two-line brevier
A size of type between English and great primer, standardized as 16-point.
two-line brevier: a 16-point type size, now historical
Two-line brevier is a metal type size that measures 16 points in height, calculated in the traditional system where 72 points equal one inch. The name reflects an older typographic convention: "two-line" indicates this size equals two lines of brevier type (8-point), while "brevier" itself derives from the Latin liturgical text format for which it was originally cut. In practice, this meant a compositor could substitute one two-line brevier character for two smaller brevieres when setting justified lines of text.
The size existed in a hierarchical ecosystem of standardized typefaces that included nonpareil (6-point), minion (7-point), brevier (8-point), bourgeois (9-point), long primer (10-point), small pica (11-point), pica (12-point), English (14-point), and great primer (18-point). Two-line brevier occupied the space between English and great primer, making it useful for display work, subheadings, and pull quotes in newspapers and commercial printing where English seemed too small but great primer too large.
Metal type and photographic displacement
Two-line brevier was cast in foundry type, requiring individual pieces of lead alloy to be composed by hand into forms, inked, and printed. The size worked reliably for both letterpress and early offset reproduction. However, the rise of hot metal composition machines (Linotype and Monotype) in the early twentieth century, followed by phototypesetting in the 1960s onward, meant that these precise point-size categories became less critical to everyday production. Designers could now adjust size continuously rather than selecting from discrete metal-cast options.
The term survives in typography textbooks and in specifications for historical print reproduction, but you will not find two-line brevier type metal being ordered for new work. Digital typography preserved the point system but rendered the historical type sizes largely irrelevant, since any point size can be generated on screen or output to film. Printers and type foundries still recognize the term, but it belongs to the vocabulary of a craft defined by physical metal, hand composition, and mechanical pressure.