Chapter XXIV: Part 24

By the Act of the 39th George 3. c. 79., intituled _An Act for
the more effectual Suppression of Societies established for
seditious and treasonable Purposes, and for the better preventing
treasonable and seditious Practices_, s. 27. it is enacted,
“That, from and after the Expiration of forty Days after the
passing of this Act, every Person who shall print any Paper or
Book whatsoever, which shall be meant or intended to be published
or dispersed, whether the same shall be sold or given away, shall
print upon the Front of every such Paper, if the same shall be
printed on one Side only, and upon the first and last Leaves of
every Paper or Book which shall consist of more than one Leaf, in
legible Characters, his, or her Name, and the Name of the City,
Town, Parish, or Place, and also the Name (if any) of the Square,
Street, Lane, Court, or Place, in which his or her Dwelling House
or usual Place of Abode shall be; and every Person who shall omit
so to print his Name and Place of Abode on every such Paper or
Book printed by him, and also every Person who shall publish or
disperse, or assist in publishing or dispersing, either _gratis_
or for Money, any printed Paper or Book, which shall have been
printed after the Expiration of forty Days from the passing of
this Act, and on which the Name and Place of Abode of the Person
printing the same shall not be printed as aforesaid, shall,
for every Copy of such Paper so published or dispersed by him,
forfeit and pay the Sum of twenty Pounds.

s. 28. “And be it further enacted, That nothing in this Act
contained shall extend, or be construed to extend, to any Papers
printed by the Authority and for the Use of either House of
Parliament.”

s. 31. “Provided always, That nothing herein contained shall
extend to the Impression of any Engraving, or to the printing by
Letter Press, of the Name, or the Name and Address, or Business
or Profession, of any Person, and the Articles in which he deals,
or to any Papers for the Sale of Estates or Goods by Auction, or
otherwise.”

s. 34. “Provided always, That no Person shall be prosecuted or
sued for any Penalty imposed by this Act, unless such Prosecution
shall be commenced, or such Action shall be brought, within three
Calendar Months next after such Penalty shall have been incurred.”

39 & 40 George 3. c. 95. “An Act to indemnify all Persons who
have printed, published, or dispersed, or who shall publish
or disperse, any Papers printed under the Authority of the
Commissioners or Head Officers of any Publick Boards, from all
Penalties incurred by reason of the Name and Place of Abode of
the Printer of such Papers not being printed thereon.”

Persons who have printed any Papers under the Authority of
Commissioners of Publick Boards, or who have published them, or
shall hereafter publish any Paper so printed before the passing
of this Act, shall be indemnified from any Penalties incurred by
reason of any Offence against the Act of the 39th of George 3.
c. 79., intituled, _An Act for the more effectual Suppression of
Societies established for seditious and treasonable Purposes, and
for the better preventing treasonable and seditious Practices_.

The Act of the 41st George 3. c. 80., is, “An Act to indemnify
all Persons who have printed, published, or dispersed, or who
shall publish or disperse, any Papers printed under the Authority
of any Head Officer of State, or of Publick Boards, or other
Publick Authorities, from all Penalties incurred by reason of the
Name and Place of Abode of the Printer of such Papers not being
printed thereon.”

Persons who have printed any Papers under the Authority of the
Head Officers of any of the principal Offices of State, or of
any Board of Revenue, &c., or who have published them, or shall
hereafter disperse any Paper so printed before the passing of
this Act, shall be indemnified from any Penalties incurred by
reason of any Offence against the recited Act; viz. the 39th of
George 3. c. 79.

42 George 3. c. 23.--Annual Indemnity Act, s. 9. “And whereas,
in an Act passed in the Thirty-ninth Year of the Reign of His
present Majesty, intituled _An Act for the more effectual
Suppression of Societies established for seditious and
treasonable Purposes; and for better preventing treasonable
and seditious Practices_, certain Provisions are contained to
restrain the printing or publishing of any Papers or Books
whatsoever, which should be meant or intended to be published or
dispersed, without the Name and Place of Abode of the Printer
thereof being printed thereon, with a certain Penalty on the
Person printing, publishing, or dispersing, or assisting in
publishing or dispersing the same contrary to the said Act: And
whereas divers Papers being, or purporting to be Pleadings,
Rules, Orders, Process, or other Proceedings in Courts of Law
or Equity, or to be Parts of such Pleadings, Rules, Orders,
Process, or other Proceedings, or to be Copies of the same, or
of Parts thereof respectively, have, through Inadvertency and
Mistake, and on the Supposition that such Papers were not within
the Provisions of the said Act, been printed without the Name
and Place of Abode of the Person printing the same being printed
thereon as required by the said Act; be it further enacted, That
every Person who shall, before the passing of this Act, have
printed any Paper being, or purporting to be, any Pleading, Rule,
Order, or any Process, or other Proceeding of or in any Court of
Law or Equity, or to be any Part of such Pleading, Rule, Order,
Process, or other Proceeding, or to be a Copy of the same, or
of any Part thereof respectively, or shall have published or
dispersed, or shall have assisted in publishing or dispersing,
or shall hereafter publish or disperse, or assist in publishing
or dispersing any such Paper as aforesaid, which shall have
been printed before the passing of this Act, shall be, and is
hereby declared to be freed and discharged of and from all Suits,
Informations, Prosecutions, Judgements, Fines, Imprisonments,
Pains, and Penalties whatsoever, commenced, prosecuted, adjudged,
or incurred, or which may be commenced, prosecuted, adjudged,
or incurred, for or by reason of any Offence alledged to have
been committed against the said recited Act, by occasion of such
printing, publishing, or dispersing, or assisting in publishing
or dispersing any such Paper as aforesaid, as fully, freely, and
effectually, as if the same had been printed according to the
Provisions of the said Act.”

