Letter^prefs-plate or Stereotype Printing, 37 1 



fculptures and carvings in metal, which are probably equally 

 antient, but of engraving, properly fo called, figures of flow- 

 ers, animals, men, formed on Airfares more or lefs uniform, 

 by incifions or lines cut into tbem with graving tools. But 

 though the origin of this art is fo remote that it cannot bt 

 determined, that of taking impreffions, or printing from 

 inch engravings* appears to have been difcovered fubi'equent 

 to the art of letter-prefs printing. It is performed by rub- 

 bing over the plate with printing ink, and then cleaning its 

 iurface in fuch a manner that the ink may (till remain in the 

 incifions. Moiftened paper is then laid upon the plate, and 

 both are paffed through between rollers, with a piece of 

 blanket or foft cloth on the back of the paper, which forces 

 the latter into the incifions, and brings it into contact with 

 the ink left in them, a portion of which adhering to the 

 paper, gives to it the forms engraved on the copper. This 

 kind of printing, from the manner in which the imprefTion 

 is obtained, is called rolling-prefs, and fometimes copper* 

 plate printing. 



By the progreflive fteps which we have endeavoured 

 briefly to enumerate, typography was brought to that ftate 

 of perfection to which it has attained. It is a curious facl:, 

 however, that all the improvements followed each other in 

 fuch quick fucceffion, that in a few years from its firft in- 

 vention in Europe, we find the printers in poflefiion of all 

 our common modes of working, and producing fpecimens of 

 their art, which even now cannot be furpaifed. . Some of 

 the early printed initials upon vellum are proofs of this. 



But if we have r^aCon to be furprifed at the quick fleps by 

 which printing with moveable types was perfected, we have 

 more caufe to wonder why with the acquisition of moveable 

 types the art became ftationary. The tranfition from folid 

 pages, cut at an expenfe and labour beyond the value of the 

 interejlof any capital that could be required to be Junk in print- 

 ing an edition of any work, made it a defirable objecl to devife 

 means for making the fame letters do over and over, not only 

 for different (beets in fucceflion of the fame work, but for 

 fubfequent publications. Hence came the firit moveable 

 types ; which, however, as we have already obferved, were 

 all cut fingly. The fuccefs which followed the attempts 

 made to leilen this labour of cutting, bv making well formed 

 letters once cut ferve for ever, by the facility of multiplica- 

 tion which founding afforded, ought,, one would think, in- 

 ftantly to have led to a further improvement. If founding 

 could be applied to (ingle letters, why not to pa^es, to get 

 jrid of a facrifice of capital fubmitted to at firit, becaufe of 



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