Chapter XXXIII: Part 33

As the matter is composed it is taken, a galley at a time, by the printer, and made up into columns; a proof of the column is then pulled upon the galley by one of the compositors, who all take it in turn; it is then given to the reader; after being attentively read and corrected, it is returned to the compositors to make the corrections, who take it in turn, two and two; the column is divided into four, the first compositor takes the first and third parts, and the second takes the second and fourth parts, and he who is the last in making his corrections, pulls a second proof, which is carefully revised, and when the revise is corrected the matter is ready for the paper. It thus goes on column after column, till the whole paper is composed, when it often occurs that the arrival of foreign intelligence increases the quantity considerably; matter of less immediate interest is, in this instance, taken away, and kept as back matter for a future day, to make room for the latest intelligence.

If the first compositor has six or more lines to compose of copy that he has in hand, he must give it up, and begin to correct immediately; but if he has less than six lines of copy in hand, he finishes it before he commences correcting: this regulation is adopted to prevent any interruption or delay in the progress of getting the paper out.

The full hands take it in turn to correct the revises, lock up the forms, and take them to the machines to be worked off.

The advertisement department is not regulated after the same manner as the news department, there being no distinction of grades, nor any fixed salaries, nor is there any precise time of commencing work, the uncertainty as to the time of advertisements being received at the office rendering it an impossibility to appoint any regular hour for beginning. The compositors are paid by the galley, not according to the scale of prices fixed for morning papers, but more after the scale of evening papers. The method adopted in this part of the establishment in taking copy is the same as in other offices, the first out of copy taking first, and so on, and as the compositors come out of copy their numbers are placed on a slate, which prevents disputes or confusion. The compositor marks his copy by putting his initials at the back of it; so that if any gross error be committed, and remain uncorrected, a wrong number in a reference, for instance, it can immediately be ascertained who composed it, and either the reader or the compositor is held responsible for the advertisement duty, the proof deciding which is to pay the fine for negligence.

The salary of a full hand is 2_l._ 8_s._ per week, but the average earnings are 3_l._ 12_s._ 6_d._; the salary of a supernumerary is 1_l._ 3_s._ per week, and the average earnings are 3_l._; it often happens that much higher bills are written, but the above may be taken as a fair average.

The whole establishment of the Times newspaper, including editors, reporters, compositors, readers, engineer, overseers of the machines, persons to lay on, and to take off, clerks, &c. consists of one hundred and thirty-seven persons.

The following is the number of Stamps issued to four of the principal London morning newspapers in 1838 and 1839, and also the amount of advertisement duty paid by the said papers in each of the years 1837, 1838, and 1839, from official returns.

_Number of Stamps issued._

+------------------------+-----------+-----------+
| | 1838. | 1839. |
+------------------------+-----------+-----------+
| The Times | 3,355,000 | 3,650,000 |
| Morning Herald | 2,078,000 | 1,925,000 |
| Morning Chronicle | 2,200,000 | 2,075,000 |
| Morning Post | 797,000 | 875,500 |
+------------------------+-----------+-----------+

_Amount of Money paid by each Newspaper for Advertisement Duty._

+------------------------+-------------+-------------+--------------+
| | 1837. | 1838. | 1839. |
+------------------------+-------------+-------------+--------------+
| | _£ s. d._| _£ s. d._| _£ s. d._|
| The Times | 8,817 16 6 | 9,600 12 0 | 11,238 3 0 |
| Morning Herald | 5,217 12 0 | 4,263 0 0 | 4,796 9 6 |
| Morning Chronicle | 4,047 3 0 | 4,079 11 0 | 4,619 0 6 |
| Morning Post | 2,980 19 0 | 2,713 11 6 | 3,191 9 6 |
+------------------------+-------------+-------------+--------------+

_Number of Newspapers published in the United Kingdom. November, 1840._

ENGLAND.

_London._--Daily, 6 morning, 5 evening; twice a week, 3, including London Gazette; three times a week, 4; weekly, Monday, 2; Tuesday, 3; Wednesday, 4; Thursday, 2; Friday, 1; Saturday, 8; Sunday, 27; tenth of every month, 1; first and fifteenth of every month, 1. Total, 67.

_Country._--Bedfordshire, 1; Berkshire, 4; Buckinghamshire, 3; Cambridgeshire, 3; Cheshire, 6; Cornwall, 5; Cumberland, 4; Derbyshire, 4; Devonshire, 12; Dorsetshire, 3; Durham, 5; Essex, 5; Gloucestershire, 8; Hampshire, 4; Herefordshire, 2; Hertfordshire, 2; Kent, 13; Lancashire, 26; Leicestershire, 4; Lincolnshire, 5; Monmouthshire, 2; Norfolk, 2; Northamptonshire, 2; Northumberland, 6; Nottinghamshire, 3; Oxfordshire, 4; Shropshire, 6; Somersetshire, 14; Staffordshire, 5; Suffolk, 5; Surrey, there are no papers printed in this county, but there are 3 circulated by agents; Sussex, 6; Warwickshire, 9; Westmoreland, 2; Wiltshire, 5; Worcestershire, 5; Yorkshire, 28; Berwick-on-Tweed, 2. Total, 228.

_Wales._--9.

SCOTLAND.

_Edinburgh._--Twice a week, 6; three times a week, 2; weekly, 6. Total, 14.

Aberdeen, 4; Ayr, 3; Dumfries, 3; Dundee, 3; Elgin, 1; Fife, 2; Glasgow, 11; Greenock, 2; Inverness, 3; John O’Groat’s Journal, 1; Kelso, 2; Kilmarnock, 1; Montrose, 1; Paisley, 1; Perth, 4; Stirling, 2. Total, 44.

IRELAND.

_Dublin._--Daily, 3; twice a week, 2; three times a week, 6; weekly, 8. Total, 19.

