Chapter V: Part 5

The errata are put immediately before the body of the work, or at the end of it. They should consist only of such corrections as are _indispensably necessary_, without noticing any defects in the punctuation, unless where the sense is perverted. It is strongly to be wished that works could be produced perfectly free from errors; but this is almost a vain hope while imperfection clings to humanity, and while every form is exposed to accident and every additional proof may be productive of fresh error.

HINTS HONOURED IN THE BREACH.

When you lay a fount of new type, don’t open the papers carefully, and place the lines evenly with a brass rule in the cases, nick up; but show your skill by tumbling over each package rapidly, and bringing it down with a rush on the imposing-stone; then, roughly throwing the a’s into a chaotic pile, grab them up by handfuls and work them well down in the appropriate box. The harder you jostle them down, the more you will get in. Proceed thus with each letter; and, if the operation has been vigorously performed, the value of the fount will have been reduced, say ten per cent.

2. While you set out one case, let your galley lie on the overheaped type of another case.

3. If a line is rather too tight to permit the last letter to get in easily, push it down hard with your rule or a quadrate. The type may be injured; but why didn’t it fit in just right at first?

4. Empty your matter at a gentle inclination on the galley, and make it up at the same angle. You can bring it right afterward—perhaps—by the energetic application of mallet, shooting-stick, and planer.

5. When the case is half set out, shake up the type energetically, and do so very often. The exercise will strengthen your muscles.

6. Don’t brush off the stone before you lay the matter down. If any sand happens to get under, the type will show its impression beautifully deep and clear on the face of the planer,—perhaps a whole word or two.

7. Don’t plane till the form is locked up, as thus you save the trouble of the first planing. But, now that you do plane, hammer away, and show your musical ability in playing a tattoo on the form. Don’t lay the planer tenderly and lovingly on the types, as if you were afraid to hurt their feelings, and gently tap it; but hold it off about a quarter or three-eighths of an inch, and then bring down the mallet with a will. Phew! how the planer will descend obedient to the stroke, and rebound again, and perhaps again. If the form is not smooth on the surface now, it is not your fault. Repeat this each time when the form is locked up, till it goes to press; and you may depend on it the impression will gain in boldness, if not in looks.

8. When correcting your numerous errors, don’t trouble yourself to lift the lines carefully at the ends, but dig right into the head of the erring letter, and, resting your bodkin on the type below it, pry up the sinner: it does not matter if you demolish two or three types in the under line.

9. Wash your form energetically, and apply the ley bountifully with a good stiff wiry brush. Never mind rinsing: clean type is an old-fogy notion.

10. When the type is out of use, let it lie around promiscuously,—on a table, or board, or any place where it will be occasionally convenient to lay on it a mallet or tin basin. If one strip of matter is placed on another, room will be economized. Moreover, the under layers will be safe from dust.

11 (comprehensively). Do every thing in a loose way generally, letting matters go as they list, throwing your pi into spare boxes or secretly placing it on the letter-table or some out-of-the-way place, stealing sorts from your neighbour, overcharging time-work and extras, fishing for fat takes, &c.

12. If you observe these things faithfully and constantly, and your employer does not kick you out of his office, why—you do not get your deserts.

TO THE APPRENTICE.

Aspiring apprentice, a word or two in your ear. If you desire success in any matter pertaining to this life or the coming, you must have a purpose,—a determination that, God helping you, you _will_ achieve success. You may be poor, friendless, unknown,—your clothing scant, your stomach half filled,—your place may be at the foot of the ladder: no matter. Whatever your position may be, do your duty in it, stoutly and perseveringly, with your eye fixed far ahead and upward.

Keeping the purpose before you that you _will_ rise, be obedient to your employer, attentive to your business, obliging to your shopmates, and courteous to strangers; and seize every opportunity to improve your heart, your mind, and your workmanship. Do every thing well,—no slighting, no hiding defects, aiming always at perfection. Watch those who are skilful, and strive to equal and excel them. Secure the friendship of all by deserving it. Allow no opportunity of rendering a service to pass without improving it, even if it cost you some labour and self-denial. Be of use to others, even if in a small way; for a time may come when they may be of service to you. A selfish man may get ahead faster than you; but selfishness is contemptible,—and you need not envy his success: when you achieve your object nobly, you will enjoy it, and be respected.

Always bear in mind that _character is capital_. To gain this, you must be so scrupulously honest that you would be as willing to put live coals in your pocket as a penny that is not yours. Never run in debt: do without what you cannot at once pay for, even though you should suffer somewhat. No matter what the amount of your earnings may be, save a portion every week, and invest it in a savings-bank of good standing: it will grow, and will stand you in good stead some day. Better temporary abstinence and constant plenty afterward, than unearned present comfort and future perpetual want. Never lie, openly or covertly, by word or action. A liar may deceive his fellows,—God and himself never. Conscious of falsity, a liar can have no self-respect; without self-respect, reputation cannot be achieved.

With a noble purpose as the end of all your actions, and with actions becoming your purpose, your success is merely a question of time,—always provided you have some brain and abundant common sense.

