New Norcia Double Cases

As with many printing establishments, case lays can vary, and the following variations in double case lays have been encountered at the Abbey Press in New Norcia, Westen Australia. One complete case lay is New Norcia Double, as shown below, although this particular case does not include ffi and ffl. Other New Norcia cases have different arrangements in the top and bottom rows, and down the left hand side. These boxes are all where the less used characters and punctuation are located, and as can be seen, some of the variation is caused, for example, by the extra ct and st characters, or lack of ae and oe or other characters, present in the particular size of the particular fount (cases number M are Canberra Old Style). There is a general lack of consistency with positioning & £ ligatures, etc. and indeed, of the twentyfour double cases so far recorded, no one lay has been quite the same. Once everything has been recorded, the lays may be regularised for ease of use, but note, however, the position of y - the few empty boxes shown being where y is in the more normal position between o and p boxes.

Full Case
—	fl	ff	fi	j	k	e	y	1	2	3	4	5	6	'	;	!	?	( )	/	£
&	b	c		d			i	s		f	g	7	8	A	B	C	D	E	F	G
(	b	c		d			i	s		f	g	9	0	H	I	K	L	M	N	O
hr	l	m		n		h	o	mid	p	,	w	en	em	H	I	K	L	M	N	O
hr	l	m		n		h	o	mid	p	,	w	en	em	P	Q	R	S	T	V	W
z	v	u		t		thick	a	r		q	:	2, 3, 4 em quad		P	Q	R	S	T	V	W
x	v	u		t		thick	a	r		.	-	2, 3, 4 em quad		X	Y	Z	AE	OE	U	J

The variations so far recorded are as follows

Top Row of each Case
—	fl	ff	fi	j	k	e	y	1	2	3	4	5	6	'	;	!	?	( )	/	£
£	?	'	(	j	k		y	1	2	3	4	5	6					?	!	:
'	''	?	!	j	k		y	1	2	3	4	5	6	&	/			;
				j	k			1	2	3	4	5	6	'	;	?	!	(	[	£
ft	fl	ff	fi	k	j		y	1	2	3	4	5	6	'	;	!	?	$	(	[
	fl	ff	fi	j	k		y	1	2	3	4	5	6	'	;	!	?
	fl	ff	fi	j	k		y	1	2	3	4	5	6	'	;	!	?	£	)	]
				j	k			1	2	3	4	5	6	'	;	!	?	(	[	&
\				j	k			1	2	3	4	5	6	'	;	!	?		(	[
	fl	ff	fi	j	k		y	1	2	3	4	5	6	'	;	!	?	(		£
				j	k			1	2	3	4	5	6	;	'	(	!	?	$
—				j	k			1	2	3	4	5	6	'	;	!	?	[	$
£	(		'	k	j		y	1	2	3	4	5	6			!	?
£	ct st	[	(	j	k		y	1	2	3	4	5	6	/	'	&	Ö	?	:	!
£	ffl			j	k		y	1	2	3	4	5	6	'	!	?	)	]		:
&	fl	ff	fi	j	k		y	1	2	3	4	5	6	'	;	!	?	( )	[ $	£
&	fl	ff	fi	j	k		y	1	2	3	4	5	6	'	;	!	?	£	(	[
fl	ff	fi		j	k		y	1	2	3	4	5	6	'	;	!	?	£	(	[
				j	k		mids	1	2	3	4	5	6	'	:	!	?	(	$	£
fi	fl	ffi	ffl	j	k			1	2	3	4	5	6	'	;	?	!	(	[	£
£	&	[	(	j	k		y	1	2	3	4	5	6	'	OE	AE	?	!		:
—				j	k		mid+thin	1	2	3	4	5	6	'	;	?	!	(		£
	ff	fl	fi	j	k		y	1	2	3	4	5	6	'	;	!	?	hr	(	£
	fl	fi	ffi	j	k		y	1	2	3	4	5	6	'	;	!	?	(		£
				j	k		y	1	2	3	4	5	6	'	;	!	?	£	&
£				j	k		thin	1	2	3	4	5	6	'	“	(	!	?	&	$

Case No.

A6
A10
B7
G4
G7
H4
I5
J10
K4
K10
K13
L6
M7†
M8*
M9
M10
M11
N9
S8
S18
T5
T10
T13
T14
Œ4

*Case M8 has seven rows in the upper case section, so is able to have one row with boxes for ct and st
†Case M7 has seven rows in the upper case section, so is able to have one row with boxes for fl ff and ;

Left Hand Side
—	£	'		ft				/			—	£	£	£	&	&	fl		fi	£	—				£
&	&	£		&	ffi ffl	&		\	&		&	&	&	ff	&	ff	&		ff	fl		ffl	&	fi ff
(	ffl ffi			ffl		ffl			ffi			ffl ffi	ffl ffi	fl	ffi	ffl	ffi	&		fi		ffi		fl ffi ffl
hr	ff fl fi		&	ffi	hr	ffi	&	&	ffl			ff	fi	fi	ffl	ffi	ffl	&	&	ff ffl	&		hr	(	hr
hr					hr			hr	hr+tn			fi fl	?	ffi	hr	hr	hr	hr		ffi	hr	&	hr	hr	q
z	z	z	z	x	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z
x	x	x	x	z	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x

Bottom Right Row
X	Y	Z	AE	OE	U	J
X	Y	Z	tn	hr	U	J
X	Y	Z			U	J
X	Y	Z			U	J
X	Y	Z			U	J
X	Y	Z			U	J
X	Y	Z			U	J
X	Y	Z			U	J
X	Y	Z			U	J
X	Y	Z		thin	U	J
X	Y	Z			U	J
X	Y	Z		U	J
X	Y	Z	hr		U	J
X	Y	Z	hr		U	J
X	Y	Z	hr	hr	U	J
X	Y	Z	ct st	ae	U	J
X	Y	Z	ct st	/	U	J
X	Y	Z	ct st	/	U	J
X	Y	Z			J	U
X	Y	Z			J	U
X	Y	Z	oe	ae	J	U
		æ	Æ	Œ	œ
X	Y	Z		hr	U	J
X	Y	Z	hr	hr	U	J
X	Y	Z			U	J
X	Y	Z	hr	hr	U	J

Other empty cases ie with the boxes left blank		Other type layouts ie with characters assigned to boxes
Full Index of layouts	Glossary of terms used	Sources of the layouts	Introduction
Quantities in a fount of type		Quantities in a case of type
Notes about Job and Double Cases	Notes about Upper cases	Notes about Lower cases	Alembic home page

This page was written in 2017 by David Bolton and last updated 4 January 2018.