he looked over them to see that they were right before he untied the
page cords; and it is a good check to examine the folios of every
two adjoining pages in a quarter, to see that their sum makes one
more than the number of pages in the sheet, or half sheet: thus, in
a sheet of folio, 1 and 4, equal to 5, are imposed together; in a
quarto, 1 and 8; in an octavo, 1 and 16; in a duodecimo, 1 and 24;
in sixteens, 1 and 32; in eighteens, 1 and 36; and so in every other
size: and this combination continues through all the other adjoining
pages, according to the order in which they lie on the stone, calling
the first page in the sheet 1, the second 2, and so on in succession.
The short cross is always better in the middle of the chase, if the
margin will allow it; as it divides the matter more equally, and the
form is safer when it is locked up.
If it be the first sheet of a work that is to be imposed, or it
be found necessary to increase the number of sheets in chase, the
compositor applies to the overseer, or to the person who has the care
of the materials, for a pair of chases.
The pages being laid upon the stone in their proper order, and as
near the required distance from each other as can be determined by
the eye, the compositor then places his chases; he takes one with
both hands and lays the off side or end, as it may be, on the stone
at the outer side of his pages, and lowers the near side gradually,
till it lies flat on the stone, taking care that the inner edges of
the chase and the cross bars do not rest on the face of the pages to
injure them, and that the grooves in the short cross are upwards.
The furniture has now to be cut for the sheet; but previous to doing
this it is necessary to ascertain what kinds of it will be wanted,
by trying the margin with a sheet of paper of the work, otherwise a
great risk is run of cutting an expensive article to waste, and of
incurring also a loss of time, both of which should be avoided if
possible. The manner of making margin will be explained under its
proper head. _See_ MARGIN.
I would recommend that the headsticks in octavos should be in two
pieces, each of them a little longer than the page is wide; this will
allow the gutters to be a little longer than the page, so that they
will come close to the footsticks at the bottom, and at the other end
will go between the headsticks, thus securing the inside of the two
pages, without any risk of the gutters binding when locked up, which
they are apt to do when cut to the precise length of the page, as is
the custom when the headsticks for each quarter are in one piece. The
gutters thus being equal to about three picas more in length than
the page, will answer for other works where the page is of the same
width, but different in length.
The headsticks and gutters being arranged, the compositor will cut
his backs a little longer than the page, and these abutting against
the headsticks that project beyond the page towards the cross, will
secure that side. The sidesticks should be of the full length of the
page, and abut against the headsticks on the outside of the form. The
footsticks may be a trifle shorter than the width of two pages and
the gutter; for as there should always be a line of quadrats, or a
reglet cut to measure, at the foot of each page, the footstick may be
a pica shorter without danger, on this account, of any thing falling
out, when the form is lifted, and it thus prevents the side and foot
sticks from binding when locked up.
By cutting the furniture in this manner, the compositor will at once
perceive that all his pages will be secure, and that the furniture
cannot bind in any place when locked up. The gutter is pushed down
to the footstick, and extends beyond the top of the pages; the two
headsticks abut against the gutter, and project a little beyond the
sides of their pages; the back is pushed up to the headstick, and
extends a little below the bottom of the page; the footstick abuts
against the back, and by being about a pica short prevents the
sidestick from binding against it; and the sidestick abuts against
the head, and extends the full length of the page: neither is there
any impediment to driving the quoins.
I would never cut the heads and the backs of such a length as to
project beyond the side and foot sticks; for when they do, they are
in the way of the shooting stick, if a quoin has been driven close
up, when the form has to be unlocked. Neither should the headstick
project so much as the thickness of the back; nor the extra length of
the gutter be so much as the headstick; otherwise they will bind and
prevent the form from rising.
When the sidestick or footstick is so long as to project one beyond
the other, it prevents the quoin from passing, and in unlocking
causes a great deal of trouble to get it out; I have, in such cases,
frequently seen the sidestick broken or spoiled in the attempt,
and a page squabbled or broken. This arises from carelessness or
idleness, both which generally cause more trouble ultimately than
if the work were properly performed in the first instance. If it be
thought unnecessary or wasteful to cut down side or foot sticks for
a job, or a pamphlet, when there are none of a proper length in the
house, a piece of furniture taken out of the drawer of the proper
length and width, and placed inside next the page, will remedy the
inconvenience, and cause the quoin to be driven with ease.
