Quotations are large blank type used for filling up considerable spaces
at the beginning or end of a chapter, and also for job-work. They are
cast to two sizes, and are called broad and narrow. They vary in size
according to the standard of the foundry where they are cast. They are
being superseded, however, by
[Illustration: LABOUR-SAVING QUOTATION FURNITURE.]
This is cast with great accuracy to Pica, of assorted widths and lengths;
and, as its name imports, it serves not only for quotations in general
job-work, but also for furniture.
[Illustration: STANDARD METAL FURNITURE.]
Owing to the large assortment of sizes contained in this furniture, it is
useful for blanking out all varieties of work, from the card or circular
to the large hand-bill or poster. As the above metal furnitures are not
liable to warp or shrink, they form a highly economical substitute for
wooden reglet.
[Illustration: HOLLOW QUADRATES]
Answer many of the purposes of quotations, but are principally useful
as frames or miniature chases for circular or oval jobs. The sizes are
graduated from 5 × 8 to 12 × 18 Pica ems.
[Illustration: CIRCULAR QUADRATES.]
These are made of various sizes, so as to form circles or parts of
circles from one to twenty-four inches in diameter. Each piece is exactly
one-eighth of a full circle, and, when combined with similar pieces, will
form quarter, half, three-quarter, and full circles. By reversing the
combination of some of the pieces, serpentine and eccentric curves may be
made of any length or depth.
There are two kinds: _inner quadrates_, with convex surface, and _outer
quadrates_, with concave surface. The curved line is produced by placing
the convex and concave surfaces parallel to each other, so that when
locked up firmly they hold the type inserted between them. The other
sides of the quadrates are flat and right-angled, to allow a close
introduction of type, and an easy justification with common quadrates.
As these quadrates are perfect segments of a large circle, they cannot
be increased or diminished without destroying the truth of the curve. If
the thin ends are pieced out with common quadrates, good justification
will be rendered impossible; if they are shortened by cutting off, they
are ruined. Bits of lead or short pieces of card between the curved
surfaces are also wrong: they destroy that exact parallelism which is
necessary for the security of the type. Very accurate justification of
the outer extremities of the quadrates is also indispensable. If the
curved surfaces are kept parallel, and the flat surfaces kept square, no
difficulty will be found in using them, and they will prove a valuable
aid in ornamental printing.
LABOUR-SAVING CURVATURES, &c.
[Illustration]
Morris’s Adjustable Line Formers, or Labour-Saving Curvatures, do away
with bent leads, plaster, wax, and other methods of making curved lines.
Their economical advantages, and the neatness and exactitude of curve
secured by their use, will be appreciated at a glance by all practical
job printers.