Chapter XXVI: Part 26

s. 4. “Provided always, That nothing in this Act shall extend to
prohibit any Person from printing, copying, and publishing any
Lecture or Lectures which have or shall have been printed and
published with Leave of the Authors thereof or their Assignees,
and whereof the Time hath or shall have expired within which
the sole Right to print and publish the same is given by an Act
passed in the Eighth Year of the Reign of Queen _Anne_ [c. 19.],
intituled _An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by vesting
the Copies of printed Books in the Authors or Purchasers of such
Copies during the Times therein mentioned_, and by another Act
passed in the Fifty-fourth Year of the Reign of King _George_
the Third [c. 156.], intituled _An Act to amend the several Acts
for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the Copies and
Copyright of printed Books to the Authors of such Books, or their
Assigns_, or to any Lectures which have been printed or published
before the passing of this Act.

s. 5. “Provided further, That nothing in this Act shall extend to
any Lecture or Lectures, or the printing, copying, or publishing
any Lecture or Lectures, or Parts thereof, of the delivering of
which Notice in Writing shall not have been given to Two Justices
living within Five Miles from the Place where such Lecture
or Lectures shall be delivered Two Days at the least before
delivering the same, or to any Lecture or Lectures delivered in
any University or public School or College, or on any public
Foundation, or by any Individual in virtue of or according to any
Gift, Endowment, or Foundation; and that the Law relating thereto
shall remain the same as if this Act had not been passed.”

LETTER BOARD.

In Moxon’s time both the letter board and the paper board were made alike, similar to the present paper board; and he strongly recommended to have the board made of one piece, without a joint: they are now different from each other. The letter board is made of two deals, about an inch thick, and the smallest size allows a demy chase to lie upon it without hanging over the edges; the deals are joined together on the under side by two dovetailed tapering tongues inserted into dovetailed tapering grooves, the contrary way to each other; and these tongues project below the bottom, so as to serve as feet for the board, to a depth rather more than equal to the height of letter, and allow the board to be placed upon a bulk, or upon another letter board, upon which pages or small jobs are placed, without the bottom of the board touching the face of the type. If the boards shrink, or the joint opens, the aperture can be immediately closed up again, by striking the edges with a mallet, and driving the tongues up tight.

The usual sizes of letter boards in a printing office are Demy and Royal; but when works on larger paper are printed, it is necessary to have boards of a corresponding size. The Demy boards are 26 inches by 22; the Royal 30 inches by 26.

LETTER BRUSH.

A brush used in composing rooms, something like a polishing brush for shoes, but not quite so large; with which to brush dust off forms before they are taken to the proof press to have a proof pulled, and before they are taken into the press room to be worked. Every press ought also to have one, that if any dust, or particles of dirt, get upon the face of the letter, they may be brushed off.

LETTER FOUNDERS.

By the Act of the 39th of George 3. cap. 79. s. 25. it is
enacted, “That from and after the Expiration of Forty Days after
the passing of this Act, every Person carrying on the Business of
a Letter Founder, or Maker or Seller of Types for Printing, or
of Printing Presses, shall cause Notice of his or her Intention
to carry on such Business to be delivered to the Clerk of the
Peace of the County, Stewartry, Riding, Division, City, Borough,
Town, or Place, where such Person shall propose to carry on such
Business, or his Deputy, in the Form prescribed in the Schedule
to this Act annexed; and such Clerk of the Peace, or his Deputy,
shall, and he is hereby authorized and required thereupon to
grant a Certificate in the Form also prescribed in the said
Schedule, for which such Clerk of the Peace, or his Deputy,
shall receive a Fee of One Shilling, and no more, and shall file
such Notice, and transmit an attested Copy thereof to one of his
Majesty’s Principal Secretaries of State; and every Person who
shall, after the Expiration of the said Forty Days, carry on such
Business, or make or sell any Type for Printing, or Printing
Press, without having given such Notice, and obtained such
Certificate, shall forfeit and lose the Sum of Twenty Pounds.”

s. 26. “And be it further enacted, That every Person who shall
sell Types for Printing, or Printing Presses, as aforesaid, shall
keep a fair Account in Writing of all Persons to whom any such
Types or Presses shall be sold, and shall produce such Accounts
to any Justice of the Peace who shall require the same; and if
such Person shall neglect to keep such Account, or shall refuse
to produce the same to any such Justice, on Demand in Writing to
inspect the same, such Person shall forfeit and lose, for such
Offence, the Sum of Twenty Pounds.” _See_ CERTIFICATE.

Forms.

“VI. FORM _of Notice to the Clerk of the Peace, that any Person
carries on the Business of a Letter Founder, or Maker or Seller
of Types for Printing, or of Printing Presses_.

To the Clerk of the Peace for [_as the Case may be_], or his
Deputy.

I _A. B._ of ______ do hereby declare, That I intend to carry
on the Business of a Letter Founder or Maker or Seller of Types
for Printing, _or_ of Printing Presses [_as the Case may be_],
at ______ and I hereby require this Notice to be entered in
pursuance of an Act, passed in the Thirty-ninth Year of the Reign
of his Majesty King _George_ the Third, [_set forth the Title of
the Act_].

Signed in the Presence }
of ________________ }

“VII. FORM _of Certificate that the above Notice has been given_.

