Page:Historic printing types, a lecture read before the Grolier club of New York, January 25, 1885, with additions and new illustrations; by De Vinne, Theodore Low, 1828-1914; Grolier Club.djvu/23

GERMAN BLACK LETTER. 19 survives. The German statesman, Bismarck, not long ago put on record his objections to Roman types in German books. He tells us that he had, watch in hand, compared Bismarck's 7 ' dislike of the the time he had given to the reading of a page in Grerman Roman letter, type and a page in Roman type, and that the reading of the Roman page was a greater tax on his attention", and required much more time. The reader who is not familiar with Grerman will receive this opinion with surprise. He will say that the Roman letter, so much simpler in form, should be more easily read ; and the following comparison of Grerman letters that are perplexingly similar with Roman equivalents that are clearly distinct will strengthen this conclusion: (< 33$ 3$ CE G S BV IF ff I) i) baoce i t I fs hy daoce i t 1 Dr. Taylor suggests that the frequency of the use of spec- - ... Alphabet, voL tacles among young men in Germany, as compared with n., P . is*. England, France or Italy, may be due in great part to the more trying nature of German types.