Dear Dr. Boli: I find myself in need of a number of technical writers for a government-funded project, and I thought you might be able to tell me: How do you distinguish a professional writer from an amateur? —Sincerely, A Grant Recipient.

Dear Sir or Madam: Ask each candidate one question:

Which is more important?

A. Content
B. Word count

Any professional writer knows the answer to that question. Any candidate who believes that content is more important than word count should be told to go back to scribbling free-verse poems about unicorns in a wirebound notebook.

By far the most popular article Dr. Boli has printed since moving to this address is the little collection of typographic specimens from the catalogue of Palmer & Rey. This observation confirms what he has always suspected, which is that the Internet would much prefer it if he stopped writing original articles altogether and devoted his pages to other people’s work presented in snippets small enough to qualify as “fair use.” The Internet, however, cannot always have what it wants. Like a spoiled child, it must occasionally be made to eat its vegetables.

Dr. Boli has already remarked on the surreal poetry of certain specimen books issued by typefounders in the 1800s. Here are a few more examples, from a specimen book issued by Palmer & Rey in 1892:

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And, by the way, to show that some advertising techniques have not changed in 122 years: