Chapter VII: Part 7

6. The proof, when pulled, to be given to the reader, the copy in regular order to accompany the first proof, and the foul proof the second.

7. Compositors are not to leave either type or furniture on the stone.

8. A compositor is not to detain an imposing-stone longer than the nature of the business may require.

9. Head-lines, or other useful materials, on galleys, used during the course of a work, to be cleared away as soon as the work is finished.

10. When a work is done, the compositor, before beginning another work, unless otherwise directed, is to clear away the forms, taking from them the head-lines, white-lines, and odd sorts, as well as the leads and reglets; which, with the furniture of each sheet, and the matter properly tied up for papering, are to be given to the foreman.

11. Types dropped on the floor to be picked up at once. Matter broken by accident to be cleared away on the same day.

12. The saw, saw-block, bowl, sponge, letter-brush, shears, bellows, &c., to be returned to their respective places as soon as done with.

13. Letter-boards, windows, frames, &c., to be kept free from pi.

14. No person to take sorts from the cases of another without leave, nor hoard useful sorts, not wanting or likely to want them.

15. Compositors employed by the week to work not less than ten hours per day.

16. Unnecessary conversation to be avoided.

THE PRESS AND ITS WORKING.

HISTORY OF THE PRESS.

While poets and orators have expatiated on the glory and power of the press, rulers have exhausted their cunning in attempts to curb and regulate the art of which it is the symbol. Hedged in by arbitrary restrictions, it is not wonderful that printing was long carried on with clumsy implements. The earliest press resembled a screw-press, with a contrivance for running the form of types under the point of pressure. After the impression was taken, the screw was relaxed, and the form withdrawn and the sheet removed.

This rude press continued in general use till 1620, when WILLEM JANSEN BLAEU, at first a joiner and afterward a mathematical instrument maker of Amsterdam, contrived a press in which the bed or carriage was brought under the point of pressure by moving a handle attached to a screw hanging in a beam with a spring, the spring causing the screw to fly back as soon as the impression was given. This movement was afterward effected by means of a double strap or belt, two ends of which were attached to an axle, and the others to opposite ends of the bed. The platen was so small that two pulls were necessary to print one side of a sheet, and each sheet, therefore, required four pulls to produce a complete impression.

ADAM RAMAGE, who came from Scotland to Philadelphia about 1790, and who for a long time was the chief press-builder in the United States, made some improvements in the old press, one of which was the substitution of an iron bed for the stone one before in use.

About the year 1800, EARL STANHOPE contrived a press which obtained much notoriety. It was constructed of iron, and of a size sufficient to print the whole surface of a sheet, and such a combined action of levers was applied to the screw as to make the pull a great deal less laborious to the pressman.

The Stanhope press, however, was soon surpassed by the Columbian press, invented by GEORGE CLYMER, of Philadelphia. Mr. Clymer, as early as 1797, endeavoured to improve the common wooden press. His next efforts were directed to the production of an iron press, till finally eminent success was the result of his labours. In beauty, durability, and power, as well as facility of pull, the Columbian press stands perhaps unsurpassed. The power in this press is procured by a long bar or handle acting upon a combination of exceedingly powerful levers above the platen; the return of the handle or levers being effected by means of counterpoises or weights. The powerful command which the leverage enables the workman to exercise is favourable to delicacy and exactness of printing,—his arm feeling, as it were, through the series of levers to the very face of the types. The inventor removed to England in 1817, and introduced the press there, where it has long been held in high estimation.

In the United States, presses of simpler construction have displaced the imposing Columbian press,—the first of which was invented by PETER SMITH, of New York, and the latest is SAMUEL RUST’S Washington press, which has secured general approbation and adoption, as being more simple and cheaper, if not more effective, than the Columbian press. Hand-presses are now restricted to country papers of small circulation, and to book-offices devoted to extra fine printing.

The bed-and-platen power-press invented by ISAAC ADAMS, of Boston, was for a considerable time the only machine-press capable of producing fine work and exact register. It will give from six to eight thousand impressions per day. As the platen rolls off and leaves the bed entirely exposed, forms can be made ready with great facility. The sheets are taken from the feed-board by fingers, and, after being printed, are laid in a pile by a self-acting sheet-flyer.

The Cylinder press, which may be run at a much higher rate of speed than the bed-and-platen machine, was of earlier invention. FREDERICK KÖNIG, a Saxon, early in the present century turned his attention to cylinder printing, and was so successful that on November 28, 1814, the London _Times_ announced the fact that the number issued on that day had been printed by machinery propelled by steam. The earliest suggestion of a cylinder press is due, however, to William Nicholson, of England, who, in 1790 took out a patent for such a machine, but it was never perfected. According to Mr. Isaiah Thomas, a Dr. Kinsley, of Connecticut, afterward produced a press varying somewhat from Nicholson’s.

