His late Majesty King _George_ the Third, intituled _An Act for
the more effectual Prevention and Punishment of blasphemous
and seditious Libels_, it was amongst other things enacted,
that if any Person should, after the passing of that Act, be
legally convicted of having composed, printed, or published any
blasphemous Libel or any such seditious Libel as in the said
Act is before mentioned, and should after being so convicted
offend a second Time, and be thereof legally convicted before
any Commission of Oyer and Terminer, or Gaol Delivery, or in
His Majesty’s Court of King’s Bench, such Person might on such
second Conviction be adjudged, at the Discretion of the Court,
either to suffer such Punishment as might by Law be inflicted in
Cases of high Misdemeanour, or to be banished from the United
Kingdom and all other Parts of His Majesty’s Dominions for such
Term of Years as the Court in which such Conviction should take
place should order: And whereas it is expedient to repeal so
much of the said Act as relates to the Sentence of Banishment
for the Second Offence; Be it therefore enacted by the King’s
most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of
the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present
Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That so
much and such Parts of the said Act as relate to the Sentence
of Banishment for the Second Offence be and the same is hereby
wholly repealed.”
It hath been ruled that the finding a libel on a bookseller’s shelf
is a publication of it by the bookseller; and that it is no excuse
to say that the servant took it into the shop without the master’s
knowledge; for the law presumes the master to be acquainted with what
the servant does. _Rex v. Dodd, 1 Sess. Cas. 33._--_Burn’s Justice
of the Peace, vol. 3, p. 292, Art._ LIBEL. _See_ PUBLICATIONS,
PERIODICAL.
LICENCE. _See_ PRINTING.
LIFT.
When a work is nearly completed, and perfect copies are required
before the whole number can be worked off at press, it is customary
when all the matter has been composed, and there is not convenience
to lay every form on at a different press, to print short numbers
of each, in order to make perfect books as soon as possible; thus,
if there be 3000 copies of a work printing, 250 of each of the few
last sheets may be worked, and when the pressmen have printed this
number of one form and taken it off the press for the purpose of
laying on another form, it is said they lift, or, they have lifted.
This frequently takes place in periodical works, such as magazines,
reviews, &c.; and also occasionally when a superior proof is wanted,
or two or three copies of any thing particular are required, that
will not admit of waiting till a press is off with its regular
number: in these latter instances, the pressmen endeavour to pull
them without the tympans, with a few sheets of proof paper over the
form, that they may not disturb their overlays and making ready; and
they mark the quoins which secured their form on the press, that they
may replace it exactly in its situation with as little waste of time
and paper as possible.
In the warehouse, each separate portion of printed paper, whether it
consists of five or six sheets or more, that is placed upon the poles
to dry, is termed a lift.
LIGATURES.
Two or more letters joined together, and cast on the same shank, are
in a printing office called _Ligatures_.
The ligatures now used are few in number, having been reduced to
æ, ff, ffi, ffl, fi, fl, and œ; within the last thirty years we had, in
addition, ct, as also ſb, ſh, ſi, ſk, ſl, ſſ, and ſt, which are now
discarded, in consequence of our confining ourselves entirely to the
s. In the leaf of an old book, _De vita & gestis Scanderbegi_, now
lying before me, there are the following additional ones,--_as_,
_at_, _cta_, _et_, _es_, _ius_, _is_, _ij_, _iu_, _ll_, _ns_, _st_,
_ſs_, _ſp_, _ta_, and _us_.
I do not think it was an improvement to change the shape of the &,
which, till the alteration, was really a ligature, being _e_ and _t_
joined together; the modern character has no meaning in it, neither
the Roman & nor the Italic _&_.
Earl Stanhope proposed to abolish the present ligatures, by making
the f more upright without being kerned, so as to admit an i, an l,
or another f after it, and to introduce other ligatures, or, as he
termed them, ‘logotypes,’ that more frequently occur, viz. th, in,
an, re, se, to, of, and on.
Smith, in his Printer’s Grammar, says that Mr. Caslon introduced the
ſb and the ſk.--_See_ BILL, LOGOTYPE.
LIGHT WORK. _See_ Easy Work.--_M._ Also GOOD WORK.
LINES. _See_ COMPANIONSHIP.
LITERAL ERRORS.
By literal errors in printing, are understood the mistakes of the
compositors in single letters only, viz. the taking up a wrong
letter, or inverting a right letter; the term is never applied to
either outs or doubles.