49 George 3. c. 69., intituled “An Act to indemnify Persons who
have inadvertently printed, published, or dispersed Papers or
Books without a full Description of the Place of Abode of the
Printers thereof, from Penalties incurred under an Act of the
Thirty-ninth Year of His Majesty’s Reign.”

s. 1. All Persons having printed Papers or Books with the Name of
the Street of their Abode (omitting the Name of the Town or City)
indemnified against Penalties under recited Act.

s. 2. Not to affect Convictions or Judgments had before the
passing of this Act.

51 George 3. c. 65., intituled “An Act to explain and amend an
Act, passed in the Thirty-ninth Year of His Majesty’s Reign,
intituled _An Act for the more effectual Suppression of Societies
established for seditious and treasonable Purposes, and for
better preventing treasonable and seditious Practices_; so far as
respects certain Penalties on Printers and Publishers.”

s. 1. “Whereas an Act was passed in the Thirty-ninth Year of
His present Majesty’s Reign, intituled _An Act for the more
effectual Suppression of Societies established for seditious and
treasonable Purposes, and for better preventing treasonable and
seditious Practices_: And whereas, in and by the Twenty-seventh
and Thirty-fifth Sections of the said Act, certain Provisions
were made, that every Person who should print any Paper or Book,
or publish or disperse, or assist in publishing or dispersing,
any printed Paper or Book, without the Name and Place of Abode of
the Printer being printed on such Paper or Book, in such Manner
as by the said Act is specified, should forfeit and pay the Sum
of Twenty Pounds for every Copy of such Paper so published or
dispersed by him; to be recovered before any Justice or Justices
of the Peace for the County, Stewartry, Riding, City, Town, or
Place in which such Penalty should be incurred: Add whereas there
is not in the said Act any Provision authorising such Justice or
Justices to mitigate the Penalties thereby incurred, or enabling
the Party to appeal from any Conviction by or Judgement of such
Justice or Justices: And whereas divers Books and Papers have
since been printed by several Persons, who, through Inadvertency
or Mistake, have neglected to comply with the Provisions of the
said Act, and such Persons have thereby become liable to be sued
and prosecuted for Penalties to a vast Amount, although such
Books and Papers were not of an evil or seditious Tendency:
And whereas it is expedient to limit the Amount of Penalties
imposed by the said Act; and to enable Magistrates to mitigate
the Penalties in such Cases as shall appear to them expedient;
and also to give the Party, who may be aggrieved by a Conviction
under such Act, a Power of appealing from the same; be it
therefore enacted by the King’s most Excellent Majesty, by and
with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal,
and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the
Authority of the same, That nothing in the Twenty-seventh Section
of the said Act contained shall extend to make any Person
or Persons offending against the same, liable to more than
Twenty-five Forfeitures or Penalties for printing or publishing
or dispersing, or assisting in publishing or dispersing, any
Number of Copies of one and the same Paper or Book, contrary to
the said Section of the said Act.

s. 2. “And be it further enacted, That if any Justice or
other Magistrate before whom any Person shall be convicted
of any Offence or Offences against the Provisions of the
before-mentioned Act shall see Cause to mitigate such Penalty
or Penalties, it shall be lawful for such Justice or other
Magistrate to mitigate or lessen the same to any Sum not less
than Five Pounds, over and above all reasonable Costs and Charges
expended or incurred in the Prosecution.

s. 3. “And whereas Doubts have arisen whether the Provisions
contained in the said Act may not be considered as extending
to Notes and Post Bills of the Governor and Company of the
Bank of _England_, and to Bills of Exchange, Promissory Notes,
Bonds, and other Securities for Payment of Money, Bills of
Lading, Policies of Insurance, Letters of Attorney, Transfers
or Assignments of Public Stocks, Funds, and other Securities,
and to Dividend Warrants, Receipts for Money or Goods, Deeds or
other Instruments, Proceedings in the Courts of Law and Equity,
and other Inferior Courts, Warrants, Orders, and other Papers,
printed by the Authority of any Public Board or Public Officer
in the Execution of the Duties of their respective Offices,
many of which Securities, Instruments, Proceedings and other
Matters aforesaid, are usually wholly or in Part printed; be
it therefore hereby declared and enacted, That nothing in the
said recited Act or in this Act contained shall extend or be
construed to extend to require the Name and Residence of the
Printer to be printed upon any such Bank Note, Bank Post Bill,
Bill of Exchange, or Promissory Note, or upon any Bond or other
Security for Payment of Money, or upon any Bill of Lading, Policy
of Insurance, Letter of Attorney, Deed or Agreement, or upon any
Transfer or Assignment of any Public Stocks, Funds, or other
Securities, or upon any Transfer or Assignment of the Stocks of
any Public Corporation or Company, authorized or sanctioned by
Act of Parliament, or upon any Dividend Warrant of or for any
such Public or other Stocks, Funds, or Securities, or upon any
Receipt for Money or Goods, or upon any Proceeding in any Court
of Law or Equity, or in any Inferior Court, Warrant, Order, or
other Papers printed by the Authority of any Public Board or
Public Officer in the Execution of the Duties of their respective
Offices, notwithstanding the Whole or any Part of the said
several Securities, Instruments, Proceedings, Matters, and Things
aforesaid, shall have been or shall be printed, any Thing herein
or in the said recited Act contained to the contrary thereof in
anywise notwithstanding.

