The AUTHOR.
1. The word author, in a general sense, is used to express the originator or efficient cause of a thing; but, in the restricted sense in which it is applied in this article, it signifies the first writer of a book, or a writer in general. The indispensable qualifications to make a writer are—a talent for literary composition, an accurate knowledge of language, and an acquaintance with the subject to be treated.
2. Very few persons are educated with the view to their becoming authors. They generally write on subjects pertaining to the profession or business in which they have been practically engaged: a clergyman writes on divinity; a physician, on medicine; a lawyer, on jurisprudence; a teacher, on education; and a mechanic, on his particular trade. There aresubjects, however, which occupy common ground, on which individuals of various professions often write.
3. Authorship is founded upon the invention of letters, and the art of combining them into words. In the earliest ages of the world, the increase of knowledge was opposed by many formidable obstacles. Tradition was the first means of transmitting information to posterity; and this, depending upon the memory and will of individuals, was exceedingly precarious.
4. The chief adventitious aids in the perpetuation of the memory of facts by tradition, were the erection of monuments, the periodical celebration of days or years, the use of poetry, and, finally, symbolical drawings and hieroglyphical sketches. Nevertheless, history must have remained uncertain and fabulous, and science in a state of perpetual infancy, had it not been for the invention of written characters.
5. The credit of the invention of letters was claimed by the Egyptians, Phœnicians, and Jews, as well as by some other nations; but as their origin preceded all authentic history not inspired, and as the book of inspiration is silent in regard to it, no satisfactory conclusion can be formed on this point. Some antiquarians are of opinion, that the strongest claims are presented by the Phœnicians.
6. The Pentateuch embraces the earliest specimen of phonetic or alphabetic writing now extant, and this was written about 1500 years before Christ. Many persons suppose that, as the Deity himself inscribed the ten commandments on the two tables of stone, he taught Moses the use of letters; and, on this supposition, is founded the claim of the Jewish nation to the honor of the first human application of them.
7. If we may believe Pliny, sixteen characters of the alphabet were introduced into Greece by Cadmus, the Phœnician, in the days of Moses; four more wereadded by Palamedes during the Trojan war, and four afterwards, by Simonides. Alphabetical writing evidently sprung from successive improvements in the hieroglyphical system, since a great part of the latter has been lately discovered to be syllabic or alphabetic.
8. A considerable number of very ancient alphabets still exist on the monumental remains of some of the first post-diluvian cities, and several of later date, in manuscripts which have descended to our times. The letters employed in different languages have ever been subject to great changes in their conformation. This was especially the case before the introduction of the art of printing, which has contributed greatly towards permanency in this respect.
9. The mode of arranging the letters in writing has, also, varied considerably. Some nations have written in perpendicular lines, as the Chinese and ancient Egyptians; others from right to left, as the Jews; and others, again, alternately from left to right, as was the method at one period among the Greeks. The mode of writing from left to right now generally practised, is preferable to any other, since it leaves uncovered that portion of the page upon which writing has been made.
10. In ancient times, literary productions were considered public property; and, consequently, as soon as a work was published, transcribers assumed the right to multiply copies at pleasure, without making the authors the least remuneration. They, however, were sometimes rewarded with great liberality, by princes or wealthy patrons. This literary piracy continued, until a long time after the introduction of the art of printing.
11. In almost every kingdom of Europe, and in the United States, the exclusive right of authors to publish their own productions, is now secured to them by law, at least for a specified number of years. Thefirst legislative proceeding on this subject in England, took place in 1662, when the publication of any book was prohibited, except through the permission of the lord-chamberlain. The title of the book, and the name of the proprietor, were, also, required to be entered in the record of the Stationers' Company.
12. This and some subsequent acts having been repealed in 1691, literary property was left to the protection of the common law, by which the amount of damages which could be proved to have actually occurred in case of infringement, could be recovered, and no more. New applications were, therefore, made to parliament; and, in 1709, a statute was passed, by which the property of copyright was guarded for fourteen years, with severe penalties. This privilege was connected with the condition, that a copy of the work be deposited in nine public libraries specified in the act.
13. In 1774, the Parliament decided that, at the end of fourteen years, the copyright might be renewed, in case the author were still living. The law continued on this footing until 1814, when the contingency with regard to the last fourteen years was removed; and, if the author still survived, the privilege of publication was extended to the close of his life.
14. In the United States, the jurisdiction of this subject is vested by the Constitution in the Federal Government; and, in 1790, a law was passed by Congress, securing to the authors of books, charts, maps, engravings, &c., being citizens of the United States or resident therein, privileges like those granted in England, in 1774. In 1831, the law was altered, and again made to conform to that of England in regard to the period of the privileges. The English and American laws differ in no essential provision. Until the year 1839, foreigners were permitted to hold copyrights in England.
15. In France, the first statute regarding literary property was passed in 1793, when the right of authors to their works was secured to them during their lives, and to their heirs for ten years after their decease. The decree of 1810 extended the right of the heirs to twenty years. In Russia, the period of copyright is the same as in France, and the property is not liable for the payment of the author's debts.
16. In some of the German states, the right is given for the lifetime of the author; in others, it is made perpetual, like any other property; but then the work may be printed with impunity in any of the other states in which a right has not been secured. In Germany and Italy, especially, authors are very poorly remunerated; and in Spain, the book trade has been so much oppressed by a merciless censorship, that authors are compelled to publish their works on their own account.
