Why was the long 'f' used sometimes instead of a regular 's' in old documents e.g. "The Bofton Tea Party was in December 1773."? What was the difference in usage between the two? Sadly my keyboard does not have a long 's' so I've substitued an 'f' instead! (and also used a suitable AWI reference as an example!)

It's usually called a long s, and it looks like an f without the little midway crossing mark. The way it usually worked was that if you had an s at the end of a word, or after a long s in the middle of one, you wrote it with a short s.

If you're using Windows, you can find the long s in the Character Map utility. It's at Unicode 0x017F. Here's an old-timey spelling of simpleness: ſimpleneſs.

It lasted a lot longer in German (Fraktur) than in English. (Up until the end of WW2.) By about the first quarter of the 19th century it had been replaced by s. Greek also distinguishes between an initial/medial sigma σ and a final one ς.

[Added.]

I found a more detailed set of rules for use of the long s.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: zmježd,

Erik, I can't believe you are asking that question because I was just in colonial Williamsburg, and I saw a lot of writing like that and wondered the same thing. Thanks, Zmj, for the answer.

I was in my local pub for my occasional(!) half pint(!) of ale. They've a rather splendid reproduction of a local recruiting poster for a Royal Navy vessel back in the 1700s. Lots of bits about a share in the booty, etc. and very little about crap food and harsh discipline! It just happened to remind me that I'd always intended to post a question about the long 's'. Thanks, zmj for the answer!

You're welcome. There is another thing you see in older documents: ligatures.