As before mentioned, these sizes are varied greatly by the requirements of the various publishers and printers. A sheet of paper folded once forms a folio, and gives four folio pages (counting both sides of the sheet). Folio page. The sheet folded twice forms a quarto, and gives eight quarto pages. Quarto page The sheet folded thrice forms an octavo, and gives sixteen octavo pages. As explained before, it is more customary to print an octavo from Double Medium paper, and this will, of course, give thirty-two octavo pages. Octavo page. The sheet folded four times forms a 16m0, and gives thirty-two pages. page. 16mo Specimen Page of Long Primer Type : Washington Irving was born in the city of New York, April 3, 1783. He was the eighth son of William and Sarah Irving and the youngest of eleven children, three of whom died in infancy. He had four brothers and three sisters who lived to mature age, and whom, as I shall have occasion to speak of them in the course of my narrative, I here name in the order of birth: William, Ann, Peter, Catharine, Ebenezer, John, Sarah. The parents of Washington came from the opposite ends of Great Britain his father from the Orkneys; his mother from Cornwall. The father was the son of Magnus Irving and Catharine Williamson, and his ancestors bore on their seals the three holly leaves, which are the arms of the Irvines of Drum, one of the oldest and most respectable families of Scotland, which dates its origin from the days of Robert Bruce. According to a received tradition, in his secret and precipitate flight for Scotland from the court of Edward I, Bruce sought shelter in the tower of Woodhouse, the dwelling of an Irving of Bonshaw, who was chief of the name. Here he was harbored for some time, and on leaving, he took with him the eldest son of his host, whom he made his secretary and armor-bearer. The son accompanied him through all his varying fortunes, was with him when he was surprised and routed at Methven, in June, 1306, shared all his subsequent dangers and hardships, and was one of seven who lay concealed with him in a copse of holly when his pursuers passed by. In memory of his escape in this extremity of peril, Bruce assumed the holly as a device, and afterward gave it to his faithful secretary, with the motto, Sub sole sub umbra virens. The motto and the evergreen leaves, both having relation to his unchanging fidelity to his king in prosperity and adversity, in sunshine and in shade, have been the arms of the family ever since. Sir William Irvine, as he is styled in Nisbet's "Heraldry," was subsequently Master of the Rolls, and the charter is still extant, dated 4th October, 1324, by which the king conveyed to his faithful and beloved William de Irwyn, in free barony, the lands of Drum, a hunting-seat of the kings of Scotland, situated on the north bank of the river Dee, about ten miles from Aberdeen. The tower of Drum, with its walls of solid masonry, still stands as sound and unimpaired as when the estate was conveyed, and is still occupied by the Irvings, and lays claim to the distinction of being the oldest inhabited dwelling in Scotland. William de Irwyn married Mariota, the daughter of Sir Robert Keith, Great Mareschal of Scotland, who led the horse at Bannockburn, and was killed at the battle of Duplin in 1332. Of this family, says Dr. Christopher Irvine, historiographer of Charles II, in an ancient document quoted in Playfair's "British Family Antiquity," are the Irvines of Orkney. But at what time his branch of the family was transplanted to that locality, the author has no information other than a family tradition, that it was during some troubles in Scotland prior to the reign of Charles II. A few years previous to his death, some legal controversy arising in England on the subject of the copyright of his works, a London publisher was led to apply to Kirkwall for docu Specimen Page of Brevier Type: Washington Irving was born in the city of New York, April 3, 1783. He was the eighth son of William and Sarah Irving and the youngest of eleven children, three of whom died in infancy. He had four brothers and three sisters who lived to mature age, and whom, as I shall have occasion to speak of them in the course of my narrative, I here name in the order of birth; William, Ann, Peter, Catharine, Ebenezer, John, Sarah. The parents of Washington came from the opposite ends of Great Britain: his father from the Orkneys; his mother from Cornwall. The father was the son of Magnus Irving and Catharine Williamson, and his ancestors bore on their seals the three holly leaves, which are the arms of the Irvines of Drum, one of the oldest and most respectable families of Scotland, which dates its origin from the days of Robert Bruce. According to a received tradition, in his secret and precipitate flight for Scotland from the court of Edward I, Bruce sought shelter in the tower of Woodhouse, the dwelling of an Irving of Bonshaw, who was chief of the name. Here he was harbored for some time, and on leaving, he took with him the eldest son of his host, whom he made his secretary and armor-bearer. The son accompanied him through all his varying fortunes, was with him when he was surprised and routed at Methven, in June, 