In 1818, Applegath and Cowper made important improvements in König’s press, which greatly enlarged its field of usefulness. This machine, with various modifications and improvements, is in general use in Europe and America, for newspapers of moderate circulation, and even for fine job and book work, as entirely accurate register can now be secured on the new cylinder presses of the best makers, such as Hoe & Co.,[17] Cottrell & Babcock, Campbell, and others. The stop cylinder press (the latest improvement) is particularly well adapted for fine printing.

The invention of steam printing presses rendered books and periodicals so cheap that the progress of knowledge was amazingly accelerated; and soon the capacity of the cylinder press proved unequal to the work of printing the enormous editions of some of the leading newspapers of the world; and the first successful invention to meet the exigency was made by Col. RICHARD M. HOE, of New York, in the Type-Revolving Printing Machine, of which we give an engraving. It is, as its name indicates, on the rotary principle; that is, the form of type is placed on the surface of a horizontal revolving cylinder of about four and a half feet in diameter. The form occupies a segment of only about one-fourth of the surface of the cylinder, and the remainder is used as an ink-distributing surface. Around this main cylinder, and parallel with it, are placed smaller impression cylinders, varying in number from four to ten, according to the size of the machine. The large cylinder being put in motion, the form of types is carried successively to all the impression cylinders, at each of which a sheet receives the impression of the types as the form passes. Thus, as many sheets are printed at each revolution of the main cylinder as there are impression cylinders around it. One person is required at each impression cylinder to supply the sheets of paper, which are taken at the proper moment by fingers or grippers, and after being printed are carried out by tapes and laid in heaps by means of self-acting flyers, thereby dispensing with the hands required in ordinary machines to receive and pile the sheets. The grippers hold the sheet securely, so that the thinnest newspaper may be printed without waste.

The ink is contained in a fountain placed beneath the main cylinder, and is conveyed by means of distributing rollers to the distributing surface on the main cylinder. This surface being lower, or less in diameter, than the form of types, passes by the impression cylinder without touching. For each impression there are two inking rollers, which receive their supply of ink from the distributing surface of the main cylinder: they rise and ink the form as it passes under them, after which they again fall to the distributing surface.

This press is capable of printing either from type or from stereotype plates bent to fit the curve of the cylinder. When type is used, each page of the paper is locked up on a detached segment of the large cylinder, which constitutes its bed and chase. The column-rules run parallel with the shaft of the cylinder, and are consequently straight; while the head, advertising, and dash rules are in the form of segments of a circle. The column-rules are in the form of a wedge, with the thin part directed toward the axis of the cylinder, so as to bind the type securely. These wedge-shaped column-rules are held down to the bed by tongues projecting at intervals along their length, which slide in rebated grooves cut crosswise in the face of the bed. The spaces in the grooves between the column-rules are accurately fitted with sliding blocks of metal even with the surface of the bed, the ends of which blocks are cut away underneath to receive a projection on the sides of the tongues of the column-rules. The form of type is locked up in the bed by means of screws at the foot and sides, by which the type is held as securely as in the ordinary manner upon a flat bed,—if not even more so. The speed of these machines is limited only by the ability of the feeders to supply the sheet.

This machine was first used by the _Public Ledger_ of Philadelphia, and was afterward adopted by the leading newspapers of that city and New York, as well as of the chief cities of Great Britain and other countries.

To obtain the best results from the largest size of this press it was necessary to employ a dozen or more hands to feed and run it. This expensive feature was largely avoided in a new machine projected by Mr. WILLIAM BULLOCK, whose press was the forerunner of several machines that may be classed under the general name of Self-feeding or Web Perfecting Presses.

THE BULLOCK WEB PERFECTING PRESS.

This machine is intended for printing on a continuous roll of dampened paper, which passes between a pair of cylinders (one of which is an impression cylinder, and the other a cylinder around which stereotyped plates are bent) and receives an impression on one side, and the sheet then goes forward and is printed on the other side while passing between a second pair of cylinders similar to the first, except that the impression cylinder is four times the diameter of the plate cylinder to prevent more effectually the ink from “setting off.” After being printed, and before delivery, the sheet is cut off by a fixed serrated cutting blade, the ingenious invention of Victor Beaumont of New York. A French device for making flexible papier-maché moulds rendered it possible to cast the type-plates to fit the printing cylinders. Without this auxiliary, web perfecting presses would have been useless and impracticable.

Mr. Bullock, born in Greene County, New York, was a mechanical genius, and was the author of many inventions in various departments of machinery.[18] About the year 1860, he began to work out the idea of a rotary self-feeding, or web perfecting press. After making a large working model, which is still in existence, he adopted a simpler plan, and in 1861 constructed a machine for the _Cincinnati Times_, which was successfully operated, but it was far from perfect. Three of these machines were used for a considerable time in the office of the _Philadelphia Inquirer_.

