Empty Improved Jobbing Double Case

 
                                                                                                
  
             
 
       
  
      
         
               
  
    
 
       
  
             
         
      
  
 

This English configuration is McCorquodale's development given by Southward in Printers' Register 6 December 1875, as shown in Pryor: History of the California Job Case, in Journal of the Printing Historical Society No.7 (1972). It is also shown in Southward: Practical Printing (1882 to 1892). The improvement is in the omission of two upper case rows, thus allowing more room for capitals. Overall there are 53 lower case and 35 upper case boxes. The case is cited by Pryor as the forerunner of the California Job Case. Pryor notes that McCorquodale made heavy use of Miller & Richard, who would thus be aware of this development, as would Read when opening his Californian agency for Miller & Richard. Pryor considers it to have been this case, Americanised, that Read referred to as his own style of job case in 1876, and his successor, Palmer, again referred to in 1878. Pryor further notes that Palmer specifies that this new style of case with upper as one row small, and four rows larger, boxes was designated a job case. (The ordinary double cases were called italic cases in the U.S.)

A suitable lay is Improved Double case. The more modern Improved Double Case of Stephenson, Blake & Co. (1922) differs in having 6 rows of boxes in the upper case bay, rather than 5 rows. However, Whetton: Practical Printing & Binding 1946, shows 5 rows but in the Californian style, ie with one (top) row of short boxes, three (middle) rows of tall boxes, and one (bottom) row of short boxes. Miller & Richard's 1920s Catalogue shows a 5 row version, but with less than the normal number of lower case boxes.

Other empty cases
ie with the boxes left blank
Other type layouts
ie with characters assigned to boxes
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This page was written in 1997 by David Bolton and last updated 14 April 2015.