I _G. H._ Clerk [_or_ Deputy Clerk] of the Peace for [_as the
Case may be_], do hereby certify, That _A. B._ of ______ hath
delivered to me a Notice in Writing, appearing to be signed
by him, and attested by _E. F._ as a Witness to his signing
the same, that he intends to carry on the Business of a Letter
Founder, or Maker or Seller of Types for Printing, _or_ of
Printing Presses, at ______ and which Notice he has required to
be entered in pursuance of an Act of the Thirty-ninth Year of his
Majesty King _George_ the Third, [_set forth the Title of the
Act_].

Witness my Hand, this ______ Day of ______.”

LETTER HANGS.

If the compositor has been careless in emptying his composing stick, so as to set the letter loosely down in the galley, and they stand not perfectly square and upright, the _Letter Hangs_: or if after overrunning on the correcting stone he has not set his letter in a square position again, before he locks up (for we may suppose when the pages are opened the letter stands loose, and more or less out of square), so then, the matter standing thus out of square, is said to _Hang_.--_M._

LIBELS,

_blasphemous and seditious_. Act 60 Geo. 3. cap. 8.--_For the
more effectual Prevention and Punishment of Blasphemous and
Seditious Libels._

Commences by declaring that it is expedient to make more
effectual provision for the punishment of blasphemous and
seditious libels; and then proceeds to enact, “That from and
after the passing of the Act, in every Case in which any Verdict
or Judgment by default shall be had against any Person for
composing, printing, or publishing any blasphemous Libel, or any
seditious Libel, tending to bring into hatred or contempt the
Person of His Majesty, his Heirs or Successors, or the Regent,
or the Government and Constitution of the United Kingdom as by
Law established, or either House of Parliament, or to excite His
Majesty’s Subjects to attempt the Alteration of any Matter in
Church or State as by Law established, otherwise than by lawful
Means, it shall be lawful for the Judge, or the Court before whom
or in which such Verdict shall have been given, or the Court in
which such Judgment by default shall be had, to make an Order
for the Seizure and carrying away and detaining in safe Custody,
in such Manner as shall be directed in such Order, all Copies
of the Libel which shall be in the Possession of the Person
against whom such Verdict or Judgment shall have been had, or
in the Possession of any other Person named in the Order for
his Use; Evidence upon Oath having been previously given to the
Satisfaction of such Court or Judge, that a Copy or Copies of
the said Libel is or are in the Possession of such other Person
for the Use of the Person against whom such Verdict or Judgment
shall have been had as aforesaid; and in every such Case it shall
be lawful for any Justice of the Peace, or for any Constable
or other Peace-officer acting under any such Order, or for any
Person or Persons acting with or in aid of any such Justice of
the Peace, Constable, or other Peace-officer, to search for any
Copies of such Libel in any House, Building, or other Place
whatsoever belonging to the Person against whom any such Verdict
or Judgment shall have been had, or to any other Person so named,
in whose Possession any Copies of any such Libel, belonging to
the Person against whom any such Verdict or Judgment shall have
been had, shall be; and in case Admission shall be refused or not
obtained within a reasonable Time after it shall have been first
demanded, to enter by force by Day into any such House, Building,
or Place whatsoever, and to carry away all Copies of the Libel
there found, and to detain the same in safe Custody until the
same shall be restored under the Provisions of this Act, or
disposed of according to any further Order made in relation
thereto.

s. 2. “That if in any such Case as aforesaid Judgment shall be
arrested, or if, after Judgment shall have been entered, the
same shall be reversed upon any Writ of Error, all Copies so
seized shall be forthwith returned to the Person or Persons from
whom the same shall have been so taken as aforesaid, free of all
Charge and Expence, and without the Payment of any Fees whatever;
and in every Case in which final Judgment shall be entered upon
the Verdict so found against the Person or Persons charged with
having composed, printed, or published such Libel, then all
Copies so seized shall be disposed of as the Court in which such
Judgment shall be given shall order and direct.

s. 3. “Provided that in Scotland, in every Case in which any
Person or Persons shall be found Guilty before the Court of
Justiciary, of composing, printing, or publishing any blasphemous
or seditious Libel, or where Sentence of Fugitation shall have
been pronounced against any Person or Persons, in consequence
of their failing to appear to answer to any Indictment charging
them with having composed, printed, or published any such Libel,
then and in either of such Cases, it shall and may be lawful for
the said Court to make an Order for the Seizure, carrying away,
and detaining in safe Custody, all Copies of the Libel in the
Possession of any such Person or Persons, or in the Possession of
any other Person or Persons named in such Order, for his or their
Use, Evidence upon Oath having been previously given to the
Satisfaction of such Court or Judge, that a Copy or Copies of the
said Libel is or are in the Possession of such other Person for
the Use of the Person against whom such Verdict or Judgment shall
have been had as aforesaid; and every such Order so made shall
and may be carried into effect, in such and the same Manner as
any Order made by the Court of Justiciary, or any Circuit Court
of Justiciary, may be carried into effect according to the Law
and Practice of Scotland: Provided always, that in the Event of
any Person or Persons being reponed against any such Sentence of
Fugitation, and being thereafter acquitted, all Copies so seized
shall be forthwith returned to the Person or Persons from whom
the same shall have been so taken as aforesaid; and in all other
Cases, the Copies so seized shall be disposed of in such Manner
as the said Court may direct.