Athlone, 1; Ballyshannon, 1; Belfast, 6; Carlow, 1; Clare, 1; Clonmel, 1; Connaught, 1; Cork, 3; Downpatrick, 1; Drogheda, 2; Enniskillen, 2; Fermanagh, 1; Galway, 1; Kerry, 2; Kilkenny, 2; Leinster, 2; Limerick, 3; Londonderry, 3; Mayo, 2; Munster, 1; Nenagh, 1; Newry, 2; Roscommon, 2; Sligo, 2; Tipperary, 2; Tuam, 1; Ulster, 1; Waterford, 4; Westmeath, 1; Wexford, 2. Total, 55.

BRITISH ISLANDS.

Guernsey, 3; Jersey, 7; Isle of Man, 4. Total, 14.

ABSTRACT.

ENGLAND:--
London 67
Country 228
Wales 9
--- 304

SCOTLAND:--
Edinburgh 14
Other parts of Scotland 44
--- 58

IRELAND:--
Dublin 19
Other parts of Ireland 55
--- 74

BRITISH ISLANDS 14
----
Total 450

_Newspaper Postage._--3 & 4 Vict. c. 96. “An Act for the
Regulation of the Duties of Postage.”

s. 1. “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 all Letters and
Newspapers and other printed Papers, which shall be posted in
any Town or Place within the United Kingdom, or shall be brought
from Parts beyond the Seas to any Port or Place within the
United Kingdom, or shall be sent by the Post between the United
Kingdom and Places beyond the Seas, or between any of the other
Places herein-after mentioned, or shall pass through the United
Kingdom, shall be subject to the several Regulations and Rates
herein-after contained.”

s. 12. “And be it enacted, That all Letters posted in any Town
or Place within the United Kingdom shall, if written on stamped
Paper or enclosed in stamped Covers, or having a Stamp or Stamps
affixed thereto, and all printed Votes and Proceedings of the
Imperial Parliament, and all Newspapers which shall be liable to
Postage under this Act, shall, if posted in any Town or Place
within the United Kingdom and enclosed in stamped Covers, or
having a Stamp or Stamps affixed thereto, (the Stamp or Stamps
in every such Case being affixed or appearing on the Outside,
and of the Value or Amount herein-after expressed and specially
provided under the Authority of this Act or of the said recited
Act, [2 & 3 Vict. c. 52.] and if the Stamp shall not have been
used before,) pass by the Post free of Postage, as herein-after
mentioned.”

“And on all such printed Votes and Proceedings of Parliament
and Newspapers the Stamp or Stamps shall be equal in Value
or Amount to the Rates of Postage to which such Votes or
Proceedings or Newspapers would have been liable under this Act:

“And that in all Cases in which the same shall be necessary,
in order to place on any such Letters, printed Votes or
Proceedings of Parliament, and Newspapers, the full Amount of
Stamps hereby required as aforesaid, there shall be affixed
thereto such a Number of Adhesive Stamps as alone or in
Combination with the Stamp on such Letters or Packets, or
on the Envelope or Cover thereof, will be equal in Amount to
the Rate of Postage to which such Letters, printed Votes or
Proceedings of Parliament, and Newspapers would be liable under
this Act.

s. 13. “And be it enacted, That in all Cases in which Letters
posted in and addressed to Places within the United Kingdom shall
be posted without any Stamp thereon, and without the Postage
being pre-paid, there shall be charged on such Letters a Postage
of Double the Amount to which such Letters would otherwise be
liable under this Act; and in all Cases in which printed Votes
or Proceedings of Parliament, or Newspapers liable to Postage
under this Act, shall be posted without any Stamp thereon, there
shall be charged on such Votes and Proceedings or Newspapers the
Postage to which the same would be liable under this Act.”

s. 16. “And be it enacted, That in all Cases in which any Votes
or Proceedings of Parliament, Newspapers, addressed to Places
within the United Kingdom, shall be posted, having thereon or
affixed thereto any Stamp or Stamps the Value or Amount of which
shall be less than the Rate of Postage to which such Votes or
Proceedings or Newspapers would be liable under this Act, there
shall be charged on such Votes or Proceedings or Newspapers a
Postage equal to the Amount of the Difference between the Value
of such Stamp or Stamps and the Postage to which such Votes or
Proceedings or Newspapers would be liable as aforesaid.

s. 17. “Provided always, and be it enacted, That it shall in all
Cases be optional with the Parties sending any Letters, printed
Votes or Proceedings of Parliament, or Newspapers, by the Post,
to forward the same free of Postage by means of a proper Stamp
or Stamps thereon or affixed thereto in manner herein-before
provided, or to forward the same in like Manner as the same might
otherwise have been forwarded under this Act; but nevertheless,
in case any Letters, printed Votes or Proceedings of Parliament,
or Newspapers, addressed to Places out of the United Kingdom,
shall have thereon or affixed thereto any Stamp or Stamps being
less in Amount or Value than the Rates of Postage to which such
Letters, or such Votes or Proceedings, or Newspapers, would be
liable under this Act, such Letters, printed Votes or Proceedings
of Parliament, or Newspapers, if the Postage thereon be required
by the Postmaster General under the Provisions of this Act to
be paid when posted, shall not in any Case be forwarded by the
Post, but shall, so far as may be practicable, be returned to
the Senders thereof through the Dead Letter Office; and if
the Postage on such Letters, printed Votes or Proceedings, or
Newspapers, be not so required to be paid when posted, the same
may be forwarded charged with such Postage as if no Stamp had
been thereon or affixed thereto.”

s. 32. “And be it enacted, That the Foreign Postage marked on
any Letter or Newspaper, or other printed Paper brought into the
United Kingdom, shall in all Courts of Justice and other Places
be received as conclusive Evidence of the Amount of Foreign
Postage payable in respect of such Letter, Newspaper, or other
printed Paper, in addition to the _British_ Postage; and such
Foreign Postage shall be recoverable within the United Kingdom
and other Her Majesty’s Dominions as Postage due to Her Majesty.”