He continued his efforts, and in 1865 he produced a press which met his original anticipation, and a company was formed to manufacture it. In 1867, while setting up a machine for the _Public Ledger_ in Philadelphia, he suffered a serious injury which terminated his life. More than fifty of the presses are now in use in the United States. The New York _Herald_ press, printing and cutting two copies at each delivery, is said to produce, with but three men to attend to it, 30,000 copies per hour. The New York _Sun_ states: “When our seven Bullock Presses are working, we can turn off, without extravagant assertion, 210,000 copies an hour.” This assertion must be taken with some grains of allowance. The press is twelve feet long by five and a half feet wide.

THE WALTER PERFECTING PRESS.

The Bullock press was not long allowed to be the only press for rapid printing from cylindrical stereotype plates fed by a so-called endless roll of paper. The principle was applied to a machine constructed in the London _Times_ office, called, after the name of its celebrated proprietor, the Walter press. This appears to be an effective press, but it seems more complicated than either the Bullock or Hoe machine, and from its mode of delivering the sheets, it is excessively noisy. The New York _Times_ was printed on it at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia.

THE HOE PERFECTING PRESS.

The enterprise of R. Hoe & Co., of New York, soon gave birth to a web perfecting press combined with a folding machine that answers every requirement.

The groundwork principle is the same as in other presses of this kind. The first pair of cylinders over which hangs the roll of paper consists of one type and one impression cylinder, and by it the first side of the paper is printed. The second pair, printing the second side, consists likewise of one type and one impression cylinder, but the latter is below the former and is of much greater size, so that the “set off” from the fresh ink shall not fall continuously on the same surface of blanket. There is a third pair of cylinders which cuts off the sheet, and a fourth (in which, however, one cylinder is replaced by a brace of rollers) gives the first fold and shoots the doubled sheet in the circular cutter, which slits it into two papers, sending them on to be folded again separately and delivered in their respective places in piles at the side of the press; or the papers are rolled up exactly on the top of each other, six in number, and flown perfectly on the fly-board.

This machine printed and folded at the rate of more than 28,000 sheets an hour at the Centennial Exhibition, printing and folding at one time two copies of the Philadelphia _Times_. It is already in use in a dozen newspaper establishments in various parts of the world.

All these machines were in operation at the great Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. A fourth press exhibited,—claimed by its inventor, Mr. A. Campbell of New York, to be capable of printing much faster than any other,—was set up too late to prove its capacity by actual test. No press however, can be made more simple and with fewer parts than this.

RAILROAD-TICKET PRINTING AND NUMBERING PRESS.

These presses not only print, but at the same operation number consecutively, tickets and coupons of every size and pattern, which are also indented or cut apart by the machines as fast as printed. Ten local tickets twenty-six inches in length can be printed at one operation. The average rate of speed is about fourteen hundred impressions an hour,—equivalent to fourteen thousand tickets.

JOB PRESSES.

The invention of machines for printing small work elegantly as well as swiftly is of vast advantage to the printer, and has greatly increased the jobbing department of typography. Here, as in other matters, American ingenuity has taken the lead of all nations; and the presses invented by Ruggles, Hoe, Gordon, Degener, Wells, and Gally,—not to mention numerous other inventors,—defy competition. The Ruggles presses formerly commanded the trade; but the beautiful machines of Geo. P. Gordon, a man of decided genius, and the presses of other makers above named, have entirely displaced them. Hoe’s half medium cylinder job press will run 2500 impressions an hour.

Gordon’s Firefly press is unique, and requires a so-called endless card-board, which it prints and cuts of the required shape as it goes, at the rate of about ten thousand per hour. This is not in general use; but his eighth medium, quarto medium, and half medium Franklin presses, have achieved a high reputation for expedition and excellent performance. Gordon’s Franklin press has been reproduced in Europe under a different name.

We here present an engraving of another press which has achieved not a little reputation. It is called the Liberty press, and is manufactured by Degener & Weiler, of New York. In sizes as well as in prices, it corresponds with the Franklin. This press also is manufactured in Europe.

The Nonpareil, the Globe, the Peerless, and the Universal job presses all have special points which commend them to favour. Indeed, with so many good machines at the command of the printer, he is without excuse who does not produce handsome work.

What are called amateur presses may do well enough to amuse the boys of a family and keep them out of mischief; but when they are employed by fledgelings in competition with properly trained printers, they become mere paper-smearers, the work produced on them being simply detestable to an educated eye.

FOLDING MACHINES.

Book and Newspaper Folders are entitled to a high rank among modern labour-saving machines. For newspapers of large circulation and in book establishments they have become indispensable. The finest books may be folded by them with accuracy, speed, and economy; and periodicals can be folded, pasted, and covered at about one-fourth the cost of hand-folding alone; while the daily folio newspaper can be folded in two, three, or four folds as fast as the machine press can print; or an eight-page daily or weekly can be folded three or four times, and all the pages pasted together at the back fold, and the head margin trimmed. All these processes are successfully accomplished by the various machines made by Chambers, Brother & Co. of Philadelphia. The engraving given above represents a book-folding machine.