s. 4. “That if any Person shall be legally convicted of having,
after the passing of this Act, composed, printed, or published
any blasphemous Libel, or any such seditious Libel as aforesaid,
and shall, after being so convicted, offend a second Time, and
be thereof legally convicted before any Commission of Oyer
and Terminer or Gaol Delivery, or in His Majesty’s Court of
King’s-bench, such Person may, on such second Conviction, be
adjudged, at the Discretion of the Court, either to suffer such
Punishment as may now by Law be inflicted in Cases of high
Misdemeanors, or to be banished from the United Kingdom, and all
other Parts of His Majesty’s Dominions, for such Term of Years as
the Court in which such Conviction shall take place shall order.

s. 5. “That in case any Person so sentenced and ordered to be
banished as aforesaid, shall not depart from this United Kingdom
within Thirty Days after the pronouncing of such Sentence and
Order as aforesaid, for the Purpose of going into such Banishment
as aforesaid, it shall and may be lawful to and for His Majesty
to convey such Person to such Parts out of the Dominions of His
said Majesty, as His Majesty by and with the Advice of his Privy
Council shall direct.

s. 6. “That if any Offender, who shall be so ordered by any such
Court as aforesaid to be banished in manner aforesaid shall,
after the End of Forty Days from the Time such Sentence and
Order hath been pronounced, be at large within any Part of the
United Kingdom, or any other Part of His Majesty’s Dominions,
without some lawful Cause, before the Expiration of the Term for
which such Offender shall have been so ordered to be banished as
aforesaid, every such Offender being so at large as aforesaid,
being thereof lawfully convicted, shall be transported to such
Place as shall be appointed by His Majesty for any Term not
exceeding Fourteen Years; and such Offender may be tried, either
before any Justices of Assize, Oyer and Terminer, Great Sessions,
or Gaol Delivery, for the County, City, Liberty, Borough, or
Place where such Offender shall be apprehended and taken, or
where he or she was sentenced to Banishment; and the Clerk of
Assize, Clerk of the Peace, or other Clerk or Officer of the
Court having the Custody of the Records where such Order of
Banishment shall have been made, shall, when thereunto required
on His Majesty’s Behalf, make out and give a Certificate in
Writing, signed by him, containing the Effect and Substance only
(omitting the formal Part) of every Indictment and Conviction of
such Offender, and of the Order for his or her Banishment, to
the Justices of Assize, Oyer and Terminer, Great Sessions, or
Gaol Delivery, where such Offender shall be indicted, for which
Certificate Six Shillings and Eight Pence, and no more, shall
be paid, and which Certificate shall be sufficient Proof of the
Conviction and Order for Banishment of any such Offender.”

The remaining clauses relate to the mode of proceeding in case of
former conviction, limitation of actions, &c.

11 G. 4. & 1 W. 4. c. 73. “An act to repeal so much of an Act of
the Sixtieth Year of His late Majesty King _George_ the Third,
for the more effectual Prevention and Punishment of blasphemous
and seditious Libels, as relates to the Sentence of Banishment
for the Second Offence; and to provide some further Remedy
against the Abuse of publishing Libels.

“Whereas by an Act passed in the Sixtieth Year of the Reign of
His late Majesty King _George_ the Third, intituled _An Act for
the more effectual Prevention and Punishment of blasphemous
and seditious Libels_, it was amongst other things enacted,
that if any Person should, after the passing of that Act, be
legally convicted of having composed, printed, or published any
blasphemous Libel or any such seditious Libel as in the said
Act is before mentioned, and should after being so convicted
offend a second Time, and be thereof legally convicted before
any Commission of Oyer and Terminer, or Gaol Delivery, or in
His Majesty’s Court of King’s Bench, such Person might on such
second Conviction be adjudged, at the Discretion of the Court,
either to suffer such Punishment as might by Law be inflicted in
Cases of high Misdemeanour, or to be banished from the United
Kingdom and all other Parts of His Majesty’s Dominions for such
Term of Years as the Court in which such Conviction should take
place should order: And whereas it is expedient to repeal so
much of the said Act as relates to the Sentence of Banishment
for the Second Offence; 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 so
much and such Parts of the said Act as relate to the Sentence
of Banishment for the Second Offence be and the same is hereby
wholly repealed.”

It hath been ruled that the finding a libel on a bookseller’s shelf is a publication of it by the bookseller; and that it is no excuse to say that the servant took it into the shop without the master’s knowledge; for the law presumes the master to be acquainted with what the servant does. _Rex v. Dodd, 1 Sess. Cas. 33._--_Burn’s Justice of the Peace, vol. 3, p. 292, Art._ LIBEL. _See_ PUBLICATIONS, PERIODICAL.

LICENCE. _See_ PRINTING.

LIFT.

When a work is nearly completed, and perfect copies are required before the whole number can be worked off at press, it is customary when all the matter has been composed, and there is not convenience to lay every form on at a different press, to print short numbers of each, in order to make perfect books as soon as possible; thus, if there be 3000 copies of a work printing, 250 of each of the few last sheets may be worked, and when the pressmen have printed this number of one form and taken it off the press for the purpose of laying on another form, it is said they lift, or, they have lifted. This frequently takes place in periodical works, such as magazines, reviews, &c.; and also occasionally when a superior proof is wanted, or two or three copies of any thing particular are required, that will not admit of waiting till a press is off with its regular number: in these latter instances, the pressmen endeavour to pull them without the tympans, with a few sheets of proof paper over the form, that they may not disturb their overlays and making ready; and they mark the quoins which secured their form on the press, that they may replace it exactly in its situation with as little waste of time and paper as possible.

In the warehouse, each separate portion of printed paper, whether it consists of five or six sheets or more, that is placed upon the poles to dry, is termed a lift.

