted to various literary and art purposes. White or buff stock would
be suitable, antique finish preferred.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 261

Suggested for course tickets. Coupons should be attached
]

EXAMPLE 261.—There may be an idea here for course tickets in which a
number of lectures are listed. The form as shown is not complete, the
idea including the attachment at one side of coupons containing the
names and dates of the lectures. Only capitals are used and the three
main lines are aligned at each end of the measure. The narrow border
gives a finish to the general design, which is well suited for printing
in black ink on white stock.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 264

The ecclesiastical or missal style well adapted
]

EXAMPLE 262.—Here we have a ticket of peculiar interest to women and the
treatment is daintily appropriate. Caslon italic is an admirable letter
for the purpose, as it is graceful and neat. Bold treatment and large
type have been avoided, the main portion of the copy being grouped in
the center and surrounded by liberal blank space. The outline
illustration underprinting the type group gives added interest to the
ticket and may have advertising value in the suggestion it presents of
the evening’s pleasure. White card would be proper, and a buff or
gray-blue stock might also look well.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 265

Perhaps Morris would have set a ticket this way
]

EXAMPLE 263.—This ticket presents the geometric, or so-called secession
style; a mild example, tho. Because straight lines form its motive, some
call it the mission style. There are possibilities in it for the
typographer looking for fresh ideas with which to vary his work. Right
here it may be well to warn compositors against becoming enthusiastic
over every new style of type arrangement that may come to his notice.
There are men who in their endeavors to do something to win fame—
something astonishing and entirely original—set out on unknown seas
without rudder or compass. The result usually is shipwreck. The printer
who starts out to produce typography not founded on some proved and
tried base builds a house in the sands that may come tumbling down at
the first test of endurance. A type-face of squared shape such as the
capitals of lining gothic is best fitted to accompany the squares and
angular ornaments of the mission or secession style. A gray stock on
which to print this example would be a wise selection.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 267

Modern application of classic type effects
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 268

Patterned after Colonial treatment of title-pages
]

EXAMPLE 264.—This specimen will be recognized as an adaptation of the
missal or mass-book style of treatment, mentioned in a previous chapter.
It is an accepted ecclesiastical arrangement, and proves as pleasing on
a ticket as on a title-page. Uncial initials (as are here shown in
color) may be had of typefounders in slight variations. White or buff
card admirably supports missal treatment.

EXAMPLE 265.—Inspiration for ticket designs may even be drawn from the
work of William Morris and the Italian printers who used the black-toned
decorative border, altho this style should not be undertaken unless the
proper border is available. The one here adapted carries out the idea
fairly well. Old Style Antique set snugly to fill the panel gives the
proper results, the capital lines also being necessary to this style.
Tickets for educational and art functions especially lend themselves to
this treatment and white card should be used.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 266

The medieval art worker furnished a motive for this ticket
]

EXAMPLE 266.—The motive for this ticket form came from observing that
art workers during the Middle Ages frequently engraved inscriptions
around the margins or borders of plates, slabs, doors, and like objects.
This suggested the adoption of the idea to carry a few pertinent words
on an entertainment ticket. Cardboard of almost any color could be used.

EXAMPLE 267.—Perhaps this arrangement could be described as a modern
application of classic type effects. The display lines are in
Cheltenham, a face that approximates some of the ancient Roman
lettering, and the treatment of the ticket as a whole is chaste. The
ornaments, surrounded as they are by blank space, emphasize the classic
simplicity of the ticket. The type group is tapered to give proper
symmetry.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 269

A dainty, refined effect suited to many occasions
]

EXAMPLE 268.—This is purely a Colonial effect and closely follows the
arrangements found on title-pages of the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries. Hair-line rules well separated by space were common in those
days. The type here used is Caslon, a letter cut in the eighteenth
century, and one especially suited to Colonial typography.
Antique-finished card in white and buff is appropriate.

EXAMPLE 269.—Dainty, refined effects are demanded by certain customers.
This specimen demonstrates the effectiveness of such treatment on a
ticket. Two sizes of type (Pabst), all capitals and slightly spaced,
give the proper results. The ornaments are used as symbolic decoration.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 270

Robust treatment of an outing ticket
]

EXAMPLE 270.—The typography of this ticket is distinctly masculine. This
result has been obtained by the use of capitals of a robust type-face,
so distributed in size as strongly to emphasize the important phrases.
Had this form been printed in one color, the two type lines now in color
should have been reduced a size. It is well for compositors to keep in
mind that when orange is used in combination with black, the portion
printed in orange will be lighter in tone than that in black, unless the
difference is provided for by bolder or larger type-faces. Any color of
stock excepting dainty tints would do for this ticket.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 272

Treatment that should prevent easy counterfeiting
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 273

Corner decoration suitable to the subject
]

EXAMPLE 271.—This unusual arrangement was dictated by the nature of the
cab ornament. The shapes of the type groups are built about it. Were the
cab ornament not used, another arrangement would be necessary. There are
social clubs of all kinds in every city, and balls are frequently held
for which tickets are needed. An element of interest such as is given by
the cab ornament would surely be appreciated by such customers.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 271

The cab ornament dictated the type formation
]

EXAMPLE 272.—Occasionally there comes to the printshop a customer
wanting a ticket which cannot easily be duplicated by any one with a
press and a few fonts of type. Instead of referring the customer to a
lithographer the printer should ascertain if he is not in a position to
produce such a ticket. The style of the one here shown is suggested for
such emergencies. A type border printed in color forms the background.
Over this print the reading matter, and for the display lines use a
type-face that happens not to be possessed by other printers in the same
city. In providing a border for this ticket a rule with double lines has
been used, thus blending it with the double lines of the type-face.
White stock should be selected for this ticket.

EXAMPLE 273.—The corner decoration is in keeping with the subject of
this ticket, and the arrangement as a whole is suggested for similar
purposes. Any color of cardboard is suitable.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 274

This arrangement has an old French motive
]

EXAMPLE 274.—The decoration of early French books furnished the motive
for the typographical treatment of this ticket. It is submitted simply
to demonstrate that ideas for arrangement can be picked up in many
quarters, and as a suggestion that typographers go thru the world with
eyes open.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 275

Neat, conventional treatment of a letterhead containing a large amount
of copy. The bold-face type lends variety to the heading and brings
out important points
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 276

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

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 277

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

[Illustration:

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
]

[Illustration]

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).

The typewriter and modern commercial requirements have since developed
use of the single leaf, altho for personal correspondence and certain
refined business purposes the folded note sheet is proper.

In passing it might be noted that in the price list above mentioned the
printer is urged to charge an increased price when “brass or French
flourishes are used in excess.” The composition of “one plain heading,
of not more than four straight lines,” was to be charged at seventy-five
cents; “one ornamental heading with curved lines,” twenty-five or fifty
cents additional.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 279

This elaborate border continued around the entire sheet. In the
original the colors were subdued and harmonious and on a brown-gray
hand-made paper
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 280

A suitable type-face symmetrically arranged, with a harmonious
decorative device
]

As has been stated, the standard size of the present-day commercial
letterhead is 8½ × 11 inches. Strange to say, the standard size of
envelop (known as No. 6¾ Government) used for the carrying of these
letter sheets measures 6½ × 3⅝, tho if a snug fit were required the
envelop would be about 5¾ × 3 inches. The standard size, however, should
usually be selected, as all sorts of enclosures are made to fit it.

The large “official” envelop is also used extensively for business
purposes, the most common size (No. 10 Government) measuring 9½ × 4⅛
inches. It takes a letter sheet of two parallel folds, and also provides
for business and advertising enclosures larger than those planned for
the standard envelop of smaller dimensions.

Distinction is given business stationery by folding the standard letter
sheet twice so that, folded, it measures 5½ × 4¼ inches, and by using an
envelop (Baronial) that measures an eighth or a quarter of an inch
larger each way. For private or semi-private purposes this kind of
envelop is preferred, especially if the letter sheet is used as a double
note sheet. The heading is frequently printed on the fourth page of the
double note sheet, so that when the message is written on the fourth and
first pages and the sheet is opened, the letter appears as two pages in
a book.

Another size of men’s personal correspondence sheet measures 5 × 8
inches folded once. After being written upon the sheet is again folded,
and it then measures 5 × 4 inches. When the customer is willing to pay a
price for which the best quality of stationery may be furnished, the
printer should secure from houses specializing in society stationery
envelops that are made with a more stylish flap than those commonly used
for business purposes.

Another size of letter sheet, used for men’s personal correspondence and
for giving an exclusive appearance to commercial stationery, measures
about 7¼ × 10½ inches. The paper is given two parallel folds and fits in
an envelop that measures about 7½ × 4 inches.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 281

Artistic treatment in squared effects
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 282

A simple treatment of a heading with little copy. Capitals have been
letterspaced a trifle
]

Since the typewriter is in such general use, ruled letter sheets are
seldom called for; in fact, ruled correspondence sheets of any kind are
now in poor taste.

The old-time notehead is also little used, the half-letter sheet (8½ ×
5½ inches), and the two-thirds letter sheet (8½ × 7⅓ inches), printed
the broad way, taking its place for brief business messages.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 284

The heavy border effect of the Colonial style of typography gives
character to this heading. By Arthur Nelson
]

The typographical treatment of letterheads and envelops should have some
relation, and it is now generally conceded that the paper should be the
same in both cases. A good grade of paper is now considered essential
for bona-fide correspondence, a cheaper grade being allowed for form
letters. A light-weight paper of a high grade is preferable over a
heavy-weight paper of a low grade. Quality isn’t a matter of weight,
altho if it can be afforded the heavier weight is not in the least
objectionable. Twenty-pound folio (17 × 22) seems to be most easily
obtained in the various papers.

As to the style of typographic treatment, the printer must in all cases
consider the tastes of his customers, and especially the business or
profession for which the stationery is to be used. As an instance, the
style of typographic treatment of doctors’ and lawyers’ stationery
seldom changes.

It should be kept in mind that simple, neat, refined typography is
appropriate for almost every order of stationery, while elaborate
typography in many cases is inappropriate.

Color is seldom well used on stationery. Most letterheads that the
writer has seen which have been treated in three or four colors would
have been more pleasing if given but one printing. A test of typographic
skill is to design a letterhead that in one printing will look
attractive and distinctive. The heading should usually be printed in
black or some darkened color, and if another impression is desired a
very small part of the design printed in orange or vermilion will add a
touch of bright color.

All the reproductions shown are reduced in size, those on the inserts
being only slightly smaller.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 283

There is a great deal of character in this simple letterhead design.
The lantern is really a monogram. By Charles R. Capon
]

EXAMPLE 275 (Insert).—Lithographers and steel-die printers really
furnish the styles for the conventional arrangement of letterheads. They
work along standardized lines and usually produce well-balanced,
appropriate headings. Typographical printers should study stationery
produced by these processes and observe how the parts of headings are
grouped and the advertising points emphasized; for a letterhead is one
form of advertising. There are limitations, however, in the copying of
such letterhead arrangements. Only plain designs should be studied for
this purpose. Imitations of shaded and ornamental lettering are seldom
successful. Example 275 demonstrates how a good letterhead can be
designed along lithographic lines. The effectiveness of this heading
depends a great deal upon the use of both light- and dark-faced type.
Where there is a great deal of matter, as in this instance, the heading
would likely appear flat and uninteresting and would lose some of the
advertising qualities it possesses if the light-faced type were used
thruout. This is no argument for bold-faced type on stationery headings
as a usual thing, but refers to the kind of heading here shown. The
parts in the dark-faced type include the firm name, the nature of its
business and the city in which the firm is located. The names of the
officers are arranged in the upper part of the heading, and this
position of the names seems to be satisfactory in most instances. The
telephone number and cable address are in the center near the date line.
The type used in this heading is Card Litho and Card Light Litho.

EXAMPLE 276 (Insert).—Professional stationery must be treated with
dignity and refinement, and the type should be small. Treatment such as
this would undoubtedly meet with approval from the professional
customer. It would be a mistake to apply to professional stationery the
variety of attractive and interesting arrangements that are applicable
to stationery used for many business and advertising purposes. The
printer would save resetting of the work and more surely please his
customers if, in filling orders for doctors, lawyers, architects,
engineers and other professional men, he attempted nothing but the
conventional dignified treatment illustrated by this example. The type
is an imitation engravers’ gothic slightly letterspaced to give the
effect usually found on steel-die work.

EXAMPLE 277 (Insert).—Ministers, included as they are in the
professional class, like to have their stationery dignified and neat. At
the same time they do not object to the use of text type, as it has a
churchly suggestion. This type, too, must be small, that used here being
eight-point in size.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 287

Suggestion of the ecclesiastic in the design of a letterhead for a
church printer
]

EXAMPLE 278 (Insert).—Stationery for a lawyer, like that for a doctor,
should be dignified and refined. It is well to give him the professional
customer’s style of typography such as that of the doctor’s heading, but
if a departure is to be made from the imitation steel-engraved
lettering, it is possibly well to use a modern style of type such as the
Bodoni, and letterspace the capitals, as was done in this example. But
one size of type-face has been used here (eight-point), capitals,
italic, and small capitals being utilized.

EXAMPLE 279.—Practically never should a letterhead be treated with the
elaborateness of this one unless the customer expressly desires such
treatment and is willing to pay for it, or the letterhead is the
printer’s own, as in this instance. The reproduction, unfortunately,
does not present the rich qualities of the original, which was printed
in green-gray and red-gray on a gray hand-made paper. The typography was
merged with the paper stock, and there was not the contrast found in the
reproduced specimen.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 285

On which a meeting is advertised
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 286

A panel, when well treated, gives distinction to stationery. By Arthur
Nelson
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 288

Artistic yet simple arrangement, the feature of which are the three
lines of equal length. By Leon I. Leader
]

EXAMPLE 280.—Old-Style Antique, as this heading shows, is a good
type-face for the letterhead of an art publication company. Capitals
have been used thruout and grouped so as to form a symmetrical
arrangement that harmonizes well with the decorative device placed under
it. A feature of this heading is that all matter is included in the one
group, excepting the name of the city, which is placed to receive the
date line.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 289

Letterhead for a storekeeper selling a general line of goods
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 290

Panel treatment that suggests the business. By Arthur Nelson
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 292

Unique arrangement of a distinctive heading. By Harry A. Anger
]

EXAMPLE 281.—Successful treatment of a heading like this depends upon
the typographer’s ability so to arrange the copy, without resorting to
letterspacing, that all lines are the same length. It is necessary also
to use all capitals of an old-style face of dark tones in which the
letters set fairly close together, a result such as can be had with
Old-Style Antique or Cloister Oldstyle. The decorative device in its
shape harmonizes with the formation of the group of type lines above it.
The liberal blank space that surrounds this heading is an important
factor in its attractiveness. The original was on brown paper.

EXAMPLE 282.—When the printer receives copy as brief as that used for
this letterhead he experiences difficulty in producing an effect that
will be attractive. With the customary engravers’ type-faces nothing
very satisfactory is possible, but by using a type-face of character,
such as Caslon Oldstyle in its original form, as was done here, artistic
interest can be added. Two sizes of capitals, spaced, were used for the
firm name. Italic was selected for the word “Grocers,” with a swash or
decorated capital that accompanies the old Caslon type-face. Capitals
and small capitals were utilized for the date line. A touch of
decorative interest was added to the heading by the use of a rule, on
each end of which was placed a dagger, such as is usually a part of book
fonts. This treatment could be made even more effective by printing the
letterhead on a white bond paper of good quality.

EXAMPLE 283.—This letterhead is offered as a suggestion for artistic
treatment when not much copy is furnished and it is possible to use a
small decorative device. The type-face should have old-style qualities
of an artistic nature and should be slightly letterspaced. The lantern
device on this heading is really a monogram, cleverly designed. The
original was in black and orange on buff-tinted paper, and as shown by
the reproduction, the heading was placed very high on the sheet.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 291

Dignified yet novel treatment
]

EXAMPLE 284.—For some reason a border made of a heavy line and a light
one harmonizes with the type matter in Caslon Oldstyle, especially when
liberal blank space separates the type and the border, as in this
instance. It is well usually not to have the border darker in tone than
the type matter, but on this heading it would be a mistake to lighten
the border, which, however, would look well printed in vermilion or
orange ink. A buff-tinted paper of an antique finish would blend with
the Caslon typography. It is a departure from conventional methods to
place the names of the firm members in the lower part of the panel. This
was probably done so that the name of the bindery would stand out
without interference from type matter above it, but as a concession to
conventionality it would probably be well to place the names in the
upper part of the panel.

EXAMPLE 285.—The printer is frequently called upon to arrange for an
organization a letterhead which contains an announcement of the next
meeting of the society. The example under consideration shows how this
may be done; the meeting announcement is presented plainly, yet a
letterhead appearance is retained. The name of the society crosses the
letter sheet and is joined on each end by a group of officers. The
reference to the meeting occupies the space directly under the name of
the society. In the original the main part of the heading, which now
stands out so strongly, was subdued by the use of gray ink.

EXAMPLE 286.—There is suggestion of the architectural panel about the
arrangement of this heading. The suggestion is continued by the use of a
classic Roman type-face mainly in capitals. Panels are not as successful
on letterheads as they would be if more judgment were used in forming
them. This heading should prove helpful in working out the panel idea.
Its proportions could be smaller with good results. The original was
printed with green-black ink on a primrose color of bond paper, but
would also look well on white stock.

EXAMPLE 287.—A letterhead is successful if by its treatment it suggests
the line of business for which it is used. This one measures up in that
respect. By the use of the old text type and Maltese crosses an
ecclesiastical touch is given. The old church missal books of the
manuscript days were brilliant in rubrication, a feature of which were
ruled lines, crosses and initials in vermilion. The arrangement of this
heading is also one that could be used for many purposes. Some of the
facts about the business are blended with rules in a decorative band
that gives breadth to the heading.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 295

Neatness and dignity in letterhead designing
]

EXAMPLE 288.—Letterheads arranged so that all lines are the same length,
especially if such arrangement allows proper emphasis of the firm name,
usually look well and have artistic interest. This heading is one such
as almost any printer with a good old-style type-face could produce.
Like Example 281, this treatment requires the use of capitals.
Lower-case in square or block formation does not shape up harmoniously.
Capitals exclusively should be used when such effects are planned.

EXAMPLE 289.—A letterhead for a general store invariably presents a
problem to the printer who wishes to produce a harmonious and
well-balanced heading. It is difficult properly to display copy which
includes such a variety of articles as furniture, jewelry, stoves and
coffins. The typographer responsible for this letterhead set it in
Caslon Oldstyle, grouped it as well as he could, and introduced
decorative value by means of florets printed in color. The name of the
merchant was given the most prominence, and “Furniture” was featured for
the reason that it seemed to constitute the principal part of the
business. The printer who objects to this arrangement should try his
hand at resetting it. As copy, this heading is in strong contrast to
that supplied for Example 282.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 293

Individuality obtained by means of decorative initials
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 294

Just a neat typographical arrangement
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 296

A heading in two groups. By Harry A. Anger
]

EXAMPLE 290.—This example is a resetting of a letterhead on which the
printer had imitated bricks by using oblong border units printed in red.
His effort was too literal, and in rearranging the heading the purpose
was merely to suggest bricks and tiles in a light-printing border.
Spaced Caslon capitals completed an effect that is unusual and
distinctive. The line “Brick and Tile” could be printed in color.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 297

A neat letterhead and uncommon distribution of color. By Leon I.
Leader
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 298

Double-panel treatment that is unusual
]

EXAMPLE 291.—There is a dignified yet novel attractiveness about this
heading. The light cross-rules give shape, and individuality is injected
by slightly spacing the letters and confining the color to three small
initials. Gothic (_sans_-serif) type looks well treated in this manner.
As will be seen, liberal blank space is necessary for a right effect.
The original was printed in black and vermilion ink on gray bond paper.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 300

A letterhead in Caslon roman capitals and italic lower-case, with
touch of color in the distinctive shop mark
]

EXAMPLE 292.—The designer of this letterhead planned to get something
different and succeeded. He did it, too, with the good old Caslon
type-face. This type has proved its worth in commercial job work, and
there seems to be no limit to its usefulness. By spacing the letters in
this heading a peculiar tone has been obtained which gives the
letterhead much of its character. The position of the lamp ornament is
odd. Black and orange ink and white paper were used.

EXAMPLE 293.—While it is safer to print club stationery in the
conventional style of professional stationery, there are clubs which
will appreciate any individuality and attractiveness the printer may
introduce on the letter sheet. This heading is a suggestion of what
might be done in this direction. Washington Text has been combined with
decorative initials.

EXAMPLE 294.—The problem here was to produce a letterhead for men who
appreciate typographic neatness, and the problem was met by setting the
heading in Caslon lower-case and introducing italic in several places
where it would be of the most value. As will be seen, the names of the
officers were grouped on the left, and balanced on the right by a group
that tells of the things the store has to sell. It is likely that copy
such as this would meet with different treatment from the average
compositor, who would be inclined to distribute the copy over all parts
of the letterhead. The lesson to be learned is that the several parts of
copy should be orderly apportioned to positions on the letter sheet, as
in this instance.

EXAMPLE 295.—This is an excellent example of a good letterhead,
originally produced by the incised copperplate method. Study of its
details would benefit the typographic printer for the reason that, as
mentioned in the beginning of this chapter, designers of letterheads
produced by lithographic and intaglio processes have given much thought
to letterhead arrangement. The main part of the heading is symmetrically
arranged in a group in which attention has been given to spacing. The
illustration is disposed of at the left, and an added line has been
placed in the upper right corner and printed in red. The neatness and
dignity of this letterhead are an inspiration.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 299

Distinction in letterhead design. The rule border, which extended
around the entire sheet, was in a shade of ink lighter than that
used for the type
]

EXAMPLE 296.—The copy of this letterhead presented a problem which was
solved by making two distinct groups of the type matter. In the main
group were placed the matters of national importance, and in the upper
group in smaller type such copy as refers to the state organization.
Compositors should observe how the “Y” at the end of the main line has
been extended into the margin so that the group alignment might be
retained. The printing combination was black ink and white paper.

EXAMPLE 297.—Perhaps the use of italic capitals exclusively would have
been more consistent, yet the one line of roman capitals does not
detract from the pleasure the neatness of this heading affords the
admirer of good printing. The distribution of color is uncommon. The
italic short-and (_&_) adds a touch of decoration to the heading.
Typographers will find that these old-style italic short-ands look well
in display lines substituted for the spelled-out “and.” The roman
short-and (&) is severe in character and is not so pleasing.

EXAMPLE 298.—Occasionally it is advisable to inclose type matter in a
panel, altho in most instances the typographer will find that a
letterhead is neater if no rule panel is used. However, there is
something attractive and different about the panel treatment of this
letterhead. Without the rules the heading would be neat, but would lose
a distinction that is now given it by the rules. The type-face, Packard
Oldstyle, possesses a quality found in hand-lettering and looks well on
this heading.

EXAMPLE 299.—A line border finishing off the edges of the letter sheet
adds a quality to the appearance of the stationery that makes it worth
while when the printer uses the idea on his own stationery or a customer
is willing to pay the increased cost necessary for such an effect. On
the Fell letterhead the border was in a shade of ink lighter than that
used for the type. The arrangement of the heading is worthy of study,
especially the disposition of the officers’ names, which are placed one
under another instead of being conventionally arranged in a line at the
top of the sheet. While this heading is hand-lettered, it is suggestive
of similar effects that could be produced with good type-faces of an
old-style design.

EXAMPLE 300.—Another letterhead in the Caslon type-face, roman capitals
and italic lower-case being used. Much of the attractiveness of the
heading is due to the spot of decorative color made by the shop device,
which in design blends well with the type-face and because of its
position brings the eye to the title of the press. The names of the
officers are placed above the center, and the service rendered by the
press is outlined in the end groups.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 303

Type arrangement as used by a noted typographer. Printed on the fourth
page of a folded note sheet
]

EXAMPLE 301.—The cross-line panel is here adapted to letterhead purposes
with some success. The decorative border is a suitable one for such
arrangement and affords relief from the plain brass rule. However, it
only departs from the plain rule sufficiently to add an interesting
touch of irregularity to the lines. Text type has been used for the
center, and where Caslon capitals are found in the panel they are
letterspaced.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 301

The crossed-line panel successfully adapted to letterhead purposes. By
Adams-Brander Company
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 302

A German idea in letterhead treatment
]

EXAMPLE 302.—While German treatment in advertising design and typography
is usually thought to be strong and forceful, yet certain classes of
work are produced in a dainty yet characteristic style. This letterhead
is presented because of the interest it will doubtless have to American
printers.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 304

Humor in a notehead is exceptional
]

EXAMPLE 303.—This notehead printed in two sizes of capitals is
interesting in that it is the work of a noted book typographer. The
larger capitals are not letterspaced, but the smaller ones are. A
triangular formation of periods adds a touch of decoration between
groups. This notehead was printed on the fourth page of a folded sheet
in dull-finished black ink on white bond paper.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 305

Conventional treatment of an envelop corner
]

EXAMPLE 304.—Humor in a notehead is questionable and should be used only
in exceptional cases. Mr. Glover, however, has used it to good
advantage. Printing has always been such a serious business that
customers may welcome a printer who can smile even on his note sheets.

* * * * *

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 307

Envelop corner prominently treated in a decorative letter
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 308

Harmony of device and type treatment. By Ray Greenleaf
]

The envelop is an acknowledged convenience in correspondence. It not
only protects the letter from being soiled or tampered with, but is a
convenience to the post-office and a means of advertising. The first use
that the printed part of an envelop has is to inform the postal
authorities of the name and address of the sender so that if a letter
cannot be delivered it can be returned. On government-printed envelops
this information is given in the briefest and plainest possible way.
However, the greater number of business men recognize the advertising
possibilities of the envelop, and not only have the paper match that
used for letterheads, but see to it that the typographic treatment is
also in accord with that on the letter sheet. The treatment of the face
of the envelop should be neat. It is not only in poor taste to cover the
envelop with printing, but is against the post-office regulations. There
are those who prefer to print the type matter on the flap of the
envelop, and others who print the type matter in the usual corner and
the trademark on the flap.

EXAMPLE 305.—This is a specimen of a conventionally treated envelop
corner in imitation steel-engraved lettering. The old-fashioned “After
five days return to” as here used is not much in vogue, and printers
would do well to omit it unless the customer insists upon its inclusion.
This envelop corner is in the same style of typography as the letterhead
that accompanied it.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 306

Distinctive and artistic treatment
]

EXAMPLE 306.—Artistic interest of a medieval character has been given
this envelop corner by the use of Old-Style Antique, and especially by
the decorative device in color. The design of this envelop is
distinctive, and mail from this source would easily be recognized after
one or two letters had been received.

EXAMPLE 307.—Occasionally it is good policy to bring out the name of the
business in a prominent way, especially if it can be treated in a
decorative letter such as the one used in this instance. Not every
business will allow of such prominent treatment, and in this matter the
printer needs to use judgment. The type has been aligned at the left.

EXAMPLE 308.—It is seldom that an envelop corner is treated so
harmoniously and artistically as the one under consideration. The
general character of the decorative device is matched by the style of
the type-faces used. The squaring of the type group also adds shape
harmony. This corner card, designed some years ago, is proof of the fact
that good work is always good.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 309

An elaborate envelop corner
]

EXAMPLE 309.—Seldom should an envelop corner card be as elaborate as
this one, but when such an arrangement is allowable, as in this case,
the design shown is worthy of consideration. The type-face is Caslon
with Caslon Text, and the bands are made by using square ornaments with
alternating blank space inside of rules.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 312

The non-stock-ruled type of billhead, with a panel in which name, date
and other items are recorded. Showing use of roman lower-case
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 313

Remove the words “Sold to” and the rule work, and this could be used
as a letterhead. Showing use of italic lower-case with spaced roman
capitals
]

[Illustration]

BILLHEADS & STATEMENTS

The printer called on to produce a billhead has a responsibility seldom
fully realized. He has a duty to himself, to his customer and to those
who come after, which is best carried out by suitable and dignified type
composition. A business house has been known to use the same design of
billhead for fifty years, and it is a fact that many merchants cannot be
persuaded to change the style of the billhead, no matter how homely it
may be.

Billheads and statements should correspond in style to that of
letterheads and other forms of stationery, and in changing the design it
must not be forgotten that these other forms should also be altered to
harmonize. The paper should be of the same finish and color, and the
main features of type arrangement similar. The type-face must be the
same on all.