SETTING UP A WASHINGTON PRESS.

All the connecting parts being marked, or indented by points, if these be observed carefully, the press may be put together without difficulty.

After setting the frame upon its legs, and putting on the ribs and bed, lay the platen on the bed, placing under it two bearers about type high. Then put the springs in their places, and the nuts over them, and pass the suspending-rods through them, observing to place the rods so that the number of indentations on them correspond with those on the platen. Give the nuts two or three turns, then run in the bed so as to bring the platen under the rods, and screw them fast to the platen; after which, put in the bar-handle, standard, and lever, (or wedge and knees, if a Smith press.) Turn the nuts on the suspending-rods, so as to compress the springs just enough to give the platen a quick retrograde motion, observing at the same time to get the surface of the platen parallel with the surface of the bed.

After having put the press together and levelled it by means of a spirit-level, be particular not to raise the end of the ribs by the gallows, but let it go under rather loose, which will have a tendency to make the bed slide with more ease on the ribs.

SETTING UP THE ROLLER-STAND.

The roller-stand containing the distributing cylinder should be regulated to the height of the press, bringing the shelf or bridge even with the corner irons, and at sufficient distance from the bed to allow it to run clear; the stand should then be firmly braced, as the constant turning of the rounce is very apt to loosen it; meanwhile being cautious to observe that the rounce, in its revolutions, does not come in contact with the frame of the tympan when up. The position of the distributing cylinder should be sufficiently high to allow the two composition rollers, at least one inch apart, to rest on its top without danger of touching the shelf or bridge in front. It is advantageous to nail two narrow strips of sole leather on the face of the shelf, about eight or ten inches from each end, which, acting as bearers, cause the rollers to pass very smoothly over them.

The roller-handle while in use should lie in a horizontal position, the back end being supported by a bar of wood or iron running parallel with the distributing cylinder. There should be a notch, or hook, about two inches from the end of the handle, to catch on the wooden supporter, to prevent the rollers from jumping forward while distributing or changing. It is also necessary to have a back-board for the end of the roller to strike against in coming off the form, to prevent the rollers from falling backward.

The ink-block is placed about five or six inches to the right of the roller-handle, and about on a level with it. It is furnished with the ink-slice, and a brayer, or a small roller about four or five inches long, and of the same circumference with the larger rollers, being cast in the same mould.

COMPOSITION ROLLERS.

Put the glue in a bucket or pan, and cover it with water; let it stand until more than half penetrated with water, taking care that it shall not soak too long, and then pour it off and let it remain until it becomes soft, when it will be ready for the melting kettle. This is a double vessel, like a glue kettle. Put the soaked glue into the inner vessel, and as much water in the outer boiler as it will contain when the inner vessel is placed in it. When the glue is all melted, (if too thick, add a little water,) the molasses may be slowly poured into it, and well mixed with the glue by frequent stirring. When properly prepared, the composition does not require boiling more than an hour. Too much boiling candies the molasses, and the roller, consequently, will be found to lose its suction much sooner. In proportioning the material, much depends upon the weather and temperature of the place in which the rollers are to be used. Eight pounds of glue to one gallon of sugar-house molasses, or syrup, is a very good proportion for summer-time, and four pounds of glue to one gallon of molasses for winter use. Glue for rollers should be clear and bright in body, and even in texture, when held up to the light: it should break short, and with a clear, sharp edge like glass.

For _hand-press rollers_ more molasses should be used, as they are not subject to so much hard usage as _cylinder-press rollers_, and do not require to be as strong; for the more molasses that can be used the better will be the roller. Before pouring a roller, the mould should be perfectly clean, and well oiled with a swab, but not to excess, as too much oil makes the face of the roller seamy and ragged. The end pieces should then be oiled, and, together with the cylinder, placed in the mould, the upper-end piece being very open, to allow the composition to pass down between the interior of the mould and the cylinder. The cylinder must be well secured from rising, before the composition is poured in, by placing a stick upon the end of it, sufficiently long to reach above the end of the mould, and be tied down with twine. The composition should be poured very slowly, and in such a manner as to cause it to run down only _one side_ of the cylinder, allowing the air to escape freely up the other.

If the mould is filled at night, the roller may be drawn the next morning; but it should not be used for at least twenty-four hours after, except in very cold weather.

To determine when a roller is in order for working, press the hand gently on it: if the fingers pass smoothly over its surface, it may be said to be in order; but should it be so adhesive that the fingers cling to it, it is not sufficiently dry, and should be exposed to the air.

Rollers should not be washed immediately after use, but should be put away with the ink on them, as it protects the surface from the action of the air. When washed and exposed to the atmosphere for any length of time, they become dry and skinny. They should be washed about half an hour before using them. In cleaning a _new_ roller, a little oil rubbed over it will loosen the ink: and it should be scraped clean with the back of a case-knife. It should be cleaned in this way for about one week, when _ley_ may be used. New rollers are often spoiled by washing them too soon with ley. Benzine may be substituted for oil; but, owing to its combustible nature, it is objectionable, as disastrous accidents have ensued from its use.

