Chapter C: I. Cæcilii Hermiæ Signum (5)

Because the great invention failed to bring in money as soon as the firm had hoped, Faust must needs take the law on Gutenberg, seizing his printing materials, wrought out with so much thought and toil. The presses, the plan of which had been for years ripening in his brain, and to secure the making of which cost him so much money, were no longer his; neither was the type which he invented at such an expense of time, effort, and money, nor yet the illuminated letters designed under his eye. Yes, the very initial letters used by Gutenberg and his firm, in works executed between 1450 and 1455, were also used by Faust and Schoeffer in the Psalter of 1457 and 1459. After so much effort almost in vain, what wonder if Gutenberg had become disheartened, and yielded to despair! Far from that. His indefatigable spirit knew no rest; many floods could not quench the fire of his perseverance; he started again, laid the foundations, and successfully wrought in new printing rooms, his Bible and his Psalter meanwhile being printed by other hands.

But there were certain considerations which alleviated the poignancy of Gutenberg’s disappointment. He had the consolation of knowing that he had designed the enterprise of publishing the Bible, and that he had carried it successfully to its termination. And now, with the magnanimity of a great soul, he was willing that others should circulate it. Besides, he had at times a hope that he should yet have justice done him. It was as true then as now that a man may be disappointed in his greatest hopes in life, without, on that account, becoming unhappy; for, as one has said, “There is no other actual misfortune except this only, _not to have God for our friend_.”

And this art of printing, which had been such a trial and triumph, such a grief and a joy, was destined to embalm his name and the memory of his life infinitely more than if all the conquests of world-renowned warriors were his.

XIX.

Faust and Schoeffer’s Success.--More Books issued.--An Eventful
Year.--Greek Type.--Struck by the Plague.--The Parisians, and
Faust’s Descendants.--Schoeffer’s Death.--Testimony to
Gutenberg.--Extension of the Art.--Piety and Chess.--Education
in the Olden Time.--Unveiling the Statue.

To return to Faust and Schoeffer. After the lawsuit, as we have seen, they mostly ignored the existence and services of Gutenberg. Soon after the memorable separation, Faust went to Paris as before related, the sales of Bibles in Germany alone being so limited as to bring in but small returns for the money invested. It was evidently necessary to take extraordinary measures to meet the emergency. In Faust’s cool, business-like view, everything would be lost, unless some speedy and marked success was attained. His experiments resulted better even than he had anticipated; and returning flush with money, the printing rooms soon presented a scene of unwonted activity. The “Litterariæ Indulgentiæ,” with which Schoeffer and his journeymen had busied themselves during Faust’s absence, was urged through the press and into the market.

“What a difference a little money makes!” said Faust, as he saw how well the book was selling. “We must hasten to finish the Psalter.”

This was ready for purchasers by August 1457. It was in the highest style of the printing art of the age, and could not be excelled. As Faust and Schoeffer gazed on its beautiful pages, how could they forget the inventor who designed the publishing of the work, and labored with them in executing it full thirty long painstaking months! Yet they uttered few words of acknowledgment. For two years they were occupied in striking off, binding, embellishing, and selling the Psalter, with the additional labor of casting a new fount of type. While Schoeffer and his assistants were engaged in this absorbing toil, Faust again visited Paris to dispose of the Psalter. By this means he replenished, once more, the treasury of the firm, and returning about the time the new fount was finished, they printed the “Durandi.”

The next year, 1460, the “Constitutiones” appeared, and in 1462 a new edition of the Latin Bible. This last was the eventful year in which the city of Mentz was taken, sacked, and plundered by the Elector Adolphus of Nassau. Such was the confusion and distraction occasioned by this unlooked-for event, that almost all business was suspended. The journeyman printers, being suddenly thrown out of employment, fled panic-stricken to other countries; and considering themselves freed from their oath, the great secret of thirty years was spread abroad.

Faust and Schoeffer, left almost alone in their printing rooms, effected little for some time. At length Schoeffer’s busy brain hit upon something new in printing; and with his usual patience and assiduity he fell to casting a fount of Greek type, and in 1465, some little time after Gutenberg had retired from his art, issued “Cicero de Officiis,” using the new Greek type. On occasion of printing anything of special importance, Faust continued to visit Paris, then the chief seat of learning; and so great a work as this of Cicero in Greek would of course be welcomed with avidity by the professors and students in the University. As soon as possible, therefore, he hastened to that city, furnished with a good supply of the much-coveted volume. This was early in 1466. He was received with enthusiasm; for such had been the reputation of the previous works circulated by him in the French metropolis, that he had a large circle of admiring patrons and friends. But alas for the uncertainty of earthly things! while yet in the midst of success and gratulation, he was seized with the plague, and died after an illness of a few hours! The Parisians were loud in their expressions of grief, and a large concourse gathered at his funeral. The learned men and nobility of the city assembled; distinguished honors were paid him; and the sequel was, that in commemoration of the signal services he had rendered them, they continued a generous pecuniary reward to his descendants.

