Chapter XII: Part 12

The light parts require little pressure, but the depths should be brought up so as to produce a full and firm impression.

If a block be hollow on the surface, underlaying the hollow part will bring it up better than overlaying it, at least so much that it shall only require a thickness or two of paper as overlays. If a block be too low, it is advisable to underlay it, for the purpose of raising it to the proper height, in preference to making use of overlays, for they act in some measure as blankets, being pressed into the interstices, and rendering the lines thicker than in the engraving.

It will be necessary sometimes, when the surface of the block is very uneven, to tear away parts of the paper in the tympan, to equalise the impression where it is too hard.

The pressman will find it convenient to pull a few impressions while he is making ready, on soiled or damaged India paper, for out of these he can cut overlays to the precise shape and size that is wanted, as he will constantly find it necessary to do so in instances where great accuracy is required in overlaying particular portions; and in these instances he cannot well do without a sharp penknife and a pair of good small scissars. A fine sharp bodkin and a needle or two, to take out picks, are also needful; but he should be particularly careful in so using them as that he do no injury. The best way to avoid this is to draw the bodkin or needle point cautiously in the direction of the lines.

Engravings that are in the vignette form require great attention to keep the edges light and clear, and in general it is necessary to scrape away one or two thicknesses of paper, in order to lighten the impression and keep it clean; for the edges being irregular, and parts, such as small branches of trees, leaves, &c. straggling, for the purpose of giving freedom to the design, they are subject to come off too hard, and are liable to picks, which give great trouble, and are difficult to be kept clear of. Bearers letter-high placed round the block, if they can be applied without the balls touching them, will be found advantageous; if they cannot, pieces of reglet, pasted on the frisket in the usual way, and taking a bearing on the furniture, must be substituted, but the high bearer is to be preferred where it can be adopted; these bearers equalise the pressure on the surface of the engraving, and protect the edges from the severity of the pull, which is always injurious to the delicacy of the external lines. They also render the subject more manageable, by enabling the pressman to add to, or diminish, the pressure on particular parts, so as to produce the desired effect.

When great delicacy of impression is demanded in a vignette, it will be found beneficial, after the engraving is beat with ink, to take a small ball without ink, and beat the extremities: this will not only take away any superfluity of ink, but will be a means of preventing picks, and give to the edges lightness and softness, particularly where distances are represented.

If the extremities are engraved much lighter than the central parts, underlays should be pasted on the middle of the block, which will give a firmer impression to those central parts of the subject: it would save trouble to cause the block to be a little rounded on the face, as it would give facility in obtaining a good impression.

When highly finished engravings on wood are worked separately, woollen cloth, however fine, should never be used for blankets, as it causes too much impression; two thicknesses of stoutish hard smooth paper, in lieu of it, between the tympans is better: sometimes even a piece of glazed pasteboard is used inside the outer tympan. The parchments ought to be in good condition, stretched tight, of a smooth surface, thin, and of regular thickness, so as to enable the pressman to obtain an impression as nearly as possible from the surface only of the engraved lines.

It is indispensably necessary that the balls should be in the best order, the same as for the finest work; and the pressman should be very particular in taking ink, distributing his balls, and beating the block well, otherwise he will not obtain clear, uniform, good impressions. If the block be small, and it is worked by itself, he will find that he can take ink more uniformly in small quantities, by first taking ink with a pair of regular sized balls, and distributing, and then taking ink from them to work his cut with; and this more particularly if he be using a pair of small balls. For this work he ought always to have the best ink that can be procured.

A large wood cut left on the press stone all night is very apt to warp; when this happens, a good method to restore it to its original flatness is to lay it on its face upon the imposing stone, with a few thicknesses of damp paper underneath it, and to place the flat side of a planer upon it, and four or five octavo pages of tied up letter; in the course of a few hours the block will be restored to its original flatness. This method is preferable to steeping the block in water, which has been frequently practised; for the steeping swells the lines of the engraving, and consequently affects the impression to a much greater extent than this operation. For retaining the original effect, as it came from the hands of the artist, I would carefully prevent the block ever being wet with water, and, when it had been worked in a form with types, would take it out before the form was washed.

To prevent this warping during the dinner hour or the night, turn the tympan down upon the form, run the carriage in, and pulling the bar handle home, fasten it to the near cheek by the catch, where there is one, or else by a chain or rope, or by a stay to the bar from the offcheek; in iron presses this way is efficacious.

However long a time boxwood may be kept in the log, it will always twist and warp when cut into slices for engraving, on account of fresh surfaces being exposed to the air: large blocks may be restored to their flatness by laying them on a plane surface, with the hollow side downward, without any weight on them, in the course of a night.

When only a few proofs are wanted from an engraving, good impressions may be obtained with little trouble on dry India paper, with about six thicknesses of the same sort of paper laid over it, and pulled without the tympan. This observation applies to small cuts, and those of a moderate size; if proofs are wanted from large ones, it will be found advantageous to put the India paper for a few minutes into a heap of damp paper.

A fine engraving on wood should never be brushed over with lye: the best method that I have found in practice, is to wipe the ink off with a piece of fine woollen cloth damped with spirits of turpentine; and if it should get foul in working, to clean it with a softish brush and spirits of turpentine. It will be found in practice that spirits of turpentine take off the ink quicker, and affect the wood less, than any other article used; and the facility with which the block is again brought into a working state, more than compensates for the trifling additional expense incurred, as nothing more is required than to wipe the surface dry, and to pull two or three impressions on dry waste paper.

