Upper case, lower case

[Lionel Mandrake]

The terms "upper case" and "lower case" originally referred to wooden cases used by printers. The following web page contains a figure showing "a compositor at work, 1847"

http://www.cosmeo.com/viewPicture.cfm?guidImageId=CC9A1EBA-B9AF-445C-A265-46892CD23993&&nodeid=#

The figure caption explains that

"in the upper case are capital letters; in the lower case, small ones (hence the modern terms "upper case" and "lower case" type). Letters used most frequently are placed within easy reach. In his left hand he holds the composing stick, where he places the letters, one by one, until he has completed 10 to 12 lines of type. He then transfers the type to the galley."

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. My dear Lionel Mandrake!

You always supply us with bits of information that I don't see elsewhere.

Thank you.

I'd never really thought just what upper and lower case meant...And it's so logical.

Thanks for the history lesson!

:hi:

[Lionel Mandrake]

3. My dear CP,

You're welcome!

Thanks for dropping by.

[trof]

2. I took a typesetting class in college.

I was a journalism major, and that was part of the curriculum.
Circa 1964.

[MiddleFingerMom]

4. I also took a typesetting class (in the 80's).

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The professor was this REALLY fun, NICE guy (with an awesome
wine cellar and a propensity for awesome sharing) who had a
printing press and put out handset fine editions -- a lot of poetry,
but other stuff as well.
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He was fairly well-off -- but admitted one night that EVERYTHING
he did was done so that he could indulge his passion for his
publishing of fine-press editions.
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Fascinating, fun course -- we actually did the typesetting work
for a poetry chapbook.
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I don't know how old that press was, but it was this monstrous
metal behemoth and I always figured at LEAST the 1920's, if not
from the 19th century.
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I took two journalism courses and didn't like them a bit. I'm a
very honest man -- and FICTION is my release valve for "lying".
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Not that everything that I claim about "MiddleFingerMom" isn't
100% factual.
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[Lionel Mandrake]

5. That sounds like fun.

I never took such a class, but I find the history of printing fascinating. What's most remarkable is how little the technology changed for the first 400 years.



When I visited the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz, I volunteered to turn the crank, like the fellow in this picture. I pulled on it as hard as I could, which was just barely adequate to get the ink on the page.