APOLOGIA
This little volume of cuttings and notes, which has no pretension to completeness, has been considered worthy of publication, especially for Readers interested in, but not actually connected with, the art of Printing.
It was not possible to give proper acknowledgment, because, in a collection spread over some years, there were many repetitions, and the original sources could not be identified.
The section relating to Errata presented a difficulty; for, whilst many of the items are true errors of the press, and others obviously invented for the sake of the joke, there are some which may be of either class. As it was not possible to discriminate in all cases, I have ventured to put a qualifying sub-title.
The borders and ornaments—more curious than beautiful—employed in the decoration of this book, have been more or less in use during the past two centuries, and some may be found in Smith’s “Printer’s Grammar” 1755; Luckombe’s “History of Printing” 1771; and Stower’s “Printer’s Grammar,” 1808. That on the title and facing page is interesting from the fact that Johnson used it in the large paper editions of his “Typographia,” issued in 1824.
C. T. J.
