QJQ, Account of the Origin and Progrefs of 



the enormous expenfc of block cutting ! Founding of pages* 

 on the firtt view of it, promifes many advantages in point of 

 economy ; and to fcience it holds out what can never other- 

 wife be obtained — the poffibility of procuring in a ihort time 

 immaculate editions. From books call into folid pau;es, no 

 more copies would be printed than might be wanted for im- 

 mediate fale; the money thus faved from being funk in 

 paper, to be piled up in warehoufes for years, as at prefent, 

 would ferve as fuvplus capital to print other works; and thus 

 the printer, his workmen, and the bookfellers, would all 

 be benefited; (for it would be eafy to prove, did our pre- 

 fent limits allow it, that not only the bufmefs of the prefT- 

 raen, but of the compofitors, would be materially benefited 

 and increafed by the general adoption of fuch an improve- 

 ment) and all errors as foon as difcovered could be rectified 

 in the plates, to prevent them from appearing in after copies^ 

 inftead of running through a large edition as at prefent. 



Such confiderations as I have jult ftated firft led me to 

 turn my thoughts to the improvement of the art of printing ; 

 and the more I thought upon it, the more I became con- 

 vinced of its practicability. I communicated my ideas upoti 

 the fubje& to Mr. Foulis, printer to the univerfity of Glaf- 

 gow, my native city, and where I then refided, who fur- 

 niiiied me with a page of types ready fet up, or compofed, for 

 my firft experiment, which had fufficient fuccefs to induce 

 me to try others, and convinced Mr. Foulis of the poffibility 

 of producing plates, which would yield impreffions not to be 

 diitinguifheti from thofe taken from types. 



If I had feen fomeof the advantages which fuch a plan 

 promifed, Mr. Foulis faw and pointed out many more, of 

 fuch a nature as could only prefent themfclves to a regular 

 bred practical printer. We agreed to proiecute the bufmefs 

 together, and, if poOible, to bring it to perfection, and iij 

 purfuance of this refolution performed, I may fay, innume-* 

 rable experiments, till we at laft overcame every difficulty, 

 und were able to produce plates, the impreffions from which 

 could not be diftinguifhed from thofe taken from the types 

 from which they were cad. 



In the mean time we learnt that our art, or one extremely 

 fimilar, had been practifed many years before by Mr. Ged> 

 as I have before obferved ; and foon after the world was fa- 

 voured, by Mr. Nicholls, with an interefting pamphlet 

 entitled u Biographical Memoirs of William Ged; including 

 a particular account of his progrefs in the art of block 

 printing*." The firft part of the pamphlet, as the editor 

 * London: printed by and for J. Nicholls, mdcclxkxi. 



informs 



