It’s the long s, an alternate graph, or ſhape, of the letter s. Much like Greek, with its two forms of the letter Sigma (as ſeen in, for example, the name Ὀδυσσεύς (Odyſſeus) with the variants σ medially and ς finally, the long s is uſed in the Latin alphabet in about the ſame way. Hiſtorically, moſt languages written in the Latin alphabet uſed it ; in Engliſh, it ſtarted to fall out of common uſe throughout the 19th century, but did ſee ſome continued uſe by antiquarians, reprints, ſtyliſtick endeavours, and hiſtorical works, as well as to affect or maintain an older ſtyle or air in printing or writing ; ſome people, myſelf included, ſtill uſe it even now. I conſider it to be a form of living hiſtory, with ſome potential benefits to readability once one is familiar with it.
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