s. 36. “And for encouraging Masters of Vessels, not being Post
Office Packets, to undertake the Conveyance of Letters; be it
enacted, That the Postmaster General may allow to Masters of
Vessels, on Letters and Newspapers conveyed by them for or on
behalf of the Post Office between Places within the United
Kingdom, a Sum not exceeding Two Shillings and Sixpence for each
and every Number of One hundred of such Letters and Newspapers,
and for any less Number in the like Proportion, and may allow to
the Masters of Vessels bound from the United Kingdom to the _East
Indies_ a Sum not exceeding One Penny for each Letter and One
Halfpenny for each Newspaper conveyed by them for or on behalf
of the Post Office, and may allow to the Masters of all other
Vessels a Sum not exceeding Two-pence for each Letter conveyed
by them for or on behalf of the Post Office from the United
Kingdom to Places beyond Sea, and may allow to the Masters of
all Vessels not exceeding Two-pence for each Letter brought into
the United Kingdom, which they shall deliver at the Post Office
at the first Port at which they touch or arrive, or with which
they communicate, (all which Gratuities may be paid at such Times
and Places, and under all such Regulations and Restrictions, as
the Postmaster General shall in his Discretion think fit); and
every Master of a Vessel outward-bound shall receive on board
his Vessel every Post Letter Bag tendered to him for Conveyance,
and having received the same shall deliver it, on his Arrival at
the Port or Place of his Destination, without Delay; and every
Master of a Vessel inward-bound shall cause all Letters on board
his Vessel (except those belonging to the Owners of the Vessel,
or of the Goods on board, which do not exceed the prescribed
Weights,) to be collected and enclosed in some Bag or other
Envelope, and to be sealed with his Seal, and to be addressed
to any of Her Majesty’s Deputy Postmasters, that they may be in
readiness to send on shore by his own Boat, or by the Pilot Boat,
or by any other safe or convenient Means, in order that the same
may be delivered at the first regular Post Office which can be
communicated with, and at the regular Port or Place where the
Vessel shall report, shall sign a Declaration in the Presence of
the Person authorized by the Postmaster General at such Port or
Place, who shall also sign the same.”

s. 42. “And be it enacted, That printed Newspapers may be
sent free of Postage, or liable to Postage according to the
Regulations and Rates herein-after set forth; (that is to say,)

PRINTED BRITISH NEWSPAPERS,

By the Post, from one Town or Place to another, within the
United Kingdom (except by private Ships), free:

By the Post of a Post Town, within the United Kingdom,
addressed to a Person within the Limits of that Place or its
Suburbs, One Penny each:

Between Places within the United Kingdom by private Ships, One
Penny each:

Between the United Kingdom and Her Majesty’s Colonies, as
follows:

By Packet Boats to any of Her Majesty’s Colonies and
Possessions beyond the Seas, (including the _East Indies_,
by Packet Boats from the United Kingdom, _viâ_ _Syria_ or
_Egypt_,) free:

By private Ships, One Penny each.

PRINTED COLONIAL NEWSPAPERS,

Brought from the Colonies to the United Kingdom by Packet
Boats, (including Newspapers from the _East Indies_, by Her
Majesty’s _Mediterranean_ Packet Boats,) whether directed to
a Place within the United Kingdom or to any of Her Majesty’s
Colonies beyond the Seas, to be forwarded from the United
Kingdom by Packet Boats, free:

Brought from the Colonies to the United Kingdom by private
Ships, addressed to Places within the United Kingdom, and
delivered by the Master at the Post Office, One Penny each:

Sent by Packet Boat through the United Kingdom to a Foreign
State, (subject to the Consent of the Lords of the Treasury,)
free:

Newspapers between Foreign Countries and the United Kingdom, as
follows:

PRINTED BRITISH NEWSPAPERS,

Sent from the United Kingdom to any Foreign Port, either by
Packet Boats or private Ships, Two-pence each:

When _British_ Newspapers are allowed to pass by Post in a
Foreign Country free, then _British_ Newspapers addressed to
such Foreign Country may be transmitted to any Foreign Port by
Packet Boats, free:

If transmitted by private Ships, One Penny each.

PRINTED FOREIGN NEWSPAPERS,

Brought into the United Kingdom by Packet Boats or Private
Ships, Two-pence each:

If _British_ Newspapers are allowed to pass by Post free in a
Foreign Country, Newspapers printed in that Country brought by
Packet Boat to the United Kingdom, free:

If brought by private Vessels, One Penny each:

Foreign Newspapers sent by Packet Boat through the United
Kingdom to the Colonies (subject to the Consent of the
Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury), free.

s. 43. “And be it enacted, That although Newspapers may be sent
by the Post, and thereupon subject to the Rate of Postage set
forth in the above Table, it shall not be compulsory to send them
by Post.

s. 44. “And be it enacted, That no printed Paper, whether
Newspaper or Votes and Proceedings in Parliament, or of the
Colonial Legislature, shall be sent by the Post, either free
or at the aforesaid Rates of Postage, unless the following
Conditions shall be observed:

First, It shall be sent without a Cover, or in a Cover open at
the Sides.

Second, There shall be no Word or Communication printed on the
Paper after its Publication, or upon the Cover thereof, nor any
Writing or Marks upon it or upon the Cover of it, except the
Name and Address of the Person to whom sent.

Third, There shall be no Paper or Thing enclosed in or with any
such Paper.

Fourth, The said printed Papers shall be put into the
Post Office at such Hours in the Day, and under all such
Regulations, as the Postmaster General may appoint, including
therein the Payment of Postage on such as are going out of the
United Kingdom when put into the Post Office, if the Postmaster
General shall so require.

