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Chap. 2 - THE LEARNED, FOREIGN AND PECULIAR CHARACTERS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2011

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Summary

Greek type first occurs in the Cicero de Officiis, printed at Mentz in 1465, at the press of Fust and Schoeffer. The fount used is exceedingly rude and imperfect, many of the letters being ordinary Latin. In the same year Sweynheim and Pannartz at Subiaco used a good Greek letter for some of the quotations occurring in Lactantius; but the supply being short, the larger quotations were left blank, to be filled in by hand. The first book wholly printed in Greek was the Grammar of Lascaris, by Paravisinus, in Milan, in 1476, in types stated to be cut and cast by Demetrius of Crete. The fount (about a Great Primer in body) is a curious one, and contains breathings, accents and a few abbreviations. The headings to the chapters are wholly in capitals, which are very bold. It is to the glory of Milan that not only was the first Greek book printed within its walls, but also the first Greek classic and the first portion of the Greek Scriptures. The former was the Æsop, printed, it is supposed, in 1480, but without printer's name. The resemblance, however, between the fount of this work and that of the Lactantius is so close that there seems much reason for crediting Paravisinus with the performance. The Greek of the Psalter of 1481 is very different, the lower-case being larger, and remarkably bold and compact in appearance. The capitals generally resemble the Lactantius fount.

Type
Chapter
Information
A History of the Old English Letter Foundries
With Notes, Historical and Bibliographical, on the Rise and Progress of English Typography
, pp. 57 - 82
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010
First published in: 1887

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