determined by a conjunction’s being expressed, or not expressed: as,
‘Do not flatter yourselves with the hope of perfect happiness: there
is no such thing in the world.’ ‘Do not flatter yourselves with the
hope of perfect happiness; _for_ there is no such thing in the world.’
“_Of the Period._
“When a sentence is complete and independent, and not connected in
construction with the following sentence, it is marked with a period.
“Some sentences are independent of each other, both in their
sense and construction: as, ‘Fear God. Honour the king. Have
charity towards all men.’ Others are independent only in their
grammatical construction: as, ‘The Supreme Being changes not, either
in his desire to promote our happiness, or in the plan of his
administration. One light always shines upon us from above. One clear
and direct path is always pointed out to man.’
“A period may sometimes be admitted between two sentences, though
they are joined by a disjunctive or copulative conjunction. For
the quality of the point does not always depend on the connective
particle, but on the sense and structure of sentences: as,
‘Recreations, though they may be of an innocent kind, require steady
government, to keep them within a due and limited province. But such
as are of an irregular and vicious nature, are not to be governed,
but to be banished from every well-regulated mind.’
“‘He who lifts himself up to the observation and notice of the world
is, of all men, the least likely to avoid censure. For he draws upon
himself a thousand eyes, that will narrowly inspect him in every
part.’
“The period should be used after every abbreviated word: as, ‘M.S.
P.S. N.B. A.D. O.S. N.S.’ &c.
“_Of the Dash, Notes of Interrogation and Exclamation, &c._
“THE DASH.--The Dash, though often used improperly by hasty and
incoherent writers, may be introduced with propriety, where the
sentence breaks off abruptly; where a significant pause is required;
or where there is an unexpected turn in the sentiment: as, ‘If thou
art he, so much respected once--but, oh! how fallen! how degraded!’
‘If acting conformably to the will of our Creator;--if promoting the
welfare of mankind around us;--if securing our own happiness;--are
objects of the highest moment:--then we are loudly called upon, to
cultivate and extend the great interests of religion and virtue.’
“‘Here lies the great--False marble, where?
Nothing but sordid dust lies here.’
“Besides the points which mark the pauses in discourse, there
are others, which denote a different modulation of voice, in
correspondence to the sense. These are,
“The Interrogative point, ?
“The Exclamation point, !
“The Parenthesis, ( )
“INTERROGATION.--A note of Interrogation is used at the end of an
interrogative sentence; that is, when a question is asked: as, ‘Who
will accompany me?’ ‘Shall we always be friends?’
“Questions which a person asks himself in contemplation, ought to be
terminated by points of interrogation: as, ‘Who adorned the heavens
with such exquisite beauty?’ ‘At whose command do the planets perform
their constant revolutions?’
“A point of interrogation is improper after sentences which are not
questions, but only expressions of admiration, or of some other
emotion.
“‘How many instances have we of chastity and excellence in the fair
sex!’
“‘With what prudence does the son of Sirach advise us in the choice
of our companions!’
“A note of interrogation should not be employed, in cases where it
is only said a question has been asked, and where the words are not
used as a question. ‘The Cyprians asked me, why I wept.’ To give this
sentence the interrogative form, it should be expressed thus: ‘The
Cyprians said to me, “Why dost thou weep?”’
“EXCLAMATION.--The note of Exclamation is applied to expressions of
sudden emotion, surprise, joy, grief, &c. and also to invocations or
addresses: as, ‘My friend! this conduct amazes me!’ ‘Bless the Lord,
O my soul! and forget not all his benefits!’
“‘Oh! had we both our humble state maintain’d,
And safe in peace and poverty remain’d!’
“‘Hear me, O Lord! for thy loving kindness is great!’
“It is difficult, in some cases, to distinguish between an
interrogative and exclamatory sentence; but a sentence, in which any
wonder or admiration is expressed, and no answer either expected or
implied, may be always properly terminated by a note of exclamation:
as, ‘How much vanity in the pursuits of men!’ ‘Who can sufficiently
express the goodness of our Creator!’ ‘What is more amiable than
virtue!’