Mr. Hansard, an eminent English printer, says, “Take glue, made from the cuttings of parchment or vellum, fine green molasses, pure as from the sugar-refiners, and a small quantity of the substance called Paris-white, and you will have every ingredient requisite for good composition. The proportion as follows:—

Glue, 2 lbs.
Molasses, 6 lbs.
Paris-white, ½ lb.

Put the glue in a little water for a few hours to soak; pour off the liquid; put the glue over the fire, and when it is dissolved add the molasses, and let them be well incorporated together for at least an hour; then, with a very fine sieve, mix the Paris-white, frequently stirring the composition. In another hour, or less, it will be fit to pour into the mould.”

Various patented compositions for rollers may now be had from type-founders.

COVERING TYMPANS.

Tympans are generally covered with parchment, which should be of an even thickness, and about two inches and a half wider and three inches longer than the tympans. Tympans have been sometimes covered with linen, which, on account of its evenness, would answer the purpose; but it is so apt to stretch, that the tympans become slack in a short time, and bag (as it is termed), and thus slur the impression. Silk is excellent for fine work.

The pressman spreads as much good paste on the edges of the skin as will cover the frame of the tympan, which is also well pasted. He then lays the skin on the inner side of the frame, with the flesh side to face the type, and draws it regularly, as tight as possible, on all sides. The part of the skin that comes on the grooves of the tympan which receive the point-screws, is cut and wrapped round the inside edge of the grooves, which admits a free passage for the screws. After having fastened the skin on the sides of the tympan, he draws it toward the joints which receive the frisket, and with a knife cuts across these joints to let them through the skin; he then puts the frisket-pins through the parchment, and makes that end of the tympan fast. He next proceeds to the lower joints, and brings the skin as tight as he can round that part of the tympan. The point-screws and duck-bill are then put on, which prevent the skin from starting. The inner tympan, or drawer, is covered in the same manner. To prevent their warping when the skin begins to draw, pieces of furniture or wood of any kind should be placed across the centre till they are perfectly dry.

The skins are put on either wet or dry: if dry, they should be afterward well wet, which will make them give somewhat; but when they dry they will contract, and by this means will be rendered much tighter than they would be if put on wet.

WETTING PAPER.

The size of the wetting-trough should be about two inches longer and wider than the largest-sized paper, folded, that is to be wet in it, and about six inches deep. It should have a cover with hinges on the left side, that the cover may fall over on that side, and, resting horizontally, serve for a shelf to lay the paper upon previous to wetting it.

Having received a certain amount of paper from the warehouseman, the pressman lays one heap on the shelf attached to the wetting-trough, laying the first token across the heap with the back of the quires toward his right hand, that he may know when to turn the token-sheet, and that he may more readily catch at the back of each quire with that hand, for the purpose of dipping it. He then places the paper-board with its breadth before him on his right, on a table, laying a wrapper or a waste sheet of paper on the board, to prevent soiling the first sheet of the heap.

He then takes a quire by the centre of the back with his right hand, and the edge of it in his left, and, closing his hands a little, that the quire may bend downward between his hands, he dips the back of the quire into the left-hand side of the trough, and, relinquishing his hold with the left hand, draws the quire briskly through the water with his right. As the quire comes out, he quickly catches the edge of it again in his left hand, and brings it to the heap, and, by lifting his left hand, bears the under side of the quire off the paper previously laid down, till he has placed the quire in an even position; if the paper be weak and spongy, he draws the quire through the water quickly; if strong and stubborn, slowly. To place the quire in an even position, he lays the back of it exactly upon the open crease of the former, and then lets the side of the quire in his left hand fall flat down upon the heap, and, discharging his right hand, brings it to the edge of the quire, and, with the assistance of his left thumb, still in its first position, opens or divides either a third or a half of the quire, according to the quality of the paper; then, spreading the fingers of his right hand as much as he can through the length of the quire, turns over his opened division of it upon his right-hand side of the heap.

A different process must be used in the wetting of drawing and plate papers. These papers are usually sent in quite flat; that is, not folded into quires or half-quires. The best method of wetting these papers is to use a brush, such as is called a banister brush; and, instead of dipping the paper into the trough, he lays it on the paper-board by the side of the trough, and, dipping the brush into the water, he shakes it gently over the whole surface, to give an equal degree of moisture to all parts; and then proceeds as before described. The drawing-paper, being very hard-sized in the making, will require the brush, and much water, three, four, or even five times a quire; while the plate-paper should have as little water as it is possible to give it, so as to cover it all over; and twice a quire will often be too much. This same mode must also be adopted in wetting paper of extraordinary dimensions.

