The Printer's Grammar

John Smith author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Published:17th Apr '14

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

The Printer's Grammar cover

This 1755 work describes the typesetting of books, from the formation of type to imposing and correcting.

The author of this 1755 work is unknown - John Smith may not even have been his real name. He describes the typesetting of books, from the formation of type to imposing and correcting, in a comprehensive survey which gives a fascinating account of the eighteenth-century compositor's craft.The author of this 1755 work is unknown - John Smith may not even have been his real name - but internal evidence from the book suggests that he may have spent some time in northern Germany, and he also shows familiarity with aspects of French printing. Smith describes the typesetting of books but not the actual printing, so it is possible that he may have been a compositor or a printer's reader. The work is a comprehensive survey of all aspects of typecasting and composition, dealing with the formation of type, regular- and irregular-bodied letters, accents, kerning, upper and lower case, spacing, rules, braces and fleurons, and non-Roman fonts including Greek, Hebrew, black-letter, Old English, and Chinese, as well as mathematical and astronomical symbols and music. There are also sections on casting off copy, composing, imposing and correcting, giving a fascinating account of the eighteenth-century compositor's craft.

ISBN: 9781108073431

Dimensions: 219mm x 140mm x 18mm

Weight: 360g

324 pages