s. 4. “And be it further enacted, That if any Person or Persons
shall think himself, herself, or themselves aggrieved by any
Conviction, Judgement, or Determination, of any Justice or
Justices, relating to any Matter or Thing in the before-mentioned
Act contained; then and in that Case he, she, or they may appeal
to the Justices of the Peace at the General Quarter Sessions
to be holden in and for the County, City, or Place, where such
Conviction, Judgement, or Determination shall have been made,
next after the Expiration of Twenty Days from the making thereof,
first giving Six Days Notice of such Appeal to the Person or
Persons prosecuting for such Penalty or Penalties; and the said
Justices shall hear and determine the said Appeal at such General
Quarter Sessions, or, if they think proper, adjourn the Hearing
thereof until the next General Quarter Sessions to be holden for
such County, Town, or Place; and the said Justices may, in like
Manner, if they see cause, mitigate any Penalty or Penalties, and
may order any Money to be returned which shall have been paid or
levied under any Conviction as aforesaid, and may also order and
award such Costs to be paid by either Party to the other, as they
shall think and judge reasonable.

s. 5. “And be it further enacted, that this Act shall take Effect
from the First Day of _March_ One thousand eight hundred and
eleven.”

2 Vict. c. 12. “An Act to amend an Act of the Thirty-ninth Year
of King _George_ the Third, for the more effectual Suppression of
Societies established for seditious and treasonable Purposes, and
for preventing treasonable and seditious Practices, and to put an
End to certain Proceedings now pending under the said Act.

s. 1. “Whereas in an Act passed in the Thirty-ninth Year of
the Reign of King _George_ the Third, intituled _An Act for
the more effectual Suppression of Societies established for
seditious and treasonable Purposes, and for the better preventing
treasonable and seditious Practices_, certain Provisions are
contained to restrain the printing or publishing of any Papers
or Books whatsoever which should be meant or intended to be
published or dispersed without the Name and Place of Abode of
the Printer thereof being printed thereon in the Manner in the
said Act specified: And whereas the said Provisions have given
Occasion to many vexatious Proceedings at the Instance of common
Informers, and it is expedient to discourage the same: Be it
therefore enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and
with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal,
and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the
Authority of the same, That so much of the said Act as enacts
that every Person who, after the Expiration of Forty Days after
the passing of the said Act, shall print any Paper or Book
whatsoever which shall be meant or intended to be published or
dispersed, whether the same shall be sold or given away, shall
print upon the Front of every such Paper, if the same shall be
printed on one Side only, and upon the first and last leaves of
every Paper or Book which shall consist of more than One Leaf, in
legible Characters, his or her Name, and the Name of the City,
Town, Parish, or Place, and also the Name (if any) of the Square,
Street, Lane, Court, or Place, in which his or her Dwelling
House, or usual Place of Abode shall be, and that every Person
who shall omit so to print his Name and Place of Abode on every
such Paper or Book printed by him, and also every Person who
shall publish or disperse, or assist in publishing or dispersing,
either _gratis_ or for Money, any printed Paper or Book which
shall have been printed after the Expiration of Forty Days from
the passing of the said Act, and on which the Name and Place of
Abode of the Person printing the same shall not be printed as
aforesaid, shall for every Copy of such Paper so published or
dispersed by him, forfeit and pay the Sum of Twenty Pounds, shall
be and the same is hereby repealed.

s. 2. “And be it enacted, That every Person who after the passing
of this Act shall print any Paper or Book whatsoever, which shall
be meant to be published or dispersed, and who shall not print
upon the Front of every such Paper, if the same shall be printed
on One Side only, or upon the first or last Leaf of every Paper
or Book which shall consist of more than One Leaf, in legible
Characters, his or her Name and usual Place of Abode or Business,
and every Person who shall publish or disperse, or assist in
publishing or dispersing, any printed Paper or Book on which the
Name and Place of Abode of the Person printing the same shall not
be printed as aforesaid, shall for every Copy of such Paper so
printed by him or her forfeit a Sum not more than Five Pounds:
Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall be construed
to impose any Penalty upon any Person for printing any Paper
excepted out of the Operation of the said Act, either in the said
Act or by any Act made for the Amendment thereof.

s. 3. “And be it enacted, That in the Case of Books or Papers
printed at the University Press of _Oxford_, or the _Pitt_
Press of _Cambridge_, the Printer, instead of printing his
Name thereon, shall print the following Words: ‘Printed at the
University Press, _Oxford_,’ or ‘The _Pitt_ Press, _Cambridge_,’
as the Case may be.

s. 4. “Provided always, and be it enacted, That it shall not
be lawful for any Person or Persons whatsoever to commence,
prosecute, enter, or file, or cause or procure to be commenced,
prosecuted, entered, or filed, any Action, Bill, Plaint, or
Information in any of Her Majesty’s Courts, or before any Justice
or Justices of the Peace, against any Person or Persons, for the
Recovery of any Fine, Penalty, or Forfeiture made or incurred,
or which may hereafter be incurred under the Provisions of this
Act, unless the same be commenced, prosecuted, entered, or filed
in the Name of Her Majesty’s Attorney General or Solicitor
General in that Part of _Great Britain_ called _England_, or
Her Majesty’s Advocate for _Scotland_ (as the Case may be
respectively); and if any Action, Bill, Plaint, or Information
shall be commenced, prosecuted, entered, or filed in the Name
or Names of any other Person or Persons than is or are in that
Behalf before mentioned, the same, and every Proceeding thereupon
had, are hereby declared and the same shall be null and void to
all Intents and Purposes.

