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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.