The dreadful shock occasioned by the death of his father-in-law, deeply affected Schoeffer. May we not suppose that in his loneliness and affliction, he sought a reconciliation with his old master, Gutenberg? There is, indeed, evidence that this was the case; and we are permitted to infer that the breach was healed, suitable acknowledgments being made by Schoeffer, as he plainly saw that the mortgage act which made Faust master of Gutenberg’s property, did not include his genius. In later years he frankly confessed as much to Trithemius, Abbot of Spanheim Monastery, a celebrated scholar and author. Says this writer, after mentioning that he had his information from the mouth of Peter Schoeffer, the inventor of cast metal types:--

“About this time that wonderful and almost incredible art of printing and characterizing books, was thought of and invented by John Gutenberg, a citizen of Mentz.”

Then follows some of the main particulars of the invention on which we have already dwelt. He also mentions that “Gutenberg spent all his substance in quest of the art, and met with such insuperable difficulties, that, in despair, he had nearly given up all hopes of success, till he was assisted by the liberality of Faust, and by his brother’s skill in the city of Mentz.”

Schoeffer, having associated with him Conrad Henliff, nobly presided over the interests of the great art after Gutenberg’s death, diligently issuing elegant editions of various books. His last work was a new impression of his master’s superb Bible in 1502, in which year he died, after laboring thirty-five or thirty-six years as a printer. His monogram is connected with Faust’s; and, as we have mentioned, some suppose this also to have been the device of Gutenberg.

The name of Schoeffer means shepherd; and well did the thoughtful care, caution, and ingenuity of this man aid in watching over the young art, that needed such vigilant cherishing to bring it to maturity. He was once Gutenberg’s right-hand man, next to him in genius in devising, and, despite his doubtful course afterwards in leaving him, was an honor and a blessing to his country. His son John succeeded him in his office, and later still his grandson John chose the same employment.

Of Costar, little can be said. Some even suppose that no such person ever existed; while others incline to confer on him honors which he never earned. It is certain that he did not reach the idea of movable types. He died in 1440, when Gutenberg had been familiar with their use for years.

The capture of Mentz, in 1462, was the means of carrying the knowledge of the art of printing to Hamburg, Cologne, Strasbourg, Augsburg, and other cities; and in a short time books were issued from many places. Twenty-four different works appeared between 1460 and 1470; in the latter year two of Faust’s workmen commenced printing in Paris. Also, in 1470, the art was practiced in Venice. Cennini, a goldsmith, established printing at Florence; and so industrious were the Italians that they printed between 1470 and 1480 twelve hundred and ninety-seven books, two hundred and thirty-four of which were editions of ancient authors. Presses were also established in the Low Countries, at Utrecht, Louraine, Basle, and at Buda in Hungary; and, indeed, in the course of a few years, every town of any importance possessed its printing-office, so that books were greatly multiplied.

Several women of France early distinguished themselves in prosecuting the art of printing. Prominent among them was Charlotte Guillard, 1490-1540, the widow of Berthold Rambolt, who for fifty years kept several presses at work, and printed a great number of large and very correct editions, both in Latin and Greek. Her best impressions were issued after she became a widow the second time,--the Bible, the Fathers, and the works of St. Gregory in two volumes, which were so accurate as to contain only three faults. In brief, her fame as a printer was so extensively known that the learned Lewis Lippeman, Bishop of Verona, selected her to print his “Catena in Genesim.” With the accomplishment of this, he was so well satisfied, that, after assisting at the Council of Trent, he went on purpose to Paris to return thanks to her, and also gave her his second volume to print, the “Catena in Exodum,” which she performed with like precision and elegance.

Elfield was more especially noted for its productions in printing, since Henry and Nicholas Becktermange, successors of Gutenberg, there wrought at his presses and other printing apparatus, which were the latest efforts in the art. Says Dibdin, “The works of these men are greatly sought after by the curious, as they afford much proof by collation of the genuineness of the works attributed to their great predecessor.”

The first English printer was William Caxton, mercer, or merchant, who became acquainted with the art while engaged in mercantile pursuits in Germany. Returning to England, he established the printing-press at Westminster Abbey, in 1480. Although somewhat advanced in years when he commenced, yet such was his industry and perseverance that he translated and printed, in ten years, no less than twenty-five octavo volumes. These were mostly useful literary and religious works, but did not indicate high culture in England. The last work he issued, and on which he was engaged when overtaken by death, was “The Art and Craft to know well how to Die.”

After the death of Caxton, Wynken de Worde, his partner, continued to print in his office, living in his house at Westminster, and styling himself “Printer to Margaret, etc., the King’s Grandame.” He printed the Acts of Parliament with the Royal Arms, also many Latin and English books; in forty years over four hundred volumes.

It is not known that he printed any Greek works, yet he made many improvements in the art of printing. His first care was to cut a new set of punches; he sunk these into matrices, and cast several sorts of printing letters, afterwards used in his books. He was the first English printer who introduced the Roman letter into England, using it to mark striking thoughts. His type was remarkable for its precision, and for a long time was not excelled.

The art of printing was not long in extending to other places in England besides London. It was started in Oxford in 1480, also at St. Albans in the same year, and many other places, among which were York, Canterbury, Worcester, Ipswich, and Norwich. The “Common Prayer” was printed in Dublin by Humphrey Powell, in quarto, black letter, in 1551. Before and after that period the authors of Ireland had their works printed abroad.