LITERARY PROPERTY.
The Libraries which are entitled to claim copies of new publications
under the act of 6 & 7 W. 4. c. 110. are--
1. The King’s Library, since transferred to the British Museum.
2. The Library of the University of Oxford, commonly called the
Bodleian.
3. The Library of the University of Cambridge.
4. The Library of the Faculty of Advocates at Edinburgh.
5. The Library of the College of the Holy Trinity in Dublin.
The two English Universities have the following privileges:--
1. The copyright in all works bequeathed to, or acquired by them, is
vested in them in perpetuity, so long as the works are printed at
their own presses.
2. They have (in common with the King’s Printers in England,
Scotland, and Ireland,) the exclusive privilege of printing Bibles
and Prayer Books; and an exemption from the duty on paper used for
them.
[The Bibles and Prayer Books printed in Scotland and Ireland, are not
allowed to be sold in England.]
3. They have the same privilege (in common with the King’s Printer in
England) of printing the Statutes of the Realm.
4. They have an exemption from the duty on paper used in books for
the purposes of classical instruction, and in all works in the
learned languages, printed at their presses.
5. They have 500_l._ per annum paid to each of them by the nation,
for the purpose of enabling them to assist poor scholars and fellows
in printing their works.
The four Universities of Scotland, and Trinity College, Dublin, have
the same advantage with respect to the perpetuity of their copyrights
as the English Universities have.--(The printing of Bibles and Prayer
Books, in both these countries, appears to be exclusively the right
of the King’s Printer.) They have also an exemption from the duty on
paper used in all works of classical instruction, and in the learned
languages, printed at their presses.--The Scotch Universities do not
appear to have ever made use of this privilege in the manner that
Oxford and Cambridge have done; but by naming some individual as
_Printer to the University_, have communicated to him the advantage
derived from it.
LOCKING UP.
The tightening of the quoins round a form with the mallet and
shooting stick, to enable the compositor to lift it from the imposing
stone, and that it may be moved about without the types or the
furniture being displaced by such moving; as also that the form may
be secure when working at press, so that the types do not draw out
with beating. _See_ IMPOSING.
LOGOTYPE.
Two, or more, letters cast in one piece. There have been several
attempts to introduce such short words, terminations, and prefixes,
as are of frequent occurrence, cast in one piece, but they have never
succeeded. _See_ LIGATURES.
LONG CROSS.
The cross that divides the chase the longest way; it is also the
narrowest.
LONG PRIMER.
The name of a type, one size larger than Bourgeois, and one smaller
than Small Pica. _See_ TYPES.
LONG PULL. _See_ EASY PULL.--_M._
LOOSE JUSTIFYING.--_M._
To space a line or lines in a composing stick so that they shall not
be tight; also to place wood cuts, or any other matter, in a page, so
that they shall not be fast when locked up.
LORD’S DAY, PUBLIC MEETING ON THE. _See_ PUBLIC MEETINGS.
LOST PROPERTY. _See_ STOLEN PROPERTY.
LOTTERIES.
6 & 7 Will. 4. c. 66. “An Act to prevent the advertising of
Foreign and other illegal Lotteries.
“Whereas the Laws in force are insufficient to prevent the
advertising of Foreign and other illegal Lotteries in this
Kingdom, and it is expedient to make further Provision for that
Purpose: Be it therefore enacted by the King’s most Excellent
Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords
Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament
assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That from and after
the passing of this Act, if any Person shall print or publish,
or cause to be printed or published, any Advertisement or other
Notice of or relating to the drawing or intended drawing of any
Foreign Lottery, or of any Lottery or Lotteries not authorized by
some Act or Acts of Parliament, or if any Person shall print or
publish, or cause to be printed or published, any Advertisement
or other Notice of or for the Sale of any Ticket or Tickets,
Chance or Chances, or of any Share or Shares of any Ticket or
Tickets, Chance or Chances of or in any such Lottery or Lotteries
as aforesaid, or any Advertisement or Notice concerning or in
any Manner relating to any such Lottery or Lotteries, or any
Ticket, Chance, or Share, Tickets, Chances, or Shares thereof or
therein, every Person so offending shall for every such Offence
forfeit the Sum of Fifty Pounds, to be recovered, with full
Costs of Suit, by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint, or Information
in any of His Majesty’s Courts of Record in _Westminster_ or
_Dublin_ respectively, or in the Court of Session in _Scotland_;
one Moiety thereof to the use of His Majesty, His Heirs and
Successors, and the other Moiety thereof to the Use of the Person
who shall inform or sue for the same.”