LIGATURES.

Two or more letters joined together, and cast on the same shank, are in a printing office called _Ligatures_.

The ligatures now used are few in number, having been reduced to æ, ff, ffi, ffl, fi, fl, and œ; within the last thirty years we had, in addition, ct, as also ſb, ſh, ſi, ſk, ſl, ſſ, and ſt, which are now discarded, in consequence of our confining ourselves entirely to the s. In the leaf of an old book, _De vita & gestis Scanderbegi_, now lying before me, there are the following additional ones,--_as_, _at_, _cta_, _et_, _es_, _ius_, _is_, _ij_, _iu_, _ll_, _ns_, _st_, _ſs_, _ſp_, _ta_, and _us_.

I do not think it was an improvement to change the shape of the &, which, till the alteration, was really a ligature, being _e_ and _t_ joined together; the modern character has no meaning in it, neither the Roman & nor the Italic _&_.

Earl Stanhope proposed to abolish the present ligatures, by making the f more upright without being kerned, so as to admit an i, an l, or another f after it, and to introduce other ligatures, or, as he termed them, ‘logotypes,’ that more frequently occur, viz. th, in, an, re, se, to, of, and on.

Smith, in his Printer’s Grammar, says that Mr. Caslon introduced the ſb and the ſk.--_See_ BILL, LOGOTYPE.

LIGHT WORK. _See_ Easy Work.--_M._ Also GOOD WORK.

LINES. _See_ COMPANIONSHIP.

LITERAL ERRORS.

By literal errors in printing, are understood the mistakes of the compositors in single letters only, viz. the taking up a wrong letter, or inverting a right letter; the term is never applied to either outs or doubles.

LITERARY PROPERTY.

The Libraries which are entitled to claim copies of new publications under the act of 6 & 7 W. 4. c. 110. are--

1. The King’s Library, since transferred to the British Museum.

2. The Library of the University of Oxford, commonly called the Bodleian.

3. The Library of the University of Cambridge.

4. The Library of the Faculty of Advocates at Edinburgh.

5. The Library of the College of the Holy Trinity in Dublin.

The two English Universities have the following privileges:--

1. The copyright in all works bequeathed to, or acquired by them, is vested in them in perpetuity, so long as the works are printed at their own presses.

2. They have (in common with the King’s Printers in England, Scotland, and Ireland,) the exclusive privilege of printing Bibles and Prayer Books; and an exemption from the duty on paper used for them.

[The Bibles and Prayer Books printed in Scotland and Ireland, are not allowed to be sold in England.]

3. They have the same privilege (in common with the King’s Printer in England) of printing the Statutes of the Realm.

4. They have an exemption from the duty on paper used in books for the purposes of classical instruction, and in all works in the learned languages, printed at their presses.

5. They have 500_l._ per annum paid to each of them by the nation, for the purpose of enabling them to assist poor scholars and fellows in printing their works.

The four Universities of Scotland, and Trinity College, Dublin, have the same advantage with respect to the perpetuity of their copyrights as the English Universities have.--(The printing of Bibles and Prayer Books, in both these countries, appears to be exclusively the right of the King’s Printer.) They have also an exemption from the duty on paper used in all works of classical instruction, and in the learned languages, printed at their presses.--The Scotch Universities do not appear to have ever made use of this privilege in the manner that Oxford and Cambridge have done; but by naming some individual as _Printer to the University_, have communicated to him the advantage derived from it.

LOCKING UP.

The tightening of the quoins round a form with the mallet and shooting stick, to enable the compositor to lift it from the imposing stone, and that it may be moved about without the types or the furniture being displaced by such moving; as also that the form may be secure when working at press, so that the types do not draw out with beating. _See_ IMPOSING.

LOGOTYPE.

Two, or more, letters cast in one piece. There have been several attempts to introduce such short words, terminations, and prefixes, as are of frequent occurrence, cast in one piece, but they have never succeeded. _See_ LIGATURES.

LONG CROSS.

The cross that divides the chase the longest way; it is also the narrowest.

LONG PRIMER.

The name of a type, one size larger than Bourgeois, and one smaller than Small Pica. _See_ TYPES.

LONG PULL. _See_ EASY PULL.--_M._

LOOSE JUSTIFYING.--_M._

To space a line or lines in a composing stick so that they shall not be tight; also to place wood cuts, or any other matter, in a page, so that they shall not be fast when locked up.

LORD’S DAY, PUBLIC MEETING ON THE. _See_ PUBLIC MEETINGS.

LOST PROPERTY. _See_ STOLEN PROPERTY.

LOTTERIES.

6 & 7 Will. 4. c. 66. “An Act to prevent the advertising of
Foreign and other illegal Lotteries.

“Whereas the Laws in force are insufficient to prevent the
advertising of Foreign and other illegal Lotteries in this
Kingdom, and it is expedient to make further Provision for that
Purpose: 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 from and after
the passing of this Act, if any Person shall print or publish,
or cause to be printed or published, any Advertisement or other
Notice of or relating to the drawing or intended drawing of any
Foreign Lottery, or of any Lottery or Lotteries not authorized by
some Act or Acts of Parliament, or if any Person shall print or
publish, or cause to be printed or published, any Advertisement
or other Notice of or for the Sale of any Ticket or Tickets,
Chance or Chances, or of any Share or Shares of any Ticket or
Tickets, Chance or Chances of or in any such Lottery or Lotteries
as aforesaid, or any Advertisement or Notice concerning or in
any Manner relating to any such Lottery or Lotteries, or any
Ticket, Chance, or Share, Tickets, Chances, or Shares thereof or
therein, every Person so offending shall for every such Offence
forfeit the Sum of Fifty Pounds, to be recovered, with full
Costs of Suit, by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint, or Information
in any of His Majesty’s Courts of Record in _Westminster_ or
_Dublin_ respectively, or in the Court of Session in _Scotland_;
one Moiety thereof to the use of His Majesty, His Heirs and
Successors, and the other Moiety thereof to the Use of the Person
who shall inform or sue for the same.”