s. 5. “And be it enacted, That immediately after the passing
of this Act it shall be lawful for any Person against whom any
original Writ, Suit, Action, Bill, Plaint, or Information shall
have been sued out, commenced, or prosecuted, on or before
the Day of the passing of this Act, for the Recovery of any
pecuniary Penalty or Penalties incurred under the said recited
Act, to apply to the Court in which such original Writ, Suit,
Action, Bill, Plaint, or Information shall have been sued out,
commenced, or prosecuted, if such Court shall be sitting, or, if
such Court shall not be sitting, to any Judge of either of the
superior Courts at _Westminster_, or to any Justice of the Peace
before whom any such Plaint or Information shall be pending,
or any Conviction shall have been had or obtained, or to any
other Justice of the Peace acting for the same County, Riding,
Division, City, Borough, or Place, as the Justice of the Peace
before whom such Plaint or Information shall be pending or such
Conviction shall have been had or obtained, for an Order that
such Writ, Suit, Action, Bill, Plaint, or Information shall be
discontinued, or such Conviction be quashed, upon Payment of
the Costs thereof out of Pocket incurred to the Time of such
Application being made, such Costs to be taxed according to the
Practice of such Court, or in case of any Proceeding before a
Justice, to be taxed and ascertained by such Justice; and every
such Court or Judge, or Justice of the Peace, as the Case may be,
is hereby authorized and required, upon such Application, and
Proof that sufficient Notice has been given to the Plaintiff or
Informer, or to his Attorney, of the Application, to make such
Order as aforesaid; and upon the making such Order, and Payment
or Tender of such Costs as aforesaid, such Writ, Suit, Action,
Bill, Plaint, or Information shall be forthwith discontinued,
or such Conviction shall be quashed, as the Case may be:
Provided always, that in all Cases in which any such Writ, Suit,
Action, Bill, Plaint, or Information shall have been sued out
or commenced subsequently to the Sixteenth Day of _April_ One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine, it shall be lawful for
such Court, Judge, or Justice as aforesaid to make such Order for
discontinuing the same, or quashing any Conviction had thereon,
without Payment of any Costs, and in every such Case, on the
making of such Order, such Writ, Suit, Action, Bill, Plaint, or
Information shall be forthwith discontinued, or such Conviction
shall be forthwith quashed, as the Case may be: Provided always,
that nothing herein contained shall be deemed or taken to enable
any Person to recover back any Money paid before the passing
of this Act, in pursuance of any Judgment or Conviction duly
obtained under the Provisions of the said recited Act.

s. 6. “And be it enacted, That the said Act, and all Acts made
for the Amendment thereof, except so far as herein repealed or
altered, shall be construed as One Act together with this Act.

s. 7. “And be it enacted, That this Act may be amended or
repealed by any Act to be passed in this present Session of
Parliament.”

_Exemptions._--Articles exempted from penalty for not having the Printer’s Name and Address.

By 39 Geo. 3. c. 79. s. 28.

Any Papers printed by the Authority and for the Use of either
House of Parliament.

s. 31. The Impressions of any Engraving.

The printing by Letter Press of the Name, or the Name and
Address, or Business or Profession of any Person, and the
Articles in which he deals.

Any Papers for the Sale of Estates or Goods by Auction, or
otherwise.

39 & 40 Geo. 3. c. 95.--Act of Indemnity.

Any Papers printed under the Authority of Commissioners of Public
Boards, and printed before the passing of this Act.

41 Geo. 3. c. 80.--Act of Indemnity.

Any Papers printed under the Authority of the Head Officers
of any of the principal Offices of State, or of any Board of
Revenue, &c. and printed before the passing of this Act.

42 Geo. 3. c. 23.--Annual Act of Indemnity.

Any Paper being, or purporting to be, any Pleading, Rule, Order,
or any Process, or other Proceeding of or in any Court of Law
or Equity, or to be any Part of such Pleading, &c., or to be a
Copy of the same, or of any Part thereof, which shall have been
printed before the passing of this Act.

49 Geo. 3. c. 69.--Act of Indemnity.

51 Geo. 3. c. 65. s. 3.

Any Bank Note, Bank Post Bill, Bill of Exchange, or Promissory
Note;

Bond or other Security for Payment of Money;

Bill of Lading;

Policy of Insurance;

Letter of Attorney;

Deed or Agreement;

Transfer or Assignment of any Public Stocks, Funds, or other
Securities;

Transfer or Assignment of the Stocks of any Public Corporation or
Company, authorized or sanctioned by Act of Parliament;

Dividend Warrants of or for any such Public or other Stocks,
Funds, or Securities;

Receipt for Money or Goods;

Proceeding in any Court of Law or Equity, or in any Inferior
Court;

Warrant, Order, or other Papers printed by the Authority of any
Public Board or Public Officer in the Execution of the Duties of
their respective Offices;

2 Vict. c. 12. s. 4. All Informations and Actions for Penalties,
&c. to be filed, &c. in the Name of Her Majesty’s Attorney or
Solicitor General.

IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT. _See_ DEBT.

INDENTURES.

