LIGATURES, among printers, are types consisting of two letters or characters joined together; as A, G, J, f, f. The old editions of Greek authors are extremely full of ligatures; the ligatures of Stephens are by much the most beautiful.—Some editions have been lately printed without any ligatures at all; and there was a design to explode them quite out of printing. Had this succeeded, the finest ancient editions would in time have grown useless: and the reading of old manuscripts would have been rendered almost impracticable to the learned themselves.