Old typography

[AlanMiller]

OK, maybe not a puzzle, but puzzling to me.

I've noticed in several old technical papers the letter "s" often appearing as something like an "f" or maybe an integral symbol ¦, with or without a bar, or just a long stretched-out "s". I'm wondering if this was some sort of standard typographical or printers' usage ... or what?

Alan

[Rudi]

This should provide some explanations...

- Long s (wikipedia)
- Why does s look like an f

[AlanMiller]

Most interesting. Makes things difficult to read ... but interesting.

Alan

[John Gray]

Imagine (or write) "moſt efficaſiouſ" with long s's - but the Unicode character doesn't do the long s justice...

[HansV]

Doe∫ mo∫t efficaciou∫ plea∫e you?

[AlanMiller]

But apparently using it at the end of a word is considered an act of ∫lip∫hoddine∫s.

Alan

[HansV]

True; in that respect it's similar to Greek, which uses σ inside words and ς at the end.

[AlanMiller]

I'm afraid it's all Greek to me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oNLJ2gjfAI

Alan

[HansV]

An ancient balloon:

happy-eafter.jpg

[AlanMiller]

Thank you. I’m ready for Sunday’s feaft.

Alan