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Notes
There is no recent collection of reproductions of pictures of early printing houses; the most convenient source is still J. W. Enschedé, 'Houten handpersen in de zestiende eeuw', Tijdschrift voor boek- en biblioteekwesen, iv (1906), pp. 196-215.
J. W. Enschedé, loc. cit., p. 213; R. B. McKerrow, An Introduction to Bibliography (1927), p. 41.
G. A. Crüwell (Gutenberg Jahrbuch, 1931, p. 252) refers to two earlier German format-books by T. L. Vietor; one, dated 1653, does not show a lay, and it is unlikely that the other (1664, not located) does either.
C. F. Gessner, Die so nöthig als nützliche Buchdruckerkunst und Schriftgiesserey, i (Leipzig, 1740). Gessner also shows a Bohemian case, which is a variant of the gothic single lay, and a roman single lay similar to Wolffger's.
Gessner gives the dimensions of the case as 1 Elle 18 Zolle by 1 Elle 2¼ Zolle. The Leipzig Elle equalled 2.26 English feet (Encyclopédie, x [Paris, 1765], s.v. 'Mésure'), and contained 24 Zolle; thus 24 Zolle = 27 inches.
J. Moxon, Mechanick Exercises . . . (1683-4), ed. Davis and Carter, 2 ed. (1962), p. 27-8n; S. Ampzing, Beschryvinge ende lof der stad Haarlem (Haarlem 1628).
J. Smith, The Printer's Grammar (London, 1755), pp. 186-7. This is the first of three lays shown by Smith; they differ only in minor detail, and the first (to judge by its relationship to Moxon's lay and to the lays shown in the French manuals) is probably the earliest.
J. J. Sigüenza, Mecanismo del arte de la imprenta (Madrid 1811), pp. 4-5. Siggüenza's upper case has six rows of eight boxes, and the lower case lacks the row of small boxes along the top; long f has already been discarded.
My information about the Plantinian cases comes, through the kindness of Dr Vervliet, from Mr Jeffrey Wortman, who has been working at the Plantin-Moretus Museum, and who wrote me a valuable and interesting report about them. I am most grateful for Mr Wortman's help.
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