Page:Historic printing types, a lecture read before the Grolier club of New York, January 25, 1885, with additions and new illustrations; by De Vinne, Theodore Low, 1828-1914; Grolier Club.djvu/68

PRAYERS and THANKSGIVINGS

Upon ſeveral Occaſions; to be uſed before the two final Prayers of the Litany, or of Morning and Evening Prayer.

PRAYERS.

¶ For Rain.

O God heavenly Father, who by thy Son Jeſus Chriſt haſt promiſed to all them that ſeek thy kingdom and the righteouſneſs thereof, all things neceſſary to their bodily ſuſtenance: Send us, we beſeech thee, in this our neceſſity, ſuch moderate rain and ſhowers, that we may receive the fruits of the earth to our comfort, and to thy honour, through Jeſus Chriſt our Lord. Amen.

Fac-simile of Baskerville's types, from the Book of Common Prayer.

Baskerville's types too thin for his time.

Printers of Baskerville's time objected to this face as too delicate and too liable to injury; readers objected to the lines as too fine and too dazzling to the eyes. The greatest fault of the new style seems to have been that Baskerville printed books from it with greater skill and beauty than any rival had done or could do. It was his misfortune to introduce a style which was in advance of the abilities of the trade. As printing was then done, a proper quality of