LOW CASE.

When the compositor has composed almost all his letters out of his case, he says his _Case is Low_.--_M._

LOWER CASE.

The case in which the small letters of an alphabet, the spaces, and quadrats are laid; it is placed upon the frame immediately below the fore edge of the upper case. _See_ CASE.

LUG.

When balls stick together in distributing they are said to lug; they then diffuse the ink more equally and thinly on the surface, and make better work: they also retain on their surface particles of dust, or other small substances, and do not part with them to the letter in the form, which is a great advantage. Composition Balls, when too soft, will lug so much in distributing as to tear the composition and spoil the ball; when this is the case, they require to be placed in a dry situation for a short time, and exposed to a draught of air, which evaporates the superfluous moisture, and brings them into good condition; when time cannot be allowed for this mode of cure, sponging the surface with spirits of turpentine will promote the evaporation, and be of great service. _See_ FLARING BALLS.

LYE.

The lye used for the purpose of cleaning a form is a solution of alkali in water; it ought to be made of the best pearl ash. The usual proportion is one pound of pearl ash to a gallon of soft water; it should be stirred up with a stick till the alkali dissolves, which soon takes place. It is generally kept in a large jar, with a cover to it, which some master printers lock; but more frequently the cover is loose for the pressmen to have free access to it; the cover should however be kept on, to prevent dust and dirt getting into the jar.

If hard water be used, it will require a greater quantity of pearl ash; as the acid in the water will combine with some of the alkali to neutralise it, which of course will have the effect of making the lye weaker than if soft water, with which there is no such combination, had been used.

An intelligent pressman once informed me, that in the country he had frequently made lye, by boiling together a peck of wood ashes and nearly a quarter of a peck of quicklime, in a pailful and a half of soft water, and afterwards straining the decoction for use.

This is, in fact, soap lye, which is made caustic by the quicklime: lye from the soap boilers has indeed of late years been used by many master printers in the metropolis; but it requires to be kept constantly covered in order to exclude the air, which, when the lye is exposed, combines with it and renders it mild, thus destroying its power. I have always found that this lye affects the hands and makes them sore, as if chapped, when washed in it to take off ink.

In the choice of pearl ash the following table, from Vauquelin, may be found useful, which shows all the substances contained in six kinds of potash.

+------------------------+------+--------+-------+---------+----------+
| | |Sulphate|Muriate| | Carbonic |
| | Real | of | of |Insoluble| Acid |
| |Potash| Potash |Potash |Residuum |and Water |
+------------------------+------+--------+-------+---------+----------+
| 1152 of Russian Potash | 772 | 65 | 5 | 56 | 254=1152 |
| 1152 of American Potash| 857 | 154 | 20 | 2 | 119=1152 |
| 1152 of Pearl Ash | 754 | 80 | 4 | 6 | 308=1152 |
| 1152 of Treves Potash | 720 | 165 | 44 | 24 | 199=1152 |
| 1152 of Dantzic Potash | 603 | 152 | 14 | 79 | 304=1152 |
| 1152 of Vosges Potash | 444 | 148 | 510 | 34 | 304=1152 |
+------------------------+------+--------+-------+---------+----------+

There is evidently an error in this statement as to the component parts of the last article, the Vosges potash, which appears to be with respect to the quantity of the muriate of potash; but the table shows that the American potash is by far the best, and the Dantzic potash the worst of the six analysed.

The following observations from _Kirwan on Manures_, may also be serviceable, particularly to printers who are so situated as to find it necessary to make their lye from the ashes of vegetables.

“Alkaline salts are of great importance in several arts, the proportion of ashes afforded by different vegetables, and that of alkali by the ashes of each sort of vegetable, has been accurately attended to: the following are the best authenticated results of the experiments made with this view.

“One thousand pounds of the following vegetables, perfectly dry, and burned in a clean chimney and open fire, afforded the quantity of ashes, and saline matter, exhibited in the annexed tables.

| Pounds | Pounds
One thousand Pounds. | of Ashes. | of Salt.
| |
Stalks of Turkey Wheat or Maize | 86·6 | 17·5
Ditto of Sunflower | 57·2 | 20·
Vine branches. | 34· | 5·5
Box | 29· | 2·26
Sallow | 28· | 2·85
Elm | 23·5 | 3·9
Oak | 13·5 | 1·5
Aspin. | 12·2 | 0·74
Beech. | 5·8 | 1·27
Fir | 3·4 | 0·45
Fern cut in August | 36·46 | 4·25 Home.
Wormwood | 97·44 | 73· Wiegleb.
Fumitory | 219· | 79· Id.

_Table of the Saline Products from one thousand Pounds of the Ashes of the following Vegetables._

Saline Products.