LOW CASE.
When the compositor has composed almost all his letters out of his
case, he says his _Case is Low_.--_M._
LOWER CASE.
The case in which the small letters of an alphabet, the spaces, and
quadrats are laid; it is placed upon the frame immediately below the
fore edge of the upper case. _See_ CASE.
LUG.
When balls stick together in distributing they are said to lug; they
then diffuse the ink more equally and thinly on the surface, and make
better work: they also retain on their surface particles of dust, or
other small substances, and do not part with them to the letter in
the form, which is a great advantage. Composition Balls, when too
soft, will lug so much in distributing as to tear the composition
and spoil the ball; when this is the case, they require to be placed
in a dry situation for a short time, and exposed to a draught of
air, which evaporates the superfluous moisture, and brings them into
good condition; when time cannot be allowed for this mode of cure,
sponging the surface with spirits of turpentine will promote the
evaporation, and be of great service. _See_ FLARING BALLS.
LYE.
The lye used for the purpose of cleaning a form is a solution of
alkali in water; it ought to be made of the best pearl ash. The usual
proportion is one pound of pearl ash to a gallon of soft water; it
should be stirred up with a stick till the alkali dissolves, which
soon takes place. It is generally kept in a large jar, with a cover
to it, which some master printers lock; but more frequently the cover
is loose for the pressmen to have free access to it; the cover should
however be kept on, to prevent dust and dirt getting into the jar.
If hard water be used, it will require a greater quantity of pearl
ash; as the acid in the water will combine with some of the alkali to
neutralise it, which of course will have the effect of making the lye
weaker than if soft water, with which there is no such combination,
had been used.
An intelligent pressman once informed me, that in the country he had
frequently made lye, by boiling together a peck of wood ashes and
nearly a quarter of a peck of quicklime, in a pailful and a half of
soft water, and afterwards straining the decoction for use.
This is, in fact, soap lye, which is made caustic by the quicklime:
lye from the soap boilers has indeed of late years been used by
many master printers in the metropolis; but it requires to be kept
constantly covered in order to exclude the air, which, when the lye
is exposed, combines with it and renders it mild, thus destroying its
power. I have always found that this lye affects the hands and makes
them sore, as if chapped, when washed in it to take off ink.
In the choice of pearl ash the following table, from Vauquelin, may
be found useful, which shows all the substances contained in six
kinds of potash.
+------------------------+------+--------+-------+---------+----------+
| | |Sulphate|Muriate| | Carbonic |
| | Real | of | of |Insoluble| Acid |
| |Potash| Potash |Potash |Residuum |and Water |
+------------------------+------+--------+-------+---------+----------+
| 1152 of Russian Potash | 772 | 65 | 5 | 56 | 254=1152 |
| 1152 of American Potash| 857 | 154 | 20 | 2 | 119=1152 |
| 1152 of Pearl Ash | 754 | 80 | 4 | 6 | 308=1152 |
| 1152 of Treves Potash | 720 | 165 | 44 | 24 | 199=1152 |
| 1152 of Dantzic Potash | 603 | 152 | 14 | 79 | 304=1152 |
| 1152 of Vosges Potash | 444 | 148 | 510 | 34 | 304=1152 |
+------------------------+------+--------+-------+---------+----------+
There is evidently an error in this statement as to the component
parts of the last article, the Vosges potash, which appears to be
with respect to the quantity of the muriate of potash; but the table
shows that the American potash is by far the best, and the Dantzic
potash the worst of the six analysed.
The following observations from _Kirwan on Manures_, may also be
serviceable, particularly to printers who are so situated as to find
it necessary to make their lye from the ashes of vegetables.
“Alkaline salts are of great importance in several arts, the
proportion of ashes afforded by different vegetables, and that of
alkali by the ashes of each sort of vegetable, has been accurately
attended to: the following are the best authenticated results of the
experiments made with this view.