The engravers always show an impression when the block is taken home to their employer; and this impression is taken in a manner, where the subject is not of a large size, such as to produce a superior effect to what a printer can with a press, when he has a number to do, which are generally worked in a form with types, and his price so low for printing, as not to enable him to do justice to the subjects. This causes great dissatisfaction to his employer, and he is unable to remedy the grievance; for the engraver’s proof is obtained by means of a burnisher, with one thickness of paper in addition to that printed on, so that he can examine each part to bring it up where it is required, and leave the others as delicate as he pleases: he thus obtains an impression from the surface only, perfect in all its parts, with the best ink that can be procured; while the printer gives dissatisfaction, because he cannot, in the way of trade, perform impossibilities.

Papillon, in his work on Engraving on Wood, published in 1766, complains of a plan nearly similar being adopted by the French engravers, with which he finds great fault. The following is a translation of the passage:--

“Some engravers on wood have the knack of fabricating the proofs of their engravings far more delicately, and in a more flattering manner than they really ought to be; and this is the means they make use of--they first take off two or three, in order to adjust one of them to their fancy, and which they think will favour their imposition; having selected it, they only beat anew the parts of the block charged with shades and the deeper strokes, in such a manner, that the lighter ones, distances, &c. being only lightly covered with ink, in as far as not being touched in the new beating, they retain no more than what was left by the preceding impression; the result is, that the new proof comes off extremely delicate in those places, and appears pleasing to the eye; but when this block is printed in conjunction with letterpress, the impressions then appear in their natural state, and totally different from that which they presented on delivery of the work. The strokes are of one equal tint, hard, and devoid of softness, and the distances are often less delicate than the foregrounds. I shall risk little by saying that all the three Le Sueurs have made use of this trick.”

The pressman will find it an advantage, if it be necessary to do full justice to an engraving, to have a good impression from the engraver, and place it before him as a pattern, and then arrange the overlays, &c., till he produces a facsimile in effect; but the most valuable lesson will be when he can obtain the assistance of the artist at the press side, to direct him in making ready the cut, and I would advise him by no means to be impatient at the tediousness of the operation, as he will obtain more information how to produce a fine impression by this than by any other means. It will also instruct him how to meet the wishes of the draftsman and the engraver, with regard to effect, in a way superior to any other; and will, with care and attention, ultimately lead him to excellence in printing engravings on wood.

An assertion is now generally promulgated, that machine printing is superior to that of the press, even for engravings on wood, and thus misleading publishers and the public. When I come to speak of machines, and of presses, I will endeavour to show that it is incompatible with the principle of a machine that it can equal a press in producing fine work.

ERRAND BOY. _See_ DEVIL.

ERRATA.

A list of errors that have escaped both the author and the printer. It is generally printed in a small type at the end of the work. It should always be kept down, and never brought out in a prominent manner. Some authors seem partial to extend the errata, by noticing the most trifling mistakes, such for instance as a turned letter, and adding corrections of the writing and of misstatements of facts, as well as new facts which may have arisen; and all under the name errata, as if they were entirely the errors of the printer; in this case they ought to be styled Corrections and Additions. In my opinion, there is no occasion to insert in the errata any thing that does not affect the sense. Mr. Beloe, in his Anecdotes of Literature, states that “the book which is distinguished by the greatest number of errata on record, is that containing the works of Pica Mirandula, printed at Strasburgh in 1507, by a printer of the name of Knoblouch. The errata of this volume occupy no less than fifteen folio pages.”

ETHIOPIC.

The Ethiopic language is descended from the Hebrew, yet approaching nearer to the Arabic than to any other of the Semitic languages. It observes the order of reading and writing from left to right, in common with the other languages of the same origin. It has twenty-six characters peculiar to itself, of which the order, figure, name, and power are as follow:--

1. ሀ: Hoi. _h_, ה
2. ለ: Lawi. _l_, ל
3. ሐ: Haut. _h_, ח
4. መ: Mai. _m_, מ
5. ሠ: Saut. _ss_, ס
6. ረ: Rees. _r_, ר
7. ሰ: Saat. _ss_, ש
8. ቀ: ’Kaph. _’k_, ק
9. በ: Beth. _b_, ב
10. ተ: Tawi. _t_, ת
11. ኀ: Harm. _h_, ח
12. ነ: Nahas. _n_, נ
13. አ: Alph. _a_, א
14. ከ: Caph. _c_, כ
15. ወ: Wawe. _w_, ו
16. ዐ: Ain. _a_, ע
17. ዘ: Zai. _z_ Fr. ז
18. የ: Jaman. _j_, י
19. ደ: Dent. _d_, ד
20. ገ: Geml. _g_, ג
21. ጠ: ’Tait. _’t_, ט
22. ጰ: ’Pait _’p_, פ
23. ጸ: ’Zadai. _’z_, צ
24. ፀ: ’Zappa. _’z_, צ
25. ፈ: Aph. _f_, פ
26. ፐ: Psa. _p_, פ

Of these ጰ: and ፐ: are used only in words of Greek and Latin origin. In expressing Arabic these seven, ሰ: ተ: ነ: ከ: ዘ: ደ: ጠ:, and in Portuguese and Italian these three, መ: በ: and ለ:, are made use of with the addition of certain horns.