TO BEGINNERS.

Sanguine beginners sometimes fail in their attempts to establish themselves in business; and in many cases are disposed to lay the blame on every thing and on everybody except themselves. So we here give some rules—(in an ironical way, to make them stick in the memory)—

HOW NOT TO SUCCEED.

1. Get from your father, uncle, aunt, grandmother, or somebody, four or five thousand dollars. You need not give notes or any written obligations, as they may prove troublesome some day.

2. Rent a comfortable room somewhere, no matter whether in a business centre or not, but let it be showy and pleasant.

3. Spend one-fourth of your capital in furnishing the room with matters of personal comfort. Provide an elegant desk, a luxurious lounge, and a pivot-chair: why shouldn’t the master of a printing office “take it easy”? Have a closet in your desk, it is so handy for your whisky-bottle and cigar-boxes.

4. Get all you can from the type-founder, press-maker, and paper-manufacturers. If they will give you credit for one-half of what you buy, well and good: if they trust you for the whole amount, all the better for you, and the more money you will have on hand for jollifications.

5. Put up your sign—a handsome one—

B. Sipwell Lovepunch,
Printer.

and signalize its erection by keeping “open house” for all comers between 11 A.M. and midnight. The mothers and wives of all who become tight and go home loose will long remember your public spirit.

6. Be at your office by nine in summer and ten in winter; and, following Charles Lamb’s witticism, _that he who goes to work late should quit early_, you need not return after dinner. Let your foreman attend to the business: isn’t he paid for it?

7. When you do go into your office, curse and grumble promiscuously, and be sure to swear at the apprentices, to show your spirit, and to let them know that you are master. Be careful never to praise them or any of the hands, or they may think they are worth higher wages.

8. Take work at any price that will keep it from a competitor, no matter whether it pays or not. Perhaps you can save something by giving short numbers, counting in imperfect copies, using very common ink, &c. The style is of no consequence: you want to make money if you can, let others improve the typographical art if they choose.

9. Cultivate the acquaintance of fancy folk, politicians, and wit-livers. A fast horse or two wouldn’t be a bad thing to bind their friendship; and, besides, you will never be at a loss for a companion in your rides.

10. If you want new type, and the founder who made your outfit won’t sell to you unless you pay off the old score, transfer your patronage to another foundry. How can you expect to get along if you pay your debts? Such a course would compel you to sell your horse and to taboo rum-shops and gay saloons, and to live economically; and this, you know, wouldn’t do at all.

11. Get out a newspaper, and advocate the principles of the strongest party, swearing thick and thin through every thing. You need not bother yourself about writing original matter; crib wherever you can. There are plenty of fellows who want office,—lawyers particularly,—and they will write slang enough to fill your columns. You might quietly levy a little black-mail or hush-money from neighbours guilty of indiscretions: dirty money will buy as much as clean.

12. You needn’t marry, unless some fond rich girl should happen to fancy a fool. You know, you need not trouble yourself much about her after you have secured her money: let her father look after her welfare. If she dies broken-hearted, why—she ought not to have been so sensitive.

13. You may be troubled occasionally by a qualm of conscience; but this can be settled by a dram or two. After a few doses, conscience will go to sleep, and trouble you no more, unless you should happen to see a Bible or hear a sermon, which as a matter of course you will try to avoid. It is true, wreck and ruin will be sure to overtake you, and the devil will catch you at last; but why worry yourself before the time?

IMPOSING, OR PREPARING FOR PRESS.

IMPOSITION

Comprehends a knowledge of placing the pages so that they may regularly follow each other when printed and the sheet is folded up; and also the mode of dressing chases and the manner of making the proper margin. As many pages as are required for a whole or half sheet being made up, the compositor lays them upon the imposing-stone, placing the first page with the signature to the left hand facing him, and then proceeds according to one of the schemes on pp. 150-199. These will be found to contain every necessary imposition,—viz. folios, quartos, octavos, twelves, sixteens, eighteens, twenties, twenty-fours, thirty-twos, thirty-sixes, forties, forty-eights, sixty-fours, seventy-twos, ninety-sixes, and one hundred and twenty-eights. We also introduce schemes for imposing from the centre, by which means the blank or open pages may be thrown in the centre of the form, leaving the solid pages on the outside to act as bearers for the rollers, as well as for the better regulation of the impression.

All odd matter, for any form, should be divided into fours, eights, twelves, and sixteens, which is the groundwork of all the impositions except the eighteens, which differ from all the others; for instance, sixteens, twenty-fours, and thirty-twos are only octavos and twelves doubled, or twice doubled, and imposed in half sheets: for example, the sixteens are two octavos imposed on one side of the short cross; the twenty-fours are two twelves imposed on each side of the long cross; and a thirty-two is four octavos imposed in each quarter of the chase. Thus, a sheet may be repeatedly doubled. By this division, any form or sheet may be imposed, always bearing in mind that the first page of each class must stand to the left hand, with the foot of the page toward you. Having set down the first page, then trace the remainder according to the scheme which applies to its number; in proof of which, the standard rule for all other impositions may be adopted,—namely, _the folios of two pages, if placed properly beside each other, will when added together make one more than the number of pages in the sheet_; that is, in a sheet of sixteens, pages 1 and 16 coming together will add up 17, and so 9 and 8 will make 17, &c.