17. From the preceding statement it appears, that few legislators have been willing to place the productions of intellectual labor on the same honorable footing with other kinds of property. No reason, however, can be assigned for the distinction, except the unjust and piratical usage of two or three thousand years.
18. Authors seldom publish their own works. They generally find it expedient, and, in fact, necessary, to intrust this part of the business to booksellers and publishers, from whom they usually receive a specified amount for the entire copyright, or a certain sum for each and every copy which may be sold during the term of years which may be agreed upon. The compensation is commonly insufficient to pay them for preparing the works for the press; but they are as well paid in this country as in any other. In this particular, however, there has been a manifest improvement within the last ten years.
1. From what has been said in a preceding article, it is manifest that the art of printing arose from the practice of engraving on wood. Letters were cut on wood as inscriptions to pictures, and were printed at the same time with them, by means of a hand-roller. The impressions were taken on one side of the paper; and, in order to hide the nakedness of the blank side, two leaves were pasted together. These leaves were put up in pamphlet form, and are now known under the denomination ofblock-books, because they were printed from wooden blocks.
2. Although the art of typographical printing can be clearly traced to wood engraving, yet so much uncertainty rests upon its history, that the honor of its invention is claimed by three cities—Harlem, in Holland,and Strasburg and Mentz, in Germany; and, at the present time, it is difficult to determine satisfactorily the merits of their respective claims. The obscurity on this point has arisen from the desire of the first printers to conceal the process of the art, that their productions might pass for manuscripts, and that they might enjoy the full benefit of their invention.
3. The advocates of the claims of Harlem state, that Laurentius Coster applied wooden types, and some say, even metal types, as early as 1428, and that several persons were employed by him in the business up to the year 1440, when his materials were stolen from him by one of his workmen or servants, named John, while the family were engaged in celebrating the festival of Christmas eve. The thief is said to have fled first to Amsterdam, then to Cologne, and, finally, to have settled in Mentz, where, within a twelvemonth, he published two small works, by means of the types which Laurentius Coster had used.
4. These claims in favor of Harlem, however, were not set forth until 120 years after the death of Coster; and the whole story, as then stated by Hadriamus Junius, was founded altogether upon traditionary testimony. Perhaps wood engravings, with inscriptions, may have been executed there; if so, the account may have originated from that circumstance.
5. The statements which seem to be the most worthy of credit, bestow the honor of this invention on a citizen of Mentz. Here, it appears, that John Geinsfleisch, or Guttemburg senior, published two small works for schools, in 1442, on wooden types; but, not having the funds necessary to carry on the business, he applied to John Faust, a rich goldsmith, who became a partner, in 1443, and advanced the requisite means. Soon afterwards, J. Meidenbachius and some others were admitted as partners.
6. In the following year, John Guttemburg, thebrother of Geinsfleisch, made an addition to the firm. For several years before this union, or from 1436, Guttemburg had been attempting to complete the invention at Strasburg; but it is said that he had never been able to produce a clean printed sheet. The brothers may, or may not, have pursued their experiments without receiving any hints from each other, before their union at Mentz.
7. Soon after the formation of this partnership, the two brothers commenced cuttingmetal types, for the purpose of printing an edition of the Bible, which was published in Latin, about the year 1450. Before this great achievement of the art had been effected, Geinsfleisch appears to have retired from the concern, some say, on account of blindness.
8. The partnership before mentioned, was dissolved, in 1450, and Faust and Guttemburg entered into a new arrangement, the former supplying money, the latter, personal services, for their mutual benefit; but various difficulties having arisen, this partnership was also dissolved, in 1455, after a lawsuit between them, which was decided against Guttemburg.
9. Faust, having obtained possession of the printing materials, entered into partnership with Peter Shœffer, who had been for a long time a servant, or workman, in the printing establishment. In 1457, they published an edition of thePsalter, which was then considered uncommonly elegant. This book was, in a great measure, the work of Guttemburg, since, during the four years in which it was in the press, he was, for two years and a half, the chief operator in the printing-office.
10. Guttemburg, by the pecuniary aid of Conrad Humery and others, established another press in Mentz, and, in 1460, published the "Catholicon Joannis Januensis." It was a very handsome work, but not equal in beauty to the Psalter of Faust and Shœffer.The latter was the first printed book known to have a genuine date. From this time, it has been the practice for printers to claim their own productions, by prefixing to them their names.
11. Notwithstanding the great advancement which had been made in the art of printing, the invention cannot, by any means, be considered complete, until about the year 1458, when Peter Shœffer contrived a method of casting types in a matrix, or mould. The first book executed with cast metal types was called "Durandi Ralionale Divinorum Officiorum," published in 1459. Only the smaller letters, however, were of this description, all the larger characters which occur, beingcut types. These continued to be used, more or less, as late as the year 1490.
12. In 1462, Faust carried to Paris a number of Latin Bibles, which he and Shœffer had printed, and disposed of many of them as manuscripts. At first, he sold them at five or six hundred crowns, the sums usually obtained by the scribes. He afterwards lowered the price to sixty. This created universal astonishment; but, when he produced them according to the demand, and when he had reduced the price to thirty, all Paris became agitated.
13. The uniformity of the copies increased the wonder of the Parisians, and information was finally given against him to the police as a magician. He was accordingly arrested, and a great number of his Bibles were seized. The red ink with which they were embellished, was supposed to be his blood. It was seriously adjudged, that the prisoner was joined in league with the devil; and had he not disclosed the secret of his art, he would probably have shared the fate of those whom the magistrates of those superstitious times condemned for witchcraft.