Moreover, none of the above letters are connected, except ገ:, which, in the name of God, sometimes coalesces with ዘ:, in this manner ̛ዘ:, as ለ̛ዘለበሐረ:

The power of the letters approaches nearest to those which have been added, whence it appears that ሀ: ሐ: and ኀ:, also ሠ: and ሰ:, also አ: and ዐ:, and lastly ጸ: and ፀ:, are generally pronounced in the same manner, which causes no small confusion in writing, as one cognate letter is often put for another, so that it should always be borne in mind in looking for a word in the lexicon, that if it is not to be found under one letter, we should continue our researches under the cognate.

These four ቀ:, ጠ:, ጰ:, and ጸ: or ፀ:, have a sound altogether at variance with European custom, and the correct pronunciation can only be learnt by hearing. But one destitute of a preceptor may approach nearer to their genuine sounds, by first prefixing to each the power of the vowel _i_, thus, _ik_, _it_, _ip_, _iz_, and afterwards, having substituted in its place an apostrophe, he may add the vowels, in this manner _’k-a_, _’k-e_, _’k-i_, &c., and similarly with _’t-a_, _’p-a_, _’z-a_, &c.

In Ethiopic the numbers are not represented by the letters, but by certain peculiar figures formed apparently from the Greek letters, and which are included within two small lines, in the following manner:--

1. ፩: α’
2. ፪: β’
3. ፫: γ’
4. ፬: δ’
5. ፭: ε’
6. ϛ’
7. ፯: ζ’
8. ፰: η’
9. ፱: θ’
10. ፲: ι’
20. ፳: κ’
30. ፴: λ’
40. ፵: μ’
50. ፶: ν’
60. ፷: ξ’
70. ፸: ο’
80. ፹: π’
90. ፺: ϟ’
100. ፻: ρ’
200. ፪፻: σ’
300. ፫፻: τ’
400. ፬፻: υ’, &c.
1000. ፲፻: because in writing and speaking they say
ዐሠረፑ: ምላት: _ten hundreds_.

[Where blanks occur in the Ethiopic, the characters are not in
the British founderies.]

The other numbers are compounded from these, the greater being always placed first, as as ፲፩: 11. ፲፪: 12. &c. ፳፩: 21. ፳፪: 22. &c. ፻፩: 101. ፻፪:102.

In Ethiopic the vowels are not expressed by particular letters, as in the European, or by separate points, as in the Oriental languages, but by certain small lines or circles annexed to the top, middle, or bottom of the letters themselves, or by the shortening or lengthening of one of the strokes, which changes are in number seven; whence arise so many orders of letters, or rather of syllables, of which the first is considered as the simple figure, and the remainder as compound, and are read--the first by _a_ short, the second by _u_, the third by _i_, the fourth by _a_ long, the fifth by _e_ long, the sixth by _e_ or _y_ short, and the seventh by _o_; in this manner:

+-----+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
| | I. | II. | III. | IV. | V. | VI. | VII. |
| | | | | | | | |
| | ã. | u. | i. | ā. | ē. |ĕ, y̆.| o. |
+-----+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
| H. | ሀ: | ሁ: | ሂ: | ሃ: | ሄ: | ህ: | ሆ: |
| L. | ለ: | ሉ: | ሊ: | ላ: | ሌ: | ል: | ሎ: |
| H. | ሐ: | ሑ: | ሒ: | ሓ: | ሔ: | ሕ: | ሖ: |
| M. | መ: | ሙ: | ሚ: | ማ: | ሜ: | ም: | ሞ: |
| S. | ሠ: | ሡ: | ሢ: | ሣ: | ሤ: | ሥ: | ሦ: |
| R. | ረ: | ሩ: | ሪ: | ራ: | ሬ: | ር: | ሮ: |
| S. | ሰ: | ሱ: | ሲ: | ሳ: | ሴ: | ስ: | ሶ: |
| ’K. | ቀ: | ቁ: | ቂ: | ቃ: | ቄ: | ቅ: | ቆ: |
| B. | በ: | ቡ: | ቢ: | ባ: | ቤ: | ብ: | ቦ: |
| T. | ተ: | ቱ: | ቲ: | ታ: | ቴ: | ት: | ቶ: |
| H. | ኀ: | ኁ: | ኂ: | ኃ: | ኄ: | ኅ: | ኆ: |
| N. | ነ: | ኑ: | ኒ: | ና: | ኔ: | ን: | ኖ: |
| A. | አ: | ኡ: | ኢ: | ኣ: | ኤ: | እ: | ኦ: |
| C. | ከ: | ኩ: | ኪ: | ካ: | ኬ: | ክ: | ኮ: |
| W. | ወ: | ዉ: | ዊ: | ዋ: | ዌ: | ው: | ዎ: |
| A. | ዐ: | ዑ: | ዒ: | ዓ: | ዔ: | ዕ: | ዖ: |
| Z. | ዘ: | ዙ: | ዚ: | ዛ: | ዜ: | ዝ: | ዞ: |
| J. | የ: | ዩ: | ዪ: | ያ: | ዬ: | ይ: | ዮ: |
| D. | ደ: | ዱ: | ዲ: | ዳ: | ዴ: | ድ: | ዶ: |
| G. | ገ: | ጉ: | ጊ: | ጋ: | ጌ: | ግ: | ጎ: |
| ’T. | ጠ: | ጡ: | ጢ: | ጣ: | ጤ: | ጥ: | ጦ: |
| ’P. | ጰ: | ጱ: | ጲ: | ጳ: | ጴ: | ጵ: | ጶ: |
| ’Z. | ጸ: | ጹ: | ጺ: | ጻ: | ጼ: | ጽ: | ጾ: |
| ’Z. | ፀ: | ፁ: | ፂ: | ፃ: | ፄ: | ፅ: | ፆ: |
| F. | ፈ: | ፉ: | ፊ: | ፋ: | ፌ: | ፍ: | ፎ: |
| P. | ፐ: | ፑ: | ፒ: | ፓ: | ፔ: | ፕ: | ፖ: |
+-----+------+------+------+------+-------+------+------+