In half sheets, all the pages belonging to the white paper, and reiteration, are imposed in one chase. So that when a sheet of paper is printed on both sides with the same form, that sheet is cut in two in the short cross if quarto or octavo, and in the short and long cross of twelves, and folded as octavo or twelves.

TYING UP PAGES.

In tying up a page, use fine twine, winding it four or five times round it, and fastening at the right-hand corner, by thrusting a noose of it between the several turnings and the matter with the rule, and drawing it perfectly tight, taking care always to keep the end of the cord on the face of the page. While tying it, keep the forefinger of the left hand tight on the corner, to prevent the page from being drawn aside.

The twine being fastened, the compositor removes the page from the ledges of the galley, to see if the turns of cord lie about the middle of the shank of the letter; if they lie too high,—as most commonly they do,—he thrusts them lower; and if the page be not too broad, he places the fore and middle finger of his right hand on the off side of the head of the page, and his thumb on the near; then, bending his other fingers under, he presses them firmly against the head of the page; he next places the fingers of his left hand in the same position at the foot of the page, and, raising it upright, lays it on a page-paper; then, with his right hand he grasps the sides of the page and the paper, which turns up against the sides of the page, and sets it in a convenient spot under his frame, placing it on the left hand, with the foot toward him, that the other pages that are in like manner set down afterward may stand by it in an orderly succession until he comes to impose them.

If the page be a quarto, folio, or broadside, it is, of course, too wide for his grasp; and he therefore carries the galley and page to the imposing-stone, and turns the handle of the galley toward him, and, taking hold of the handle with his right hand, he places the ball of the thumb of his left hand against the inside of the head ledge of the galley, to hold it and keep it steady, and by the handle draws the slice with the page upon it out of the galley, letting the slice rest upon the imposing-stone; he then thrusts the head end of the slice so far upon it, that the foot of the page may stand an inch or two within the outer edge of the stone, and, placing his left hand against the foot of the page, he quickly draws the slice from under the bottom of the page.

LAYING PAGES.

In taking up his pages for imposition, the compositor tightly grasps the paper on both sides of the page, in order that it may be kept firm to the bottom of the page; for if it be left slack, the letters will be liable to slip out, unless it be particularly well tied up. Having conveyed it to the stone, he next places the last two fingers of his right hand under the head of the page, but not under the page-paper at the head of it, still grasping the sides with his forefingers and thumb; he then slips his left hand so that the palm of it may turn toward the bottom, and, lifting the page upright on his right hand, with the left he removes the paper; he next grasps again the foot-end of the page with his left hand, in the same manner as the right holds the head of it, and, turning the face of the type toward him, lays it squarely and quickly down, so that the whole page may come in contact with the face of the stone at the same time.

As this method, in inexperienced or careless hands, would frequently endanger a page containing intricate matter, it will be safer to place the pages at first on good, strong, but not coarse and rough papers, and, when they are brought to the stone, instead of lifting them up as just noticed, slide them off the papers in the same manner as before directed respecting a folio page on the slice galley, being careful that no particles of dirt remain under the page.

MAKING UP FURNITURE.

Having ascertained that his pages are laid down right, the compositor proceeds to dress the chases, which we will suppose to be for a sheet of octavo. Accordingly he selects a good pair of chases that are fellows in all respects; and, having laid them over the pages for the two different forms, he puts such gutter-sticks between page and page, and such reglets along the sides of the two crosses, as will give the book proper margins after it is bound.

To ascertain the proper distance, and to prevent wastage of furniture, he takes short pieces of furniture, or quotations, and quadrates or reglets, to fit the space between two pages; then, pushing the pages close to them, he finds the exact width of the furniture necessary, by trying the ends of various pieces, always measuring from the edge of the lines of type above the page-cords.

By observing a proper method in cutting up new furniture, the same will be serviceable for other works as well as the one for which it is intended, even though the size of the page may differ, provided it agrees with the margin of the paper. The gutters should be cut two or three lines longer than the page; the head-sticks wider; the back furniture may run nearly down to the rim of the chase, but must be level with the top of the page, which will admit of the inner head-stick running in; the difference of the outer head-stick may go over the side-stick, and the gutter will then run up between them. The side-stick only need to be cut exact, and the furniture will completely justify.

Wood and metal furniture, cut or cast to specific lengths and widths, may now be had from the type-founders, the use of which will save time, waste, and labour.

MAKING THE MARGIN.

The next business is to arrange the margin, so that each page may occupy one side of a leaf, and have the proper proportion of white paper left at the sides as well as at the head and foot. The page when printed should be a little higher than the middle of the leaf, and _have a little more margin on the outside than in the back_. This rule is often neglected by careless or ignorant printers, and the appearance of the book when bound is repulsive to the eye of taste.