When placing the furniture about the pages leave the ends of the
page cords out, so that they may be easily taken off, without the
necessity of disturbing the pages to find the end, which will be the
case if they be tucked in.
The furniture being now round the pages, I would recommend to the
compositor to put some quoins round the form, not with any particular
care that they fit, but merely to secure the pages, and by their
means to push them up close to the heads, backs, and gutters.
After having taken a page cord from a page push up that page close
to the furniture at the back and head, by means of the side and foot
stick, to prevent the letters at the ends of the lines from falling
down, and also tighten the quoins gently with your fingers.
All the page cords being taken off, and the pages pushed up close
at the sides and heads, it will next be necessary to examine
particularly that the margin be right; as also to put one or two
scaleboards in all the backs and the heads between the furniture
and the crosses. These scaleboards enable the pressmen to make
register if there be any inequality in the furniture or the crosses,
by changing their situations, or taking some of them away; they also
enable the compositor to make the distance between the pages in the
backs and heads uniform, which should always be the case; and no form
of book work that has to be printed on both sides of the paper should
ever be imposed without them. But scaleboard is never used in the
gutters.
The form has now to be quoined, which many compositors are in the
habit of doing very carelessly, thinking that if the form lifts it
is quite sufficient. This is an erroneous opinion, and frequently
causes errors from the slovenly manner in which the quoining is done,
letters and even lines dropping out when the form is laid on the
press, or taken off, which do not always get replaced correctly; and
the pages are more likely to fall out if they stand a few days at
the end of a bulk. As I have previously described the imposing of an
octavo, I shall continue my observations with respect to that size,
but the principle is the same whatever the size may be. I would have
two quoins for each sidestick, not put in indiscriminately, but the
furthest quoin when driven tight, to be about three quarters of an
inch from the broad end of the sidestick, which will allow room for
the shooting stick in unlocking, as also for the form being tightened
if the furniture shrinks; and the other quoin when driven tight to be
its whole length fairly within the sidestick, because this end of the
stick being thin, will be liable to spring from the page if the quoin
be driven far in, and thus leave the letters behind insecure, and in
danger of falling out: I would have two for the footstick in the same
situations, and a third in the middle to cover the end of the gutter.
Each quarter, of a form of octavo, thus quoined, will be perfectly
secure when the quoins are driven tight, provided the pages be made
up to the same length, and the lines properly justified; should this
not be the case, the compositor will be obliged to vary the quoining,
to meet the evil of bad workmanship.
Before he tightens his quoins he examines whether the pages in the
same quarter be of equal length, which he does by pressing against
the footstick with his thumbs, and raising it a little from the
stone; if it lifts up with it equally the ends of both the pages
against which it presses, he is satisfied they are right, and tries
the other quarters in the same manner; if he finds any of the pages
short, he examines them to find out where the deficiency is and
supplies it; sometimes a lead is wanting, sometimes a line. This will
arise occasionally from the carelessness of some compositors who will
not take the trouble of cutting a gauge by which to make up their
pages, but do it by counting the lines; they sometimes omit a line,
sometimes have a line too much, and sometimes are equally incorrect
with their leads: in other cases I have known gauges cut carelessly
of an improper length, which causes the same evil; and it also
occasionally arises from having the gauges of three or four different
works cut on the same piece of reglet, and mistaking one for the
other. _See_ GAUGE.
I should now push the quoins up all round with my fingers, to confine
the pages slightly, and then plane the form down gently by striking
the planer with the fist; if any letters stand up they are easily
pressed down by this mode of proceeding, without injuring their face;
after this is done, it is necessary to examine the sides of the
pages, to see that no letters have slipped out of their places at the
ends of the lines, which is frequently the case when pages which have
been tied up have lain under the frame some time; it may also happen
in taking the page cords off, particularly if they be knotted. Having
examined the pages, and rectified any thing that was found amiss,
which is easily done in this state of the form, I should gently
tighten the quoins all round the form in an equal manner with the
mallet and shooting stick, and then plane down, but not violently;
if any letters stand up, from some substance being underneath, as a
space, or a letter, or a bit of the page paper, which will sometimes
get torn off and remain, it will be better to omit planing that part
down for the present, as it would only injure the type and answer
no good purpose: the quoins should then be driven as tight as is
necessary, still doing it regularly and equally all round the form,
when the form should be planed down again, which may be done with
firmer blows than before, still omitting the part where the letters
stand up.
