Specimen of Printing Types, by William Miller and Co., Letter-founders, Edinburgh
A specimen book of about 53 pages from William Miller and Co., letter-founders of Edinburgh, printed there by A. Balfour in 1813; this copy carries a William Blades library stamp.
What it is
A specimen book of about 53 pages from William Miller and Co., letter-founders of Edinburgh, printed there by A. Balfour in 1813; this copy carries a William Blades library stamp. There is no preface, price list or address to buyers. It runs from Double Pica and Great Primer down through English, Pica, Small Pica, Long Primer, Burgeois, Brevier, Minion and Nonpareil to Pearl, each in roman then italic, all set in Cicero's first speech against Catiline, with capitals, small capitals, figures and a pound sign under each showing. Several sizes show two to four numbered cuts, and some are marked 'New': New English Roman No. 2, New Pica Roman No. 2, New Small Pica Roman No. 3, New Long Primer Roman No. 3 and New Nonpareil Roman No. 2. It ends with two-line capitals from Burgeois down to Pearl.
Why read it now
This is a pure control-text catalogue: same words, same measure, every cut. For a buyer choosing between versions, that removes every variable except the product, and it shows how much copy each size holds per line, which a printer needed to cost a book. The useful detail is the word 'New' beside older numbered cuts of the same size. The foundry kept selling its old faces and showed the new ones next to them, so customers could compare instead of being forced to switch. Type historians trace the face later called Scotch Roman to the Miller foundry's cuts of this period, so these 'New' romans are an early public showing of a style that became standard in 19th-century book and newspaper printing. What has dated: no prices, no terms and no words to the buyer, so it relies on the trade already knowing the house. Use it this way: when you launch a new version, show it beside the current one on identical content, and label it plainly as new instead of retiring the old one on day one.
Passages worth keeping
SPECIMEN OF PRINTING TYPES, BY WILLIAM MILLER & co. Letter-founders, EDINBURGH.
صفحة العنوان تكتفي باسم المسبك ومدينته، ثم اسم الطابع والسنة، دون أي وعد أو شعار.
Quousque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra?
مطلع خطبة شيشرون ضد كاتيلينا، ومعناه: إلى متى تستغل صبرنا يا كاتيلينا؟ وهو النص الثابت الذي تُقارن عليه كل القطوع.
Fuit, fuit ista quondam in hac republica virtus, ut viri fortes acrioribus suppliciis civem perniciosum, quam acerbissimum hostem coercerent.
يقول شيشرون إن الجمهورية عرفت يومًا رجالًا شجعانًا يعاقبون المواطن الخطر أشد مما يعاقبون العدو. والمعنى هنا ثانوي، فالفقرة تُظهر شكل الحرف في سطور طويلة كثيفة.
nos, nos, dico aperte, consules desumus.
يعترف شيشرون علنًا بأن القصور من القناصل أنفسهم. ويختم المسبك بها عينة هذا المقاس قبل سطور الحروف الكبيرة.
New Nonpareil Roman, No. 2.
عنوان عينة يضع القطع الجديد بجانب القطع الأقدم رقم 1 من المقاس نفسه، فيقارن المشتري بينهما بنفسه.
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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