Traditional point-size names

(Redirected from Pearl (typography))

"Minion (typography)" redirects here. For the typeface, see Minion (typeface).

The article's lead section may need to be rewritten. Please help improve the lead and read the lead layout guide. (February 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Fonts originally consisted of a set of moveable type letterpunches purchased from a type foundry. As early as 1600, the sizes of these types—their "bodies"—acquired traditional names in English, French, German, and Dutch, usually from their principal early uses. These names were used relative to the others and their exact length would vary over time, from country to country, and from foundry to foundry. For example, "agate" and "ruby" used to be a single size "agate ruby" of about 5 points; metal type known as "agate" later ranged from 5 to 5.8 points. The sizes were gradually standardized as described above. Modern Chinese typography uses the following names in general preference to stating the number of points. In ambiguous contexts, the word hào (t 號, s 号, lit. "number") is added to the end of the size name to clarify the meaning.

Note that the Chinese font sizes use American points; the Continental systems traditionally used the Fournier or Didot points. The Fournier points, being smaller than Didot's, were associated with the names of the Didot type closest in size rather than identical in number of points.

Comparison table

Point	Metric size	American system		Continental system			Chinese system
Point	Metric size	American	British	French	German	Dutch	Character	Pinyin	Meaning
1	≈ 0.353 mm	American			Achtelpetit	Achtste petit
⁠1+1/2⁠	≈ 0.529 mm	German			Achtelcicero	Achtste cicero
2	≈ 0.706 mm	Saxon			Non Plus Ultra Viertelpetit	Non plus ultra Vierde petit
⁠2+1/2⁠	≈ 0.882 mm	Norse		Microscopique	Microscopique	Microscoop Microscopie
3	≈ 1.058 mm	Excelsior	Minikin	Diamant	Brillant Viertelcicero	Kwart cicero
⁠3+1/2⁠	≈ 1.235 mm	Ruby Brilliant
4	≈ 1.411 mm	Brilliant		Perle	Diamant Halbpetit	Robijn Diamant Halve petit
⁠4+1/4⁠	≈ 1.499 mm		Gem
⁠4+1/2⁠	≈ 1.588 mm	Diamond
5	≈ 1.764 mm	Pearl		Parisienne Sédanoise	Perl	Parel Parisienne	八	Bā	"Eight"
⁠5+1/2⁠	≈ 1.940 mm	Agate	Ruby				七	Qī	"Seven"
6	≈ 2.117 mm	Nonpareil		Nonpareille	Nonpareille	Nonparel Nonpareil
⁠6+1/2⁠	≈ 2.293 mm	Minionette	Emerald		Insertio	Insertio	小六	Xiǎoliù	"Little Six"
7	≈ 2.469 mm	Minion		Mignonne	Kolonel	Kolonel Mignon
⁠7+1/2⁠	≈ 2.646 mm			Petit-texte			六	Liù	"Six"
8	≈ 2.822 mm	Brevier		Gaillarde Petit-texte	Petit Jungfer	Petit Brevier
9	≈ 3.175 mm	Bourgeois		Petit-romain Gaillarde	Bourgeois Borgis	Borgis Burgeois	小五	Xiǎowǔ	"Little Five"
10	≈ 3.528 mm	Long Primer		Philosophie	Korpus Garmond	Corpus Garmond
⁠10+1/2⁠	≈ 3.704 mm						五	Wǔ	"Five"
11	≈ 3.881 mm	Small Pica		Cicéro	Rheinländer Discendian	Mediaan Rheinländer
12	≈ 4.233 mm	Pica		St.-Augustin	Cicero	Cicero Augustijn	小四	Xiǎosì	"Little Four"
14	≈ 4.939 mm	English		Gros-texte	Mittel	Grote cicero Grote augustijn Mediaan	四	Sì	"Four"
15	≈ 5.292 mm			Gros-texte			小三	Xiǎosān	"Little Three"
16	≈ 5.644 mm	Columbian Exchange		Gros-texte	Tertia	Tertia	三	Sān	"Three"
18	≈ 6.350 mm	Great Primer		Gros-romain	⁠1+1/2⁠ Cicero	Paragon Tekst	小二	Xiǎoèr	"Little Two"
20	≈ 7.056 mm	Paragon		Petit-parangon	Text Secunda
22	≈ 7.761 mm	Double Small Pica		Gros-parangon			二	Èr	"Two"
24	≈ 8.467 mm	Double Pica		Palestine	Doppelcicero	Dubbele cicero Palestine	小一	Xiǎoyī	"Little One"
26	≈ 9.172 mm						一	Yī	"One"
28	≈ 9.878 mm	Double English		Petit-canon	Doppelmittel	Dubbele mediaan
30	≈ 10.583 mm	Five-line Nonpareil
32	≈ 11.289 mm	Double Columbian			Kleine Kanon Doppeltertia	Dubbele tertia
36	12.7 mm	Double Great Primer		Trismégiste	Kanon Canon	Kanon	小初	Xiǎochū	"Little Initial"
40	≈ 14.111 mm	Double Paragon			Doppeltext Große Kanon
42	≈ 14.817 mm	Seven-line Nonpareil			Große Kanon	Grote Kanon	初	Chū	"Initial"
44	≈ 15.522 mm	Canon		Gros-canon	Missal	Parijs Romein
48	≈ 16.933 mm	Four-line Pica French canon	Canon	Gros-canon	Kleine Missal	Konkordanz Kleine missaal
54	≈ 19.050 mm				Missal	Missaal
56	≈ 19.756 mm			Double-canon
60	≈ 21.167 mm	Five-line pica			Große Missal	Sabon
66	≈ 23.283 mm				Große Sabon	Grote sabon
72	25.4 mm	Six-line pica Inch		Double-trismégiste	Sabon Sechscicero Kleine Sabon	6 cicero
84	≈ 29.633 mm	Seven-line pica			Siebencicero Große Sabon	7 cicero
88	≈ 31.044 mm			Triple-canon
96	≈ 33.867 mm	Eight-line pica		Grosse-nonpareille	Achtcicero Real	8 cicero
100	≈ 35.278 mm			Moyenne de fonte
108	38.1 mm	Nine-line pica			Imperial	9 cicero

