File:EB1911 Typography - Finished Type.jpg

English: Drawing of a finished type representing the capital letter M: the darkest space a, a, a, a, is called the face; and only that part of the type touches the paper in printing. The face is divided into the stem, marked 1, which comprises the whole outline of the type M; the serifs, or the horizontal lines marked 2, which complete the outline of the letter; the beard, consisting of the bevel or sloping part marked b, b, and the shoulder or flat portion below b. The shank is the entire body of the letter d, the front part (that shown) being known as the belly and the corresponding part behind as the back. The spaces at h and h are the counters, which regulate the distances apart of the stems in a line of type. The hollow groove extending across the shank at e, e is the nick, which enables the workman to recognize the direction of the type and to distinguish different founts of the same body. The absence of this simple expedient would retard the operation of hand-setting up by fully one-half. The earliest type-founders did not know the use of the nick. If a part of the face overhangs the shank, this part is called the kern, but kerned letters are avoided as much as possible. The groove g divides the bottom of the type into two parts called the feet.