One mode of making margin is the following:—For octavos, measure and mark the width of four pages by compasses, on a sheet of paper designed for the work, beginning to measure at one extremity of the breadth of the sheet. The rest of the paper divide into four equal parts, allowing two-fourths for the width of two separate gutter-sticks; the remaining two-fourths divide again into four equal parts, and allow one-fourth for the margin along each side of the short cross, and one-fourth for the margin to each outside page. But as the thickness of the short cross adds considerably to the margin, reduce the furniture in the back accordingly, and thereby enlarge the outside margin, which requires the greatest share to allow for the unevenness of the paper itself, as well as for pressmen laying sheets unevenly when the fault is not in the paper. Having thus made the margin between the pages to the breadth of the paper, in the same manner proportion the margin at the head to the length, and accordingly measure and mark the length of two pages, dividing the rest into four parts, one-fourth of which is allowed for each side of the long cross, and one-fourth for the margin that runs along the foot of the two ranges of pages. The furniture on both sides of the long one must be lessened to enlarge the bottom margin, for the reason assigned for extending the side margin.

Go the same way to work in twelves, where, for the outer margin along the foot of the pages, allow the amount of two-thirds of the breadth of the head-sticks, and the same for the inner margin, that reaches from the foot of the fifth page to the centre of the groove for the points; and from the centre of that groove to the pages of the quire, or the cut off, allow half of the breadth of the head-stick. The margin along the long cross is governed by the gutter-sticks; and it is common to put as much on each side of the long cross as amounts to half the breadth of the gutter-stick, without deducting almost any thing for the long cross, since that makes allowance for the inequality of the outer margin.

Another plan, more simple, is the following:—Having laid the pages as nearly as possible in their proper places on the stone, with a suitable chase around them, fold a sheet of paper which has been wetted for the work, or one of the same size, into as many portions as there are pages in the form, and, holding the sheet thus folded on the first or left-hand page of the form, one edge even with the left-hand side of the type, place the adjoining page so that its left side may be even with the right-hand edge of the folded paper, which will leave a sufficient space between the two pages to admit the gutter-stick, which should then be selected of a proper width to suit the form in hand, as follows:—In octavos, about a Great Primer less in width than the space between the pages, as determined by the above rule; in duodecimos, about a Pica less; in sixteens, about a Long Primer; and proportionably less as the number of pages are increased. Having thus secured the proper width for the gutter-sticks, cut them somewhat longer than the page, and holding one of them between the two pages, above the page-cord, close the pages up to it; then open the folded sheet so as to cover the two pages, and, bringing the fold in the paper exactly in the middle of the gutter-stick, secure it there with the point of a pen-knife or bodkin; the right-hand edge of the paper thus opened must be brought to the centre of the cross-bar, which determines the furniture required between it and the pages. Having thus arranged the margins for the back and fore edge of the book, proceed in like manner to regulate the head and foot margins, by bringing the near edge of the folded paper even with the bottom of the first page, and so placing the adjoining off page that its head may be barely covered by the off edge of the folded paper, which will give the required head margin. All other sections of the form must be regulated by the foregoing measurements, when the margins for the whole sheet will be found correct.

The greater the number of pages in a sheet, the smaller in proportion should the margin be: the folded paper, therefore, should lie proportionally less over the edge of the adjoining page, both for gutter and back, in a form of small pages than in one of larger dimensions. A folio may require the page to be half an inch nearer the back than the fore-edge; while a duodecimo may not require more than a Pica em.

In imposing jobs where two or more of the same size, requiring equal margins, are to be worked together, fold the paper to the size appropriate for each, and so arrange the type that the distance from the left side of one page to the left side of the adjoining one shall be exactly equal to the width of the folded paper, as before described.

Having dressed the inside of the pages, next place side- and foot-sticks to their outsides; being thus secured by the furniture, untie the pages, quarter after quarter, the inner page first, and then the outer, at the same time forcing the letter toward the crosses, and using every precaution to prevent the pages from hanging or leaning; and, in order to guard against accidents, when the quarter is untied, secure it with a couple of quoins.

LOCKING UP FORMS.

First, carefully examine whether the pages of each quarter are of the same length; for even the difference of a lead will cause them to hang. Test their exactness: place the ball of each thumb against the centre of the foot-stick, raising it a little with the pressure, and, if the ends of both pages rise equally with the stick, it is a proof they will not bind; then fit quoins between the side and foot-stick of each quarter and the chase. After pushing the quoins as far as possible with the fingers, make use of the mallet and shooting-stick, and gently drive the quoins along the foot-sticks first, and then those along the side-sticks, taking care to use an equal force in the strokes, and to drive the quoins far enough up the shoulders of the side- and foot-sticks, that the letter may neither belly out nor hang, and the lines be kept straight and even. Quoins should be slanted on one side only, but the edges should not be bevelled. The several quarters of a form should be partially tightened before either quarter is finally locked up; otherwise the cross-bar may be sprung.

Before locking up the form, plane the pages gently over all the face. If this be properly done, a second planing is hardly necessary, provided the justification is perfect and the pages are all of the same length. But, as this is seldom the case, the second planing can hardly be dispensed with.

It often occurs that the quoins, when locked up wet, stick so tight to the furniture as to render it troublesome to unlock them: in such cases, drive the quoin up a little, and it afterward unlocks with ease.

Before lifting a form after it is locked up, raise it gently a short distance, and look under it, to ascertain whether any types are disposed to drop out. If all is right, carry it to the proof-press, and pull a good proof. Then rub it over gently with a ley-brush, rinse it well, and place it in a rack, and deliver the proof, with the copy, to the proof-reader.

MEMORANDA.

Each part of the furniture should be in one piece where it is practicable,—as, for instance, the gutters, the backs, and the heads; but sometimes pieces will be wanted of a width that is not equal to any regular size, and then two must be used.

All the gutters of one sheet should be cut of a precise length; so also with the backs and the heads; but each sort should be of a different length from that of the others: thus they can be easily distinguished from each other, and mistakes be prevented.

The sheet being imposed, the stone should be cleared; the saw and saw-block put in their places, the shears, the mallet, planer, and shooting-stick, the surplus furniture, the leads, the quoins, and every other article. The compositor will tie up his page-cords, and, if he has any companions, will return to them their proportion.

The chase and furniture of one form should always be used for a similar form; that is, the chase and furniture of the outer form should be again used for an outer form, and the chase and furniture of the inner form should be again used for an inner form; they should also be put round the pages in the same order in which they were put about those of the preceding forms. For want of care or thought in these apparently trifling circumstances, trouble, inconvenience, and loss of time frequently occur; for the register will be almost sure to be wrong when this is neglected, and then the forms must be unlocked and the leads changed, to correct the fault.

_Before the form is printed, a proof should be taken and the sheet folded, to make sure of the correctness of the imposition._

The preceding rules and directions were intended for type-forms, and were formerly of universal necessity. Now most books are printed from stereotyped or electrotyped plates. The same instructions, however, are generally as applicable to plate as to type pages.

NOMENCLATURE OF SHEETS.

When a sheet of paper of Medium or larger size is folded in two leaves, like most newspapers, it is called a _folio_; when folded in four leaves, it is named a _quarto_ or _4to_; when folded in eight leaves, an _octavo_ or _8vo_; in twelve leaves, a _duodecimo_ or _12mo_; in sixteen leaves, _sextodecimo_ or _16mo_; in eighteen leaves, _octodecimo_ or _18mo_; in twenty-four leaves, _vigesimo-quarto_, or _24mo_, and so on. The Latin names beyond _duodecimo_ are seldom used.

Abstract Title-Deeds of Estates are printed with blanks at
the back, with all the margin on the left side, and on single
leaves, which are stitched together at the corner.

This method of imposing the form is to save presswork and the
compositor’s charge.]

_=Outer Form of the Outer Sheet.=_

_=Outer Form of the Inner Sheet.=_

Imposing in quires may be carried to any extent, by observing the following rule:—first ascertain the number of pages, then divide them into so many sheets of folio, and commence laying down the first two and last two, which form the first sheet, and so on to the centre one, always remembering that the odd pages stand on the left and the even on the right; the folios of each two forming one more than the number of pages in the work: for example, let us suppose the work to consist of thirty-six pages, which is nine sheets of folio, then they should be laid down according to the scheme at the foot of the opposite page.]

_=Inner Form of the Outer Sheet.=_

_=Inner Form of the Inner Sheet.=_

Outer. Inner. Sheet.
1 36 35 2, _1st_
3 34 33 4, _2d_
5 32 31 6, _3d_
7 30 29 8, _4th_
9 28 27 10, _5th_
11 26 25 12, _6th_
13 24 23 14, _7th_
15 22 21 16, _8th_
17 20 19 18, _9th_

The furniture must be reduced in the backs of the inner sheets, to allow for stitching.]

_=Outer Form.=_]

_=Outer Form.=_]

_=Inner Form.=_]

_=Inner Form.=_]

_=Outer Form.=_]

_=Inner Form.=_]

_=Outer Form.=_

_=Inner Form.=_]

_=Outer Form.=_

_=Inner Form.=_]

To be imposed as a slip, or in the off-cross.

_=Outer Form.=_]

To be imposed as a slip, or in the off-cross.

_=Inner Form.=_]

_=Outer Form.=_

_=Inner Form.=_]

_=Outer Form.=_

_=Inner Form.=_]

Containing 16 pages.

The white paper of this half-sheet being worked off, the centre
pages must be transposed,—viz. pages 7 and 10 in the room of 9 and
8, and pages 9 and 8 in the place of 7 and 10: when this is done,
your imposition will be true.]

When the white paper is worked off, transpose the form,—viz. pages
11 and 8 in the room of 7 and 12, and pages 7 and 12 in the place
of 11 and 8: this being done, the sheet will then fold up right.]

This mode of imposition is very objectionable, as there will be,
when the paper is cut up, three single leaves.]