“The interrogation and exclamation points are indeterminate as to
their quantity or time, and may be equivalent in that respect to a
semicolon, a colon, or a period, as the sense may require. They mark
an elevation of the voice.
“The utility of the points of interrogation and exclamation, appears
from the following examples, in which meaning is signified and
discriminated solely by the points.
“‘What condescension!’
“‘What condescension?’
“‘How great was the sacrifice!’
“‘How great was the sacrifice?’
“PARENTHESIS.--A parenthesis is a clause containing some necessary
information, or useful remark, introduced into the body of a
sentence obliquely, and which may be omitted without injuring the
construction: as,
“‘Know then this truth; (enough for man to know,)
Virtue alone is happiness below.’
“‘And was the ransom paid? It was; and paid
(What can exalt his bounty more?) for thee.’
“‘To gain a posthumous reputation, is to save four or five letters
(for what is a name besides?) from oblivion.’ ‘Know ye not, brethren,
(for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath
dominion over a man as long as he liveth?’
“If the incidental clause is short, or perfectly coincides with the
rest of the sentence, it is not proper to use the parenthetical
characters. The following instances are therefore improper uses of
the parenthesis. ‘Speak you (who saw) his wonders in the deep.’
‘Every planet (as the Creator has made nothing in vain) is most
probably inhabited.’ ‘He found them asleep again; (for their eyes
were heavy;) neither knew they what to answer him.’
“The parenthesis marks a moderate depression of the voice, and may
be accompanied with every point which the sense would require, if
the parenthetical characters were omitted. It ought to terminate
with the same kind of stop which the member has, that precedes it;
and to contain that stop within the parenthetical marks. We must,
however, except cases of interrogation and exclamation: as, ‘While
they wish to please, (and why should they not wish it?) they disdain
dishonourable means.’ ‘It was represented by an analogy, (Oh, how
inadequate!) which was borrowed from,’” &c.
Q.
QUADRATS.
Pieces of type metal, of the depth of the body of the respective
sizes to which they are cast, and lower than types, so as to leave
a blank space on the paper, when printed, where they are placed: an
en quadrat is half as thick as its depth; an em quadrat is equal in
thickness and depth, and, being square on its surface, is _the_ true
quadrat, from _quadratus_, squared; a two em quadrat is twice the
thickness of its depth; a three em three times; and a four em four
times, as their names specify. Four ems are the largest quadrats that
are cast. They are used to fill out short lines; to form white lines;
and to justify letters, figures, &c., in any part of a line or page.
Four em quadrats are rarely cast larger than Pica; English and Great
Primer do not exceed three ems; nor does Double Pica exceed two ems.
QUARTER.
A gutter behind the tympan, under the joints, to carry the water away
beyond the farther side of the coffin that descends from the tympan.
It is about an inch higher on the near than on the off side, and
projects beyond the coffin about three inches.--_M._ It is not now
used, nor is it necessary, as we do not wet the tympan so much as to
cause the water to run off.
QUARTERS.
Quartos, octavos, and twelves forms are imposed in quarters. They are
called Quarters, not from their equal divisions, but because they are
imposed and locked up apart. Thus half the short cross in a twelves
form is called a Quarter, though it be indeed but one sixth part of
the form.--_M._ When both the crosses are in a chase, it is divided
into four parts; for some sizes, such as twelves and eighteens, they
are unequal; yet still each division is called a Quarter, whether it
contain more or less than the proportionate number of pages.
QUARTO.
A sheet of paper folded into four leaves or eight pages is styled a
Quarto.
QUI.
The established custom of the printing business in London is, for a
workman when he intends to leave his situation to give a fortnight’s
notice of his intention to quit; it is also the custom for the
employer, when he finds it necessary to part with a workman, to give
him a fortnight’s notice, except under particular circumstances of
neglect or dishonesty, when the discharge is instanter: this is
termed having _got the Bullet_; the fortnight’s notice to quit is
termed having _got the Qui_. The word appears to be a contraction of
_Quietus [est]_, which, being granted to a sheriff, discharged him of
all accounts due to the king. _See_ BULLET.
