From Tait's Magazine. PRINTING AND PRINTERS.* GLANCING the other day at some Roman tiles which were dug up from the sodden soil of Lothbury, and now form a part of the museum of a private collector, we were struck by an inscription in raised letters, resembling, and indeed surpassing, in beauty of form, the large capitals in use among English printers at the close of the last century. The sight of these capitals, from which any number of impressions might, with a little care, be taken even at this distance of time, suggested the question-"Why did not the Romans discover the art of printing?" It is plain that in London, more than fifteen centuries ago, the maker of these tiles had in his possession a matrix of some material or other-most likely, judging from the sharpness of angle which the letters exhibit, of metal, with which he could stamp his tiles with an inscription answering probably the purpose of an advertisement. Here were the materials at least for the art of block printing-there was nothing to prevent the application of the same process to a page of Cicero, or an ode of Horace,-and the thing was done. The movable types would have sprung from the solid block as inevitably and as rapidly with the Roman, as they did a thousand years after with the German-the Roman was the more experienced founder, and the more skilful mechanist of the two, and he had a national literature, the dissemination of which would have rewarded his discovery with wealth untold. had it chanced that upon one of these tiles, when blackened with smoke, a scrap of damp vellum had fallen, or an intelligent workman had accidentally laid his hand and brought off the impression, the art and mystery of printing, with all its portentous results, might have dawned upon the Roman mind, and the press, the great lever of the ages, would have commenced its influence upon the human race a thousand years earlier than it did. * Printing its Antecedents, Origin, and Results. By A. STARK. Longman and Co., 1855. We But why talk of Rome ? We may go back further by another thousand years, and find the Ninevites actually in possession of the art in a modified form-printing by similar means, and sometimes in characters almost invisibly minute, the warlike achievements of their times upon the materials of their buildings, and thus making their national monuments the records as well as the memorials of their national deeds. might recur to ancient Egypt for testimony even more abundant, showing how closely upon the verge of the great discovery mankind have hovered wherever the arts of civilization flourished. We can see now with sufficient clearness that the invention of the art of printing was, in the nature of things, inevitable, and we are induced to marvel at the obtuseness and blind apathy of the generations who could not or would not perceive the treasures presented to their grasp, as much as we are to admire and applaud the men of Mentz who seized the proffered wealth and scattered it through the world. We propose, now, making as much use of Mr. Stark's little volume as will suit our purpose, to play the part of gossips, and be present, if we can, at the birth of the printing-press-and then to set before the reader some account of the infancy, childhood, adolescence, and maturity of the power to which he is under obligations far deeper than he is probably aware. The first attempt at printing in England was made about the close of the fourteenth century, by which playing cards were produced from engraved wooden-blocks. Soon after this, block books were printed on the Continent, the earliest of which bears date 1423. About the same time appeared the Biblia Pauperum, or Book of the Poor, printed in block between 1420 and 1430. Albert Durer engraved his own masterly designs, and printed them in this way. As yet, however, the art of printing was not-as movable types, the adoption of which at once gave vitality to the process, had not been thought of. In 1436 John Gutenberg, a lapidary and a native of Mentz, then resid- | by a few professors. Attempts were made ing at Strasburg, having conceived the idea of to bind the workmen employed by oaths printing with movable type, took into partner- not to divulge the secret-attempts which ship, with a view to carry out his scheme, may have led to false swearing, but availed Andrew Drizehn, John Riff, and Anthony as much to spread as to confine the pracHielmann. Their agreement was for five tice of the art. No sooner was it found that years, but they quarrelled in 1430, and went printing was a lucrative employment than to law to settle their differences. From the presses sprung up in various cities in Gerexamination of witnesses on that trial, it was many; and between 1461 and 1470 fourincontestibly proved that Gutenberg was and-twenty different works appeared. In the author of the new invention. Having the latter year two of Faust's workmen comgot rid of his late partners, Gutenberg, in menced in Paris, whither they were followed 1450, associated himself with John Faust, by others. Presses were soon after set up who advanced capital for the prosecution of in Florence and in Venice, and the Italian their enterprise. Faust brought his servant, printers displayed such industry, that bePeter Schoeffer,into the concern, and Schoeffer tween the years 1471 and 1480, according it was who invented punches of engraved to Panzer, upwards of twelve hundred steel, by which the matrixes were struck volumes were printed by them, above two from which the types were cast. The first hundred of which were editions of ancient work that issued from their press was a authors. The first book printed in Spain Latin Bible, now known as the Mazarian was executed in Valencia in 1474, whence Bible, from a copy having been found in the art soon spread to Barcelona, Saragossa, Cardinal Mazarin's library. Faust managed Seville, and Salamanca. In the Low Counto oust Gutenberg from the partnership in tries the progress was yet more rapid, and 1455, and subsequently carried on the