Page:The practice of typography; correct composition; a treatise on spelling, abbreviations, the compounding and division of words, the proper use of figures and nummerals by De Vinne, Theodore Low, 1828-1914.djvu/47



II

LIPPED WORDS are as old as writing. They were stamped on coins and medals and cut in stone or pressed on bricks long before Genesis was written. Medieval books are full of them. The practice began with the copyists who wished to put many words in a small space, as well as to lighten their own labor, but it was carried to such an extent that the books, then made were hard to read, and scholars everywhere complained of their obscurity. Books had to be published to explain their intent.