“Euclid’s Geometry,” the first work in Latin printed with diagrams, was issued from the press of Randolt, at Venice, 1482. Aldus also printed the works of Virgil there, in Italic types, in 1501, the first attempt at producing cheap books.

Blaeu, who assisted Tycho Brahe in making his mathematical instruments, effected great improvements in the printing-press. He made nine presses, and named them after the nine Muses. His fame soon reached England, where his excellent printing machines were soon after introduced.

Aldus Manutius, of Venice, during a career of twenty-six years in the employment of printing, produced editions of nearly all the Greek and Roman authors then known to exist. He was also the author of several works of learning,--grammars and dictionaries of the Greek and Latin languages, the last forming a folio volume, the first that had ever been prepared.

For nearly one hundred and fifty years the Estiennes of France were famous as printers. Robert Stephens, a member of this family, was the first inventor of the verses into which the New Testament is now divided, and introduced them in his edition of it published in 1551. Harry, the eldest son of Robert Stephens, was one of the most learned men of his time. “Thesaurus,” a dictionary of the Greek language, was the fruit of twelve years’ hard application of the elder Stephens, who also suffered persecution for being a Protestant, and fled from France to reside at Geneva. The early printers were well educated; but time and space fail us to note the many learned men who practiced the art in different countries, who, availing themselves of the new sources of information, added to the general stock of knowledge as they eagerly grasped the shining treasures laid open by the discovery of printing.

It is well known that the first printers were learned; and, being engaged in printing from ancient and classical manuscripts, were naturally the associates of the first literary characters of the age. Indeed, in the infancy of printing, and long afterwards, the occupation was very honorable, and was only engaged in by well-educated persons. It was the glory of the learned to be known as correctors of the press to literary printers; physicians, lawyers, bishops, and even popes themselves occupied this department; and a distinguished name, as corrector of the press, being given in a work, it was far more highly valued.

XX.

Peculiarities of the First Printed Books.--Early Printers.--
Piety and Chess.--Education in the Olden Time.--A Great
Enterprise.--Unveiling Gutenberg’s Statue.

On inquiring more closely respecting the peculiarities of the first printed books and the modes of producing them, we find that they were generally large or small folios or quartos; lesser sizes than these not being in use. In some cases they had no title, number of pages, or paragraph divisions. The character employed was designed to imitate the hand-writing of the time, a rude old Gothic or German, from which the old English was formed, now known as German text. The words were printed so closely together as to make reading difficult even by those accustomed to it, while one unpracticed got on slowly and with many blunders.

The orthography used in the first books was of almost every variety, defying method. Abbreviations were fashionable, and at length became so numerous and so difficult to be understood that a book or key was published, explaining them. Instead of a comma an oblique stroke was employed. Capital letters were not used to begin a sentence, or for proper names. Blanks were left for the places of titles, initial letters, and other ornaments, in order to have them supplied by illuminators, whose curious art, however, soon gave place to the improvements of the printers. The ornaments made by the old artists to fill the blanks were formed with singular taste; birds, beasts, flowers, and foliage often curiously interwoven with the most desirable colors, and even with gold and silver. Saints were sometimes made to figure in the border of illuminated letters, whether the subject treated required it or not. The artist had no regard to the theme of the author in his adornments. These embellishments were sometimes costly and elaborate; but a cheaper kind could be had. Bibles and Breviaries were most elegantly ornamented.

The name of the printer and his place of residence were either omitted, or placed at the end of the book with some pious ejaculation or doxology. There was no date, or it appeared in some odd place, printed in words perhaps, or by numerical letters, and sometimes partly one and partly the other, thus: “One thousand CCCC. and LXXIII.,” but in all cases at the end of a book. The Roman and Italic letters not being invented, the pages were uniformly Gothic through the book. Only a few copies were issued at once; two hundred was a large impression.

The early printer was of necessity also a bookbinder, placing his leaves literally between _boards_, and making some works so heavy as to provoke the criticism, “No man can carry them about, much less get them into his head.” About 1469-70, alphabetical tables of the first words of each chapter were introduced as a guide to the binder.

After the great secret of printing was spread abroad, the early printers, in their own quaint style, took pains to inform the public that the book they issued was printed.

Caxton said of his first book, “It is not written with pen and ink as other books be, to the end that every man may have them at once; for all the books of this story, thus imprinted as ye here see, were begun in one day, and also finished in one day;” that is, the edition.

The Mentz printers, at the end of each of their first works, made it known that instead of being drawn or written with a pen, they were made by a new art and invention of printing or stamping them by characters or types of metal set in forms.

King Henry VI. was moved by the Archbishop of Canterbury to use all possible means for procuring a printing mould, as it was then called, to be brought into England. It is supposed that Caxton, after the custom in other monasteries, set up his press near one of the aisles of Westminster Abbey. The first book printed there was “The Game of Chess,” a work then much used by all classes of people, and “doubtless desired by the Abbot, and the rest of his friends and masters.” Caxton translated it from the Latin of a Dominican friar, who wrote it in the year 1200. It was in the main a good book, else Caxton, with his decided religious principle, would not have published it; he recommends it as “full of wholesome wisdom, and requisite unto every state and degree.” But to us it seems a curious mingling of amusement and advice. There were instructions for playing the game, side by side with counsels which, according to Caxton, would enable the people to understand wisdom and virtue.