QUIRE.
A Quire of paper, for all usual purposes, consists of twenty-four
sheets, but for newspapers a Quire consists of twenty-five sheets,
and a ream of twenty Quires makes 500 sheets. This is done, I
believe, for the convenience of the Stamp Office.--_See_ PAPER.
QUOIN-DRAWER.
A drawer in the frame of the imposing stone, in which quoins are
kept; it is generally the right-hand top drawer, when you stand at
the front of the stone.
QUOIN A FORM.
The fitting of the Quoins in a form, so that when it is locked-up
they shall, in the most efficacious manner, wedge up and secure the
types. _See_ IMPOSING.
QUOINS.
Short pieces of beech wood, made of the same height as furniture, and
tapering in their width, to wedge the pages up with in a chase. They
are made of a variety of widths, from about two inches to less than
a quarter of an inch, for the convenience of having every gradation
in quoining a form.
QUOTATION.
A quotation “ ”. Two inverted commas are generally placed at the
beginning of a phrase or a passage, which is quoted or transcribed
from the speaker or author in his own words; and two commas, in their
direct position, are placed at the conclusion: as,
“The proper study of mankind is man.”--_Murray._
Murray’s “direct” commas are _superior_ commas, and consequently what
are technically called apostrophes.
We derive the use of inverted commas from France, where one
Guillemet was the author of them, to exclude the use of Italick
from quotations: as an acknowledgement for which improvement, his
countrymen called these inverted commas after his name, _Guillemets_;
whereas the Germans made a jest of their figure, and gave them the
name of _Gaenseaugen_, or Geese-eyes. _See_ APOSTROPHE.
QUOTATION QUADRATS
are cast the height of the Quotation. They are cast of different
bodies, that the Compositor may have choice of them to justify
his notes or quotations exactly against the designed line of the
page--_M._ They are now cast to correspond with a piece of broad
furniture one way, and with a narrow the other way, with spaces
of both widths cast to different thicknesses; these spaces are
called _Justifiers_, and the Quotation Quadrats are simply called
_Quotations_.
R.
RACKS,
to hang paper on.--_M._ Now called poles. _See_ BOARD RACK, CASE
RACK, POLES.
RAG.
When letter cast has a bur on any of its edges, that bur is called a
Rag.--_M._
RAILS. _See_ HIND POSTS.
RALPH. _See_ SPIRIT.
RANKS.
From the frames in a composing room being placed in a row, the
Compositors are said to be in the ranks; thus, if a compositor has
been selected for a reader, or overseer, and he afterwards works at
case as a compositor, it is said, _he is come to the ranks again_.
RAT.
A compositor, or pressman, who executes work at less than the regular
prices, or for less than the generality of the trade think it
deserves, or for less than the chapel decides it ought to be paid, or
for less than others are paid for it, becomes what is termed a rat;
the most miserable situation, perhaps, that a workman can be placed
in. He is hooted at and despised by the rest of the workmen in every
house where he may obtain employment; and this feeling towards him
does not subside, for the opprobrious epithet accompanies him for
life.
READER.
A person whose duty it is to read proofs in a printing office, for
the purpose of correcting the errors, that are unavoidable from the
nature of the process of arranging the types into words, lines, and
pages.
After the compositor has corrected these errors in the form, a
clean proof is pulled by the pressman, which, with the first proof,
comes, in the regular routine of the business, to the reader again,
to revise; that is, to compare the two carefully, to see that the
errors that were first marked have been corrected, and to notice
such as may have escaped the compositor’s attention, as well as any
additional ones that may have been made. The corrected proof is then
sent to the author or editor, and if he makes many alterations, it
is again corrected in the form; another proof is then pulled, which
comes again to the reader, who revises the author’s corrections, and
reads it very carefully for press, to detect any errors that may
have escaped the first reading, and also the author’s notice; when
it is laid on, the pressman pulls a revise, which is passed to the
reader, who again carefully revises it, to see that all the errors
are corrected, and that the margin and the workmanship are right,
previous to the sheet being printed off.
This is the usual routine in printing books; but in small
establishments, the duties of a reader are performed generally by the
overseer.
