- From: Todd Fahrner <fahrner@pobox.com>
- Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1998 10:48:37 -0700
- To: d.tek.jre@ebox.tninet.se (Jan Roland Eriksson)
- Cc: www-style@w3.org
Thus spake Jan Roland Eriksson: > The 'em' seems to be first mentioned in monk handwriting instructions > originating in the period of 600-800 a.d. i.e. at the same time as when > lower case letters made their entrance. Already then it was specified as > a square area with side length equal to the font height in use. > > Since lower case letters introduced decenders, fonts automatically > became higer than the previous "all caps" type of fonts. Thus the 'em' > lost it's connection to the widht of the capital letter 'M' at the same > time. Ahh! The question of descenders had indeed bothered me. I could never quite fudge their intrusion into my "square chunk" fairy tale, yet I knew there was some connection between em/M, probably through exposure to drawings of 'Capitalis Quadrata' in type books, always imposed on a square. Thanks for your research! __________________ Todd Fahrner mailto:fahrner@pobox.com http://www.verso.com/agitprop/
Received on Monday, 6 April 1998 13:42:36 UTC