three-fourths of an inch wide, turned down at a right angle on one
side, about one-fourth of an inch in width, and in length sufficient
for the width of the sheet of paper intended to be cut, and this must
be fixed so as to be exactly corresponding to the openings in the
Plate before described; the part so turned down is cut into angular
teeth, about a quarter of an inch from point to point, each tooth
having two chisel-like edges, formed by being filed and dressed on
the outside of the part so turned down; on the inside of the angle
the teeth are to be finished all along fair and smooth. One or more
of the teeth are then to be filed out at intervals, corresponding
with the parts of the Plate left uncut. The Pivots or Joints of the
Tympans and Frisket being accurately adjusted, the Knife is then
fixed to the Frisket (at each end by screw or other connection) so
that when the Frisket is turned down on the Tympans the Knife shall
freely enter the Plate at the openings before described. The Plate
and Knife now occupying the usual place of Point Screws and Points,
those necessary articles are removed to the centre of each half of
the Tympans above and below the Plate. If wished, the positions
of the Plate and Knife may be reversed, by fixing the Plate to the
Frisket, and Knife to the Tympan, or a Plate both on Frisket and
Tympan, and Knife to the Forme, or Table of the Press, but not
with equal certainty of operation. All these parts being properly
adjusted, the mode of application is as follows:--For making ready a
Forme or Sheet, the Tympan-sheet is drawn on the Tympan, as in the
ordinary mode, and the Frisket pasted and cut out; but for working
the first side of the Paper, the Knife must be displaced (or, which
is sometimes preferable, two Friskets used, to be exchanged, one
having the Knife, and one without). The whole of the paper being
worked on one side without the Knife, the Knife is then replaced, or
the Friskets exchanged, and the Reiteration proceeded with; the sheet
will then be divided exactly along the centre, excepting at the parts
where the portions of the Plate have been left uncut, and the teeth
filed out of the Knife, as before described; which uncut parts answer
the important purpose of keeping the double-sheet adhering as one,
for the Pressman who may be _pulling_, to draw it off the Tympans
over to the Bank, where it is finally parted by the other man who is
_beating_, while looking over his heap, when six or seven sheets are
accumulated, by means of a gentle pressure with each hand at each
end of the heap. The white paper, or first side, is worked with four
points, placed opposite to each other in the middle fold of each half
of the double sheet, but for the Reiteration the two lower points are
taken off, and the sheet kept in register by the two upper ones only.
For cutting the sheet into more parts than two, I extend the same
principle by placing knives and plates in various positions, or at
right angles with each other.”
TYMPAN CLOTH.
A fine and even linen cloth, about an inch or two larger on every
side than the paper worked on: this cloth is wetted, and the water
wrung out again, so that it remains only moist: it is laid on the
tympan instead of a tympan sheet, the under sides of the corners
pasted to the tympan, and worked upon as a tympan sheet for the
reiteration. It is used to save paper, and it is repeatedly washed to
clear it of the ink that sets off on it.--_M._ It is not used now,
but set-off sheets are substituted for it.
TYMPAN HOOKS.
Small hooks fixed on the upper side of the outer tympan, which assist
in keeping the inner tympan in its place.
There are four of them, two on the off side and two on the near side,
screwed to the tympan, but not so tight as to prevent them turning
round on the screws as centres; there are four eyes screwed on the
inner tympan, opposite to them, and the hooks turn into these eyes
and draw the sides of the tympans together, and assist in tightening
the parchment of the inner tympan, and prevent its moving. In iron
presses, instead of eyes, buttons are used on the inner tympan, and
the hooks turn round them under the heads, and produce the same
effect.
TYMPAN JOINTS.
The joints by which the outer tympan is attached to the carriage, on
which it works. They are riveted to the bottom end of the tympan by
one of the sides, and the other side has an upright notch cut in it:
at the back of the hind part of the coffin are fixed two projecting
screws, at the same distance from each other as the notches in the
joints; these screws have a square plate or washer on each of them,
and a flat-headed female screw; the tympan joints are slipped over
these screws by the notches, so that they bestride each screw, and
are confined by the female screw and washer. The tympan can thus
be adjusted to any height, by loosening the screws and sliding the
joints up or down. The pin that connects the two parts of the joints
is stout, and made to slip out when necessary. These joints should
be particularly well made, and have no play; if they have, it will
cause maculing and doubles in the work.
TYMPAN SHEET.
A sheet of paper pasted on the tympan at the corners, as a standing
mark to lay all the other sheets exactly even upon, while the white
paper is working.--_M._ It is now also used for the reiteration.