“One thousand pounds of the following vegetables, perfectly dry, and
burned in a clean chimney and open fire, afforded the quantity of
ashes, and saline matter, exhibited in the annexed tables.
| Pounds | Pounds
One thousand Pounds. | of Ashes. | of Salt.
| |
Stalks of Turkey Wheat or Maize | 86·6 | 17·5
Ditto of Sunflower | 57·2 | 20·
Vine branches. | 34· | 5·5
Box | 29· | 2·26
Sallow | 28· | 2·85
Elm | 23·5 | 3·9
Oak | 13·5 | 1·5
Aspin. | 12·2 | 0·74
Beech. | 5·8 | 1·27
Fir | 3·4 | 0·45
Fern cut in August | 36·46 | 4·25 Home.
Wormwood | 97·44 | 73· Wiegleb.
Fumitory | 219· | 79· Id.
_Table of the Saline Products from one thousand Pounds of the Ashes
of the following Vegetables._
Saline Products.
Stalks of Turkey Wheat or Maize 198_lbs._
Ditto of Sunflower 349
Vine branches 162·6
Elm 166
Box 78
Sallow 102
Oak 111
Aspin. 61
Beech. 219
Fir 132
Fern cut in August 116, or 125 according to Wildenheim.
Wormwood 748
Fumitory 360
Heath. 115 Wildenheim.
Thus though fumitory gives the greatest weight of saline product from
a given weight of the dry vegetable, yet from a given weight of ashes
wormwood produces above double the weight of saline matter.
In Yorkshire the women use the ashes of the ash tree to make a lye to
scour their pewter dishes and plates, in preference to the ashes of
any other wood; as this is the result of experience, I should be led
to suppose that they contain a great proportional quantity of pearl
ash.
LYE BRUSH.
The brush used with lye to remove the ink that adheres to the types,
the furniture, and the chase, after a form has been worked off, as
also after proofs have been pulled. It is about nine or ten inches
long by three inches broad, and the hairs are nearly two inches long.
LYE TROUGH.
The lye trough is square and shallow, lined with lead, and its upper
edge is bound with iron to preserve it from injury, which would
otherwise arise from concussion when a form is lifted into it; there
is also a loose board laid in it for the protection of the bottom. It
is suspended on a frame by two centres, as here represented.
[Illustration: Lye trough]
There is always some lye kept in this trough; and when a form has
been worked off, it is laid in it, and the ink is brushed from the
face of the letter, the furniture, and chase with the lye, previous
to rinsing it with water. It is usually made capable of containing a
royal chase.
M.
MACHINES.
Cylindrical printing, or, as it is generally termed, Machine
printing, is a new mode of obtaining impressions from types, the
introduction of which took place in the year 1814. It has caused a
great revolution in the art, from the facilities which it affords
for printing sheets of paper of a size of which no press worked by
manual labour is capable, nor, were it capable, is the strength of
one man equal to the exertion requisite for the pressure necessary
to produce a respectable impression. In addition to this advantage
of printing sheets of such larger dimensions, it possesses the power
of multiplying impressions so rapidly as to appear like the work of
magic. This may seem hyperbolical; but the average rate of working
at a press for common work, that is the general run of book work,
with two men, one to ink the types, and the other to work the press,
is but 250 copies an hour, while a machine will produce 1,250 copies
in the same time; and considerably more might be obtained, were
not its powers restrained by the limited human means of feeding it
with paper, it being found by experience that the number stated is
the extent to which one person could supply it, he having regard to
laying on the sheets evenly, so as to preserve a regular margin: but
this speed was not deemed sufficient to meet the wants that were
felt, and the Times newspaper is now printed at a machine where
the paper is laid on at four places, one form of which, consisting
of four pages, is printed at the astonishing rate of 4,320 an hour
at its ordinary rate of working, a fact which I have seen and
ascertained myself, by counting its motions with a seconds watch in
my hand. Mr. Richard Taylor has also a similar Machine at which the
Weekly Dispatch is printed. Considering what has been done, I cannot
see a reason why the paper should not be supplied at six or eight
places, if found necessary, so as to increase the number printed to
6,000 or 8,000 in an hour; as the wonder ceases when we remember that
steam is the moving power. Of the comparative merits of the Machine
and the Press I shall speak subsequently.
