The Fleuron: A Journal of Typography, Number 4
The pattern
This still is filed under Specimen as proof.
Define
A specimen (type, material, finish) is shown so the product proves itself under comparison.
Mechanism
Controlled display. Same conditions, side by side, no adjective required. The sample is the sentence.
Verdict
Buyers choose by eye or by hand and we can put the real thing in front of them.
Why it works
The issue never separates claim from specimen. An article argues a point about a letterform, and the facsimile of the actual 1524 or 1810 letter sits on the facing leaf, so the reader verifies the claim instead of trusting it. The device on the printers' marks page does the same work in miniature: two hand-drawn marks are set directly against three assembled from stock ornaments, and the comparison makes the argument without a sentence of advocacy. The physical production is the closing proof, because a journal that lectures on spacing and presswork can be dismissed in one glance if its own spacing is bad.
Steal this when
Use this when you are selling expertise in a craft that buyers can see the quality of, and your own artifact can be made to the standard you are preaching. Also use the paired-comparison page whenever you want a reader to reach a judgement themselves rather than be told it.