R.B. McKerrow stated that many composing sticks of different fixed
lengths were used in early printing shops.[1] Referring to Blades' study of
Caxton, he
pointed out that there were at least fourteen different lengths of measure
used in Caxton's shop.
In the printing shop of Valentine Simmes, a later Elizabethan
stationer, there was a much greater variation in line-lengths, and, if
McKerrow was correct, Simmes used no fewer than 42 composing sticks.
It would seem much more likely that Simmes's compositors used composing
sticks which could be varied in length as required.
An examination of Simmes's books shows that his octavos varied in
line-length from 51 mm. to 76 mm., his quartos from 77 mm. to 107 mm.,
his four folios used lengths of 98, 101, 114, and 130 mm., and his 32mos
employed lengths of 22 mm. and 38 mm. There was no favoured length of
line in octavos, although six were set at 64 mm.; a length of from 85 to 90
mm. was preferred in quartos. The following table shows the number of
books set at the various line-lengths. The first figure is the number of books
printed with a particular line-length, and the second figure is the length of
the line in millimeters. For example, the first numbers, 1/51, indicate that
one book was composed with a line-length of 51 mm.
| Octavo format: |
1/51 |
1/59 |
1/65 |
|
1/52 |
3/60 |
2/69 |
|
3/54 |
1/61 |
1/70 |
|
1/57 |
1/63 |
1/75 |
|
1/58 |
6/64 |
1/76 |
| quarto format: |
1/77 |
6/85 |
4/92 |
|
1/79 |
2/86 |
2/93 |
|
3/80 |
8/87 |
2/94 |
|
7/81 |
10/88 |
2/95 |
|
4/82 |
18/89 |
1/98 |
|
5/83 |
4/90 |
1/105 |
|
7/84 |
1/91 |
1/107 |
McKerrow noted that certain of Caxton's line-lengths appeared in
several books printed in a relatively short space of time, thus suggesting
that composing sticks of a fixed length were used until discarded. By
contrast, Simmes's most common line-lengths appeared throughout his
printing
career (1594-1607), as the following tabulation of the seven most common
line-lengths shows. This distribution further suggests that a stick of variable
length was used, and that Simmes selected particular lengths whenever they
were called for by the job at hand. The first figure in the tabulation is the
number of books printed with a particular line-length, and the second figure
is the year in which these books appeared.
- 64 mm.: 1/1595, 1/1600, 2/1602, 3/1603
- 81 mm.: 1/1601, 1/1604, 1/1605, 3/1607
- 84 mm.: 2/1596, 1/1599, 1/1602, 2/1604
- 85 mm.: 1/1595, 1/1597, 1/1599, 1/1603, 1/1604,
1/1605
- 87 mm.: 4/1596, 2/1597, 1/1598, 1/1599
- 88 mm.: 1/1595, 1/1598, 2/1600, 2/1601, 2/1602, 1/1603,
1/1607
- 89 mm.: 1/1597, 1/1599, 6/1600, 1/1603, 3/1604, 1/1605,
3/1606, 2/1607