busi- in the course of one generation there was ness with Schaeffer; their first printed work hardly a town of any importance but poswas a Psalter, which appeared in 1457. sessed its printing office, and books began Faust is supposed to have died of the plague everywhere to be multiplied with astonishing in 1466. After his death, Schoeffer had the rapidity. In France, the women were meanness to arrogate to his family the entire among the first who excelled as printers. invention of the art of printing-and suc- Charlotte Guillard, who commenced in ceeded so far as to obtain from the Emperor 1490, and kept several presses at work for Maximilian some lucrative privileges authen- fifty years, printed a large number of very ticating his pretensions. By this act of the correct editions both in Latin and Greek. Emperor, Gutenberg was robbed of his de- She was patronized by the learned Lewis served reputation-his discoveries being at Lippeman, Bishop of Verona, who gave her tributed to his rival, and he regarded as a his principal works to print. pretender. He was dead, however, before Schoeffer dared to advance his claim. Upon quitting his partners, he had established a printing press at Mentz, under the patronage of Dr. Conrad Humbracht, who advanced the necessary funds. In 1460,he printed the great Latin Dictionary, "Catholicon Johannis de Balbis," and, in the same year, the "Constitutions of Clement V." A bible which appeared in 1460-2 is also ascribed to him. In 1465, he was attached to the Court of Adolphus, Count of Nassau; and is supposed to have died in 1468, The Dutch have disputed with the Germans for the honor of the invention of printing, claiming it in behalf of Laurence Coster, a citizen of Haarlem. Their claim will not, however, bear investigation, and vanishes beneath the scrutiny to which it has been subjected by rigid inquirers, It was not to be expected that such an art as that of printing could long be engrossed William Cax Let us now look at home. ton, who was born in 1412, first introduced the art into England. He visited the Low Countries in 1442, and continued abroad for thirty years, during which he mastered the art of printing. While at Cologne he translated his "Recueil de l'Histoire de Troye," and published it. He returned to England soon after, bringing with him the necessary apparatus for printing, and settled at Westminster, under the patronage of the abbot. Here, in 1474, he produced the first specimen of English typography, "The Game of Chess." This was followed in 1477 by his edition of "Dictes and Sayings," translated from the Latin by the unfortunate Lord Rivers. Caxton pursued his craft for ten years, printing in all sixty-four different works. He is supposed to have died in 1491. Cotemporary with Caxton was John Lettou, who was afterwards joined by William Machlinia; they are said to be the first law-printers in England. Caxton was succeeded by Wynken | de Worde, who printed, between the years 1491 and 1534, above four hundred works. Richard Pynson, who first took the title of king's printer, produced between 1493 and 1531, two hundred and ten works. Julian Notary, between 1499 and 1515, printed twenty-three. In 1480 a press was set up at St. Alban's. Between that date and 1485 the art was introduced at Oxford by Theodore Rood, in partnership with John Hunt. In 1507 James IV. granted a patent for printing to Walter Chapman of Edinburgh. In 1509 presses were at work both in Aberdeen and in York. John Sibert first carried the art to Cambridge, and printed there, in 1521-2, works in Latin, Greek, and English. The printing press found its way into Wales as early at least as 1587, and it may be reasonably supposed that by this time it had established itself throughout the country wherever there was a demand for its services. for the press, has forwarded it to the printer. The written pages, being first carefully folioed, the overseer or foreman distributes sufficient "copy" for a sheet of the work among the compositors appointed to execute it. Each compositor is supplied with a couple of pairs of cases, one pair containing Roman and the other Italic types. Each pair of cases consists of one upper and a lower case, the former containing capital letters, figures, and accented vowels, and the latter the smaller letters, combinations of letters, and punctuating signs. In the upper case are ninety-eight divisions or boxes, all of the same size (a stupid arrangement, by the way, which ought to be revised)in the lower case are not nearly so many, but most of them of greater capacity. In the upper case the letters are arranged alphabetically-but in the lower those most wanted are placed nearest the hand of the workman, for an obvious reason. The compositor having received his copy, places a slip or sheet of it before him, and begins to "compose" as it is called, or to arrange the types in order for printing. In his left hand he holds the composing-stick, a machine adapted for the reception of the type, and fixed at the required width of the line-the stick is grasped in the palm, the thumb only of the left hand being inserted within it for the reception of each letter as it is lifted into its place by the forefinger and thumb of the right hand. An average compositor will pick up two thousand types an hour, and make perhaps two mistakes in spelling or punctuation in so doing -while an intelligent or skilful workman will pick up three thousand or more, and make far fewer blunders.