The diphthongs are formed not only by the letters ው: and ይ:, mutes of the sixth order, after a letter of the first or fourth order, as, for instance, አውራኀ: _months_, ተሠይመ _it is appointed_; but also the four letters ቀ: ኀ: ከ: and ገ: with the addition of certain peculiar points, are generally considered to form diphthongs in the first, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth orders, in this manner:

+-----+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| | I. | III. | IV. | V. | VI. |
| | | | | | |
| | uă. | ui. | uā | ue. | uy. |
+-----+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| ’K. | ቈ: | ቊ: | ቋ: | ቌ: | |
| H. | | ኊ: | ኋ: | ኌ: | |
| Q. | ኰ: | | | | ኲ: |
| G. | | | ጓ: | ጔ: | ጕ: |
+-----+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+

In Ethiopic each separate word is distinguished by two thick points, and the periods by four or more; there are no marks of accentuation.

The preceding observations are extracted from a small treatise on the elements of Ethiopic grammar by George Otho, professor of the Greek and Oriental languages at Marburg in Hesse Cassel, with an acknowledgment of being indebted for his information to Ludolph; and bound in connexion with the “Fundamenta Punctationis Linguæ Sanctæ” of Jacob Alting, printed at Frankfort on the Main, in 2 vols., 1717.

_Ethiopic Types in the British Founderies._

_English._--Oxford University. Thorowgood & Besley. Formerly
Bynneman’s.

_Pica._--Caslon & Livermore. Thorowgood & Besley. Walton’s
Polyglot; through Andrews’s and James’s founderies to Fry.

ETRUSCAN.

The confines of ancient Etruria bordered closely upon the city of Rome, being separated from it only by the Tyber to the south-east and south. There is proof, indeed, that almost all Italy was at one time under the power of Etruria.

Although the Etrurians seem to have arrived at the highest point of civilization, and even of luxury, at an early period, whilst Rome had as yet no existence, and to have been distinguished in a variety of respects far beyond the people of surrounding nations, we are almost wholly ignorant of their history, and even their origin is involved in the greatest doubt.

The people of Etruria, called by the Romans Etrusci or Tusci, are styled Tyrrheni or Tyrseni by the Greek historians.

The difficulties of the Etruscan question are increased by a difference of statement and of opinion in the accounts recorded on the subject, by Herodotus and Dionysius, two of the greatest antiquaries and historians of ancient times.

Herodotus, who, says Athenæus (lib. xii.), obtained his account from Lydians, gives to the Tyrrheni a Lydian origin, and states that they emigrated under the command of Tyrrhenus, one of the sons of Atys: while Dionysius, partly because Xanthus, an historian of Lydia, is silent respecting this emigration, will not allow the tradition to be true, but imagines them to have come from the north. It is not improbable that both are in part correct: the earlier portion of the Etrurians might have come from the north, while the later colony (who must have been advanced in civilization to have effected the voyage) might have been Lydians; and in all probability these subsequent settlers constituted the dominant portion of the invaders of Etruria.--_Sir William Gell’s Topography of Rome_, 8vo. 1834.

The Etruscan language must have been the same, or nearly so, with the Hebrew and Phœnician. For, whether we consider them as descended from Ashur, Peleg, the Egyptians, Phœnicians, or even Celtes, and from some of these they undoubtedly descended, their language must have been either the same with the Hebrew and Phœnician, or nearly related to them. The first Pelasgic settlements in Etruria could not have been many centuries after the deluge, and very few after the dispersion; and at that time the languages, or rather dialects, of the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Celtes, Syrians, Arabs, &c., must have approached extremely near to the Hebrews and Phœnicians, which the learned allow to have been almost the same. With regard to the Canaanites or Phœnicians migrating into Etruria, after the first colonies of the Pelasgi or Tyrsenians settled there, it cannot be denied, that their language had received but little alteration from the primitive Hebrew. So that both sacred and profane history concur to evince the Hebrew, Phœnician, and Etruscan tongues to have been, in the earlier ages, nearly the same.

