the letters were all ten-point of the
various faces; and the figures represent the distance in centimeters at
which the letters were recognized. There is a satisfaction in being
assured that the range between the best and the worst is not so great as
had been estimated previously, the proportion being in the one case not
quite 3:2 and in the other not quite 3:1.5. The following twenty-six
widely different faces of type were studied:

American Typewriter
Bold Antique
Bulfinch
Caslon Oldstyle No. 540
Century Oldstyle
Century Oldstyle, Bold
Century Expanded
Cheltenham Oldstyle
Cheltenham Bold
Cheltenham Bold, Condensed
Cheltenham Italic
Cheltenham Wide
Clearface
Clearface Italic
Clearface Bold
Clearface Bold Italic
Cushing No. 2
Cushing Oldstyle No. 2
Cushing Monotone
Della Robbia
DeVinne No. 2
DeVinne No. 2, Italic
Franklin Gothic
Jenson Oldstyle No. 2
News Gothic
Ronaldson Oldstyle No. 551

Of these, omitting the boldface and italic types, as well as all
capitals, the six best text types, ranging in average distance of
recognition from 236.4 to 224.3, are News Gothic, Bulfinch, Clearface,
Century Oldstyle, Century Expanded, and Cheltenham Wide. The six worst,
ranging from 206.4 to 185.6, are Cheltenham Oldstyle, DeVinne No. 2,
American Typewriter, Caslon Oldstyle, Cushing Monotone, and Cushing No.
2. The author says, commenting on these findings:

If legibility is to be our sole criterion of excellence of
typeface, News Gothic must be regarded as our nearest
approximation to an ideal face, in so far as the present
investigation is able to decide this question. The esthetic
factor must always be taken into account, however, here as
elsewhere. And the reader who prefers the appearance of
Cushing Oldstyle or a Century face may gratify his esthetic
demands without any considerable sacrifice of legibility.

To what extent these conclusions may be modified by future experiments
it is, of course, impossible to predict, but they clearly point the way
towards definiteness and boldness in the design of types as well as to a
preference for the larger sizes in their use. All this, as we shall see
in the next chapter, is in harmony with what experience has been
gradually confirming in the practice of the last generation.

TYPES AND EYES: PROGRESS

The late John Bartlett, whose "Familiar Quotations" have encircle