* At this rate of proceeding it is evident that the compositor cannot read the letters as he takes them up -in fact, he never attempts that-the letters which are small, inch-long pieces of metal, are each marked with one or more "nicks" or notches on their fronts ;t all he has to see It is remarkable that the art of Printing seems to have suffered declension soon after its discovery. The type of the first works printed, that of the Mazarin Bible, for instance, was superior to much that was manufactured at a later date; and the oldest specimens of Greek printing are creditably done, while some at a later period are so deformed as to be nearly illegible. The first volume entirely of Greek was Lascari's Grammar, by Denis de Paraivcino and Dominic de Vespolate, the type of which is elegant. The Milanese, by the excellence of their Greek printing, aroused the jealousy of the Venetians, who sought to rival them; and in course of time Greek works were produced in various parts of the Continent, as well as in England, whose productions in that character are excelled by none. Works in Hebrew began to appear about 1476. Since then the type-founders of Britain, France, and Germany have added to their founts the characters of every known lanA compositor is paid according to a scale calcuguage-a single printing-office in Paris being able to produce on one occasion three hun-lated upon the supposition that he can earn the average wages of the trade by composing about a thousand letters in each hour of the day. But, to do this comfortably, he must, while composing, lift at least double that number into his stick, because he has to correct for nothing-to distribute-that is, to restore each type to its proper place after the form is worked-for nothing; and to go through various other processes without payment, which altogether occupy little short of half his time. dred copies of the Lord's Prayer in as many different tongues. The above must suffice for a glance at the past history of Printing. We are going now to look at the profession as it is practiced at the present day. In order to see the modus operandi, and to show the uninitiated reader how a printed book is produced, we must enter the printing-office, and watch the several processes seriatim. We will suppose that an author, having prepared his manuscript In France, in Spain, and in some parts of Italy, the "nick" is placed at the back of the type-to the comfort of the compositor's thumb, which thus escapes abrasion. to, is that, lifting the right letters, he ranges | all those nicks or notches outwards: if his eye in its rapid flight to fifty different points in the course of a single minute, be deceived by some mark or spot resembling the nick on the wrong side of the letter, he transfers it to the stick wrong side foremost: if it were left standing thus, that letter, when printed, would appear inverted; but it is not, once in a hundred times, thus left, because the thumb-ball of the compositor's left hand, sensitive from long practice, detects the blunder by the absence of the nick, and it is corrected by an instantaneous touch. This little nick is the most useful thing in the printer's establishment--abolish it to-day, and the Times has no thunder for to-morrow, and no to morrow for itself. When the compositor has picked up words enough for a line, he finds, nineteen times out of twenty, that he has room to spare for a letter or two more, or that he wants room to get in a single letter to complete a word. Now ensues a process which is called "spacing" if the line be short, it has to be filled out by the insertion of additional spaces between the words; if a letter or two have to be got in, the spaces already inserted have to be exchanged for thinner ones, to make room for it. This process of spacing and “justifying" (or making tight in the stick), when the lines are very short, takes almost as much time as the lifting of the types; that time is not, however, all lost, as the compositor, if he is good for anything, will read the line while justifying it, and correct any blunder that may have occurred. The "stick" will contain some dozen or so of lines when it is filled, the contents are removed to a "galley," a flat board, with a guard at the head and lower side. By the time the galley is full, we may suppose that each of the compositors has done his quota of the copy. The type, being all composed, is now made up into pages, and each page, tied temporarily with twine, is removed to a flat table of stone or iron, and "imposed," as it is termed-that is, the whole of the pages of the sheet (8, 12, 16, or 24, or more, as it may happen) are placed in such a position, that when the sheet on which they are printed is folded and cut, they will follow in numerical order. This done, a "chase," or stout iron frame, is placed round them-the interstices between the pages are filled up with "furniture" of wood or metal nicely graduated to keep each page in its proper place-tapering side and foot pieces are laid between them and the chase each page is carefully released from its band of twine, and by means of small quoins, or wedges of wood, and a heavy mallet, the whole is driven firmly into one compact mass. This mass is the printer's "form;" it is now carried to the press, and a proof being taken, both proof and copy are consigned to the printer's reader, whose duty it is to mark the errors of the compositors, and return the sheet to them for correction. If they have done their work well, they reap the advantage of carefulness-if the contrary, they are sure to find their sins, whether of ignorance or thoughtlessness, avenged in the proof, which they have to correct for nothing. The process of correction is anything but pleasant; and it is in that head-aching, back-breaking school that the dullest and stupidest of "pie-hustlers" and "hands at case" are disciplined into cautious and accurate workmen. The first proof, being corrected, is generally followed by a revise, or second proof, which also is corrected for nothing. What are called "clean proofs" are now taken and despatched, together with the copy, to the author or editor of the work. Any corrections which the author chooses to make he has to pay for, as fidgetty and blundering writers know perfectly well, to their cost. The author, on these terms, may have as many proofs as he likes; and not a few of them double their printer's bills by everlasting alterations and corrections, while others, like Miss Martineau, avoid by carefulness and decision the payment for corrections altogether. Supposing the author