This likewise farther appears from the letters and manner of writing anciently used in Etruria. The letters are almost the same with those of the earliest Greeks, brought by Cadmus out of Phœnicia. The manner of writing is purely Oriental, the letters being drawn from the right hand to the left, consonant to the practice of the Eastern nations. The former point is rendered indisputably clear by the Eugubian tables, in conjunction with the Sigean inscription, and the latter by a bare perusal of the generality of the Etruscan inscriptions. Nay, the very remote antiquity of the first colonies that settled in Etruria, as well as of the Etruscan language and alphabet, may be easily inferred from those inscriptions. For as the Pelasgic alphabet, that prevailed in Greece before the age of Deucalion, consisted of sixteen letters, the Etruscan or Pelasgic alphabet, first brought into Italy, composed of only thirteen letters, must have preceded the reign of that prince. The high, not to say almost incredible, antiquity of the Etruscan language and alphabet, has been clearly evinced in two dissertations, by Mr. J. Swinton, printed at Oxford in the year 1746.--_Univ. Hist._ 8vo. vol. xvi. 1748.

The author of a “Tour to the Sepulchres of Etruria, in 1839,” in a visit to General Galassi’s museum at Rome, says, “If we had been surprised at Campanari’s exhibition, we were petrified at the general’s. Here we saw an immense breastplate of gold, which had been fastened on each shoulder by a most delicately wrought gold fibula, with chains like those now made at Trichinopoly. The breastplate was stamped with a variety of arabesques and small patterns, as usual in the Egyptian style. The head had been crowned with fillets and circular ornaments of pure gold, and a rich mantle had covered the body, flowered with the same material. In this grave also had been found a quantity of arms, round bronze shields with a boss in the centre which was stamped, spears, lances, and arrows; a bier of bronze, as perfect as if made a year ago; a tripod, with a vessel containing some strange looking lumps of a resinous substance, and which on being burnt proved to be perfumes so intensely strong, that those who tried them were obliged to leave the room. There were many small images, perhaps of lares, or of ancestors, in terra cotta that had been ranged in double lines close to the bier; also some large common vessels for wine and oil, and some finely painted vases and tazze, with black figures upon a red ground, which had been consecrated to the dead. There were wheels of a car upon which the bier had been brought into the sepulchre, and many other things which I do not remember; but the wonder of all these treasures was a sort of inkstand of terra cotta, which had served as a schoolmaster’s A. B. C. On it were the Etruscan letters, first in alphabet, and then in syllables, and both the letters and the syllables are the same as the oldest form of the Greek. It was deciphered by Dr. Lepsius, and is the key to all we at present know, and will be the basis of all we are ever likely to know, of the Etruscan tongue.”----“This humble article is likely to prove to Europe, what the stones of Alexandria and Rosetta have been before it, the dictionary of a lost language, and the interpreter of an extinct race.”

“I noted that upon this inkstand were four alphabets engraved, and after each the syllables,--thus, ba, be, bi, &c., ma, me, mi, and so forth; that one of these is in the oldest or archaic form of the Greek alphabetic letters, and that hence connexion is likely to be traced and demonstrated between the Egyptian, Etruscan, and Pelasgic.”

_The Primitive Etruscan Alphabet._

+-----------+----++-----------+----+
| [#]. | M. || [#]. | A. |
| [#]. | N. || [#]. | E. |
| [#]. | P. || [#]. | F. |
| [#]. [#]. | R. || [#]. | H. |
| [#]. | S. || [#]. | I. |
| [#]. | T. || [#]. | K. |
| | || [#]. | L. |
+-----------+----++-----------+----+

To these letters may be added the four following complex characters [#], [#], [#], and [#].

_Etruscan in the British Founderies._

_Pica._--Caslon and Livermore. Cut by Caslon for the celebrated
linguist, the Rev. John Swinton, Oxford, about 1733.

EVEN LINES.

When a piece of printing has to be executed in great haste, a number of compositors are employed on it, and the copy is cut into small pieces for each, to facilitate the making-up, imposing, and the general furthering of the work; if the copy should be in long paragraphs, the compositors have each to begin a line and to make their copy end a line, frequently with great irregularity of spacing; this is termed making even lines. In daily newspapers it is of constant occurrence.

EVEN PAGE.

The second, fourth, sixth, or any other even numbered page is called an even page.

EXCLAMATION, Note of. _See_ PUNCTUATION.

EXERCISING THE PELT.

Frequently currying a pelt, to get it into condition, is termed _Exercising the Pelt_, or _Giving the Pelt Exercise_.

F.

FAC.

Before the introduction of printing into Europe, and its application to the production of books, the Librarii or writers of books, in Rome, were a regular company who had several immunities: their business was a trade, and they were regulated by certain laws. Besides these writers of books, there were artists whose profession was to ornament and paint manuscripts, who were called Illuminators; the writers of books first finished their part, and the illuminators embellished them with ornamented letters and paintings. We frequently find blanks left in manuscripts for the illuminators which were never filled up. Some of the ancient manuscripts are gilt and burnished in a style superior to later times. Their colours were excellent, and their skill in preparing them was very great.