As the details of the invention are not generally known, I will give
some account of them, letting the parties speak for themselves, so
far as I have been able to procure their own statements. The first
is the Specification of the Patent granted to Mr. William Nicholson;
the next, Observations on the Art of Printing Books, &c., written by
him, and published in his own Journal, which clearly describe the
present machines and inking apparatus. This specification, and the
other details, with the engravings, will render it unnecessary for
me to enter into a lengthened description of these machines, or do
more than merely state that the form is imposed in the usual manner,
laid upon a horizontal table, which travels under a cylinder covered
with woollen cloth, adjusted so as to have a proper bearing upon
the types in order to produce an impression, and that the inking
apparatus is at one end, consisting of small rollers, which take and
distribute ink upon another table, for each impression, when the form
in travelling passes under one of them to receive its coating of ink.
“Specification of the Patent granted to Mr. William Nicholson, of
New North-Street, Red Lion-Square; for a Machine or Instrument
for printing on Paper, Linen, Cotton, Woollen, and other
Articles, in a more neat, cheap, and accurate Manner, than is
effected by the Machines now in use. Dated April 29, 1790.
“To all to whom these presents shall come, &c. Now know ye that,
in compliance with the said proviso, I the said William Nicholson
do hereby declare, that my said invention is described in the
plan hereunto annexed, and the description thereof hereunder
written, and in manner following; that is to say, my invention
consists in three parts or particulars; namely, first, the
manner or method of making, preparing, or placing, the original
model, models, casts, types, engravings, carvings, or sculptures
from which the impression is to be made. Secondly, in applying
the ink, or colouring-matter, to such models, casts, types,
engravings, carvings, or sculptures. And, thirdly, in taking off
the impression, or transferring the ink, or colouring-matter,
from such models, casts, types, engravings, carvings, or
sculptures, to the paper, cloth, or other material upon which it
is intended it should remain.
“I. In the first place then, I not only avail myself of all the
methods of making, preparing, and placing, the original models,
casts, types, engravings, carvings, or sculptures which have
hitherto been known or used in printing, and do myself make use
of them in conjunction with my newly-invented method of applying
the ink, or colouring-matter, to such original models, casts,
types, engravings, carvings, or sculptures, and also with my
newly-invented method of taking off the impressions, but I do
likewise make, put together, and arrange them in a new manner, as
occasion may require; that is to say,
“II. I make my moulds, punches, and matrices, for casting
letters, in the same manner, and with the same materials, as
other letter-founders do, excepting that, instead of leaving
a space in the mould for the stem of one letter only, I leave
spaces for two, three, or more letters, to be cast at one pouring
of the metal; and at the lower extremity of each of those spaces
(which communicate by a common groove at top) I place a matrix,
or piece of copper with the letter punched upon its face in the
usual way. And moreover, I bring the stem of my letters to a due
form and finish, not only by rubbing it on a stone, and scraping
it when arranged in the finishing-stick, but likewise by scraping
it on one or more sides, in a finishing-stick whose hollowed part
is less deep at the inner than the outer side. I call that side
of the groove which is nearest the face of the disposed letter,
the outer side; and the purpose accomplished by this method of
scraping is, that of rendering the tail of the letter gradually
smaller the more remote it is, or farther from the face. Such
letter may be firmly imposed upon a cylindrical surface, in the
same manner as common letter is imposed upon a flat stone. I
specify and affirm that the above described methods of casting
two or more letters at once, and of chamfering or sloping their
tails, are parts of my new invention.
“III. I impose or dispose my letter for printing in the common
manner, to be used in conjunction with my newly-invented
improvements. And I likewise impose it in frames or chases
adapted to the surface of a cylinder of wood, or metal, and
fasten it to the said surface by screws, or wedges, or in
grooves, or by other methods well known to workmen; and this
imposing letter upon a cylinder I state and affirm to be part of
my new invention.
“IV. I cut, carve, engrave, chase, cast, model or make, (in the
usual manner of performing those operations,) blocks, forms,
plates, types, or originals, to be used for printing, either of
wood, metal, or other materials; and these I use in conjunction
with my other newly-invented improvements. I likewise, for other
kinds of work, do fasten with glue, cement, screws, wedges,
or by other known methods, such blocks, forms, plates, types,
or originals, as aforesaid, to the surface of a cylinder. I
likewise, for other kinds of work, do cut, carve, engrave, chase,
cast, model or make, blocks, forms, plates, types, or originals,
as aforesaid, of a cylindrical form, of wood, metal, or other
materials. And I state and affirm that this disposition of
blocks, forms, plates, types, or originals, upon a cylinder, and
also that the cutting, carving, engraving, chasing and casting,
modelling or making, blocks, plates, types, or originals, of a
cylindrical form, as aforesaid, are parts of my new invention.