PROOF-READING AND CORRECTING.

PROOF-READING.

Undeniable as is the fact that a book marred by typographical errors and grammatical blemishes is a scandal to the profession, it must be admitted that a careful, steady, and competent reader is indispensable in every printing-office.

It is eminently desirable that a reader should have been previously brought up a compositor. By a practical acquaintance with the mechanical departments of the business, he will be better able to detect those manifold errata which, unperceived by the man of mere learning and science, lie lurking, as it were, in a thousand different forms, in every sheet; and which, if overlooked, justly offend the taste and discernment of all appreciators of correct and beautiful typography.

Some of the principal imperfections which are more easily observed by the man of practical knowledge in the art of printing are the following: viz. imperfect, wrong-founted, and inverted letters, particularly the lower-case n, o, s, and u, as well as p, d, b, and q; awkward and irregular spacing; uneven pages or columns; a false disposition of the reference marks; crookedness in words and lines; bad making-up of matter; erroneous indention, &c. These minutiæ, which are rather imperfections of workmanship than literal errors, are apt to be overlooked and neglected by mere literary readers.

A person of a thoroughly cultivated typographical taste, a quick eye, and a ready mind, though not a compositor, may doubtless be competent to detect those minor deviations from exact workmanship in a proof which the inexperienced and the careless are apt to overlook. But, without these qualifications, no person can be safely intrusted to read a sheet for press, and the labours of the printer are liable to go forth into the world in a manner that will reflect discredit on the employed and give offence to the employer. No form, therefore, ought to be put to press until it has been read and revised by an _experienced_ reader.

A thorough proof-reader, in addition to a general and practical acquaintance with typography, should understand clearly the grammar and idiomatic structure of his mother-tongue, and have, as it were, an encyclopedic knowledge of the names, times, and productions of its writers, as well as an entire familiarity with the Bible especially, and with Shakspeare. He should be, in fact, a living orthographical, biographical, bibliographical, geographical, historical, and scientific dictionary, with some smattering of Hebrew, Greek, Latin, French, Spanish, Italian, and German. Yet all these accomplishments are valueless unless he also possess a keen and quick eye, that, like a hound, can detect an error almost by scent. There are eyes of this sort, that with a cursory glance will catch a solitary error in a page. The world is little aware how greatly many authors are indebted to a competent proof-reader for not only reforming their spelling and punctuation, but for valuable suggestions in regard to style, language, and grammar,—thus rectifying faults which would have rendered their works fair game for the critic.

Although no corrector of the press can strictly be required to do otherwise than to _follow his copy_,—that is, faithfully to adhere to the original, with all its defects,—yet every one must perceive that he performs a friendly and perhaps a charitable service, by pointing out, in proper time, imperfections and mistakes which have escaped the observation of a quick or voluminous writer. With the spirit, the opinions, the whims of an author, no corrector of the press has any business to interfere. In reprints of old and standard works, no license of alteration ought to be granted to either correctors or editors.

Strict uniformity should always be preserved in the use of capitals, in orthography, and punctuation. Nothing can be more vexatious to an author than to see the words _honour_, _favour_, &c. spelt with and without the _u_. This is a discrepancy which correctors ought sedulously to prevent. The above observations equally apply to the use of capitals to noun-substantives, &c. in one place, and the omission of them in another. However the opinions of authors may differ in these respects, still the system of spelling, &c. must not be varied in the same work.

When an author gives him the option, a proof-reader ought to spell ambiguous words and arrange compounds in a methodical and uniform way; and, to enable the compositors to become acquainted with and to observe his method, he should furnish for their guidance a list of such ambiguous words and compounds.[15]

Such being the qualifications of a reader, we exhibit the process which proof-sheets ought to undergo before the pages are put to press.

When a first proof is pulled, the compositor who imposed the sheet ought to collect and arrange the copy, and deliver both to the reader, who, after folding the sheet to prove the accuracy of its imposition, carefully examines the signatures, head-lines, and paging. He then calls his reading-boy, to read the copy aloud to him. This boy should be able to read with ease and distinctness any copy put into his hands. The eye of the reader should not follow, but rather precede, the voice of the boy: accustomed to this mode, he will be able to anticipate every single word in the copy; and, should a word or sentence happen to be missing in the proof, his attention will the more sensibly be arrested by it when he hears it pronounced by his reading-boy. He ought to be careful lest his eyes advance too far before the words of the boy; because, in his attention to the author’s meaning, he will be apt to read words in the proof which do not actually appear there, and the accuracy of the reading-boy will but tend to confirm him in the mistake.

When the reading of the sheet is concluded, the number (if more than one) of the volume, signature, and _prima_, or first word of the ensuing sheet, should be accurately marked on the margin of the copy, and a bracket made before the first word of the next sheet, in order that the compositor, should he not have composed beyond the sheet, may know where to begin, without having the trouble of referring either to the proof or the form, and the reader will be certain that the commencement is right when he gets the succeeding sheet. This prevents unnecessary trouble both to the reader and compositor.