This practice, of introducing ornaments, drawings, emblematical figures, and even portraits into manuscripts, is of great antiquity. Varro wrote the lives of seven hundred illustrious Romans, which he enriched with their portraits, as Pliny attests in his Natural History. Pomponius Atticus, the friend of Cicero, was the author of a work on the actions of the great men amongst the Romans, which he ornamented with their portraits, as appears in his life by Cornelius Nepos; but these have not been transmitted to posterity. However there are many precious documents remaining, which exhibit the advancement and decline of the arts in different ages and countries. These inestimable paintings and illuminations, display the manners, customs, habits, ecclesiastical, civil, and military, weapons and instruments of war, utensils and architecture of the ancients; they are of the greatest use in illustrating many important facts, relating to the history of the times in which they were executed. In these treasures of antiquity are preserved a great number of specimens of Grecian and Roman art, which were executed before the arts and sciences fell into neglect and contempt. The manuscripts containing these specimens, form a valuable part of the riches preserved in the principal libraries of Europe. The Royal, Cottonian, and Harleian libraries, as also those in the two Universities in England, the Vatican at Rome, the Imperial at Vienna, the Royal at Paris, St. Mark’s at Venice, and many others.

When the art of printing was first applied in Europe to the production of books, they were in imitation of, and sold as, manuscripts; and blanks were left at the commencement of the respective divisions of the work, for the illuminator to fill in with the proper letters, and ornaments, as was usual in manuscripts, and so close was the imitation that, even in our own time, it has required the assistance of a chemical test to ascertain which was manuscript and which was printed. When the secret of printing was divulged, and the deception could not be continued, ornamental letters of a large size were introduced, and printed with two colours, generally red and blue, the letter being of one colour, and flourishes, extending the whole length of the page, in the other, so as to have the appearance of being done with a pen; then succeeded various grotesque figures, in attitudes to resemble letters; afterwards small Roman Capital Letters, with ornaments round them forming a square design; subsequently the block was pierced so that any letter could be introduced, and the ornamented part could be used for any initial; the next descent was for the letter founders to cast the ornament in type metal, and pierce it for general use, and these cast ornaments for letters were called Facs, as an abbreviation, I believe, for Facsimile. The last descent was to the extreme, to put a plain Roman Capital Letter, frequently extending four or five lines in depth; and this is the substitute for a beautiful coloured drawing.

FACE OF A LETTER.

The surface of that extremity of the type which bears the letter.

FACE OF A PAGE,

or FORM. The superficies of a page or form, where the faces of every letter lie in the same plain.--_M._

FALLING OUT.

The same as DROPPING OUT, which _see_. But this term is more generally applied to a page, a quarter, or a whole form, when any one of them falls out of a chase from the shrinking of the quoins and furniture.

In summer time particularly, forms in chase require to be frequently examined, and the quoins tightened, to prevent this accident, and more especially when they have been imposed in wet furniture. Compositors should neither be negligent, nor forgetful of this, as in the progress of a work the forms are in their charge, and if the whole of a form, or part of it, falls out, they not only have to distribute the pie, but to recompose the matter gratuitously.

FANNING.

This is a term used in the Warehouse, in counting paper. It consists of taking hold of the right hand lower corner of a portion of the paper between the flat side of the fore finger and the end of the thumb, and pinching it tolerably tight; then with a twist of the wrist turning the right hand edge of the paper up, and running the left hand over the surface of the paper, it separates the sheets at the top corner, so as to have somewhat the appearance of a fan, and enables the person to count it with facility.

FAT.

With compositors, short pages, blank pages, and light open matter: with pressmen, light forms, forms that only require one pull at wooded presses; and very small numbers, such as five, ten, fifteen, or twenty copies each, are termed Fat.

FAT. _See_ BEAT FAT.--_M._

FAT FACE,

or FAT LETTER, is a letter with a broad stem. For observations on them and specimens, _see_ TYPE.

FAT FORM. _See_ FAT.

FAT WORK. _See_ FAT.

FEET OF A PRESS.

The frame of a wooden press that lies horizontally on the floor, into which the cheeks and hind posts are inserted by means of mortises and tenons.

FELT.

Pieces of felted hats. This is the best substitute for scaleboard, when there is a deficiency of that article, to use as cards in the head of a press; and even when there is no scarcity of scaleboard, a few pieces put in improve the pull. _See_ CARDS.

FINE PRESSWORK.

This is the technical term for presswork of superior quality; it is in some measure indefinite, for, as presswork is paid a certain price for a given number, and the price advances according to the time and care bestowed on it, that for which the lowest price is paid is termed common work, and after the price has advanced about one half in addition, it is styled fine work; although it may advance gradually to six times the lowest price, or more, it is still called fine work.

In aiming at excellence in printing, it will be found that Presswork deserves particular consideration, as a part on which the beauty of a book so much depends.

It will be necessary, in the first instance, to endeavour to define more particularly what is meant by the term Fine Presswork, for except this be understood, we shall come to no satisfactory conclusion, as workmen vary in their opinions respecting it, and frequently produce sheets of different shades of colour in the same volume, when it is done at different presses, and all under the name of the finest work; and when the same person either actually prints the whole, or superintends it, the work will be executed according to his criterion, without any fixed rule whereby to decide; thus one man shall produce the finest work, according to his opinion, of a pale grey colour, while another will produce it so black and surcharged with colour, that if the ink be not of a very good quality, it will not only smear, but the paper at the edges of the letters, nay, even the whole page, will be tinged with the oil which separates from the colouring matter of the ink, to the entire destruction of all beauty of workmanship.

Fine Presswork is the art of printing perfect impressions from the surface of engravings in relief.