The course of study then comprised in what was thought a good education, was very limited. Teacher and pupil in most cases attempted little, and accomplished little. The _trivium_ and the _quadrivium_ were the two branches of what was then understood as the liberal arts. The former included grammar, rhetoric, and dialectics; the latter, music, arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy. It was thought that he who became master of these studies needed no longer a preceptor or assistance in solving any questions within the compass of human reason.

But thorough students in these branches were seldom found, until the dissemination of books by the art of printing gave a new impetus to the intellect of that age.

Interesting it has been to trace step by step the passing on of this art to perfection. Long were genius and industry engaged in its study, and never was there so rich and glorious a harvest from human efforts. The nurse and preserver of the arts and sciences, of religion and civilization, was not the work of one brain solely, neither did the gift bring peace at once, but rather strife and opposition. Ignorance fled before it as darkness from light; the priests and copyists were disturbed; and the way was made ready for the bringing in of the Reformation, commencing in 1517 under Martin Luther. For doubtless the invention of this art did more to unmask the superstitions of the Papal church than all other causes combined.

Gutenberg’s conception and execution of printing the Bible was a magnificent enterprise; through unparalleled difficulties, he produced an eloquent and superb book, which is even now the admiration of the learned. We scarcely know which most to admire, the great art, or the noble purpose to which its incalculable power was lent. His praise is in every land, but most of all do his countrymen love and revere his memory. Statues of Gutenberg have been erected in several cities of Germany, and festival occasions celebrating his achievements are frequent. A picture of one of these days of grateful rejoicing is the following account of a

CELEBRATION AT MENTZ.

“The modes in which a large population displays its enthusiasm are pretty much the same throughout the world. If the sentiment which collects men together be very heart-stirring, it will be seen in the outward manifestations. Thus processions, orations, public dinners, and pageantries, which in themselves are vain and empty, are important when the persons whom they collect together are moved by one common feeling, which sways them for the time.

“We never saw such a popular fervor as prevailed at Mentz, at the festival of August 1857. The statue was to be uncovered on Monday the 14th; but on Sunday evening the name of Gutenberg was rife through the streets. In the morning, all Mentz was in motion by six o’clock; and at eight, a procession was formed to the Cathedral, which, if it was not much more imposing than some of the processions of trades in London and other cities, was conducted with a quiet precision which evinced that the people felt that they were engaged in a solemn act. The fine old Cathedral was crowded; the Bishop of Mentz performed High Mass; the first Bible printed by Gutenberg was displayed. What a field for reflection was here opened! The first Bible in connection with the imposing pageantries of Roman Catholicism,--the Bible in great part a sealed book to the body of the people; the service of God in a tongue unknown to the larger number of worshippers; but that first Bible the germ of millions of Bibles that have spread the light of Christ throughout the veritable globe!

“The mass ended, the procession again advanced to an adjacent square, where the statue was to be opened. Here was erected a vast amphitheatre, where, seated under their respective banners, were deputations from all the great cities of Europe. Amidst salvos of artillery the veil was removed from the statue, and a hymn sung by a thousand voices. Then came orations, then dinners, balls, orations, boat-races, processions by torch light. For three days the population of Mentz was kept in a state of high excitement, the echo of which went through Germany, and “Gutenberg! Gutenberg!” was toasted in many a bumper of Rhenish wine amidst this cordial and enthusiastic people.

“And, indeed, even in one who could not boast of belonging to the land in which printing was invented, the universal and mighty effects of this art, when rightly considered, would produce almost a corresponding enthusiasm. It is difficult to look upon the great changes that have been effected during the last four centuries, and which are still in progress everywhere around us, and not connect them with printing and its inventor. The castles on the Rhine, under whose ruins we travelled back from Mentz, perished before the powerful combinations of the people of the towns. The petty feudal despots fell when the burghers had acquired wealth and knowledge. But the progress of despotism on a larger scale could not have been arrested, had the art of Gutenberg not been discovered. The strongholds of military power still frown over the same majestic river. The Rhine has seen its petty fortresses crumble into decay. Ehrenbreitstein is stronger than ever. But even Ehrenbreitstein will fall before the powers of the mind. Seeing, then, what, under God, intellect has done and is doing, we may well venerate the memory of Gutenberg of Mentz.”

XXI.

Modes of making Type.--Varieties of Type.--Cylindrical
Ink-distributor.--A Modern Printing Establishment.--Composition
Room.--Cases.--Proof-reading.

Let us now glance at the Art of Printing in modern times.

In the making of types, formerly each letter was cast, and then finished one at a time, by hand. Now there is a process of manufacturing the copper face by machinery, the operation being effected by the pressure of a sharp die upon copper. And it is said that a small steam-engine can produce one type a second, or thirty-six thousand in ten hours.

By the more ordinary process, types are made by casting type-metal in a mould, though some of the larger sizes are manufactured from maple, mahogany, or box-wood. The process of casting type, which is the business of the type-founders, requires great skill. In the first place, a punch is cut, of the letter to be formed, except that it is in reverse. The punch being of hardened steel, and having this letter on its point, is then struck into a small piece of copper, which is called the _matrix_, or form of the letter to be cast. The matrix is now fixed in a curiously contrived instrument, termed the mould, attached to a compact hand machine, having in the centre a small furnace of burning coal to keep the vessel of type-metal over it liquid. The workman turns a wheel, thus forcing melted metal into the mould, which quickly shapes and drops one after another the types, perfect, save polishing. In some foundries there are twenty of these machines. In this way not only every letter, but every figure, hyphen, comma, or other mark, must have its punch and matrix, as well as its separate casting. One machine will cast one hundred types a minute.

In the cut, _a_ is the body; _b_, the face, or part from which the impression is taken; _c_, the shoulder, or top of the body; _d_, the nick, designed to assist the compositor in distinguishing the bottom of the face from the top; and _e_, the groove made in the process of finishing.

As soon as a heap of types is cast, a boy takes them away, and breaks off the superfluous piece at the end of each, when another rubs its sides on a stone, to render it smooth. The face, or printing part of the type, is not touched after it leaves the matrix, that giving it all the distinctness and sharpness of which it is capable.

Type-metal is a compound of lead and antimony, in the proportion of three to one, with a small portion of tin, and sometimes a little copper.

In Gutenberg’s day types were necessarily an imitation of the handwriting of the monk-copyists, with little variety and beauty. Now the types which compose an ordinary book-fount consist of Roman CAPITALS, SMALL CAPITALS, and lower-case letters, and _Italic capitals_ and lower-case letters, with accompanying figures, points and reference-marks,--in all about two hundred characters. Including the various modern styles of fancy types, some three or four hundred varieties of face are made. Besides the ordinary Roman and _Italic_, the most important of the varieties are

German Text.

Full-face, Antique, Script.

Old Style, GOTHIC.]

The smallest body in common use is _diamond_; then follow, in order of size as below--

Diamond. abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
Pearl. abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
Agate. abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
Nonpariel. abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
Minion. abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
Brevier. abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
Bourgeois. abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
Long Primer. abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
Small Pica. abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
Pica. abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
English. abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
Great Primer. abcdefghijklmnopqrstuv
]

Until a comparatively recent period, no better method of inking the type had been devised than Gutenberg’s sheep-skin dabbers, or stamping balls. Earl Stanhope, who greatly improved the printing-press, sought by many experiments to supply the ink by means of a revolving cylinder or roller, instead of by the old process. The first impediment was the seam which it was necessary to make down the whole length of the roller; and it could be kept neither soft nor pliable. Providentially these difficulties were overcome by observing a process in the Staffordshire potteries, in which the workmen use what are there called dabbers. These dabbers, composed of glue and treacle, possessed every requisite to hold and distribute the ink, spreading it evenly over the form, besides being easily kept clean and pliable. This method was at once seized upon by ingenious printers, who used it in time in the cylinder form, as is common now in all printing-offices.

Formerly, the word _the_ was indicated by the letters _y_ and _e_, thus--_y^e_; _&_ was used for _and_; with other ungainly abbreviations. Connected letters were also employed; _c_ and _t_ were joined by a curve from the top of one to the other; and when two _s’s_ occurred a long _ſ_ was used.

Instead of ponderous folios and quartos, untitled, unpaged, and unparagraphed; without capitals, and with words so huddled together as to put the reader to his wit’s end to make out the meaning, now we have the beautiful pocket and library editions, convenient in size, clear and intelligible within,--“books that you may carry to the fire and hold readily in your hand,” as Dr. Johnson says.

We have, in imagination, visited Gutenberg’s Printing Rooms, and can vividly recall his rude beginnings and slow and toilsome methods; his printing-press; the wonder of that age,--only turning off a few hundred impressions per diem. With this in mind, let us step into a representative printing establishment of our times,--the “Riverside,” at Cambridge, Mass.; for we wish to get a just idea of the Art of arts. We will first visit the Composition Room.

Ranged down the sides of the room we see scores of laborers industriously at work, each one before a stand or frame, in shape similar to the music-stand at an orchestra. Each frame is constructed so as to hold two pairs of cases, one containing the Roman, the other the Italic letters of the same “fount,” or kind. The upper case has ninety-eight little divisions for the different kinds of type; the lower case has fifty-four boxes, arranged as in the diagram on the opposite page. The “compositor” or “type-setter,” is said to “work at case;” for all the types are sorted in “cases,” or shallow, open and divided boxes; the lower case, or the one nearest him, having all the small letters, points, and spaces to place between the words, and the upper case containing all capitals, accented letters, figures, and characters used as references to notes. Each letter has a larger or smaller box appropriated to it, according as it is seldom or frequently required, while the letters most needed occupy the position most convenient for the compositor.