Having wet his first token, he doubles down a corner of the upper sheet of it on his right hand, so that the farther corner may be a little toward the left of the crease in the middle of the heap, and the other corner may hang out on the near side of the heap about an inch and a half. This sheet is called the _token-sheet_, being a mark for the pressman, when he is at work, to show how many tokens of that heap are worked off.

Having wet the whole heap, he lays a wrapper, or waste sheet of paper, upon it; then, three or four times, takes up as much water as he can in the hollow of his hand, and throws it over the waste sheet, to moisten and soak downward into the wet part of the last division of the quire; after which, he places in the heap the label which the warehouseman must always furnish for each heap, and upon which are written the title of the work and the date of wetting, one-half hanging out so as to be easily read.

The paper should be pressed for twelve hours, and then carefully turned by each three or four sheets, so that no lift be relaid in the same position with respect to the adjoining lift; at the same time, every fold and wrinkle must be carefully rubbed out by the action of the hand, so that nothing but a flat and even surface shall remain; the heap should then be pressed for about twenty-four hours in a screw-press, and it will be in good order for working.

The wetting of paper must, in all cases, depend entirely upon its fabric; and, since the printer has seldom the choice of the paper, it will require all his skill and patience to adapt his labours to the materials upon which he is to work. The texture of the paper must be suited to the fineness and tenacity of the ink. To attempt doing fine work upon common paper is lost labour. A paper to take the best ink must be made entirely of linen rags, _and not bleached by chemicals_. A fine hand-made paper, fabricated a sufficient time to get properly hardened, and well and equally saturated with size, so as not to imbibe more water in one part of the dip than in another, nor resisting the water like a duck’s back, is most suitable for fine printing.

Machines for wetting paper are now used in most large printing-offices.

BLANKETS.

Woollen blankets are unnecessary when a book is printed from new type. Nothing more should be used than a sheet or two of paper, as in fine work only the face of the type should show in the impression. But when the types or plates are worn and rounded, fine cassimere or broadcloth should be used in the tympan. In this, as in all matters connected with artistic typography, the pressman must display good judgment and discretion.

MAKING READY A FORM ON A HAND-PRESS.

Before a form is laid on the press, the pressman should carefully wipe the bottom of the type and the bed perfectly clean; for, if a particle of sand remain on it, it will cause a type or two to rise, and not only make a stronger impression, but probably injure the letters.

An octavo form should be laid on the press with the signature-page to the left hand, or nearest the platen; a duodecimo, or its combinations, with the signature at the right hand, or nearest the tympan. The form should be laid under the centre of the platen, and properly quoined up. The tympan is then laid down, and wet if necessary, and paper or blanket put in. It was formerly customary to wet the tympans for all works, and even jobs of almost every description; but, since the introduction of fine printing, and particularly iron presses, the custom is well-nigh banished, excepting for very heavy forms, composed with old letter, which, of course, require more softness to bring them off. After the inner tympan or drawer is put in, it is fastened with the hooks for that purpose, which serve to keep it from springing out. The tympan being lifted up, a sheet of the paper to be worked is folded in quarto, and the short crease is placed over the middle of the grooves of the short cross, if it lie in the centre of the form, as in octavo. In a form of twelves, the paper is folded in thirds, and the long crease placed in the middle of the long cross, and the short cross over the grooves. The sheet lying evenly on the form, the tympan is brought down, and a gentle pull will cause the paper to adhere, when it should be pasted to the tympan and fully stretched. The points are next screwed to the tympan, for large paper short-shanked points being used, and long-shanked for small paper. In twelves, the points must be placed at precisely equal distances from the edge of the paper. In octavo, the off-point may be a little larger than the near one, as it enables the pressman to detect a turned heap when working the reiteration or second side.

When a press is continued upon the same work, the quoins on the off-side of the bed may remain and serve as gauges for the succeeding forms; for, if the chases are equal in size, the register will be almost, if not quite, perfect.

The following operations are comprised in the term of making ready the form:—

1. The frisket should be covered with stout even paper, in the manner described for putting on parchment, the paper being carefully placed on the inside of the frame so as to lie close to the tympan, and to confine the sheet in its place when laid on for printing. When the paste is dry, the frisket is put on the tympan, and, after inking the form, an impression pulled upon it. The frisket is then taken off and laid on a board, or on the bank, and the impression of the pages cut out with a sharp knife about a Pica em larger than the page. After being replaced on the tympan, it is advisable to put a few cords across, to strengthen the bars of paper, and to keep the sheets close to the tympan. When the margin is too small to admit bars of paper, it is necessary to work with cords only.

2. The form should be examined, to see that it is properly locked up and planed down; that no letters or spaces lie in the white lines of the form, nor between the lines in leaded matter.

3. White pages which occur in a form must not be cut out; but, if the page be already cut out, a piece of paper must be pasted on the frisket, to cover the white page in the form, and a bearer put on to keep the adjoining pages from having too hard an impression. Some pressmen use reglets, others furniture cut to a proper height, and a third class adopt cork, which, from its elasticity, is very useful. Spring bearers, made of hard paper rolled up, are also employed to guard the sides and bottoms of light and open pages, when there is an inclination to slur.