Before the proof is sent to the compositor to be corrected in the metal, an entry should be made in a book, according to the following plan:—

+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
|DATE OF READING. |
| +-------------------------------------------------------------+
| |SIGNATURES. |
| | +--------------------------------------------------------+
| | |NAMES OF WORKS. |
| | | +---------+---------+--------+
| | | |SENT OUT.|RETURNED.|READ FOR|
| | | | | | PRESS. |
+--------+----+---------------------------+---------+---------+--------+
| 1878. | | | 1878. | 1878. | 1878. |
| May 2 | 11 |Decorative Printing | May 2 | May 4 | May 5 |
| ” 4 | 23 |American Printer, (Revised | ” 4 | ” 5 | ” 6 |
| | | Edition) | | | |
| ” 6 | 20 |Specific Heat Tables | ” 8 | ” 9 | ” 9 |
| ” 10 | 2 |The Great Exhibition | ” 10 | ” 12 | ” 13 |
| ” 27 | 13 |Masterpieces of European | ” 29 | ” 30 | ” 30 |
| | | Art | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
+--------+----+---------------------------+---------+---------+--------+

This account being punctually kept, the reader can furnish the employer or overseer with an exact account of the state of each work without delay or inconvenience.

After the compositors have corrected the errors in the form, a clean proof is pulled, which, with the first proof, is handed to the reader, who then collates the corrected sheet with the one before read, in order to ascertain whether the corrections have been properly made, and whether new errors have not been caused by negligence in the process; and, if the work be a reprint, or if the author is not to examine the proof, he then proceeds to read it very carefully for press.

Some proofs are so foul, that it is almost impossible for the compositor to correct all the marks at one time, and it is therefore necessary to have the neglected errors corrected and another sheet pulled before the proof is read finally. It not unfrequently happens that compositors, in the course of correcting, transpose a letter or word, or alter a letter in a word that is not marked, thus not only leaving one error uncorrected, but also making another; sometimes also, in respacing a line, a space is transposed or a hyphen is left in. Consequently it is absolutely necessary, in revising a proof, that the reader should not only look at the word marked, but he ought also to glance his eye over every line in which an alteration has been made.

In offices where two readers are employed, it is advisable that a proof-sheet should be read over by both; because the eye, in traversing the same ground, is liable to be drawn into mistake and oversight. The interest excited by the first reading having abated, a degree of listlessness imperceptibly steals upon the mind, which greatly endangers the correctness of a proof. Should _outs_ or _doubles_ occur in a proof, it ought to be again read by copy, to detect any improper correction in the overrunning or transposition of lines. Figure work should always be read twice by copy.

The duty of amending the punctuation should be generally confined to one reader. Where a compositor is liable, in this particular, to the whim or caprice of several readers, he certainly suffers injustice, because his time is unnecessarily frittered away; and not only is the work retarded, but the types are needlessly exposed to injury, to say nothing of the liability of creating fresh errors, &c.

Before a manuscript is brought to the printer, it ought to be as perfect as the author can make it. The compositor is bound to “follow the copy,” in word and sentiment, unless, indeed, he meets with instances of wrong punctuation or false grammar, (and such instances are not rare,) which his intelligence enables him to amend. After the matter has been read and corrected in the office, a proof is sent to the author; and, if it corresponds with the copy, the compositor’s responsibility is at an end. He has done all he is paid for; and, should the author desire any changes made in his matter, of course he must pay for them.

Sentiments in print look marvellously different from the same ideas in manuscript; and we are not surprised that writers should wish to polish a little; nor do we object to their natural desire of amending or beautifying their mental products. But let them not forget that pay-time will come,—when the item for alterations will loom out with a startling distinctness in the bill. They found it easy in the proof to erase a word or two here and insert a word or two there; without dreaming, perhaps, that in consequence of these little erasures and insertions the compositor would be compelled to alter and reconstruct much of his work. We know of a volume on which the alterations alone have consumed time equal to one man’s work for nearly two and a half years. How unreasonable—nay, how transparently unjust—the expectation that the printer should give gratuitously the time and trouble requisite for the radical changes in the type which an author’s whim or taste may demand!

Stower says, “It may not be improper, in this place, just to take notice of the great danger to the correctness of a work which arises from the practice, too common with some authors, of keeping their proof-sheets too long in their hands before they are returned to the printer. As the pages in the metal get dry, the adhesion of the types to each other is weakened, and the swell or extension of the quoins and furniture, which the moisture had occasioned, is removed; so that there is great danger of letters falling out when a form is long kept from the press. Nor is the danger which is hereby occasioned to correctness the only inconvenience: the impatience of authors to see their works in a fit state for publication is almost proverbial. The pleasure arising from beholding, as it were, the ‘form and texture’ of one’s thoughts, is a sensation much easier felt than described. That authors, therefore, may partake of this pleasure in a speedy and regular succession, they should make a point of forwarding their proof-sheets to the printer as quick as possible, not only that they may the sooner be got ready for the press, but that the work may proceed in a regular manner, without being interrupted by the forwarding of other works in lieu of that the proof-sheets of which are detained beyond the proper time in the hands of the author.