Notes

The existence of such small bodies was only notional in the age of metal type.
Note that the American name for 3-point type was initially "Brilliant" and the English name was initially "Excelsior". The American "Excelsior", meanwhile, was originally 4-point type. The situation subsequently changed.
Pronounced "burjoyce".
^ The French gros-texte referred indifferently to type sizes between 14 and 16 points.
^ The German Große Kanon referred indifferently to 40- or 42-point type.
^ The French gros-canon referred indifferently to type sizes of 44 or 48 points.

References

^ Southward, John (1888), "Typography", Encyclopædia Britannica, Vol. XXIII (9th ed.), New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, p. 698.
^ Romano, Frank (Summer 2009). "The History of the Typographic Point" (PDF). APHA Newsletter (171): 3–4.
"Type", Sizes.com, Santa Monica: Sizes Inc., 2004.
^ Pasko, Wesley Washington, ed. (1894), American Dictionary of Printing and Bookmaking, Containing a History of These Arts in Europe and America, with Definitions of Technical Terms and Biographical Sketches, New York: Howard Lockwood & Co., p. 522.
^ Pasko (1894), p. 215.
Bauer, Friedrich (1929), Die Normung der Buchdrucklettern: Schrifthöhe, Schriftkegel, und Schriftlinie in ihrer geschichtlichen Entwichlung, Leipzig: Deutscher Buchgewerbeverein, p. 64. (in German)
Pasko (1894), p. 18.
^ Bauer (1934).
^ De Vinne, Theodore Low (1900), The Practice of Typography: A Treatise on the Processes of Type-Making, the Point System, the Names, Sizes, Styles, and Prices of Plain Printing Types, New York: The Century Co., p. 68.
^ "minikin, n.¹ and adj.¹", Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
"excelsior, n."'", Oxford English Dictionary (1st ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1894.
^ Pasko (1894), p. 70.
"ruby, n.¹", Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011
Pasko (1894), p. 11.
^ "minionette, n.", Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
^ Pasko (1894), p. 65.
^ Pasko (1894), p. 229.
Reed, Talbot Baines (1887). A History of the Old English Letter-Foundries. London. pp. 38–39.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Pasko (1894), p. 172.
Pasko (1894), p. 238.
von Bauer, Friedrich (1934), Handbuch für Schriftsetzer, Frankfurt: Verlag von Klimsch & Co.. (in German)
^ Fromm, Helmut (1980). Rechenbuch für die Druckindustrie (in German) (14th ed.). Itzehoe: Verlag Beruf und Schule. ISBN 3-88013-155-4. Mentioned in "Type size names (German style)". briarpress.org.
Pasko (1894), p. 79.
Pasko (1894), p. 213.

Typeface anatomy	Counter Diacritics Dingbat Glyph Ink trap Ligature Rotation Subscript and superscript Swash Text figures Tittle
Capitalization	All caps Camel case Initial Letter case Small caps Snake case Title case
Visual distinction	Blackboard bold Bold Color printing Italics Oblique Underline Whitespace
Horizontal aspects	Figure space Kerning Letter spacing Pitch Sentence spacing Thin space Word spacing
Vertical aspects	Ascender Baseline Body height Cap height Descender Mean line Overshoot x-height

Typeface
classifications

Roman type	Serif Antiqua Didone slab serif Sans-serif
Blackletter type	Fraktur Rotunda Schwabacher
Gaelic type	Insular Uncial
Specialist	Record type Display typeface script fat face reverse-contrast

Punctuation (List)

Typesetting

Typographic units

Digital typography

Typography in other
writing systems

Related template

Punctuation and other typographic symbols

Category

Categories:

Misplaced Pages