Page:EB1911 - Volume 27.djvu/557

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History of the Earliest Types.—The history and nomenclature of the earliest types are practically a continuation of the history and nomenclature of the characters figured in the earliest blockbooks, wood-engravings and MSS. For instance, Gothic type was first used, say, about the year 1445; but Gothic writing, of which that type was an imitation, was already known and used about the second half of the 12th century and can be traced still farther back (see above). Again, the pure Roman type, which appeared about 1464, is nothing but an imitation of what in palaeography is called the Caroline minuscule, a handwriting which was already fully developed towards the end of the 8th century (see ).

The broad outlines of the history of the earliest types are as follows:—