Volume 182402

Typographia: or the printers' instructor, including an account of the origin of printing. With biographical notices of the printers of England, from Caxton to the close of the sixteenth century: a series of ancient and modern alphabets, and Domesday characters: together with an elucidation of every subject connected with the art / By J. Johnson, printer.

  • John Johnson
Date:
1824
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Typographia: or the printers' instructor, including an account of the origin of printing. With biographical notices of the printers of England, from Caxton to the close of the sixteenth century: a series of ancient and modern alphabets, and Domesday characters: together with an elucidation of every subject connected with the art / By J. Johnson, printer. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    which seem rather to have increased: but whetherr the founder (to make his letter more weighty), or the printer, (to grace it with more distance betweenn the lines) has occasioned this digression from thee former sizes, we shall not scrutinize; but only sup-- pose that it commenced with the time when Englishh printers were obliged to furnish themselves withh good letter from abroad. Few oflices, of any extent, are without two orr three founts of a particular size letter, cast by dif-- ferent founders. It often occurs, that a sort may/ be short in one, of which there is a superfluity in: the other; but, from their different face, &c. cannot | be used together; in this case, not only an expense : is incurred, but a delay occasioned to the work from the time it necessarily takes to cast imperfections. This is not the only inconvenience, In the best ! regulated offices, it is impossible to prevent founts | from being mixed, which occasions loss of time to the compositor, who, if he be a careless man, will not take the trouble to put the sorts in their proper places when marked in his proof, but will commit them to the old metal box, for the benefit of the founder, to the serious injury of the printer. Another, and very considerable fault, may be alleged against the founders, who seem to have ee imperfections, or even founts, have been obtained from them with any degree of accuracy, independent of the delay? No; they had one fixed and undeviating standard, which they copied from the Germans, for all their sizes, and which they continue to this day. We shall close this note with an observation of an experienced practical letter-founder, who, when speaking of the above defects, remarked, that the present system is bad, and most destructive ; that the founders were all wrong together; and, in order to obtain perfection, every thing at present in the business should be destroyed, when they should commence again with a settled, firm, undeviating | standard for every [aow regular, or irregular] size, Tilithis is done, | we cannot expect to see any thing like perfection; but mustacknow, | ledge that the art, instead of advancing has made a retrograde motion;