THE ART OF PRINTING. 87 



Strand, many very highly-finished specimens of the compound plate 

 process having been issued from that establishment. It ought also to 

 be said that Sir W. Congreve found an able assistant in Mr. Brans- 

 ton, as many of the inimitable productions (speaking advisedly) were 

 certainly executed by that engraver's own hand. He is now num- 

 bered with the dead ; but his whole life was spent in the improve- 

 ment in the art of wood-engraving, and was acknowledged by its 

 professors to be one of its greatest ornaments. It would certainly be 

 considered as an act of injustice to pass over in silence the beautiful 

 imitations of coloured drawings produced at the type press by Mr. 

 W. Savage : the work in which they were introduced was published 

 in 1822, and entitled " Practical Hints on Decorative Printing;" and 

 the elaborate manner in which the imitations are executed must ex- 

 cite the most delightful feelings in every lover of the typographic 

 art : Mr. Branston, also, in this work of art rendered most valuable 

 services. 



Subsequently to the erection of the printing machines for the 

 "Times" newspaper, Mr. Bensley, and Messrs. Applegath and 

 Cowper commenced business as printers, and constructed several 

 machines of a very superior description ; their printing surpassed 

 every thing deemed practicable, and the general results were very 

 satisfactory. When a separation took place between Messrs. Apple- 

 gath and Cowper, Mr. Applegath still further improved the different 

 mechanical presses which were then in use ; and after he withdrew 

 from the printing business, he from time to time made alterations in 

 the " Times" machine, till he eventually so simplified and improved 

 its mechanical power, that the almost incredible number of four thou- 

 sand impressions were produced in one hour! This great object never 

 could have been achieved had not the means been fully equal to the 

 end proposed ; it must naturally be considered that the most un- 

 ceasing exertions were used by the machinist, and a fortune expended 

 by the proprietors of the journal. When this circumstance of the 

 increased power of the machine were made known, it was considered 

 that printing, both for execution and facility, had reached its zenith ; 

 at least the printing profession was not at all prepared for the 

 " striking magnificence of appearance" of the " Times" of Monday, 

 January 19th, 1829, which " surpassed every thing that ever pro- 

 ceeded out of a mechanical press, or was taken off from a revolving 

 cylinder." " It is a double paper," says the Editor of that journal, 

 " consisting of eight pages and forty-eight columns, and is the largest 

 sheet of paper ever manufactured." The Editor concluded by stat- 

 ing, " that the 'Times' will only appear in its present form occasionally 

 during the sitting of Parliament." But judging from the amazing 

 alterations and improvements which have so recently taken place in 

 that daily advocate of the rights and privileges of mankind, as well 

 as knowing that neither exertion nor expense is ever considered when 

 its spirited proprietors are determined to give effect to a particular 

 object, we should not in the least be surprised if, on some occasion, the 

 speeches of the most eloquent members were printed in gold. 



But whilst the most considerable improvements were taking place 

 in type, ink, presses, and machinery, the manufacturers of paper 