When a pressman has laid a form on the press stone, and fixed it
in its situation, he takes a sheet of its own paper, or a sheet of
some other paper of the same size, and folds it exactly, so that the
folds shall be his guide for laying it on the form; he then lays a
sheet of waste paper on the form to preserve his tympan sheet clean,
and places it truly on the form over the other, by means of the
folds falling on the middle of the crosses and feeling the types
through it with his fingers, so that the margin at both sides of the
sheet shall be precisely equal, as also at both ends; he wets his
tympan slightly, to take out the indentions made by the types of a
preceding form, and generally rubs a very small quantity of paste on
the parchment, being careful that there are no lumps; he then turns
the tympan down upon the form, runs in the carriage, and gives it a
slight pull, to cause it to adhere to the tympan; he then pastes the
four corners down, but tears off a piece of the near bottom corner,
to prevent him catching hold of it, in the quick taking the printed
sheet off the tympan, when working.
TYPES.
The letters, marks, and signs, cast in metal, the larger sizes of
wood, with which printing is executed.
The forms and proportions of types in the Roman character have
undergone every change that the most capricious fancy could suggest.
We have types of beautiful shapes and symmetrical proportions, but
our type founders have diverged, for the sake of variety, gradually
to a fatter face till the lines have become so thick that the letter
has hardly any white in its interior, and when printed is nearly all
black, with the outline only to guide us in knowing what it is; and
on the contrary they have gradually gone to the other extreme, and
produced what are called skeleton letters, which are formed of a
fine uniform line; we have antique, the line being also of uniform
thickness, but strong and heavy; we have letters with the strong
lines and the fine lines reversed; we have tall narrow letters, and
we have letters which look as if they had been pressed down, till
they were considerably broader than they were high; we have letters
drawn in perspective, with their edges towards us, as if they were
marching away; and as for Italic, we have it now inclining to the
left as well as to the right. The Modern Gothic or Black letter has
not escaped this rage for change and variety, and we have forms
introduced into it which would have puzzled our ancestors to know
what they were meant for when the Modern Gothic was the standard
character.
These changes and varieties have not been introduced as improvements
either in the forms or proportions of the letters, but to produce
variety and what is styled effect.
The scale of sizes of the respective types can only be looked at
and received as an approximation to truth, as the letter founders
themselves acknowledge; in fact there is no precise standard,
for they cast according to the orders they receive from their
customers: the following scale is a proof of this; Mr. Hansard, in
his Typographia, gives the number of lines of each size in a foot
as cast in the foundery of Messrs. Caslon and Livermore, which does
not agree with the one I now give, which was supplied to me by Mr.
Livermore in 1839, at my request, avowedly to publish, each fount
having been measured to insure correctness; it was submitted to Mr.
Caslon personally in August 1841, before printing, and revised, so
that every precaution has been taken to prevent a mistake. The scale
of the foundery of Messrs. V. and J. Figgins, as also that of Messrs.
Thorowgood and Besley, were kindly furnished me by the respective
houses. I have also given Moxon’s scale of sizes, which is the oldest
that has been published, and which will show the variations in the
depth of body which types have undergone. He prefaces it by saying,
“And that the reader may the better understand the sizes of these
several _Bodies_, I shall give him this Table following; wherein
is set down the number of each _Body_ that is contained in one
Foot”--_See_ NICKS.
_Number of lines of the different sized types contained in one foot._
+---------------------+------+-------+---------+-----------+-----------+
| |Moxon,|Caslon,|V. and J.|Thorowgood |Alexander |
| |1683. |1841. |Figgins, |and Besley,|Wilson and |
| | | |1841. |1841. |Sons, 1841.|
+---------------------+------+-------+---------+-----------+-----------+
|Diamond | | 204 | 205 | 210 | 204 |
|Pearl | 184 | 178 | 180 | 184 | 178 |
|Ruby | | 166 | 165 | 163 | 166 |
|Nonpareil | 150 | 144 | 144 | 144 | 144 |
|Emerald | | | 128 | | 128 |
|Minion | | 122 | 122 | 122 | 122 |
|Brevier | 112 | 111 | 107 | 112 | 111 |
|Bourgeois | | 102 | 101½ | 103 | 102 |
|Long Primer | 92 | 89 | 90 | 92 | 89 |
|Small Pica | | 83 | 82 | 82 | 83 |
|Pica | 75 | 72 | 72½ | 72 | 72 |
|English | 66 | 64 | 64 | 64½ | 64 |
|Great Primer | 50 | 51 | 51 | 52 | 51 |
|Paragon | | 44½ | 44½ | | 44½ |
|Double Pica | 38 | 41½ | 41½ | 41 | 41½ |
|Two Line Pica | | 36 | 36 | 36 | 36 |
|Two Line English | 33 | 32 | 32 | 32½ | 32 |
|Two Line Great Primer| | 25½ | 25½ | 26 | 25½ |
|Two Line Double Pica | | 20¾ | 20¾ | 20½ | 20¾ |
|Trafalgar | | 20 | 20 | | 20 |
|Canon | 17½ | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
+---------------------+------+-------+---------+-----------+-----------+
It thus appears that in 1683, the date of Moxon’s work, there
were only ten sizes of types with specific names, while at the
present time we have twenty-one; the following are our additional
sizes--Diamond, Ruby, Emerald, Minion, Bourgeois, Small Pica,
Paragon, Two Line Pica, Two Line Great Primer, Two Line Double Pica,
and Trafalgar.
