PRINTING. 



Italic letters are to be changed for Roman, 



or vice versa, a line is drawn, thus , 



under the letters, and Jcom. or Ital. is 

 written in the margin. Where words 

 have been struck out that are afterwards 

 approved of, dots are marked under such 

 words, and in the margin is written the 

 Nvord stet. Where the punctuation is re- 

 quired to be altered, the semicolon, colon, 

 and period, are encircled in the margin. 

 The comma and other points are marked 

 as letters and words, viz. with a long ob- 

 lique line immediately before them ; which 

 line is intended to separate the different 

 corrections from each other, that occur in 

 the same line. When letters of a differ- 

 ent fount or size are improperly introduc- 

 ed into the page, they are noticed by a 

 small dash drawn through them, and the 

 letters to f. in the margin. There are 

 some other marks used in correcting; 

 such as Y/ for superior ; where it is neces- 

 sary to insert the apostrophe, the star, or 

 other reference marks, and superior let- 

 ters : Cap. for capital, L. C. for lower 

 case, &c. 



After a proof sheet has been read, and 

 the errata thus noticed by the corrector, 

 or, as he is more usually called, the read- 

 er, it is again put into the hands of the 

 compositor, who proceeds to correct in 

 the metal what has been marked for cor- 

 rection in the proof. He then unlocks 

 the form on the imposing stone, by loos- 

 ening the quoins or wedges which bound 

 the letters together. He then casts his 

 eye over one page of the proof, noticing 

 what letters, &c. are required. Having 

 gathered as many corrections, from the 

 cases, between the thumb and fore- 

 finger of his left hand, as he can conveni- 

 ently hold, and an assortment of spaces, 

 on a piece of paper, or in a small square 

 box with partitions in it, he takes a sharp- 

 pointed steel bodkin in his right hand. 

 Placing the point of the bodkin at one 

 end of the line, and the fore finger of his 

 left hand against the other, he raises the 

 whole line sufficiently high to afford him 

 a clear view of the spacing. He then 

 changes the faulty letters or words, and 

 alters his spaces before he drops the line. 



The first proof being corrected, another 

 is pulled, to be again put into the hands 

 of the reader, or sent to the author for 

 examination. This proof being read and 

 corrected as before, a revise is pulled, to 

 see whether all the errors marked in the 

 last proof are properly corrected. When 

 the sheet is supposed to be correct, the 

 forms are given to the pressman, whose 

 business it is to work them off' when they 



are so prepared and corrected ; in doing 

 which four things are required-} paoer, 

 ink, balls, and a press. The paper is pre- 

 pared for use by being dipped, a few 

 sheets at a -.ime, in water, and afterwards 

 laid in a heap over each other ; to muke 

 the water penetrate equally into every 

 sheet, a thick deal board is laid upon the 

 heap, on which is placed heavy weights, 

 according to the size of the heap. The 

 reason why the paper is to be wetted be- 

 fore it is in a fit state to be printed upon, 

 is, that it may be made sufficiently sott to 

 adhere closely to the surface of the letter, 

 and take up a proper quantity of ink, that 

 it may receive a fair and clear impression. 

 It is also necessary to wet the paper, lest 

 itsstiffand harsh nature, when dry, should 

 injure the face of the letters. 



The ink used by printers has already 

 been treated of, in the article INK, which 

 see. The manufacture of good common 

 ink seems to be as yet but very imperfect- 

 ly understood. That used in fine printing- 

 has been more attended to, and many of 

 our best printers are now able to produce 

 impressions in a great degree free from 

 that offensive brown cast, which is to be 

 observed in many books printed with 

 what is called common ink. 



The balls used in laying the ink on the 

 forms, are a kind of wooden funnels, with 

 handles, the cavities of which are stuffed 

 with wool or hair, and covered over with 

 a pelt, prepared for the purpose. One 

 skin generally makes two proper sized 

 balls. When the skin has been sufficient- 

 ly soaked in urine, which will take about 

 fourteen or fifteen hours, it is taken out 

 and curried, by putting it round an iron, 

 called a currying iron, or round some up- 

 right post ; the pressman taking hold of 

 each end of it, and drawing it with as 

 much force as possible backwards and 

 forwards, till it is rendered soft and plia- 

 ble. He then cuts the skin exactly in 

 two, puts them under his feet, and con- 

 tinues to tread them till they are so dry 

 as to stick to the foot in treading. The 

 skin is then laid on a board or flat stone, 

 and stretched as much as possible by 

 rubbing the ball-stock upon it. It is then 

 nailed upon the ball-stock in plaits, about 

 an inch wide, thrusting in as much wool 

 as the cavity of the stock and the skin will 

 conveniently hold. If, however, too much 

 wool were to be put in, it would render 

 the balls hard and difficult to work with. 

 If too little wool is in the balls, they soon 

 flap and wrap over into wrinkles, so as to 

 prevent an equal distribution of the ink on 

 their surface. When the balls are thus 



