A History of the Old English Letter Foundries: with Notes, Historical and Bibliographical, on the Rise and Progress of English Typography.Reed, Talbot Baines
History
A History of the Old English Letter Foundries: with Notes, Historical and Bibliographical, on the Rise and Progress of English Typography.
Reed, Talbot Baines
Printing -- England -- History; Type and type-founding -- England -- History
Among the “learned” founts, the English Samaritan matrices were those
from which had been cast the type for Walton’s _Polyglot_, in 1657,
as were also those of the larger Syriac; while the Double Pica large
and small faced Greek claim a still earlier origin, being the founts
in which was printed Patrick Young’s _Catena on Job_, in 1637, the
matrices having been procured from the proceeds of the fine on the
King’s printers for their scandalous errors in the printing of the
“Wicked” _Bible_, as detailed in a former chapter.[374] The smaller
face, as we have noticed, bears the strongest resemblance to the Greek
of the Eton _Chrysostom_. Mores states that the Great Primer Arabic of
the _Polyglot_ was in this foundry, but omits to include the matrices
in his summary.[375]
The following is the full list of the matrices in the foundry, _circ._
1700, as given by Mores:―
“THE FOUNDERY OF THE TWO MR. GROVERS, _circ._ 1700.
ORIENTALS.
_Hebrew._―
Great Primer, 30.
Pica, 80.
Long Primer, 60.
Brevier, 130.
_Samaritan_ (with English face).―
English,* 32. [P.]
_Syriac._―
Double Pica, 60. [P.]
Pica, 80.
_Arabic._―
Double Pica, 30. _Great Primer_, [P.?]
MERIDIONALS.
_Coptic_ (the new hand),* 81.
“This seems to be a mistake of the cataloguers, who had fallen
upon something which they did not understand; we suppose the
Alexandrian fount, which from the semblance they took to be
Coptic; the number 81 was made up with something else they were
strangers to; and so are we. But whatever it was (it is in the
foundry) it is now in its proper place.”
OCCIDENTALS.
_Greek._―
Double Pica large face, 183. [Royal.]
Double Pica small face, ... [Royal.]
Great Primer, 144.
English, 350.
_Greek._―
Pica, 380.
Pica, another, 120.
Long Primer, 120.
Brevier, 426. Very fine.
Brevier, another, imperfect.
2-line full face capitals, 23.
_Roman and Italic._―
2-line English full face capitals, 31.
2-line English Roman, 100.
2-line English Italic, 77.
Double Pica Roman large face, 120. [Day?] [P.?]
Double Pica Italic, 98. [Day?] [P.?]
Double Pica Roman small face, 126.
Double Pica Italic, 98.
Great Primer Roman large face, 102.
Great Primer Italic, 105.
Great Primer Roman small face, 153.
Great Primer Italic, 105.
Great Primer small capitals, 27.
English Roman, 159.
English Italic, 114. {199}
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