Great primer is a large

font size In typography, the point is the smallest unit of measure. It is used for measuring font size, leading, and other items on a printed page. The size of the point has varied throughout printing's history. Since the 18th century, the size of a poi ...

(18 points) that was used in the

printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...

of English

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

s and other large-format

book A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...

s, leading to its other name of ''Bible Text''. The largest size ever (or at least up to about 1843) used in England for printing books, it was several sizes larger than English (14 pt) but smaller than paragon (20 pt). It was known in Italian as ''testo''. Other synonyms include ''Double Bourgeois'', ''18-point'', ''Gros Romain'' (French), ''Text'' (Dutch) and ''Tertia'' (German). Great-primer size fonts have been in use since

William Caxton William Caxton () was an English merchant, diplomat and writer. He is thought to be the first person to introduce a printing press into Kingdom of England, England in 1476, and as a Printer (publishing), printer to be the first English retailer ...

, around 1488.Hansard, Thomas Curson, ''Typographia: An Historical Sketch of the Origin and Art of Printing'', London, 1825, accessed on Google Books 24 June 2010.

References

{{reflist Typefaces

See also

References