In the English language, the letter _e_ inhabits the largest box; _a_, _c_, _d_, _h_, _i_, _m_, _n_, _o_, _r_, _s_, _t_, _u_, live in the next-sized apartments; _b_, _f_, _g_, _l_, _p_, _v_, _w_, _y_, dwell in what may be called the bed-rooms; while _j_, _k_, _q_, _x_, _z_, _æ_, and _œ_, double letters, etc., are more humbly lodged in cupboards, garrets, and cellars, as we call the various compartments of the case. The reason of this arrangement is, that the letter _e_ being visited by the compositor sixty times as often as _z_,--his hand spending an hour in the former box for every minute in the latter,--it is advisable that the letters oftenest required should be in the nearest and largest boxes; everything being systematized so as to secure accuracy and despatch.

+---+---+---+---+---+---+-------+---+---+---+---+---+---+-----+-----+
| & | fl | ff | fi | j | k | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+ +---+---+---+---+---+---+-----+-----+
| ’ | | | | | | | | | 5m | 9 |
| | | | | | | | | |space| |
+---+ b | c | d | e | i | s | f | g +-----+-----+
| ! | | | | | | | | | 4m | 0 |
| | | | | | | | | |space| |
+---+---+-------+-------+-------+-------+---+---+---+---+-----+-----+
| ? | | | | | | | | | | n | m |
+---+ l | m | n | h | o | y | p | , | w |quad.|quad.|
| z | | | | | | | | | | ▌ | █ |
+---+---+-------+-------+-------+-------+---+---+---+---+-----+-----+
| x | | | | 3m | | | ; | : | |
+---+ v | u | t | space | a | r +---+---+ quadrat. |
| q | | | | | | | . | - | |
+---+---+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+---+---+-----------+

PLAN OF LOWER CASE.]

Behold the busy company. Eyes, fingers, and arms move almost in every direction with steadiness and speed. Some are “distributing;” that is, filling their cases with letters from the type pages of books or papers which have been printed off. This is done with great celerity; the compositor grasps and reads several sentences at once; and without again looking at the letters, his nimbly flying fingers deposit them, one by one, here, there, everywhere, in the square dens to which they belong. Four thousand “ems” per hour can thus be distributed by a good compositor, which is about five times as many as he can “compose,” or set in type; as it is much easier to spend money than to earn it.

Having filled the cases, the workman is ready to “compose.” Standing in front of the cases which contain the Roman letters, and having placed the “copy,” or manuscript from which he is to set, upon the least used part of the upper case, he takes in his left hand the “composing-stick,” made of brass or iron, with a movable side which can be adapted to any width of line by means of a screw. He then commences putting the letters of each word of the copy, with the necessary points and spaces, into the stick, the thumb of his left hand meanwhile securing each addition, from left to right along the line. To facilitate the process, a thin slip of brass, called the “composing-rule,” is placed in the composing-stick at the outset, and pulled out and put on the front of a line when completed. When the stick is full of lines, the compositor, with the fingers of both hands, lifts them out as if they were a mass of solid metal, and places them in the “galley,”--a flat board or piece of zinc or brass, having a ledge at the head, and on one or both sides. To do this last successfully requires practice and skill. And the young printer, although no adept in pastry-making, learns, to his disgust, that there is nothing easier than to make “pi,” as the heap of jumbled type, which has slipped through his untrained fingers, is termed.

The galley having been filled by the contents of successive sticks, and the requisite number of pages to form a sheet being completed, they are arranged upon a bench or “imposing stone,” and surrounded with pieces of wood, or “furniture,” so as to give a suitable margin for each page. The whole being then secured in the “chase,” or iron frame, by means of strips of wood and wedges. This is called “imposing.”

Next, a “proof” is taken by impressing paper upon the type, that the compositor may see and correct the mistakes he may have made in putting the copy into type.

Referring again to the engraving, “Composition room,” in the open space are the “imposing stones,” or “tables,” on which matter in type is placed in order to arrange it for printing; proofs are taken, errors corrected, and the “form” finally made ready for the press.

But in this cozy, well-lighted room, sits one whose attitude is the picture of careworn and earnest attention. No matter what the din in the building around him, his faculties are concentrated on the pages of proof. It is one of the proof-readers,--and an assistant who reads the copy, whose office it is to see that the work goes forth to the public correct in literary and mechanical execution. His is a wearisome and responsible task. His eye, with lynx-like vigilance and microscopic power, must detect the minutest defects of press or author. Faults in punctuation, grammar, rhetoric, logic, and data he must point out. All this at a glance, in an establishment crowded with work.

XXII.

Type-setting by Machinery.--Its Practicability.--Various
Machines devised.--The Brown Type-setter and Distributer
described.--Simplicity.--Reliability.--Speed.

In the last chapter we described type-setting by hand. Let us now for a few moments look at the method of doing this by machinery. This is the last achievement of that inventive enterprise which we have seen to be so efficient in all the history of the art; and it deserves some mention here, both for what it already is, and for what it so confidently promises. On witnessing this most interesting and curious operation, one wonders, first, that such a work, apparently requiring the constant exercise of mind and intelligence, can be so rapidly and perfectly done by machinery; and then, observing the simplicity of the instruments and the certainty of their work, one wonders again that it has never been done before.

