![]() ![]() Similar decisions were made about other characters common in typesetting such as the em dash and the en dash. Instead of having the left, right and straight "apostrophes" they decided to include only the straight one. ![]() They came up with the idea of unifying similar looking characters in order to save space. With the invention of the typewriters and keyboards (1860s), the engineers were faced with the problem of fitting many characters (keys) in a small space. In handwritten documents, though, sometimes it was stylized as a straight tick (see Yorick's comment bellow). The straight apostrophe-like glyph, on the other hand, had different functions, such as denoting "prime". It kept its curved shape in printed texts. The apostrophe stopped being a novelty and became part of regular grammar. In the same century and for the same reasons, the English language imported the apostrophe from French. It introduced, among other things, the apostrophe, copying the new fashionable Italian way of considering elisions stylish. In 1501 Geoffroy Tory published Campoflori, a book that revolutionized French grammar and book publishing. Copies of the book were printed in Lyon using a pirate copy of the typeface with apostrophe and all. Even when the typeface was protected by the Pope himself it started being illegally copied by counterfeiting artists. This innovative "Italic" type and the colloquial stylish way of indicating elisions as a cute small mark gained immediate fame. Notice the apostrophe in the word(s) "l'honorata". He had a special typeface designed based on the handwriting of the poet, creating the slanted style we nowadays know as "italics." He had to introduce the apostrophe glyph in order to be able to copy the text exactly the way the poet had written it. It is from "Le cose volgari di messer Francesco" an Italian classic written by Petrarch, published by Aldus Manutius in Italy circa 1501.Īldus Manutius supposedly copied this book from an original manuscript of Petrarch owned by a friend of his. Here is an example of one of the first times the apostrophe was printed. The apostrophe was equivalent to our "Gotchas" or "Wannas" in the sense that it was a way to take the stiffness of the text away by making it sound more human-like. The apostrophe first appeared in the printed universe in Italy, 16th century, as a curved shape to signify elision copied from handwritten classical Italian poetry. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |