The Roman and Italic Printing Types in the Printing House of Theodore L. De Vinne & Co.
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 specimen is set as continuous, interesting reading matter instead of pangrams or alphabet strings, so the buyer experiences the type doing its actual job and cannot help reading it. Labelling each page with the exact specification, including lines and words per page, converts an aesthetic choice into a costing decision the buyer can make on the spot. Printing the same size solid, leaded and double leaded on consecutive pages isolates one variable at a time, and facing old style against modern forces a direct comparison the reader would never construct alone. The decorated initials are there to prove the claim made in the preface, that an otherwise unattractive page can be brightened.
Steal this when
Use this when your product is a capability rather than an object and the buyer cannot tell your work from a competitor's on a spec sheet. Show the thing performing on real content, label each sample with the exact specification, and put the two options side by side so the comparison is made for them.