CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



and upwards per hour. Repeated experiment has 

 proved that good work may be done at the rate 

 of 17,000 copies per hour. The other web-printing 

 machines differ more or less considerably in idea 

 or details from that just described. The ' Bullock/ 

 which is the invention of an American, has also 

 done excellent book-printing at the rate of 12,000 

 sheets per hour. The ' Victory,' nearly con- 

 temporaneous with the 'Walter,' differs from it 

 in several points. It does not damp the paper ; 

 it has only a single delivery ; but it delivers the 

 finished sheets ready folded. The ' Prestonian ' 

 will print from type, whereas all other web- 

 machines print only from stereotype. The most 

 recent web-printing patent is the Hoe web-machine, 

 which is also very favourably spoken of. 



Flat-pressure Machines. 



The best kind of flat-surface machine was the 

 contrivance of a gentleman in London, and is still 

 used for several kinds of work. It consists of an 

 upright frame, and printing-platten, resembling 

 the common hand-press, with a type-carriage at 

 each side. The type-carriages go below the platten 

 alternately ; so that, in point of fact, the apparatus 

 is two presses with one printing-surface to serve 

 both. The movements to and fro of the type- 

 carriages, and the pull downwards of the platten, 

 are effected by machinery beneath. The forms 

 are also inked by an apparatus for the purpose. 

 This machine requires a layer-on and taker-off of 

 sheets at each end, besides a superintendent, and 

 works about 700 sides per hour, or 350 complete 



Fig. 8. 



sheets. The mechanism is effective for ordinary 

 book-work. Fig. 8 will give a general idea of the 

 arrangement of the platten machine the type- 

 tables travelling horizontally, as in the cyclinder- 

 machines, and the platten rising and falling 

 with undeviating accuracy at the return of each 

 table. 



By the introduction of the steam-presses which 

 we have now described, the profession of the 

 printer has within these few years undergone a 

 most extraordinary revolution ; and although 

 fewer hand-pressmen are now employed than 

 formerly, the increase of employment to com- 

 positors, engineers, bookbinders, booksellers, &c. 

 must be very great. The principal advance in the 

 profession has been since the year 1832, when the 

 printing of cheap -literary sheets rose into import- 

 ance ; and, by a fortunate coincidence, the patents 

 of various machines having about the same time 



754 



expired, a new impulse was given to the trade. 

 The making of printing-machines has in itself 

 become a great business. The printing-office is 

 a factory ; and the interior of one of those con- 

 cerns usually presents a remarkable spectacle 

 of industry, animate and inanimate, which to a 

 stranger leaves a lasting impression on the 

 memory. 



THE CHAPEL. 



It is worth while to remark, that up to the 

 present day the phraseology used in relation to 

 the mechanical details of the printer possesses 

 certain traces of the early connection of the art 

 with men of learning. A number of the technical 

 terms, as may be seen from the descriptions 

 we have given, are a corruption of Latin words. 

 We may instance tympan, from tympanum, a 

 drum, and stet (let it stand), which is used as 

 a mark in correcting proof-sheets. The name 

 brevier, applied to a certain size of type, ori- 

 ginated in that letter being first used in print- 

 ing the Breviaries of the Romish Church. An 

 exceedingly old practice prevails among printers 

 of calling their office a Chapel, and under this 

 title the compositors, pressmen, and all others 

 engaged in the office, have been in the habit of 

 meeting together, and forming a species of lodge, 

 presided over by the Father, in order to settle 

 affairs connected with the internal arrangements 

 of the office, or any disputes which may occur 

 among members. 



LITHOGRAPHY. 



Lithography was invented by Aloys Senefelder, 

 who was born at Prague on the 6th of November 

 1771. He received a tolerable education at 

 Munich, whither his father had removed, being 

 employed at the theatre of that town. He lost his 

 father before he had reached manhood, and was 

 thus reduced to great hardships. Being undecided 

 what profession to choose, he endeavoured to 

 support himself as a composer of music, and not 

 being able to pay for the engraving of his com- 

 positions, he resolved to engrave them himself. 

 Finding this, however, rather expensive and diffi- 

 cult, he tried to work with a greasy ink on copper, 

 to etch this afterwards in relief, and to print the 

 plate with the ordinary type printing-press. One 

 day, being asked by his mother to note down some 

 account, and having no paper on hand, he wrote 

 it with his composition-ink on a polished Kelheim 

 or Solenhofen stone. It occurred to him after- 

 wards to raise this writing with acid, and to print 

 with a press of his own invention, a rude enough 

 implement, on the principle of a common press. 

 From this beginning, Senefelder gradually dis- 

 covered the whole process of chemical printing 

 from stone, called lithography, a name derived from 

 Greek lithos (x^f), a stone, and graphein (ygp<)f 

 to write. 



In 1796, a piece of music, Senefelder's first 

 work, was printed from the stone, and in 1800 

 tie patented his invention in Bavaria and most of 

 the German states. He obtained afterwards a 

 patent in Austria, and commenced business at 

 Vienna, chiefly with the view of printing on cotton, 

 but without much success. Mr Andr of Offen- 

 bach, a music-publisher, then became his partner ; 



