At 18:16 Uhr -0500 08.11.2003, Gary Munch wrote:
>
>Um, indents came quickly after printing though they were possible
>before, in manuscripts. Most important sections (grafs) would be
>marked off with a large Versal letter, usually ornamental. The
>illuminator was helped in most cases by the device of a body-text
>letter in a large space allotted to the Versal.
>If the illuminator didn't get to a page (perhaps before deadline),
>the page would go unfinished.
>With a great increase on the number of versals needed in a printed
>edition, many simply wouldn't be put in, and the large space was left
>instead.
>Economics being economics, and even with the huge number of scribes
>and illuminators cast into the art-bin of history, the habit never
>returned of setting the paragraph off with a versal, and the
>paragraph indent soon became standard.
>
The artist lacking the time to draw in the ornamental initial - would
that not be the rare exception? And marking off a paragraph - albeit
only a selective one, not each one - with a large initial, isn't that
a practice still in much use? Am I misunderstanding your remarks,
Gary?
-Rolf
Rolf F. Rehe
Design Research International
- Quality and Innovation -
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