s of a softer
character in the muse of Dr. Ferriar: for thus sings
he--inspired by the possession of _black-letter_ tomes:

In red morocco drest, he loves to boast
the bloody murder, or the yelling ghost;
or dismal ballads, sung to crowds of old,
now cheaply bought for thrice their weight in gold.

v. 62-65.

Ev'n I, debarr'd of ease and studious hours,
Confess, mid' anxious toil, its lurking pow'rs.
How pure the joy, when first my hands unfold
The small, rare volume, black with tarnished gold!

_The Bibliomania_, l. 135-8.

But let us attend to a more scientific illustration of this
eighth symptom. 'BLACK-LETTER, which is used in England,
descends from the Gothic characters; and is therefore called
_Gothic_ by some, _old English_ by others; but printers give
it the name of _Black-Letter_, because its face taking in a
larger compass than Roman or Italic of the same body, the
full and spreading strokes thereof appear more _black_ upon
paper than common.' _Smith's Printer's Grammar_; edit. 1755,
p. 18. The same definition is given in a recent similar
work; with the addition that 'black-letter is more expensive
than Roman or Italic, its broad face requiring an
extraordinary quantity of ink, which always gives the best
coloured paper a yellow cast, unless worked upon that of a
superior quality. It has a good effect in a title-page, if
disposed with taste.' Stower's _Printer's Grammar_; 1808, p.
41. To these authorities we may add, from Rowe Mores, that
'Wynkyn de Worde's letter was of _The Square English_ or
_Black face_, and has been the pattern for his successors in
the art.' _Of English Founders and Foundries_; 1778, 8vo. p.
4, 5. 'The same black-letter printer,' says Palmer or
Psalmanaazar, 'gave a greater scope to his fancy, and formed
such a variety of sorts and sizes of letter that, for
several years after him, none of his successors attempted to
imitate him therein.' _General History of Printing_; p. 343.
It is not necessary to collect, in formal array, the
authorities of foreigners upon this important subject;
although it may be as well to notice the strange manner in
which Momoro, in his _Traite elementaire de L'Imprimerie_,
p. 185, refers us to an elucid