By obtaining perfect impressions, I would be understood that the subject transferred to paper should be an impression from the surface and the surface only of the engraved lines, of such a tone as to produce all the effect of which the subject is capable, without either superfluity or deficiency of colour.

Having thus defined my meaning of the term Fine Presswork, I shall speak of the means by which it is to be produced, which may be of use to those who have not had opportunities of printing splendid books.

The press ought to be in the best condition, otherwise there will be no certainty of the impression being equal, except with great trouble and loss of time. The joints of the tympan should not have any play; if they have, it will affect the register, which being out disfigures the appearance of the book; it also causes a great risk of producing slurs and doubles: the most certain way of having them without play is to construct them on centres, so that if they should work a little loose, they can at any time, with the greatest ease, be tightened by means of the screws on which the centres are formed.

The parchments on the tympans should be thin, and of a uniform thickness, and stretched on the tympans so as not to be flaccid. It is said that the French printers in their finest works used silk on the tympans, on account of its thinness, its smoothness, and uniformity.

The face of the platen ought to be a true plane, and parallel to the press stone, or table. It will be found in practice that an iron platen is superior to a wooden one for producing a sharp clear impression, where fine work is wanted; for, by discarding woollen blankets, the pressure must be increased to obtain this effect, which indents wood, and then requires so many overlays to make a uniform impression, that they produce nearly the same effect as blankets, and it becomes necessary to new face the surface frequently, which is inconvenient and expensive: the iron platen is not subject to this inconvenience; but it is more liable to injure the types, as it will not yield; and should there be any inequality on the surface of the form, owing to it not being well planed down, or to any extraneous matter being upon it or under it, the types must give way, and be destroyed. Generally speaking, the iron platen wears the types more than a wooden one.

The head of the press should be so justified as to produce what is termed a soaking pull; that is, the form should begin to feel the pressure of the platen when about two thirds down; then, when the bar is pulled home, or what is technically called cheeked, which I would always recommend to be done in good work, as it keeps the pull regular and uniform, the power slowly increases, and the paper has time to be pressed gradually on the types, which causes it to receive the ink on all its parts, and produces a clear impression.

This justifying the head relates to wooden presses, where the head and the winter are allowed some play, which is filled up with pieces of scaleboard, called cards, cut to the size of the mortises in the cheeks, and inserted in them upon the tenons of the head, and under the tenons of the winter, allowing the pull to have some elasticity. For my own part, I would have the winter lie solid, and the spring be confined to the head. _See_ WINTER.

In the iron presses constructed on the late Earl Stanhope’s principle, where increased power is produced by means of a compound lever applied to the screw, and where there is no elasticity in the pull, this effect is produced in a greater degree than in a press of the common construction; for, as the platen descends on the form, the power increases considerably, but the motion is slower; thus the effect of the soaking pull is preserved, with a considerable addition of power, owing to the combined action of the screw and the compound lever.

In Ruthven’s press, where the platen is suspended from the head, and brought over the form by means of small wheels with grooves in their edges running on the ribs, the pull is regulated by screws on the locking pieces, and also through the springs by which it rests on the ribs, that bring it nearer to, or remove it from the form.

In Clymer’s Columbian press, where the power is obtained by a compound lever, the pull is regulated by a screw that connects the bar with the lever, and additionally by thin plates of iron placed upon the top of the platen under the bottom of the spindle. It is also regulated in the same way, in the Albion press, as originally constructed by R. W. Cope.

In Sherwin and Cope’s Imperial press the pull is justified by a wedge above the head of the spindle or bolt in the front, which has a screw attached to it with a projecting head, by which the pull is adjusted to the greatest nicety, with ease and facility. Mr. Hopkinson has adopted the same plan in the Albion press since it came under his management on the death of Mr. Cope.

The advantage of having a good press will be unavailing for the production of fine work, if the types are much worn; for it will be found impossible to produce a sharp clear impression if the perfect shape of the letter and the fine lines are rounded and worn away by much use, as, in consequence of this roundness of the letter from wear, it will be necessary to use much blanket in the tympan to bring up the shape of the whole letter, which will produce a gross and indelicate impression of more than the surface.

I have been told that Didot, of Paris, in his most splendid works, never printed more than three sheets from the same fount of letter, when it was sent to the melting pot, and replaced by a new fount.

The colour of the ink must depend on the taste or fancy of the master printer;--but no, I am mistaken, for, unless he prepares his own ink, he is obliged to use that only which is manufactured for general use; and there is little if any choice in purchasing this article, when it is wanted of a superior quality. Leaving the particular shade or tone out of the question, I will state my opinion as to what the qualities of black printing ink ought to be for fine work.

Intenseness of colour.

Impalpability.

Covering the surface perfectly of the type or engraving.

Quitting the surface of the type or engraving, when the paper is pressed on it, and adhering to the paper.

Not smearing after it is printed.

Retaining its first appearance without any change.

Ink ought to be reduced to an impalpable smoothness, either in a mill or on a stone with a mullar; and this is essentially necessary, as the process gives it the next quality--of completely covering the surface of the type, or the lines of the engraving, and that with the smallest quantity; and, with proper care in printing, presents to the eye an impression, in which the edges of the lines are smooth and perfect, and the surface of the impression on the paper is completely covered with ink, without any superfluity; which constitute the perfection of presswork with types.