The standard sizes of billheads for commercial purposes are:

8½ × 5½ inches, 8 out of a sheet 17 × 22.
8½ × 7 inches, 8 out of a sheet 17 × 28.
8½ × 9⅓ inches, 6 out of a sheet 17 × 28.
8½ × 14 inches, 4 out of a sheet 17 × 28.

Professional billheads are usually an inch or two smaller than the
smallest size of commercial billheads.

There is a variety of sizes in statements. Popular sizes are those cut
out of folio (17 × 22 inches), which then measure 5½ × 5⅝ inches, and 5½
× 8½ inches.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 310

In which are presented the principal features of the average
commercial invoice, or billhead. The customer’s name is placed in
the lower left corner
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 311

How a letterhead may be converted into a billhead. The upper portion
is also shown as Example 283 in the chapter on letterheads
]

Whether ruled or not, it is customary to allow about 2¾ inches for the
printed heading on both billhead and statement.

Because of the extensive use of “window” envelops, the heading should be
so arranged that the name and address of the customer can be placed in
the lower left part of the billhead. The exact position can be
ascertained by placing a billhead over such an envelop and jogging the
two at the head and left side. When held to the light the opening in the
face of the envelop can be traced on the billhead. The billhead is
folded to fit the envelop and inserted so that the name and address can
be seen.

Use of the typewriter and window envelops has brought a change in the
arrangement of billheads, and printers, whenever they have opportunity,
should alter the old billhead arrangement to conform to the new
requirements.

Most billheads a quarter of a century ago contained in the upper right
corner in script (usually) a date line, and under it at the left was a
dotted line beginning with a large script _M_. Immediately following
came the firm name (usually rather large) flanked on the left by the
word “To,” and on the right by the abbreviation of debtor, “Dr.” So the
apprentice boy was taught, and he would then be further instructed to
place the words “Dealers in” (or their equivalent) in small type,
centered; then to display the words indicating the line of goods
carried. In a small line at the lower right corner was the street
address, and aligned opposite were the mystic words “Terms Cash.”

Sometimes the words “Bought of” were substituted for “To” and “Dr.” The
older printers will remember the logotypes in various fancy designs of
the phrase “Bought of” that the typefounders furnished in those days,
which logotypes were set against type lines of double great primer caps.
Now “Bought of” has been supplanted on billheads by “Sold to,” which
directs attention to the fact that John Smith has sold goods to Thomas
Brown, rather than that Thomas Brown has bought goods of John Smith—a
distinction without a difference, one might say, yet there is interest
in noting the change.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 314

A billhead, or statement, in a classic non-display style of typography
that suggests early printing. By D. B. Updike
]

The probable reason for the “M” being discarded in recent years on
commercial billheads is that many business houses are now corporations,
which fact makes “Mr.” and “Messrs.” no longer suitable as forms of
address.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 316

A suitable billhead with interesting border treatment. No guide lines
have been used
]

EXAMPLE 310.—This specimen presents the main features of the average
commercial invoice, or billhead. Usually there are conditions of sale
which can be placed at the top of the heading with a rule underneath,
altho they are sometimes arranged at the side or at the foot of the
invoice. The name of the company is given most prominence, followed by
mention of the commodity or product. The number, street and city
naturally should be displayed so that the customer’s location can be
referred to quickly in correspondence. “Sold to” precedes the space left
blank for the customer’s name, and this, as has been explained, should
be in the lower left corner. Blanks for the date, terms, invoice number,
ledger number, customer’s order number and other notations of record may
be grouped in convenient open spaces.

EXAMPLE 311.—The composition of a billhead really begins with the
composition of a letterhead. It should be possible to take any
letterhead and by adding a few lines convert it into a billhead. The
specimen under consideration shows how this is done. The original of
this billhead was exhibited as Example 283 in the preceding chapter. The
conventional phrase “Sold to” is placed in its customary position and
the other phrases added at suitable spots. Printers should keep this
suggestion in mind and, when laying out a billhead, design the upper
part as they would a letterhead.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 315

Typographic art and good taste, as demonstrated by this specimen, have
a place on billheads as well as on books
]

EXAMPLE 312 (Insert).—This is an interesting representative of the
non-stock-ruled heading, and it also illustrates the changes the
typewriter has wrought in billhead printing. When bills were written in
by hand, script type and dotted rule prevailed, but because of the use
of typewriters, script and horizontal guide lines are gradually
disappearing from the face of billheads. The example under consideration
also demonstrates the effectiveness of Caslon lower-case for billhead
purposes. When every line is in roman lower-case there is harmony, but
sometimes there is also monotony. In this instance, however, the
introduction of italic and small caps would alter the plan of the
heading and detract from its distinction. The rule border and the panel
for the insertion of customer’s name and address give distinction.

EXAMPLE 313 (Insert).—There is here another demonstration of the
transformation of a letterhead into a billhead. Remove the words “Sold
to” and the ruling at the foot and the form is ready for the letter
sheet. Kennerley type, altho primarily a book face, is also usable on
stationery where neat, distinctive effects are desired. Capitals are
spaced (as in the old books of Aldus), and italic is used with the
capital lines, this use of italic also being suggested by the work of
the Aldine Press. However, the specimen is not intended to be in the
classic spirit of Aldus; it is merely a modern commercial suggestion.

EXAMPLE 314.—Here is a billhead, or statement, in classic typography
that suggests the style of the fifteenth century. The heading is
practically in one size of type. Advertising distinction is obtained by
using capitals for the name, capitals and small capitals for the
business name and address, and italic for “In account with.” There is
not much that is striking about this billhead, yet, printed on a fine
quality of writing paper, it would make one really glad to receive a
bill of this kind.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 318

Invoice with lower portion divided into columns, as sometimes used in
business
]

EXAMPLE 315.—D. B. Updike makes plain by this specimen, as well as by
the preceding one, that typographic art and good taste can be used in
the designing of a billhead as well as in the designing of a book. The
woodcut device has the same good quality as the typography. The
old-fashioned “M” and “Dr.” are used, and blend well with the old
dignity of the heading. The ruling on the lower part of both of these
headings was printed from rules. There are other good printers who
prefer brass rule to the ruling machine for billhead purposes. Machine
ruling is convenient, but is not in good taste for billheads, statements
and letterheads of really fine quality.

EXAMPLE 316.—The stationery of a book dealer should have a bookish
character—that is, the typography should be inspired by the same skill
and taste evinced in the treatment of a good book. A well-designed
type-face should be selected, and there should not be a great contrast
in the sizes used. When it is possible to have two printings, the extra
impression could take the form of a simple rule border in color, as on
this specimen. The first type line runs almost from border to border at
the head, and another portion of the copy is arranged directly under it
in three even lines. The “Sold to” occupies its approved position. No
guide lines are provided for the accountant’s part of the bill, as with
a typewriter the various items can better be filled in without them, and
a billhead really looks neater without the rules.

EXAMPLE 317.—For printing on colored stock strong treatment is sometimes
advisable—treatment such as has been given this heading. On white paper
the type sizes should be kept small, as the light background illuminates
the print. White and black form the greatest contrast. There is not much
contrast between blue ink and blue paper, for instance, and it is
necessary to strengthen the print by the use of a larger or bolder
type-face. The arrangement shown is unconventional. A full line has been
made of the business title, the name itself being slightly emphasized by
printing it in color and giving an initial effect to the first letter.
Other parts of the copy are grouped at suitable points, “Sold to”
occupying the usual lower left corner.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 317

Large treatment that would look well in harmonious colors on colored
paper
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 319

Decorative type treatment suitable for the business of painting and
decorating
]

EXAMPLE 318.—Many invoices and billheads now have the lower part divided
into columns for taking care of the various items peculiar to the
business, as in this instance. The customer usually decides when he
wishes to depart from the conventional ruled effect, and it is just as
well for the printer not to suggest a change of this sort, as it means
extra composition for which the customer may be disinclined to pay. The
type-face on this well-arranged example is a good one for plain
commercial headings. It would be well, for convenience, to place the “M”
in the lower left corner and move the building address to the right
corner, over the street address.

EXAMPLE 319.—A decorator’s stationery seems to offer opportunity for
effects away from the customary plain treatment of the average heading.
This statement, in the same style as a letterhead that accompanied it,
shows a decorative type-face and an arrangement that could possibly be
called decorative. The upper two type groups are joined by the uncial
initial, and the two groups at the left are connected by the flower
ornament.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 320

An uncommon arrangement. The main type line tells the story, as the
company’s title describes the business
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 321

Credit bill made from the preceding billhead by adding a line at the
head and changing “Sold to” to “Credit”
]

EXAMPLE 320.—This is an unusual arrangement for a billhead. As the
business is stated in the firm name, there is not the usual necessity
for a second display line. While this arrangement could be carried out
in some other type-face, the serifless “block” letter as here used is
not displeasing. The grouping of the branch houses is good, and other
groups are also well placed.

EXAMPLE 321.—Most business houses find need for credit bills, to be used
when goods are returned or some error has been made in billing. Such
forms are easily provided by using the billhead, adding the words
“Credit Memorandum” at the head and changing “Sold to” to “Credit.” In
order that credit bills may look unlike regular bills, they should be
printed in color as is here shown.

EXAMPLE 322.—All professional stationery should be refined. The sizes of
paper and type should be small and the whole effect restrained and
polite. Such work seldom changes in style, and consequently there is
little variety. The form shown here would probably prove acceptable for
many years to men of the medical and similar professions.

It may not be out of place to remind the reader that an invoice (or
bill) is a list sent to a purchaser or consignee, containing the items
and charges of merchandise that have been forwarded to him.

As to the statement: It is a common practice to send each customer at
the first of the month a statement showing the debit balance of his
account to date, whether it is due or not, enabling him to compare the
statement with the ledger account. In order to call the attention of
customers to the fact that payment is desired, many business houses send
a statement whenever a bill is due (when goods are purchased on January
10, as an instance, at ten days, a statement is sent January 20).

There are numerous other forms used in business, such as checks, deposit
slips, drafts, promissory notes, bills of lading and the like, but there
is not space to show them here.

Such forms, if possible, should be in harmony with the style of the
letterheads, billheads and other stationery. The same type-face should
be used and the arrangement of display parts should have similarity.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 322

On professional bills the paper and type should be small and the
treatment restrained and polite
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 323

A label that catches the attention at a distance and looks well on the
background of wrapping paper
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 324

A label of classic simplicity for small packages and a business that
emphasizes daintiness and delicacy
]

[Illustration]

PACKAGE LABELS

The effect of an attractive package is recognized to be of such
importance that a widely known manufacturing concern recently sued a
competitor for imitating the appearance of its packages and labels.
However, not all business men feel this way about it.

After spending time and money in the production of merchandise of high
quality, it is more than foolish to economize on the packing.

It is possible, with good clothes well selected, to make an unattractive
person attractive, and it is also possible to make an attractive person
unattractive by poor clothes ill selected. Apply this.

The wrapping paper should be strong, and of color and finish suited to
the article to be wrapped. Some stylish city dry-goods houses use paper
with distinctive stripes or small monograms printed over its surface. A
well-known haberdasher wraps his hats in soft black paper.

The selection of the wrapping stock should of course be governed by the
character of the business and the class of customers, but as in similar
instances, it is dangerous to underestimate the taste of one’s
customers. The persons who lack appreciation of a neatly wrapped and
attractive package are very few indeed.

Among merchants, druggists are known to wrap the neatest packages. This
seems to be due in part to their professional training. Not many
printers give their product a similar attractiveness at the time of
delivery.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 325

A hand-lettered design for typographic study
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 326

Another label rich in suggestion
]

The art of making a good impression also includes the fastening of the
wrapper. Cord and twine are commonly used, and interest is sometimes
added by selecting appropriate colors. Linen tape for a business of an
exclusive nature gives distinction.

Gummed-paper tape, while convenient, seldom looks well, and when printed
on looks worse.

Corrugated board when properly used adds both neatness and protection to
the package. Some printers have cartons made from this board, in which
their product is packed and delivered.

The printed label is of the most interest, as it affords a spot of
attraction and furnishes information needed in the delivery of packages.
All labels should be planned with the wrapping paper as a background. A
label may look well alone, yet when placed on the package may appear
weak and uninteresting.

In order to test this, two labels of contrasting treatment are pictured
mounted on a sheet of conventional wrapping paper.

It will be admitted that the stronger label is more striking and catches
the attention. There are those who will prefer the weaker label because
of its neatness and beauty, yet we must not lose sight of the fact that
labels, unlike business cards and letterheads, are not usually seen at
close range when on packages. A business card is examined a few inches
from the eyes, while a label on a package is frequently viewed from a
point several feet away.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 327

Ruled lines for the address, in panel
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 328

A mass of black lettering with contrasts
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 329

Artistic quality and interest through typography
]

There does not seem to be any standard size for labels. They vary from
four, five and six inches wide to three, four and five inches high. When
_The American Printer_ conducted a label competition it specified the
size as five by four inches, and this seems to be a good average size.

The paper on which the label is printed should be stock that pastes
easily. White is used to the greatest extent, altho a cream-tinted color
such as comes in Japan vellum is preferred by some persons of good
taste.

EXAMPLE 323 (Insert).—As has been said, this label shows the
effectiveness of heavy effects. A design such as this has advertising
value. It can be seen and read at some distance, yet is not offensive in
appearance. The red border is attractive, and merges the label with the
wrapping background. The type-face has decorative quality. The
combination of black, red and cream in strong contrasts is worthy of
study. As will be noticed, all capitals have been used, and there is not
much space between the lines or between border and type-face.

EXAMPLE 324 (Insert).—For small packages and for a business that places
emphasis on daintiness this label treatment would be just the thing. The
classic simplicity of its design and the mere touch of color should
appeal to many. The main line is set in fourteen-point capitals and the
other three lines in twelve-point small capitals. Letterspacing adds
decorative interest and merges the letters with the background by
allowing the paper to show thru. The type-face is Goudy Oldstyle. The
dots between the words are hyphens slightly cut. The border is arranged
to suggest an architectural panel. This label and the preceding one have
been composed merely to suggest possible effects. It would not be
difficult to adapt most label copy to the styles shown.

EXAMPLE 325.—This and other hand-lettered labels included in this
chapter are presented as studies for the typographer. Hand-lettered
designs by good artists are usually arranged with much thought, and the
details give many ideas to those who have trained themselves to grasp
them. It will be noticed that the border of this label is composed of
three lines, a heavy and light line close together and a light line a
trifle removed. At the head are two lines of roman capitals and one of
italic. Do not overlook the smaller capitals “M” and “O,” and the close
spacing of the words in italic. The device is small and in color. The
use of roman lower-case, capitals and small capitals and italic in the
lower group should be examined carefully. While it is not possible to
obtain exactly these same results with type, they can be approximated
effectually. It is well, however, to emphasize at this point that in
approximating the effects of any good piece of lettering it makes a
difference what type-face is used. It will be noticed that the italic
capitals in this specimen have a decorative quality. Such an effect can
be imitated in a small way by the use of the swash letters that are
furnished with some old-style italics.

EXAMPLE 326.—This is another lettered design that is rich in suggestion.
No border is used, and the lettering is arranged close to the edges of
the paper. Contrary to the treatment of the preceding example, the
lettering is all slightly spaced. While it is well for the young
compositor not to letterspace lower-case, such practice is allowable
when the results are good. The effect here is one of antiquity,
especially since the letters are not perfectly formed (note the “m” in
the word “Amsden”). Caslon Oldstyle should be used in planning this
style of work. An unusual feature is that a part of the copy is placed
at the foot of the label so that the address is written between two
groups of lettering. The same plan is found in the preceding example.

EXAMPLE 327.—There is suggestion of Italian art in this label. Similar
effects could be closely approximated with typefounders’ material.
Attention is called to the manner in which the letters are treated so as
to avoid an excess of blank space in such groups as the “ATA” in
“catalogue.” Rule guide lines in a panel are provided for the address.
This space is usually left blank on modern labels, altho conservative
houses are inclined to retain the rules. In line with old ideas, the “M”
is included in the address portion. This letter is usually omitted on
labels for the same reason that it is left off of billheads.

EXAMPLE 328.—Closely spaced black-toned lettering is still liked by some
persons, and there is no use denying that when it is well rendered the
effect is pleasing. This example presents a mass of black lettering in
three lines of equal length, the lines merging with one another to
preserve the mass effect. The border, formed of a heavy and a lighter
line, is drawn with human irregularity that is in keeping with the
character of the design as a whole. The “For” in italic affords contrast
in both form and color. Also note the treatment of “St.,” which is made
small and placed in a position above the base of the other letters. This
treatment is typical of antique typography.

EXAMPLE 329.—That artistic quality and interest may be put in a label
form by means of typography is proved by this example. The lacelike
border, the spaced Kennerley types and the words and rule in red blend
attractively. Advertising value is present, yet it is so merged with the
general composition and the label that it is not offensive. In fact, it
adds decorative qualities. This label form would look well clearly
printed on a rough-finished paper of good quality—a hand-made paper if
possible.

EXAMPLE 330.—Another typographic label of character, a study in black
and white. The border (a combination of a heavy and a light rule) was
made intensely black to contrast with the white background, an effect as
of color. A type-face (Bodoni Bold) with similar strong contrasts was
then selected, arranged with liberal margins in the upper part. A
suitable ornament in dark tones added the picture element, and the words
“Deliver to” were widely letterspaced, as they were used decoratively.
This and the other typographic specimens indicate the possibilities that
are present in the everyday tools of the printer and the material that
is available. Many printers feel that they are not able to produce
typographic work of real quality, assuming that special equipment is
needed. The truth is that many are not able to produce good printing
because their type equipment and decorative material have not been well
selected. The fact that there is a lack of suitable type-faces usually
reveals itself to them after they have learned that one type-face is not
so good as another. In the finished work there is nothing seen of the
presses, of the imposing stones, or of the composing frames, but the
print of the type-face is on every sheet.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 330

A typographic study in black and white
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 331

A Caslon specimen, with decorative interest
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 332

Harmony of border, decorative device and lettering
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 333

Possible of typographic improvement
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 334

Freedom of treatment that is distinctive
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 335

Label used for a special list
]

EXAMPLE 331.—A specimen in Caslon, in which roman capitals and italic
lower-case (the Aldine combination) make up an interesting label. The
swash italic capitals add a specific decorative quality. The large
lower-case “f” gives a graceful touch to the “for.” Dotted rule inside
the black border is a change from the conventional continuous line. This
form was printed on Japan vellum.

EXAMPLE 332.—This is another hand-drawn label with qualities that can be
approximated in typography. Border, decorative device and lettering are
in the same key, and the harmony is agreeable. There are those who
thoughtlessly condemn black borders as funereal, a judgment that is
based on prejudice and not on an understanding of their use. It is well,
however, to caution the young compositor against abuse of the black
border; it would be well if he were to use no black borders until he had
developed taste in the practice of typography.

EXAMPLE 333.—An unusual label design that could probably be improved
with careful typography. The initials of the text lettering are not
exactly harmonious, and the space between words in the lower group is
excessive. Printers should practice on the improvement of the design.

EXAMPLE 334.—A characteristic Goudy type arrangement, with a freedom of
treatment that is distinctive. How many printers would give the
prominence to “From” that it has here? This suggests the custom of
printers of the sixteenth century in starting a title-page with a large
size of type regardless of the importance of the word or words.

EXAMPLE 335.—This label was used in mailing to a special list some fine
pieces of printing. The name of each addressee was printed in with type
as shown by the reproduction, and, needless to state, attracted
attention. The treatment of this label is uncommon in another respect—
the modest inconspicuousness of the phrase, “From the Bartlett-Orr
Press, New York.”

It would do no harm if printers also studied the stock labels
manufactured by certain stationery houses. They will find much that is
poor and commonplace and little that should be directly copied, but
there are many suggestions in label making that could be adapted. The
“reverse-plate” idea is one. The label is set in type and a proof sent
to the photo-engraver, who makes a plate in which the letters show white
and the background black. This plate can then be printed in color on
gummed paper and the paper trimmed so as to “bleed” the edges of the
printed background.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 338

Forceful business-card treatment exemplified by band-lettering
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 339

Gray-brown stock is suitable for unconventional effects of this kind
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 340

The black monogram has much to do with this card’s attractiveness
]

[Illustration]

BUSINESS CARDS

Polite society requires that a visitor shall be announced by a card
bearing his or her name, and the courtesies of business call for this
same formality. The man called on unexpectedly is placed at a
disadvantage if he has not understood the visitor’s name and has no idea
of his business. A card that clearly tells both name and business
prevents embarrassment and misunderstanding.

The card makes it unnecessary for the caller to explain who he is.
Without the printed information he would likely need to introduce
himself thus: “I am James Johnson. I am president of the Johnson
Manufacturing Company. We manufacture machinery for the making of
paints. Our office is at 320 Broadway. Our telephone number is Worth
4653.” But with all this neatly printed or engraved on a card, dignity
is maintained and embarrassment avoided.

The sizes of business cards are far from being standardized. Examination
of about one hundred business cards showed a range of sizes from 3 × 1½
to 4 × 2½ inches. The size of which there were most and which gave an
indication of standardization was 3½ × 2 inches. Fully one-quarter of
the cards were of that size. From this investigation it would seem
logical for printers to use that size unless the customer orders
otherwise.

White cards predominated in the lot examined, and this suggests that it
is in good taste for the printer to use white stock on most of the
business cards that he is called on to print.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 336

The probable result of an attempt to standardize the contents and
arrangement of a business card
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 337

Dignified treatment for the card of a well-known house. The firm name
and address are subordinated to the name of the person using the
card. No business is mentioned, an omission open to discussion
]

EXAMPLE 336.—If an effort were made to standardize the contents and
arrangement of a business card, the plan presented by this example would
probably result. The customer’s name is placed at the point of greatest
prominence, a trifle above the center of the card. The words describing
the business are second in position under the customer’s name. The
street and number are taken care of on the next line, and under the
street and number is the name of city or town. In the lower left corner
is provision for the representative’s name. The telephone number, for
which a business card is frequently preserved, finds place in the upper
part of the card. A variant for the position of the street and number
and the name of the city or town is in the lower right corner.

EXAMPLE 337.—Here is a card that is a model of dignity and of simple
business-card treatment. A good word can be said in favor of using the
individual’s name in the center of the card and the firm name in a less
prominent position. When a card is handed to a business man, he looks at
it first for the purpose of finding out who it is that wishes to see
him. A card of this kind tells him instantly. In many cases the
individual’s name alone would be sufficient. No business is mentioned,
as it is one of those cases in which it is assumed that the name of the
firm provides sufficient identity. In omitting mention of the business,
one should make sure that the firm is as well known as he assumes it is.
If the name is not familiar to the person receiving it, he will be
perplexed, not knowing if the visitor desires to sell him books, insure
his life, or buy a bill of goods. In the typographic treatment of this
card Cloister Oldstyle, capitals, has been used for the smaller line and
Cloister Bold, capitals, for the larger line. This slight contrast in
the strength of lettering in many instances gives quality and legibility
to steel-engraved and lithographed business cards and stationery. The
printer by having a well-designed type-face in two strengths will be
able to introduce similar good qualities in his work. The spacing
between words on this card is closer than that usually allowed by
compositors. Close spacing between words is a quality found in good
lettering and in good typography.

EXAMPLE 338 (Insert).—While the main purpose of this chapter is to
encourage the use of typography on business cards, a specimen of
hand-lettering is used to point out forceful treatment that, aided by
good printing, liberal blank space and high-class card stock, may
sometimes be effective for business-card purposes. The printer using a
card of this kind would see to it that it was not presented to a
prospective customer who had a dislike for anything unconventional.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 341

The monogram in color adds distinction
]

EXAMPLE 339 (Insert).—Conceding that a conventional arrangement on a
white cardboard is best for most purposes, it cannot be denied that a
design of the strength and interest of this one would often be received
with pleasure by the man in the business office. It is not unlikely that
the thought would occur to him that the printer who can produce a card
of this kind is qualified to design and print publicity matter equally
attractive for other purposes. Bewick Roman is the decorative type-face
shown. The border and ornaments used are essential to the good results
in this design. The card would not be as pleasing with the ornaments or
the border taken off. This card, by the way, is one of the good things
arranged by Will Bradley back in 1905.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 343

High-hat-and-frock-coat treatment
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 344

A business card in blocked capitals, with monogram of harmonious shape
]

EXAMPLE 340 (Insert).—Quality is added by an attractive black monogram
on a background of white supplemented by the gray formed by the type
group. This is an interesting specimen of business-card typography,
suggestive of architectural panel treatment. The lines (in Cloister
Title) are graded in size according to their importance, the telephone
line occupying an unusual position between the street address and the
name of the city. Because of its position, it also adds a bit of
legibility and prominence to both of these lines.

EXAMPLE 341.—This treatment is similar to the preceding example, with
the decorative device in color.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 342

An uncommon typographic effect
]

EXAMPLE 342.—This card is an interesting contrast to those that have
just been considered.

EXAMPLE 343.—Here is a card French in motive and of a style that emits
exclusiveness. It almost pictures the high hat and frock coat of the man
who would probably use it. All the formalities are observed, the
abbreviation “Mr.” preceding the name. The man who uses a card of this
kind would no more think of mentioning his business on a card than he
would of putting a business sign on his residence. The open-face type is
College Title and the italic is Caslon.

EXAMPLE 344.—An unusual arrangement in blocked Caslon capitals slightly
letterspaced. Arrangements of this kind are difficult for the compositor
and should not be attempted unless he is not hurried and can experiment
with the details of the composition. The shape of the monogram lends
itself to the general arrangement.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 345

Arrangement as suggested in Example 336 with an underprinting
decorative device
]

EXAMPLE 345.—This is a compact arrangement built somewhat after the
scheme outlined in Example 336. The decorative device in the original
was printed in a tint so like the stock that it suggested a watermark.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 346

Roman capitals with italic lower-case
]

EXAMPLE 346.—This card would better please the average person if italic
capitals were substituted for the roman. However, there was a historical
motive for treating it in this manner. When Aldus Manutius introduced
the slanting style of type we know as italic, only lower-case letters
were cast, and roman capitals were used with them.

EXAMPLE 347.—The Germans in the designing of business cards seem to have
abolished conventionality, as they endeavor to have each card in its
design possess distinct advertising value. This example is
representative of such effects.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 348

Decorative treatment suggested by the business
]

EXAMPLE 348.—The designer of this business card took his cue from the
word “decorators” and endeavored to form a card with decorative values.
This was the reason for the selection of Bewick Roman for the type-face
and the Italian ornament to occupy space that is usually left blank on
business cards.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 349

Italic is pleasing on some cards
]

EXAMPLE 349.—When dainty effects are desired, Caslon italic, as used on
the greater portion of this card, almost always looks well.

EXAMPLE 350.-A strong ornamental effect, such as appears on this card,
is liked by some people, but the printer would make a mistake to use it
unless he was sure that the customer would care for it. The typographic
treatment is simple and compact and lacks nothing in legibility. The
shape of the border corners fits into the space left by the contour of
the type group.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 347

Modern German business-card treatment
]

EXAMPLE 351.—An arrangement that has a suggestion of the classic. All
lines are in one size and in capitals. This treatment should not be used
excepting in special cases, as it would not meet the approval of most
customers.

EXAMPLE 352.—In the amount of matter it contains this card contrasts
strongly with Example 343. Some small business men find it good
advertising to give as much information on their cards as the size of
the card will allow. This example shows how a great deal of copy was
treated so that the general effect was not displeasing. In order to
accommodate this amount of copy, it is usually necessary to enlarge the
size of the card a trifle. Bodoni was used for all excepting two lines,
the firm name and address, which were set in Bodoni Bold.

EXAMPLE 353.—A decorative card that could be merged in color treatment
with an antique-finished stock of some suitable tint.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 350

A strong design for special purposes
]

EXAMPLE 354.—Horizontal lines crossing the face of a card are rarely
successful because they usually separate connecting phrases, but in this
instance the lines are a necessary part of the design and divide the
type matter at a suitable place.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 351

Classic arrangement in one size of type
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 353

Highly decorative, with possibilities for harmonious color effects
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 354

The horizontal lines are well employed
]

EXAMPLE 355.—This card in Bodoni and Bodoni Bold capitals, letterspaced,
with the use of a few rules, has distinction that could be successfully
carried to other forms of stationery. The contrasting heavy and light
rules blend with the heavy and light lines of the Bodoni Bold.

