extract from Hansard's Typographia (page 373), in which book that author literally quotes this passage from Nelson's Fasts and Festivals.
Q. What was the form of St. Andrew's Cross?
A. The Instrument of his Martyrdom is commonly said to have been something peculiar in the Form of the letter X, being a Cross decussate, two Pieces of Timber crossing each other in the Middle: And hence known by the Name of St. Andrew's Cross.It will be seen that there has been no want of method in this arrangement. 1. The Questions to be Italic the answers Roman; but the Q. and the A. to be reversed, viz. the Q. to be Roman for the Italic, and the A. to be Italic for the Roman. 2. All substantives to be capitaled; all noun-substantives to be Italic in the Roman part, and Roman in the Italic part, this not to extend to the sign of the genitive case, as the letter s is to be the reverse. Also particular words to be distinguished contrarywise.—The labour to a compositor, and also the reader, on such a work as this, will be little short of that required upon a work of which he understands not a single word, and the book, when printed, exhibits a motley appearance of Roman and Italic, capitals and lower-case, till those who are not sufficient judges of typography to know the cause, wonder why the page is so confused and tiresome to the eye.
Since 1825 the reading world has outgrown this artificial method of using italic, but it still adheres to other methods that are as illogical.