The form may now be lifted from the stone at the front edge, just
sufficient to allow the compositor to see whether it will rise or
not, but not so high as that a letter would drop out; if it dances,
it must be dropped down again upon the stone, and the lines tightened
by thrusting the point of a bodkin between some of the words, and
tightening the quoins; thus bad workmanship causes fudges, and in
this case is never safe, for the letters are always in danger of
being drawn out at press. But it may arise from a letter having
slipped down at the end of a line: in this case the remedy is easy,
to unlock the quarter and put the letter in its proper place; when
this is done, and the form will rise, take the substance that was
under it completely away, lay the form down again, loosen the quoins
in that quarter, then plane it down, and lock it up as before
directed.
The forms should now be brushed over with the letter brush, and
taken to the proof press, and the pressman should be told to pull
them,--In some houses the proof press is in the press room, in that
case the compositor either calls out “Proof,” or asks, “Who’s in
Proofs?” and then tells the party how it is to be pulled, First
Proof, or Clean; sometimes the proof press is in the composing room,
and the compositor either calls out “Proof” to them, or rings a bell,
different houses having different customs in this respect.
I would always put the flat side of the furniture upwards, as it
is more convenient for the pressmen, when it is necessary to place
bearers on the frisket; since they operate better on this surface
than on the hollow side, and can be placed on any part of it.
In my opinion it is preferable to have each part of the furniture in
one piece, where it is practicable; as, for instance, the gutters,
the backs, and the heads; which prevents the pieces from being
transposed, and the margin from getting wrong: but sometimes pieces
will be wanted of a width that is not equal to any regular size, and
then two must be used.
To prevent as much as possible one piece of furniture from being
mistaken for another in the hurry of business, I would cut all the
gutters of one sheet of a precise length; so also would I do with the
backs, as also with the heads; but each sort should be of a different
length from that of the others;--thus, though all the gutters would
be exactly of a length, yet would they be of a different length from
that of the heads and backs, and so of the others; and thus they
would be easily distinguished from each other, and mistakes would be
prevented.
The sheet being now imposed, the stone must be cleared; the saw
and saw block put in their places--the shears--the mallet, planer,
and shooting stick--the surplus furniture--the scaleboard--the
quoins--and every other article; for in most houses there is a fine
for leaving a foul stone. The compositor will tie up his page cords,
and if he has any companions will return to them their proportion.
In imposing a sheet from the furniture of one that has been
worked off, in the regular process of business, there are certain
circumstances to be attended to, which are frequently omitted:--The
chase and furniture of one form should always be used for a similar
form; that is, the chase and furniture of the outer form should be
again used for an outer form, and the chase and furniture of the
inner form should be again used for an inner form; they should also
be put round the pages in the same order in which they were put
about those of the preceding forms. For want of care or thought in
these apparently trifling circumstances a great deal of trouble,
inconvenience, and loss of time, are frequently incurred; for the
register will be almost sure to be wrong when this is neglected, and
then the forms must be unlocked, and the scaleboards changed, some of
them having to be taken out, or fresh ones to be inserted, and this
accompanied by a great deal of dissatisfaction.
I have found it to be a saving of time to be a little methodical in
imposing; I take out my quoins and lay them on the adjoining pages
in their regular order, then, after the chase has been put over the
pages, and the furniture about them, there is no loss of time in
replacing the quoins, or in finding the proper situation for each of
them: the page cords are then taken off; the quoins tightened; the
form planed down, &c., as detailed in the preceding paragraphs for
imposing the first sheet of a work.
It should always be borne in mind that the quoins ought to be
tightened regularly and uniformly round the form; for if one quarter
be locked up at once before the quoins are tightened in the other
quarters, the whole will be distorted, and the pressmen will have
great difficulty in making register.