These specimens will convince both printer and user that there is more
than “one right way” to design business cards. Typography is the
interesting study that it is because, to paraphrase the words of
Shakespeare, age cannot wither nor custom stale its infinite variety.
Some style of typographic treatment is available to meet the likes and
dislikes, preferences and prejudices, of every one using business cards.
The strictly conventional person can be supplied with a strictly
conventional card, proper in all details. The artistic person, he of the
flowing tie, can obtain a card with sympathetic qualities. The noisy
huckster can be supplied with a typographic effect that almost shouts
the message it contains. In fact, character and personality can be
expressed typographically on the business card, and the printer will
find this matching of typography with human nature an interesting study.

A large city wholesale house cannot afford to circulate the
cheap-looking, inharmonious cards that some owners of small shops on
side streets seem pleased to use.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 352

A business card with a large amount of copy
]

More than an ordinary amount of thought should be given to the physical
construction of a business card. Because of the present great interest
in all forms of advertising, more individuality is permissible than
formerly. As typography can give distinction and attractiveness to
business cards, printers should study the use of type on this class of
printing, and give their customers the best possible service.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 355

Distinctive treatment adaptable for general stationery
]

Printers are producing cards in imitation of intaglio work to satisfy
customers who do not consider that a truly typographic design “looks
like a business card.” There is no use denying that copperplate
engravers set the style for much of the business-card printing. Shops
doing this imitation work should have samples of the best card work done
by engravers, so that their imitations may be as accurate as possible,
so far as concerns style, face and arrangement. There is little pleasure
in being an imitator unless you are a good one, and here is opportunity
to gain a reputation for the clever printing of imitation engraved work.
Good stock, a dense-black ink and perfect types are means to this end.
Pleasing results have also been obtained by using green-black ink or
dull gray-black ink, which assists in conveying the soft, pleasing
effects of lithography.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 356

This size of blotter will cut twelve out of a sheet of standard
blotting stock. The copy includes a calendar and is representative
of the conventional copy usually supplied for blotters. The calendar
is arranged without rules. The initial furnishes a spot of
attraction, separates the two groups and carries the eye to the
beginning of the message
]

[Illustration]

THE BLOTTER

Blotters have a place in modern business which, while not so important
as that of business cards, is fairly well established.

Business cards are left with customers as reminders, and altho blotters
are sent for the same purpose, they have the added quality of
usefulness. The treatment of a blotter should be as well thought out as
that of a business card. In a sense the blotter represents the business
house sending it, and while it may show less restraint and dignity than
the business card, coarseness should be avoided in the handling of both
type and illustration.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 357

A modest amount of copy and neat treatment
]

The blotter as a means of publicity much used by advertisers is no
longer an experiment; it is a familiar form in the printshop.

The advertising value of a blotter seems to lie in its ability to do one
of two things—strongly and favorably to attract attention when received,
or thru attractive simplicity to grow in favor during use. The former
may be likened to a rocket which compels attention and pleases for a
moment, and the latter to a star whose beauty attracts forever.

In planning a blotter it is well to keep in mind its utilitarian
character and make it as useful as possible.

The size is determined by the sheet of stock out of which blotters are
cut. As the stock measures 19 × 24 inches, most printers cut blotters a
trifle less than 9½ × 4 inches, thus securing twelve blotters to a sheet
of stock. There are others who prefer the blotters not so wide and make
them 8 or 8½ inches.

Another reason for the blotter size of a trifle less than 9½ × 4 inches
is that it fits nicely in a standard No. 10 Government envelop, which
measures 9½ × 4⅛ inches.

A size of blotter that is also much used measures about 6 × 3¼, and fits
in a No. 6¾ Government envelop, which measures 6½ × 3⅝. This size is
most convenient for inclosing with everyday business mail, and it is
possible that most of those actually using blotters prefer the smaller
size.

The blotter with an enameled surface on one side is probably the best
for use. A person naturally rubs his hand over the blotter to absorb the
wet ink, and an enameled surface feels more pleasant to the touch. When
not many blotters are on hand in a business office those with absorbent
surfaces on both sides render the greater service, but usually
advertisers keep offices well supplied.

From a printing point of view the blotter stock with one side
enamel-finished is better for illustrations or small type, while
rough-finished stock is suited to typographic treatments that require
antique effects.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 358

Blotter used in the writing room of a convention hall
]

EXAMPLE 356 (Insert).—This blotter represents not only the size of a
great many blotters but the contents, as it is customary to include a
monthly calendar. Too frequently forms of this character are made
inharmonious because stock calendar plates are utilized and are
accompanied by type-faces of another design. This lack of harmony is
seldom necessary, as the printer in his typography should match the
style of type used for the stock calendar plate. Sometimes in addition
to the calendar plate a stock illustration is also introduced, with
consequent duplication of spots of attraction. Either the calendar plate
or the illustration should be used; not both. The typographic
arrangement of blotters oftentimes is of a poor kind because the copy is
separated into numerous display parts. In so far as it is possible, the
treatment should be simple, and in order to suggest such treatment this
example has been prepared. It will be noticed that the entire blotter
has been set in one design of type-face—all roman, and mostly
lower-case. This manner of handling the typography will give good
results in almost every instance in which it is tried. The message of
the advertiser is presented in a plain, legible paragraph introduced by
an initial in color. The blank space liberally distributed is restful,
and the dark-printing qualities of the heavy-and-light-line border
contrast with the blank background, the rubricated initial and the mass
of gray in the type matter. No rule lines appear in the calendar
section, and the result is an appearance of natural freedom.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 359

Simple typographic arrangement with strong but pleasing contrasts
]

EXAMPLE 357.—Most blotters contain too much type matter. The business
man would probably appreciate a modest little announcement and consider
it a relief from the sledge-hammer advertising that too often forces
itself on his attention in an unwelcome way. As one rubs over the
average blotter he finds it almost necessary to close his eyes because
of the strong character of the design or color treatment. The
arrangement of this example is a suggestion for a little blotter that
would doubtless be welcomed by many. It could be of a size that would
fit in the personal checkbook. Because of the intimate character of its
use the typography should be confined to a simple paragraph or to a
group arrangement as shown. Both the message and the treatment here
given are in good taste for such a purpose, and, as has been suggested,
it is likely that similar treatment on a larger blotter would win
approval.

EXAMPLE 358.—This blotter was used in the writing room of a convention
hall and was prepared for a state meeting of a church organization. It
will be noticed that only the week of the convention is given in the
calendar, and that it begins on Thursday and ends on Wednesday. Some of
the factors that make this blotter pleasing are the liberal blank space,
the black lines of the rules, and the ornament in color. Text type is
used because of the religious character of the convention, and it is
letterspaced. As a general rule it is well not to letterspace text type,
but here in order to obtain a certain distinctive effect it has been
done with good results.

EXAMPLE 359.—Here is a suggestion for a simple typographic arrangement
with strong but pleasing contrasts. The color of the rule border
contrasts with the white of the background and the black of the
illustration. The gray effect of the type group is a harmonizing factor
that softens the contrasts. Only one face of type—Cloister Oldstyle—is
used, and that of a size that makes it possible for the business man to
read the message as he blots his signature. The treatment is masculine
and will please a great many because of its style.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 360

A blotter arrangement suggestive of an architectural panel
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 361

Blotter treatment that survives the test of time
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 362

Neat, refined arrangement of type matter and illustration
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 363

In which the type matter fills the blotter
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 364

A decorative blotter arranged the narrow way
]

EXAMPLE 360.—This blotter has the character of an architectural panel, a
motif that is adaptable to many forms of typography. The general gray
effect of the Forum Title and the architectural border is satisfying,
especially as the type group and border are separated by a liberal
amount of blank space. The shape of the type group suggests a keystone.
This is one of those blotters that the business man should find pleasure
in using and looking at frequently. It will be noticed that the spacing
between the words is less than the en-quad which the typographer would
customarily use in capital lines. It would be a mistake to separate
these Roman capitals with more space than that used here.

EXAMPLE 361.—It has been said that two important factors in good
typography are the material that is used and the material that is not
used. Horace Carr has done many good things with the Caslon type-face,
but none more pleasing than this blotter. It is a model of good taste in
blotter typography and the sort of treatment that has proved to be good
blotter advertising. This particular example was received by the author
some years ago and was then reproduced. Testing it with careful
examination after all this time, it looks as well as ever.

EXAMPLE 362.—Here is suggested a neat, refined arrangement, in which
type group and illustration are placed practically in the center of the
blotter and surrounded with blank space that accentuates its neatness.

EXAMPLE 363.—This blotter—one that was submitted several years ago in a
blotter competition—shows treatment which calls for the use of large
type that occupies almost the entire surface of the blotter. While an
effect such as that of the previous example is preferable for most
purposes, there are times when it is desirable to have the typography
arranged on a large scale.

EXAMPLE 364.—It is customary to design a blotter the broad way, but
occasionally printers desire for the sake of novelty to arrange it the
narrow way, as is done on this example. The blotter has decorative
quality because of the use of the gray border and the lower-case of
Kennerley Oldstyle. Lower-case properly used is usually attractive.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 365

Appropriate trademark and harmonizing typography
]

EXAMPLE 365.—A touch of appropriateness is given to this blotter by the
use of the scroll decorative piece, and the harmony is further carried
out by the selection of Bodoni Book for the type portion.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 366

Typographic poster in Roman capitals by Frederic W. Goudy
]

[Illustration]

POSTERS, CAR CARDS, WINDOW CARDS

Poster printing is a specialty in large cities, where plants are
equipped for the economical and effective production of such work.
However, consideration of the subject in this chapter will be confined
to the interest it may have for the general commercial printer, he who
is called upon at one hour to print a business card and at another to
produce a window card, car card or other form of poster printing.

The type equipment of the poster specialist includes strong gothic and
Clarendon faces, of a variety of widths that enable him to make a full
line of almost any word or combination of words. When such
strong-printing capital letters are used, most of the lines should be
full, as the general effect should be one of compactness. A very little
amount of spacing is sufficient. No extended reference will be made here
to the conventional poster that carries these heavy types, as its
arrangement is merely one that emphasizes in a plain manner the various
important parts of the copy. Skill is necessary, but not the skill of an
artist.

The wood-type equipment of the general commercial printer need not he
elaborate, but it should be well selected. There should be a blending of
styles in type-faces from the smallest size of metal type to the largest
wood letter. The wood-type makers duplicate most of the standard job
faces, so that harmony in this respect need be no idle dream.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 367

A lettered poster by Harvey Hopkins Dunn that should be studied by the
typographer
]

Among poster printers a sheet 29 × 39 inches is taken as a unit and is
known as a “one-sheet.” “Four-sheet,” “twelve-sheet,” etc., are terms
designating the number of units or “one-sheets” in the whole display. On
the other hand, the commercial printer’s “sheet” poster is generally the
full 25 × 38-inch paper, a “half-sheet” being 19 × 25 inches and a
“quarter-sheet” 12½ × 19 inches.

The size of car cards—the advertisements used in trolley, elevated and
subway cars—is usually 11 × 21 inches.

The most common sizes of window cards—advertisements placed in store
windows by courtesy of the merchants—are quarter-sheets (11 × 14 inches)
and half-sheets (14 × 22 inches), the unit of which is the standard
sheet of cardboard (about 22 × 28 inches).

Posters in their most attractive form are designed in pleasing
combinations of decorative illustration, lettering and harmonious
coloring. The printer with type alone cannot give the picture element,
but he can give color and lettering.

What a poster authority has said of the pictorial poster can to some
extent be said of the typographic poster: “The poster should be simple,
clever, attractive, perhaps sparkling, spontaneous, appropriate,
sometimes humorous, but in good taste, and should tell the story at a
glance. It should not be elaborate in detail or labored; the designer
should know where to stop. The coloring should be brilliant, yet simple;
when many colors are used most of them are wasted, as the eye does not
see them all. As detail in a poster is lost at a distance, it is
unnecessary. The best posters have no background and not much lettering,
as small lettering cannot be seen across the street, which is the test.”

It is assumed that the typographic poster is viewed at closer range, as
in its smaller sizes it is usually hung in stores and offices or posted
in convenient locations that permit of easy reading; yet the printer who
sets the work, as well as the man who writes the copy, should keep
before him the manner in which the poster, car card or window card is to
be used. A person sitting on the opposite side of the car should be able
to read the car card, and the person passing a store window should find
it possible to obtain the principal points of information from the
window card. On store cards, such as used during special sales, the
price should be prominently displayed.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 368

A lettered arrangement that has suggestion
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 369

A few words of copy and strong contrasts
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 370

A typographic style unique among insurance advertising in cars
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 371

Simplicity that is worthy of adaptation
]

EXAMPLE 366 (Insert).—The possibilities of typographic effects in poster
printing are to be seen in this example, arranged by Frederic W. Goudy.
Forum Title, designed by him, was selected as the type-face. In order to
obtain the larger sizes, the type was set in a smaller size, a clear
proof pulled and a photo-engraving made. This poster measures up to the
qualities outlined by the poster authority previously quoted. It is
“spontaneous, appropriate, simple, clever, attractive.”

EXAMPLE 367.—Altho this design is lettered, it should prove of great
value to the typographer as a study of composition. In the production of
this effective poster Mr. Dunn has given of his talent as an illustrator
as well as of his skill as a letterer. The apportionment of blank space
in the margins and at the head is pleasing, and it helps to make
effective the black masses of lettering and the octagonal illustration.
The border of thick and thin lines ties the design together.

EXAMPLE 368.—Most cards in urban cars are made up greatly of design and
illustration, but in this one we find the illustration taking a minor
position. The lettering is the main feature, and it should suggest
treatment with type that could be almost as effective.

EXAMPLE 369.—The strong contrast of black, red and white in this car
card could be approximated with bold, well-designed wood type. The trade
name is given most prominence, altho the remainder of the copy is also
strongly presented. A suggestion of decoration is to be found in the
ruled lines at the head and foot.

EXAMPLE 370.—Seldom is copy such as this furnished for car cards, yet
its conversational style probably caused it to be read more than other
cards. As an advertisement it is an improvement over the common method
of merely stating name and business. It presented opportunity to the
printer to use types in a sane, simple manner, and he did so. A two-line
initial letter starts the reading pleasantly, and the name in capitals
has sufficient prominence.

EXAMPLE 371.—At an exhibit of German modern-art posters the design that
stood out most strongly was one which contained only a name lettered and
an article illustrated. There was no detail to detract, and the effect
was altogether pleasant. This shoe card is planned along similar lines,
and the idea could well be put to further use.

EXAMPLE 372 (Insert).—This is a presentation of a three-sheet poster
which attracted the attention of the writer a few years ago because of
its simplicity. For such effects as this, which carry but little copy,
lower-case letters are appropriate. It is seldom, however, that the
commercial printer is provided with so few words for his posters.
Lower-case display, to look well, requires plenty of surrounding blank
space, while capitals accommodate themselves to close quarters.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 372

Refinement in theatrical printing. Was a large three-sheet poster
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 373

A border such as this blends with gothic type-faces
]

EXAMPLE 373 (Insert).—The “Secession” style of border and ornament
blends well with monotone type-faces without serifs, such as the type
commonly known as gothic. As the wood-type equipment of most printshops
very likely includes gothic faces, the style of treatment shown by this
specimen may be produced successfully. A border such as this is easily
procured, or can be made by the printer if he desires.

EXAMPLE 374.—Printers seldom take advantage of the opportunities offered
for unusual effects. This copy did not suggest anything to the
compositor who first set it and the result was commonplace, with nothing
to excite anything but ordinary interest. The fact that the birth of
Franklin was to be celebrated should have been sufficient to suggest an
arrangement such as is here presented, but it did not. Benjamin Franklin
purchased his type in England, some of it at the old letter foundry of
the Caslons; and what is more interesting than a poster announcement of
a Franklin dinner set in the style of type-face that Franklin himself
used? This has been done in the example under consideration. Roman,
italic, capitals and lower-case have been blended in the interesting
manner in which this was done in the eighteenth century. The long _s_
(ſ) of Franklin’s time is also used, to carry along the interest; it
appears, as will be noticed, in all cases excepting at the end of words.
A Caslon ornamental band is at the head and foot.

EXAMPLE 375.—This is another instance where the copy furnished a motif
that could be developed typographically. Reproductions from the First
Folio of Shakespeare’s works were available and from them an initial and
two decorative bands were enlarged to the desired size. The typography
of Shakespeare’s time was then studied and worked into the poster. The
Caslon type-face is not exactly the same as that used in the seventeenth
century, but there is sufficient similarity to make it suitable. Many
persons of the present day will shy at the use of a single capital
letter immediately following the initial, but that is the way it was
done in the old days. Typographers should early begin to accumulate a
library of books. They should frequent the second-hand bookstores, and
occasionally purchase some old volume that shows the style of typography
of fifty, one hundred or more years ago. The best printers do this.

EXAMPLE 376.—It should be an easy matter to produce attractive window
cards or paper hangers in this style. Selections from the many artistic
and odd cover papers obtainable, supported by harmonizing color
combinations, make possible any number of attractive effects. Only one
size of type should be used, and the border should be one that reflects
the character of the type-face. Plain rules for border purposes are more
successful in obtaining harmony than is decoration. As most letters
contain two widths of line, a rule border matching the wider line, or
both lines, is pleasing.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 374

Type treatment that suggests Franklin’s time
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 375

Poster in Shakespearean typography
]

EXAMPLE 377.—The Colonial style of type arrangement is here adapted to
window-card purposes. The window card has the same advertising reason
for its existence as the paper poster, and is printed on cardboard to
enable it to stand upright. The treatment of this card is such that the
word “Pinafore” and the decoration stand out most prominently, taking
for granted that a person interested by the sight of this word will come
close to the card and read it. Such an arrangement should not be
attempted unless the copy is suitable. Forcing unsuitable copy in
full-line Colonial arrangements results in illegibility and
dissatisfaction.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 376

A simple typographic treatment that offers possibilities for
attractive posters or window cards
]

EXAMPLE 378.—Sunday-school excursions furnish copy for many window
cards. The printer may appreciate this suggestion for an arrangement of
such a job. It is sufficiently unconventional to attract attention, at
the same time providing a simple way of arranging the matter that
usually comes in with such orders. The arrangement has merit from an
advertising point of view, the information being given concisely and
legibly.

It is probably true that the majority of printers have given no thought
whatever to the arrangement and treatment of posters. It is even likely
that there are job printers who feel that poster composition is beneath
their dignity. In view of these conditions, it is to be hoped that what
has here been written regarding the poster will serve to create new
interest in that line of work.

Years ago the author knew an old printer who had the reputation of being
the best sale-bill compositor in the county. His work was confined
almost entirely to the setting of posters announcing sales of farm
goods, yet he did it so carefully and efficiently that residents of the
county traveled miles to place an order with the concern for which this
man worked.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 377

The Colonial style used on a window card
]

Poster printing should not be attempted unless the equipment is such
that the work can be done profitably. Lack of sufficient wood type will
result in poor printing and makeshift arrangements. However, absence of
equipment did not worry a certain printer who did business some years
ago. He had no wood type at all, yet he accepted orders for posters and,
taking advantage of the craft courtesies of those days, borrowed all the
type lines from a competitor. It frequently happened that when the
competitor desired to set up a bill he found that the type was mostly in
the possession of the borrowing printer.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 378

Suggestion for an excursion window card
]

The large two-sheet and three-sheet posters look very big indeed to the
printer in the small shop whose product is confined to the output of his
platen presses, yet poster printing is merely printing on a larger
scale. The builder of the New York subways was once asked how he found
it possible to put through such a large undertaking. He replied that he
knew he could build a cellar, and a subway was merely a multiplication
of cellars. The printer who learns how effectively to produce a small
piece of printed advertising matter should be able, by developing and
enlarging on his ideas, to produce good poster work.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 381

A city department-store advertisement of the good kind
]

[Illustration]

ADVERTISEMENTS

Not every business man can write an advertisement well. Not every
printer can set an advertisement well.

Of the poor advertisements that mar newspapers and periodicals, fifty
per cent of the ineffectiveness should be blamed on those who write them
and fifty per cent on those who set them.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 379

Newspaper advertisement arranged without thought. See 380
]

In this chapter we are interested not in writing the advertisement, but
in properly treating it typographically after it has been written.

Some day advertising typography may become so standardized that a
compositor can be told in a few words just how he shall arrange it.
Meanwhile as there is more than one way to set type for advertisements,
we must for the present depend on the study of good type work, the
advice of those who have theories, and our own judgment.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 380

Easier to read and more pleasing to look at than 379
]

It is possible, however, to learn something about advertising typography
by giving thought to the ways of the orator, who swayed human beings
long before printing was invented. We have all listened to oratory in
the church pulpit, the public square and the Chautauqua tents, and in
halls on the occasion of political gatherings and organization
conventions. Our most agreeable recollections are of those moments when
we were so pleased and impressed with what the speaker was saying that
we did not think of his manner of saying it. Probably the most
successful printed matter is that which pleases and impresses without
one’s being immediately aware of the cause.

A good speaker will enunciate clearly and speak in a moderate tone that
can be heard.

A good typographic advertisement will be set in a legible type-face and
in a size that can be easily read.

Print can be too small or too large, too gray or too black.

If a speaker is addressing an exclusive group of persons, he lowers his
voice and talks in polite diction.

If he addresses a large crowd, many of whom are of less fastidious
tastes, he raises his voice, perhaps using all his power, and most
likely mixes with his English a little popular slang.

Thus advertising printing of the exclusive kind would likely be set in
type smaller and in design more classic than that used for publicity
matter that has wide and promiscuous circulation.

The typographer must keep in mind that while bluntness and forcefulness
are liked by some, they give offense to others.

There are orators so eloquent and flowery that one is led away from the
message by pleasure and admiration for qualities that should merely
carry the message.

There are advertisements so attractive in decorative beauty that one
sometimes forgets to read them.

And then there is the heavy-voiced orator who emphasizes every
statement. He startles and he tires, and is as unsuccessful as the
speaker who croons his audience to sleep with uninteresting monotones.
How like such speakers are the excitable, over-displayed advertisement,
and the large advertisement monotonously set without emphasis, in one
size of type!

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 382

The conversational style of page advertisement
]

The speaker who gracefully accentuates his talk at important points has
the same good judgment as the typographer who neatly displays or
emphasizes significant parts of his copy—not forgetting the orator who
gets applause at the wrong time, and the printer who by carelessness in
arrangement suggests the wrong thought.

Many speakers use the same words that Shakespeare used, but “they phrase
them differently,” just as printers arrange type differently.

The orator has a message, and he tries to “get it over.” The advertiser
has a message too, and he calls on the typographer to assist him in
gaining customers. The problems are not unlike.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 384

One word is thoroly advertised
]

EXAMPLES 379 AND 380.—These two advertisements picture the difference
between setting type with a stick and setting it with the head. It would
be illogical to assume that any thought at all was given to the type
composition of Example 370. It not only is unpleasant to look at, but is
difficult to read, notwithstanding the size of type used for the text.
Benjamin Sherbow, who has given much time to the training of type to act
for the advertiser, took the same material the newspaper compositor had
to work with, and at the crack of his whip the words assumed a new
formation. Keep in mind that Mr. Sherbow was not attempting to improve
the looks of the advertisement; he did improve the appearance, but what
he started out to do was to make the message easy to read. He labored
from the viewpoint of the reader and not from that of the advertiser or
printer. The difficulty usually is that the merchant and typographer are
too close to the details of their own daily occupations and fail to view
the advertisement as does the prospective customer.

The important first sentence was emphasized by subordinating the type
below. The smaller type is nevertheless easier to read than the same
words as originally arranged. The border serves to catch the reader’s
attention, as in the newspaper this little advertisement dominated the
page.

EXAMPLE 381 (Insert).—The department-store advertisement as represented
by this example is really a multiplication of small advertisements. It
is necessary for the writer and printer to give attention in detail to
each of the small paneled advertisements, but someone must assemble them
into a harmonious whole. This is usually done by first making a layout
in actual size. Such a layout as planned for the Lord & Taylor page
under consideration probably looked just as this advertisement would
look if everything but the panel borders, headlines and illustrations
were removed. Each panel was numbered, and the copy in each instance
contained a corresponding numeral.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 383

The name and the trademark depended on to sell goods
]

The style of lettering used for the firm name (Caslon italic) is a sort
of trademark, as it is to be found on the store’s stationery, on its
building and on its delivery cars. The ornamental border, especially the
festoon effect at the head, is used in all the newspaper advertising. It
will be noticed that two of the panels have been accentuated with
stronger borders, larger headlines and with decorative illustrations.
They are so placed in the general group as to balance pleasingly. Prices
are emphasized, but not as they usually are by department stores that
appeal more to the class of people who for economical reasons find it
necessary to take advantage of bargains. The names of articles in the
Lord & Taylor advertisement are set in a neat, bold type-face.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 385

Interesting use of white space
]

EXAMPLE 382.—This is one of those easily read, conversational styles of
advertisement set in Caslon Oldstyle. The first paragraph, in type a
size larger than the rest, invites the attention of the reader. The
ornament in the upper left corner adds attraction at the introductory
point.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 387

A study in advertising values
]

EXAMPLE 383.—Like the house of Tiffany, the makers of Knox hats do not
have much to say in their advertisements. The name and the trademark are
depended on to sell the hats. Cloister Oldstyle, the type-face,
surrounded by liberal blank space, is effective.

EXAMPLE 384.—The purpose of this advertisement is to popularize zinc,
and for this reason that word stands out so prominently. The rule band
at the head and foot attracts the attention, and the Caslon type-face
makes the advertisement readable.

EXAMPLE 385.—An easily read advertisement, due to the size and kind of
type and the use of blank space. Hart, Schaffner & Marx appreciate the
value of good typography. The two-line initial at the head guides the
eye to the beginning of the message. The signature at the foot is so
placed that it is not forced on the attention, yet it cannot be missed
after the two large paragraphs have been read.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 386

A bordered advertisement
]

EXAMPLE 386.—This arrangement of an advertisement shows a style liked by
the Mellin’s Food Company. The decorative border confines the attention
to the reading matter it contains, which is presented in Old-Style
Antique, a dark-toned, interesting, legible type-face. The display lines
are emphasized just enough to make them stand out from the main portion
of the text.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 388

This pictorial department-store advertisement attracted a great deal
of attention in New York newspapers during the holidays
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 389

The store name does not appear in this large department-store
advertisement published in the New York City newspapers
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 390

Four country-newspaper advertisements, showing slight variation in
border treatment
]

EXAMPLE 387.—The principal points in this advertisement are the name of
the company (which is accentuated to catch the eyes of the many who know
this house) and the three lines at the head (which are informative to
those who may not know the Gorham company). This advertisement serves
well as a study in advertising typography. Careless handling of it in
the composing-room would have spoiled its effectiveness. The border has
probably been used to attract attention, yet it does not interfere with
the reading of the advertisement, as the typographer has maintained a
liberal margin around the type matter.

EXAMPLE 388.—This is one of the many clever advertisements that are
inserted in newspapers by John Wanamaker, and is different from most
others because it is a picture-story of the goods on sale. The type
matter is secondary thruout excepting in the introductory panel at the
head, which is displayed merely to call attention to the style of the
advertisement and to the name of the advertiser.

EXAMPLE 389.—Few printers have seen a department-store advertisement
just like this one. It does not contain the name of the advertiser, and
there is practically no display. It looks more like a story in a general
magazine. A few circular illustrations are so placed as to relieve the
monotony of the columns of text, and a decorative piece is placed on
both sides of the heading. The page is also made interesting by the use
of space between paragraphs.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 391

A good-looking page advertisement that was easily read
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 392

Typography and shape of this four-column advertisement suggested by
the architecture of the tall building pictured
]

EXAMPLE 390 (Insert).—The most difficult copy to arrange well is
probably that supplied country newspapers by their advertisers. There is
seldom much to the copy, and it is almost always necessary to use
display unsupported by the solid paragraphs of text that soften the
contrast in advertisements that appear in city dailies. Here are four
advertisements different in size and representative of small-town
business. Some one has urged that fancy borders be not used in the
small-town newspaper, and that the rules for borders be the same
thruout. This advice is probably wrong, as it was tried in this instance
and the effect was found to be monotonous and uninteresting. The same
rule border is used around each advertisement, but to obtain contrast an
additional rule has been added to the coal advertisement and a holiday
border and another rule to the general-store advertisement. These slight
variations in border treatment add a great deal of interest to the page.
Each advertiser is entitled to an individual hearing, and this is only
possible when there is some distinct feature found in his advertisement
alone. In the city newspapers each department store usually has a
distinctive type-face which appears in no other advertisement. In the
small-town newspaper it may not be possible for the publisher to render
such service, but an effort in the same direction can be made by varying
the border treatment. The type-faces used in this example are Bodoni and
Bodoni Bold. With the use of the Bold, emphasis is given at proper
points in each of the four advertisements. In the largest one it is used
for the name of the firm, in the smallest one it sets forth the name of
the café, and in the other two advertisements it emphasizes the name of
the business. There may be another way to arrange the names of the
articles in the general-store advertisement, but it is doubtful if any
other arrangement would make reading easier. Typographers who are
inclined to treat lightly the problems of the small-town printer should
attempt to improve these advertisements.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 393

A page in which attractive typography was possible in spite of a long
list of agents
]

EXAMPLE 391.—The style of treatment of this trade-journal advertisement
is influenced to some extent by the article advertised, yet there is no
reason why this treatment would not be suitable for many advertisements
of another kind. The heavy-and-light-line rule border is of a darker
tone than the type page and for this reason adds color and interest.
There is sufficient blank space between the border and type matter to
allow for the text being read without interference. The capitals in the
headings are letterspaced, the letterspacing not only giving them
character, but making them more legible. The text matter is introduced
with an initial that extends upward from the first line instead of
downward as most initials are placed. This advertisement is of the
conversational style, arranged for easy reading.

