198 SHADY CHARACTERS
entirely without precedent, as if one day a printer reached into,
type case and pulled out the first mark that resembled a softend
curved diple,34
Tentatively at first, but with increasing frequency and assertive,
ness, the double comma made itself indispensable to the new body of
printed work. Published in 1525, Bishop John Fisher’s Defensio Rm
Assentarlis contra Babylonicam Capituitatem (roughly, Defense of the Km
Assemon Against the Babylonian Captivity)-a short book with alone
title, and one written in the finest traditions of internecine theologi-
cal squabbling—provides a snapshot of the comma’s early appearance
and usage as a quotation mark* Fisher’s Luther-baiting screed hung
doubled commas in the margin to indicate lines that contained quoted
“ text, though not precisely where that text began or ended. Unlike the
“ inward-pointing diple, however, Fisher’s commas were oriented so that
“ they opened toward the text: commas in the outer margin of right-
“ hand, or recto, pages were set as normal (,.), but those on left-hand
“ or verso, pages were rotated by 180 degrees («)/> Though the name for
this practice would not be coined for another 250 years, the “inverted
comma” had been born.*
Despite the familiar appearance to modern readers of the quota¬
tion marks in Defensio, their usage was still in flux. Fisher used double
commas to indicate statements made by his opponent, Martin Luther,
but quotations from other sources-notably King Henry VIII, in
whose defense the book was written, not to mention scriptural and
other religious texts-received no special treatment other than a
parenthesized {inquii), or “he said.”38
The precise vertical placement of these new quotation marks was
still to be sorted. Hung in the margin, Fisher’s commas are notper-
ectly aligned with the main text and were probably added after it
had been set.39
Following Defensio by four years, the renowned French printer
QUOTATION MARKS §<► 199
Comraaptiuiuctm Baby. Cap. .I.
j. „Km (inculiis indie« «us quoeç fudiciú uCTueUtnK la]
aíifolucndi,dcq¡c¿««¡»¡d genus quibuibbctaduermsmw
“Iamquodoblitüspfalmo.lï.quicquiddtiwrbo
'l^^p«ci'?u±r»№
Unno lirait eos patito. Et tñ hos ¡Lru2Sf2méflamdé
Nam in cadem cpiítola paulo fupet.us, id iplum Kliat
** ^oc^tn^^.u^ua mVlt^auditôribus 6C lucia ÓCgratiac acco
-y.ditquantú cabos iftud liecraji ntq; liabet neqj capic.
Figure 10.5 A left-hand, or verso, page from John Fisher’s 1525
Defensio Regie Assertions, illustrating an early use of inverted commas as
quotation marks. Commas placed in the outer margin of facing recto pages
were not rotated. Note also the use of the pilcrow, which was used to open
new sections.
Geoffroy Tory published a voluminous tract entitled Champ Fleury
(literally “Field of Flowers,” or, written as a single word, a French idiom
for “Paradise”) that illustrated some alternative solutions to the quo¬
tation quandaries facing early users of the mark/0 Champ Fleury was