_Ending with Smaller Letters._--The scribe is always at liberty to compress his writing _slightly_, provided he does not spoil its readableness or beauty. Occasionally, without harming either of these, a marked difference in size of letter may be allowed; one or more words, or a part of one, or a single letter, being made smaller (_a_, _b_, fig. 153; see also Plate V.).
_Monogrammatic Forms_, &c.--In any kind of lettering, but more particularly in the case of capitals, where the given space is insufficient for the given capitals, monogrammatic forms resembling the ordinary diphthong Æ may be used; or the stem of one letter may be drawn out, above or below, and formed into another (_c_, fig. 153).
_Linking._--Letters which are large enough may be linked or looped together, or one letter may be set inside another, or free-stem letters may be drawn up above the line (_d_, fig. 153, but see p. 26).
_Tying up._--One or more words at the end of a line of writing--particularly in poetry (see p. 95)--may be "tied up," _i.e._ be written above or below the line, with a pen stroke to connect them to it (fig. 67).
Care must be taken that none of these methods lead to confusion in the reading. Their "Quaintness"--as it is sometimes called--is only pleasing when their contrivance is obviously made necessary.
We may distinguish two characteristic modes of treating an inscription, in which the treatment of the letter is bound up with the treatment of the spacing (fig. 154). [p262]
"_Massed Writing_" (_Close Spacing_).--The written or printed page is very commonly _set close_, or "massed," so that the letters support and enforce one another, their individual beauty being merged in and giving beauty to the whole. The closeness of the _letters_ in each word keeps the _words_ distinct, so that but little space is required between them,[59] and _the lines of writing are made close together_ (ascending and descending stems being shortened, if necessary, for this purpose).
"_Fine Writing_" (_Wide Spacing_).--An inscription in "Fine Writing" may be spaced widely to display the finished beauty of the letters, or to give free play to the penman (or letter-craftsman). It consists generally of a number of _distinct lines of Writing_ (or other lettering).