EXAMPLE 392.—Some one has decreed that text types shall not be used in
advertisements, but fortunately those responsible for the planning of
this advertisement paid no attention to the decree. The advertisement
was inserted in newspapers for the purpose of calling attention to the
new building in the Gothic style of architecture erected for the Hampton
Shops. Any one who has studied the details of a Gothic structure such as
this or the Woolworth Building has felt the influence of the long,
narrow lines found in Gothic architecture. The shape of this
advertisement and the thin, pointed character of the text type used are
in splendid harmony with the general idea.

EXAMPLE 393.—There was presented to the designer of this advertisement
the problem of including in legible size a long list of cities and
agents and yet reserving sufficient space in which to give due
prominence to the text matter. The solution of the problem was the long,
narrow panel at the left. While the entire advertisement is easily read,
especially in its larger form, and probably has the approval of those
who insist on legibility in advertising composition, there is yet
something about it that will also interest those who maintain that
typography should be built on art principles. The border, trademark and
name of the article advertised blend in tone, while the remaining type
matter shows a pleasing gray. Inserting the trademark in the space left
by the shorter words of the heading makes the effect unusual.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 394

An advertisement planned to sell high-priced cars
]

EXAMPLE 394.—This is one of a series of newspaper advertisements
prepared for the Locomobile Company by T. M. Cleland. Planned to sell
automobiles costing five or six thousand dollars, it naturally is
treated differently from an advertisement that would sell cheaper cars.
The decorative crest is a factor in the effectiveness of this
advertisement, and the italic with the swash capitals helps to give a
touch of exclusiveness. It is an advertisement that will stand out on
the average newspaper page.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 395

Roman lettering and Roman architecture
]

EXAMPLE 395.—This advertisement has qualities similar to those of
Example 392, the typography of which was suggested by the architecture
of a building. Here we have an illustration of a building in Roman
architecture, hence it is suitable that the type should be Forum, which
is based on Roman carved lettering, and that the border should contain
lines that suggest an architectural panel. Of course, this matter of
harmonizing the plan of an advertisement with the architecture of a
building can be overdone. An advertisement is not necessarily a good
advertisement because of such harmony, yet if an advertisement is
readably presented, harmonious type selection and arrangement should add
effectiveness.

EXAMPLE 396.—This advertisement in a way suggests Example 385, and in
contrast with that example furnishes a study in the use of blank space.
In the Hart, Schaffner & Marx advertisement the margin is equal on both
sides, and monotony is avoided by having the margin at the foot of the
type group more than on the sides. In this Kodak page the text group is
courageously pushed to the extreme upper right corner, and all of the
blank space is assembled at the left and at the foot. The use of so much
space is probably for the purpose of attracting attention, which it
undoubtedly does. Nevertheless, it is possible that the advertisement
would look better if the text group were treated as in Example 385.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 396

Uncommon placing of blank space to attract attention
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 397

The modest display of a large magazine advertisement
]

EXAMPLE 397.—This advertisement has been reduced considerably, as it
originally occupied a large magazine page. For effectiveness the
typographic treatment was depended on, and, as will be seen, it is
unusually neat. The headline and the name of the company are the only
suggestions of display on the page. The illustration, of course, is to
catch the reader’s attention.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 398

The blank space emphasizes the illustration
]

EXAMPLE 398.—Altho this is a lettered advertisement, it is a good
example of blank space used to attract attention not only to the
advertisement, but to the illustration, which here is really of the most
importance. It should be noticed how the blank space in the upper right
portion clears the way for a view of the automobile. Many advertisers
are using a strip of white space in their advertisements, at the right
or at the left.

EXAMPLE 399.—The treatment of this advertisement proves that it is not
absolutely necessary to have the typography of country-newspaper
advertisements as formal as that presented in Example 390. For general
newspaper use Bodoni modern might have preference over the more
interesting Cloister Oldstyle, yet a newspaper treated entirely in
old-style type-faces would be likable. If this advertisement were placed
on the average newspaper advertising page, it would stand out strongly
because of the blank space used around the type group, the restful and
pleasing type-face and the dark-toned border.

EXAMPLE 400.—The manner in which this page of advertisements is treated
should have suggestion for newspaper and periodical publishers who wish
to make their classified-advertising sections more interesting. This
page, from a trade publication (_The American Printer_), was set in
eight-point type instead of the six-point that some publications usually
use. It is a mistake to use type smaller than eight-point for matter
that is supposed to be read. The expense and the time necessary to put
in initials at the beginning of each advertisement are avoided by
capitalizing the first word and setting it flush with the end of the
line. Instead of using the stereotyped “Help Wanted” and “Situations
Wanted” headings, human interest was introduced by phrasing each heading
as a question, as would likely be done on a larger advertisement.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 399

A country-newspaper advertisement
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 400

Suggested for treatment of classified ad. sections
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 403

The neat typography and well-balanced make-up of a suburban newspaper
]

[Illustration]

NEWSPAPERS

We are all familiar with the modeling clay with which children amuse
themselves. They take a portion of gray clay, mold it into some shape,
and decorate it with small portions of red, yellow and blue clay. After
they tire of their production they knead it with their fingers and lo!
the bright colors disappear and there remains only the neutral gray.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 401

The first and only number of America’s first newspaper
]

The only way the typographical appearance of the average newspaper can
be improved is by first reducing the glaring headlines and heterogeneous
assortment of type-faces to a neutral gray. Upon this drab background
the details of suitable and harmonious typographic form can be built.

However, it is easier to assert that the typography of newspapers can be
improved than it is to improve it. In the early days of newspaper
publishing the problem was a simple one, but today the newspapers of the
large cities have hundreds of thousands of readers to serve, and much of
the prevailing poor typography has resulted from efforts to present the
news to these readers in a way that editors assume will please them
best, without giving any thought to technical defects in the type work.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 402

First number of the first American newspaper issued regularly
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 404

Front-page make-up of a Hearst newspaper on the occasion of a big
story. All of the display headings are probably too large
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 405

The same news story, featured by the conservative “Times.” Headings
are mostly well balanced. Note the use of panels
]

The ideal newspaper would probably be one in which the reader finds it
easy to locate and read the articles in which he is interested, and in
which the contents are presented in an orderly, good-looking,
well-balanced and harmonious manner.

THE TITLE.—The name of the newspaper at the head of the front page
should be distinctive in design, and it would probably add interest if
the style of the letters composing the title bore some relation to that
used at the time the publication was founded. Unfortunately, on most
newspapers the headings are altered every time a new type dress is
adopted.

For titles, most publishers of city newspapers seem to have a liking for
English or German text letters. Such letters are doubtless good for the
purpose, as they are different from any that appear elsewhere in
newspapers. The New York _Sun_, as an instance, uses a black German text
letter, altho on its first issue in 1833 the title head appeared in
modern roman capitals.

It has become a practice to make use of the blank space on both ends of
the title line, and in such spaces will now be found weather forecasts,
slogans such as “All the News That’s Fit to Print,” and edition names.
(See Example 405.) It was the custom at one time, and is today to some
extent, to print under the title a quotation which defined the
newspaper’s editorial policy. (See Example 403.)

A type line under the title separated by rules on both sides contains
the name of the city, the date, the volume number, and information
regarding the price. (See Example 403.) Usually the rules have a double
line, altho some newspapers use single rules for this purpose.

THE TEXT.—The main desire of newspaper publishers, besides preparing the
news, seems to be to have the matter set in the smallest size of type
that can possibly be read. The large city dailies habitually use a
seven-point type-face, which is the smallest that should appear on any
newspaper. (See Example 406.) During the recent prevailing high cost of
print paper some publishers began to use six-point in order to save
paper, but they found that this move was a mistake. Newspapers are
published to be read, and everything possible should be done to make the
reader’s task an easy one. Experiments by an educational body in England
resulted in determining that ten-point should be the minimum size of
type used for educational purposes. From this it will be seen that the
seven-point type used on newspapers is too small and a cause of
eyestrain.

The narrow width of the columns of newspapers—twelve and a half or
thirteen picas—makes reading of the small type fairly easy, however. The
eye has been tested scientifically and the discovery made that a person
actually sees at a glance less than an inch of a line of type. Hence
long lines require extreme side movements of the eyeballs or of the
head. It is a mistake, as will be seen, to set editorials in a measure
that extends over two columns, as is done on some publications.

Space between lines also helps the reader in locating the beginning of
the next line, for which reason, and also to give them prominence,
editorials are usually leaded. The beginning of an important article is
sometimes leaded.

Lengthy excerpts or quotations are usually set in the same size of type
but indented one em at the right and left ends of the line. (See Example
405, third column.)

THE HEADINGS.—The first newspaper continuously published in this country
was a letter (see Example 402), and the items it contained were not set
off with headings. As the quantity of news increased and newspapers
became larger in size, headings were added. During the middle of the
last century most of these were side headings joined to the first
paragraph. When it became possible to print news promptly more attention
was given to displaying the headings. As the Civil War developed,
newspaper headlines grew, and with the Spanish War came front-page
headings of poster proportions.

Headlines not only advertise the contents of the text pages, but assist
the reader quickly to absorb the news. As the reader cannot in these
busy days read the entire paper, headings assist him in locating the
items in which he is interested.

The error of using thrilling scareheads for comparatively unimportant
events was made evident when the European War started. Some of the
publications had cried “Wolf!” so frequently that there was no emphasis
left for a really big story.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 406

Actual size of a well-treated four-deck Heading
]

Head-letter type should not be intensely black, unless the reader is
expected to read only the headlines. It is irritating to attempt to read
the text matter in an article if strong black headlines continually
glare at you. (See Example 404.) The head letter should be just a trifle
darker in tone than the background of text type, or if liberal leading
is possible a letter the same tone as the text is suitable.

Because of the narrowness of newspaper columns it is necessary that type
for headlines shall be slightly condensed, especially for the large
lines. As few type-faces are legible in a condensed form, it is a
problem to select a type-face for this purpose. Probably the most
successful type-face of this kind has proved to be Latin Antique
Condensed, a letter that has been in such use for a number of years.
(See Example 406.)

It is, of course, best to have all type-faces harmonious in design, but
the requirements of the newspaper are so unusual that in order to secure
contrast this rule must be violated. In Example 403 will be seen the
neat and restful effect that is possible by using thruout type that is
harmonious, yet there is a monotony to the page that could probably be
overcome by substituting, say, italic for roman in several of the
headings. On the page of the New York _Times_ (Example 405) will be
found headings in italic. Lower-case italic looks well used for the main
lines of a double-column heading.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 407

The sporting page of the New York “Tribune,” showing interesting
make-up
]

It is well first to harmonize the newspaper page, as in Example 403, and
then add needed contrast, as in most newspapers attempts at contrast are
so frequent that the result is confusing.

Paneled headings also add variety; specimens of such headings will be
found in Examples 404, 407 and 408.

Restraint in the use of display headings by the New York _Times_, as
compared with the noisy scareheads of the New York _American_ used in
reporting the same news, will be seen by comparing Example 405 with
Example 404.

What is called a four-deck single-column heading, as used by the New
York _Times_, is shown actual size in Example 406. Latin Antique
Condensed is used for the first two lines and Newspaper Gothic for the
other three decks. This heading as it stands is perhaps the most
pleasing and legible of those used by metropolitan newspapers. A
four-deck heading should present in the first deck the feature of the
story; the first deck, and if possible every other deck in the heading,
should contain a verb. The third deck is really the second in
importance, and, like the first one, is usually set in capitals. The
size of the lower-case used for the fourth deck is usually smaller than
that used for the second. It would be a mistake to use capitals for the
second and fourth decks, as the result would be monotonous and
illegible. The small section of text matter accompanying the head also
shows a seven-point face on an eight-point slug, as used by the _Times_.

THE MAKE-UP.—In the make-up of a newspaper the sometimes derided “art
tenets” should not be neglected. A good-looking newspaper has
well-balanced headings, properly placed illustrations, and the various
typographic details treated according to the requirements of good taste.
Large display headings are usually alternated at the head of the page
with small headings, which arrangement not only looks well, but enables
the reader to peruse one heading without interference from another.

It is the practice of most good newspapers not to have advertisements
appear on the front page, which is given over to the important news of
the day. As will be seen by Examples 404 and 405, the article of most
importance, no matter how large the heading given to it, appears in the
furthermost right column, whence it is usually continued to the second
page. Example 403 also shows how an important article can be featured in
the center of the page.

Interest and variety are also obtained by the use of a one-point rule
around a portion of the news, as will be seen on Examples 404 and 405.
The type matter on the inside is set close to, but not against, the rule
panel.

The editorials on most newspapers are to be found on the sixth page, and
on the same page letters to the editors are also placed. There is a
movement, begun by the Hearst newspapers, to have the editorials appear
on the last page so that they may be read without the necessity of
locating them in the paper.

The sporting page has also come to be an important feature of the
newspaper. An attractively arranged sporting page is shown in Example
407.

It is customary to build advertisements from the lower right corner of
the page in a step or pyramid arrangement. (See Example 408.) This
allows most of the text matter to appear at the left and in the upper
portion of the page, and also makes it easy to give position next to
reading matter as required by some advertisers.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 408

So-called pyramid make-up of a newspaper’s advertisements. A
“make-believe” newspaper
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 409

Church book decorative treatment by Will Bradley Featured on a
Thanksgiving number of “Collier’s”
]

[Illustration]

PERIODICALS

The typography and the make-up of periodicals in the century last past
were sedate and uninteresting to most Americans. As a consequence there
came a change, and publishers endeavored to make their publications more
attractive to readers. The letterer and the decorator were permitted to
let their fancies run free over the magazine pages, and assuming that
their readers had poor taste and weak eyesight the publishers of trade
journals splattered their pages with ugly black circus poster type.

So long as there is poor printing (we read in the Good Book: “For ye
have the poor always with you”) there will be periodicals
typographically poor. Yet, thanks to those who have trained themselves
as typographic advisors, many American periodicals are now good to look
at and at the same time easy to read.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 410

Dignity in make-up and type treatment. By Walter Gilliss
]

We will consider the dimensions of the publication, the front cover,
number of columns, the margins, type-faces for the text and for the
headings, make-up of the illustrations, arrangement of headings, the
captions, the editorial pages, features, and the advertisements.

* * * * *

THE DIMENSIONS.—Whim has much to do with the selection of sizes for
periodicals, and precedent, or what the other fellow is using, has some
influence also. Assembled and stood on end, several dozen periodicals
gathered at random present the appearance of a platoon of “rookie”
soldiers before they have been ranged according to hight.

Sixty-six business and technical publications were recently measured by
the writer, and the dimensions of about half of them approximated 9 × 12
inches. The other half varied from 6 × 9 to 10 × 15 inches.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 411

Harmony of the type-faces used for heading and text
]

Examination of about two score of magazines revealed three groups of
dimensions: 7 × 10, 9 × 12 and 11 × 14 inches. These dimensions are
approximate, few magazines measuring exactly the same, the variations
amounting to half an inch in some instances and several inches in
others.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 412

Advertising the story to the readers
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 414

Style of make-up of these three pages suggested by Benjamin Sherbow
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 413

Interesting heading treatment and inserted feature panel
]

_Scribner’s_ is a type of the magazine in the 7 × 10 class (the actual
measurement being a trifle minus); the _Independent_, of the 9 × 12
class (actual measurement 8¾ × 12 inches); and the _Saturday Evening
Post_, of the 11 × 14 class, measuring exactly that size.

There has been a movement among magazines away from the smaller
dimensions toward the larger, for the purpose of better displaying
features and of enabling reading matter to be placed alongside of
advertisements.

To a similar extent the business and technical publications have
experienced reductions from the very large sizes that originally were
probably inspired by the bigness of newspapers.

There are also a few small pocket magazines of the _Philistine_ size
that Elbert Hubbard made popular.

* * * * *

THE FRONT COVER.—Typography has little to do with the average cover of
the general magazine in America. The foundation of the design is usually
a painting, the subject being seasonable or otherwise appropriate.
Lettering and decoration are added by an artist other than the one
drawing the picture. In such cases the design is changed with every
issue. Some magazines, the more conservative ones, use a design
containing lettering and decoration only, and with each issue merely
change such lettering as refers to editorial features.

The European custom of printing a paid advertisement on the front cover
of periodicals has extended to America, and, while such advertisements
will not be found on the general magazines, some business and technical
periodicals have succumbed to the temptation thus offered for increased
revenue.

When the front cover is sold, only an inch or so is retained for the
title of the periodical. One publisher did stipulate that no color in
the cover advertisement should come within two inches of the title; but
even this rule is now disregarded on his periodicals. The time may yet
come when the title of a publication will appear at the foot of the
front cover in six-point.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 415

Headings and text matter in the same face of type, Scotch Roman
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 416

Type of medium strength and use of a small illustration in heading
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 410-A

Section of text matter from the “World’s Work”

(Monotype No. 22-E, 10-point on 11-point body, 10 set)
]

A weekly technical periodical in every issue has some appropriate view
made into halftone and uses it inside a large panel under the title, and
a photographic journal prints a reproduction of an artistic photograph
on the cover, changing the subject with each issue.

* * * * *

COLUMNS.—The number of columns to a page should be decided by the size
of type used. Seven-point and eight-point type should be confined in
columns twelve or thirteen picas wide. Ten-point, eleven-point and
twelve-point type can be read even if the columns are sixteen or more
picas wide. However, no column in a book or periodical should exceed
twenty-four picas. Neither should a column be unreasonably narrow.

Scientific tests show that the eye is strained in the reading of wide
columns. The column should be of such width that reading of the matter
can be accomplished with only slight movements of the eyes to the right,
after they have been focused at the beginning of the line to fit the
size of type. When the column is too wide the head must be moved to the
right and left with the reading of every line or the eyes may be injured
from the strain and repeated change of focus.

A look over the examples of periodical pages in this chapter will show
practically an acceptance of these requirements—three columns in the
periodicals of large size and two columns in those of smaller size. For
pocket magazines one column is naturally sufficient. In several
instances (Examples 417 and 418) three columns instead of two would have
been advisable.

Gutenberg, when he planned the pages of his famous Bible, arranged for
two columns each about twenty picas wide, altho his type was large—about
twenty points in size.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 424-A

Section of text matter from the “Saturday Evening Post”

(Monotype No. 20-A, 8-point on 9-point body, 8¾ set)
]

It is a great mistake to set, as some business publications do,
six-point type in lines twenty-five or thirty picas wide. To require the
reader’s eyes, after being focused on such small type, to travel back
and forth that distance is almost an invitation not to read the matter.

* * * * *

THE MARGINS.—Blank space surrounding the printed pages in periodicals
should be apportioned as it is in good books—the smallest margin at the
binding side and increasing in amount in this order: Head, outer side,
foot. Even when the total amount of margin is small it should be
apportioned in this manner.

The rule can be stated in another way: the largest margin at the foot,
with the type page inclining toward the bound side.

Periodical binderies do not always give the publisher good margins, even
after he has planned for them. Unevenly cut paper, careless folding and
inaccurate trimming will prevent the securing of desired results.

In measuring margins the running headings should be ignored if they are
small, but in any event the printed page should have the appearance of
being a trifle high on the leaf.

* * * * *

TYPE-FACES FOR THE TEXT.—Type-faces for the text matter of most
periodicals must be chosen for reasons different from those governing
the selection of type-faces for other purposes, because of the small
size, usually eight-point or nine-point.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 422-A

Section of text matter from the “Independent”

(Monotype No. 20-A, 9-point on 10-point body, 9¾ set)
]

Type-faces that are legible and good-looking in twelve-point may prove
illegible and ill-looking in eight-point. This is to some extent true of
Caslon Oldstyle when printed on calendered surfaces. Such illegibility
may be due to the hairlines, which almost disappear in the small sizes.

Commendable letters for periodicals that require small type-faces are
the dark-printing kind represented by Century Expanded. Examples 422 and
424 are set in letters of this kind. (See also Examples 422-A and 424-A
for type matter as actually used.)

As these types have short descenders the text matter is made more
legible by separating lines with one-point leads or, in machine
composition, by casting a face on a body a point larger (as in Example
424-A, which shows an eight-point face cast on a nine-point body, and in
Example 422-A, which shows nine-point on ten-point body).

French Oldstyle (especially Cadmus) is not only fairly legible in small
sizes but good-looking. A representative of this style of type will be
found in Examples 410 and 411, and is shown actual size in Example
410-A.

Modern or old-style type-faces that are legible when printed on news
paper or antique paper are sometimes not so when printed on calendered
surfaces. A type-face such as Caslon Oldstyle was designed for printing
on dampened paper of an unfinished surface, and it is no wonder that it
does not appear at its best in small sizes on calendered paper.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 417

Box headings are conspicuous on this editorial page
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 419

Excellent typography of an editorial page
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 418

Another way to feature the editorials
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 420

Novel use of rules on an editorial page. By Sherbow
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 421

News photograph on the front page
]

It is absolutely necessary that the text matter of a periodical be
easily read, yet the type-face should not be selected for that reason
alone. It should be well formed and pleasing to look at, and, if
possible, be a face that makes feasible some harmony in design between
text type and head letter.

In publications that have text matter in eleven-point or twelve-point a
letter such as Caslon Oldstyle would doubtless be satisfactory, and on
small publications Old-Style Antique or Cushing Oldstyle render
excellent service.

Scotch Roman, notwithstanding the fact that it contains hairlines, gives
fairly good results, provided the paper is not highly calendered.

Letters with hairlines when printed on calendered paper lack the little
legibility that they otherwise possess. Many letters could be made more
legible, especially those composed on machines, by cutting the matrices
so that the print of the thin lines is a trifle stronger.

The chapter on “Type-Faces” should be read in this connection.

* * * * *

TYPE-FACES FOR THE HEADINGS.—An ideal condition in periodical make-up is
one which makes possible the use for headings of the identical design of
type that has been selected for the text matter, as in Examples 410 and
411, where a French Oldstyle has been used, and in Example 415, where
Scotch Roman is the type-face.

It is not possible always to use the very same design of type-face for
both headings and text matter. After a text letter has been chosen for
legibility or other reason, the identical type in larger sizes may prove
to be too plain for the sort of periodical on which it is to appear. And
there are sometimes special reasons, regrettable but unavoidable, an
instance of which is this volume, wherein the text matter is in Scotch
Roman (a modern letter with some relation to old-style) and the headings
and captions in a type-face of old-style form. This combination is not
ideal, and the explanation follows. In order that “The Art and Practice
of Typography” could be published at a price that would enable it to be
widely circulated, the chapters, as soon as each was prepared, were
first printed in _The American Printer_. The type-face used for the text
matter and headings in that publication was Scotch Roman, hence it was
felt necessary to use Scotch Roman for the text of this volume. However,
it was believed that a darker type-face of old-style formation would be
more pleasing for the headings, and a Goudy letter was selected.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 422

Fine specimen of typographic make-up
]

A modern type-face (Bodoni Bold) appears on the headings in Example 412,
413 and 414. Bodoni (not the bold) is also used for headings in Examples
416 and 427.

Caslon Oldstyle is to be found used for both headings and text in
Examples 426 and 430. Old-Style Antique appears in Example 431.

The _Saturday Evening Post_ for many years made use of an old-style
letter for its headings that as a type-face was known as Post Oldstyle.
The italic, outlined and filled in with gray-printing lines, is shown in
Example 424.

A Gothic decorative letter is not out of place on a Christmas number of
_Collier’s_ (Example 425), but is not recommended for general use on
periodical pages.

Large, bold, black type-faces for headings in periodicals should be
avoided.

Interest can be added, in the treatment of department headings of
technical publications, by using slightly decorative panels, but such
decoration should be light or slight, and not the commonplace sort
sometimes found in ill-treated job work.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 423

An attractive first text page. By Lester Douglas
]

Editorial and title headings in typographic treatment should blend with
other parts of the text pages and not look, as some do, like
quarter-page advertisements inserted in reading matter. Example 429
shows good treatment.

* * * * *

MAKE-UP OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS.—When planning to use illustrations on
periodicals both facing pages should be before the person doing the
planning. The text matter of the two pages forms a background of gray,
and the problem is to place illustrations, headings and initials in
positions that will not only be well balanced but so assembled that one
will not interfere with another.

Usually there should be some text matter between illustrations; they
should be placed toward the outer side of the page (see Example 422).
The center position is practicable when there are three columns and the
illustration is but a single column in width, or when the expense of
running around may be incurred (see Example 424).

Illustrations frequently look better separated from the heading, as in
Example 414, than when joined with the heading, as in Example 412.

The same style of illustration should, if possible, be used on facing
pages. Make-up that shows a line plate on one page and a halftone on the
adjoining page is inharmonious and not so pleasing as when all
illustrations on facing pages are of the same character. They should be,
say, either line like that in Example 414 or halftone like that in
Example 412.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 424

Illustration placed in center, necessitating running around
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 425

Feature page of a Christmas number
]

When an illustration appears on a text page, initial letters should be
plain and small, as in Example 414; but when no illustration appears the
initial can be large, as in Example 411, or even decorative. For regular
purposes initials as used on Examples 409 and 425 are inadvisable.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 426

Convention feature page of a technical journal
]

Pleasing use of a vignette style of illustration is to be seen in
Example 430. It lends interest to the first text page and at the same
time illustrates the leading article.

The illustration in Example 429 is also effectively placed.

* * * * *

ARRANGEMENT OF HEADINGS.—Headings, in a way, advertise or “sell” the
contents of a periodical, and their arrangement depends on how far the
editor or layout man wishes to go in advertising or “selling” the
contents. The American people have so much reading matter available that
it is probably necessary in most instances almost to force them to read
the various articles in periodicals. Encyclopedias are read even if
there are no display headings and the type is in six-point, and there
are periodicals that are read without urging; but it may as well be
conceded that articles are read more when they are well advertised.

A well-advertised story will be found in Example 413. The title is
brought out prominently in a large, bold type, as is the name of the
author. The italic line above the title smacks of real advertising, as
does the group of type inserted in the upper part of the text. The
display in Example 412 is frankly advertising in its appearance.

The _Saturday Evening Post_ heading (Example 424) is large, but there is
no descriptive advertising, and there is little of the nervous fear of
going unread so evident in Examples 412 and 413.

Calm, yet pleasing, treatment of headings is to be found in Examples 411
and 423. It is well to give attention to the presentation of article
headings, but sometimes in the place where the heading should go there
is so much noise and so much talking that, as a means of resting the
nerves, the leaf is quickly turned or the periodical laid aside.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 427

News headings and make-up
]

Periodical titles, as they appear on the first text page of each issue,
are variously treated. The small, neat effect of Example 423 is
commendable. It is in Scotch Roman and harmonizes with the article
heading and text type. Title headings on a larger scale will be found in
Examples 410, 415 and 416. Special lettering is sometimes pleasing, as
in Examples 421 and 430.

The news department of trade and business periodicals requires numerous
headings. Example 427 is suggestive. There the news articles are in
narrow columns and have a newspaper style of heading.

Caslon Oldstyle looks well on any class of publication. Roman capitals
and lower-case and italic may be used in the same line, as on Example
429.

* * * * *

THE CAPTIONS.—It is customary to set captions centered under
illustrations in a size smaller of the type-face used for the text
matter and to arrange the caption in one or more lines no wider than the
illustration.

When the caption is in two parts the first part is usually set in
capitals and the second part in lower-case, both centered. The
lower-case is sometimes roman and sometimes italic.

Seldom do captions receive the special decorative treatment that has
been accorded them in Examples 412 and 414. Even two-line initial
letters have been used with them.