Stalks of Turkey Wheat or Maize 198_lbs._
Ditto of Sunflower 349
Vine branches 162·6
Elm 166
Box 78
Sallow 102
Oak 111
Aspin. 61
Beech. 219
Fir 132
Fern cut in August 116, or 125 according to Wildenheim.
Wormwood 748
Fumitory 360
Heath. 115 Wildenheim.

Thus though fumitory gives the greatest weight of saline product from a given weight of the dry vegetable, yet from a given weight of ashes wormwood produces above double the weight of saline matter.

In Yorkshire the women use the ashes of the ash tree to make a lye to scour their pewter dishes and plates, in preference to the ashes of any other wood; as this is the result of experience, I should be led to suppose that they contain a great proportional quantity of pearl ash.

LYE BRUSH.

The brush used with lye to remove the ink that adheres to the types, the furniture, and the chase, after a form has been worked off, as also after proofs have been pulled. It is about nine or ten inches long by three inches broad, and the hairs are nearly two inches long.

LYE TROUGH.

The lye trough is square and shallow, lined with lead, and its upper edge is bound with iron to preserve it from injury, which would otherwise arise from concussion when a form is lifted into it; there is also a loose board laid in it for the protection of the bottom. It is suspended on a frame by two centres, as here represented.

There is always some lye kept in this trough; and when a form has been worked off, it is laid in it, and the ink is brushed from the face of the letter, the furniture, and chase with the lye, previous to rinsing it with water. It is usually made capable of containing a royal chase.

M.

MACHINES.

Cylindrical printing, or, as it is generally termed, Machine printing, is a new mode of obtaining impressions from types, the introduction of which took place in the year 1814. It has caused a great revolution in the art, from the facilities which it affords for printing sheets of paper of a size of which no press worked by manual labour is capable, nor, were it capable, is the strength of one man equal to the exertion requisite for the pressure necessary to produce a respectable impression. In addition to this advantage of printing sheets of such larger dimensions, it possesses the power of multiplying impressions so rapidly as to appear like the work of magic. This may seem hyperbolical; but the average rate of working at a press for common work, that is the general run of book work, with two men, one to ink the types, and the other to work the press, is but 250 copies an hour, while a machine will produce 1,250 copies in the same time; and considerably more might be obtained, were not its powers restrained by the limited human means of feeding it with paper, it being found by experience that the number stated is the extent to which one person could supply it, he having regard to laying on the sheets evenly, so as to preserve a regular margin: but this speed was not deemed sufficient to meet the wants that were felt, and the Times newspaper is now printed at a machine where the paper is laid on at four places, one form of which, consisting of four pages, is printed at the astonishing rate of 4,320 an hour at its ordinary rate of working, a fact which I have seen and ascertained myself, by counting its motions with a seconds watch in my hand. Mr. Richard Taylor has also a similar Machine at which the Weekly Dispatch is printed. Considering what has been done, I cannot see a reason why the paper should not be supplied at six or eight places, if found necessary, so as to increase the number printed to 6,000 or 8,000 in an hour; as the wonder ceases when we remember that steam is the moving power. Of the comparative merits of the Machine and the Press I shall speak subsequently.

As the details of the invention are not generally known, I will give some account of them, letting the parties speak for themselves, so far as I have been able to procure their own statements. The first is the Specification of the Patent granted to Mr. William Nicholson; the next, Observations on the Art of Printing Books, &c., written by him, and published in his own Journal, which clearly describe the present machines and inking apparatus. This specification, and the other details, with the engravings, will render it unnecessary for me to enter into a lengthened description of these machines, or do more than merely state that the form is imposed in the usual manner, laid upon a horizontal table, which travels under a cylinder covered with woollen cloth, adjusted so as to have a proper bearing upon the types in order to produce an impression, and that the inking apparatus is at one end, consisting of small rollers, which take and distribute ink upon another table, for each impression, when the form in travelling passes under one of them to receive its coating of ink.

“Specification of the Patent granted to Mr. William Nicholson, of
New North-Street, Red Lion-Square; for a Machine or Instrument
for printing on Paper, Linen, Cotton, Woollen, and other
Articles, in a more neat, cheap, and accurate Manner, than is
effected by the Machines now in use. Dated April 29, 1790.

“To all to whom these presents shall come, &c. Now know ye that,
in compliance with the said proviso, I the said William Nicholson
do hereby declare, that my said invention is described in the
plan hereunto annexed, and the description thereof hereunder
written, and in manner following; that is to say, my invention
consists in three parts or particulars; namely, first, the
manner or method of making, preparing, or placing, the original
model, models, casts, types, engravings, carvings, or sculptures
from which the impression is to be made. Secondly, in applying
the ink, or colouring-matter, to such models, casts, types,
engravings, carvings, or sculptures. And, thirdly, in taking off
the impression, or transferring the ink, or colouring-matter,
from such models, casts, types, engravings, carvings, or
sculptures, to the paper, cloth, or other material upon which it
is intended it should remain.