4. The pressman must examine whether the frisket bites; that is, whether it keeps off the impression from any part of the pages.

5. He must consider whether the catch of the frisket stands either too far forward or backward: if forward, he may be much delayed by its falling down, and, if backward, it will come down too slowly, and thus retard the progress of the work and not unfrequently cause the sheet to slip out of its proper place. He must, therefore, place the catch so that the frisket may stand a little more than perpendicularly backward, that, when lightly tossed up, it may just stand, and not come back.

6. He must fit the gallows so that the tympan may stand as much toward an upright as he can; because it is the sooner let down upon the form and lifted up again. But yet he must not place it so upright as to prevent the white sheets of the paper from lying secure on the tympan.

7. The range of the paper-bank should not stand at right angles with the bed of the press; but the farther end of the bank should be placed so that the near side may make an angle of about seventy-five degrees with the near side of the bed.

8. The heap of paper should be set on the horse on the near end of the paper-bank, near the tympan, yet not touching it. The uppermost or outside sheet should be laid on the bank; and the pressman then takes four or five quires off his heap, and shakes them at each end, to loosen the sheets, till he finds he has sufficiently loosened or hollowed the heap. Then, with the nail of his right-hand thumb, he draws or slides forward the upper sheet, and two or three more commonly follow gradually with it, over the hither edge of the heap, to prepare those sheets ready for laying on the tympan.

9. He must next pull a _revise_ sheet, which must be sent up to the overseer for a final revision, and for examining whether any letters have dropped out of the form in putting it on the press, &c.

10. While the sheet is undergoing a revision, the pressman should proceed to _make register_, if half-sheet-wise, which is done by pulling a waste sheet, and turning it, (without inking, as the sheets may afterward be used for _slip_ sheets,) being particular not to stretch the point-holes in the least, or to draw the hand along the sheet in leaving it. In making register, the points must be knocked up or down in such a direction as will bring the first impression under the last, knocking the point only half the distance apparent on the sheet. If register cannot be made with the points, the difficulty must then be either in the furniture, the length of the pages, or in the springing of the cross-bars, from the forms being locked up by careless compositors, who commence at one quarter of the form, and lock it up tightly, and so go around, instead of gently tapping it at opposite sides till the whole is equally tightened. In locking up a form, the quoins at the feet should be gently struck first, to force up the pages and prevent their hanging; but, in unlocking, the side quoins must be first slackened.

Altering the quoins will not make good register, when the compositor has not made the white exactly equal between all the sides of the crosses. The pressman, therefore, will ascertain which side has too much or too little white, and, unlocking the form, will take out or put in as many leads or reglets as will make good register.

PULLING.

In taking a sheet off the heap, the pressman places himself almost straight before the near side of the tympan, but nimbly twists the upper part of his body a little backward toward the heap, the better to see that he takes but one sheet off. This he loosens from the rest of the heap by drawing the back of the nail of his right thumb quickly over the bottom part of the heap, and, receiving the near end of the sheet with his left-hand fingers and thumb, catches it by the farther edge with his right hand, about four inches from the upper corner of the sheet, and brings it swiftly to the tympan: having the sheet thus in both his hands, he lays the farther side and two extreme corners of the sheet down even upon the farther side and extreme farther corners of the tympan-sheet. In the reiteration, care should be taken to draw the thumb on the margin, or between the gutters, to avoid smearing the sheet. The sheet being properly laid on, he supports it in the centre by the fingers of the left hand, while his right hand, being disengaged, is removed to the back of the ear of the frisket, to bring it down upon the tympan, laying at the same moment the tympan on the form. He then, with his left hand, grasps the rounce, and quickly runs the form under the platen; and, after pulling, he gives a quick and strong pressure upon the rounce, to run the carriage out again. Letting go the rounce, he places the fingers of his left hand toward the bottom of the tympan, to assist the right hand in lifting it up, and also to be ready to catch the bottom of the sheet when the frisket rises, which he conveys quickly and gently to the catch: while it is going up, he slips the thumb of his left hand under the near lower corner of the sheet, which, with the aid of his two forefingers, he raises, the right hand at the same time grasping it at the top in the same manner. Lifting the sheet carefully and expeditiously off the points, and nimbly twisting about his body toward the paper-bank, he carries the sheet over the heap of white paper to the bank, and lays it down upon a waste sheet or wrapper; but, while it is coming over the white paper heap, though he has the sheet between both his forefingers and thumbs, yet he holds it so loosely that it may move between them as on two centres, as his body twists about from the side of the tympan toward the side of the paper-bank.

When the pressman comes to a token sheet, he undoubles it, and smooths out the crease with the back of the nails of his right hand, that the face of the letter may print upon smooth paper; and, being printed off, he folds it again, as before, for a token-sheet, when he works the reiteration.