1306, shared all his subequent dangers and hardships, and was one of seven who lay concealed with him in a copse of holly when his pursuers passed by. In memory of his escape in this extremity of peril, Bruce assumed the holly as a device, and afterward gave it to his faithful secretary, with the motto, Sub sole sub umbra virens. The motto and the evergreen leaves, both having relation to his unchanging fidelity to his king in prosperity and adversity, in sunshine and in shade, have been the arms of the family ever since. Sir William Irvine, as he is styled in Nisbet's aldry," was subsequently Master of the Rolls, and the charter is still extant, dated 4th October, 1324, by which the king conveyed to his faithful and beloved William de Irwyn, in free barony, the lands of Drum, a hunting-seat of the kings of Scotland, situated on the north bank of the river Dee, about ten miles from Aberdeen. The tower of Drum, with its walls of solid masonry, still stands as sound and unimpaired as when the estate was conveyed, and is still occupied by the Irvings, and lays claim to the distinction of being the oldest inhabited dwelling in Scotland. 'Her William de Irwyn married Mariota, the daughter of Sir Robert Keith, Great Mareschal of Scotland, who led the horse at Bannockburn, and was killed at the battle of Duplin in 1332. Of this family, says Dr. Christopher Irvine, historiographer of Charles II, in an ancient document quoted in Playfair's "British Family Antiquity," are the Irvines of Orkney. But at what time his branch of the family was transplanted to that locality, the author had no information other than a family tradition, that it was during some troubles in Scotland prior to the reign of Charles II. A few years previous to his death, some legal controversy arising in England on the subject of the copyright of his works, a London publisher was led to apply to Kirkwall for documentary proof of his father's place of birth. In making the necessary researches, the Clerk of the Records was induced to trace his descent as far back as possible, and it is a curious fact that he was enabled to do it through four centuries, from a facility afforded by the ancient "Udal" laws of that region, which required that lands, on the death of the owner, should be divided equally among the sons and daughters; a peculiarity which led in the partition, to the mention of the names and relationships of all the parties who were to draw a share. The result of these researches showed that "William De Erwin," the first Orkney Irvine and earliest cadet of Drum, was an inhabitant of Kirkwall, the metropolis of the island group, 1369, the same year in which Thomas, the eldest son and successor of the armor-bearer, is mentioned among the barons of the Scottish Parliament; that the Irvings held landed possessions in Pomona, the island in which Kirkwall is situated, up to 1597, when Magnus, eldest son of James, the "Lawman" or chief judge of the Orkneys, sold his share of his father's property in the neighborhood of Kirkwall to a younger brother, and removed to the contiguous island of Shapinsha, where, in 1731, was born William, the father of the author. On the death of his mother, who had always opposed his wishes on this point, William yielded to the long-cherished desire of his boyhood, and went to sea. During the war between France and England he engaged on board of an armed packet-ship of Specimen Page of Nonpareil Type: Washington Irving was born in the city of New York, April 3, 1783. He was the eighth son of William and Sarah Irving and the youngest of eleven children, three of whom died in infancy. He had four brothers and three sisters who lived to mature age, and whom, as I shall have occasion to speak of them in the course of my narrative, I here name in the order of birth: William, Ann, Peter, Catharine, Ebenezer, John. Sarah. The parents of Washington came from the opposite ends of Great Britain: his father from the Orkneys; his mother from Cornwall. The father was the son of Magnus Irving and Catharine Williamson, and his ancestors bore on their seals the three holly leaves, which are the arms of the Irvines of Drum, one of the oldest and most respectable families of Scotland, which dates its origin from the days of Robert Bruce. According to a received tradition, in his secret and precipitate flight for Scotland from the court of Edward I, Bruce sought shelter in the tower of Woodhouse, the dwelling of an Irving of Bonshaw, who was chief of the name. Here he was harbored for some time, and on leaving, he took with him the eldest son of his host, whom he made his secretary and armor-bearer. The son accompanied him through all his varying fortunes, was with him when he was surprised and routed at Methven, in June, 1306, shared all his subsequent dangers and hardships, and was one of seven who lay concealed with him in a copse of holly when his pursuers passed by. In memory of his escape in this extremity of peril, Bruce assumed the holly as a device, and afterward gave it to his faithful secretary, with the motto, Sub sole sub umbra virens. The motto and the evergreen leaves, both having relation to his unchanging fidelity to his king in prosperity and adversity, in sunshine