PRINTING MACHINE 653 



brown soap, of the best quality, cut into slices, is to be introduced cautiously, for its 

 water of combination causes a violent intumescence. Both the rosin and soap should 

 be well stirred with a spatula. The pot is to be now set upon the fire again, in order 

 to complete the combinations of all the constituents. 



.Put next of well-ground indigo and Prussian blue, each 2 ounces, into an earthen 

 pan, sufficiently large to hold all the ink, along with 4 pounds of the best mineral 

 lamp-black, and 3 pounds of good vegetable lamp-black ; then add the warm varnish 

 by slow degrees, carefully stirring, to produce the perfect incorporation of all the 

 ingredients. This mixture is next to be subjected to a mill, or slab and muller, till 

 it be levigated into a smooth, uniform paste. 



One pound of a superfine printing ink may be made by the following recipe of Mr. 

 Savage : Balsam of copaiba, 9 oz. ; lamp-black, 3 oz. ; indigo and Prussian blue 

 together, p. aeq. loz. ; Indian red, f oz. ; turpentine (yellow) soap, dry, 3 oz. This 

 mixture is to be ground upon a slab, with a muller, to an impalpable smoothness. 

 The pigments used for colouring printing inks are : carmine, lakes, vermilion, red 

 lead, Intiian red, Venetian red, chrome yellow, chrome red or orange, burnt terra di 

 Sienna, gall-stone, Roman ochre, yellow ochre, verdigris, blues and yellows mixed 

 for greens, indigo, Prussian blue, Antwerp blue, umber, sepia, &c. 



PRINTING MACHINE. (Typographic mecanique, Fr. ; Druckmaschine, Ger.) 

 No improvement had been introduced in these important machines, from the in- 

 vention of the art of printing, till the year 1798, a period of nearly 350 years. In 

 Dr. Dibdin's interesting account of printing, in the Bibliographical Decameron, may 

 be seen representations of the early printing presses, which exactly resemble the 

 wooden presses in use a few years back. 



For the first essential modification of the old press, the world is indebted to the 

 late Earl Stanhope. His press is formed of iron, without any wood ; the table upon 

 which the form of types is laid, as well as the platen or surface which immediately 

 gives the impression, is of cast iron, made perfectly level; the platen being large 

 enough to print a whole sheet at one pull. The compression is applied by a beautiful 

 combination of levers, which give motion to the screw, cause the platen to descend 

 with progressively increasing force till it reaches the type, when the power approaches 

 the maximum ; upon the infinite lever principle, the power being applied to straighten 

 an obtuse-angle jointed lever. This press, however, like all its flat-faced predecessors, 

 does not act by a continuous, but a reciprocating motion ; nor does it much exceed 

 the old presses in productiveness, since it can turn off only 250 impressions per hour ; 

 but it is capable of producing much finer press-work than any steam- or hand-machine 

 yet invented, for this reason : the best work requires the best ink, which is stiff, and 

 requires a longer time in distributing over and beating into the form of types than 

 the thin, oily, and consequently browner ink required by the rapidly moving machine. 

 It is a remarkable fact that the Penny Magazine was printed at the hand-press, 

 although the editor assured his readers that the cylindrical form of machine was 

 capable of printing the finest impressions from woodcuts. The machine, however, 

 has the advantage of uniformity of colour in inking throughout a whole impression. 

 The iron platen of the Stanhope press was supposed at one time to wear out types 

 much sooner than the old wooden one, but experience does not warrant us in support- 

 ing this statement. 



The first person who publicly projected a self-acting printing press was Mr. 

 William Nicholson, the able editor of the Philosophical Journal, who obtained a 

 patent in 1790: 1, for imposing types upon a cylindrical surface (see Jiff. 1675); 

 2. for applying the ink upon the surface of the types, &c., by causing the surface 

 of a cylinder smeared with the colouring-matter to roll over them ; or else causing 

 the types to apply themselves to the cylinder. For the purpose of spreading the 

 ink evenly over this cylinder, he proposed to apply three or more distributing rollers 

 longitudinally against the inking-cylinder, so that they might be turned by the motion 

 of the latter. 3. ' I perform,' he says, ' all' my impressions by the action of a cylinder 

 or cylindrical surface ; that is, I cause the paper to pass between two cylinders, one 

 of which has the form of types attached to it, and forming part of its surface ; and 

 the other is faced with clcth, and serves to press the paper so as to take off an 

 impression of the colour previously applied ; or otherwise I cause the form of types, 

 previously coloured, to pass in close and successive contact with the paper wrapped 

 round a cylinder with woollen.' Seefgs. 1675 and 1676. 1 



The first operative printing machine was undoubtedly contrived by, and constructed 

 under the direction of, M. Konig, a clock-maker from Saxony, who, so early as the 

 year 1804, was occupied in improving printing presses. Having failed to interest the 



1 The black parts in these little diagrams, 1675. 1676, indicate the inking apparatus ; the diagonal 

 lines, the cylinders upon which the paper to be printed is applied ; the perpendicular lines, the plates 

 or types ; and the arrows show the track pursued by the sheet of paper. 