“I. In the first place then, I not only avail myself of all the
methods of making, preparing, and placing, the original models,
casts, types, engravings, carvings, or sculptures which have
hitherto been known or used in printing, and do myself make use
of them in conjunction with my newly-invented method of applying
the ink, or colouring-matter, to such original models, casts,
types, engravings, carvings, or sculptures, and also with my
newly-invented method of taking off the impressions, but I do
likewise make, put together, and arrange them in a new manner, as
occasion may require; that is to say,

“II. I make my moulds, punches, and matrices, for casting
letters, in the same manner, and with the same materials, as
other letter-founders do, excepting that, instead of leaving
a space in the mould for the stem of one letter only, I leave
spaces for two, three, or more letters, to be cast at one pouring
of the metal; and at the lower extremity of each of those spaces
(which communicate by a common groove at top) I place a matrix,
or piece of copper with the letter punched upon its face in the
usual way. And moreover, I bring the stem of my letters to a due
form and finish, not only by rubbing it on a stone, and scraping
it when arranged in the finishing-stick, but likewise by scraping
it on one or more sides, in a finishing-stick whose hollowed part
is less deep at the inner than the outer side. I call that side
of the groove which is nearest the face of the disposed letter,
the outer side; and the purpose accomplished by this method of
scraping is, that of rendering the tail of the letter gradually
smaller the more remote it is, or farther from the face. Such
letter may be firmly imposed upon a cylindrical surface, in the
same manner as common letter is imposed upon a flat stone. I
specify and affirm that the above described methods of casting
two or more letters at once, and of chamfering or sloping their
tails, are parts of my new invention.

“III. I impose or dispose my letter for printing in the common
manner, to be used in conjunction with my newly-invented
improvements. And I likewise impose it in frames or chases
adapted to the surface of a cylinder of wood, or metal, and
fasten it to the said surface by screws, or wedges, or in
grooves, or by other methods well known to workmen; and this
imposing letter upon a cylinder I state and affirm to be part of
my new invention.

“IV. I cut, carve, engrave, chase, cast, model or make, (in the
usual manner of performing those operations,) blocks, forms,
plates, types, or originals, to be used for printing, either of
wood, metal, or other materials; and these I use in conjunction
with my other newly-invented improvements. I likewise, for other
kinds of work, do fasten with glue, cement, screws, wedges,
or by other known methods, such blocks, forms, plates, types,
or originals, as aforesaid, to the surface of a cylinder. I
likewise, for other kinds of work, do cut, carve, engrave, chase,
cast, model or make, blocks, forms, plates, types, or originals,
as aforesaid, of a cylindrical form, of wood, metal, or other
materials. And I state and affirm that this disposition of
blocks, forms, plates, types, or originals, upon a cylinder, and
also that the cutting, carving, engraving, chasing and casting,
modelling or making, blocks, plates, types, or originals, of a
cylindrical form, as aforesaid, are parts of my new invention.

“V. In the second place, I distribute or apply the ink, or
colouring-matter, upon the surface, or in the interstices, of
the blocks, forms, plates, types, or originals aforesaid, by
causing the surface of a cylinder, smeared or wetted with the
colouring-matter, to roll over, or successively apply itself
to, the surfaces of the said blocks, forms, plates, types, or
originals, of whatever figure or construction such blocks, forms,
plates, types, or originals, may be. Or else I cause the said
blocks, forms, plates, types, or originals, successively to apply
themselves to the said cylinder. I call the said smeared or
wetted cylinder, the colouring-cylinder. Its surface is covered
with leather, or the dressed skins which printers call pelts,
or else it is covered with woollen, or linen, or cotton cloth.
When the colour to be used is thin, as in calico-printing, and in
almost every case, the covering is supported by a firm elastic
stuffing, consisting of hair, or wool, or woollen cloth wrapped
one or more folds round the cylinder. When the covering consists
of woollen cloth, the stuffing must be defended by leather, or
oilskin, to prevent its imbibing too much colour, and by that
means losing its elasticity. It is absolutely necessary that the
colouring-matter be evenly distributed over the surface of the
cylinder; for this purpose, when the colour is thick and stiff,
as in letter-press printing, I apply two, three, or more small
cylinders, called distributing-rollers, longitudinally against
the colouring-cylinders, so that they may be turned by the motion
of the latter; and the effect of this application is, that every
lump or mass of colour which may be redundant, or irregularly
placed upon the face of the colouring-cylinder, will be pressed,
spread, and partly taken up, and carried by the small rollers
to the other parts of the colouring-cylinder; so that this last
will very speedily acquire and preserve an even face of colour.
But if the colouring-matter be thinner, I do not apply more than
one or two of these distributing rollers; and, if it be very
thin, I apply an even blunt edge of metal, or wood, or other
material, or a straight brush, or both of these last, against
the colouring-cylinder, for the purpose of rendering its colour
uniform.

“VI. When I apply colour to an engraved plate, or cylinder,
or apply the colour through the interstices of a perforated
pattern, or cylinder, as in the manufacturing of some kinds
of paper-hangings and floor-cloths, I use a cylinder entirely
covered with hair or bristles, in the manner of a brush.

“VII. The whole of the manipulations or practices described in
the two preceding paragraphs (numbers V. and VI.) are parts of my
invention.

“VIII. In the third place, I perform all my impressions by the
action of a cylinder or cylindrical surface; that is to say,
I cause the paper, or cloth, or other material intended to be
printed upon, (and previously damped if necessary,) to pass
between two cylinders, or segments of cylinders, in equal motion;
one of which has the block, form, plate, assemblage of types, or
originals, attached to, or forming part of, its surface, and the
other is faced with cloth or leather, and serves to press the
paper, cloth, or other material, as aforesaid, so as to take off
an impression of the colour previously applied. Or otherwise, I
cause the block, form, plate, assemblage of types, or originals,
previously coloured, to pass in close and successive pressure
or contact with the paper, or cloth, or other material, wrapped
round a cylinder with woollen. Or otherwise, I cause the last
mentioned cylinder, with the paper, or cloth, or other material
wrapped round it, to roll along the face of the block, form,
plate, assemblage of types, or originals, previously coloured.
Or otherwise, I cause a cylinder having the block, form, plate,
assemblage of types, or originals, attached to, or forming
part of, its surface, to roll along the surface of the paper,
cloth, or other material intended to be printed, and previously
spread out upon an even plane covered with cloth or leather;
the said cylinder being supplied with colour by means of a
colouring-cylinder herein before described, and herein after more
particularly to be noticed.