Fifth, All Foreign Newspapers brought into the United Kingdom
under this Act are to be printed in the Language of the
Country from which they shall have been forwarded, unless the
Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury shall in any Case
direct that any Foreign Newspapers shall be exempted from the
Restriction hereby imposed.

s. 45. “And be it enacted, That the Postmaster General may
examine any printed Paper or any Packet which shall be sent
by the Post, without a Cover or in a Cover open at the Sides,
in order to discover whether it is contrary in any respect
to the Conditions hereby required to be observed, or to any
Regulations which the Postmaster General, with the Consent of the
Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury, may from Time to Time
make in respect of any Paper or Packet of such a Description, and
also, in the Case of Newspapers, to ascertain in what Language
the Newspapers brought into the United Kingdom from any Foreign
Country shall be printed and published; and also in order to
discover whether the Newspapers printed and published in the
United Kingdom (excepting those printed in _Guernsey_, _Jersey_,
_Alderney_, _Sark_, or _Man_, which, for the Purposes of this
Act, are to be considered as Part of the United Kingdom) are duly
stamped; and in case any one of the required Conditions has not
been fulfilled, the whole of every such Paper or Packet shall
be charged with Treble the Duty of Postage to which it would
have been liable as a Letter, except as to Foreign Newspapers
not printed in the Language of the Country from which they shall
have been forwarded, which shall be charged with full Postage
as Letters; and as to every such printed Paper going out of the
United Kingdom, the Postmaster General may either detain the
Paper or forward the same by the Post, charged with Treble the
Duty of Postage to which it would have been liable as a Letter;
and in case a Newspaper printed in the United Kingdom (except as
aforesaid), and transmitted by the Post under this Act, shall
appear not to have been duly stamped, the same shall be stopped
and sent to the Commissioners of Stamps and Taxes.

s. 46. “And be it enacted, That in all Cases in which a Question
shall arise whether a printed Paper is entitled to the Privilege
of a Newspaper or other printed Paper hereby privileged, so far
as respects the Transmission thereof by the Post under the Post
Office Acts, the Question shall be referred to the Determination
of the Postmaster General, whose Decision, with the Concurrence
of the Lords of the Treasury, shall be final.

s. 47. “And for providing for the Transmission of Newspapers
between the United Kingdom and Foreign Countries free of Postage,
when satisfactory Proof shall be laid before the Postmaster
General that _British_ Newspapers addressed either to a Person
or to a Place within a Foreign Country, and also that Newspapers
addressed to a Person or a Place in the United Kingdom from such
Foreign Country, are respectively allowed to pass by the Post
within that Country free of Postage; be it enacted, That the
Postmaster General may, with the Consent of the Commissioners of
Her Majesty’s Treasury, transmit by the Post _British_ Newspapers
addressed to a Person or to a Place in such Foreign Country from
the United Kingdom, to any Port out of the United Kingdom, other
than Her Majesty’s Colonies and Possessions, free from Postage;
and he may, with the like Consent, receive from such Foreign
Country Foreign Newspapers free from Postage, or he may, with
the like Consent, charge for every Newspaper transmitted to or
received from a Foreign Country a Rate of Postage which he may
consider equivalent to the Rates of Postage payable in that
Country on Newspapers either transmitted from or received in that
Country, but in all Cases, whether the Newspaper be transmitted
free or otherwise, subject to a Sea Postage of One Penny, payable
on the Newspaper being put into the Post Office, for every
Newspaper delivered at the Post Office to be conveyed by Vessels
not being Post Office Packets, and also to a like Postage for
every Newspaper received by Vessels not Post Office Packets
addressed to a Person or to a Place within the United Kingdom.

s. 48. “And whereas by reason of the Postage which may be charged
on Newspapers in Foreign Countries, or from other Circumstances,
it may be expedient again to impose the Rates of Two-pence on
Newspapers; be it enacted, That the Postmaster General, with the
Consent of the Lords of the Treasury, may again charge and demand
the said respective Rates of Two-pence on Newspapers received
from and sent to any Foreign Country.

s. 49. “And be it enacted, That the Postmaster General, with the
Consent of the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury, may allow
Colonial Newspapers to pass by the Post between Places within
any of Her Majesty’s Colonies, or by Packet Boat or private Ship,
from one Colony to another Colony, whether through the United
Kingdom or not; and also allow Foreign Newspapers to pass through
the United Kingdom either to Her Majesty’s Colonies or from one
Foreign Country to another Foreign Country, by Packet Boat or
private Ship; and also allow _British_ Newspapers to be sent to
the Colonies through a Foreign Country, and Colonial Newspapers
to be sent through a Foreign Country to the United Kingdom,
or through the United Kingdom to a Foreign Country, free of
Postage, or subject to such Rates of Postage and under all such
Regulations and Restrictions as the Postmaster General, with such
Consent as aforesaid, may think fit.

s. 50. “And be it enacted, That every _British_ Newspaper sent
by the Post to Places out of the United Kingdom shall in all
Cases be put into a Post Office or Receiving Office in the United
Kingdom within Seven Days next after the Day on which the same
shall be published, the Day of Publication to be ascertained
by the Date of such Paper; and in case a Paper shall be put
into a Post Office after the Expiration of such Seven Days, the
Postmaster General may either detain the Paper, or forward it by
Post charged with full Postage as a Letter.

s. 51. “And be it enacted, That in case any Person to whom a
printed Newspaper brought into the United Kingdom shall be
directed shall have removed from the Place to which it shall
be directed, before the Delivery thereof at that Place, it may
(provided it shall not have been opened) be re-directed and
forwarded by Post to such Person at any other Place within the
United Kingdom free of Charge for such extra Conveyance; but
if the Newspaper shall have been opened, it shall be charged
with the same Rate as if it were a Letter from the Place of
Re-direction to the Place at which it shall be ultimately
delivered.

s. 52. “And be it enacted, That the Postmaster General may
allow the Masters of Vessels, other than Packet Boats, a Sum
not exceeding One Penny on every printed Newspaper, Foreign or
Colonial, brought into the United Kingdom from a Port or Place
out of the United Kingdom, and delivered by them at the Post
Office of the Post Town at which they shall touch or arrive, and
a Sum not exceeding One Penny on every printed Newspaper conveyed
by them for or on behalf of the Post Office from the United
Kingdom to any Port or Place out of the same, in respect of which
no Gratuity is herein-before authorized to be allowed.”

s. 57. “And be it enacted, That the Postmaster General may at
any Time hereafter charge, for the Use of Her Majesty, on all
Letters, Newspapers, and other printed Papers sent by the Post,
on which the Postage shall not be pre-paid, and which shall not
be duly and properly stamped, and also on all Letters sent by
the Post without being duly and properly stamped, although the
Postage thereon shall be wholly or in part pre-paid, such higher
Rates of Postage than would otherwise by Law be payable on such
Letters, Newspapers, or other printed Papers as the Commissioners
of Her Majesty’s Treasury by Warrant under their Hands shall from
Time to Time deem expedient, and may also remit any of the Rates
of _British_ Postage or Inland Postage for the Time being payable
by Law on the Transmission of Post Letters, Newspapers, or other
printed Papers, to such Extent as the Lords of the Treasury shall
from Time to Time direct.

