Typogr. [a. OF. or AF. *brevier:—L. breviarium BREVIARY; app. because this type was used in printing breviaries. Cf. Canon, Pica, Primer, of similar origin.]
Mr. T. B. Reed (Hist. Lett. Foundries, 39) says this conjecture is not borne out by an examination of the Breviaries, most of which are printed in a considerably larger size; but that the German Brevier, corresponding to our Small Pica, is of more frequent occurrence in these works. He suggests that the name Brevier, like the French and German equivalent ‘Petit,’ may mean that this, being the smallest body, was used for getting the most matter into a brief space. But this hardly explains the word brevier.]
The name of the type in size between Bourgeois and Minion, as in the words
| Brevier Type. |
1598. Ord. Stationers’ Co., in Hist. Lett. Foundries (1887), 129. Those in brevier and long primer letters at a penny for one sheet and a half.
1706. Phillips, Brevier or Breveer, a small sort of Printing-Letter.
1709. Lond. Gaz., No. 4617/4. Printed upon Extraordinary Paper, and with a New Brevier Letter.
1721. Bailey, Brevier, a small sort of Printing-Letter, one degree smaller than Long Primer.
1802. Mar. Edgeworth, Mor. Tales (1816), I. xiv. 113. A printer’s devil … may be a capital judge of pica and brevier.
