IV
The process of mixing produced a class of unique fonts characterized
by significant proportions of letters in two or more typefaces across both
cases. The simplest form occurred within a shop when the printer mixed
together the cases containing two fonts to produce a third. The rationale
behind this kind of mixing is obscure; however, the fact that at least a few
sorts in mixed fonts contain only letters of one face suggests a cost-efficient
approach to salvaging the investment in the original font which, inevitably,
would have been replenished in many sorts during previous use. By melting
down only the scrapheap of discarded types and perhaps the severely
depleted sorts toward a new font, a possibly significant cost-savings on the
metal required for the new font could be realized, the investment in the
salvaged sorts would continue to produce, and the addition of the new font
would eliminate the need to replenish in the near future. A reluctance on
the part of some printers
to acquire new fonts is suggested by what we know in this respect. One
extant record of font management reveals what seems to be an enormous
amount of discarded type (40%) on the scrapheap awaiting
melt-down.[29] Given the amount of
type needed to initially fill two sets of cases, it would be possible to
make-do with a quite depleted font by setting from both sets of cases at
once rather than alternating from them or by transferring all type into a
single set of cases.[30] However, this
cost-savings rationale is purely speculative, and there seems to be no
consistency among printers. Thomas Creede progressed through four fonts
in 16 years (1593-1609); significantly, mixed font Creede-3 endured for
half this period (1595-1603), suggesting perhaps that mixing enhanced the
longevity of the font. Creede-4 served from 1603-1609, slightly less.
Eld-Y1 was replaced by Eld-S after about 2½ years, and Eld-S by
Eld-Y2 in less
than two years.[31] Then again,
Simmes-S was in use from the beginning of Simmes' career in 1595 to
about 1606,[32] a remarkable but
unfortunate fact since it should have been scrapped long before.
The in-shop kind of mixing is illustrated by the creation of Creede-3
by the mixing of Creede-1 and new Creede-2. The significance of W. Craig
Ferguson's
discovery of the initial mixing process as it progressed in a single book
cannot be overstated,
[33] for it provides
crucial evidence of the independent existence of the hybrid set of matrices
that produced Creede-2. Creede-1 is an S-font with normal variant letters
throughout, including the squat k1, left-leaning g1, left-dot i2, expanded
x2,3, and the miscast ſh3 and fl1,2, and erect fl3, ligatures. However,
Creede-2 is in itself a mixed font, and therein lies another tale. Overall,
S-face capitals, ligatures, and the majority of lowercase letters form the
base of Creede-2, but stylistically uniform, slightly smaller letters fill the
remaining sorts: a 'b' with a right-angle bowl junction at the x-line, a
shorter oval 'd' and medium oval 'p'; erect S-face g2; center-dot i1, two
variants (medium and wide) of 'k' characterised by the nearly vertical arm
(74 deg.) and high junction (0.85mm) on the ascender, w3 with bowed
outer stems, high-riding
"tiny" y2, the EF-face high-junction 'ſh' with right-leaning ascender, and
a very few smaller 'ſt'. Once mixed, Creede-3 exhibits both S-face and
alternate-face letters in these sorts; later replenishment with wrong-sized,
bold letters and miscastings complicated the relatively simple two-face
composition of Creede-3, thereby obscuring its origin in two sets of
matrices: a uniform S-face set (Creede-1), and a hybrid set with S-face
matrices and the Creede-2 alternate-face subset (Creede-2). Depletion of
some sorts in Creede-1 seems the probable cause of the mixing; for
example, the Creede-1 k1 accounts for only about 15% of the sort in
Creede-3. A second example of direct evidence of a hybrid set of matrices
occurs in Nicholas Okes's mixed font purchased June, 1607 (noted earlier).
Original Guyot capitals (
Low Countries, Fig. 203, p. 268)
accompany S-face ligatures including the common miscastings (excepting?
the 'ffi' and 'ſſi') and the S-face lower-case
letters, including both the left-leaning g1 and the erect g2 as well as other
variants. Similarly, Adam Islip's mixed font (
Every Man out of his
Humour STC14767, 1600) uses Guyot capitals exclusively, while
the
lower-case combines S-face letters with most of the EF-face subset of letters
and ligatures. Similar mixtures are seen in other fonts.