In large establishments, where there are several readers, I would
invariably have the first proofs of any given work read by one and
the same reader, and the press proofs also by one and the same but
a different reader; in this case there would be an arrangement made
between the readers, either orally or tacitly, with regard to the use
of capitals, the orthography, compound words, the division of words,
and the punctuation; an experienced compositor would consequently
very soon fall into the method, and, knowing how the work was to be
done, would have very little trouble with his proofs; and the whole
would proceed with regularity and uniformity, and be more correct,
than if the proofs had been indiscriminately given to any of the
readers who might happen to be disengaged at the moment.
If this plan were followed, much injury to the work as well as
vexation to the compositor would be avoided; for where the second
proofs fall into the hands of different readers, it must necessarily
happen that marks will be multiplied, from the different views which
men entertain on the same points where there are no positive laws
to refer to, but where arbitrary private judgment decides instead:
thus, one reader differs from another with respect to the use of
the capitals, as to the division of words, the orthography, and the
punctuation; thus harassing and teazing the compositor, who is never
certain under these circumstances what plan to follow, for what is
right to-day may be wrong to-morrow, and _vice versá_, besides the
pecuniary loss he suffers in making these alterations, in addition
to the deterioration of the work, from the want of uniformity and
consistency.
Many readers betray a want of remembrance of the sensitiveness of
authors, by endeavouring, with the best intentions, to improve their
language, and thus making unauthorized alterations in the proofs:
this causes an unpleasant feeling, and I have known the reader
accused of hypercriticism, and the original words restored; in other
instances I have known the reader to have been told that he did not
understand the author’s meaning, with a request that for the future
he would literally follow the copy, and leave it to the author to
make any alterations he might think proper. After a long experience I
have invariably found it the most satisfactory plan, when I perceived
a mistake, or met with a passage that I did not understand, or that I
thought incorrect, to draw a line under the words, and insert a query
in the margin, thus drawing the author’s attention to the part; if he
altered the passage, it was well, if he did not, the responsibility
was his; thus the author’s feelings were not wounded, and in most
cases he expressed his satisfaction at this method; but I never knew
an instance where any censure was expressed.
In making these general observations, I am actuated only by the
motive that printers should combine the desire to be correct with the
principle of conciliating the kind feelings of the author or editor.
REAM.
A ream of paper consists of twenty quires, each of twenty-four
sheets, with the exception of the two quires at the outside of each
ream, called Outside Quires or Corded Quires, which consist of
twenty sheets each, all damaged, torn, or imperfect, more or less:
this is the state in which paper is uniformly delivered by the
paper-maker from the mill. For private use it may be obtained from
the stationers made up with twenty inside quires, that is, of quires
of perfect paper; a ream in this state consists of 480 sheets. For
the purpose of printing, it is always sent to printing offices in a
state technically styled perfect, made up into bundles, each bundle
containing forty-three quires; thus a ream will consist of twenty-one
quires and a half, or 516 sheets; this surplus allows for accidents
in wetting, at press, and in the warehouse, as well as waste, and
enables the printer to deliver to the publisher the full count.
The outside quires are generally sold to bookbinders, but those
of writing-paper are used by stationers in making copy books and
memorandum books.
RECORDS.
In the year 1800, the House of Commons voted an Address to His
Majesty King George III. on the state of the Public Records of this
kingdom, and the necessity of providing for the better arrangement,
preservation, and more convenient use of the same; and humbly
represented that the Public Records of the kingdom are in many
offices unarranged, undescribed, and unascertained; that many of
them are exposed to erasure, alteration, and embezzlement, and are
lodged in buildings incommodious and insecure, and that it would
be beneficial to the public service that the records and papers
contained in many of the principal offices and repositories should be
methodized, and that certain of the more antient and valuable amongst
them should be printed; and humbly besought His Majesty, that He
would be graciously pleased to give such directions thereupon, as He
in His wisdom should think fit.