The plain double caption in roman capitals and lower-case is to be found
in Examples 421 and 422. A single caption in italic lower-case is shown
inside a rule that surrounds the illustration in Example 424.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 428

A conservative and readable editorial page
]

Arrangement of captions in lines of the same length, making a block of
type (as in this book) is liked by many. However, the caption is to be
read and its shape is not of more importance than its legibility. It is
a mistake to arrange a caption in several lines of capitals and then
letterspace some of the words to obtain the block effect. Such
letterspacing advertises the effort as unsuccessful and also disfigures
the page.

* * * * *

THE EDITORIAL PAGES.—In periodicals, editorial pages are treated
variously. There is no standard style such as is found in most
newspapers. All five editorial pages reproduced here, in make-up and
typographic treatment, differ from one another.

The _Ladies’ Home Journal_ (Example 417) has the title of each editorial
in a small rule panel along with the publication’s trademark, and the
matter is set in two wide columns. The first clause beginning each
editorial is composed in capitals and small capitals. The page is
surrounded by a double-line border.

_Collier’s_ (Example 418) begins each editorial with an initial letter,
followed by several words in capitals, and the title in a dark-faced
italic is set at the left end of the line. A decorative symbolic heading
is placed above all.

_System_ (Example 419) has a neat, readable editorial page, arranged in
an interesting manner. The name of the magazine, of the editor, and the
month and volume are neatly placed at the top, and the blank space that
follows, occupied solely by the small black decorative mark, gives
pleasure. Each editorial is introduced by a heading in small capitals
and by an initial, which is larger in the first article. The editorial
page of _Advertising and Selling_ (Example 420), by Sherbow, is unlike
any of the others. Rules are used between columns, on both sides of
headings, and above and below the page heading. The result is pleasing,
and invites reading of the page.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 429

Caslon headings and an old-style text type
]

The style of make-up of _The American Printer_ editorial page (Example
428) was purposely patterned after that of the conventional newspaper
editorial page. The editorials of conservative metropolitan newspapers
are probably read more regularly than any other part of the
publications, and such reading has possibly been invited by the restful
style of the typography. There is reason to believe that this somewhat
old-fashioned treatment and its lack of affectation have really
accomplished what was intended.

The editorial page should be unlike the other pages of a periodical, and
these examples should assist printers and editors in determining
suitable typographic treatment.

* * * * *

FEATURES.—Typography can have much to do with the playing up of features
in periodical make-up. An instance is the page reproduced as Example
426, which consists of what would ordinarily be the notes of the
convention. In this instance the notes were written in a style that
suggests the quaint diction of Colonial days. Some of the words of the
text were capitalized, as was done in those times. In the page heading a
few of the letters were tilted to give an irregularity caused in old
composition by defective typefounding. Even the brass rules were nicked
(brass rule was seldom in good condition in the old days). A crude
initial of ancient vintage and an illustration simulating an old woodcut
added decorative interest. This page was a change from the routine style
of the other pages.

The page from _Collier’s_ (Example 409, Insert) was one of the features
of a Thanksgiving number. Its decorative border suggests the treatment
found in Books of Common Prayer (see page 27).

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 430

Caslon typography on a magazine. By Will Bradley
]

Christmas feature treatment is also found in Example 425, also by Will
Bradley. The text letter used in this example for initials and headings
is hardly suitable for use generally in periodicals, but for occasional
features it is not out of place.

Verse when used will usually look more interesting set in italic,
especially when the italic has a decorative quality. One of the
important general magazines sets verse in Kennerley italic in a
decorative panel broken into the text page at a suitable point.

Important parts of an article reprinted in an attractive panel on the
same page would call attention to the article and invite reading.

A certain amount of restraint is necessary when planning typographic
features for periodicals. Type-faces should be selected with knowledge
and care, and seldom should large sizes be used. “Jobby” display effects
are never in order on the text pages of periodicals.

* * * * *

THE ADVERTISEMENTS.—The typographic details of the editorial section of
a national periodical in the field of advertising were recently revised
and made more pleasing, yet when made up and printed the work that had
been done was so overshadowed and counteracted by the bold types on the
advertising pages that the general result was disappointing.

It is useless to attempt good typography on periodicals so long as
advertisements are inserted in text pages or occupy facing positions;
that is, it is useless unless the periodicals set or reset the
advertisements neatly in good taste as is done by the Curtis
publications.

Advertisements should not be mingled with text matter. According to
old-fashioned ideas, the reader buys a periodical for the text matter,
and it is for him to determine whether or not he shall read the
advertising pages. In some publications the text pages are yet to be
found intact, altho preceded and followed by sold space; in others good
resolves peter out as text meets advertisement toward the rear, and in
others—a majority perhaps—advertisements dominate almost all of the text
pages.

Treatment of advertisements in periodicals need not necessarily be shy
and timid; neither need it be blustering and noisy. Where advertisements
are neatly treated and not unduly forced on the attention, readers are
likely to give as much time to their perusal as to the text pages. A
gentlemanly solicitor who talks clearly in low tones is more likely to
sell goods than one who disturbs the entire office by his loud talk and
boisterous demeanor. Apply this to the typography of the advertising
pages.

Editorially, it is to be regretted that advertising must go “alongside
of reading,” but it is to be deplored that in so many periodicals,
especially of the business and technical class, reading matter is
seemingly written and placed for the purpose of accommodating the
advertising.

The successful publication of a periodical, as of a newspaper, depends
on liberal patronage from advertisers; yet these advertisers are best
served when the publication is planned with first consideration for the
text features, and the advertisements are prepared to harmonize and not
clash with the typography of the text matter.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 431

Good typography of a pocket magazine
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 432.—A house-organ by Taylor, Nash & Taylor, San Francisco,
that features typography
]

[Illustration]

HOUSE-ORGANS

The house-organ is the little brother of the periodical and newspaper.
It is published most frequently as a means of communication between a
business house and buyers of that house’s product. Sometimes the
publication is circulated only among the house salesmen or other
employees.

Examination of more than one hundred house-organs revealed a condition
that prevails in every department of publishing—lack of standardization
in dimensions. The smallest house-organ measured about 3 × 5 inches and
the largest 9 × 12 inches. The dimensions grew, from the smallest to the
largest, by quarter inches and half inches. There are many small pocket
house-organs, some of which fit commercial envelops and others fit
baronial envelops. If there is a favorite size for house-organs, it is 6
× 9, which dimensions are those of Examples 432, 436, 437, 441, 447 and
448, illustrated in this chapter. Another favorite size is 7 × 10
inches, which are the dimensions of Examples 444 and 449. House-organs
planned in the style of newspapers and containing four or eight pages
are usually 8 × 11 or 9 × 12 inches in size.

A different stock is frequently used for the covers of house-organs, but
equally popular is the self-cover style—the first page of an eight- or
sixteen-page form containing the cover design. The practices that govern
the use of cover designs on periodicals apply to some extent to
house-organs, although typographic covers are more often found on the
last-mentioned kind of publication.

Example 441 shows a typographic cover in which most of the page is given
over to a table of contents—not a bad idea when the contents are
abundant.

Should a house-organ consist of only two or four leaves, it is
unnecessary to give over the entire first page to a cover design, as the
title could be treated as in Examples 436, 438, 439, 448 and 452. If the
cover page is to be lettered, it is well to have it treated in a style
that will harmonize with the typography of the inner pages. See Example
435.

Seldom is there any reason for a house-organ to contain more than four
or eight pages. Few of the more ambitious house-organs survive the first
one or two issues, or are profitable if they do. A house-organ to be
effective should be published regularly. Too many instead of being
periodicals are “spasmodicals.” There is more likelihood of a
house-organ being published regularly if it be modest in plan and brief
in contents. Printers err when they suggest elaborate and bulky
house-organs to their customers. The smaller kind, neat and stylish in
typography, attractive in make-up, good to look at and easy to read, are
more desirable under average conditions.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 433
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 434
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 435

Pages from a quaintly-treated house-organ, by the Seaver Howland
Press, Boston. Both type and illustration suggest the “good old
days”
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 436

Distinctive lettering and typography
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 437

Interpolated paragraphs in italic
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 438

A house-organ in miniature
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 439

Planned after the printer’s house-organ at the left
]

The titles of house-organs are not usually as conventional and dignified
as those of magazines and other periodicals, although those who have a
liking for the conventional select the word “Bulletin,” adding to it as
part of the title a word which connects it with the business. Hence we
have the “Linotype Bulletin,” the “Hampshire Service Bulletin” (Example
436) and the “Ad.-League Bulletin” (Example 440). Printers, for their
house-organs, use a variety of titles that include “Typographica,”
“Imprint” (Examples 432, 442, 445, 446, 450 and 451), “The Typographer”
(Example 438), “Pica” (Example 448), “Type Talks” (Example 452),
“Warde’s Words” (Example 447). In other lines are to be found “Drug
Topics,” “Statler Salesmanship,” “The Constructive Banker,” “The
Wallace” (Example 444), “Poor Richard’s New Almanack,” “Selling Sense”
and “The Ambassador” (Example 455).

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 440

Attractive rule treatment of headings
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 442

Simple, effective typography
]

The number of columns that should be used in house-organs depends, of
course, on the size of the page. One column is sufficient for the small
pocket publication (Examples 433, 434, 435, 445, 446, 453, 458 and 459).
The page should be made up in two columns when the size is about 6 × 9
(Examples 438, 439, 440, 444, 448, 449, 450 and 451). The purpose of
more than one column is to make reading easier and not just to provide a
narrow column. On some house-organs the columns are made so narrow that
it is as difficult to read them as when they are very wide.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 441

Contents outlined on the cover
]

The margins on the house-organs should be of the same proportions as on
periodicals and booklets—the most margin at the foot, with the type-page
inclining toward the head and binding side. In fact, such margins should
be found on all printing in which there are two facing pages.

The type-faces used on house-organs should be legible and at the same
time good-looking. Caslon Oldstyle is suitable for house-organs as well
as most other purposes. The Caslon style of type is used on Examples
433, 434, 436, 440, 441, 448, 450, 451, 453, and 455. Other faces used
on the house-organs here reproduced are Kennerley Oldstyle (Examples
432, 445, 446), Old-Style Antique (Examples 442 and 447), Cloister
Oldstyle (Example 452), Bodoni Book (Examples 457 and 458). These and
other good faces are available for house-organ purposes.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 443

Dark-toned typography by Griffith-Stillings Press, Boston
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 445
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 446

Rubricated typography by Taylor & Taylor, San Francisco
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 444

Suitable treatment for this silverware publication
]

What has been said in the chapter on “Periodicals” about the suitability
of type for headings applies as well to house-organs. In most of the
pages here reproduced it will be seen that the head letter is the same
kind of type as the text letter or is harmoniously similar.

The treatment of display announcements or house advertising should be
such as to carry out the purpose for which the house-organ is issued.
If, as an instance, the publication is issued for the purpose of
presenting the attractive wares of a stationery house, it would be well
to devote half of the pages to illustrations, descriptions and prices of
stationery supplies. Sometimes when the display announcements are as
numerous as the text pages, an announcement is placed on the left page
facing a text page at the right. When this is done, the typography
should be neat in appearance; the type sizes should not be large, and
the type itself not any blacker than, say, Caslon Oldstyle. Especially
is it a mistake to use dark faces when illustrations of merchandise are
a part of the page. Dark type-faces subordinate and render ineffective
such illustrations.

A house-organ designed entirely—display announcements included—in the
original Caslon Oldstyle by someone who knows how to get the best out of
the type, would be ideal. The capitals, small capitals and lower-case of
roman, and the capitals and lower-case of italic, can be manipulated so
as to produce an abundance of typographic variety and interest.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 447

Easily read and pleasingly illustrated. By the Warde Press, Pittsburgh
]

While house-organs should be edited with the purpose of presenting
useful technical and business information to customers, there should be
sufficient light matter and features to maintain interest. Not
unimportant is the typography of such features. In the make-up of all
house-organs are spaces at the end of articles that are available for
feature purposes. Example 432 shows how one bit of blank space was made
attractive by well-arranged small capitals, and in Example 450 similar
use has been made of italic.

Articles of merchandise that are old-fashioned in their appeal furnish a
motif for typographic treatment that can be made a feature. Examples 433
and 434 show Colonial typographic treatment, the use of italic and
spaced small capitals, added to which is a feature page topped by an
old-fashioned woodcut.

There is a suggestion of ancient rubricated books in the typographic
handling of Example 445, appropriate for a printer who does typography
especially well.

Borders around the text pages of house-organs can be made to act as
features if they are designed with proper restraint, as was done in
Examples 432 and 450.

Rules and decorative borders, ornaments and initials are not out of
place on house-organs when used as they are in Examples 440, 443, 444
and 445.

When the house-organ is issued monthly an old-fashioned “almanack,” with
appropriate matter interpolated, makes a good feature, as in Example
457.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 448

A typographic house-organ
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 449

An editorial page of typographic neatness
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 450

Attractive use of rules and italic
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 452

A page in Cloister type
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 451

An elaborate house-organ title-page
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 453

Use of paragraph marks. From Cottrell’s Magazine
]

As a novelty, house-organs have been printed on blotter stock. The
general treatment for blotter house-organs is not different from that of
other kinds. The appearance of a publication is maintained and the
matter is merely adapted to the dimensions of the blotter.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 454

A good specimen of house-organ cover
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 456

Cover of “The Philistine” issued about two months before Elbert
Hubbard went down with the “Lusitania”
]

House-organs are sometimes successful when laid out in newspaper style
for four pages about 9 × 12 inches in size. The text matter is planned
for three columns, the text type being eight- or nine-point, such as is
customarily found on machines. Headings are graduated on the newspaper
plan according to their importance. Illustrations are included at
suitable points in such newspaper-like house-organs.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 455

Blank space used to good advantage. Text page from “The Ambassador”
]

There is suggestion for a novel house-organ treated in old-time
newspaper style in the reproductions of the first two newspapers
published in America. (See Examples 401 and 402 of the chapter on
“Newspapers.”)

A western printer, who has found the house-organ to be effective in his
business, expressed himself in these words:

Nowadays children are entertained as they are taught, and they
learn unconsciously and much more readily than when study was made
a task and a hardship. That is the principle we must embody in a
house-organ—entertain and instruct simultaneously. Make your
readers smile and enjoy themselves while they are learning the
value of good printing, prompt service and square dealing. Create
in them a desire to be as particular about their printing as they
are about their company or the set of a collar, but keep them
entertained and interested the while. Of course this can be
overdone, so don’t make the mistake of having too much outside
matter, but keep to your subject in a tactful way.

The day is past when business secrets can be kept from the buying
public. During the past ten years magazine and general advertising
policies have educated consumers along entirely new lines, and now
they insist on knowing why they pay special prices for specific
articles. They not only want to know why, but what it is, where it
comes from, who makes and sells it, and how. The sooner we tell
them these things, just that much sooner will confidence be
established and buyers of printing acquire a knowledge that will
enable them to buy intelligently, to distinguish between the
economy in good service and the extravagance in poor service. In a
house-organ there is unlimited opportunity for preaching the
gospel of good service and for educating the public to the fact
that that kind of service is the cheapest.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 457

An “almanack” feature
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 458

Bodoni typography
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 459

Cover of a small house-organ
]

I consider the establishment of this confidence between the
printer and customer one of the strongest pulling features of a
house-organ. I do not mean by that that one should open his books
to the public, but give enough information to let your readers
know that you are in a business that requires capital for its
conduct, that it is a dignified business, that you give efficient
service, and that such efficiency costs you proportionately as
much as it costs him. Having let your readers into this much of
your business secrets, keep hammering away on your service and
efficiency, but do it in a tactful way. Don’t bore him. Entertain
him. Remember the old proverb, “He who tries to prove too much
proves nothing.” So give it in homeopathic doses, but mighty
regular ones.

A feature of the house-organ as issued by a printer should be specimens
of actual work. Small cover designs and pages from booklets and other
specimens can be saved and collected from overruns and presented in the
house-organ. It would be better to use but one or two specimens in each
issue than to overload the publication. Only creditable work should be
included in this manner. If, say, a bit of four-color process work is
produced, it should not be used as an exhibit merely because there is
color in it, but it should be tested by answering these questions: Is it
a good drawing? Are the colors properly blended, or is there an
unpleasant predominance of red and yellow? Are the plates in good
condition? Have they been properly printed? Unless the answer is
affirmative, it would be better to include neat, modest black-and-white
specimens.

Many house-organs are made ineffective by the anxiety of the business
house issuing it to include everything possible. A number of issues
should be planned and each should contain a limited amount of text
matter and illustration. Many of those to whom the house-organ is sent
also receive dozens of others, and examination and reading of the
publication should not be discouraged. When there is too much of an
abundance, the house-organ is either thrown in the waste basket or laid
aside and never looked at again.

Loose inclosures should not be numerous. Attention is frequently taken
away from the house-organ itself by the variety of envelop slips,
calendars and blotters that are included in the mailing. There should be
nothing but a return post card, and this should be clipped to the inside
of the rear cover and not tucked in on top of the title-page, as is too
often done. Several return cards are reproduced (Examples 460, 461 and
462). When these post cards are planned the postal regulations governing
their use should be investigated. It may be well to quote from the
United States Postal Guide:

Post cards manufactured by private persons, consisting of an
unfolded piece of cardboard in quality and weight substantially
like the Government postal card, not exceeding in size 3–9/16 by
5–9/16 inches, nor less than 2¾ by 4 inches, bearing either
written or printed messages, are transmissible without cover in
the domestic mails (including the possessions of the United
States), and to Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Republic of Panama, and city
of Shanghai (China), at the postage rate of 1 cent each, and in
the foreign mails at the rate of 2 cents each, to be paid by
stamps affixed.

Advertisements and illustrations may appear on the back of the
card and on the left half of the face. The right half of the face
must be reserved for the address, postage stamps, postmark, etc.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 460
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 461
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 462

Suggestions for treatment of the return post cards that usually
accompany house-organs
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 463

Comparison of the same type forms printed on a hard-finished paper,
and also on a soft-finished paper. The good qualities of these
type-faces (Caslon Oldstyle, Baskerville Roman, Kennerley Oldstyle
and Bodoni Book) are more evident and the print of the types more
legible on the soft-finished paper
]

[Illustration]

TYPE-FACES

TYPE-FACES, at first acquaintance, are no more easily remembered than
the faces of people we meet. Many persons look alike and many type-faces
look alike, until we get to know them intimately and are able to
distinguish their characteristics. The average man or woman is unable to
identify Caslon Oldstyle, Scotch Roman, Bodoni Modern, or any specific
letter used in printing, altho there are those who have a vague idea of
the existence of types known as “old-style” or “modern.”

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 464-A

Roman alphabet from the inscription on the base of the Trajan column,
Rome, about A. D. 114. From Johnston
]

The fact that there are thousands of type-faces on the market adds to
the difficulty of recognizing and naming them, and the situation is
further involved by the practice of composing-machine makers in using
only numbers to designate type-faces and by various typefounders giving
different names to the same design of type. The special type-faces of
private presses are usually given the name of the work on which they are
first used.

SIX REPRESENTATIVE STANDARD ROMAN TYPE-FACES

Believing that such a service would be appreciated by printers and users
of typography, the author made a study of the thousands of Roman
type-faces on the market, with the purpose of selecting a half-dozen
representative standard faces. It was felt that these type-faces should
be legible and good-looking, and possess character; that their merits
should be acknowledged by authorities, and that the types should be
capable of wide serviceability on both book and job work.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 464-B

Proportions of Roman capitals as found in the Trajan alphabet, and a
few additional letters
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 465

Evolution of Roman lower-case type-faces. (A) Pen-made Roman capitals.
(B) Development into Minuscules or lower-case thru rapid lettering.
(C) Black Letter or German Text developed from Roman Uncials. (D)
White Letter, the open, legible Caroline Minuscules, on which Jenson
based his Roman type-face of 1470. (E) A recent type-face closely
modeled on Jenson’s Roman types. (F) Joseph Moxon’s letters of 1676.
(G) Caslon’s type-face of 1722
]

The face first selected—and without hesitation—was Caslon Oldstyle as
originally designed. Scotch Roman was the second selection, Cheltenham
Oldstyle the third, Cloister Oldstyle the fourth, Bodoni Book the fifth,
and French Oldstyle the sixth. (All shown in Example 467.)

Type-faces designed and cut for private use were not considered in
making these selections, as it was believed best to adhere to type-faces
that are procurable from most foundries and that are available for
machine composition. It may be well to inject here a warning that most
so-called Caslon Oldstyles are not as good as the one selected (Example
467-B); that Jenson Oldstyle is inferior to Cloister Oldstyle (Example
467-A) as a representative of the original Jenson type. However, good
representatives of Scotch Roman (Example 467-D) are obtainable under the
name of Wayside, of National Roman, etc.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 466

Two standard type-faces that rate high in legibility, but that are
colorless in the mass and lacking in the pleasing irregularities of
form that characterized Roman type-faces before the nineteenth
century. The various qualities of legibility found in Modernized
Oldstyle have been converted to narrower letter shapes and more
“modern” form in Century Expanded
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 467

Six standard representative Roman type-faces, approved by authorities
for both beauty and legibility, and selected by the author from the
thousands of type-faces available for hand and machine composition
]

Selection of these faces was also made just as a person makes a wise
selection of records for a Victrola—for permanency and investment. As
standard records can be selected which will “wear” for a long time, so
standard type-faces can be selected which will look well for many years.
Good type-faces are like good music.

We will discuss these six faces.

* * * * *

_Cloister Oldstyle._—Use in American printing of a standard type-face
based on the Roman letter cut by Nicholas Jenson about 1470 has been
retarded by the fact that typefounders in this country some years ago
used as a model Morris’s interpretation of the Jenson face instead of
going direct to the original letter. Jenson’s face had been copied by
Bruce Rogers, T. J. Cobden-Sanderson, Frederic W. Goudy and others, and
the fonts used privately, but for general use it was not until 1914 that
a creditable copy of the face was made available by the good judgment
displayed by the American Type Founders Company in bringing out Cloister
Oldstyle. This is probably the best rendition of the spirit of an old
Roman type-face that a modern type foundry has made. If there is a
fault, it is that the lower-case letters set a trifle too close.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 468

Type-face used in Italy by Sweinheim and Pannartz in 1465. From De
Vinne
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 469

The Roman types of John and Wendelin of Spires, Venice, 1469. Greek
letters were to be written in the line now half blank. From the
original in Typographic Library and Museum, Jersey City, N. J.
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 470

The beautiful “White Letter” Roman type-face of Nicholas Jenson, 1470,
from “Eusebius,” the first book printed by him at Venice. The dot
over the “i,” small and slightly to the right, is found, also, in
the manuscript specimen here inserted. From the original in the
Typographic Library and Museum, Jersey City, N. J.
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 471

Section of manuscript of the fifteenth century, in the Charlemagne
“White Letter” on which Jenson may have modeled his Roman type-face.
From Humphrey
]

Jenson’s face was not the first Roman type made, as is sometimes
supposed; others had previously been used (Example 469), but it was the
first Roman type to meet the approval of those who preferred the Italian
White Letter to the Gothic Black Letter.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 472

Type-face used by Paul Manutius at Venice in 1566
]

Sweinheim and Pannartz were German printers who, in 1465, began to print
near Rome. Until this time the black Text letter such as Gutenberg had
printed with ten years before was the only one used in typography, but
book buyers in Italy wanted Italian lettering. The German printers
attempted to cut an Italian face, but in appearance they did not advance
far from Gothic lettering (Example 468).

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 473

Cloister Oldstyle set in imitation of the Jenson title on page 14.
Printed and zinc-etched, as was the original
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 474

Type-face cut in 1693, now used by the National Printing Office,
Paris. Notice slight projection on lower-case “l,” a decorative
feature used by Gutenberg in his types
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 475

The first line is set in Cloister Oldstyle; second reproduced from
Elzevir page opposite; third set in Cadmus; fourth in Caslon
Oldstyle. These lines are zinc-etched
]

John and Wendelin of Spires, Germans, began to print at Venice in 1469
with a type-face that was more Italian in character, yet it had Gothic
characteristics. Nicholas Jenson, a Frenchman, who began to print in
1470 at Venice, was more successful, and he gave to the world the fine
Roman type-face that he used on his first book, shown, together with a
sample of contemporary lettering of similar design, as Example 470. More
facts about Jenson will be found on page 14.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 476

Cheltenham Oldstyle, with the capitals a size smaller, set in
imitation of the Plantin typography on page 16
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 477

Type-faces used by Daniel Elzevir at Amsterdam in 1675. From “The
American Printer” library
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 478

The Roman types of Fournier, the French founder, taken from his type
book of 1766
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 479

A capital alphabet drawn by Joseph Moxon (1676) to a scale of
forty-two small squares
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 481

Earliest known specimen sheet of printing types, issued by William
Caslon in 1734
]

As time went on, printers and typefounders made changes in the Jenson
design, but these alterations were not numerous (the cross stroke in the
lower-case _e_ was one, Example 495), and fairly close resemblance to
the Jenson types is found in the Roman types of Paul Manutius, 1566
(Example 472), Daniel Elzevir, 1675 (Example 477), and Fournier, 1766
(Example 478).

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 480

Moxon’s lower-case alphabet, which he says was patterned after the
letters of a Dutch punch cutter
]

In selecting a page from Jenson’s book, “Eusebius,” to be photographed,
the writer had great difficulty in finding one of sufficient evenness
and clearness of print. It may be that Jenson, in his endeavor to
enhance the “White Letter” effect of his types, used a minimum of ink,
and, under these circumstances it was perhaps more difficult for him to
maintain consistent page color than it was for Gutenberg to do so with
his “Black Letter” pages. Bruce Rogers’s printing of his Jenson-like
pages of typography would be a revelation to the old-time Venetian
printer.

Jenson made his Roman letter in only one size, and that fairly large
(about sixteen-point), so that the open design of the characters would
admit white light from the paper background. When, some years later, he
was required to print cheap devotional books, he cut and used a compact
Black Letter Text type for the purpose.

There is now a movement away from the mechanical style of type-face,
restricted in design by arbitrary craft rules, in the direction of the
graceful, interesting yet legible faces represented by Cloister
Oldstyle.

This type will be found in use in Examples 171, 240, 256, 266, 286, 316,
337, 340, 341, 345, 357, 359, 372, 383, 399 and 452.

The Italic that accompanies Cloister Oldstyle is based on the Italic of
Aldus Manutius.

* * * * *

_Caslon Oldstyle._—This is a historic American type-face. It was used by
that renowned American printer, Benjamin Franklin; it appears on
eighteenth-century school books, and even our paper money was printed
with it. It was the type-face used by John Dunlap, the Philadelphia
printer, in setting up and printing the first published copies of the
Declaration of Independence, a few hours after it had been passed by
Congress, July 4, 1776. (See facsimile that appears as a frontispiece to
this book). It was one of these copies that was read to the Continental
Army.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLES 479-A and 480-A

The Moxon alphabets inked in and reproduced in a smaller size
]

Today, nearly two hundred years after the first font was cut, Caslon
Oldstyle has the approval of the good printers of America, who regard
it, in its original form, as the best and most useful Roman type-face
available, as it is one of the few old faces the punches and matrices of
which have been preserved and placed at the disposal of all printers.

The Caslon foundry in England now casts the original letter as “Caslon
Old-face.” In this country, all typefounders make some sort of Caslon,
and it may be procured practically in its original form, with long
descenders, kerned _f_ and _j_, old special characters, decorated Italic
capitals and all, from the American Type Founders Company, which has
named it “Caslon Oldstyle 471” (Example 517).

Other foundries are preparing to furnish the letter more in its original
form, and composing-machine makers are doing likewise. The monotype
company, after cutting several faces in imitation of imitations of
Caslon’s type, finally copied the original fairly successfully, and
this, as now obtainable, is known as Caslon Oldstyle No. 337. The
linotype company is recutting its Caslons and is making a sincere effort
to reproduce the original letter as closely as possible. Mechanical
difficulties prevent an exact duplication in every detail of the Caslon
type in machine composition, yet the companies that are attempting it
show a spirit that augurs well for the future quality of printing in
America.

Caslon Oldstyle is not at its best printed on a smooth,
highly-calendered surface.

When properly composed and printed, it presents as a page a dark-gray
tone, formed of a pleasant mixture of black ink and white paper; its
letters show more of a contrast in thick and thin strokes than do the
Roman types of Nicholas Jenson, and have more color and interest than
the modernized old-styles of the nineteenth century. In the sizes above
ten-point it measures up in legibility and beauty to the requirements of
the best printers and other students of typography.

