One-Line Specimens of Linotype Faces
The Mergenthaler Linotype Company's catalogue of every matrix face it sold, dated November 1920 and sent to owners of the 42,500 Linotypes then in use. Faces appear in family series from smallest to largest size, each shown by one or two lines reading THE LINOTYPE COMPOSES, justifies, casts, and assembles complete lines, with the alphabet width in points and a matrix code.
What it is
The Mergenthaler Linotype Company's catalogue of every matrix face it sold, dated November 1920 and sent to owners of the 42,500 Linotypes then in use. Faces appear in family series from smallest to largest size, each shown by one or two lines reading THE LINOTYPE COMPOSES, justifies, casts, and assembles complete lines, with the alphabet width in points and a matrix code. Sections cover modern, old style, antique and gothic faces; a comparative showing of every face from 5 to 14 point, graded narrowest first; the Rogers tabular system; faces for 47 languages, among them Arabic in five sizes from 14 to 26 point on the Model 14 machine, Syriac, Greek and Hebrew; display advertising figures, party emblems and ballot squares; and ordering rules with telegraph code words. The foot of most pages carries a maxim on typography, such as the principle "Type was made to read."
Why read it now
Read it for the page-foot maxims. They argue that legibility is the goal, that "distinctive" display type catches the eye without holding it, and that beauty pays in dollars. Much of that holds. Readers do best with familiar, well-set faces in body copy, and Jenni Romaniuk's work on distinctive brand assets agrees in part: recognition comes from a consistent look used for years, not a novel face for each job. Where it overreaches: "the most legible are the most beautiful" is a slogan, not a finding, and Linotype had machines to sell, so costly hand-set novelty had to look like a mistake. The comparative section, every face at one size graded by width, is still the right way to audit a type system, because you see what fits the column before you fall for a face. The Arabic page also shows progress since the 1913 edition, from one size to five. Use: set your brand's body and display faces side by side at the sizes you actually print and post, then keep one of each before adding a third.
Passages worth keeping
The various faces or combinations of faces in which matrices can be supplied are also shown; as well as comparisons of the different faces in each size, in order that the customer may easily and quickly find the matrices he wants.
رُتب الكتالوج ليقارن العميل الخطوط في كل حجم ويجد ما يريده بسرعة، فالترتيب نفسه خدمة للمشتري.
The one great, noble and useful mission of type is to invite and render reading an easy and pleasant task, remembering that the types which are the most legible are the most beautiful.
وظيفة الحرف أن يجعل القراءة سهلة ومريحة، والخط الأوضح عند الشركة هو الأجمل.
Beauty is worth much, very much, for its own sake. Its practical aspect is that it is worth dollars.
للجمال قيمة في ذاته، لكن قيمته العملية أنه يجلب المال، فالعناية بالطباعة استثمار لا ترف.
"Distinctive Effects," culled along the typographical by-paths, must be employed at a sacrifice of distinguished beauty. "Catchiness," even when it has indeed caught, was never yet known to hold anything worth-while.
المؤثرات الغريبة تأتي على حساب الجمال الرصين، والجاذبية السريعة قد تلفت النظر لكنها لا تحتفظ بشيء ذي قيمة.
The early printer had usually only one face of type; yet he solved the problem of display. To obtain a maximum of display value with a minimum of typographic expenditure is an economy that goes hand in hand with practical considerations and with art.
الطابع الأول كان يملك خطًا واحدًا ومع ذلك أبرز ما أراد، فأكبر أثر بأقل عدد من الخطوط اقتصاد يجمع العملي والجميل.
The scanned text has OCR errors. The passages are quoted from it, with only obvious slips fixed.
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