14. It may be well to inform the reader, that, although the story of Faust's arrest, as above detailed,is related as a fact by several authors, yet by others it is thought to be unworthy of credit. It is also generally supposed, that the celebrated romance of "Doctor Faustus and the devil" originated in the malice of the monks towards Faust, whose employment of printing deprived them of their gain as copiers. It seems more probable, however, that it arose from the astonishing performances of Doctor John Faust, a dealer in the black art, who lived in Germany in the beginning of the sixteenth century.
15. Faust and Shœffer continued their printing operations together, at least, until 1486, about which time it is conjectured, that the former died of the plague, at Paris. Geinsfleisch, or, as he is sometimes called, Guttemburg senior, died in 1462; and his brother Guttemburg junior, in 1468, after having enjoyed, for three years, the privileges of nobility, which, together with a pension, had been conferred upon him by Archbishop Adolphus, in consideration of his great services to mankind.
16. More copies of the earliest printed books were impressed on vellum than on paper; but very soon paper was used for a principal part of the edition, while a few only were printed on vellum, as curiosities, to be ornamented by the illuminators, whose ingenious art, though in vogue before and at that time, did not long survive the rapid improvements in printing.
17. We are informed, that the Mentz printers observed the utmost secrecy in their operations; and, that the art might not be divulged by the persons whom they employed, they administered to them an oath of fidelity. This appears to have been strictly adhered to, until the year 1462, when the city was taken and plundered by Archbishop Adolphus. Amid the consternation which had arisen from this event, the workmen spread themselves in different directions;and, considering their oath no longer obligatory, they soon divulged the secret, which was rapidly diffused throughout Europe.
18. Some idea may be formed of the celerity with which a knowledge of printing was extended, from the fact that the art was received in two hundred and three places, prior to the year 1500. It was brought to England, in 1471, by William Caxton, a mercer of the city of London, who had spent many years in Germany and Holland. The place of the first location of his press was Westminster Abbey. The first press in North America was established at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1639.
19. Printed newspapers had their origin in Germany. They first appeared in Augsburg and Vienna, in 1524. They were originally without date or place of impression; nor were they published at regular periods. The first German paper with numbered sheets was printed, in 1612; and, from this time, must be dated periodical publications in that part of Europe.
20. In England, the first newspaper appeared during the reign of Elizabeth. It originated in a desire to communicate information in regard to the expected invasion by the Spanish armada, and was entitled the "English Mercury," which, by authority, was printed at London by Christopher Barker, her highness's printer, in 1588.
21. These, however, were extraordinary gazettes, not regularly published. Periodicals seem to have been first extensively used by the English, during the civil wars in the time of the Commonwealth. The number of newspapers in Great Britain and Ireland amounted, in 1829, to 325, and the sums paid to the government for stamps and duties on advertisements, amounted to about £678,000 sterling.
22. No newspaper appeared in the British coloniesof America until 1704, when the "News Letter" was issued at Boston. The first paper published in Philadelphia, was issued in 1719; the first in New-York, in 1733. In 1775, there were 37; and in 1801, there were, in the whole United States, 203; in 1810, 358; at the present time, there are about 1500, and the number is annually increasing.
23. The first periodical paper of France originated with Renaudot, a physician in Paris, who, for a long time, had been in the habit of collecting news, which he communicated verbally to his patients, with the view to their amusement. But, in 1631, he commenced the publication of a weekly sheet, called the "Gazette de France," which was continued with very little interruption, until 1827. There are now, probably, in France, about 400 periodical publications most of which have been established since the commencement of the revolution of 1792.
24. Periodicals devoted to different objects have been established in every other kingdom of Europe; but, in many cases, they are trammelled by a strict censorship of the respective governments. This is especially the case with those devoted to politics or religion. But all Europe, with its 200,000,000 of inhabitants, does not support as many regular publications as the United States, with its 17,000,000.
25. The workmen employed in a printing-office are of two kinds:compositors, who arrange the types according to the copy delivered to them; andpressmen, who apply ink on the types, and take off impressions. In many cases, and especially where the business is carried on upon a small scale, the workmen often practise both branches.
26. Before the types are applied to use, they are placed in the cells or compartments of a wooden receptacle called acase, each species of letter, character and space, by itself. The letters which are requiredmost frequently, are lodged in the largest compartments, which are located nearest to the place where the compositor stands, while arranging the types.
27. The compositor is furnished with acomposing-stick, which is commonly an iron instrument, surrounded on three sides with ledges about half an inch in height, one of which is moveable, so that it may be adjusted to any length of line. The compositor, in the performance of his work, selects the letters from their several compartments, and arranges them in an inverted order from that in which they are to appear in the printed page.
28. At the end of each word is placed aquadrat, to produce a space between that and the one which follows. The quadrats are of various widths, and being considerably shorter than types, they yield no impression in printing. A thin brass rule is placed in the stick, on which each successive line of types is arranged. When the composing-stick has been filled, it isemptiedinto thegalley, which is a flat board, partly surrounded with a rim.
29. On this galley, the lines are accumulated in long columns, which are afterwards divided into pages, and tied together with a string, to prevent the types from falling asunder, or intopi, as the printers term it. A sufficient number of pages having been completed to constitute aform, or, in other words, to fill one side of a sheet of printing-paper, they are arranged on animposing-stone, and strongly locked up, or wedged together, in an ironchase.
30. The first impression taken from the types is called theproof. This is carefully read over by the author or proof-reader, or both, and the errors and corrections plainly marked in the margin. These corrections having been made by the compositor, the form is again locked up, and delivered to the pressman.
