320 Stereotype Printing. 



appearances of title pages, and other artifices of the mystery of book- 

 selling. 



" It is likewise a common complaint, that a poor author makes 



nothing near the profit that the bookseller does of his labor ; and 

 probably, the more pains the author has taken, the more difficult the 

 performance, and the more masterly it is done, the less profit to him ; 

 for the good books, like jewels, never lose their intrinsic value ; yet 

 they have fewer purchasers than Bristol stones, and the sale of them 

 is slow. 



" As the lessening or removing of some of these inconveniences, 

 may be of use to the republic of letters, I hope to be excused in ma- 

 king the following attempt for that purpose, by proposing a new 

 method of printing. 



" Let there be made of some hard metal, such as copper or brass 

 a number of types, or rather matrices, on the face of each of which 

 one letter of the alphabet is to be printed en creuse, by a stamp, or 

 such other method by which matrices for founding of types are 

 commonly made. They must be all of the same dimension, as to 

 breadth and thickness, with that of types, but half their length seems 

 sufficient. Their sides must be so equal and smooth as to leave no 

 vacuity between them when joined. There must likewise be a suffi- 

 cient number of each letter or character, to compose at least one 

 page in octavo, of any book. 



"These matrices, I suppose, may be cast in a mould, or a plate 

 of copper may be divided exactly into squares, and the letter or cha- 

 racter be stamped into the middle of each square, and the squares af- 

 terwards cut asunder by a proper saw. The best method of ma- 

 king these will be easily discovered by those whose business it is to 

 make founts for printing types. 



"When a sufficient number of each letter and character is obtain- 

 ed, they are to be placed in the same manner that types are, when 

 composed for printing, only that they must all stand directly as they 

 are read, and as they will appear afterwards on paper. 



" The composure of one page after it is carefully corrected, is to 

 be placed in a case or mould, fitted to it, of the length and breadth 

 of the page, and of such depth as to cast a plate a quarter of an 

 inch thick, which will perfecdy represent a page composed in the 

 common manner for printing. 



" As to the art of casting the plate perfect, founders and type ma- 

 kers must be consulted ; for the composition of the metal, and for 