“IX. The foregoing description shews the nature of my invention;
which may be applied to a great variety of uses, and constructed
or put together in a great variety of forms. Its uses consist in
the printing of books in general, the printing of paper-hangings,
floor-cloths, cottons, linens, woollens, silks, ribands, laces,
leather, skin, and every other flexible material whatever.
And its form or construction, being no essential part of the
invention, may without difficulty be obtained and carried
into effect, by any workman possessed of common skill and
ability. Nevertheless, as there may be some artists of such a
moderate capacity as to find the foregoing instructions not
sufficient to enable them to construct my machines, I shall
proceed to exhibit drawings, and describe several methods of
constructing them. But, at the same time, I think it pertinent
to take notice, that as the following constructions cannot be
exclusively claimed by me by virtue of his Majesty’s letters
patent granted unto me, excepting so far as the same include or
contain my new improvements and inventions, so, on the other
hand, I do not exhibit the same as the only practical methods of
carrying my invention into effect, but I claim the general and
universal application of the principles discovered and brought
into practice by me, as before described; and do here proceed
to exhibit and describe certain specific applications of those
principles, chiefly from a conviction that it is my duty to
render this present specification clear and intelligible by
every means in my power. And moreover, since in the following
applications or particular methods there are, and may be found,
several contrivances resulting from a considerable degree of
deliberation, labour, and expence, and tending to facilitate the
practice of my said inventions, I do not by any means hereby
exclude the following descriptions and drawings from my present
specification; for I do not consider them as being merely
illustrative of the general principles herein before described
and explained, but do hereby assert and maintain, that all and
every parts and part of the machines herein after described,
which have not hitherto been used as parts of some other machine,
or in combination directed to the accomplishment of the like
purpose of printing, are stated and claimed by me as parts of my
said invention; for the exclusive enjoyment of which, as well
as of every other part of the said invention hereby specified
by me, I claim all protection and every advantage which, by his
Majesty’s letters patent, I may lawfully be entitled to.

“EXPLANATION OR THE ANNEXED DRAWINGS.

“Fig. 1. represents a printing-press, more especially applicable
to the printing of sheets of paper, or books. A. and E. represent
two cylinders running or turning in a strong frame of wood, of
metal, or both. The cylinder A. is faced with woollen cloth, and
is capable of being pressed with more or less force upon HI, by
means of the lever M. HI is a long table, which is capable of
moving endways, backwards and forwards, upon the rollers E and
K. The roller A acts upon this table by means of a cog-wheel,
or by straps, so as to draw it backwards and forwards by the
motion of its handle L. The table is kept in the same line by
grooves on its sides, which contain the cylinder A. D is a chase,
containing letter set up and imposed. B is a box, containing
a colouring-roller, with its distributing-rollers CC; it is
supported by the arm N. O is a cylinder faced with leather, and
lying across an ink-block; this cylinder is fixed by the middle
to a bended lever movable on the joint Q.

“_The action._ When D, or the letter, is drawn beneath the
cylinder B, it receives ink; and when it has passed into the
position R, a workman places or turns down a tympan with paper
upon it; (this tympan differs in no respect from the usual one,
except that its hinge opens sideways;) it then proceeds to pass
under the cylinder A, which presses it successively through its
whole surface. On the other side, at S, the workman takes off the
paper, and leaves the tympan up. This motion causes the cylinder
B to revolve continually, and consequently renders its inked
surface very uniform, by the action of its distributing-rollers
CC; and, when the table has passed to its extreme distance in
the direction now spoken of, the arm G touches the lever P, and
raises the cylinder O off the ink-block, by which means it dabs
against one of the distributing-rollers, and gives it a small
quantity of ink. The returning motion of the table carries the
letter again under the roller B, which again inks it, and the
process of printing another sheet goes on as before. N.B. The
table in this drawing is not quite long enough in its dimensions,
compared with the inking-roller.

“Fig. 2. is another printing-press: in this, B is the
inking-roller; A is a cylinder, having the letter imposed
upon its surface; and E is a cylinder, having its uniform
surface covered with woollen cloth: these three cylinders are
connected, either by cogs or straps at the edges of each. The
machine is uniformly turned in one direction by the handle L.
The workman applies a sheet of paper to the surface of E, where
it is retained, either by points in the usual manner, or by
the apparatus to be described in treating of Fig. 4. The paper
passes between E and A, and receives an impression; after which
the workman takes it off, and applies another sheet; and in the
mean time the letter on the surface of A passes round against
the surface of B, and receives ink during the rotation of B.
The distributing-rollers CC do their office as in the machine
Fig. 1.; and once in every revolution the tail F, affixed to B,
raises the inking-piece G, so as to cause it to touch one of
the distributing-rollers, and supply it with ink. In this way
therefore the repeated printing of sheet after sheet goes on.

“Fig. 3. is a printing-press, more particularly adapted to print
cottons, silks, paper-hangings, or other articles which run of a
considerable length.