31. The pressman having dampened his paper with water, and put every part of his press in order, takes impressions in the following manner: he places the sheet upon thetympan, and confines it there by turning down upon it thefrisket; he then brings them both, together with the paper, upon the form, which has been previously inked. He next turns a crank with his left hand, and thereby places the form directly under theplaten, which is immediately brought, in a perpendicular direction, upon the types, by means of a lever pulled with his right hand.
32. After the impression has been thus communicated, the form is returned to its former position, and the printed sheet is removed. The operation just described, is repeated for each side of every sheet of the edition. In the cut at the head of this article, the pressman is represented as in the act of turning down the frisket upon the tympan. The business of the boy behind the press is to apply the ink to the types by means of therollersbefore him. In offices where much printing is executed, the roller-boy is now dispensed with, simple machinery, attached to the crank of the press, called apatent roller-boy, being substituted in his place.
33. Within the present century, great improvements have been made in the printing business generally, especially in the presses, and in the means of applying the ink. In the oldRamagepress, the power was derived from a screw which was moved by a lever; but, in those by several late inventors, from an accumulation of levers.
34. In 1814, printing by machinery was commenced in London, and rollers became necessary for inking the forms. These were made of molasses, glue, and tar, in proportions to suit the temperature of the weather. From these originated composition balls in the following year, and in 1819, hand rollers. Formerlythe ink was applied by means of pelt balls stuffed with wool.
35. The power-press first used in this country, was invented, in 1823, by Mr. Treadwell, a scientific mechanic, of Boston, who was originally a watch-maker by trade. It acts on the same principle with the hand press, and is equal to three of these of the best construction. Daniel Fanshaw, who first applied steam to printing in the United States, introduced several of these presses into New-York, in 1826. Messrs. Adams and Tufts, of Boston, have each invented a power-press which act on the same principle with Mr. Treadwell's.
36. The presses noticed in the preceding paragraph, are used chiefly in printing books and periodicals requiring moderate speed in their production. But they do not answer the purposes of the daily press in large cities, where from twenty thousand to sixty thousand impressions of a single paper are required every day. To supply this immense demand of the public was the original aim of the inventors of power-presses in England. The first attempt to construct a printing machine was made, in 1790, by William Nicholson, of London; but his machine was never brought into use. The next attempt was made by Mr. Konig, an ingenious German, who but partially succeeded. The first really useful machine was constructed by Messrs. Applegate and Cowper.
37. The machines used in this country are modifications of that originally invented by Mr. Napier, of England. The paper is brought in contact with the form of types by means of a cylinder, while the form is passing underneath it. The press is constructed with one or two cylinders. A double cylinder press will give from 4000 to 6000 impressions an hour. The improvements on this press were made by Robert Hoe & Co., who have permitted Mr. Napier to introduce them into his press in England.
1. The types cast by the type-founder are oblong square pieces of metal, each having, on one end of it, a letter or character, in relief. The metal of which these important instruments are composed, is commonly an alloy consisting principally of lead and antimony, in the proportion of about five parts of the former to one of the latter. This alloy melts at a low temperature, and receives and retains with accuracy the shape of the mould. Several hundred pounds of type-metal are prepared at a time, and cast into bars filled with notches, that they may be easily broken into pieces, when about to be applied to use.
2. In making types, the letter or character is first formed, by means of gravers and other tools, on the end of a steel punch. With this instrument, amatrixis formed, by driving it into a piece of copper of suitable size. A punch and matrix are required for every character used in printing. A metallic mould for the body of the type is also made; and, that the workman may handle it without burning his hands, it is surrounded with a portion of wood. The mould is composed of two parts, which can be closed and separated with the greatest facility.
3. The type-metal is prepared for immediate use by melting it, as fast as it may be needed, in a small crucible, over a coal fire. The caster having placed the matrix in the bottom of the mould, commences the operation of casting by pouring the metal into the mould with a small ladle. This he performs with his right hand, while with the other he throws up the mould with a sudden jerk; then, with both hands he opens it, and throws out the type. All these movements are performed with such rapidity, that an expert hand can cast about fifty types of a common size in a minute. Some machines have been lately introduced, which operate with still greater rapidity.
4. Each type, when thrown from the mould, has attached to it a superfluous portion of metal, called ajet, which is afterwards broken off by hand. The jets are again cast into the pot, or crucible, and the types are carried to another room, where the two broad sides are rubbed on a grindstone. They are next arranged on flat sticks about three feet long, and delivered to thedresser, who scrapes the two sides not before made smooth on the grindstone, cuts a groove on the end opposite the letter, and rejects from the row the types which may be defective.
5. The whole process is completed by setting up the types in a printer's composing-stick, and tying them up with packthread. Much of the work in the type-foundry is performed by boys and females. In the preceding cut are represented a man casting typesat a furnace, and a boy breaking off the jets; also two females rubbing types on a large grindstone. The fumes arising from melted lead in the casting-room are considered deleterious to health.
6. Various sizes of the same kind of letter are extensively used, of which the following are most employed in printing books—Pica, Small Pica, Long Primer, Bourgeois, Brevier, Minion, Nonpareil, Pearl, and Diamond. A full assortment of any particular size is called afount, which may consist of any amount, from five pounds to five hundred, or more. The master type-founder usually supplies the printer with all the materials of his art, embracing not only types, leads, brass rules, and ordinary ornaments, but also cases, composing-sticks, galleys, printing-presses, and other articles too numerous to be mentioned.