After the furniture has been taken from a form for the purpose of
imposing another, it will be the means of preventing the matter for
distribution from going into pie if the compositor tie a cord about
each page; at least it may prevent an accident, and save him some
trouble.
The chases for a sheet ought always to be in pairs; for if they be of
different sizes, or the rims of different thickness, it causes the
pressmen to lose time in making register, when both forms are worked
at the same press, and often occasions the spoiling of two or three
sheets of paper before that object is accomplished.
Before the compositor locks up his form, but after the pages are
pushed up close to the backs and the heads, he should cut a gauge
to fit exactly the intervals between the backs and the heads; and
a sheet should never be carried into the press room for press,
without the margin having been tried by this gauge to see that it is
right, and to correct it, if it should be wrong: for as the pressmen
have frequently occasion to alter the scaleboards in working the
reiteration, this alteration will necessarily affect the furniture of
the succeeding sheet. I have always used two small pieces of clean
reglet, brevier or longprimer, and have cut them to the precise
length; I wrote on both in ink the name of the work to prevent
mistakes, as also the words ‘Back’ and ‘Head’ on each respectively;
made a hole through them with my bodkin, tied them together with a
piece of page cord, and hung them on a nail within my frame, so that
they were always ready for use.
I shall now enumerate the tables of imposition in the following
pages, and add observations where it may appear necessary, to make
them as clear as it is in my power to do, not only to facilitate
the operation, but in many instances to give information that may
be of service; and in some cases to accommodate the bookbinder, who
is seldom thought of in a printing office, but who, in my opinion,
ought to be constantly considered: for I hold that the binding of a
book should be always kept in view, as we are all anxious to see how
our work looks when it is splendidly dressed by his skill; and it
would consequently not be just if we did not do all in our power to
accommodate him: stating this opinion will also show my reason for
making some of the observations, as it is a point that has hitherto
been neglected in all practical works on printing.
I shall also notice the errors, where they occur, of my predecessors,
not for the sake of finding fault, or of depreciating their labours,
but to save trouble to the workman; for, by some unaccountable cause,
wherever Luckombe has made a mistake, or committed an error, it has
been copied by subsequent writers, who do not appear to have examined
his arrangement of the pages, but to have taken it for granted they
were right, and have thus continued his errors.
The writers since Smith have not, I think, reasoned correctly on
this part of a practical work; they seem to have made a merit of
not adding to this department, by attending too strictly to an
observation of his, saying that there may be many more fanciful ways
of folding a sheet of paper. So there may, with which it may not be
necessary to encumber a book; but why reject those that are useful
and of frequent occurrence? why omit giving the mode of imposing
fragments that continually occur at the end of a work? and that
generally cause loss of time in arranging them, which might easily
have been avoided; which omission I have endeavoured to supply: for
this is the part of a work on printing that may be equally useful as
a reference to the experienced workman as to the novice, and which I
have frequently seen much wanted.
Smith’s words are, after enumerating the different Tables of
Imposition which he has given--“More Irregular Sizes we have not
thought fit to introduce; else we might have drawn out Schemes for
Imposing Six’s, 10’s, 14’s, 20’s, 28’s, 30’s, 40’s, 42’s, 50’s, 56’s,
60’s, 80’s, 100’s, and 112’s; these, and several more being Sizes
that have been found out not so much for use as out of fancy, to show
the possibility of folding a piece of paper into so many various
forms.”--p. 257. Upon this passage have all subsequent writers formed
their excuse for leaving the different methods of imposing pages in
an imperfect and erroneous state: the errors commenced with Luckombe.
As it may facilitate reference, I have given in the following
enumeration the initials of the different authors in whose works
the same forms will be found.--M. refers to Moxon; Sm. to Smith;
L. to Luckombe; St. to Stower; J. to Johnson; H. to Hansard; Ma.
to Magrath; and Mas. to Mason. Where there are no initials, the
arrangement has not, to my knowledge, been given before in any
English book, and is only to be found in this work.
TABLES OF IMPOSITION.
