Capitals

Capitals, a Primer of Information about Capitalization with some Practical Typographic Hints as to the Use of Capitals written by Frederick William Hamilton, an American Universalist businessman and the fourth president of Tufts University from 1905 to 1912.

A capital letter is a letter of formal shape. Capitals were originally derived from the stiff and angular letters used in formal inscriptions. Originally all writing was done in capitals. Later the scribes devised less formal shapes for the letters, making use of lines more easily made by brush or pen on papyrus, parchment, or paper. The capitals were retained for certain uses but the less formal shapes were employed to do the greater part of the work. These less formal letters have been known by several names. They will be referred to here by that under which they are known to modern printers, “lower-case.”