7. The inventor of the art of casting types was Peter Shœffer, first servant or workman employed by Guttemburg and Faust. He privately cut a matrix for each letter of the alphabet, and cast a quantity of the types. Having shown the products of his ingenuity to Faust, the latter was so much delighted with the contrivance, that he made him a partner in the printing business, and gave him his only daughter, Christina, in marriage.
8. The character first employed was a rude old Gothic, mixed with secretary, designed on purpose to imitate the hand-writing of those times, and the first used in England were of this kind. To these succeeded what is termedold English, orblack letter, which is still occasionally applied to some purposes; but Roman letter is now the national character not only of England, but of France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy. In Germany, and in the states surrounding the Baltic, letters are used which owe their foundation to the Gothic, although works are occasionally printed for the learned in Roman.
9. The Roman letter owes its origin to the nation whence it derives its name, although the faces of the present and ancient Roman letters differ materially, on account of the improvements which they have undergone at various times. For the invention of the Italic character, we are indebted to Aldus Manutius, who set up a printing-office in Venice, in 1496, where he also introduced Roman types of a neater cut.
10. Before the American revolution, type-founding was carried on at Germantown, Pennsylvania, by Christopher Sower, at Boston by Mr. Michelson, and in Connecticut by Mr. Buel; but there was too little demand for types, to afford these enterprising individuals much patronage. Soon after the close of the revolution, John Baine established a foundery in Philadelphia. The printers, however, were not supplied with every necessary material and implement of the art from American founderies, until 1796, when Messrs. Binny & Ronaldson commenced the business in the same city. Baine and Ronaldson were both from Edinburgh, Scotland. The first type-foundery was established in New-York, in 1809, by Robert Lothian, a Scotch clergyman, and father of the ingenious type-founder, George B. Lothian.
11. In the year 1827, William M. Johnson, of New-York, invented the machine for casting types now used by John T. White, and in 1838, David Bruce, Junr., produced another, which was purchased by George Bruce. George B. Lothian has also lately invented a machine for the same purpose, and likewise one for reducing types to an equal thickness. Both of these machines act with great accuracy. There are now in the United States sixteen type-founderies; viz., two in Boston, six in New-York, three in Philadelphia, one in Baltimore, one in Pittsburg, one in Cincinnati, one in Louisville, and one in St. Louis.
STEREOTYPER.
1. The wordstereotypeis derived from two Greek words—stereos, solid, andtupos, a type. It is applied to pages of types in a single piece, which have been cast in moulds formed on common printing types or wood-cuts. They are composed of lead and antimony, in the proportion of about six parts of the former to one of the latter. Sometimes a little tin is added.
2. The types areset upbycompositors, as usual in printing, andimposed, or locked up, one or several pages together, in an ironchaseof a suitable size. Having been sent to thecasting-room, the types are slightly oiled, and surrounded with a frame of brass or type-metal. They are then covered with a thin mixture of finely pulverized plaster and water. In about ten minutes, the plaster becomes hard enough to be removed.
3. The mould, thus formed, having been baked in an oven, is placed in an iron pan of an oblong shape, and sunk into a kettle of the melted composition above mentioned, which is admitted at the four corners of the cover to the cavities of the mould beneath. The pan is then raised from the kettle, and placed over water. When the metal has become cool, the contents of the pan are removed, and the plaster is broken and washed from the plate.
4. As fast as the pages are cast, they are sent to thefinishing-room. Here they are first planed on the back with a machine, for the purpose of making them level and of an equal thickness. The letters are then examined, and, when deficient, are rendered perfect by little steel instruments calledpicks. Corrections and alterations are made by cutting out original lines, and inserting common printing types, or lines stereotyped for the purpose. The types are cut off close to the back with pincers, and fastened to the place with solder. The plates, when they are finished, are about one-sixth of an inch in thickness.
5. When all the pages of a work have been completed, they are packed in boxes, which are marked with certain letters of the alphabet, to indicate the form or pages which they contain. While the pages are applied in printing, they are fastened to blocks of solid wood, which, with the plates, are intended to be the same in height with common types.
6. The first stereotype plates were cast by J. Van der Mey, a Dutchman, who resided at Leyden about the year 1700. A quarto and folio Bible, and two or three small works, were printed from pages of his casting; but at his death, the art appears to have been lost, although the plates of these two Bibles are still extant, the former at Leyden, and the latter at Amsterdam.
7. In 1725, William Ged, of Edinburgh, withoutknowing what had been done in Holland by Van der Mey, began to make stereotype plates. But being unable to prosecute the business alone for want of funds, he united in partnership with three others. One of the partners being a type-founder, supposing that success in the enterprise would injure his business, employed men to compose and print the proposed works in a manner that he thought most likely to spoil them.
8. Accordingly, the compositors, while correcting one error in the proof, made intentionally several more; and the pressmen battered the letter, while printing the books. By these dishonest and malicious proceedings, the useful enterprise of Mr. Ged was defeated. He, however, afterwards printed, in an accurate manner, two or three works. The first of these was a Sallust, the pages of which were set up by his son, James Ged, who was but an apprentice to the printing-business. This part of the work was performed in the night, when the workmen were absent from the office.
9. After the death of Mr. Ged, no attention was paid to the art, and a knowledge of it was lost at the decease of his son, which took place, about the year 1771: but it was a third time invented by Alexander Tilloch, Esq., who, in conjunction with Mr. Foulis, printer to the University of Glasgow, made many experiments, until plates were produced yielding impressions which could not be distinguished from those of the types from which they had been cast. But owing to circumstances unconnected with the real utility of the art, the business was not prosecuted to a great extent.
