Type specimens, February 2020.
<aside> <img src="/icons/expand_gray.svg" alt="/icons/expand_gray.svg" width="40px" /> Extent of the Balinson Jewish Type Collection
The collection includes 11 different fonts of metal type, ranging from 8 to 72 points in size, as well as a 12-line display wood type, which have all been revived for active use. A selection of 5- and 8-line wood type which also arrived with the collection are in fragile condition and are reserved for display purposes only (see case 3). As commonly found in newspaper and job printing, several of the fonts within this collection are condensed forms, where the typically square shape of the Hebrew letterforms appears more vertically elongated.
This type represents one of the main non-Latin collections among the Bibliography Room’s holdings, in addition to recently acquired or uncovered collections of Cyrillic and Cree syllabics type.
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<aside> <img src="/icons/shop_gray.svg" alt="/icons/shop_gray.svg" width="40px" /> 12-line wood type
Large wood type such as this is typically referred to as a display typeface, as it is designed for printing attention-grabbing materials such as posters, advertisements, and signage. Some examples of Balinson’s job-printed posters can be found in his archival collection held at the OJA.
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Type case lay for Balinson’s Yiddish lower case.
Type case lay mapping sonic overlap between Balinson’s Yiddish type case and standard Latin lower case.
<aside> <img src="/icons/keypad_gray.svg" alt="/icons/keypad_gray.svg" width="40px" /> Balinson’s Yiddish type case
While some of Balinson’s metal type arrived at Massey College in old handmade type cases or simply set in lines tied up on galleys (metal printing trays), a few fonts came stored in standard Latin upper or lower type cases. However, as a unicameral script, Hebrew does not distinguish between upper and lowercase letters. As with Latin type, Balinson’s fonts stored in upper cases are organized alphabetically, while those in lower cases are organized by frequency of use and common sort (letter) combinations.
This type case maps out both the standard Latin and Balinson’s Yiddish lower case lays (arrangements). In Balinson’s lower case, ayin (ע) occupies the largest box, reserved for “e” in the Latin, the most common letter in Latin alphabets. Other frequently used letters map mostly in the middle of the case, for easy access, whereas those less frequently used can be found on the periphery.
Sonically, the lay of Balinson’s type case overlaps significantly with the Latin type case. The Yiddish and English letters that share similar sounds appear here circled in green. This pattern also supports the Yiddish usage of the type, since Yiddish, as a Germanic language, is actually linguistically closer to English than Hebrew. Many Yiddish typesetters were likely also working with a knowledge of English type cases.
From adapting to upper and lower cases to typesetting in the opposite direction (since the languages read from right to left), Yiddish and Hebrew do not fit neatly into traditional letterpress printing. This friction is something worth paying attention to, as it may prompt a broader exploration of printing traditions and practices.
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An Alef-beys Chart | Yiddish Book Center
<aside> <img src="/icons/link_gray.svg" alt="/icons/link_gray.svg" width="40px" /> Yiddish alphabetical chart (Yiddish Book Center, Amherst, MA)
For more information on the Yiddish alphabet, including audio pronunciations, see the Yiddish Book Center’s interactive Alef-beys chart.
While many factors from assimilation to the rise of modern Hebrew have contributed to the fading of Yiddish language and culture over time, the language is now experiencing a revival. The Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, MA, is one of many organizations dedicated to the preservation of the language. The Center educates on Yiddish language and culture, has collected over a million Yiddish books, and is home to the largest known collection of Yiddish printing type. Now, beginners can even find Yiddish on Duolingo.
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J. (John) Johnson’s Typographia; or, the Printers' instructor (London: Longman, 1824), volume 2, pages 272-274. Digitized copy courtesy of the Boston Public Library via Internet Archive
Joseph Gould’s The Letter-press Printer: A Complete Guide to the Art of Printing (London: Farrington & Co.; E. Marlborough & Co., [1881]), Second edition. Pages 162-163. Digitized copy courtesy of University of California Libraries via Internet Archive.
John Southward’s Practical printing: a handbook to the art of typography (London: J. M. Powell & Son, 1887). Pages 242-245. Digitized copy courtesy of University of Illinois via Internet Archive.
American Type Founders Company’s Specimen book and catalogue 1923, (Jersey City, N.J.: American Type Founders Company; 1923). Page 1078. Digitized copy courtesy of Internet Archive.
<aside> <img src="/icons/book-closed_gray.svg" alt="/icons/book-closed_gray.svg" width="40px" /> Historical printing manuals featuring Hebrew type case lays
Hebrew lower case lays as depicted in historical manuals do not appear to match Balinson’s. Given that the practices of Yiddish pressrooms seem not to have been as thoroughly documented, it is challenging to trace whether Balinson’s type case follows a longer standing Yiddish tradition. Regardless, the lay of his type case reflects the purpose and usage of his type, arranged in such a way that would best serve a Yiddish printer in Canada in the twentieth century.
Even in Balinson’s time, Hebrew printing still generally remained reserved for religious texts. The staples of Jewish printing would have been texts for ritual and household use, including not only prayer books, Psalters and Haggadot (the text read during the Passover ritual feast), but also calendars, newspapers, and increasingly, the bestsellers of Yiddish literature. The predominantly Yiddish usage of this type is reinforced not only through extant copies of Balinson’s newspaper, but also by the fact that beyond a religious or ritual setting, most Jews were not reading in Hebrew at this time.
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