"long" and "bigness" in 1694

[Laurence Horn]

At 9:57 AM -0400 9/2/10, Joel S. Berson wrote:
>The Massachusetts laws circa 1694 that specified the wearing of a
>letter for adultery or incest said the letter had to be "of two
>inches long and proportionable bigness".
>
>Which dimension is two inches "long" -- vertical or horizontal?
>
>My guess is the vertical.  The OED for "long" has senses that would
>allow either.  But there is "1.a. Great in measurement from end to
>end. Said ... of a portion of space or a material object with
>reference to its greatest dimension."  The greatest dimension of a
>letter would be its vertical.  Also, fonts are (perhaps, even at that
>time) characterized by their vertical dimension.
>
>Does "bigness"  suggest one or the other, vertical or
>horizontal?  (The OED is not terribly enlightening on this.  One
>sense is "1.b. Circumference; girth".  But circumference seems an
>implausible measurement to specify for a letter.)
>

Of course both dimensions are technically horizontal when one is supine.

LH

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