These three examples provide insight into one kind of mixing that in
all probability occurred at the type foundries which supplied mixed versions
of these fonts to Creede, Okes, Islip, Allde, Stafford and other printers. For
whatever reason, the founder(s) combined partial sets of matrices from two
sets of seminal punches (S-face and alternate-face) to produce Creede-2.
Significantly, the S-face erect g2 is integral to Creede-2. The slightly
smaller bowl and vertical counter of this variant absolutely indicate a
duplicate punch rather than a misaligned or a misjustified strike from the
normal S-face left-leaning g1 punch. The presence of both variants in clean
S-fonts is further evidence of duplicate punches in the seminal set.[34]
Once Creede-2 and Creede-3 are compared with other mixed fonts,
the most intriguing aspect of font history emerges: how and where in the
type production and distribution processes particular combinations of
dissimilar-face letters became mixed in groups, creating mixed fonts with
extraordinary similarities and yet striking differences in composition. The
differences probably can be explained by analogy with Creede-3 where
replenishment after
mixing contributed variants found in neither Creede-1 nor Creede-2. Other
mixed fonts appear in the advanced state of Creede-3 so that replenishment
has somewhat obscured the composition of the original mixed font as
purchased or of the two fonts that were mixed. As a result, the distinction
between mixing and replenishment can sometimes be resolved only with
reservation, since piecemeal replenishment can plausibly produce what
appears to be a mixed font. That possibility is hinted at in Danter-M, which
apparently was replenished at one time with a large subset of crudely cut,
poorly shaped B-face letters (a b c e h m n o p r t u) that leap from the
page because of their sheer bulk.
[35]
Danter obviously was not overly concerned about the appearance of his
work. The minor proportions of this subset clearly indicate replenishment
which, if repeated several times, could tip the balance in favor of mixing
given the quite large number of affected sorts.
However, even if that occurred, replenishment could be inferred from the
general principle that a genuine mixed font contains letters from just one
typeface in some sorts, assuming that replenishment has not occurred, as
in the subset of Creede-2. Although the B-face subset in Danter-M is quite
extensive, it duplicates pairs of letters in the sorts that represent the
pre-replenishment state of the font. On the other hand, White-M contains
duplicate S- and Y-face letters in all sorts, a strong indication of in-shop
mixing. Similarly, the Y-face subset in Read-S is limited to a half-dozen
sorts, all containing S-face letters as well, an obvious indication of
replenishment.
The fact that mixed fonts are composed of the S-face and at least
three other typefaces underscores the difficulty of sorting them out relative
to their sources in identifiable seminal sets of punches. Except for a few
instances of replacement or duplicate punches, it seems clear that the
composition of seminal sets of punches endured unmodified. Hence, the
stability of certain combinations of alternate-face letters suggests an ongoing
process at various foundries of mixing strikes or matrices from several sets
of punches. Strictly speaking, "typeface" denotes a stylistically uniform set
of seminal punches and thus must be re-defined to include such stable
combinations of letters as seen in Creede-2, Stafford-EF or Windet-F,
where the "C2-face", "EF-face" or "F-face" label denotes a hybrid set of
matrices that supplied two or more printers with a particular combination
of stylistically heterogeneous letters from alternate typefaces. Ultimately,
it may be impossible to relate a
particular subset of alternate-face letters to a distinct set of punches and
define the seminal "typeface" in a traditional sense. One problem is the
difficulty of locating a specimen in which the subset appears along with the
remaining letters from the seminal set of punches. A composite, as a whole,
defines not only the stylistic traits of individual letters, but also the
combination of letters which comprise the typeface; the design of a
particular letter is clarified by juxtaposition with other letters (i.e., the
cross-strokes of the 'e f t' provide reference points for judging the height
of shoulder-ascender junctions). The certainty that a given letter belongs to
a typeface grows in proportion to the number of letters in which the design
and reference points coincide. The work of sorting out mixed fonts lies in
the future and should shed valuable light on
the production and distribution network that supplied type to Elizabethan
printers. Nonetheless, the varying compositions of mixed fonts provide a
plethora of discriminants for distinguishing them in books of the
period.