s. 58. “And whereas Communications may from Time to Time be
opened with Foreign Post Offices, which may render an Alteration
in the Rates of Postage expedient; be it enacted, That it shall
be lawful for the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury from
Time to Time, and at any Time after the passing of this Act, by
Warrant under their Hands, to alter and fix any of the Rates
of _British_ Postage or Inland Postage payable by Law on the
Transmission by the Post of Foreign or Colonial Letters or
Newspapers, or of any other printed Papers, and to subject the
same to Rates of Postage according to the Weight thereof, and a
Scale of Weight to be contained in such Warrant, and from Time
to Time, by Warrant as aforesaid, to alter or repeal any such
altered Rates, and make and establish any new or other Rates in
lieu thereof, and from Time to Time, by Warrant as aforesaid,
to appoint at what Time the Rates which may be payable are to
be paid, and the Power hereby given to alter and fix Rates of
Postage shall extend to any Increase or Reduction, or Remission
of Postage.

s. 59. “And be it enacted, That the Rates of Postage from Time to
Time to become payable under or by virtue of any Warrant of the
Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury, under this Act, shall
be charged by and be paid to Her Majesty’s Postmaster General,
for the Use of Her Majesty, on all Post Letters, Newspapers, or
other printed Papers to which such Warrant shall extend; and that
in all Cases in which any Rates of Postage shall be made payable
under any such Warrant, every such Warrant shall be published
in the _London Gazette_, and shall, within Fourteen Days after
making the same, be laid before both Houses of Parliament (if
then sitting), or otherwise within Fourteen Days after Parliament
shall re-assemble; provided that any Rates made payable by any
such Warrant may be demanded and taken immediately after they
shall have been so published in the _London Gazette_, although
the same shall not then have been laid before Parliament.

s. 60. “And be it enacted, That in all Cases in which the Postage
of any unstamped Letter shall not have been paid by the Sender,
it shall be paid by the Person to whom the Letter is addressed on
the Delivery thereof to him; but if the Letter be refused, or the
Party to whom it is addressed shall be dead, or cannot be found,
the Writer or Sender shall pay the Postage; and this Enactment
shall apply to every Packet, Newspaper and Thing whatsoever
chargeable with Postage which shall be transmitted by the Post.

s. 61. “And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the
Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury to make any Reduction
or Increase or Alteration they may consider expedient in the
Gratuities allowed by this Act to Masters of Vessels for Letters
and Newspapers conveyed by them for or on behalf of the Post
Office, or delivered by them to the Post Office, and to allow
and authorize such Gratuities for the Conveyance of Letters
and Newspapers to Masters of Vessels passing to or from or
between any of Her Majesty’s Colonies or Possessions beyond the
Seas, as they shall think fit, and also to allow and authorize
any Gratuities to be paid to Pilots, Seamen, or others on the
Letters and Newspapers they may bring to any Post Office from any
Vessels.”

s. 71. “And be it enacted, That the following Terms and
Expressions, whenever used in this or any other Post Office Act,
shall have the several Interpretations herein-after respectively
set forth, unless such Interpretations are repugnant to the
Subject or inconsistent with the Context of the Provisions in
which they may be found; (that is to say,) the Term “_British_
Newspapers” shall mean Newspapers printed and published in the
United Kingdom liable to the Stamp Duties and duly stamped,
and also Newspapers printed in the Islands of _Guernsey_,
_Jersey_, _Alderney_, _Sark_, or _Man_, although not liable
to Stamp Duties; and the Term “inward-bound” shall be held to
include Vessels bound as well to any Port in the United Kingdom
as to any Port in any of her Majesty’s Colonies; and the Term
“outward-bound” shall be held to include Vessels bound as well
from any Port in the United Kingdom as from any Port in Her
Majesty’s Colonies; and that the Term “United Kingdom” shall mean
the United Kingdom of _Great Britain_ and _Ireland_, and the
Islands of _Man_, _Jersey_, _Guernsey_, _Sark_, and _Alderney_;
and that the Term “Her Majesty’s Colonies” shall include every
Port and Place within the Territorial Acquisitions now vested in
the _East India Company_ in Trust for Her Majesty, the _Cape of
Good Hope_, the Island of _Saint Helena_, the _Ionian Islands_,
and _Honduras_, as well as Her Majesty’s other Colonies and
Possessions beyond the Seas (the Islands of _Man_, _Guernsey_,
_Jersey_, _Alderney_ and _Sark_ only excepted); and that the
Term “by the Post” shall extend to and include the Transmission
of Post Letters as well by any General or Twopenny or Penny or
Convention Post as by Packet Boat; and the Term “Post Town”
shall include every City, Town, and Place where a Post Office
is or shall be established; and that the several other Terms
and Expressions used in this Act shall be construed according
to the respective Interpretations of the Terms and Expressions
contained in the said Act passed in the First Year of the Reign
of Her present Majesty, intituled _An Act for consolidating
the Laws relative to Offences against the Post Office of the
United Kingdom, and for regulating the Judicial Administration
of the Post Office Laws_, and for explaining certain Terms
and Expressions employed in those Laws, so far as those
Interpretations are not repugnant to the Subject or inconsistent
with the Context of such Terms and Expressions.”

