University of Virginia Library

Introductory

The lay of the case for the Latin alphabet — that is, the conventional order in which sorts of roman, italic or gothic type are arranged in the boxes of the type-case, and the organization of the cases themselves — is found today in two main forms. One form, which may be called the single lay, is associated with the German-speaking countries and Scandinavia; the other, which we may call the divided lay, is associated with the English-speaking countries, and with France and the Low Countries.

The single lay, as used for instance in Germany and Switzerland, employs one large case for a fount of type, with proportions of about 1:1.6 giving it a somewhat square appearance. The capital letters are arranged in rows of equal-sized boxes along the top of the case, and the small letters are in boxes of various sizes beneath them (Fig. 1).

The divided lay in its original form is fast disappearing, although examples may still be seen in old-fashioned printing houses in France, England and elsewhere. Here there are two similar cases to a fount, each of them being smaller and more oblong (with proportions of about 1:2) than the single-lay case. Capital letters are in the 'upper case' boxes, which are all of a size, and the small letters are in the variously sized boxes of the 'lower case' (Fig. 2). Nowadays, however, type in cases (where metal type is still in use) is needed only for correction, and the twin cases of the divided lay are normally amalgamated into one double or job case; the Anglo-American version of the double case is the same shape and size as each of the cases of the divided pair, but squeezes the whole of the lower-case pattern into two-thirds of its width, and half of the upper-case pattern into the remaining third (Fig. 3).

It is apparent from early evidence that both the single lay and the divided lay derive from parent forms which were established by the

late seventeenth century in the regions where they are found today. This evidence is of three main sorts. First, there are early illustrations of printing houses, which often show the compositor working at his case. Most of the sixteenth-century cuts are unfortunately very crude in execution, and they never show details of the lay; they may, however, give some idea of the gross form of the case. Secondly, there are printers' manuals, which do give details of actual lays from the later seventeenth century onwards. They offer the best evidence of all, provided that it is remembered that individual printers are likely to have varied the patterns of their lays in minor respects. Finally, a few type cases, sometimes laid with old type, survive from the hand-press period. Their evidence must be treated with caution because, although they may tell us how their earlier owners laid them, it is also possible that they have been altered in later times.