5 Geo. 3. c. 46. s. 19. “And be it further declared and enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That all printed Indentures, Covenants, Articles, or Contracts, for binding Clerks or Apprentices in _Great Britain_, after the said fifth Day of _July_, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-five, shall have the following Notice or Memorandum printed under the same; _videlicet_,

“‘The Indenture, Covenant, Article, or Contract, must bear Date
the Day it is executed; and what Money or other Thing is given
or contracted for with the Clerk or Apprentice, must be inserted
in Words at length; and the Duty paid to the Stamp Office, if in
_London_, or within the Weekly Bills of Mortality, within one
Month after the Execution, and if in the Country, and out of the
said Bills of Mortality, within two Months, to a Distributor of
the Stamps, or his Substitute; otherwise the Indenture will be
void, the Master or Mistress forfeit fifty Pounds, and another
Penalty, and the Apprentice be disabled to follow his Trade, or
be made free.’

“And if any Printer, Stationer, or other Person or Persons, shall
sell, or cause to be sold, any such Indenture, Covenant, Article,
or Contract, without such Notice or Memorandum being printed
under the same; then, and in every such Case, such Printer,
Stationer, or other Person or Persons, shall, for every such
Offence, forfeit the Sum of ten Pounds.”

INDEX,

or Hand ☞ points out a remarkable passage, or something that requires particular attention.--_Murray._

INDIA PAPER.

This paper, which comes to us from China, is decidedly superior to any other paper for obtaining fine impressions from engravings. That which is used as the linings of tea chests is equal in quality to any, although some of it is coarse, and many persons object to the colour; a thicker and whiter sort comes over as wrappers for silk; both these sorts are injured by having been used as packages, but out of them good pieces may be selected, sufficiently large for octavo pages, and frequently for quarto. A perfect paper of a large size is imported in chests of two thousand sheets each. A sheet measures four feet three inches and one tenth in length, and two feet one inch and one tenth in width. This paper varies very much in quality, so that circumspection should be used in making a purchase.

All India paper contains particles of hard matter, like minute portions of stone, small pieces of the hard stalks of some vegetable, and lumps of the material from which it is made. Previously to its being printed on, the whole of it ought to be carefully examined, and these extraneous matters removed with a sharp knife, otherwise they will injure the surface of the engraving.

There is a smooth side and a rough side in white India paper, called by printers the right side and the wrong side: this India paper has the appearance of having been formed on a smooth surface of metal or stone, by being laid on with a brush, the rough side having the semblance of paint applied by an unskilful hand, exhibiting all the marks of the brush in irregular directions; the other side being flat and smooth. The smooth side is always used for the impression.

In all cases the best way of damping India paper is to put it, in separate pieces, into a heap of paper that is in a proper condition for printing, where after lying a few minutes it will be sufficiently damp for use. _See_ PAPER.

INK.

Printing Ink is a composition formed of two articles, namely, varnish and colouring matter.

The Rev. William Beloe, treating of early printed books in his Anecdotes of Literature, &c., says,--“It must have been immediately obvious that common writing ink, from its want of substance and viscosity, could by no means answer the purpose. But it must excite surprise, and indeed admiration, to perceive how soon the greatest perfection was attained in this particular. So very soon indeed, and so effectually, that very nearly at the same period books were printed at Mentz, at Rome, and at Venice, which may almost defy the competition of succeeding artists.--The Psalter of Fust and Guttenburg, at Mentz, the Lactantius of Sweynheym and Pannartz, at the Subiaco Monastery, and the Pliny of Jenson, at Venice, may be adduced as specimens of extraordinary beauty, with regard to the quality of the ink; not perhaps surpassed, or, if at all, in a very small degree, by the productions of Bodoni at Parma, or the most perfect examples of the London Presses. It is observable that this excellence of the ink is particularly apparent in all the early books printed upon vellum, and in Germany.”

This is strictly true, for the ink has, after a lapse of four hundred years, preserved its beautiful blackness, as I have myself witnessed, particularly in the large Bible printed by Faust and Schœffer, and generally known as the Mentz Bible without Date; but in the seventeenth century the quality had materially retrograded, and it was not till the latter part of the eighteenth century that it began to recover its character, when two or three of our most celebrated printers set about improving the ink of commerce for some very expensive splendid works, but the ingredients which they used they kept a profound secret.

As I believe that I am the only person who has written a practical work on the subject, I will give an extract from the preface of my work on Printing Ink, which will show the state in which this article was at that time.

“The process of making printing ink has never yet been treated of fully by any practical man, either printer or manufacturer, so that this work will come before the public on a subject as new as it is important.

“This assertion may perhaps appear to require some modification, as the following pages will present to the reader many receipts for making printing ink, by preceding authors; but when it is known that this subject is only treated of incidentally by some, and that others of them were not professionally printers, and therefore could scarcely be expected to know what was the desideratum, much less to attain it, we shall have little cause to wonder that all have failed. That they have failed, admits of no question: a long experience in the art of printing in all its branches enables and obliges me to say, that ink made from any one of these receipts could not be used in any printing office in the metropolis.

“Moxon, who wrote the first practical work on printing, gives a detailed method of preparing printing ink after the Dutch manner, which he highly praises; yet this ink would be deemed worthless at present, and although as good as the succeeding ones, he is never quoted on this subject; yet when types are treated of, his name appears in every subsequent work on printing. I believe few printers know his book, the title of which is, “Mechanick Exercises: or, the Doctrine of Handy-works. Applied to the Art of Printing. By Joseph Moxon, Member of the Royal Society, and Hydrographer to the King’s Most Excellent Majesty.” 2 vols. 4to. 1677, and which has served as the foundation of subsequent works on printing.