to be at length satisfied with his corrections, and to have affixed his imprimatur to the sheet, it has now to be worked off at press. To begin at the beginning of this process, we must proceed first to the wetting-room, which is most probably a cellar, and there we shall find a baptist of the dipping school engaged from one week's end, it may be, to the other, in immersing tons of printing paper in troughs of cold water. He dips each quire from twice to five times in the flood, according to its absorbing qualities, and having dipped the "heap" for a given work, places it between boards, and piles weights upon it, or subjects it to pressure by a press, to drive the moisture equally through all the sheets. But this is not enough-before the heap is fit for working, it has to be turned over, the dryer portions placed in juxtaposition with the more moist, and again left under pressure. From the wetting-room the paper proceeds to the press-room, and is laid on the press ed without being imposed, and when purged of all errors, are taken in small chases to the stereotype-foundry. On entering this hot-air caldron, we find a huge fire burning, and a series of small ovens around and above it, and on the floor is a cistern of type-metal in a molten state. The pages to be operated upon are each enclosed in a small frame; plaster of Paris is powered over them in a fluid state; when the mixture is sufficiently set, for which but a brief time is necessary, it constitutes the mould, which is gently lifted off man's bank. Now comes that part of the | up the compositor's work at the stage when process upon which chiefly, now that correct-it is made up into pages. Pages which ness is postponed to beauty of appearance, have to be stereotyped, are read and correctthe character of the printer depends. With bad pressmen there can be no good workthe appearance of the volume is entirely at the pressman's mercy, and dependent upon his skill. In times gone by, when the old wooden press performed all the work, and the ink was applied to the form with pelt balls stuffed with wool and horse-hair, such work as is now daily produced by average printers was a sheer impossibility. But since the invention of the roller (of which we shall have to say a word presently) and the introduction of Stanhope and Columbian presses, the pressman who has these appliances at command has no excuse for indifferent printing. At the iron presses at present in use the work may be performed single-handed, but is generally effected by two companions, one of whom supplies the form with ink and lays the sheets smooth as they are thrown off, while the other produces the impression. The chief part of the responsibility rests with him who supplies ink to the surface of the type: if he fail to distribute this evenly on the surface of the roller, the impression will be unequal in color-dark in one place and light in another; if he take too much ink he will clog the type, and if he takes too little, the impression will be pale and gray. Fine work can only be produced when the rollers are in good working condition-it is the pressman's business to know what this condition is-it is hardly describable in words and to be able to maintain it constantly. When the sheets are worked off, they are hung up to dry upon wooden rails fixed beneath the ceilings of the various rooms. When dry, they are placed between glazed boards and subjected to a powerful pressure in a hydraulic press for several hours--after which they are taken out and laid in warehouse till the whole work is finished. The sheets are then collated and quired in perfect copies, and handed over to the book-binder. But it may happen that the work in course of printing is to be published in very large numbers, and that, instead of being worked at the hand-press in the usual way, it is judged expedient to stereotype it, and work the plates under the machine. In this case it is not the type which we have seen the compositor picking up that produces the impression, but plates of metal cast in moulds obtained from its surface. To see how this is done, we must retrace our steps and take the face of the type having been previously well moistened with oil to prevent its adhering to the plaster. The mould has now to be thoroughly dried-for this purpose it is put first into a moderately warm oven, not too near the fire; by degress it is exposed to greater heat, and at length to heat as intense as can be generated by an ordinary fire. Were these precautions not taken, the mould would split under the next operation, which is that of sinking it in a frame contrived for the purpose, in the cistern of molten metal-there it remains until the liquid metal has penetrated to every cranny, and filled up the impression made upon its surface by the type-a consummation of which the workman is made aware by the cessation of air-bubbles, which continue to rise so long as any part, however minute, of the mould remains unvisited by the metal. The mould is then lifted from the metal-pot and allowed to cool--the plaster is then broken away from the face of the plates thus produced, and they are made over to the picker. The picker cuts and dresses them to shape by means of a circular saw, and then sits down to a careful examination of every letter with. a view to supplying such portions as the casting has left imperfect, and of cutting away any redundancies of metal, which will be more or less numerous in proportion to the care taken in the drying of the moulds. It rarely happens, we might almost say it never happens, that a stereotyped page comes perfect from the plaster mould; there are always minute portions of metal to be cut away with the graving tool, and in the majority of instances there are single letters-sometimes there are whole words-which have failed in the casting, and have to be soldered into the plate through holes punched in it by the picker. Such emendations, when the type is not very small, are perfectly visible to the eye of a practiced printer, because the type |