Another property required in ink is, that it shall not only cover the surface of the lines on the paper printed, but that it shall also quit the face of the type or engraving, and leave it quite clean when the paper is impressed on it, and attach itself to the paper, so as to give a perfect impression of the subject represented, without the colour of the paper appearing through the ink; and that this property, of quitting the type or engraving, and becoming attached to the paper, shall continue the same through any number of impressions, without any accumulation of ink on the surface printed from.

After having obtained these results, and when the printing is as perfect as it can be made by workmanship, still something more is requisite, viz. that the ink shall not smear on being slightly rubbed; and that it shall retain its colour and appearance, without the oil in the ink spreading at the edges, or tinging the paper--in short, that it shall continue unchanged for any length of time, thus preserving and continuing the beauty of the work.

The balls should be in good condition, otherwise the pressman may exert his skill in vain, with a great loss of time and waste of paper, without the intended effect. They are made smaller and stuffed tighter with wool than those used for common work, which enables the pressman to distribute the strong ink that is used with more facility; they also cover the surface with ink better than if they were softer, and are easier for the workman; for large soft balls, used with ink made very strong with varnish and colour, would be almost unmanageable.

The quality of the paper is of great consequence in fine printing, but it is frequently overlooked by the printer’s employers, who are too apt to pay more attention to a showy appearance and a low price, than to quality.

The best paper for receiving an impression, as I have observed in the article Engravings on Wood, is India paper; but as that which comes to England is thin, it is not used for bookwork, neither would it be durable, as it wants toughness to enable it to sustain much wear.

The next best paper for printing is French plate paper, which is superior to English plate paper, as the latter has a good deal of gypsum in its composition, which causes it to be very uncertain in the wetting; for having given it a sufficient quantity of water, judging from appearances and by comparison, and expecting to have it in good condition, the pressman shall find it, when wanted for use, nearly dry, and harsh, and the water unequally diffused; it has then to be wetted again, and particular attention must be paid to the turning and pressing of it, before it is in a proper state for printing on. I attribute this effect to the gypsum, which has had its water of crystallization driven off by fire in preparing it, and the water which it takes up in wetting crystallizes to supply its place. I do not say that all English plate paper is affected in this manner by water, but I have repeatedly experienced it in practice; and in the second wetting, if great care be not taken, the gypsum being already saturated, it will imbibe too much water, which will squeeze out in printing, and prevent the paper from taking the ink uniformly, so as to spoil the impression.

The best English paper for printing on is that which is made of fine linen rags, and moderately sized, without the use of acids in bleaching, and without being adulterated with cotton rags: this paper takes water kindly, is easily got into good condition, receives a good impression, is durable, preserves its colour, and does not act upon the ink.

Messrs. J. Dickinson and Co. have made great improvements in the quality of paper, and manufacture one kind which is admirably adapted for printing, being made by a peculiar process which gives it a particular _affinity_ for the ink. They have also introduced improvements in the manufacture which have superseded the use of French paper with us, and have also nearly done so with the Chinese or India paper.

Having thus spoken of what I mean by fine presswork, and of the materials by which it is to be produced, I shall now proceed to describe the process; for when a printing office is provided with materials of the best quality, and the master of it is desirous of producing superior workmanship, there is something more required--he must resolve to lay in a fund of patience, as well as to submit to a great and continued expense of materials, or else he will never excel.

A good pressman will, as a matter of course, be well acquainted with the whole of the usual routine of presswork; in addition to which, to form his judgment, he should make himself acquainted with the most splendid books, and study them as patterns of workmanship.

In making ready it must be evident, that when a clear sharp impression is wanted, the pressure should be on the surface only, without penetrating into the interstices; of course the tympan ought not to be very soft, neither should any woollen blanket be used: the most perfect impression will be obtained when fine thick paper alone is used in the tympans, and even of this article I would not recommend many thicknesses.

After an impression is printed, the pressman examines if it be uniform throughout; if it be, which is very rarely the case, he goes on with the work; if not, he proceeds to overlay, in order to produce regularity of pressure, and of colour, over the whole form.

To effect this object, he takes thin smooth paper, and wherever the impression is weak he pastes a bit of it, of the size and shape of the imperfect part, on the tympan sheet, and proceeds in the same manner with every part that is imperfect; he then pulls another impression to examine the effect of his overlays, and continues to add to them where wanted, till the pressure of the platen is the same in every part, and the impression is uniformly of one shade of colour.

If the impression come off too strong in parts, or at the edges or corners of the pages, or on the head lines, it will be necessary to cut away the tympan sheet in those parts, and, if that does not ease the pressure sufficiently, to cut away the same parts from one or more of the sheets that are within the tympans.

It is generally preferable to overlay on a sheet of stout smooth paper inside the tympan, and particularly where the same press does the whole or great part of a work: this sheet is cut to fit the interior of the tympan, so as not to slip about, and has overlays pasted on it where wanted, to bring up the impression till it is very nearly equal; in all succeeding sheets it saves the pressman a great deal of time, as he will be certain that when he pulls a sheet of another form of the same work it will be nearly right, and he will only have to place thin overlays on occasional parts to make the impression perfect, with very little trouble. On the same principle, where this method is not adopted, preserving and using the same tympan sheet with its overlays, will be more expeditious than having to repeat the operation with every form.