“M. le Breton, printer to the King of France, is the next author on this subject. He wrote the article on Printing in the French Encyclopédie, of which the method of making printing ink forms a part. He is continually quoted by succeeding writers, yet his ink would not rank higher than Moxon’s in a printing office.

“J. B. Papillon, a celebrated French engraver on wood, published a treatise on that subject, in which he gave a detailed account of making printing ink, which would not be in greater estimation than Moxon’s and Breton’s.

“Lewis, in his Philosophical Commerce of Arts, relates the results of many experiments on boiling oil, which are of little practical use, and gives the process of making ink from Breton.

“Nicholson, in his Dictionary of Chemistry, gives some passages which purport nothing, and then proceeds to a loose description of the process from Lewis.

“The Messrs. Aikin, in their Dictionary of Chemistry, give a short vague article on the subject, quoting Lewis as their authority.

“Rees’s Cyclopædia contains an article on the subject from Lewis.

“The Printer’s Manual, a French work, published in 1817, gives an account of the process, founded on Breton’s formula.

“The Encyclopædia Britannica is the only work to my knowledge which has broken through the trammels of obsolete authorities, and given a receipt by which a printing ink might be made that could be used; but the editor candidly acknowledges that the article produced would be of an inferior quality.--It is, however, the only real approximation to the knowledge of making an ink that could be worked with; and yet it is deficient in specifying the qualities of the different materials, and also of their due proportions, so that it would not produce a clean working ink, nor an ink of a good colour.

“The information given in the book is not theoretical, but deduced from my own practice; and there is not an article mentioned in the whole treatise but what I have repeatedly employed, nor a receipt given but what has undergone the strictest ordeal--that of being used in the regular way of business. The fine black ink has been pronounced by some of our first printers unrivalled; and the ink for general purposes has been allowed, by the most competent judges, to be fully equal to the high priced inks of the principal manufacturers.

“I have used them myself, and also superintended their use by others to the extent of thousands of impressions printed consecutively, without having found occasion to wash or clean the form or engraving, and this in producing fine work. I am, through this experience, enabled to assert, that I do not think it possible that inks could be produced that would work cleaner or more freely, produce finer impressions, and retain their freshness of colour without imparting stain to the paper, than the inks, both black and coloured, the receipts of which I have published in this work.

“The Society for the Encouragement of Arts showed their sense of my success in this pursuit, by awarding to me their large medal, and a sum of money, for my imitation of drawings printed from engravings on wood with inks of my own preparing; and by an invitation to furnish them with a paper on the preparation of printing ink.

“Knowledge of such a subject as this on which I am treating, must, to possess any value, be practical, not theoretical: without being so, there would not exist a possibility of accurately knowing the imperfections existing in the inks, of estimating the errors and deficiencies, and, least of all, of providing a remedy. Thirty-six years practice in the metropolis, with some previous ones in the country, spent in executing the most common as well as the most splendid works, may perhaps entitle me to feel competency to my undertaking, and encourage the belief of it in others.

“To printers generally, I feel that this work will be of great service, judging from the absolute want of information on the subject, a want that I have experienced in a very high degree during my practice. It will enable every printer to prepare a good ink himself, and to have it always of an uniform quality;--it will enable him to prepare the finest ink without any risk or danger;--it will enable him to prepare coloured ink of any hue at half an hour’s notice, that will work as clean as black ink, when any fancy work is required;--it will enable him to print bankers’ cheques, &c. with a changeable ink, to prevent fraudulent alterations:--it is in fact opening a door to the extension of the powers of the printing press which has hitherto been closed and sealed.”

This was written in 1832, and contains as faithful an account of the state of knowledge as could be acquired at that time on this subject; for the few manufacturers of the article then existing most scrupulously guarded the secret of its preparation, and no really fine ink could be purchased. The publication of my work on Decorative Printing, and of this work on Printing Ink, has effected a great revolution in the art; for previously it was impossible, even in the metropolis, to have any thing printed in a superior way except with black ink, whereas now, there is hardly a printer who would not feel ashamed to avow that he could not execute work in any colour whatever in the same style of workmanship as with black ink. For the method of preparing the different inks, both black and of every colour, with the ingredients and their proportions, I must refer the reader to the book itself.

For the qualities requisite in the best printing ink, _see_ ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD, and also FINE PRESSWORK.

By the Act 6 G. 4. c. 111., the Customs Duty on the importation of ink for printers is 1_l._ 1_s._ the cwt.

INK BLOCK.

The block on which the ink is spread to supply the balls; in wooden presses, it is nailed to the upper near hind rail, and is supported at the bottom by a stay fastened to the lower rail.

It was generally made of a piece of elm wood, between two and three inches thick, with a ledge of fir wood at the back, at one end, and also at part of the front. A quantity of ink was kept in the farther corner, which was rubbed out on the bottom with the brayer, from which it was taken with a ball, and then distributed.

In fine printing that required strong ink, it being found very difficult, in cold weather, to distribute the ink properly, some offices adopted a small table having an iron plate for the top, with a shelf under it for a lamp, which warmed the ink and caused it to work more freely.

The introduction of rollers has superseded the use of the ink block, for which has been substituted an inking apparatus, which see.

INKING APPARATUS.

The substitution of rollers for balls required a different apparatus for the taking of ink.

Mr. Edward Cowper, of the late firm of Applegath and Cowper, claims the invention of the first apparatus, for which the firm took out a patent. Mr. Cowper kindly favoured me with drawings, and the following description, in the year 1818.