and in shade, have been the arms of the family ever since. Sir William Irvine, as he is styled in Nisbet's "Heraldry," was subsequently Master of the Rolls, and the charter is still extant, dated 4th October, 1324, by which the king conveyed to his faithful and beloved William de Irwyn, in free barony, the lands of Drum, a hunting-seat of the kings of Scotland, situated on the north bank of the river Dee, about ten miles from Aberdeen. The tower of Drum, with its walls of solid masonry, still stands as sound and unimpaired as when the estate was conveyed, and is still occupied by the Irvings, and lays claim to the distinction of being the oldest inhabited dwelling in Scotland. William de Irwyn married Mariota, the daughter of Sir Robert Keith, Great Mareschal of Scotland, who led the horse at Bannockburn, and was killed at the battle of Duplin in 1332. Of this family, says Dr. Christopher Irvine, historiographer of Charles II, in an ancient document quoted in Playfair's" British Family Antiquity," are the Irvines of Orkney. But at what time his branch of the family was transplanted to that locality, the author had no information other than a family tradition, that it was during some troubles in Scotland prior to the reign of Charles II. A few years previous to his death, some legal controversy arising in England on the subject of the copyright of his works, a London publisher was led to apply to Kirkwall for documentary proof of his father's place of birth. In making the necessary researches, the Clerk of the Records was induced to trace his descent as far back as possible, and it is a curious fact that he was enabled to do it through four centuries, from a facility afforded by the ancient" Udal" laws of that region, which required that lands, on the death of the owner, should be divided equally among the sons and daughters; a peculiarity which led in the partition, to the mention of the names and relationships of all the parties who were to draw a share. The result of these researches showed that "William De Irwyn," the first Orkney Irvine and earliest cadet of Drum, was an inhabitant of Kirkwall, the metropolis of the island group, in 1369, the same year in which Thomas, the eldest son and successor of the armor-bearer, is mentioned among the barons of the Scottish Parliament; that the Irvings held landed possessions in Pomona, the island in which Kirkwall is situated, up to 1597, when Magnus, eldest son of James, the "Lawman" or chief judge of the Orkneys, sold his share of his father's property in the neighborhood of Kirkwall to a younger brother, and removed to the contiguous island of Shapinsha, where, in 1731, was born William, the father of the author. On the death of his mother, who had always opposed his wishes on this point, William yielded to the long-cherished desire of his boyhood, and went to sea. During the war between France and England he engaged on board an armed packet-ship of his British Majesty plying between Falmouth and New York, and was a petty officer in this service when he met with Sarah Sanders, the only child of John and Anna Sanders, and granddaughter of an English curate whose name was Kent. Their marriage took place on the 18th of May, 1761, and two years thereafter, on the return of peace, the youthful pair embarked for New York, where they landed on the 18th of July, 1763, having buried their first child on the shores of England. Mr. Irving took up his residence in the city not far from The old Walton House," as it now proclaims itself with boastful longevity, then recently erected, which with the Middle Dutch Church, still resisting at that time the language of England in spite of a century of British domination, now shorn of its honors and transformed into a post-office, are almost the only relics left of the contracted and half-rural city of that day. On settling in New York, the father of the author entered into mercantile business. He was getting on successfully, when the Revolution broke out; and he found his quiet dwelling under the guns of one of the English ships in the harbor at the the time when, in consequence of General Lee's measures, it was apprehended they would fire upon the town. A general panic prevailed; many of the inhabitants fled to the country, and among the number Mr. Irving and his little flock, with whom he took refuge at Rahway in New Jersey. Here he was not much better off: business was at an end; his children suffered from fever and ague, and finally, when the British made an incursion into the Jerseys, he returned to New York, after an absence of nearly two years, during which almost half of the city had been destroyed by fire. Throughout the revolutionary contest, he and his wife exerted themselves without ceasing in alleviating the sufferings of American prisoners. The mother of the author, who possessed a character of rare generosity and benevolence, was especially zealous in this charitable ministry. Prisoners were supplied with food from her own table; and she often went in person to visit them when ill, furnishing them with clothes, blankets, and other necessaries. Cunningham, so noted for his brutality, always softened at her appearance. "I'd rather you'd send them a rope, Mrs. |