_Newspapers, Ireland._--4 & 5 Will. 4. c. 71. “Whereas by an Act
passed in the Parliament of _Ireland_ in the Thirty-eighth Year
of the Reign of King _George_ the Third, intituled _An Act to
amend an Act passed in the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Years
of the Reign of His present Majesty, intituled ‘An Act to secure
the Liberty of the Press by preventing the Abuses arising from
the Publication of traitorous, seditious, false, and slanderous
Libels by Persons unknown_,’ it is amongst other things enacted,
that if any Printer, Publisher, or Proprietor, or Printers,
Publishers, or Proprietors of any Newspaper, Intelligencer, or
Occurrences, or any Paper serving the Purposes of a Newspaper,
Intelligencer, or Occurrences, shall have become and be found
a Lunatic or _non compos mentis_, or shall become and be found
bankrupt, or shall be outlawed for any Crime, or shall be found
guilty and receive Judgment for printing or publishing any
traitorous, scandalous, false, or seditious Libel, or shall be
charged by Indictment or Information with having published a
traitorous, scandalous, false, or seditious Libel, and shall not
within Six Days after a Copy of such Indictment or Information
shall be served upon such Printer, Publisher, or Proprietor, or
at the House or Place of printing or publishing the Paper in
which the Newspaper containing such Libel shall be printed,
surrender himself, herself, or themselves to take his, her, or
their Trial at the then next Commission of Oyer and Terminer,
Quarter Sessions of the Peace, or Assizes for the City or County
where he, she, or they shall be indicted as aforesaid, or where
such Information as aforesaid is to be tried, every Printer and
Publisher so neglecting, shall from thenceforth be disabled
to be the Printer, Publisher, or Proprietor of any Newspaper,
Intelligencer, or Occurrences, and the Commissioners of Stamp
Duties are thereby required to refuse to deliver to such Person
or Persons stamped Paper for the Purpose of printing a Newspaper;
and by an Act passed in the Parliament of the United Kingdom
of _Great Britain_ and _Ireland_ in the Fifty-fifth Year of
the Reign of His said Majesty King _George_ the Third [55 Geo.
3. c. 80.], intituled _An Act to provide for the Collection
and Management of Stamp Duties on Pamphlets, Almanacks, and
Newspapers in Ireland_, it is also amongst other things enacted,
that if any Printer, Publisher, or Proprietor of any Newspaper
in _Ireland_, shall be by due Course of Law outlawed for any
Criminal Offence, or receive Judgment for printing or publishing
a traitorous or seditious Libel, the said Commissioners of
Stamps in _Ireland_ and their Officers respectively are thereby
prohibited to sell or deliver to or for the Use of any such
Printer, Publisher, or Proprietor so outlawed, or who shall
have so received Judgment for such Libel, any stamped Paper for
printing any Newspaper; and it is also further enacted, that if
any Printer, Publisher, or Proprietor of any Newspaper which
shall be at any Time published in _Ireland_ shall have become a
Bankrupt or _non compos mentis_, or shall be outlawed for any
Crime, or shall receive Judgment for printing or publishing any
traitorous or seditious Libel, then and in every such Case such
Printer or Printers, Publisher or Publishers, Proprietor or
Proprietors respectively, shall no longer be entitled to print
or publish such Newspaper, but shall as to any such Right be
considered from thenceforth as if he, she, or they never had made
such Affidavit as in the said last-recited Act is mentioned: And
whereas it is expedient to repeal the said recited Enactments;
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 so much of the said respective Acts as is herein-before
recited shall be and the same is hereby repealed.”

NICHOLS, JOHN. _See_ DONATIONS.

NICK.

A nick is a hollow cast crossways in the shanks of types, to make a distinction readily between different sorts and sizes; and to enable the compositor to perceive quickly the bottom of the letter as it lies in the case, when composing; as nicks are always cast on that side of the shank on which the bottom of the face of the letter is placed.

A great deal of inconvenience frequently arises, owing to the founders casting different founts of types with a similar nick in each. Although this may, at the first sight, appear of little moment, yet it is attended with much trouble: and works are frequently disfigured by it, notwithstanding all the care of the compositor and the reader, as will appear from the following statement.

A printer has cast a fount, we will suppose of Pica, in addition to another he had in the house, and this new Pica is of a different face from his old one; but not having given any particular directions, the founder casts it with a nick precisely the same as the other. The consequence is, when a compositor is distributing head lines, lines of italic, small capitals, or small jobs--in the hurry of business--through inadvertency--or carelessness--he frequently distributes them into the wrong cases, when it is almost impossible for another compositor who has occasion to use these cases next, to detect the error till he sees the proof; unless he is in the habit of reading his lines in the stick, which many are not. He has then a great deal of trouble to change the letters; and, with all the attention that the reader can bestow, a letter of the wrong fount will frequently escape his eye, and disfigure the page.

Even in founts that are next in size to each other; for instance,--Bourgeois and Long Primer, Long Primer and Small Pica, Small Pica and Pica, and Pica and English, head lines, &c., are not unfrequently distributed into wrong cases, where the nick is the same; and always occasion loss of time in correcting the mistakes, and sometimes pass undiscovered.

I would recommend, in furnishing a new office with types, that every fount, commencing with the smallest, should have a different nick from that of the next size: thus Brevier, supposing it to be the smallest, might have three wide nicks, Bourgeois two closer ones, and Long Primer one; Small Pica the same as Brevier, Pica as Bourgeois, English as Long Primer; and here it might stop, for there is difference enough in the sizes above English for the eye to distinguish them readily, without varying the nick.

By going as far as three nicks, which is now generally done, a sufficient variety may be obtained to distinguish one fount from another without hesitation; but I would strongly advise that the nicks should be deep, as it allows the compositor to see quickly how the letters lie in the box, and enables him to pick them up with greater facility, particularly by candlelight.

A single nick may be--low on the shank, in the middle, or nearer the top; two nicks may be close together--at the bottom, in the middle, or at the top, or they may be wide apart; three nicks may be--two at bottom and one at top, two at top and one at bottom, or the three close together, at the bottom, the middle, or the top, or wide apart. Where there are a great number of founts, it would add to the distinguishing mark, if consisting of more than one nick, that one of them should be cast shallow: but where there is only one nick it ought always to be cast deep.

NISKHI. _See_ PERSIAN.

NONPAREIL.

The name of a type, one size larger than Pearl and one smaller than Minion. Moxon spelt the name Nomparel, and the French to this day spell it Nompareille.

NORTHERN LANGUAGES.

For the allowance of the duty on paper used in the printing of books in the Northern languages within the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, the universities of Scotland, and the university of Trinity College, Dublin, _see_ PAPER.

A great deal of information respecting the Northern languages will be found in _Recherches sur les Langues Tartares, par M. Abel Remusat_.