“The apparatus consists of an inking roller, a distributing table, and an ink trough.

“The inking roller is made of wood covered with the elastic composition, [treacle and glue,] it is about three inches diameter and eighteen or twenty inches long, according to the length of the form; it is furnished with two handles which are fixed to the spindle on which the roller turns; the spindle passes through the roller so that when one handle is moved the other is moved also; the handles stand over the roller at right angles to it, this position being from practice found most convenient; a small leg projects from one of the handles, which prevents them from falling on the table and becoming soiled.

“The distributing table is of wood covered with a sheet of lead as level as possible; and the frame on which it stands is of cast iron.

“The ink trough is fixed at one edge of the table, and is composed of a metal roller, turned true, and a thin plate of steel, the edge of the plate presses against the metal roller by means of levers and weights, the ink is placed between the steel plate and the metal roller.

“When the metal roller is turned round it becomes covered with a film of ink, the inking roller is then dabbed against it, and rolled backwards and forwards on the distributing table in different directions; it is then passed two or three times over the form.

“The advantages of this mode of inking are considerable; it is much easier to use than the balls, produces better work, and saves in balls and ink not less than five shillings per week. Its peculiar recommendation is the great regularity of colour which may be obtained, and the delicate manner in which the letter is touched, advantages which render it applicable to the finest specimens of typography.”

The following account is extracted from Hansard’s “Typographia.”

“A more simple and cheap apparatus for this purpose was immediately got up by Mr. Foster, the inventor of the composition balls. It is a stand having its two legs and feet of cast-iron; and its top, upon which the ink is distributed, instead of lead, as in the former apparatus just described, is mahogany. Behind this, elevated about two inches, is the stage for taking the ink on to the roller. At either end of the stage is a recess for receiving the contrivance which contains the ink. This is similar in shape to the brayer formerly used; but turned hollow, with the handle and top to screw on; at the bottom are holes, and when the ink is wanted on the stage, the workman, taking hold of this bottle-brayer, moves it from one recess to the other, drawing it slowly along the stage. In this movement the ink, by its own gravity, will issue out from the holes at the bottom, and leave a portion on the stage, more or less, according to the rapidity or frequency of its transit. [_See figure_, p. 421.]

“Mr. Arding soon improved upon Foster’s apparatus, by making the ink-stage of cast-iron, with circular recesses; and the whole table more of a solid form; both makers now adopt the same pattern: but the bottle-brayer has not been found to answer, as the ink soon clogs up the holes, and the wood is liable to be split by the screw at the top; and an old servant of the press-room, the common brayer, has again been found the most effective for this purpose.

“I have had several of these inking tables at work, and find a decided preference due to the last described. The mahogany surface seems more congenial to the temperament of the ink and roller, than either the lead or iron. The ink is taken better, and distributes better. A line of colour is taken as perfectly from the stage as from a cylinder, since the roller, being cylindrical, can only touch the ink in a line, and it is only giving the roller a portion of a revolution on the stage to make it take a greater quantity of colour if necessary. More of the flue and dirt, inseparable from the working of paper, is held by the wood than by the lead; and consequently, the roller keeps cleaner, and the forme works better. The table is easily washed by the lye-brush, and no further waste of ink is occasioned.

“This apparatus has been further improved by substituting a box and cylinder for the stage and brayer. The advantage of which will be, that the quantity of ink on the cylinder to come in contact with the roller, is regulated by a pressure at the top, out of the body of the ink, instead of at the bottom against which the ink must rest.

“The cylinder is of mahogany, and, as here shown, moves in a box or trough which contains the ink; and which has a lid moving on hinges coming nearly over the top of the cylinder. To the under edge of this top is nailed a slip of thick butt or sole leather. This, by its naturally elastic quality, will always press upon the cylinder according as the lid is more or less tightly screwed down by thumb-screws. This leather will also intercept in its way any filth which may arise from the depôt of ink before it can reach the cylinder: and which, when accumulated, may, by unscrewing the lid and throwing it open, as in the figure, be instantly scraped away with one stroke of the knife; and no further waste of the ink incurred. No part of the ink in this apparatus is exposed when the lid is down: and only a very small portion of the cylinder at the time of working.”

A wooden table after the pattern of Foster’s apparatus is now generally used, the top is covered with lead on which the ink is distributed on the rollers; the stage on which the ink is taken is not raised more than about a quarter of an inch, and at the two back corners are two recesses, one for the supply of ink, and the other for the brayer, when not in use. _See_ ROLLERS.

INNER FORM.

The form that has the second page in it; it is always worked before the outer form, except there be some particular reason to the contrary. _See_ LAY ON.

INNER TYMPAN.

A frame covered with parchment, which fits into the outer tympan; two flat points slip under the head-band of the outer tympan, which secure that end in its place; and the sides are kept down by two hooks on each side of the outer tympan which turn into eyes screwed into the sides of the inner tympan; in iron presses the hooks turn round studs, under the heads.

IN PAGE. _See_ OUT PAGE.

INSERTION.

If the compositor have left out words or lines, the corrector inserts it, and makes this mark ‸ where it is left out, which is called the mark for insertion.--_M._ This is now called an “Out;” an insertion is when the author makes any addition in the proof sent to him.

INSET.

The same as offcut: with printers it is called an offcut; when the work comes into the hands of the bookbinder, and the sheets are folded, it then becomes an inset, being inserted in the middle of the sheet, to complete the regular succession of pages.

INSIDE QUIRES.

The regular and perfect quires of paper, of twenty-four good sheets each; they are thus designated to distinguish them from the outside or corded quires.