The first commission, bearing date the 19th of July 1800, states,
“that We, considering the premises, and earnestly desiring more
effectually to provide for the better arrangement, preservation, and
more convenient use of the said records and papers, and reposing
great trust and confidence in your fidelity, discretion, and
integrity;--
“Have authorized and appointed, and by these presents do authorize
and appoint you the said William Henry Cavendish Duke of Portland,
William Windham Baron Grenville, Henry Dundas, Henry Addington,
William Pitt, Sir Richard Pepper Arden, Frederick Campbell (commonly
called Lord Frederick Campbell), Sylvester Douglas, Sir John
Mitford, Sir William Grant, Robert Dundas, and Charles Abbot, and
any three or more of you, to make a diligent and particular inquiry
into the several matters which our faithful Commons have, in the
above-mentioned report of their proceedings, represented as fitting
to be provided for by our royal authority.
“And to the end that Our royal will and pleasure in the premises may
be executed with the greater regularity and expedition, We farther by
these presents will and command, and do hereby give full power and
authority to you or any three or more of you, to nominate and appoint
from time to time such person of ability, care, and diligence, as ye
shall think fit, to be and act as your Clerk or Secretary, for the
purpose of aiding you in the execution of these presents; and also to
nominate and appoint in like manner such several persons of ability,
care, and diligence, as ye may think fit, to be Sub-Commissioners,
to be employed under your direction and controul in the premises;
and more especially to methodize, regulate, and digest the records,
rolls, instruments, books, and papers, in any of Our public offices
and repositories; and to cause such of the said records, rolls,
instruments, books, and papers as are decayed and in danger of being
destroyed, to be bound and secured; and to make exact calendars and
indexes thereof; and to superintend the printing of such calendars
and indexes, and original records and papers as ye shall cause to be
printed.”
The Commissioners have in consequence published several volumes of
the Records, which contain documents of the highest importance to
the owner of landed property, to the family historian, and to the
topographical writer, as well as assist in the elucidation of the
manners and customs of the times to which they belong; while to the
general historian they are invaluable, as opening new sources of the
most valuable and authentic information, which previously had been
virtually closed against his researches.
The portions of the Records already published have been printed
literally from the originals, with all their abbreviations and
peculiarities preserved. This renders them difficult to be read by
the inexperienced in ancient manuscripts; and since county historians
and other topographical writers make frequent extracts from these
ancient records, to establish facts concerning persons, places, and
property, I have thought it useful to give a detailed article on
this subject, which may be equally useful in the library as in the
printing-office.
The Commissioners have also published several volumes of Calendars
and Indexes to many classes of Records.
To enter into a history, however brief, of the various public
Records, would be foreign to the objects of the present work: for
such information the reader is referred to publications that treat
especially upon the subject. It is sufficient for the purpose to
state, that each of the King’s Courts of judicature registers its
acts and proceedings upon rolls of parchment, which are called the
Records of the court to which they belong; for instance, the Chancery
Rolls, which contain the registration of all matters which pass under
the great seal of England, are divided into classes; particular
rolls being appropriated to the entry of particular matters. Thus,
the Norman Rolls contain entries chiefly relating to Norman affairs;
the Scotch Rolls comprehend those which regard Scotland generally;
the Parliament Rolls embrace matters touching the Parliament; the
Fine Rolls, entries respecting fines paid to the king for grants of
liberties and privileges. The Close Rolls preserve copies of letters
directed to individuals for their sole guidance and inspection,
which, being private, are for this reason folded up, and _closed_
with a seal; while the Patent Rolls, on the contrary, contain copies
of letters which, though bearing a seal on their lower margin as a
mark of authenticity, are not closed, but remain _patent_ or _open_,
to be shown to all men: these convey directions or commands of
general obligation, or are given to individuals for their particular
protection, profit, or personal advantage. A few only of the Chancery
Records have been here enumerated; but sufficient has been stated
to show the reader that each species of roll has its distinguishing
characteristic.
A _Chancery_ roll is composed of a number of skins of parchment so
connected that the top of the second is attached to the bottom of
the first, the top of the third to the bottom of the second, and so
on; the whole being rolled up in the manner of a piece of cloth in a
draper’s shop, or of carpet in the warehouse of the manufacturer.