Caslon did not create an entirely new Roman letter, but with the
elements that had already been provided by Jenson and the type designers
of Holland he did, with good taste and skill, build a type-face that is
distinctive, legible and beautiful. The illustration of the evolution of
Roman lower-case in Example 465 furnishes opportunity for study of this
point.

The story of the designing of Caslon Oldstyle has been often told, yet a
few brief facts may be of interest here.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 482

There were two slightly different faces to many of the Caslon fonts.
From the specimen pages in Luckombe’s “History of Printing,”
published in 1770
]

Typefounding and printing had deteriorated in England, and the product
of the printing press was pathetically poor (the author was surprised,
in examining important volumes printed in England about 1700, at the
consistently poor work of typefounder, compositor and pressman), when,
in 1720, William Caslon, an engraver on metal, was called upon to cut a
font of Arabic characters, to be used in printing a New Testament for
the poor Christians in Palestine and Arabia. At the same time, for use
at the foot of the proofs of his Arabic types, he cut his own name in
Roman, pica size. (This was at the time when Benjamin Franklin was
working as a journeyman at Watt’s printing office.)

The pica size, however, was not cast immediately. So far as is known,
the size of Roman first to be cast by Caslon was that called “English”
(about fourteen-point), which he cut in 1722. Additional sizes followed,
and at about the period of his death, in 1766, there were at least
thirty fonts of Roman (pearl to five-line pica), nineteen fonts of
Italic, ten fonts of Black Text, and various fonts of Greek, Hebrew and
other alphabets, together with more than a half-hundred fonts of flowers
and bands.

The fonts that have been preserved to us, and that are purchasable, do
not include all. There were Nos. 1 and 2 faces in nonpareil, brevier,
bourgeois, long-primer, small-pica, pica, english and double-pica
(two-line small-pica). The No. 1 face in each case was a trifle larger
than that of No. 2, and a third face, still larger, was made in
bourgeois and long-primer.

These faces were all shown, in honor of the memory of William Caslon and
as a tribute to the merit of the type, in Luckombe’s “History of
Printing,” published by Adlard & Browne, London, in 1770 (Example 482).

It is probably the smaller and lighter No. 2 faces that have been
preserved to us in the ten-point (long-primer) sizes and under. The
lighter, more open eighteen-point (great-primer) Italic (Example 517),
so different from the Italic of the other sizes, is as Caslon made it.
In some respects it is better than the Italic of other sizes.

While the general appearance of all sizes of the Roman is the same (and
of the Italic also, with the exception noted), there are slight
differences in details of design in the various sizes. For this reason,
when Caslon Oldstyle is compared with the original letters, the
comparison should be with the same size in each instance.

De Vinne, perhaps influenced by the prejudices and practices of
nineteenth-century typefounders, in one of his books points out as
defects in the original Caslon types features that typefounders and
composing-machine makers are today restoring to the face as used in
America. The “defects” were supposed to be: “Too long a beak to the _f_
and _j_; unnecessary narrowness in the _s_ and _a_, and in some
capitals; too great width of the _c_, _o_ and _v_.”

Typefounders and composing-machine makers have filled the type cases of
the printers of this country with Caslons that have been improved (!),
recut, modified, adjusted to “lining” systems, made bold, disfigured,
sawed-off and ill-treated generally; and as they bring out good copies
of the original letter, it is to be hoped that, so far as possible, sale
of the defective and offending type-faces and matrices will be
discontinued.

William Caslon died in 1766, and the business was continued by William
Caslon the second, and then by William Caslon the third. Mrs. Henry
Caslon conducted the business in 1796, when was brought out the
modernized Caslon (Example 484-B) that was probably the model for the
type we know as Scotch Roman. This modernization was a concession to the
demand for types in the new style that had been designed by Giambattista
Bodoni, an Italian typefounder.

The influence of Bodoni’s ideas in type design was such that Caslon
Oldstyle was not included in the 1805 specimen book of the Caslon
foundry, and did not again appear therein until 1860, a year after the
face had been reintroduced to America by a Philadelphia foundry.

The story of the revival of Caslon Oldstyle in England has been told in
these words:

In the year 1843, Mr. Whittingham, of the Chiswick Press, waited
on Mr. Caslon to ask his aid in carrying out the then new idea of
printing, in appropriate type, “The Diary of Lady Willoughby,” a
work of fiction, the period and diction of which were supposed to
be of the reign of Charles I. The original matrices of the first
William Caslon having been fortunately preserved, Mr. Caslon
undertook to supply a small font of great-primer. So well was Mr.
Whittingham satisfied with the result of his experiment that he
determined on printing other volumes in the same style, and
eventually he was supplied with a complete series of all the old
fonts.

America took part early in the revival of Caslon’s old-style types, for
in 1858 matrices were brought to the United States by the Johnson Type
Foundry, afterward MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan, now the Philadelphia
branch of the American Type Founders Company.

The first size made in this country was brevier, which was announced in
the “Typographic Advertiser,” the company’s house-organ, of January,
1859. Six months later thirteen sizes were shown, and in 1865 Caslon
Oldstyle was made in sizes from pearl to six-line pica.

The decorative Italic types, known as Swash letters, were not until 1916
included in the American fonts, but these, redrawn by T. M. Cleland, are
now procurable.

Selection of Caslon Oldstyle, in 1892, for the text and advertisements
of _Vogue_, the use of the letter by Will Bradley at the Wayside Press,
in 1896, and the general old-style revival, influenced by the work of
William Morris, of the Kelmscott Press, in England, were causes that led
to the present popularity of Caslon Oldstyle.

This Caslon style of type-face is one of the few standard letters that
has practically unlimited usefulness. Properly treated, it looks well on
any class of printing, from a business card to the text and advertising
pages of periodicals. It may be seen in action in this book by referring
to Examples 18, 34, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 81, 82, 86, 96, 119, 121, 126,
127, 132, 133, 134, 135, 138, 150, 151, 167, 168, 169, 172, 178, 180,
188, 190, 191, 195, 203, 215, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 228, 230, 231,
232, 236, 239, 245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 260, 262, 268, 274, 282,
284, 287, 289, 290, 292, 294, 296, 297, 300, 374, 375, 382, 384, 385,
393, 394, 396, 426, 429, 430, 433, 434, 436, 438, 439, 440, 441, 448,
450, 451, 453, 455, 459, 460 and 461; the frontispiece; upper specimen,
page 21; reproductions, page 23; insert opposite page 32; upper
specimen, page 33.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 483

On the left is a reduced reproduction (from Reed) of Baskerville’s
types used in a book of 1758, and on the right, for comparison, is
the same matter set in Baskerville Roman, twelve-point size,
introduced to America in 1917
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 484

The possible descent of Scotch Roman. (A) Baskerville Roman, based on
Baskerville’s letter of 1758. (B) Mrs. Caslon’s “modern” Roman of
1796. (C) Scotch Roman, as we know it today
]

_Bodoni Book._—When a representative of the Bodoni type family was
selected for a place in the group of standard faces, Bodoni Book was
chosen for its refinement and legibility. In its lower-case, especially
when printed on other than gloss-surfaced paper, it seems to have more
of the qualities of the best types of the Parma printer than does
Bodoni, the first series brought out by the American Type Founders
Company. Scientific tests have demonstrated that in the small sizes
usually used for text purposes, type-faces with considerable contrast of
hairlines and heavy strokes strain the eyes. The contrast found in
Bodoni Book is moderate.

John Baptist Bodoni was born in Italy twenty years after William Caslon
cut his first font of Roman letter. Bodoni’s subsequent career as a
printer and typefounder doubtless resulted from his entrance, when
eighteen years old, to the printing house of the Propaganda, in Rome. He
began his important work in Parma in 1768.

The print of his books is remarkable for clearness, and in both
type-cutting and printing he was skilful to a high degree. His types are
not quite so regular in design as the recent Bodonis, and were given
additional character by being impressed firmly in paper that did not
have the enameled surface so much in use in our day.

His type-faces were a change from those previously used—different from
the type-faces of Jenson, the Elzevirs and Caslon. The change was
principally in the serifs, which were straight, thin strokes; and the
general character of the letters was also distinctive. He used a few
fonts in which the straight serifs were rounded by being filled in
slightly at the corners, and these fonts probably suggested to Scotch,
English and American founders the style known as “modern,” as compared
with the “old-style” faces in use before Bodoni’s time.

The reader can compare for himself the resemblance of Bodoni Book to one
of the text types of Bodoni as used in 1789. In order that the
comparison could be fairly made, the Bodoni Book (Example 486) was
printed on antique paper and etched on zinc, as the original Bodoni page
had been (see page 26). This type is not only lighter, but other details
are different from a 1790 type of Bodoni (Example 487-A), which may have
served as a model for the present-day type-face called Bodoni. Compare
the capital _R_s, and notice that the cross stroke on the lower-case _t_
in the 1783 alphabet is low and distinct, while on the 1789 page it is
high and joined with the upper end of the vertical stroke. The latter
treatment prevails on many of Bodoni’s types, as it does on practically
all type-faces. Excepting for the straight serifs, many of Bodoni’s
types have some general resemblance to other Roman types of the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

In designing the present-day Bodoni, the typefounders gave it much of
the “finish” in design that was given type-faces by Scotch and American
founders during the nineteenth century. Typefounders seldom succeed in
faithfully reproducing old type-faces, for the reason that they “correct
the faults” of the old faces, and in doing so lose much of the
humanistic spirit of the original. Were it not that the punches of some
of William Caslon’s types were preserved, we would not have the true
rendering of this old-style that we now possess. Modernized Oldstyle
represents the Caslon face corrected and improved as the typefounders of
the nineteenth century thought it should be. Some American founders,
however, are making excellent progress in reproducing the spirit of old
type-faces, and it is possible that we may yet have a satisfactory copy
of the famous “silver” types of the Elzevirs.

Bodoni types are shown in use on page 26, and in Examples 26, 36, 48,
175, 176, 194, 278, 310, 322, 330, 352, 355, 365, 387, 390, 412, 413,
414, 416, 428, 437 and 458.

* * * * *

_Scotch Roman_.—During the nineteenth century English, Scotch and
American typefounders took Bodoni’s type-faces, redesigned them more
along mechanical lines, filled in the corners of his straight serifs so
as slightly to round them, and gave to the English-speaking world what
are best known to printers as the modern Romans.

Looking over the specimen books of the type foundries of the last
century—those of Bruce, MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan, and others—one
marvels at the wonderful skill in the cutting of the hairlines and the
general mechanical excellence of the modern Romans.

Because of their continued use on newspapers and in books of reference,
these letters are in wide use today, altho there is a movement away from
them.

The most generally used type-face on small city newspapers in America is
the linotype company’s Modern Roman No. 2 (Example 489). In the hand-set
days this broad, open-faced letter was so made for the reason that it
would stereotype easier than would the narrower letters. It was adopted
by the ready-print and plate houses, and when the newspapers installed
linotypes they naturally selected the same face, so that the type matter
thruout the publication would match. The larger city dailies give more
attention to the details of the faces they use for body purposes. If No.
2 is selected, or the leaner No. 1, modifications are frequently made in
some of the letters or figures. The No. 1 Modern Roman is used by the
New York _Times_ (Example 406).

However, instead of the selection of a severe letter, such as the
so-called Scotch-cut Modern Roman as a representative type-face in the
group of six standard Roman letters, the more interesting Scotch Roman
won the place. This type-face was first made in America by A. D. Farmer
& Son, and the eight-point and ten-point sizes were used as body type by
_The American Printer_ first in April, 1902. In September of that year
there appeared in that publication showings of the eight-point,
ten-point, eleven-point, twelve-point and fourteen-point sizes, with the
statement that other sizes were in preparation. The name, “Scotch
Roman,” probably comes from the fact that Miller & Richard, the
Edinburgh typefounders, made a similar letter in sizes from eight-point
to twelve-point. However, they call it “Old Roman.”

Scotch Roman is the link that connects the graceful old-style and the
severe modern Roman. Compare it with the letter (Example 484-B) made at
the foundry owned by Mrs. Henry Caslon in 1796, and notice the
resemblance. (As a further study, there is added an alphabet of
Baskerville Roman, recently introduced to America.) Scotch Roman is also
procurable under the names of Wayside Roman and National Roman.

Scotch Roman has been used in Examples 38, 39, 77, 78, 85, 143, 152,
153, 154, 185, 186, 238, 271, 317, 400, 420, 423, 427, 428 and 444.

* * * * *

_French Oldstyle._—This is the title by which is known among printers a
style of type-face made, under the name of “Elzevier,” by the Gustave
Mayeur foundry of Paris in 1878. Its design, M. Mayeur tells us, was
suggested by types used in a book printed in Leyden by the Elzevirs in
1634.

In 1889, Farmer, Little & Co. of New York procured drives of five sizes
from France and began making the letter in America, naming it “Cadmus.”
The type foundry of Phelps, Dalton & Co. of Boston had as early as 1884
made a similar and rather pleasing letter in capitals only, which it
called French Oldstyle.

Theodore L. De Vinne was the first to use the Mayeur French Oldstyle in
America. It was a favorite with Walter Gilliss, who adopted it in
remodeling the catalogs and other printed matter used by the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 485

A study of the French Oldstyle design of Roman capitals
]

The capitals of French Oldstyle are especially pleasing, and when this
letter is employed they should be used in display with frequency. The
Mayeur letter would be even more attractive if the proportions of its
capitals were nearer those of early Roman lettering (Example 464-B), as
are some other French Oldstyles.

French Oldstyle is tall and formed with liberal space between the
strokes of the lower-case letters. It should always be leaded, as its
open character and large lower-case demand that it shall not be crowded.
Like Cheltenham, it is best suited for pages that are narrow and long,
such as the 12mos issued in the seventeenth century by the Elzevirs.

The Mayeur French Oldstyle has a slight resemblance to the type-faces
found in the Elzevir seventeenth-century books (Example 475), but is a
rather free rendering of those types. The capitals of the Elzevirs are
more in the proportions of Jenson’s (see Cloister Oldstyle, Example
467-A), and the small letters (_o_) of the lower-case are not so large
in comparison with the tall letters (_l_) as they are in French
Oldstyle. The Mayeur letter also contains the shortened descenders and
short-kerned _f_ of the nineteenth-century typefounders. In fact, both
ascending and descending strokes have been shortened.

Examples 45, 183, 184, 217, 410, 411, and the Jacobi specimen on page 33
show French Oldstyle in use.

* * * * *

_Cheltenham Oldstyle._—This extremely popular type-face was designed in
America and here developed into the most numerous family known to
typefounding—at least thirty series. A pamphlet issued in 1905 by the
Mergenthaler Linotype Company tells the story of its origin. Ingalls
Kimball, director of the Cheltenham Press, New York, was commissioned to
suggest and supervise the making of a letter that would have both beauty
and legibility. Cheltenham Oldstyle resulted, the drawings of which were
made by Bertram G. Goodhue.

It was realized by the designers of this type-face that space between
lines increases legibility, and experiments seem to show that the upper
half of lower-case letters are easier to read than the lower half. For
this reason the lower-case was then designed with long ascending strokes
and short descending strokes. While the theory regarding the superior
legibility of the upper half was announced as a new one, it had been put
forth about 1882 by Dr. Émile Javal, a Parisian oculist. (See the
demonstration in Example 508-G.)

The first announcement by the American Type Founders Company of
Cheltenham Oldstyle in _The American Printer_, January, 1903, showed
eleven sizes—eight-point to forty-eight-point. Claim was made that it
was a “compact and legible book type,” and that it would become the most
popular job type.

Because of its lean formation and close set it has been frequently used
for narrow booklets.

A Roman type-face entirely new in design would be a freak and unreadable
in the mass. As a completed design, Cheltenham Oldstyle was different
from others in use in 1903, yet it is made up of features of Roman type
design in vogue between the designing of Jenson’s letter and Caslon’s
types. Study Examples 470, 472, 476, 477 and 478. Compare with the
Portuguese capitals, especially _G_, _P_, _W_, in Example 485.

Cheltenham Oldstyle has strength, readability, and a certain amount of
beauty. Its capitals are awkwardly large in comparison with its
lower-case. It is shown in use with smaller capitals in Example 476.

Because of the smallness of most of the lower-case and the close set of
the letters, very little space is needed between words; yet, as used by
printers generally, much of the legibility the type-face possesses is
lost by wide spacing between words, especially on machines.

Because the eye, as a rule, gives less attention to the lower part of a
line of reading matter, the descenders were cut off almost entirely in
the designing of Cheltenham. It would be as reasonable, because the eye
usually sees only the upper part of a man, to amputate his legs. This
amputation of the legs of type-faces by modern founders has maimed many
other letters, notably Caslon Oldstyle as we most frequently see it.

The serif, which is supposed to distinguish modern types from old-style,
is very small in Cheltenham Oldstyle, and is more like the serif found
in modern types. The general character of Cheltenham, however, is
extremely old-style.

This letter has been used in the composition of Examples 35, 40, 47,
106, 122, 125, 209, 267, 273 and 350.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE ROMAN TYPE-FACE

In the beginning, Roman letters were in capitals only (Example 464-A),
and, carved on stone, were at their best about the beginning of the
Christian era. The present so-called Roman, Italic and Text types are
descended from them.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 486

Resetting in Bodoni Book of the 1789 Bodoni specimen on page 26. Like
the original, this specimen was printed and then zinc-etched
]

Use of the pen and brush in lettering and the tendency to letter rapidly
finally gave us the lower-case type of today. The evolution is pictured
in Example 465. “A” shows the Roman capital alphabet as made with the
pen (compare with the chiseled letters of Example 464-A). In “B” we have
the result (known as uncials) of hurried writing of the Roman capitals,
and one can see how the lower-case letters were forming. At about this
point in the development, the minuscules, or lower-case letters, took
two separate growths—one in the direction of the “Black Letter” or
German Text types of today, and the other toward the “White Letter” of
the Caroline Minuscules, which, as Roman lower-case, are now used almost
exclusively in America, England, France and other countries in North and
South America and Europe, the notable exception being Germany.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 487

Comparison of one of Bodoni’s alphabets with a new type-face. Both are
rough, having been zinc-etched
]

When Gutenberg began to print he used a black Text type designed after
the bold lettering of the German manuscript books, and when Germans went
to Italy to print they had difficulty in rendering into types the
character of Italian lettering. Example 468 shows the efforts in this
direction by Sweinheim and Pannartz in 1465, and in Example 469, types
by John and Wendelin of Spires, an improvement is noticed.

It remained, however, for the Frenchman, Jenson, to design and cut a
letter that is the alpha of Roman type-faces (Example 470). Jenson was
fortunate in the selection of a model, and it is interesting to include
in the corner for comparison a section of an Italian manuscript of the
same century. Development of the Roman letter into the beautiful and
legible form known as “Caroline Minuscules” was due to the encouragement
of Charlemagne. Why it is called “White Letter” in contradistinction to
“Black Letter” may be seen by comparing the light-gray tone of the
Jenson page (Example 470) with the missal specimen opposite page 14. It
may be well to explain that the seeming disfigurement of the capitals in
the Jenson page is due to the custom that book decorators had of placing
a stroke of vermilion over the capitals. In the reproduction these
strokes came out black. Both the Spires and the Jenson specimens were
reproduced from the original volumes in the Typographic Library and
Museum at Jersey City.

Example 465 also shows, for comparison with the style of lettering known
as the Caroline Minuscules, a type-face based on Jenson’s letter of
1470, following which are Moxon’s and Caslon’s lower-case alphabets.

The faithfulness with which Jenson’s type-face was followed in the
designing of Cloister Oldstyle may be seen by comparing the Cloister
alphabet (Example 467-A) with the Jenson letters as they are found in
Example 470. A very interesting comparison can also be made of Jenson’s
capitals, on page 14, and Cloister Oldstyle, in Example 473. If a
comparison of present-day type-faces with very old faces is to have any
value, the present-day type-faces should be printed on antique-finished
paper dampened if possible. And if the old face is reproduced by zinc
etching from an old book the other type-face should also be zinc-etched.
Printing and zinc etching were resorted to in the case of this example
and in other instances in this chapter.

In some works reproductions of type-faces are valueless and misleading,
for the reason that they have been retouched by an artist, redrawn, or
cut in wood.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 488

Modern Romans of the nineteenth century in three tones
]

The influence of the Jenson style of Roman was seen for some years, but
in 1566 (Example 472) we find a change of form. The type is more
condensed, and instead of a diagonal stroke on the lower-case e there is
a horizontal stroke close to the top of the letter. This style, as used
by Paul Manutius in 1566, seems to have been maintained with little
alteration in the work of Daniel Elzevir a hundred years later (Example
477) and two hundred years later in the types of Fournier, the French
founder (Example 478). This style of letter was also used by Plantin,
the Antwerp printer, in 1569, and for the interest there may be in it
the reproduction of a bit of his work (see page 16) should be compared
with Example 476. This last-mentioned example has been set in Cheltenham
Oldstyle. However, ten-point capitals have been used with twelve-point
lower-case. It may be that the appearance of most reading matter would
be improved if the capitals were a trifle lower in hight than the
ascending strokes of the lower-case letters _b_, _d_, _f_, _h_, _k_,
_l_.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 489

Modern Roman as it is used on many American newspapers. Six-point,
seven-point and eight-point Linotype Roman No. 2. A readable but not
a handsome type-face
]

The National Printing Office at Paris is using on some of its
productions a type-face designed in 1693 by Grandjean. While it is
greatly like other letters of that period, it has peculiarities, one of
which is a slight dot on the left center of the lower-case _l_, a
feature also present in the Black Letter of Gutenberg, and in the types
of Fust and Schœffer (see inserts opposite pages 7 and 12).

We have a key to the formation of the Roman types of the seventeenth
century in the alphabets drawn by Joseph Moxon, an English typefounder,
and published in 1676 (Examples 479 and 480). These are here reproduced
from Moxon’s “Mechanick Exercises,” as reprinted, under the supervision
of Theodore Low De Vinne, by the New York Typothetæ in 1896. Moxon says
these letters are copied from the letters of Christopher van Dijk, a
punch cutter of Holland. As will be seen by the scale in the upper left
corner of Example 479, he attempted to show how the shapes of letters
were “compounded of geometric figures, and mostly made by rule and
compass.” Each letter was to be plotted on a framework of small squares,
forty-two squares in hight and of a proportionate width. Passing up this
idea as impractical, De Vinne said:

It is admitted that the characters are rudely drawn, and many have
faults of disproportion; but it must not be forgotten that they
were designed to meet the most important requirement of a reader—
to be read, and read easily. Here are the broad hair line, the
stubby serif on the lower-case and the bracketed serif on the
capitals, the thick stem, the strong and low crown on letters like
_m_ and _n_, with other peculiarities now commended in old-style
faces and often erroneously regarded as the original devices of
the first Caslon.

The writer was curious to see how these letters of Moxon’s made up into
type, and for this purpose had the outlined alphabets inked in and
reproduced in smaller size (Examples 479-A and 480-A).

When William Caslon, in 1720, cut his first Roman letter he may have had
Moxon’s Roman alphabet before him. There are some resemblances, but that
he did not slavishly follow the Moxon letters may be seen by comparing
both type-faces (Examples 465-F and 465-G).

We could be more familiar with the types of Baskerville than we are, but
now that the typefounders are reproducing them (Example 483) we shall
come to a realization that they rival the letters of Caslon in beauty
and readability. John Baskerville, the English typefounder and printer,
spent six years and thirty thousand dollars in designing and cutting his
first font of type. In 1758 he had cut eight fonts of Roman, but other
printers would not buy his types, preferring those of Caslon. Two years
later he attempted to sell his types and retire from the printing
business. After his death, in 1775, his widow sold all his type and
type-making material and they were removed to Kehl, near Strassburg.
There is a legend that the types finally reached France and were melted
into bullets for the French Revolution. It is a pity that Baskerville’s
original punches are not available, like those of Caslon, so that
printers of today could make use of the splendid type-faces that were
unappreciated in his lifetime. However, Baskerville Roman is a
satisfactory reproduction of the types of John Baskerville.

Like Caslon Oldstyle, however, it should be printed on other than
gloss-surfaced paper (Example 463), as then, especially in the smaller
sizes, the good qualities of the letter are brought out and it is made
more legible.

When Mrs. Henry Caslon, in 1796, “Bodoni-ized” the types of William
Caslon the first, she was probably influenced as much by the types of
Baskerville as by those of Bodoni. This is borne out by the comparisons
in Example 484. In “A” is shown an alphabet of Baskerville Roman as now
made in America, and in “B” Mrs. Caslon’s Modern Roman. The third
type-face (C) is Scotch Roman, one of the six selected representative
type-faces (Example 467-D).

John Baptist Bodoni made some very good type-faces, but it is not
difficult to lay at his door the responsibility for throwing typography
out of gear for almost a century. Thru his influence and the desire of
Scotch typefounders to improve on his work, the nineteenth century was
inflicted with those stiff “Modern Romans” (Example 488) that in all
their inhuman “perfection” yet abide with us and are still liked by
Victorian persons of staid tastes. Many of our school children are being
brought up on them, and in lighter form (Example 489) they are being fed
to millions of Americans thru the homely typography of most newspapers.
This double influence works for a lowering of typographic taste among
printers and buyers of printing that for many years will keep the
general standard of printing below what it should be.

To return to Bodoni. This Italian typefounder’s types, as a rule, were
not so faultlessly finished as are the recent types that bear the name.
There may be seen in Example 487 the alphabet of a type-face cut by
Bodoni in 1790, together with an alphabet recently cut in America. The
Bodoni type of the American foundry is a clever copy of the original,
yet there is in the copy much of the modernization of the Scotch
founders of the nineteenth century. Bodoni Book is a better-looking and
more readable type-face.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 491

(A) Optical changes caused by adding Vs at end of strokes. (B)
Appearance of vertical stroke altered by adding small horizontal
strokes, or serifs, and by joining both with curved line. (C) Cross
strokes or serifs added to E
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 495

(A) The diagonal stroke of the first Roman type-faces. (B) The lower
cross stroke or serif extended to right on the Roman type-face of
Jenson
]

The Scotch typefounders also attempted to improve the types of William
Caslon, and the result of their labors is known as Modernized Oldstyle
(Example 466-A). This kind of type was first made about 1852 for Miller
& Richard of Edinburgh, Scotland. With Caslon Oldstyle unknown,
Modernized Oldstyle would be a rather satisfactory letter, but with
Caslon Oldstyle procurable there seems to be no need of the Scotch
letter. There was brought out in 1884 by the MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan
Company a decorative Modernized Oldstyle under the name of Ronaldson
Oldstyle.

CHARACTERISTICS OF ROMAN TYPE-FACES

_The Serif._—The serif is that portion of a type-face indicated by the
small black sections in Example 492. It has a powerful influence in
determining the character and style of a face of type.

As an experiment, we will make three vertical lines exactly the same
length (Example 491-A), leaving one as it was first drawn, but on the
other two adding V-shaped marks, because of which the character of the
line is changed and the length seemingly affected.

However, the serif, when properly used, has a decorative quality and is
to type what the capital is to the column and the cornice to the
building in architecture.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 493

By altering the serifs, “old-style” type is changed into “modern.”
From Bullen
]

After further experimenting with three vertical lines that we will now
identify as capital _I_s (Example 491-b), there can be no doubt that the
serif is necessary as a finishing stroke. The serifless _I_ suggests a
man in the public streets without hat or shoes. The crudest manner of
adding a serif is to place a small horizontal stroke at the head and
foot of the long vertical line, but the sharp angles thus formed can be
softened and one stroke joined to another by a curve, with the corner
filled in, as is shown. These two illustrations of the serif are merely
for the purpose of introducing the novice to the subject. The fact that
there are so many different faces of type is due somewhat to the
manipulation of the serif—changes of length, thickness, direction and
curve.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 492

The black sections indicate the serifs, and show the differences in
serif construction on several well-known type-faces. From Bullen
]

It is by the serif that in most cases old-style types are distinguished
from the so-called modern Romans. An interesting demonstration of this
was made by Henry L. Bullen with Century Expanded, a modern Roman
(Example 494). The first line shows the letter unchanged. As the serifs
in most old-style faces project diagonally, he, in the second line,
altered the modern serifs to conform to this idea. The third line shows
Century Oldstyle as it actually appears in type.