It is our aim in this history to illustrate the prominence machinery has held in the several departments of the art, and how much our literature and books owe to its aid; and it is remarkable that this work of setting and distributing types is the only branch of the printer’s art which has not yet received its share of aid from labor-saving expedients. When we consider the great improvement which has been made in presses within the past few years, whereby the number of impressions is multiplied from 250 to nearly 30,000 per hour, and when, on the other hand, we consider that in the department of type-setting these four hundred years have brought no advance or improvement, but that this work is done in precisely the same slow manner in which the inventor of movable types first ranged them into line in the fifteenth century, it is strongly suggested that the contributions of genius have not been altogether impartial and just, and that here remains a great field of inventive enterprise as yet uncultivated. And when it is further considered that in the estimate of our most extensive publishers full half the present cost of our books and periodicals is in the labor of setting the types, the question urges itself, How has it happened that this important branch of human industry has been so overlooked by inventive genius? Is there any inherent difficulty which makes it impossible to do the work of type-setting by mechanical appliances? The wonderful adaptation of machinery to all other forms of human labor and service suggests antecedently that it must be possible also here. Led by this faith in the possibility of the thing, and urged by the actual necessity of doing something to expedite this branch of the work, many inventors have of late years been studying upon this problem. But the mechanical type-setter is essentially a modern invention: it is the contribution of this age to the art. About twenty years cover the whole period of these efforts. It seems to be a law of human progress that a number of failures must precede the successful effort, every failure contributing its quota to the ultimate success, either through its suggestions of a better way, or by serving as a warning and indication how _not_ to do it.

Several type-setting machines have been devised, some of them very ingenious; but one after another failed to stand the test of actual work. It is not, however, half so strange that many should fail as that any should succeed in so great and delicate a work. So vast and difficult is the problem, that many of the best mechanicians of our day, whose knowledge of the capabilities of machinery gives their judgment peculiar weight, have pronounced it an impossibility, and have classed these efforts with the fascinating but visionary chase after a method of perpetual motion. But inventors are a peculiar race, as is seen in the case of Gutenberg, especially endowed with an indomitable faith in the possible; and they are continually attempting and doing things with little other apparent motive than the fact that the world has supposed them impossible.

The inventor of the machines we have examined, Mr. O. L. Brown, of Boston, has made a careful study of the subject for years, and seems finally to have found the secret, both of simplicity and success. Especially is the device for setting the types so simple that it might perhaps more properly be called an instrument than a machine. The Type-distributer strikes one as more curious and wonderful, inasmuch as it is entirely automatic, and is operated by steam; but it is an adaptation of one of the most common and familiar mechanical principles.

The Type-setter comprises a case, a stick, and a justifier. The case consists of a series of grooves or channels ranged side by side, each just wide enough to receive a line of type. There is no limit to this case, either in the number of channels, or their length. In these channels, the types stand upon their feet, and the case is set at such an angle that they slide downward by their own gravity, and rest upon the bar which closes the lower ends. Across the foot a shield is placed, provided with openings for the types to pass through as they are set; and an index, showing the letters and sorts which the case contains. Corresponding openings in the rear allow the tongue, which forces out the letter, to enter.

Below and in front of the case, sliding back and forth upon a track at the will of the operator, is the stick, or mechanical hand, which takes the letters from the case. The stick consists of a semicircular groove for receiving the type, and a lever or key for operating it. The uppermost end of the stick forms an indicator, pointing to the index upon the shield. The key is provided at one end with a tongue, or plunger, for lifting the type, and the other forms a handle for working it. The whole weighing but a few ounces, it is moved with the greatest ease from letter to letter. The operator, seizing the handle with the thumb and finger, runs it nearly opposite the letter to be taken. It is so arranged with an adjusting gauge that no greater accuracy of stroke is required than in playing a piano. As the handle of the key is depressed, a type is thrust out into the stick. As the handle is raised again, a “follower” pushes the type just lifted sufficiently down the channel to allow the next one to be taken in the same way. This operation is repeated till the stick is full, when it is run to one end of the track, and the line slipped into the justifier. The stick is then ready for another line; and, when several are set, they are justified by hand.

In all machines that have heretofore been produced, use has been made of a set of keys to take the letters from the case; and at first thought these would seem to have an advantage over this with its single key. But experience has proved it otherwise; for the object is not merely to take the letters from the case, but also to form them into line; and this last has hitherto proved the most difficult and expensive part of the work. A case capable of holding one hundred and fifty lines of type the size of this in which this book is printed is about thirty inches in length; and when one letter is taken from one end of the case and the next from the other end, the difficult thing is to bring them together into line quickly, surely, and with perfect safety. It will readily be seen that in this passage there is likely to be loss of time, and the types are liable to misplacement, and, in the case of the more delicate, to breakage. That nothing is gained by multiplying the keys, will at once be seen when it is considered that the keys, however many there may be, must be struck singly, and time allowed for disposing of each letter as it is indicated. The operation of type-setting is not like that of playing the piano, where several keys are struck simultaneously; but, on the contrary, care must be taken not to touch more than one at a time. In short, that nothing is gained, but much is lost, by this multiplicity of the keys, becomes apparent when we consider the complication which it involves. The machine we have seen in operation contains one hundred and fifty letters, and uses but one key; and this key is of the simplest construction. The motion of the key which lifts the letter puts it also in its place in the line. If stationary keys were employed, a key would be required for each letter, which would increase the first cost a hundred and fifty times, and the liability to get out of order in the same ratio, besides making a machine more difficult to learn, and without increasing the speed. But the advantages of the single key are found to be many besides its simplicity and cheapness. It allows the use of any number of different characters, it is not liable to get out of order, its parts are all in plain sight, and it is limited in speed only by the skill of the operator. One of its greatest advantages is that the line of type being set is always before the eye of the compositor. He is constantly observing the process of its formation; and there is therefore no occasion for the “outs” and “doublets” that are so frequently made in the machines that carry the line away from the operator’s sight.