“Authors are very apt to make alterations, and to correct and amend the style or arguments of their works, when they first see them in print. This is certainly the worst time for this labour, as it is necessarily attended with an expense which, in large works, will imperceptibly swell to a serious sum; when, however, this method of alteration is adopted by an author, the reader must always be careful to read the whole sheet over once more with very great attention before it is finally put to press.

“A proof-sheet, having duly undergone this routine of purgation, may be supposed to be as free from errata as the nature of the thing will admit, and the word ‘Press’ may be written at the top of the first page of it. This is an important word to every reader: if he have suffered his attention to be drawn aside from the nature of his proper business, and errors should be discovered when it is too late to have them corrected, this word ‘Press’ is as the signature of the death-warrant of his reputation. A reader, therefore, should be a man of one business,—always upon the alert,—all eye,—all attention. Possessing a becoming reliance on his own powers, he should never be too confident of success. Imperfection clings to him on every side. Errors and mistakes assail him from every quarter. His business is of a nature that may render him obnoxious to blame, but can hardly be said to bring him in any very large stock of praise. If errors escape him, he is justly to be censured; for perfection is his duty. If his labours are wholly free from mistake,—which is, alas! a very rare case,—he has done no more than he ought, and, consequently, can merit only a comparative degree of commendation, in that he had the good fortune to be more successful in his labours after perfection than some of his brethren in the same employment.”

The form being finally laid on the press, and a revise pulled by the pressman, he sends it to the overseer, who carefully examines whether all the marks have been attended to, and looks along the sides and heads of the respective pages, to observe whether any letter has fallen out, or there is any crookedness in the locking up of the form, any battered letters, or any _bite_ from the frisket. Should the revise prove faultless, he returns it to the pressman, with the word “Revise” written on the margin; if otherwise, to the compositor to whom the form belongs, for immediate correction.

CORRECTING IN THE METAL.

Correcting is the most disagreeable part of a compositor’s business, diminishing as it does his earnings, and causing great fatigue, and, by leaning over the stone, endangering his health. A foul proof, however, is a fault without extenuation, and seems to deserve some punishment. The noise and confusion which prevail in badly governed printing-offices, from light and frivolous conversation, not only retard business, but distract the attention of the compositor from the subject he has in hand, and cause him to make many mistakes. Some men, no doubt, can support a conversation and at the same time compose correctly; but their noise confuses those who are unable to preserve accuracy except by close attention to their copy in silence.

The first proof should contain merely the errors of the compositor; but it frequently happens that the corrector heightens them by his peculiarities. When this is unnecessarily done, it is an act of injustice to the compositor: it is sufficient for him to rectify such mistakes as arise either from inattention to his copy or want of judgment. The compositor ought not to suffer from the humour of a reader in capriciously altering commas and semicolons in the first proof, which he not unfrequently re-alters in the second, from a doubt as to the propriety of the points to be adopted.

When a proof is handed to the compositor, he should immediately correct it; and the reader, correlatively, should be equally prompt in his department. Can it reasonably be expected that the compositor will feel inclined to forward his proof, when he knows that the reader will delay it for hours?

Should a compositor have transposed two or more pages, either from an error in the folios or any other cause, he must unlock the quarter containing them, and, loosening the cross or crosses from the furniture, lift the chase and the remaining quarters off the stone. Should he have furniture sufficient round each page, he may move them into their proper stations by pressing the balls of his thumbs and fingers against the furniture at the head, foot, and sides of each page. If the letter be small, it will be advisable to wet the pages, because few imposing-stones are horizontal, or so steady that they will not shake when touched, or by the motion of the floor occasioned by persons walking or dragging forms along.

Should a compositor find that his pages _hang_, he must unlock the quarter, and pat the face of the type with the balls of his fingers until he gets it into a square position.

When a compositor unlocks a form, he should be careful not to leave the unlocked quoins too slack, as the force necessary to loosen the others may _squabble_ the matter, or occasion it to _hang_.

It has been aptly said, “What is required of a compositor when he goes about correcting a foul proof, is a sharp bodkin and patience; because, without them, the letter cannot escape suffering by the steel, and hurrying will not permit him to justify the lines true. No wonder, therefore, to see pigeon-holes in one place, and pi in another.”[16]

When the compositor has as many corrections between the thumb and forefinger of his left hand as he can conveniently hold, or, what is better, in his composing-stick, (beginning at the bottom of the page, in order that they may follow regularly,) and an assortment of spaces on a piece of paper, or, what is more convenient, in a small square box with partitions in it,—let him take the bodkin in his right hand, and, instead of raising each letter he may have to alter, place the point of the bodkin at one end of the line, and, with the forefinger of his left hand against the other, raise the whole line sufficiently high to afford him a clear view of the spacing; he may then change the faulty letter and alter his spacing before he drops the line. By this method he will not injure the type, which he must do if he force the bodkin into their sides or heads; a greater degree of regularity is insured where there may be occasion to alter the spacing, and no more time is taken up than by the other method.