PRINTING. 
In the year 1781 was printed, by and for 
J. Nichols, London, a very interesting 
pamphlet, entitled Biographical Memoirs 
of William Ged ; including a particular ac- 
count of his progress in the art of block- 
printing. The first part of the pamphlet 
was printed from a MS., dictated by Ged 
some time before his death ; the second 
part was written by his daughter, for whose 
benefit the profits of the publication were 
intended ; the third is a copy of proposals 
tliat had been published by Mr. Ged’s son, 
in 1751, for reviving his father’s art, and to 
the whole is added Mr. Mores’s Narrative 
of Block Printing. 
It appears from this publication, that, in 
the year 1725, Mr. Ged began to prosecute 
plate-printing. In 1727, he entered into a 
contract with a person who had a little ca- 
pital, but who, on conversing with some 
printer, got so intimidated, that, at the end 
of two years, he had laid out only twenty- 
two pounds. In 1729, he entered into a 
new contract with a Mr. Fenner, Thomas 
James, a type-founder, and John James, 
the architect. Sometime after, a privilege 
was obtained from the University of Cam- 
bridge, to print bibles and prayer-books ; 
but it appears, that one of his partners was 
actually averse to the success of the plan, 
and engaged such people for the work as 
lie thought most likely to spoil it. A strag- 
gling workman, who had wrought with them, 
informed Mr. Mores, that both bibles and 
common prayer-books had been printed ; 
but that the compositors, when they cor- 
rected one fault, made purposely half a do- 
zen more; and the pressmen, when the 
masters were absent, battered the letter in 
aid of the compositors. In consequence of 
these base proceedings, the books were 
suppressed by authority, and the plates sent 
to the King’s printing-house, and from 
thence to Mr. Caslon’s foundry. “ After 
much ill usage,” says Mr. Tilloch, “ Ged, 
who appears to have been a person of great 
honesty and simplicity, returned to Edin- 
burgh. His friends were anxious that a spe- 
cimen of his art should be published, which 
was at last done by subscription. His son, 
James Ged, who bad been apprenticed to a 
printer, with the consent of his, master set 
up the forms in the night-time, when the 
Other compositors were gone, for his father 
to cast the plates from ; by which means 
Sallust was finished in 1736.” Mr. Tilloch 
has not only a copy of this work, but also 
the plate of one of the pages.” Besides 
Sallust, Mr. Tilloch has another work, 
printed some years after, from plates of Mr. 
Ged’s manufacture. The book is The Life 
of God in the Soul of Man, printed on a 
writing pot, 12mo. and with the following 
imprint : “ Newcastle, printed and sold by 
John White, from plates made by William 
Ged, Goldsmith in Edinburgh, 1742.” 
Fifty years after the invention of plate- 
printing by Mr. Ged, Mr. Tilloch made a 
similar discovery, wdthout having, at the 
time, any knowledge of Ged’s invention. 
In perfecting the invention, Mr. Tilloch 
had the assistance and joint labour of Mr. 
Foulis, printer to the University of Glas- 
gow. After great labour, and many expe- 
riments, these gentlemen “ overcame every 
difficulty, and were able to produce plates, 
the impressions from which could not be 
distinguished from those taken from the 
types from which they were cast.” “ Though 
we had reason to fear,” says Mr. Tilloch, 
“ from what we [afterwards] found Ged 
had met with, that our efforts would expe- 
rience a similar opposition, from prejudice 
and ignorance, we persevered in our object 
for a considerable time, and at last resolved 
to take out patents' for England and Scot- 
land, to secure ourselves, for the usual 
term, the benefits of our invention ; for the 
discovery was still as much our own as if 
nothing similar had been practised before. 
Ged’s knowledge of the art having died 
with his son, whose proposals for reviving 
it, published in 1751, not having been fol- 
lowed with success, be went to Jamai- 
ca, where he died. The patents were 
accordingly obtained ; nay, they are 
even expired ; and yet we hear people, 
who only began their stereotype labours 
yesterday, taking to themselves the merit 
of being the first inventors !” “ Owing to 
circumstances of a private nature;” not, 
however, connected with the stereotype 
art, the business was laid aside for a time ; 
and Mr. Tilloch, having removed from Glas- 
gow to London, the concern was dropped 
altogether ; not, however, till several small 
volumes had been stereotyped and printed, 
under the direction of Messrs. Tilloch and 
Foulis. 
.Some time elapsed after this, when Di- 
dot, the celebrated French printer, applied 
the stereotype art to logarithmic tables, 
and afterwards to several of the Latin clas- 
sics, and to various French publications. 
It has been said, by the French, that the 
merit of the invention properly belongs to 