There is, of course, more to a true old-style face than mere change of
serifs, and in the actual cutting of the types other minor alterations
were made, as will be seen by study of the third line.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 494

By altering the serifs “modern” type is changed into “old-style.” From
Bullen
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 496

In most Roman alphabets all vertical strokes are thick, excepting in
M, N, U. Horizontal strokes are thin. Diagonal strokes running down
from left to right are thick and from right to left are thin,
excepting Z, z.
]

This process was reversed by Mr. Bullen, and in Example 493 certain
serifs of Caslon Oldstyle are in the letters _i_, _n_, _k_, _p_, _h_
made horizontal, and in the letters _E_, _L_, _s_ made vertical.
Modernized in this manner, Caslon Oldstyle resembles Scotch Roman
(Example 484-C).

* * * * *

_Thick and Thin Strokes._—The inbred good taste and instinct for beauty
possessed by the Roman calligrapher which directed him to add the serif
to his lettering also impelled him to vary the width of the strokes
(Example 464-A).

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 497

(A) No serifs or stroke contrast. (B) Serifs added. (C) With serifs
and thick and thin strokes
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 498

Vertical thick strokes were made with pen held straight
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 499

Diagonal thick strokes were made with pen held at a slant
]

The most uninteresting kind of lettering is that which is not only
serifless but without contrast in the width of its strokes—lettering
that is known to the printer as Block, or Gothic (Example 497-A).
Dignity and something of good looks are given to it by adding serifs
(Example 497-b), yet it is not eligible for admission to the select
society of pure Roman type-faces until the various strokes show,
properly proportioned, a difference in thickness (Example 497-C). The
difference should be at least as two to one. It is about that in
Cloister Oldstyle, but in Baskerville Roman (Example 496) it is as six
to one. When the difference in thick and thin lines is exaggerated, as
was done in the nineteenth century, the result is a caricature and type
that is almost impossible to read, even in large sizes.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 500

Heavy strokes in the lower left and upper right part of curves
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 501

Heavy strokes in vertical positions
]

Generally the distribution of thick and thin lines in Roman letters, as
shown in Example 496, is as follows: All vertical strokes are thick
(excepting in _M_, _N_, _U_). Horizontal strokes are thin. Diagonal
strokes running down from left to right are thick, and from right to
left are thin (excepting _Z_, _z_).

When this rule is reversed, as was actually done by a nineteenth-century
typefounder in a weird attempt at novelty, there is begotten a
monstrosity. Good typography requires that basic principles be adhered
to.

In the recent recutting of the Roman type-face of Nicholas Jenson, the
founders went all the way back to his type for their models, and did not
content themselves, as they did near the end of the last century, with
copying Morris’s type or the faces of other foundries. As Jenson based
the design of his types closely on Italian manuscripts, we have in such
a face as Cloister Oldstyle many of the characteristics of the pen-made
letters, one of which is the position of the thick strokes on round
letters. The thick strokes on the _O_, as an instance, instead of being
vertical, are diagonal. This is due to the manner of holding the pen
when lettering. When held to write vertically and horizontally, the pen
makes lines as in Example 498; when held at a slant, the pen makes thick
lines diagonally as in Example 499. The Caroline Minuscules, upon which
the lower-case types of Jenson were based, were written with a slanted
pen.

In Example 500 are to be seen two well-known type-faces on which the
slanted-pen thick strokes are used. In Example 501 are two faces that
could be made by writing vertically. It was Mr. Goudy who reintroduced
into type forms a characteristic of Jenson’s Roman—that of having the
lower serifs extend more to the right than to the left, as shown by
Example 495-B.

* * * * *

_Ascenders and Descenders._—Not a little of the beauty of Roman
type-faces lies in the ascending and descending strokes, and one reason
why our types are becoming more beautiful is that we are going thru a
period of restoration—the long-missing ascenders and descenders are
being given back to us, after an absence of many years.

What should be the length of these strokes? Edward Johnston, in “Writing
and Illuminating and Lettering,” illustrates this point (Example 503),
and says: “The lines in massed writing are kept as close together as is
compatible with legibility. The usual distance apart of the writing
lines is about three times the hight of the letter _o_. The descending
strokes of the upper line must clear the ascending strokes of the lower
line.”

Bodoni, the Italian typefounder, had a system of measurement for the
proportions of his lower-case letters: “Divide the body of the type into
seven parts and let two at the top and two at the bottom be for the
ascenders and descenders and the three in the middle for the other
letters.”

The ascenders and descenders, as found in Cloister Oldstyle and in the
original Caslon Oldstyle, approximate the proportions given by Bodoni.

Half the letters of the lower-case alphabet—thirteen—are of the hight of
the _o_, and we will call them the small letters. The letters with
ascending strokes number eight, with descending strokes five (Example
502). Because the descending letters are only five in number, they are
most frequently picked out for mutilation. This sawing off of a portion
of the descending strokes cripples the letters just as the sawing off of
a portion of a man’s legs cripples his body. Not only is typography made
imperfect by missing descenders, but, generally, the practice has worked
toward the degeneration of type print, making it less easy to read, as
the lines set too close together. When the descenders are of proper
length they maintain a strip of blank space between lines, but when they
are cut off the printer must add leads to recover the space—which he
seldom does.

The printer and user of typography have been using false logic in
favoring type-faces that have descenders cut off. They think they are
getting more for their money when they obtain a normal twelve-point
type-face on an eleven-point body, but as the one-point linear space
must be restored by leading, there is nothing gained. Scientists, in the
study of eye hygiene, have ascertained that a certain amount of space
between lines is necessary to save eyestrain, and the descenders are
essential in furnishing some of this needed space.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 502

Of the twenty-six letters of the alphabet, eight have ascending
strokes, five have descending strokes, and thirteen have neither
]

The descending curves of the lower-case _g_ are a thing of beauty when
allowed freedom (Example 504-A), but on the shortened plan they resemble
a man cramped with rheumatism, in need of crutches.

* * * * *

_Proportion of Letters._—One of the elements in the beauty of the
ancient Roman stone-carved alphabet is the proportion of its letters.
Goudy, drawing lettering and designing type-faces modeled after the
inscription capitals of the Romans, has had a large influence in
reviving good proportion in type. Cloister Oldstyle (Example 467-A),
designed by L. M. Benton after Jenson’s letter, is an excellent study of
the old proportions introduced in present-day type-faces. However, there
is no type that has the beauty of proportion to be found in the Roman
capitals (Example 464-A) reproduced from an inscription on the Trajan
column at Rome. The author has endeavored, in plain lines, to trace
these capitals and show their proportions on a background of squares. It
will be seen that the width of the letters _B_, _E_, _F_, _L_, _P_, _S_
is less than half their hight, and about half the width of _O_, _M_,
_Q_, _C_, _G_ and _D_. It is this contrast in width as well as in shape
that makes the alphabet as a whole so pleasing.

Comparison of the capitals of the six standard faces in Example 467 will
show that “old-style” faces tend toward the old Roman proportions and
that “modern” types, such as Bodoni Book and Century Expanded (Example
466-B), reveal an effort to make the capitals as uniform in size as
possible. Typewriter types are an example of what happens when this idea
of uniformity is carried to its logical end. It is really not necessary
to throw Beauty out of the back door as Utility is admitted at the
front. Both can live happily under the same roof.

As will be seen by Example 507, the lower-case letters are made up of a
variety of curved lines, and vertical, horizontal and diagonal strokes,
the purpose being the same as that of having capitals of different
widths, to make them when joined together in words readable and pleasant
to look at. The word “minimum” is an example of unpleasant monotony in
the repetition of similar forms.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 503

In good lettering, the descending strokes are as long as the ascending
strokes. From Johnston
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 504

(A) How descenders are frequently cramped. (B) Compression of upper or
lower ends of letters as found in “improved” Caslon Oldstyle
]

LEGIBILITY OF TYPE-FACES

Type matter should be easy to read, and this end is attained not only in
the designing of type-faces but in the manner of their use.

Many tests for legibility have been made in this country and in Europe,
but none of them, so far as the writer knows, has considered the manner
of printing the types and the character of the paper surface as factors
in legibility, altho glossy paper has been condemned because of its
reflection of light, and cream-white paper preferred to blue-white.
There is shown as Example 463 a test made in the printing of the same
type-faces on a hard-finished paper and on a soft-finished paper. The
Caslon and Bodoni types are not only more legible on the soft-finished
stock, but the character of the designs is brought out. The results of
this demonstration should not be wondered at, as the original Caslon and
Bodoni types were intended to be printed on soft-finished stock, and not
on highly calendered coated paper.

Studies in legibility are presented in Example 508. As there are many
details that count in the production of good-looking typography, so
there are seeming trifles which go to make typography easily read. In
“A” there are groups set in Cheltenham Oldstyle and Cloister Oldstyle.
As Cheltenham is narrower in form and closely set, it is more suitable
for long, narrow pages or columns. Cloister, on the other hand, conforms
better to wider pages and columns. In lighter types (B) Bodoni Book and
Caslon Oldstyle are similarly compared. For further illustrations of
this point see Examples 509 and 510.

One of the tests previously referred to proved Gothic (C) the most
legible type-face. This unshaded, serifless type, which has long been
popular on sales bills and for advertisements in some newspapers and
trade publications, is not approved by those who believe there should
also be character in type-faces, as it lacks the two essentials of
typographic beauty—serifs and contrasting thickness of strokes. Then,
again, it is not as legible in the mass as in single lines.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 505

In the old-style Arabic numerals, five figures descended, two ascended
and three did neither. The modern style is to have them of one hight
]

While bold-face types, especially those with decided contrasts in
thickness of strokes, are legible when used in groups of two to a
half-dozen words, they greatly tire the eye when used for entire pages
of text. For this reason Bodoni Book is to be preferred over Bodoni for
text purposes (D). The writer came to this conclusion when, during the
reading of a book set in Bodoni, he found it necessary frequently to
stop because of eye fatigue produced by the sharp contrasts and
bewildering medley of light and shade.

It is generally conceded by authorities that lower-case types in the
same size of letter are more legible than capitals (E) and should be
used for headings and for display lines in advertising matter, where
easy reading is essential.

Assuming that the largest possible face on the smallest possible type
body results in legibility and allows more matter on a page, both users
and makers of type have in many fonts caused the descending and
ascending strokes to be shortened. The lower-case letters _g_, _j_, _p_,
_q_ and _y_ have been the principal sufferers, as they are the only ones
with descending strokes. The ascending strokes of letters _b_, _d_, _f_,
_h_, _k_ and _l_ have been treated with more respect, and their
principal ancestor, the Caroline Minuscule, would not have so much
difficulty in recognizing them.

The left portion of section F of Example 508 shows what this practice
has done to Caslon Oldstyle. It has also affected legibility by
lessening the space between lines (see also Example 509), and reading,
already difficult, is made still more so by the excess space that
careless hand compositors and “speedy” machine operators place between
words.

* * * * *

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 506

The space between words in good lettering, according to Johnston, is
less than the width of letter “o” (lower-case)
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 507

The lower-case letters grouped according to formation. As generally
mixed in various combinations, distinctive word groups are formed.
The word “minimum” is an exception
]

_Space Between Words._—The eyes can, in the same space of time, read
many more words if the words are narrowly spaced than if they are widely
spaced. The early printers knew this and set type accordingly. When
lower-case letters are widely spaced one letter must be read at a time
(508-I). When words are widely spaced one word must be read at a time. A
person accustomed to reading reads by thoughts—groups of words or
sentences. Even in the schools they are discarding the long-used method
of teaching the A-B-Cs, and instead of at first learning each letter
separately, the child learns to know words by their formation and to
read by word groups.

The present prevalence of wide spacing in the composition of books,
catalogs, pamphlets, periodicals and newspapers is a legacy from the
ante-machine period.

In hand-set days, job and book compositors, when they were called on to
set so-called straight matter, were required to use great care in
spacing. In the spacing out of a line the conscientious compositor would
remove thick spaces and insert thin spaces rather than add much extra
space between the words. The newspaper compositor, on the other hand—he
usually being a piece worker—seldom thin-spaced, but liberally added
space between words, especially on occasions when his “take” was to
“meet” that of another compositor. When machine composition was
introduced the spacing practices of the news-room hand compositor were
passed along to the machine, with the result that today a page of
machine matter set in the average careless way shows open spaces running
irregularly down the page, resembling a trench map of a modern
battlefield.

Close spacing and the resultant neat and readable appearance of the page
are possible in machine composition, as many users of these machines are
obtaining such results; but the general standard, due not a little to
the demand for rapidity and somewhat to ignorance of the fundamentals of
good typography, is humiliatingly low.

The design and form of the type-face, of course, determine the amount of
space between words. Johnston tells letterers that “the average space
between two words is less than the width of the letter _o_.” Example 506
is illustrative.

A newspaper editor some years ago asked the hand compositors to
thin-space, as there was a great deal of copy that day, whereupon the
printers all laughed in ridicule of the lay notion that such a procedure
would be of much use. That the request was not such an impractical one
was recently borne out by an experience of a periodical publisher, who,
on the machines in his own shop, produced close-spaced matter. In an
emergency an outside machine-composition house was called on to set a
part of the copy. When the work of making up was completed, it was found
that there were several galleys of matter that could not be used, altho
there was no more copy than usual. By again referring to Example 508-F
it will be seen that in the left group spacing between words is lavish,
while in the right group there is no waste of such spacing. Altho there
is more space between the lines of the right group, it contains three
more words than the left group.

In the lower part of Example 508 is the word “Typography” set in small
six-point, and near the word is the lone letter _a_, same size. It is
difficult for a person without excellent eyesight to identify the small
six-point “a,” but he can more easily and as quickly read the word made
in the same size from ten letters. When the letters of the word
“Typography” are widely spaced (even in larger size, as shown) they must
be read one letter at a time, but when closely assembled they can be
seen at a glance and read ten times as rapidly.

An experienced proofreader does not read a galley letter by letter, but
recognizes a wrong type because the natural formation of the word has
been broken.

Carrying the experiment further, place in “open formation” the words
“Art and Practice of Typography,” and they must be read slowly one word
at a time, but group the words closely, as has been done in the lower
left of the same Example 508, and the entire group of words can be read
practically at a glance. Just as an illiterate person laboriously reads
letter by letter, a young child beginning to read will see only one word
at a time. While on rudimentary primers the words should be isolated,
there is no necessity for wide spacing between words in text matter
intended for adults.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 508

Legibility and other qualities illustrated
]

_Length of Lines._—This leads to consideration of the effect length of
lines has on reading.

The Board of Education of the city of New York disqualifies textbooks in
which the length of line is more than 100 millimeters (about twenty-four
picas, or four inches). The maximum length of line recommended by the
British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1912 is about the
same. Professor Huey, in “The Psychology and Pedagogy of Reading”
(1907), says: “There is a general consensus in favor of the shorter as
against the longer lines, with a tendency to favor 90 millimeters as a
maximum, some placing the maximum at 100 millimeters.” Dr. Javal, the
French oculist, who thirty-five years ago made tests in typography,
believes the maximum should be considerably below 90 millimeters (about
21 picas).

It would be well, in order to arrive somewhere in determining the proper
length of line, to consider the size and kind of type that makes up the
line.

The author asks consideration of Examples 509 and 510. The length of
line is limited by authorities because the eye finds it difficult to
read a long line of comparatively small type. Isn’t it true that healthy
eyes can read a line of type twelve inches long set in fifty-four-point
Caslon Oldstyle, say, with the same ease as a line four inches long set
in eighteen-point Caslon Oldstyle?

By the same reasoning, the line of twelve-point Caslon Oldstyle set
three inches wide (Example 509) is as easily read, after the eyes are
focused on it, as the line of eighteen-point Caslon set four inches
wide.

The author suggests, then, that the proper length of type lines be
ascertained by measuring one-and-a-half alphabets of the lower-case of
the desired type, as is demonstrated in Example 510.

Let us try out the top group—Caslon Oldstyle. (This type-face seems
smaller, according to body sizes, than Scotch Roman, for the reason that
its descending strokes have not been cut off, while those of the Scotch
Roman group have been shortened; but of this more later.)

A lower-case alphabet-and-a-half of twelve-point Caslon Oldstyle (with
long descenders) measures 17½ picas in length, as will be seen in
Example 510. How it appears set in words in two lines of the same
measure is to be seen in the upper part of Example 509. According to the
working out of the plan, 17½ picas is the ideal length of line for books
using this twelve-point type. By referring back to Example 127 in the
chapter on “Books,” the theory will be found borne out in practical use
on a model book page.

Testing the length of lines by reading (Example 509), it will be found,
if the distance between the eyes and book is lengthened as the sizes
grow larger, that the line is short enough not to necessitate a hunt for
the beginning of the second line after the first is read.

The optical disadvantage of using in one piece of printing type-faces of
any great contrast in sizes may be proved by focusing the eyes so as
easily to read the eighteen-point size and then changing quickly to the
eight-point size, attempting to read the latter without again focusing
the eyes to fit the smaller type.

There is a technical as well as an optical reason for determining the
length of line by measurement of the types themselves. It will be seen
by Example 509 that the copy adjusts itself to the various lengths of
lines, or, in the vernacular of the printer, “works out line for line.”
If fourteen-point type, instead of twelve-point type, were set in lines
measuring fifteen picas in length, the compositor would have more
difficulty in adjusting the spaces between words, as these spacing
points would number two less. This difficulty is usually solved by
regrettable wide spacing between words or more regrettable spacing
between letters.

Testing types used on newspapers, selecting for the purpose the most
used newspaper linotype face (see lower part of Example 510), we find
that the length of line for six-point should be thirteen picas and for
seven-point fourteen picas. As actually used in newspapers, the length
of line is usually twelve and a half or thirteen picas.

* * * * *

_Approved Type Sizes and Space Between Lines._—The type in the upper
part of Example 509 also illustrates the sizes of type and the amount of
space between type lines that investigators have determined are minimum
for use on schoolbooks.

Dr. Cohn, whose findings in these matters have been practically indorsed
by educational boards and writers on school hygiene, stipulates that for
first-year school children the vertical measurement of the lower-case o
should be at least 2.6 millimeters, with space between lines (measuring
vertically between a lower-case _o_ in one line and a lower-case _o_ in
the line above or below) of 4.5 millimeters. Twenty-two-point Caslon
Oldstyle, with long descenders (not shown here), conforms to these
measurements.

For the second and third years, the measurement of the _o_ should be at
least 2 millimeters, with space between lines of 4 millimeters.
Eighteen-point Caslon Oldstyle, with long descenders (as shown in
Example 509), conforms to these measurements.

The fourteen-point size meets the requirements for the fourth school
year—at least 1.8 millimeters, with space between lines of 3.6
millimeters.

After the fourth school year the type should measure not less than 1.6
millimeters, with space between lines of 3 millimeters, to which
twelve-point Caslon Oldstyle, with long descenders, conforms.

The descending strokes are sufficiently long in the eighteen-point size
to maintain between the lines of type the amount of spacing stipulated
by Dr. Cohn, but in the fourteen-point size it was necessary to add a
two-point lead and in the twelve-point size a one-point lead.

In comparing one font of type with another, it is not accurate to
compare, say, eleven-point with eleven-point. Not infrequently one
type-face has been pronounced more readable than another, when the
preferred type-face was really a twelve-point face on an eleven-point
body, with the descending strokes mutilated to allow for such an
arrangement. The faces should be compared by the Cohn method given
above.

The panel inserted in Example 509 is illustrative.

The three letters (_Hdp_) at the left are twenty-four-point “lining”
Caslon; the three letters (_Hdp_) at the right are thirty-point Caslon
Oldstyle No. 471. The economical printer too often prefers the “lining”
fonts, as he does not need to buy waste (?) metal. It is the same sort
of reasoning that sees in the park spaces of the cities real-estate
waste.

The laws of compensation in good typography require, where one point or
two points or more are unwisely removed by shortening descenders, that
these points shall be restored by leading. So where is the gain by
mutilation?

ITALIC TYPES

Italic, the graceful, inclined, feminine type that is now mated with
most Roman types, was not known by Jenson or his contemporaries. It made
its appearance for the first time in 1501 on a book printed and
published at Venice, Italy, by Aldus Manutius. In that volume, an
edition of Virgil, Aldus gave credit for the cutting of the face to
“Francia of Bologna,” who has since been identified as the great painter
and contemporary of Leonardo da Vinci.

The legend has been passed along for many years that Italic was
fashioned after the handwriting of the Italian poet Petrarch, but
specimens of his handwriting do not bear the proper resemblance, and
there are now those who scoff at the story.

However, the Aldus Italic is not, as one writer declares, merely an
inclined Roman. As it has been recut by the American Type Founders
Company and mated with Cloister, the recut Roman letter of Jenson, there
is opportunity to compare Italic and Roman lower-case, which is done in
Example 515. It will be seen that, while there is a family resemblance,
there are many differences other than that of mere inclination. Italic
capitals, however, are inclined Roman letters, but it should be
remembered that Aldus and Francia did not make or use Italic capitals,
but that with the slanting lower-case letters Aldus used small Roman
capitals. Example 513 shows how this was done, and this example, by the
way, is a resetting in Cloister Italic and Roman small capitals of the
Aldus page, reproduced on page 15 of the chapter on “The Spread of
Typography.” In that chapter are included further facts about this
famous printer.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 509

The various sizes of type set to lengths determined by measuring as in
Example 510. Also showing the space between lines needed for easy
reading. The size of type-face and space between lines of the
eighteen-point, fourteen-point and twelve-point of the Caslon group
have been authoritatively recommended for schoolbook printing (Read
page 188)
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 510

Ascertaining the proper optical length of line by measuring a
lower-case alphabet-and-a-half of each size and style of type. This
method furnishes a practical rule for determining lengths of line.
(Read pages 187 and 188.) The accompanying scales may be used for
measurements
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 511

Moxon’s Italic capitals of 1676
]

Examples 511, 512 and 514 are reproductions of Moxon’s drawings (1676)
of the Italic types of a Dutch punch cutter. They show the character of
Italic used in the seventeenth century. The long _s_ of that time is
included in Example 512, and Example 514 shows the decorated Italic
capitals that we know as “Swash letters.”

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 513

Resetting in Cloister types of an example on page 15 of this book of
the original Italic types of Aldus and Francia
]

Swash Italic capitals and the old-style long _s_ are to be had with
Caslon Oldstyle. See Example 517. The Italic mates of a few of the
present-day Romans are shown in Example 516.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 512

The Italic lower-case of Moxon, with long “s” (ſ)
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 514

Decorated capitals, or Swash letters, as drawn by Moxon from Dutch
sources
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 515

The first Italic was not made merely by inclining the Roman lower-case
letters. Cloister Oldstyle (upper line) is modeled after one of the
first Roman types, that of Jenson, cut in 1470. Cloister Italic is
modeled after the first Italic type of Aldus and Francia, 1501
]

Italic types, besides the instances previously mentioned, may be seen in
use on pages 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 32, and in Examples 45,
98, 100, 128, 138, 139, 144, 152, 158, 168, 169, 170, 171, 180, 185,
191, 215, 222, 223, 224, 232, 240, 245, 246, 250, 262, 282, 292, 294,
297, 299, 310, 311, 313, 314, 315, 316, 325, 326, 329, 331, 332, 336,
342, 343, 345, 346, 349, 363, 372, 374, 375, 384, 387, 390, 394, 396,
398, 399, 401, 402, 404, 405, 406, 412, 413, 414, 418, 420, 423, 424,
426, 428, 429, 472, 477, 481 and 483.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 516

A few Italic type-faces
]

TEXT TYPES

Gutenberg and other German printers who followed him fashioned their
type-faces after Black Letter, the formal writing of the German scribes,
as Jenson fashioned his type-face after White Letter, the formal writing
of the Italian scribes. The White Letter of Jenson grew into the Roman
types that today are used almost exclusively in France, England and
Italy and in our own country, while Black Letter developed into the
German types that are almost exclusively used in the German Empire. As
this is being written, the Great War is being fought. America has just
entered it, and it is a coincidence that the countries favoring White
Letter are on one side in the struggle and the countries favoring Black
Letter on the other side. The years that follow the war may see, so far
as general reading purposes are concerned, the gradual elimination of
the letter we know as Text and the largely increased use of Roman
characters in the books and newspapers of all races. The Germans are
already favoring a Roman half Text in character (Example 521).

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 517

Complete Roman and Italic alphabets of Caslon Oldstyle with “Swash
letters” and long “s” (ſ)
]

Text type, besides being known as Black Letter, is also called Gothic
and Old English; Gothic because of its preference by Gothic or German
peoples, and Old English because of its use by Wynkyn de Worde and other
early printers of England.

Moxon, in 1676, drew an alphabet of Text letter in both capitals and
lower-case (Examples 518 and 519), and Caslon, in the eighteenth
century, cut a Text letter similar but somewhat thinner in form.
Alteration in capitals works great changes in Text type.

Text letter in a variety of designs is used in America for special
purposes—sometimes as headings of newspapers or for a line on
stationery, but because it is generally considered illegible it seldom
is given place, except in German-language newspapers, on body portions
of printed work.

The story of the evolution of Text type from Roman capitals has already
been told on pages 5 and 6 of the chapter, “When Books Were Written,”
and under the head, “Development of the Roman Type-Face,” in this
chapter. It is illustrated in Example 465.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 518
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 519

Text capitals and Text lower-case letters as drawn by Moxon in 1676
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 520

Two standard German type-faces, the Fractur and the Schwabacher
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 521

The half-Gothic and half-Roman type-face now favored in Germany as the
nearest approach to the Roman allowed by national prejudice of
readers
]

Text type may be seen in use, even to a small extent, on pages 5, 7
(insert), 8, 9, 12, 13 (insert), 14 (insert), 16, 17, 18, 27 (insert),
31, and in Examples 19, 27, 32, 37, 75, 76, 107, 115, 117, 118, 137,
143, 145, 146, 147, 157, 158, 159, 200, 201, 202, 204, 206, 216, 219,
220, 221, 227, 228, 232, 233, 237, 241, 243, 244, 257, 277, 285, 287,
301, 307, 319, 333, 336, 347, 353, 354, 358, 361, 392, 404, 405, 421 and
425.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 522

Several representative Text types
]

BLOCK TYPES

The style of letter known as “Block,” because of its plain, square
appearance, is more in use than it should be (Example 523). It serves a
purpose for very small sizes of lettering on lithographed stationery and
on blank work, its capitals being more legible than regular Roman
capitals in diminutive form; but its use on periodical and newspaper
advertising, books and general job work is deplorable.

It is an unfinished Roman letter, as shown by Example 497. It is really
not admissible to the company of the educated and informed until serifs
have been added and a difference in thickness of strokes is visible.

Some American typefounder many years ago called this style of face
“Gothic,” and under that name this rather questionable type is widely
known, probably better known than many worthier faces. It is possible,
also regrettable, that it is the “best seller” of the type foundries’
product. Over in Scotland and England the type is called “Sans-Serif”
and “Grotesque”; in Germany it is known as “Block”; in France and Spain
as “Antique.” Examples showing use of “Block” type or “Gothic”: 263,
276, 291, 305, 318, 320, 321, 373, 404, 405, 406.

Poster artists of Germany and Austria have developed the “Block” type
into a very strong letter of wide strokes, which, when printed in color,
show forth color values attractively (Example 235, chapter on
“Announcements”). This style of letter has been brought out in type form
in Germany and in America. Alphabets of the American type (Publicity
Gothic and Advertisers’ Gothic) are shown in Example 524. As indicated
by the titles, these types serve a special purpose.

BOLD TYPES

There is a legitimate use for bold type-faces, especially in small
sizes, on books of reference, schoolbooks, catalogs, and similar printed
work, but it is safe to wager that half the bold types in use, and
almost all of the large sizes, could well be dispensed with. When used
to a great extent, the printed work on which it appears is unattractive.
Bold type is to typography what the bass drum is to music: it fits in
nicely for purposes of accentuation and emphasis; but who likes a bass
drum solo?

However, a slight strengthening of lines sometimes serves special
purposes well. Daniel Elzevir used a letter with slightly deepened
strokes for the main line in Example 477.

Old-Style Antique has long been popular with good printers for
typography requiring a darker tone than is given by Caslon Oldstyle; the
so-called Caslon Bold will never really take its place.

Most of the standard type-faces referred to in this chapter are
procurable in bold form. Cloister Bold, Caslon Bold, Bodoni Bold and
Cheltenham Bold are included with a few other faces in Example 526.

ORNAMENTAL TYPES

Typography has its periods of abstention and fasting, which usually
follow periods of revelry in decorative types in which good taste and
dignity are not infrequently sinned against. After the typefounders of
the nineteenth century had twisted, distorted, decorated, shaded and
otherwise disguised the Roman alphabet until Jenson, Aldus, the
Elzevirs, Caslon and Franklin would no longer recognize it, the users of
printing, the printers and the typefounders became sobered and realized
what they had done.

