[Sidenote: Enlarging or reducing Small Letters.] In drawing (or copying) small letters, be careful to make the stems of _equal_ width or thickness, and those which pass above or below the line of equal and proportionate height or length. The tops of t's should always be lower than those of the other long letters, as in writing, and the dots of the i's in a line with the tops of the t's. [Sidenote: Books of Alphabets, &c.] There is a small book of mediæval alphabets, published by Masters, price 2_s._, suited to beginners. _The Book of Ornamental Alphabets, Ancient and Mediæval, collected and engraved by F. Delamotte_ (published by E. & F. N. Spon, 16 Bucklersbury, London), is valuable to those who can enlarge while copying; it contains upwards of forty alphabets, beginning with those of the 8th century, also several initial letters, and a page of monograms, crosses, &c.--most of the alphabets are one inch in height--price 4_s._ The best and most recent collection of letters that I have met with is _The Handbook of Alphabets, Initials, and Monograms_, engraved by William Gibbs, published by Houlston & Wright, 65 Paternoster Row, London, price 5_s._ [Sidenote: Value and use of Capitals.] [Sidenote: Dedication.] In arranging for the outline of a text, first select the necessary capitals. The initial (or first letter) must be the handsomest of all, as being the introduction and dedication of the work to The Blessed Trinity. Capitals are generally employed throughout the Sacred Names; the first letter may be the largest, the following of the same height as the small letters. [Sidenote: Emphasis.] They are also prefixed to such words as we wish especially to emphasize, as in the following examples:-- _Be clothed with Humility._ _My times are in Thy Hand._ _Watch and Pray._ The emphasis of _colour_ will be given in the proper place (pp. 14, &c.). [Sidenote: Distinction of Style, Date, and Country.] It is advisable, if possible, to select the capitals from the same alphabet; but if all that you require for the text do not suit your taste, there is no absolute objection to the introduction of others, subject to certain conditions. On no account mix the letters of different countries; the Italian, for instance, with the Saxon; they would be utterly incongruous. Also, as a writer amusingly observes, "Avoid letting your work appear as though it had been begun in the tenth century, and only completed in the sixteenth, or, as I have once or twice seen, _vice versâ_."[2] [2] _What Illuminating should be, and How it may be Practised_, by M. Digby Wyatt, B.A. &c., Illustrated by W. R. Tymms. Price 1_s._ 6_d._