10. About the year 1804, the art was again revived by the late Earl Stanhope, assisted by Mr. A. Wilson, a printer, who turned his whole attention that way. In their efforts to complete the invention, theywere assisted by Messrs. Tilloch and Foulis; and, although they succeeded after many experiments, they were strenuously opposed in their efforts to introduce the practice, the printers supposing, perhaps with some reason, that it would prove injurious to their business.
11. This useful art was introduced into the United States by J. Watts, an Englishman from London, who had acquired a knowledge of the process from A. Wilson. He entered into a partnership with Joseph D. Fay and Pierre C. Van Wyck, Esquires. They first stereotyped the Westminster Catechism, which was printed by J. Watts & Co., for Messrs. Whiting & Watson, in 1813. They also stereotyped a New Testament. But the business proving to be unproductive, Fay and Van Wyck retired from the concern. Watts afterwards stereotyped about one third of an octavo Bible. The moulding of all the plates produced in Watts's foundery was executed by Mrs. Watts. On the 21st of March, 1815, Watts sold all his plates, together with his materials and knowledge of the process, to B. S. and J. B. Collins, for $6500. The Messrs. Collins afterwards carried on the business successfully.
12. In 1812, David Bruce went to England for the express purpose of obtaining a knowledge of the art, as it was kept a profound secret by Watts; and having learned the method of one Nicholson, of Liverpool, and having also acquired some knowledge of Earl Stanhope's plan, he returned to New-York, and commenced stereotyping, in conjunction with his brother, George Bruce, in the year 1813. They soon completed two setts of 12mo plates for the New Testament, one of which they sold to Matthew Carey, Nov. 8, 1814. Soon afterwards, they finished the whole Bible. David Bruce invented the machine for planing the plates, in 1815.
1. The materials on which writing was executed, in the early days of the art, were the leaves and bark of trees and plants, stones, bricks, sheets of lead, copper, and brass, as well as plates of ivory, wooden tablets, and cotton and linen cloth.
2. The instruments with which writing was practised were adapted to the substance on which it was to be formed. Thestylus, which the Romans employed in writing on metallic tablets covered with wax, was made of iron, acute at one end, for forming the letters, and flat or round at the other, for erasing what may have been erroneously written.
3. For writing with ink, thecalamus, a kind of reed, sharpened at the point, and split like our penswas used. Some of the Eastern nations still write with bamboos and canes. The Chinese inscribe their characters with small brushes similar to camel's hair pencils. We have no certain evidence of the application ofquillsto this purpose until the seventh century.
4. As the literature of antiquity advanced, a material adapted to works of magnitude became necessary, and this was found both in the skins of animals, and in the celebrated plant papyrus, of Egypt; but the time when they were first applied to this purpose cannot be determined, although it is probable that the former has the preference as regards priority.
5. The papyrus was an aquatic plant, which grew upon the banks of the Nile. In the manufacture of paper from this reed, it was divested of its outer covering, and the internal layers, or laminæ, were separated with the point of a needle or knife. These layers were spread parallel to each other on a table, in sufficient numbers to form a sheet; a second layer was then laid with the strips crossing those of the first at right angles; and the whole having been moistened with water, was subjected to pressure between metallic surfaces. The pressure, aided by a glutinous substance in the plant, caused the several pieces to become one uniform sheet.
6. Parchment was manufactured from the skins of sheep and goats. In the preparation, these were first steeped in water impregnated with lime, and afterwards stretched upon frames, and reduced by scraping with sharp instruments. They were finished by the application of chalk, and by rubbing them with pumice-stone. The skins of very young calves, dressed in a similar manner, was called vellum. Parchment and vellum are still used for deeds and other important documents.
7. When Attalus, about 200 years before Christ,was about to found a library at Pergamus, which should rival that of Alexandria, one of the Ptolemies, then king of Egypt, jealous of his success, prohibited the exportation of papyrus; but the spirited inhabitants of Pergamus manufactured parchment as a substitute, and formed their library principally of manuscripts on this material. From this fact, it received the name ofPergamenaamong the Romans, who gave it also the appellation ofMembrana.
8. The greatest quantity of paper was manufactured at Alexandria, and the commerce in this article greatly increased the wealth of that city. In the fifth century, paper was rendered very dear by taxation; and this probably was an inducement for an effort to produce a substitute. Accordingly, in the eighth century, it began to be superseded by cotton paper, although it continued in use in some parts of Europe, until three hundred years after the period last mentioned.
9. The manufacture of cotton paper was introduced into Spain, in the eleventh century, by the Arabians, who became acquainted with it in Bucharia as early as A.D. 704. About the year 1300, it was commenced in Italy, France, and Germany; and, in some of the paper-mills of these countries, paper was made from cotton rags. Linen paper is thought to have originated in Germany, about the year 1318.
10. The first paper-mill in England was erected by a German, named Spillman, in 1588; but no paper, except the coarse brown sorts, was made in that country, until about the year 1690. The finer kinds, both for writing and printing, were, before that time, imported from the Continent. But the paper of English manufacture will now compare with that of any other country. The French also make very fine paper.
11. In the United States, this manufacture has rapidly increased in amount within a few years. Accordingto an estimate made in 1829, it appears that the whole annual product of the mills is worth between five and seven millions of dollars, and that the rags collected in this country amount to about two millions. The number of hands employed in the business are ten or eleven thousand, of whom about one-half were females. The manufacture has since been considerably increased, although the number of operatives may have been diminished, on account of the introduction of improved machinery.
