F. Senault wrote:
> Le 27 octobre 2006 04:33, John W. Kennedy a ñÄrit :
> 
>> F. Senault wrote:
>>> Le 26 octobre 2006 02:04, Rick DeNatale a ñÄrit :
>>>
>>>> I've heard that accents were dropped on capital letters because
>>>> accented capitals weren't commonly available on typewriters.  
>>> That was my understanding too.
>> No, it goes back at least to the 18th century, to my certain knowledge, 
>> long before typewriters were invented. The typefaces just weren't 
>> designed with the extra room on top, and no one seems to have thought of 
>> (or rejected on aesthetic grounds) shrinking the letters a bit to fit 
>> the accent in.
> 
> Colour me very surprised.  I'd add that I could find more references to
> my hypothesis than yours on the web, but not being a specialist, I'll
> just stay dubitative.
> 
> Now, we're still way off topic for this, so, if you have some pointers
> to add or wish to continue the conversation, my email address is valid
> (if heavily protected against spam).

I've spent a considerable amount of time in the last couple of years 
working with the first edition of the 1798 play, "Andréº a Tragedy in 
Five Acts". 'Nuff said.

-- 
John W. Kennedy
"The blind rulers of Logres
Nourished the land on a fallacy of rational virtue."
   -- Charles Williams.  "Taliessin through Logres: Prelude"