CAMBRIDGE REPRINTS.
The Seven Deadly Sinnes of London. By Thomas Dekker.— Underwoods. By Ben Jonson. (Cambridge University Press. 21s. net each.)—The Cambridge University Press has been of late indulging its fancy and the humour of wealthy bibliophiles. We recently noticed the first four volumes of an admirable series of facsimiles of rare specimens of early printing preserved in the University Library. We have now before us two volumes of a series of English reprints in sumptuous guise, issued in a very limited edition at a correspondingly unlimited price. It is not an equal success. In an age of often injudicious typographical experiment, the Cambridge Press has discovered the necessity of possessing a " new " type of its own. The fount is not the worst we have seen, nor is it by any means the best. However, though it is easy to find fault with individual letters, the whole makes a fine solid page. Thus the reprint of one of Dekker's most entertain- ing tracts of London life is, taken altogether, a sufficiently pleasing production. The reprint of Jonson's Underwoods, however, is quite the reverse. Not content with introducing one of the worst italic founts ever designed since Aldus made his unlucky innovation, the printers have interspersed a small "antique" type of a wholly different character, and also Greek capitals of a most common- place sort. The result is an incongruous jumble both ugly and ridiculous. In both books, moreover, the device on the title-page is neither beautiful in itself nor in keeping with the style of printing. If the authorities of the Cambridge Press really find it necessary to take up " artistic " printing, we should recommend them to procure the services of some one who knows what the appearance of a printed book should be. He would at least prevent their making facsimile reprints of seventeenth- century works by way of attaining typographical beauty. We should say that, though the inking leaves something to be desired, the paper and general get-up are excellent.
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