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Typo: A Monthly Newspaper and Literary Review, Volume 3

Design in Typography. Borders In Brass

page 125

Design in Typography. Borders In Brass.

XXXV.

Long years ago we bought a German toy with a polyglot advertisement attached. It was a « Linear Beichnungs Spiel, » a « Jeu du Dessin Linéare, » &c., and was ingenious in its way. It consisted of a series of flat rulers, with edges of various patterns, all corresponding in length as regards the unit of design. There was a line of equal curves, of the same arranged serpentine fashion, of curves alternated with straight lines, &c. In the lithographed pamphlet attached, were scores of borders and ornamental combinations, formed from the elements supplied by the rulers. Not only were there borders, but elaborate ground-works, in the style produced by the ruling machine. The striking feature of the toy was the vast variety of designs to be obtained from so few simple elements, and the key to the whole lay in the fact that the units of each corresponded in length.

When in 1882, Messrs Stephenson, Blake & Co., introduced their new combination rules, we recognized in typography the same principle as the German inventor had adapted to hand-draftsmanship; and printers generally were prompt to avail themselves of a new and valuable adjunct to ornamental printing. For many months the manufacturers found a difficulty in keeping pace with the demands, and the popularity of the brass borders still continues unabated. In the arrangement and combination of these designs, exactly the same principles apply as in the case of type combinations; but in practical use they have advantages of their own. Thus, they are specially designed to supplement each other; they are more durable than metal types; being in longer and more convenient lengths they are less liable to work off their feet; they are as neat and simple in appearance as they are effective; and they are very readily put together.

The following are some of the earliest of these combinations:

Set A, 6 Rules:

Set E, 3 Rules.

Set G, 2 Rules.

To illustrate the combinations, let us take Set E. The nonpareil border-rule may be used singly either side out, or may be doubled either way:

By shifting one of the rules one-half or one-quarter of the unit, an entire change in the pattern is obtained; but another set of rules must be specially cut.

The secondary rules come in where a wider border is required:—

Of course in a series like A, with half-a-dozen rules, the variations are much more numerous.

It is strange that in devising these rules, and constructing the costly machinery required for their manufacture, the inventors should have overlooked one essential—the adaptation of the unit to a standard measure. The length of the pattern was allowed to take care of itself—it is in most cases provokingly near to pica, but is never exactly so; and each different series of rule had its own measure, so as entirely to prevent the printer from developing such new designs as would result from combining one series with another. The first defect—incompatibility with the pica standard—excludes these beautiful rules from being used as cross-bands in numerous cases where they would come in with fine effect. We had experience of the second defect when having set E, we obtained set A, thinking we could get good effects by combining the tint rule with the solid. But they refused to combine, the units being different.

Other makers, who imitated Messrs Stephenson, Blake & Co's. patterns, remedied this defect; and we understand—though we have not the rules themselves—that the second series brought out by the original inventors is graduated to pica. This second series is very original and beautiful. It consists of six rules only, all interchangeable. More than sixty combinations are shown in the specimen sheets, each constituting a separate and distinct border, and the number might be indefinitely increased. The economy of this class of border is no less remarkable than the scope it affords for the exercise of individual taste, as the borders may be made of any body, from a single 6-to-pica ornamented rule, up to 3 ems or more of pica.

As these borders are combined in all possible forms, sometimes close together, sometimes with a lead between, it is impossible to provide special corners for each arrangement, and the device of a square cut-off or a turn-down corner is usually adopted. To mitre rules of this class for ordinary work would be wasteful and extravagant; but for a special job, which would warrant the expense, the printer can easily procure the rule in 16-inch lengths, set up the pattern he desires, and mitre the whole—or better still, send pattern and dimensions of border to the maker, who will make a better job of the cutting than the printer himself. A border of this kind, however, can not be altered, either in length or arrangement of rules, as each rule is cut to a length corresponding exactly to its relative position in the design.

Combination rules do not seem to have come much into vogue in the United States, which is strange, as there are good rule-makers in America. The designs produced so far, are mere imitations, and do not compare favorably with the English. In Germany, on the other hand, the idea has been taken up and well developed. Berthold, of Berlin, who has the finest brass-rule factory in the world, has brought out all the English styles and added new and original developments of his own—some of which, if the component elements (very simple, by the way) were not shown, one could scarcely believe were formed from rule at all, such microscopic accuracy is required in the cutting. As adjuncts to type borders, these rules are invaluable, and every job office should possess a few sets both of English and German make, to correspond with the combination borders of the two countries.