12. Nature has supplied us with a great variety of substances from which paper may be fabricated, as flax, hemp, cotton, straw, grass, and the bark of several kinds of trees; but the fibres of the three first productions, in the form of rags, are the most usual materials. Most of these are primarily purchased from the people at large, by retail booksellers, country merchants, and pedlers, who in turn dispose of them to persons called rag-merchants, or directly to the paper-makers. When the rags come from the original collectors, all kinds are mixed together; but they are assorted according to their color and the nature of their original fibre, either by the rag-merchants, or by the paper-makers themselves.
13. In our attempts to afford the reader an idea of this manufacture in general, letter-paper has been selected, as affording the best means of illustration; since for this kind of paper, the best stock is employed, and the greatest skill is exerted in every stage of the process.
14. The process of the manufacture is commenced by cutting the rags into small pieces, by the aid of a sharp instrument, commonly a piece of a scythe, which is placed in a position nearly perpendicular before the operator. In the reduction of very coarse rags, such as sail-cloth, a cutting machine is also employed. Then, with the view of sifting out the looseparticles of dirt, the rags are deposited in a large octagonal sieve made of coarse wire, and placed in a close box in a horizontal position. The sieve is moved by machinery, like the bolt of a flour-mill.
15. The second stage of the process consists chiefly in the reduction of the rags to apulp. This is effected by the action of a cutting machine, the essential parts of which are two sets of blunt knives, the one stationary, and the other revolving. The machine is placed in a large elliptical tub, in which the rags are also deposited, with a suitable quantity of water. The liquid and fibrous contents of the tub are kept moving in a circle by the action of the machine, through which it passes at one point of its revolution.
16. The maceration occupies from ten to twenty hours, according as the material is more or less rigid; and, during part of this time, water is permitted to run in at one side of the tub, and out at the other, to render the pulp perfectly clean. Towards the close of this process, the pulp, if necessary, is bleached by means of chloride of lime, and oil of vitriol. It is also sometimes colored by adding a quantity of dye-stuff. The bleaching and coloring are effected without interrupting the action of the machine. The rags having been thus reduced, the pulp, together with a suitable quantity of water, is let out into a reservoir, from which it is drawn off into avat, as fast as it may be needed for the production of the paper.
17. With this vat is connected the paper-making machine; and the part of the latter which first comes in contact with the material is a hollow cylinder, surrounded with a fine web of wire-cloth. This cylinder being immersed in the contents of the vat more than one-half of its diameter, the water passes off with a uniform rapidity, and the fibrous particles which had been suspended in it, settle with a remarkable uniformity on the outside of the brazen web. Asthe cylinder revolves, a continued sheet is produced, which is taken up by an endless web of woollen cloth, and carried round another cylinder of equal diameter, and then between two more, by which it is partially pressed.
18. From between these rollers, the paper passes out, in a continued sheet, upon a large cylindrical reel, called thelay-boy; and when a certain quantity of it, which is determined by a gauge, has been accumulated, the lay-boy is removed to a low table. The paper is then cut, with a toothless handsaw, into sheets twice the size of letter-paper. This part of the operation is very quickly performed, as a workman can cut up and pile in heaps, to be pressed, twenty reams in half that number of minutes, and attend to the machine at the same time.
19. After the paper has been successively pressed, and handled by separating the sheets two or three times, it is hung up on small poles, in an airy room, to be dried; and having been again pressed, it is sized by holding a quantity of the sheets at a time in a thin solution of glue and alum, the former of which is prepared in the paper-mill for the purpose, from shreds and parings of raw hides. The paper is freed from superfluous portions of the size, by submitting it to the action of a press. It is again dried as before, and again pressed; after which, the several sheets are examined, and freed from lumps and other extraneous substances.
20. They are then severed in half with a cutting machine, and afterwards calendered, by passing the sheets successively between rollers; or they are pressed between smooth pasteboards. In the latter case, hot metallic plates are sometimes interposed between every few quires of the sheets. The paper, when treated in this way, is called hot-pressed. It is next counted off into half-quires, put up into reams,pressed, trimmed, and finally enveloped in two thick sheets of paper, which completes the whole process of the manufacture.
21. The manufacture of paper, as just described, seems to be a tedious process; yet with two machines and a suitable number of hands, say sixty or eighty, three hundred reams of letter-paper can be produced from the raw material in a single day. It is hardly necessary to remark, that paper is of various qualities, from the finest bank-note paper, down to the coarsest kinds employed in wrapping up merchandise, and that, for every quality, suitable materials are chosen. The process of the manufacture is varied, of course, to suit the materials. None but writing and drawing paper requires to be sized.
22. Until after the beginning of the present century, paper was made exclusivelyby hand, and this method is still continued in a majority of the mills in the United States, although it is rapidly going out of use. It differs from that just described chiefly in the manner of collecting the pulp to form the paper, this being effected by means of amould, a frame of wood with a fine wire bottom, of the size of the proposed sheet. In the use of this instrument, a quantity of the pulp is taken up, and while thevatman, ordipper, holds it in a horizontal position, and gives it a gentle shaking, the water runs out through the interstices of the wire, and leaves the fibrous particles upon the mould in the form of a sheet. The sheets thus produced are pressed between felts, and afterwards treated as if they had been formed by means of a machine.
