(though why even
utilitarianism should use illegible types, I fail to see), and Caslon's
letter and the somewhat wiry, but in its way, elegant old-faced type cut
in our own days, has largely taken its place. It is rather unlucky,
however, that a somewhat low standard of excellence has been accepted
for the design of modern roman type at its best, the comparatively poor
and wiry letter of Plantin and the Elzevirs having served for the model,
rather than the generous and logical designs of the fifteenth-century
Venetian printers, at the head of whom stands Nicholas Jenson; when it
is so obvious that this is the best and clearest roman type yet struck,
it seems a pity that we should make our starting-point for a possible
new departure at any period worse than the best. If any of you doubt the
superiority of this type over that of the seventeenth century, the study
of a specimen enlarged about five times will convince him, I should
think. I must admit, however, that a commercial consideration comes in
here, to wit, that the Jenson letters take up more room than the
imitations of the seventeenth century; and that touches on another
commercial difficulty, to wit, that you cannot have a book either
handsome or clear to read which is printed in small characters. For my
part, except where books smaller than an ordinary octavo are wanted, I
would fight against anything smaller than pica; but at any rate small
pica seems to me the smallest type that should be used in the body of
any book. I might suggest to printers that if they want to get more in
they can reduce the size of the leads, or leave them out altogether. Of
course this is more desirable in some types than in others; Caslon's
letter, e. g., which has long ascenders and descenders, never needs
leading, except for special purposes.

I have hitherto had a fine and generous roman type in my mind, but after
all a certain amount of variety is desirable, and when you have gotten
your roman letter as good as the best that has been, I do not think you
will find much scope for development of it; I would therefore put in a
word for some form of gothic letter for use in our improved printed
book. This may startle some of you, but you must remember that except
for a very remarkable type used very seldom by Berthelette (I have only
seen two books in this type. Bartholomew, the Englishman, and the Gower,
of 1532), English black-letter, since the days of Wynkin de Worde, has
been alwa