When imposing the first sheet of a new work, it may be serviceable to
refer to the preceding observations, for a choice of the best method;
and also for directions how to transpose the pages in working the
reiteration, when a transposition is required.
_The running Number corresponds with that in the Enumeration._
1. ABSTRACT OF TITLE DEEDS.
[Illustration: Layout for Title Deeds]
2. SHEET OF FOLIO.
_Outer Form._ _Inner Form._
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
| 1 | | 4 | | 3 | | 2 |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| A | | | | | | |
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
3. SHEET OF FOLIO. HEBREW.
_Inner Form._ _Outer Form._
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
| 2 | | 3 | | 4 | | 1 |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | A |
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
4. TWO SHEETS OF FOLIO, QUIRED.
_Outer Form of the Outer Sheet._ _Inner Form of the Outer Sheet._
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
| 1 | | 8 | | 7 | | 2 |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| A | | | | | | |
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
_Outer Form of the Inner Sheet._ _Inner Form of the Inner Sheet._
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
| 3 | | 6 | | 5 | | 4 |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| A2 | | | | | | |
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
5. THREE SHEETS OF FOLIO, QUIRED.
_Outer Form of the Outer Sheet._ _Inner Form of the Outer Sheet._
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
| 1 | | 12 | | 11 | | 2 |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| B | | | | | | |
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
_Outer Form of the Second Sheet._ _Inner Form of the Second Sheet._
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
| 3 | | 10 | | 9 | | 4 |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| B2 | | | | | | |
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
_Outer Form of the Third Sheet._ _Inner Form of the Third Sheet._
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
| 5 | | 8 | | 7 | | 6 |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| B3 | | | | | | |
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
6. HALF A SHEET OF FOLIO.
+----+ +----+
| 1 | | 2 |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
+----+ +----+
7. SHEET OF QUARTO.
_Outer Form._ _Inner Form._
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
| | | | | | |[B2]|
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| [4]| | [5]| | [6]| | [3]|
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
| 1 | | 8 | | 7 | | 2 |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| B | | | | | | |
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
8. SHEET OF QUARTO. HEBREW.
_Inner Form._ _Outer Form._
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
|[B2]| | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| [3]| | [6]| | [5]| | [4]|
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
| 2 | | 7 | | 8 | | 1 |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | [B]|
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
9. TWO HALF SHEETS OF QUARTO, WORKED TOGETHER.
_Outer Form._ _Inner Form._
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
| | | | | | |[B*]|
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
|[2*]| |[3*]| |[4*]| |[1*]|
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
| 1 | | 4 | | 3 | | 2 |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| B | | | | | | |
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
10. HALF A SHEET OF QUARTO.
+----+ +----+
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| [2]| | [3]|
+----+ +----+
+----+ +----+
| 1 | | 4 |
| | | |
| | | |
| B | | |
+----+ +----+
11. HALF A SHEET OF QUARTO. HEBREW.
+----+ +----+
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| [3]| | [2]|
+----+ +----+
+----+ +----+
| 4 | | 1 |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | B |
+----+ +----+
12. TWO SHEETS OF QUARTO, QUIRED.
_Outer Form of the Outer Sheet._ _Inner Form of the Outer Sheet._
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
| | | | | | |[B2]|
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| [4]| |[13]| |[14]| | [3]|
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
| 1 | | 16 | | 15 | | 2 |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| B | | | | | | |
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
_Outer Form of the Inner Sheet._ _Inner Form of the Inner Sheet._
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
| | | | | | |[B4]|
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| [8]| | [9]| |[10]| | [7]|
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
| 5 | | 12 | | 11 | | 6 |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| B3 | | | | | | |
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
13. SHEET OF BROAD QUARTO.
_Outer Form._ _Inner Form._
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
| | | | | | |[B2]|
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| [4]| | [5]| | [6]| | [3]|
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
| 1 | | 8 | | 7 | | 2 |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| B | | | | | | |
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
14. SHEET OF OCTAVO.
_Outer Form._ _Inner Form._
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+
| | | | | | |[B3]| | | | | | | |[B4]|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| [8]| | [9]| |[12]| | [5]| | [6]| |[11]| |[10]| | [7]|
+----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+ +----+