INTERROGATION. _See_ PUNCTUATION.

INSOLVENT DEBTORS.

1 & 2 Vict. c. 110. “An Act for abolishing Arrest on Mesne
Process in Civil Actions, except in certain Cases; for extending
any Remedies of Creditors against the Property of Debtors; and
for amending the Laws for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors in
_England_.”

s. 115. “And be it enacted, That the Sum of Three Shillings,
and no more, shall be paid to any Printer or Proprietor of any
Newspaper for the Insertion of any Advertisement by this Act
directed to be inserted in any Newspaper; and all Printers and
Proprietors of Newspapers are hereby required to insert the same,
on Payment of the said Sum of Three Shillings for the Insertion
thereof, in such Form as the said Court or any Commissioner
thereof shall from Time to Time direct.

s. 116. “And be it enacted, That no Letter of Attorney,
Affidavit, Certificate, or other Proceeding, Instrument, or
Writing whatsoever, before or under any Order of any Commissioner
thereof, or before any Justice or Justices of the Peace acting
in the Execution of this Act, nor any Copy thereof, nor any
Advertisement inserted in any Newspaper by the Direction of the
said Court, relating to Matters within the Jurisdiction of the
said Court, shall be liable to or chargeable or charged with the
Payment of any Stamp or other Duty whatsoever; and that no Sale
of any Real or Personal Estate of any such Prisoner as aforesaid
for the Benefit of his or her Creditors, under this Act, shall be
liable to any Auction Duty.”

Upon a representation made in the House of Commons, that s. 115.
bore hard on the proprietors of newspapers, it was modified by
the Act of 2 & 3 Vict. c. 39. intituled, “An Act to amend an Act
passed in the last Session of Parliament, for abolishing Arrest
on Mesne Process in Civil Actions except in certain Cases, for
extending the Remedies of Creditors against the Property of
Debtors, and for amending the Laws for the Relief of Insolvent
Debtors in _England_.

s. 1. “Whereas by an Act passed in the last Session of
Parliament, intituled, ‘An Act for abolishing Arrest on Mesne
Process in Civil Actions except in certain Cases, for extending
the Remedies of Creditors against the Property of Debtors, and
for amending the Laws for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors in
_England_,’ it was amongst other things enacted, that the Sum
of Three Shilling and no more shall be paid to any Printer or
Proprietor of a Newspaper for the Insertion of any Advertisement
by that Act directed to be inserted in any Newspaper, and all
Printers and Proprietors of Newspapers were thereby required to
insert the same, on Payment of the said Sum of Three Shillings
for the Insertion thereof, in such Form as the Court for the
Relief of Insolvent Debtors, or any Commissioner thereof, should
from Time to Time direct: And whereas it is just and expedient
that the said Act should be altered and amended as herein-after
mentioned: Be it therefore enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent
Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords
Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament
assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That so much of the
said Act as is herein-before recited shall be and the same is
hereby repealed; and that from and after the passing of this Act,
all Printers and Proprietors of Newspapers shall and are hereby
required to insert any Advertisement or Advertisements by the
said recited Act directed to be inserted in any Newspaper, on
Payment of a reasonable Compensation for the Insertion thereof,
in such Form as the said Court, or any Commissioner thereof,
shall from Time to Time direct.”

_Insolvent Debtors, Ireland._ 3 & 4 Vict. c. 107. “An Act to
continue and amend the Laws for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors
in _Ireland_.

s. 101. “And be it enacted, That all Printers and Proprietors
of Newspapers shall and they are hereby required to insert
any Advertisement or Advertisements by this Act directed to
be inserted in any Newspaper, on Payment of such reasonable
Compensation for the Insertion thereof, and in such Form, as the
said Court, or any Commissioner thereof, shall from Time to Time
direct.

s. 102. “And be it enacted, That no Letter of Attorney,
Affidavit, Certificate, or other Proceeding, Instrument, or
Writing whatsoever, before or under any Order of the said Court,
or before or under any Order of any Commissioner thereof, nor
any Copy thereof, nor an Advertisement inserted in any Newspaper
by the Direction of the said Court or a Commissioner thereof,
or the Chief Clerk of the said Court, relating to Matters
within the Jurisdiction of the said Court, shall be liable to
or chargeable or charged with the Payment of any Stamp or other
Duty whatsoever; and that no Sale of any Real or Personal Estate
of any such Prisoner as aforesaid for the Benefit of his or her
Creditors, under this Act, shall be liable to any Auction Duty.”

IRISH.

“Mr. Innes, in his Essay on the Antiquities of Scotland and Ireland, delivers it as his opinion, that the _Beth Louis Nion_, or alphabet of the Irish, was nothing but an invention of the Irish Seanachies, who, since they received the use of Letters, put the Latin alphabet into a new arbitrary order, and assigned to each letter a name of some _Tree_; and that this was not a genuine alphabet of the Irish in ancient times, or peculiar to them; but was a bare inversion of the Latin alphabet.

“Colonel Vallancey, (in his Irish Grammar,) gives three different alphabets of the Irish language, which vary from each other in name, order, and number; the first consists of twenty-five letters, the second of twenty-six, and the last of seventeen. As for the Irish letters being different in power from those of other nations, it must be observed, that the powers of letters differ in every language, and the mode of pronouncing the same letters is various in different countries: the Irish characters are said to be of Asiatic original--granted.--But they appear to have been transmitted to the inhabitants of that country from those who had adopted the Roman letters.