THE PRINTING PRESS. 



the type to penetrate or deface the paper ; 4th. The paper is, in 

 fine, when thus printed, withdrawn from the type and laid upon 

 a table, where the printed sheets are collected. 



15. Inking. In the old process these operations were per- 

 formed by two men, one of whom was employed to ink the types, 

 and the other to print. {The former was armed with two bulky 

 inking-balls, consisting of a soft black substance of leathery 

 appearance, spherical form, and about twelve inches in diameter. 

 He nourished these with dexterity, dabbed them upon a plate 

 smeared with ink, and then with both hands applied them to the 

 faces of the types until the latter were completely charged with 

 ink. This accomplished, the other functionary the pressman 

 having prepared the sheet of paper while the type was being 

 inked, turned it down upon the type, drew it under the press,, 

 and with a severe pull of the lever gave the necessary pressure by 

 which the paper took the impression of the type. A contrary 

 motion of the apparatus withdrew the type from under the press, 

 and the pressman, removing the paper now printed, deposited it 

 upon a table placed near him to receive it. The same series of 

 operations was then repeated for producing the impression of another 

 sheet and so on. In this manner two men in ordinary book- work 

 usually printed at the rate of 250 sheets per hour on one side. 



16. Xnking-rollers. One of the first improvements which, 

 took place upon this apparatus consisted in the substitution of a 

 cylindrical roller for the inking-balls. This roller was mounted 

 with handles, so that the man employed to ink the type first 

 rolled it upon a flat surface smeared with ink (fig. 2), and having 

 thus charged it, applied it to the type form, upon which he rolled 

 it in a similar manner, thus transferring the ink from the roller 

 to the faces of the type. The substitution of these inking-rollers 

 for the inking-balls constituted one of the most important steps- 

 in the modern improvement of the art of printing. The rollers- 

 were composed of a combination of treacle and glue, and closely 

 resembled caoutchouc in their appearance and qualities. 



17. Stanhope Press. The process by which these operations- 

 were executed, assumed in the course of years a great variety 

 of improved forms, and one of the most celebrated and most uni- 

 versally adopted having been supplied by the inventive genius 

 of Earl Stanhope, has accordingly retained his name, and is- 

 known as the Stanhope press. This machine, which, resembling all 

 other improved presses in its general features, and serving, there- 

 fore, as an example of hand-presses in general, is shown in fig. 3. 

 The two principal parts of the machine arejirst, that which pro- 

 duces the pressure, and the second, that which supports the paper. 



The former is a massive frame of cast iron, formed in a single 

 8 