NORTON, WILLIAM. _See_ DONATIONS.

NOTATION, CHEMICAL. _See_ FORMULÆ.

NOTES.

Quotations down the side of a page are called _Notes_.--_M._ At the present day we term these Marginal Notes; and usually mean, when we speak of notes, those at the bottom of a page, although they are sometimes termed Bottom Notes, or Foot Notes, which see.

NOTICE for entering printing press, types, &c., with Clerk of the Peace, _see_ CERTIFICATE.

NUMBER LAID ON. _See_ LAY ON.--_M._

NUMERALS.

The names of numerals are very different, not only in several parts of Asia, but in both North and South America.

“Small stones were used amongst uncivilized nations: hence the words _calculate_ and _calculation_ appear to have been derived from _calculus_, the Latin for a pebble-stone. Alphabetic letters had also a certain numerical value assigned them, and several Greek characters were employed to express particular numbers.

“The combination of Greek numerical characters was not well known to the Latins before the thirteenth century, although Greek numerical characters were frequently used in France and Germany, in episcopal letters, and continued to the eleventh century. But of all the Greek ciphers the Episema ϐαῦ was most in use with the Latins: it gradually assumed the form of _G_ with a tail, for so it appears in a Latin inscription of the year _296_. It is found to have been used in the fifth century in Latin MSS. It was reckoned for _6_, and this value has been evinced by such a number of monumental proofs, that there is no room to give it any other. Some of the learned, with even Mabillon, have been mistaken in estimating it as _5_, but in a posthumous work he acknowledges his error.

“Those authors were led into this error by the medals of the Emperor Justinian having the episema for _5_; but it is a certain fact that the coiners had been mistaken and confounded it with the tailed _U_, for the episema was still in use in the fourth century, and among the Latins was estimated as six, but under a form somewhat different. Whenever it appears in other monuments of the western nations of Europe of that very century, and the following, it is rarely used to express any number except _5_.

“The Etruscans also used their letters for indicating numbers by writing them from right to left, and the ancient Danes copied the example in the application of their letters.

“The Romans, when they borrowed arts and sciences from the Greeks, learned also their method of using alphabetical numeration. This custom however was not very ancient among them. Before writing was yet current with them they made use of nails for reckoning years, and the method of driving those nails became in process of time a ceremony of their religion. The first eight Roman numerals were composed of the I and the V. The Roman ten was composed of the V proper, and the V inverted (Ʌ), which characters served to reckon as far as forty, but when writing became more general, I, V, X, L, C, D, and M, were the only characters appropriated to the indication of numbers. The above seven letters, in their most extensive combination, produce six hundred and sixty-six thousand ranged thus, DCLXVIM. Some however pretend that the Romans were strangers to any higher number than 100,000. The want of ciphers obliged them to double, treble, and multiply their numerical characters four-fold; according as they had occasion to make them express units, tens, hundreds, &c. &c. For the sake of brevity they had recourse to another expedient; by drawing a small line over any of their numeral characters they made them stand for as many thousands as they contained units. Thus a small line over Ī made it 1000, and over X̄ expressed 10,000, &c.

“When the Romans wrote several units following, the first and last were longer than the rest IIIIII: thus _vir_ after those six units, signified _sex-vir_. D stood for 500, and the perpendicular line of this letter was sometimes separated from the body thus (IƆ,) without lessening its value. _M_, whether capital or uncial, expressed 1000. In the uncial form it sometimes assumed that of one of those figures, CIƆ Ɔ, CD, ∞, ო. The cumbent X was also used to signify a similar number.

“As often as a figure of less value appears before a higher number, it denotes that so much must be deducted from the greater number: thus, I before V makes but four, I before X gives only nine, X preceding C produces only 90, and even two XX before C reckons for no more than 80. Such was the general practice with the ancient Romans with respect to their numerical letters, which is still continued in recording accounts in our Exchequer.

“In ancient MSS. 4 is written IIII and not IV, 9 thus VIIII, and not IX, &c. Instead of V five units IIIII were sometimes used in the eighth century. Half was expressed by an S at the end of the figures, CIIS was put 102 and a half. This S sometimes appeared in the form of our 5.

“In some old MSS. those numerical figures LXL are used to express 90. The Roman numeral letters were generally used both in England, France, Italy, and Germany, from the earliest times to the middle of the fifteenth century.

“The ancient people of Spain made use of the same Roman ciphers as we do. The X with the top of the right hand stroke in form of a semi-circle reckoned for 40; it merits the more particular notice as it has misled many of the learned. The Roman ciphers however were continued in use with the Spaniards until the fifteenth century. The Germans used the Roman ciphers for a long time, nearly in the same manner as the French.”

“The points after the Roman ciphers were exceedingly various, and never rightly fixed. It is not known when the ancient custom was first introduced of placing an O at top immediately after the Roman characters, as A^o M^o L^o VI^o &c.”--_Astle._

_Numeral Letters._

Roman. Arabic.
Unus, a, um, I. 1.
Duo, æ, o, II. 2.
Tres, ia, III. 3.
Quatuor, IV. 4.
Quinque, V. 5.
Sex, VI. 6.
Septem, VII. 7.
Octo, VIII. 8.
Novem, IX. 9.
Decem, X. 10.
Undecim, XI. 11.
Duodecim, XII. 12.
Tredecim, XIII. 13.
Quatuordecim, XIV. 14.
Quindecim, XV. 15.
Se- sex- decim, XVI. 16.
Septemdecim, XVII. 17.
Octodecim, XVIII. _or_ XIIX. 18.
Novemdecim, }
Undeviginti,} XIX. 19.
Viginti, XX. 20.
Triginta, XXX. 30.
Quadraginta, XL. 40.
Quinquaginta, L. 50.
Sexaginta, LX. 60.
Septuaginta, LXX. 70.
Octoginta, LXXX. 80.
Nonaginta, XC. 90.
Centum, C. 100.
Ducenti, æ, a, CC. 200.
Trecenti, æ, a, CCC. 300.
Quadringenti, æ, a, CCCC. 400.
Quingenti, æ, a, IƆ. _or_ D. 500.
Sexcenti, æ, a, DC. 600.
Septingenti, æ, a, DCC. 700.
Octingenti, æ, a, DCCC. 800.
Nongenti, æ, a, DCCCC. _or_ CM. 900.
Mille, M. _or_ CIƆ. 1,000.
Duo millia, }
Bis mille, } MM. 2,000.
Tria millia, }
Ter mille, } MMM. 3,000.
Quatuor millia, }
Quater mille, } MMMM. 4,000.
Quinque millia, }
Quinquies mille, } IƆƆ. _or_ V̄. 5,000.
Decem millia, }
Decies mille, } CCIƆƆ. _or_ X̄. 10,000.
Quinquaginta millia, }
Quinquagies mille, } IƆƆƆ. _or_ L̄. 50,000.
Centum millia, }
Centies mille, } CCCIƆƆƆ. _or_ C̄. 100,000.
Quingenta millia, }
Quingenties mille, } IƆƆƆƆ. _or_ D̄. 500,000.
Decies centena millia, CCCCIƆƆƆƆ, _or_ M̄. 1,000,000.

