double English
The size of type between double pica and double great primer, standardized as 28-point.
double English: an obsolete large typeface, 28 points
Double English was a metal type size used in letterpress printing, standardized at 28 points. Like most pre-digital type measurements, it belonged to a hierarchical system where each named size had a fixed relationship to others, allowing compositors to work predictably across jobs. The 28-point measurement made it a display face, suitable for headlines, notices, and title pages rather than body text.
The typographic scale that included Double English emerged from handcasting practices in the 18th and 19th centuries. Larger sizes were given names like Great Primer (18 pt), Double Pica (22 pt), Double English (28 pt), and Double Great Primer (36 pt), creating a ladder of increments that printers could memorize and specify without consulting charts. This naming convention persisted in British and American foundries well into the 20th century, though it created regional inconsistencies, with European point systems sometimes varying by fractions.
Why the name matters
The word "English" in typeface nomenclature does not refer to the English language but rather to a traditional type size designation, possibly deriving from its adoption or prevalence in English printing. The "double" prefix indicated it was twice the body size of English (14 pt). This naming system reflected an older logic, before the universal adoption of the point system in the early 1900s.
Double English became obsolete with the transition to phototypesetting in the 1960s and 1970s, and later with digital typography, which allowed infinite point-size flexibility. Modern designers need not memorize fixed sizes and can specify any measurement. The term survives mainly in historical printing texts and when restoring letterpress equipment or discussing vintage type collections.
Hot-metal compositor knowledge of sizes like Double English was occupational skill; experienced workers could feel the weight and height of sorts in their hands and sort them correctly without labels. Loss of this vocabulary marked a genuine deskilling in printing trades, though it also removed unnecessary memorization from the craft.