A Specimen of the Types Used by B. Bensley, Printer
A printer's own specimen, not a foundry's, with a title page in red and black under a wood-engraved ewer and the imprint Andover.
What it is
A printer's own specimen, not a foundry's, with a title page in red and black under a wood-engraved ewer and the imprint Andover. Before the first size, a page in script tells booksellers that Bensley carries their paper and proofs to and fro free of charge. Each size then fills a ruled page with running head and folio, set solid and then leaded: Diamond, Pearl, Nonpareil, Brevier, Bourgeois, Long Primer, Small Pica, Pica, English, Great Primer and Double Pica, then Greek, blackletter and rows of flowers. The showing text is real prose: a Commons debate on the navy estimates, an essay on how desires change with age, publishers' notices and reviews, an obituary, a treatise on musical accompaniment, sermons and law. Wood-engraved vignettes run throughout, with one ornament band printed in red. The last page offers the vignettes free and names the wagon and mail coach for sending paper.
Why read it now
Two ideas still hold. First, show the product in the form the buyer will receive it. Bensley did not show alphabets; he showed finished pages with running heads and folios, so a bookseller could judge a book before commissioning it. Portfolios, live demos and sample reports work the same way now. Second, remove the cost of distance. A printer in Andover competing for London work took on the carriage of paper and proofs, said so on the first page, and then gave the vignettes away. Later research supports the pull of free: Shampanier, Mazar and Ariely (2007) found that a price of zero shifts choices far more than a small price cut does. What has dated: sizes named Pearl and Brevier instead of points, blackletter for legal work, the Greek showings, and filler texts about politics and religion that a supplier would avoid today. Use: if you serve clients outside your city, state in one line at the front what logistics you absorb, such as pickup, delivery and revisions, and send samples in the exact format the client will get.
Passages worth keeping
In submitting this Specimen of Types, Ornaments, &c. B. Bensley begs leave to inform the Booksellers that he conveys Paper & Proofs, to and fro, free of charge to his employers.
يبدأ العرض بخدمة لا بالحروف: الطابع ينقل الورق والبروفات ذهابًا وإيابًا على حسابه، فيرفع عن الكتبي عبء المسافة.
The Vignettes, &c. are intended for the gratuitous use of such of B. Bensley's employers as may please to adopt them.
الرسوم الزخرفية مجانية لكل عميل يريد استخدامها، فهي إضافة بلا كلفة تميز هذا الطابع عن غيره.
B. Bensley begs leave to state, that he requests Paper, and heavy packages, may be sent by JONES's WAGON, which leaves the White Horse, Friday Street, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday Morning, at Twelve o'clock
يحدد الطابع طريق إرسال الورق بدقة: العربة ومكان انطلاقها وأيامها وساعتها، فلا يبقى على العميل سؤال عن طريقة التعامل.
they trust that the subscribers will think the deviation from the uniformity of price, more than counterbalanced by the advantages offered in this instance; especially as, after all, the charge is still, for a new play, moderate.
نص إعلاني من ذلك العصر استُعمل مادة للعرض: ناشر يبرر رفع السعر بمزايا العدد الجديد، ويذكّر بأن السعر ما زال معتدلًا لمسرحية جديدة.
A Number every week, very neatly printed, in 18mo. from the Acting Copy, with Stage directions, Costume, &c. Embellished with Wood Cuts, and occasional Portraits on Copper.
وصف منتج بمواصفات ملموسة: عدد كل أسبوع بطباعة أنيقة وحجم صغير، ونص العرض المسرحي مع توجيهات الإخراج والأزياء، ورسوم محفورة وصور.
The scanned text has OCR errors. The passages are quoted from it, with only obvious slips fixed.
What it teaches best
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