If the lesser number is placed before the greater, the lesser is to be deducted from the greater; thus IV signifies one less than five, i. e. four; IX, nine; XC, ninety.

If the lesser number be placed after the greater, the lesser is to be added to the greater; thus VI signifies one more than five, i. e. six; XI, eleven; CX, one hundred and ten.

An horizontal stroke over a numeral denotes a thousand: thus V̄ signifies five thousand; L̄, fifty thousand: M̄, a thousand times a thousand, or a million.

I, signifies _one_, because it is the smallest letter.

V, _five_, because it is sometimes used for U, the fifth vowel.

X, _ten_, because it represents two Vs.

L, _fifty_, from its resemblance to the lower half of C.

C, _a hundred_, centum.

IƆ or D, _five hundred_, the half of CIƆ.

M or CIƆ, _a thousand_, from mille. The latter figures joined at the top ო formed the ancient M.--_Latin Vocabulary_, 18_mo._ _Lond. Valpy_, 1823.

NUSTALEEK. _See_ PERSIAN.

NUT BOLTS.

Two bolts that pass through the head: they have square return heads, which clasp the under side of the nut of the spindle to keep it firm in its place.

NUT OF THE SPINDLE. It is also called the BOX, which _see_.

O.

OBELISK,

marked thus †, is used as a reference to notes in the margin, or at the bottom of the page.

In printing it is technically called a _dagger_; and is the second reference used, when more than one occurs in a page.

OCTAVO.

A sheet of paper folded into eight leaves or sixteen pages is termed an octavo or 8vo.

ODD PAGE.

The first, third, fifth, seventh, and all uneven numbered pages, are _Odd Pages_.--_M._

OFF.

A pressman usually says, I am off, meaning he has wrought off his token, his heap, his form.--_M._ It is used also for part of the whole number that is to be worked; as, when a ream, or two reams are worked of a large number, he says, A ream’s off, Two reams off.

OFF CHEEK.

That cheek of the press which is on the opposite side to that at which the pressmen stand to beat and pull; the catch of the bar is fixed to the off cheek.

OFFCUT.

That part of a sheet which, when printed, cuts off, and when folded is inserted in the middle of the other part, which together form a regular and orderly succession of all the pages in the signature.

OIL.

The best oil for presses is neats foot oil, which does not candy nor become glutinous, as almost all other oils do. On this account it is used in the machinery employed in cotton manufactories, where it is necessary to have as little friction as possible.

OLD ENGLISH. _See_ BLACK LETTER.

OPENING OF THE QUOINS.--_M._ _See_ UNLOCK THE FORM.

OPEN MATTER.

Full of breaks and whites.--_M._

OPEN THE FORM.

In laying-up a form to wash it, the compositor, after unlocking the quoins, opens the matter with his fingers so as to suffer the water to penetrate among the letters and wash away the lye and ink.--_M._

OPISTHOGRAPHIC.

The first productions of the press were printed on one side of the paper only; as the art improved among the early printers they impressed both sides: and those early productions, when they are printed on both sides of the paper, are styled Opisthographic.

ORGANIC REMAINS.

Abbreviations of Authors’ Names on Organic Remains.

Bast. Basterot. Goldf. Goldfuss.
Beaum. Elie de Beaumont. Jäg. Jäger.
Blain. Blainville. Lam. Lamarck.
Blum. Blumenbach. Lam^x. Lamouroux.
Bobl. Boblaye. Linn. Linnæus.
Broc. Brocchi. Lons. Lonsdale.
Al. Brong. Alex. Brongniart Mant. Mantell.
Ad. Brong. Adolphe Brongniart. Munst. Munster.
Brug. Bruguière. Murch. Murchison.
Buckl. Buckland. M. de S. Marcel de Serres.
Conyb. Conybeare. Nils. Nilsson.
Cuv. Cuvier. Park. Parkinson.
De C., or De Cau. De Caumont. Phil. Phillips.
Defr. Defrance. Raf. Rafinesque.
De la B. De la Beche. Rein. Reinecke.
Desh. Deshayes. Schlot. Schlotheim.
Des M. Des Moulins. Sedg. Sedgwick.
Desm. Desmarest. Sow. Sowerby.
Desn. Desnoyers. Sternb. Sternberg.
Dufr. Dufrénoy. Thir. Thirria.
Dum. Dumont. Y. & B. Young and Bird.
Fauj. de St F. Faujas de St Fond. Wahl. Wahlenberg.
Flem. Fleming. Weav. Weaver.

_De la Beche’s Geological Manual._ 2d. edit. 12mo. 1832.

ORIENTAL LANGUAGES.

For the allowance of the duty on paper used in the printing of books in the Oriental languages within the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, the universities of Scotland, and the university of Trinity College, Dublin, _see_ PAPER.

ORTHOGRAPHY.

The orthography of the English Language is attended with much uncertainty and perplexity. But a considerable part of this inconvenience may be remedied, by attending to the general laws of formation; and, for this end, the reader is presented with a view of such general maxims in spelling primitive and derivative words, as have been almost universally received.