This Type-setter was brought to perfection several years ago; but the necessity of a distributing machine was soon realized. In the setting of types by machinery, it is needful that they be ranged in lines, instead of being laid in boxes, as for hand-composition. To do this by the slow process of hand-distribution would more than counterbalance the time gained by the setter. It was first attempted to employ cheap labor for the work; but this was not satisfactory, and was soon abandoned. For the full utility of the setter, therefore, some method of distribution is imperative. Consequently Mr. Brown sought among the distributers already projected by other inventors something that might be adapted to accompany his setter. But a careful examination of everything that had as yet been produced found nothing that promised to be satisfactory; and he turned his attention to the only remaining expedient, namely, to create a new one. After five years of study and labor, he produced a distributer which, for simplicity of design and reliability of action, is a fit complement and companion for the setter.

The Type-distributer consists of a rotating ring, about ten inches in diameter. At regular intervals in the edge of the ring are recesses for holding the types while being carried to their places. Radiating from this ring are the channels into which the types are distributed; and which, when full, are transferred to the setter, and constitute a part of the case. At one side is a galley, which receives the page to be distributed. From the galley, the machine takes one line at a time, and lifts it into a channel, in which it is fed towards the distributing-ring, but a little below. From the inner end of this line the types are lifted one at a time, and enter the distributing-ring. This ring has an intermittent motion, and each motion brings one of the recesses directly over the line. One after another the types are forced up into these recesses. A recess is large enough to receive the largest type, and is formed by cutting a larger slot in the ring, and inserting a set of levers. The levers are simply straight pieces of sheet brass or steel about two inches long, with a hole near one end, through which the pin passes on which they turn. These levers, placed one upon the other in sets of six or more, form one side of the recess. A slide or ejector, which forces out the letter when it arrives at its proper place, forms the back of the recess. When a letter is fed into the ring, it stands in this recess, and any nick that may have been made in the edge of the type will be opposite one of the levers. As the short arms of these levers shut against the edge of the type, some of them entering the nicks, the long arms take a corresponding position. It will be seen that a slight variation in the position of the short arms gives a much greater variation in the long arms. The relative position of these long arms, acting in connection with the keys, determines where the type shall be ejected. These keys slide out and in, and each motion of the ring brings each set of the levers successively in front of each key. The keys all advance a short distance, and try the ends of the levers; and, wherever the shape of the keys corresponds to the position of the levers, the key advances farther, and, acting upon the ejector, forces out the letter. The operation is on the same principle as the common lever-lock; the levers with the type forming a certain combination which will move around until it arrives opposite its own key. The lock will then be unlocked, and the letter forced out. The keys are the slides, which are placed in the stationary part of the machine, inside the rotating ring, and radiating from the centre.

The type are placed in the machine just as they come from the press, the galley being adjustable to any size of page; and any letters that the machine cannot distribute are simply transferred to the “pi-line,” where they stand in regular order, and can be distributed by another machine or by hand. The type used is the common type cast at our foundries, as described on page 225. For the setting-machine no change is made, but for the distributer, this being automatic, it is prepared by a simple system of nicks in the back of the letter. These nicks are added very quickly and cheaply; but this necessity will soon be obviated, as the foundries are already making matrices or moulds for casting founts of type containing the distributing-nick.

The question which will doubtless decide the fate of this and all other machines for the purpose is the question of speed.

The machines we have described, notwithstanding their newness and the necessary inexperience of the operators, make an economy of more than fifty per cent. in the time of doing a given amount of work. The distributer, being run by steam and tended by a boy, does the work of several men. This is a great gain; twenty-five per cent. has been thought an amount very desirable to be reached. It seems, too, that skill in operating the setter is easily acquired.

As an illustration of this, may be given the case of a young girl who had never seen the inside of a printing-office, and who was induced to try the new machine. She was initiated into the ready use of the type-setter in five minutes’ instruction. Seizing the mechanical hand, which takes the letters one by one as rapidly as thought can spell from the groove-like case, in the first hour, with the rapid click, click, of the new-found “key,” she set very correctly six hundred ems, and in the second hour accomplished the task of a thousand ems.

An office boy was as successful. After a few hours’ acquaintance with the machine, it is common for mere children, in dispatch and correctness of execution, to rival workmen who have had long experience in type-setting by hand.