Having worked off the white paper of a form of twelves, he places his right hand under the heap, and, his left hand supporting the end near him, turns it over on the horse, with the printed side downward. If the form be octavo, he places his left hand under the heap, supporting the outside near end with his right hand, and turns it one end over the other. All turning of the paper for reiteration is treated in one of these modes. In performing this operation, he takes from the heap only as much at once as he can well handle without disordering the evenness of the sides of the paper.

Having turned the heap, he proceeds to work it off, as before described, except that with the left hand he guides the point-holes over the points, moving the sheet with the right hand, more or less, to assist him in so doing. The token-sheets, as he meets with them, he does not fold down again.

RULES AND REMEDIES FOR PRESSMEN.

About every five or six sheets a small quantity of ink should be taken; yet this rule is subject to some variation from the nature of the work and quality of the ink. A form of large type or solid matter will require ink to be taken more frequently, and a light form of small type less frequently. During the intervals in which the roller-boy is not employed in brayering out or taking ink, he should be almost constantly engaged in distributing or changing his rollers. He should invariably take ink on the back roller, as it will the sooner be conveyed to the other roller, and, consequently, save time in distributing. When, through carelessness, too much ink has been taken, it should be removed by laying a piece of clean waste paper on one of the rollers, and working it off till the ink is reduced to the proper quantity.

If letters, quadrates, or furniture rise up and black the paper, they should be put down, and the quarter locked up tighter.

If any letters are battered, the quarter they are in must be unlocked, and perfect ones put in by the compositor.

When bearers become too thin by long working, they should be replaced by thicker ones.

When the form gets out of register,—which will often happen by the starting of the quoins which secure the chase,—it must be immediately put in again, as there can scarcely be a greater defect in a book than the want of uniformity in this particular.

If picks, produced by bits of paper, composition, or film of ink and grease or filth, get into the form, they must be removed with the point of a pin or needle; but if the form is much clogged with them, it should be well rubbed over with clean ley, or taken off and washed: in either case, before the pressman goes on again, it should be made perfectly dry by pulling several waste sheets upon it, in order to suck up the water deposited in the cavities of the letter.

The pressman should accustom himself to look over every sheet as he takes it off the tympan: he will thus be enabled not only to observe any want of uniformity in the colour, but also to detect imperfections which might otherwise escape notice.

In order to make perfect uniformity in the colour, the roller-boy should keep his ink well brayered out with the small roller, in proper quantities for the work in hand, and also should change his rollers well after taking ink, and at other times. The rollers are changed by moving the roller-handle slowly to the right and left, while the crank is being turned briskly with the left hand.

Torn or stained sheets met with in the course of work are thrown out and placed under the bank. Creases and wrinkles will frequently appear in the sheets when the paper has been carelessly wet: these should be carefully removed by smoothing them out with the back of the nails of the right hand.

If the frame of the tympan rub against the platen, it will inevitably cause a slur or mackle: this can easily be remedied by moving the tympan so as to clear the platen. The joints or hinges of the tympan should be kept well screwed up, or slurring will be the consequence. When the thumb-piece of the frisket is too long, it always produces a slur: this can be prevented by filing off a part of it. Loose tympans will at all times slur the work, and great care must therefore be observed in drawing them perfectly tight. The paper drying at the edges will also cause a slur: this may be remedied by wetting the edges frequently with a sponge.

Slurring and mackling will sometimes happen from other causes: it will be well in such cases to paste corks on the frisket, or to tie as many cords as possible across it, to keep the sheet close to the tympan.

The pressman should make the boy roll slowly, or the rollers will be apt to jump, and cause a _friar_. To prevent the rollers from jumping or bounding, bridges or springs made of thin steel, to reach across the gutters, may be used: these springs should taper off at the ends, and having an oblong hole in each end, through which they may be tacked to the gutter-sticks. In very open forms, it may be necessary to put bearers or pieces of reglet where the blank pages occur at the end of the form, to prevent one end of the roller from falling down and leaving a friar at the opposite end. This difficulty may be obviated in a great measure by imposing the form in such a manner as to bring the blank pages in the centre. This mode should always be adopted for title-pages and other light matter.

Before the pressman leaves his work, he covers the heap of paper by first turning down a sheet like a token-sheet, to show where he left off, and then putting a quantity of the worked-off sheets on it, and a paper-board if convenient. Laying the blanket on the heap after leaving off work is a bad custom. If the paper be rather dry, it will be well to put wet wrappers on it, after damping the edges well. If the form be clean, he puts a sheet of waste paper between the tympan and frisket, and lays them down on the form; if it be dirty, it must be rubbed over with clean ley, and several waste sheets pulled on it, as before directed, to suck the dirty ley out of the cavities of the letter. On his return to work in the morning, he takes care to wet the tympan, provided the type be worn. If there should be any pages in the form particularly open, the parts of the tympan where they fall must not be wetted.

THE LEY-TROUGH.