23. The first idea of forming paper in a continued sheet originated in France; but a machine for this purpose is said to have been first made completely successful in England, by Henry and Sealy Fourdrinier. Many machines made after their model, as well as those of a different construction, are in use in theUnited States, to some of which is attached an apparatus for drying, sizing, and pressing the paper, as well as for cutting it to the proper size. Very few machines, however, yield paper equal in firmness and tenacity to that produced by hand.
1. Bookbinding is the art of arranging the pages of a book in proper order, and confining them there by means of thread, glue, paste, pasteboard, and leather.
2. This art is probably as ancient as that of writing books; for, whatever may have been the substance on which the work was executed, some method of uniting the parts was absolutely necessary. The earliest method with which we are acquainted, is that of gluing the sheets together, and rolling them upon small cylinders. This mode is still practised in some countries. It is also everywhere used by the Jews, so far as relates to one copy of their law deposited in each of their synagogues.
3. The name Egyptian is applied to this kind of binding, and this would seem to indicate the place of its origin. Each volume had two rollers, so that the continued sheet could be wound from one to the other at pleasure. The square, or present form of binding, is also of great antiquity, as it is supposed to have been invented at Pergamus, about 200 years before Christ, by King Attalus, who, with his son Eumenes, established the famous library in that city.
4. The first process of binding books consists in folding the sheets according to the paging. This is done by the aid of an ivory knife, called afolder; and the operator is guided in the correct performance of the work by certain letters calledsignatures, placed at the bottom of the page, at regular intervals through the book.
5. Piles of the folded sheets are then placed on a long table in the order of their signatures, and gathered, one from each pile, for every book. They are next beaten on a stone, or passed between steel rollers, to render them smooth and solid. The latter method has been introduced within a few years. This operation certainly increases the intrinsic value of the book; but it is not employed in every case, since it is attended with some additional expense, and since it diminishes the thickness of the book, and consequently its value in the estimation of the public at large.
6. The sheets, having been properly pressed, are next sewed together upon little cords, which, in this application, are calledbands. During the operation these are stretched in a perpendicular direction, at suitable distances from each other, as exhibited in the foregoing cut. The folded sheets are usually notched on the back by means of a saw, and at these points they are brought in juxta-position with the bands. After the pages of several volumes have been accumulated, the bands are severed between each book. The folding, gathering, and sewing, are usually performed by females.
7. At this stage of the process, the books are received by the men or boys, who generallytake onone hundred at a time. The workman first spreads some glue on the backs of each book with a brush. He then places them, one after the other, between boards of solid wood, and beats them on the back with a hammer. By this means the back is rounded, and a groove formed on each side for the admission of one edge of the pasteboards.
8. These having been applied, and partially fastened by means of the bands, which had been left long for the purpose, the books are pressed, and the leaves of which they are composed are trimmed with an instrument called aplough. The pasteboards are also cutto the proper size by the same means, or with a huge pair of shears. In the preceding picture, a workman is represented at work with the plough. The edges are next sprinkled with some kind of coloring matter, or covered with gold leaf. A strip of paper is then glued on the back, and ahead-bandput upon each end.
9. The book is now ready to be covered. This is done either with calf, sheep, or goat skin, or some kind of paper or muslin; but, whatever the material may be, it is cut into pieces to suit the size of the book; and, having been smeared on one side with paste, if paper or leather, or with glue, if muslin, it is drawn over the outsides of the pasteboards, and doubled in upon the inside.
10. The covers, if calf or sheep skin, are next sprinkled or marbled. The first operation is performed by dipping the brush in a kind of dye, made for the purpose, and beating it with one hand over a stick held in the other; the second is performed in the same manner, with the difference that they are sprinkled first with water, and then with the coloring matter.
11. After a small piece of morocco has been pasted on the back, on which the title is to be printed in gold leaf, and one of the waste leaves has been pasted down on the inside of each of the covers, the books are pressed for the last time. They are then glazed by applying the white of an egg with a sponge.
12. The books are now ready for the reception of the ornaments, which consist chiefly of letters and other figures in gold leaf. In executing this part of the process, the workman cuts the gold into suitable strips or squares on a cushion.
13. These are laid upon the books by means of a piece of raw cotton, and afterwards impressed with types moderately heated over a charcoal fire; or thestrips of gold are taken up, and laid upon the proper place with instruments calledstampsandrolls, which have on them figures in relief. The portion of the leaf not impressed with the figures on the tools, is easily removed with a silk rag. The books are finished by applying to the covers the white of an egg, and rubbing them with a heated steelpolisher.
14. The process of binding books, as just described, is varied, of course, in some particulars, to suit the different kinds of binding and finish. A book stitched together like a common almanac, is called a pamphlet. Those which are covered on the back and sides with leather, are said to befull-bound; and those which have their backs covered with leather, and the sides with paper,half-bound.
15. The different sizes of books are expressed by terms indicative of the number of pages printed on one side of a sheet of paper; thus, when two pages are printed on one side, the book is termed a folio; four pages, a quarto; eight pages, an octavo; twelve pages, a duodecimo; eighteen pages, an octodecimo. All of these terms, except the first, are abridged by prefixing a figure or figures to the last syllable: thus, 4to for quarto, 8vo for octavo, 12mo for duodecimo, &c.
16. The manufacture of account-books, and other blank orstationarywork, constitutes an extensive branch of the bookbinder's business. It is not necessary, however, to be particular in noticing it, as the general process is similar to that of common bookbinding. Those binders who devote much attention to this branch of the trade, have a machine by which paper is ruled to suit any method of keeping books, or any other pattern which may be desired.