A period of fasting set in, but, recollections of the old typographic
carousal wearing off, ornamental letters again began to appear. They
were on different models, however—some of them very good—and were
acceptable for informal typography (Example 527-C).

Some ornamental types of historic origin are based on the
eighteenth-century letters of Fournier, the French typefounder, and on
those of English founders (Examples 527-A and 527-B).

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 523

Block types, serifless and of one thickness of stroke
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 524

Modern-art poster type; the upper alphabet being known as Publicity
Gothic, and the lower one as Advertisers’ Gothic
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 525

McFarland (lower line), based upon the French Oldstyle (upper line),
the strokes having been made bolder
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 526

A few representative bold-face types
]

TYPES FOR SPECIAL PURPOSES

There are numerous other faces, many of them admirable, which for lack
of space cannot be shown or described here. There are type-faces for
special purposes, such as the imitation copperplate-engraving faces,
made in English and French Scripts, Romans, Texts and Gothics; imitation
typewriter faces, gray-printing “halftone” faces, such as were used for
many years as a head-letter on the _Ladies’ Home Journal_.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 527-A

The eighteenth-century ornamental types of Fournier, the French
founder
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 527-B

Early nineteenth-century ornamental types of English founders
]

A dozen pages, were they available, could well be given over to exhibits
of the privately designed types of the Riverside Press, Merrymount
Press, University Press, Village Press and other notable printing
offices.

THE INFLUENCE OF GOUDY

A liberal showing would be worth while of the various fonts designed by
Frederic W. Goudy, who has done much in influencing type design during
recent years, but it will be necessary to be content with the exhibit of
Kennerley, in Example 463, and other faces by Mr. Goudy in use in
preceding chapters. Kennerley, the best known and most characteristic of
the Goudy letters (1911), is shown in Examples 187, 313, 329, 364, 395,
432, 445 and 446. Forum, made in capitals only, is to be found in
Examples 20, 229, 334, 360, 366 and 395. Goudy Oldstyle is used in
Examples 324 and 391. Camelot, which was Mr. Goudy’s first effort at
type designing (1896), appears in Examples 44 and 124. Pabst, another
early effort of Mr. Goudy, but not so good in design as his later types,
will be found in Examples 30, 100 and 214, and also used in this book
for headlines, captions, title-page and cover labels.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 527-C

Type-faces of the ornamental kind
]

Frederic W. Goudy is wielding a large influence over art work and
typography in America. His style of lettering, decoration and type
designing is now to be found on much of the good printing produced in
our country. His type-faces are original; in their completed form they
are not just like any one type-face previously used, but they revive
details in letter forms that for many years had been considered obsolete
by typefounders. Mr. Goudy is a humanist; he believes that type-faces
should be more expressive of the art of the letterer than the skill of
the typefounder. He is speaking:

Type must be finely and boldly designed to be beautiful. In the
majority of cases where these points are claimed for a type, it
will be found that the claims rest on their perfect finish, exact
lining or ranging, perfection of curve, precise angles,
straightness of stem, or sharpness of serif and hair line. None of
these points give beauty or legibility, altho they may be present
in a type both beautiful and legible. Finish in the design of a
letter is a merit only when it improves, but if made at the
expense of design it constitutes a defect.

Ruskin’s universal law, that “neither architecture nor any other
noble work of man can be good unless it be imperfect,” applies no
less to our type designs. Types are made to use, and when
spontaneous in design, the natural irregularities and deficiencies
are signs of life and sources of beauty, giving credit to the
designer for careful craftsmanship according to his ability. The
demand for perfection is evidence of a misunderstanding of the
true ends of art.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 528-A

The first “imprint,” as found on Fust and Schœffer’s Psalter of 1457
From De Vinne
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 528-B

Colophon and imprint by Peter Schœffer, 1476 From the original in the
Typographic Library and Museum, Jersey City
]

[Illustration]

IMPRINTS

The printer’s name or device should, with all regard to good taste, be
placed on every well-executed piece of work produced by him. That this
is not more often done is due to neglect of advertising opportunities
and to fear of the customer’s objection. Why should not the printer mark
his product as other craftsmen and manufacturers do? Each piece of
clothing he wears, from hat to shoes, probably carries the name or
trademark of its maker, as do automobiles, pianos, watches, silverware
and many other articles he owns. The maker’s name and trademark are a
guarantee of a certain quality of product; in fact, they are absent only
on cheap or imitative articles. If the printer is doing careless work
and giving no thought to quality, he had better hide his identity, but
if he is really producing good printing, as a duty to the craft of which
he is a member he should “let his light shine before men.”

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 529

The first imprint-device, and three marks based on it
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 530

Aldus’s anchor-and-dolphin device, and adaptations by modern printers
]

If a commercial printer has not been in the habit of placing an imprint
on his product, and he decides to do so, customers should tactfully be
made acquainted with the innovation. They probably stand ready to be
convinced of its reasonableness. It may be an excellent plan for the
printer to mail his customers an announcement to this effect: “The
standard of quality attained by the Smith Printshop is such that it is
due our customers and ourselves so to mark each piece of printing
produced by us as to identify it as a product of the Smith Printshop.
This we will do hereafter.”

As a further precaution, all proofs receiving the O. K. of the customer
should contain the imprint just as it is to be used, and on important
large orders, where there is any doubt, permission should be obtained.
There are instances where customers have refused to accept printed work
for the reason that an imprint was placed on it.

It is only necessary to have printing-office patrons become accustomed
to the new order of things.

John Dunlap, who printed the Declaration of Independence for Congress,
placed his imprint on it (see frontispiece of this volume). If some
friend had suggested to John Gutenberg that he imprint his name on his
work, the discussion that has since arisen as to whether or not he
printed the “Bible of Forty-two Lines” would not have taken place.

The commercial printer’s imprint should be unassuming and placed
inconspicuously. Decorative imprints could be used on booklet and
catalog work, and in addition the decorative device should find place on
every piece of the printer’s own stationery and advertising matter, even
on the office door.

* * * * *

The use by printers of decorative devices dates back to one of the first
printed books, the famous Psalter of 1457. For a great many hundred
years previous, pictures and devices in various forms had been relied
upon to convey information and to act as distinguishing marks for
various purposes. Figures such as the white horse and the red lion, hung
as signs in front of taverns and public houses during the last two
centuries, were outgrowths of the coats-of-arms of titled folk who in
ancient times hung the family device in front of their estates as
emblems of hospitality to the weary traveler.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 531

The most popular imprint-device as early used by printers, and modern
interpretations
]

Emblems and devices seem always to have had place in human history. The
sign of the Cross in the eleventh century led the Crusaders against the
followers of the Crescent. The cross of St. George (+) furnished
inspiration for the English in their warfare with the Scots, who rallied
around the cross of St. Andrew (❌), and the combined crosses of St.
George, St. Andrew and St. Patrick now inspire the patriotic Britisher.

It would seem that printers could do better work if they were to select
some device which would represent an ideal, and then attempt to live up
to it.

While the Gutenberg Bible of Forty-two Lines, generally accepted as the
first book printed with separate metal types, contained neither device
nor printer’s name, the Book of Psalms, or Psalter, of 1457, not only
has the names of Fust and Schœffer and the date, but an imprint device
which has the distinction of being the first ever used on a book
typographically printed. This famous Psalter was the product of Johann
Fust and Peter Schœffer, who succeeded to Gutenberg’s printing office.
At the end of the book, printed in red ink, is the colophon of the
printers (Example 528-A), a translation of which follows: “This book of
Psalms, decorated with antique initials, and sufficiently emphasized
with rubricated letters, has been thus made by the masterly invention of
printing and also of type-making, without the writing of a pen, and is
consummated to the service of God, thru the industry of Johann Fust,
citizen of Mainz, and Peter Schœffer of Gernszheim, in the year of our
Lord 1457, on the eve of the Assumption.”

The colophon contains a typographic error, perhaps the first to be made
by a typesetter, the second word showing “spalm-” for “psalm-.” On
several of the Psalters still in existence (one is without it) the
colophon is accompanied by the decorative device shown in Example 529,
consisting of a pair of shields suspended from the limb of a tree. The
significance of the characters on the shields is not definitely known.
Humphreys, in his “History,” asserts that the shields contain the arms
of Fust and those of Schœffer. It is conceded that the shield on the
left is Fust’s and the shield on the right Schœffer’s. In Rietstap it is
found that one branch of the old German family of Faust bore a
coat-of-arms containing on a shield two crampons in saltire (crossed).
Bullen claims the character in the Fust shield is the Greek letter Chi
(Χ) and that in Schœffer’s shield the Greek letter Lambda (Λ), and that
they had some connection with secret societies to which Fust and his
son-in-law Schœffer belonged.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 532

Arms supposedly granted the Typothetæ, a society of master printers,
by Frederick III
]

Schœffer’s device was used for many years by his descendants, Example
529 showing its use as late as 1747 by Peter Schœffer, of Bois-le-Duc,
in the Netherlands.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 533

The imprint-device of England’s first printer, its probable
derivation, and two notable devices evolved from it
]

This device of Fust and Schœffer furnished inspiration to several
printers of the same century, chief among whom were Michael Furter and
Nicolas Kessler, whose devices are shown in Example 529. Furter, who
printed at Basel, Switzerland, in 1490, was once credited with being the
inventor of printing, thru an error in a book, the date of which was
made to read 1444 (M.CCCC.XLIIII), instead of 1494 (M.CCCC.XCIIII).

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 534

Two modern designs with ancient motifs
]

What is considered to be the most classic of all imprint-devices
(Example 530) is that used by Aldus Manutius, the great Venetian
printer, who introduced the italic face of type. The device, an anchor,
around which is twisted a dolphin, is said to be symbolic of the proverb
“Hasten slowly.” The anchor represents stability and the dolphin
swiftness. The mark was taken by him from a book he had printed,
“Reveries of Polyphilus,” and was used as the Aldus device for the first
time in an edition of Dante of 1502.

In a spirit of affection and regard for the famous Venetian, the device
of Aldus has been adopted or adapted by several well-known printers.
There is a nice sentiment connected with the use of this mark by William
Pickering, the noted English publisher. In place of the “AL-DVS” of the
original, Pickering’s adaptation contained a motto in which he announced
himself as the English disciple of Aldus. The reproduction of the
Pickering device shown is from a book published by Pickering and printed
by Whittingham in 1840.

By 1892 we find a lion added to this device, as used by the Chiswick
Press.

The McClure Publications of New York have a conventionalized
interpretation which shows the dolphin and anchor in white upon a black
circular background (Example 530).

Bruce Rogers, at the Riverside Press, has most interestingly adapted the
Aldus device. It seems that he always had a fondness for the thistle,
the national flower of Scotland, and when seeking a motif for his mark,
naturally turned to it. When the time came for putting it into use, the
first requirement happened to be for an Aldine page, so it was cast in a
form that would distinctly suggest the Aldus anchor and dolphin.
(Compare the two designs in Example 530.) While on the subject of Bruce
Rogers’s device it may be interesting to relate that later, when he
desired to use it on a book modeled on French sixteenth-century work, he
reshaped it as shown in Example 540, which carries a suggestion of one
of Robert Estienne’s marks shown with it. Rogers redrew his personal
device, or that of the Riverside Press, to blend with the motif of the
book on which it was to be used, a practice that embodies the highest
use of the printer’s mark.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 535

The pun, as found in two printers’ marks
]

* * * * *

One of the most famous imprint-devices is that adopted by the Society of
Printers of Venice in 1481 (Example 531), about the time of the death of
Nicholas Jenson, who is supposed to have originated the design. Various
explanations have been given of the significance of this device, the
most reasonable being that the globe and cross refers to the millennium,
when, according to prophecy, God shall reign upon earth. The
globe-and-cross symbol was frequently embellished with supplementary
characters having other religious significance. The mark of Androw
Myllar (Example 535) contains a figure 4, which denoted the Supreme
Being. People of antiquity frequently composed the name of the Deity in
four letters. The globe in the Venetian device probably represented the
earth, altho the fact that the earth was round was not common knowledge
in the early days. The theory, however, was accepted by the educated
priest and layman long before Columbus sailed, as he thought, for India.

The double-cross in the Roman church today is associated with the
authority of an archbishop, and as a decorative form of the cross,
extends back many centuries. The ornamental double-cross pictured in
this connection was once the property of St. Waudru of Belgium, who died
in 670. The double cross or Lorraine cross was used by Geofroy Tory as a
small mark on his wood engravings (see lower left corner of the Tory
mark in Example 536).

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 536

Devices used by notable printers of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 537

A colophon-imprint by D. B. Updike, from “Petrarch and His Masters,”
1907
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 538

The Lion of St. Mark appropriately adapted by Bruce Rogers to a book
on Venetian life
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 539-A

The Lion of St. Mark as a printshop device
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 539-B

The Oswald Press mark designed by T. M. Cleland
]

In further consideration of the cross-and-globe device it may be well to
mention that an astronomical sign consisting of a circle with a cross
above it (♁) was used by the Egyptians many years before the Christian
era. Such a sign is yet used astronomically and also to indicate the
male in botany. Another astronomical sign bearing on the subject is that
of a cross within a circle (⨁), by which the earth is indicated.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 540

Robert Estienne’s mark, and Bruce Rogers’s adaptation of it
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 541

An appropriate mark for a printer to adopt
]

The cross-and-globe device of the Venetian Society of Printers has
proved the most popular of any of the old imprints. When Elbert Hubbard
established the Roycroft Shop at East Aurora, N. Y., in 1896, he adopted
it as a work-mark, placing an “R” in the lower half of the circle in
place of the dot. Fra Elbertus’s interpretation of the device
established the circle as “the emblem of the perfect (the complete), and
the lines puncturing the circle the attempt to make a perfect article,
to do perfect work.”

When the advertising manager of the National Biscuit Company was looking
about for a trademark this old device of the Lorraine cross and circle
must have appealed to him strongly, and such is the power of advertising
that printers may some day be accused of copying the design from this
biscuit house.

The remarkable adaptability of the device is also demonstrated by the
Griffith-Stillings imprint, in which it forms a part of a clever modern
decorative design (Example 547).

Frederic W. Goudy incorporated the Venetian printers’ device most
interestingly in the decorative mark of the Village Press (Example 531).

The imprint-device of the Gould Press (Example 543) may have originated
with the Venetian printers’ design. It is an interesting variant.

These numerous uses by printers and others of the old circle-and-cross
design suggest a paraphrase of an ancient proverb: “A good device lives
forever.”

* * * * *

William Caxton, England’s first printer, used an imprint-device (Example
533) that in appearance resembles a rug, which it may have been intended
to represent, as Caxton is supposed to have used this mark when he was a
merchant at Bruges in Belgium. The characters contained in the design
have caused much discussion. The “W” on the left and the “C” on the
right are generally accepted as the initials of Caxton. The center
characters have been claimed by some to be the figures “74,” but the
most reasonable explanation is that they form a trade device used by the
merchants of Bruges. This explanation is seemingly confirmed by the
discovery of a memorial plate to one John Felde, containing his
trademark as a merchant, which trademark is very similar to the
characters in the center of Caxton’s imprint-device. The reproduction of
the Felde design shows that if the top stroke were taken away and a loop
added the result would be Caxton’s characters.

Wynkyn de Worde, when he succeeded Caxton as England’s printer, adopted
Caxton’s characters (probably a sentimental act) and in the device shown
added his own name at the foot.

William Morris, in planning an imprint-device for the Kelmscott Press,
evidently made a study of de Worde’s design, for there is resemblance in
shape and in the placing of the name at the foot.

T. C. Hansard, on the title-page of his “Typographia” (1825), uses a
device which tradition tells us was granted by Emperor Frederick III of
Germany to a corporation of master printers known as the Typothetæ. (See
Example 532.) References by writers to the origin of this design are
generally contradictory. The United Typothetæ and Franklin Clubs of
America, an association of employing printers, has adopted the device
and uses it in the conventionalized form shown. The design in its
original form tends to heraldic elaborateness. There is represented an
eagle holding a copy guide in one claw and a composing stick in the
other. Surmounting the design is a griffin (eagle-lion) grasping two ink
balls. The Winthrop Press mark (Example 543) and other printers’ devices
have been inspired by this emblem, as the griffin copyholder and ink
balls are familiar decorative forms.

* * * * *

In Great Britain the printer whose name would allow a pun has always
been considered fortunate. John Daye, a London printer of 1560, had an
elaborate device, paneled, in the center of which is a picture of a
reclining man being aroused by a figure which, pointing to the sun,
says, “Arise, for it is day.” (Example 535.)

Androw Myllar, who printed in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1510, used a
device which portrayed a miller climbing to his mill (Example 535). The
arrangement of his name in the lower part of the design suggests de
Worde’s, and the characters in the shields have meanings that may be
determined by a study of the religious symbolism of the Middle Ages.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 536-A

The printer’s device and imprint here occupies two-thirds of the
title-page. From a book by Robert Estienne, Paris, France, 1544
]

The imprints of some of the notable printers of the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries are interesting. The first mark in Example 536
shows one of the devices of Geofroy Tory of Paris from his “Champ
Fleury” of 1529. It consists of a broken pot filled with instruments and
the Latin phrase _Non plus_ (nothing more). The Lorraine cross in the
lower left corner is interesting in connection with the use made of it
by the Venetian Society of Printers (Example 531). Tory, an accomplished
scholar and noted wood engraver and printer, was, according to an
epitaph written by a compatriot, “the first man to discuss seriously the
art of printing,” and “taught Garamond, chief of engravers.” His work on
the derivation and formation of Latin characters had considerable
renown. He claimed, according to Fournier, that all the letters are
formed of I and O. Proportions are arrived at by dividing a square into
ten lines, perpendicular and horizontal, forming one hundred squares
completely filled with circles, the whole giving form and figure to the
letters.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 542

Use of the oval shape in the designing of printers’ marks
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 543

Modern imprints suggested by ancient forms
]

The troublous times of the Reformation, during which John Bebel was
imprisoned, may have had some influence on his selection of a device. It
consisted of a tree, in the branches of which was a prostrate man, and
over him was a large flat thing representing the platen of a printing
press (Example 536). On the platen were words meaning “Do not press poor
me to death.”

Christopher Plantin, printer and publisher of Antwerp, Belgium, whose
famous printing office, preserved as a museum, was one of the shrines of
worshiping printer-pilgrims up to the beginning of the European war,
employed a device which is emblematic of the saying of Jesus, “I am the
vine.”

A device used by the Elzevirs at Leyden, Holland, in 1620, shows a tree
with spreading branches. On one side of the trunk is the figure of a man
and on the other a scroll with the words _Non solus_ (not alone).

Robert Estienne had a similar device in 1544 (Example 536-A). This
device as shown is slightly reduced from the original, while those
previously mentioned are greatly reduced in size.

John Froben of Basel, Switzerland, who was a close friend of Erasmus,
the philosopher and patron of learning, in 1520 used a device containing
a staff surmounted by a dove and entwined by two serpents. (Example
542.) The legend, “Be ye wise as serpents and harmless as doves,”
occasionally accompanied the design.

Sometimes these printers’ marks were so large as to leave little room
for the title-page proper, in contrast to which is the extreme modesty
of Ulrich Zell of Cologne, Prussia, whose works are numerous and who is
credited with starting the story of the invention of printing by Coster.
Zell scarcely ever placed even his name on a book, yet his work may
easily be identified.

* * * * *

The Heintzemann Press device in Example 534 has an antique appearance
and its designer evidently received inspiration for his anchor, foliage
and scroll from such devices as those of Aldus and Plantin. The
Rogers-Riverside Press mark, too, has ancient motifs. The anchor-shaped
thistle, as already stated, is based upon Aldus’s device, and the frame
suggests old designs in metal.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 545

A mark that has to do with mythology
]

There is a suggestion of the pot device of Tory in the decorative
portion of the Merrymount Press imprint shown as Example 537. This
appeared at the end of the book as a colophon, the style in which the
imprint is written fitting it for that position. It will be remembered
that the printers of Italy usually had the beginning and ending set in
capitals to differentiate them from the body of the book. Elbert Hubbard
used the idea commercially on his advertising booklets, as in Example
550.

Perhaps the device shown as Example 541 is a bit too suggestive for
practical use by printers of the present day. Stephen Dolet’s name, in
its literal meaning, has something to do with an ax, hewing and cutting.
Dolet was a scholarly printer of the sixteenth century who suffered
martyrdom at the stake in 1546.

The oval shape for imprint designs is not unpleasant, as will be seen by
Example 542.

The Fezandat device was designed by Tory. The pheasant is a pun on the
printer’s name. The device as a whole is pleasing.

The Riverside Press device is classically Greek in motif. Pan and his
pipes appear on many of the marks of this press in various designs. The
one shown is from “Pan’s Pipes,” a Riverside Press publication.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 544

Printers’ marks based on architectural motifs
]

The winged ball, torch and other symbolic decorative devices are blended
pleasingly on the mark (Example 542), which appeared on the title-pages
of the famous Eliot six-foot shelf of books, “The Harvard Classics,”
1909.

* * * * *

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 546

The monogram is an attractive form for printers’ devices
]

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 547

Representative of the large variety of devices in use by American
printers and publishers
]

An interesting feature of some early Venetian books is the use by
printers of decorative devices designed upon the winged Lion of St.
Mark. Recent adaptations of this device are the Oswald Press imprints
(Examples 539-A and 539-B) and the ornament on a title by Bruce Rogers
(Example 538). The Lion of St. Mark is interesting in its significance.
Tradition has it that long ago, when John Mark, the missionary companion
of Paul, was traveling by way of Aquileia (Roman Secunda) for the
purpose of preaching the gospel of Jesus, he found himself, after a
violent storm, on one of the Rialto Islands that now form the city of
Venice. In a dream an angel appeared saluting him (_Pax tibi Marce
Evangelista meus_) and announcing that on those islands his bones would
some day find peace. In fulfilment of this prophecy, in the year 829,
several Venetians went to Alexandria, where the body of Mark had been
buried, removed it surreptitiously, and took it to Venice. Such was the
enthusiasm caused by this event that St. Mark supplanted St. Theodore as
the patron saint of the city. “_Viva San Marco_” was heard as the battle
cry of the Venetians, and the winged lion, symbolic of St. Mark, became
the glorious sign of the republic. In Venice today there are numerous
statuary reproductions of the winged Lion of St. Mark, holding with one
claw a book of the gospels. The exposed pages of the book usually
contain the salutation of the angel. The story of St. Mark’s vision and
of the bringing of the body to Venice is pictured in mosaic work in St.
Mark’s Church, Venice, where his bones rest.

The four-winged beasts mentioned in the fourth chapter of Revelations
are accepted as symbolic of the four evangelists, the winged lion
typifying St. Mark.

* * * * *

Example 543 shows four designs with motifs taken from ancient sources.
The Matthews-Northrup device of the mythical phœnix rising from the fire
is emblematic of immortality; the torch probably signifies the
intellectual light resulting from the invention of printing. The
Winthrop Press imprint has already been mentioned as having relation to
the ancient Typothetæ arms. The Binner-Wells design suggests that of
Froben, by the shape and lettering between lines. The possible
derivation of the Gould Press device from the Venetian master printers’
emblem has been suggested.

The unique mark of the De Vinne Press (Example 545) probably pictures a
page from a manuscript book. The legend connected with the Greek
lettering is mythical and has to do with one Prometheus, who, while
chained to a rock, tells of the benefits he conferred on mankind. A
literal translation of the Greek at this point reveals the
appropriateness of the quotation as used: “And further, I discovered for
them numeration, most striking of inventions; and composition, nurse of
the arts, producer of the record of all things.”

Three imprint-devices, based upon architectural motifs, are shown in
Example 544. In the Rogers design the architectural panel is surmounted
by a silhouetted heraldic figure that adds much to the attractiveness of
the device. A Colonial architectural panel frames the title of the
Bartlett-Orr Press. The Egyptian winged ball, asps and open book are
well blended with the monogram circle that fits the Roman arch in the
Trow imprint.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 548

Decorative imprints constructed with typefounders’ ornaments and
suitable type-faces
]

Initials in monogram form are frequently adopted by printers, and three
such devices are shown in Example 546. Reversing one of the initials is
a favorite method when the nature of the letter allows it, as in the
Patteson Press device. Fitting the initials to a general shape calls for
clever work, as in the shield shape of the Corday & Gross design.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 549

Type imprints, and the various interesting effects possible with them
]

Of the large variety of devices in use by other publishers and printers,
those shown in Example 547 are representative.

The Griffith-Stillings device, as has already been mentioned, includes
elements of the mark of the Society of Printers of Venice.

The _American Printer_ mark shows an American eagle standing on books,
and the initials A. P. used decoratively in the upper right corner. The
dimensions of this oblong and the background are borrowed from the
Venetian mark.

Unusual in shape and in wording is the Stillson device, which develops
attractiveness when printed in several colors and embossed.

[Illustration:

EXAMPLE 550

Quaint book-ending, or colophon, as used by Elbert Hubbard
]

Notwithstanding the cumbersome size of the acorn, the Sparrell Print
device is not unattractive.

With a decorative quality that suggests the sixteenth century, the Ginn
device is appropriate in its use of the horn book, an old-time teaching
help.

Rather clever is the manner in which Goudy has hung the ampersand
decoratively on the double-T monogram that is part of the Taylor &
Taylor mark.

The diamond-shaped Wright & Joys device, with its conventionalized tree,
is also interesting.

* * * * *

It is possible to construct really creditable decorative imprints with
typefounders’ ornaments and suitable type-faces. Example 548 presents
several such designs as demonstrations of what can be done in this
respect. In building these imprints the author has kept in mind the
rules that govern combinations of type and ornament, as explained in the
chapters relating to harmony, appropriateness, tone, contrast and
ornamentation. In the Church Press design the border is made in outline
to reflect the ornament. The types used in the Smith-Brown, Willis Works
and Gothic Shop imprints harmonize with the ornamentation in both tone
and shape. Italic type and the fleur-de-lis are French in motif. The
Caslon type-face and the old-style parentheses go well together. The
block, or gothic, type-face in its plainness of stroke suggests early
Greek letters, and blends with the plain illustration. The money-bag
ornament is an attempt at a pun, in the Stuff imprint. The pleasing gray
tone of the Horner & Wilburn device is due to harmony of ornament and
type-face.

* * * * *

The printer will more often be called on to use a small, inconspicuous
type-imprint than the prominent decorative device, and it is just as
desirable to have distinction in these small type lines as in the
elaborate devices. There are grouped in Example 549, a variety of
effects suggested for this purpose. The type used in an imprint should
harmonize and blend with the typography of the work on which it is used.
An imprint in old-style type would not blend with a page set in modern
type. It was the custom at one time to electrotype imprint lines so that
they could be easily handled, but now the linotype furnishes a
convenient method of casting them. It is well, tho, to strengthen the
face by having the slugs copper-faced, which work is done by
electrotypers.

APPENDIX
Holiday Greetings

[Illustration:

HOLIDAY GREETINGS _furnish opportunity for expression of the art of
printing. The more than one hundred specimens reproduced in
miniature in this section (received by the editors of “The American
Printer” from friends) contain many suggestions of typographic
interest_
]

[Illustration:

“Everybody in our house
wishes everybody in your house
a Merry Christmas
and a Happy New Year”
]

[Illustration:

“Volumes of good wishes
to friends of ours
from friends of yours”
]

[Illustration:

“CHRISTMAS:

A time for giving and for getting
and forgiving and forgetting”
]

[Illustration:

“May all that thou wishest
and all that thou lovest
come smiling around
thy sunny way”
]

[Illustration:

“At Christmas be merry
And thankful withal,
And feast thy poor neighbors,
The great with the small”
]

[Illustration:

“GLORIA IN EXCELSIS
DEO
ET IN TERRA PAX
HOMINIBUS BONAE
VOLUNTATIS”
]

[Illustration:

“Ule! Ule!
Three puddings in a pule—
Crack nuts and cry Ule!”
]

------------------------------------------------------------------------

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

1. Many illustrations may appear to be out of order. The book was in
two columns of text. The text read top to bottom then left to
right as normal. However, the illustrations were usually numbered
left to right then top to bottom. The illustrations were inserted
as close as possible in the normal flow of the text. Some
illustrations were out of order, e.g. Example 16.
2. The illustrations are displayed in direct proportion to their size
in the original.
3. Added ‘the’ between ‘of’ and ‘customer’ on p. 119.
4. Silently corrected typographical errors.
5. Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed.
6. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.

*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Art & Practice of Typography - A Manual of American Printing, etc." ***

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