Canon is the largest size with a specific name; all above Canon are
designated according to the number of Picas in the depth of the body;
thus the next size larger is Five Line Pica, then Six Line Pica, and
so on indefinitely. Twenty-four Line Pica is about the largest letter
that is cast in metal, those above that size are generally cut in
wood, as also any peculiar shaped letters. The German letter founders
cast the face of letters in metal to a much larger size, and mount
them on wood.
Minion used to be half an English; it has ceased to be so, and
Emerald has taken its place, for English is now equal to two
Emeralds: this latter is a size that was introduced about two years
ago.
By an examination of the preceding table the relative proportions
of the different sizes to each other will be ascertained; but to
facilitate the reference they are here brought under one view.
Diamond = Half Bourgeois, also = ¼ Great Primer = ⅛ Two Line
Great Primer.
Pearl = Half Long Primer, also = ¼ Paragon.
Ruby = Half Small Pica, also = ¼ Double Pica = ⅛ Two Line Double
Pica.
Nonpareil = Half Pica.
Emerald = Half English.
Bourgeois = Half Great Primer, also = 2 Diamonds.
Long Primer = Half Paragon, also = 2 Pearls.
Small Pica = Half Double Pica, also = 2 Rubies.
Pica = 2 Nonpareils.
English = 2 Emeralds.
Great Primer = 2 Bourgeois, also = 4 Diamonds.
Paragon = 2 Long Primers, also = 4 Pearls.
Double Pica = 2 Small Picas, also = 4 Rubies.
Two Line Pica = 2 Picas, also = 4 Nonpareils.
Two Line English = 2 English, also = 4 Emeralds.
Two Line Great Primer = 2 Great Primers, also = 4 Bourgeois = 8
Diamonds.
Two Line Double Pica = 2 Double Picas, also = 4 Small Picas = 8
Rubies.
Canon = 2 Two Line Picas, also = 4 Picas = 8 Nonpareils.
It thus appears that Minion, Brevier, and Trafalgar, may be classed
as irregular bodied letters, for they bear no specific regular
proportion to any other size.
Minion was formerly half an English, but it has varied in the depth
of its body from that proportion; some of the letter founders have
introduced a new size between Minion and Nonpareil, and called it
Emerald, and made this new type half an English; I think it would
have been a preferable measure to have restored Minion to its
original place.
This want of uniformity in the depth of body of the respective sizes
is much to be regretted, as it causes serious inconvenience in a
printing office, and might be avoided by the several letter founders
agreeing among themselves and deciding what should be the standard
for each size, and firmly refuse to cast a new fount to any other
size, reserving the present variations for imperfections only,
till the founts in use were worn out and discarded; we should thus
gradually approach to uniformity; and whatever variations there might
be in the face of the letter, still the quadrats and the spaces might
be used to any fount of the same sized letter, without any risk of
injuring the appearance of the work, and this would frequently be
found of great advantage in poetry, figure work, and in light open
matter.
This evil is not confined to England, but exists to a great extent
in both France and Germany, and Fournier, an eminent letter founder
who wrote on the subject, describes the evil, and explains the
remedy which he invented and adopted, in his “Manuel Typographique,”
published at Paris, in two volumes 12mo. 1764, of which the following
is a translation.
“This article requires a particular explanation, because it is
novel and obscure. I have placed it here in order to show the new
proportions which I have given to the _body of the characters_, by
the defined measures which I call _Typographical Points_.
“The last regulation of the Library, made in 1725, fixed _the height
to paper_ at ten and a half geometric lines. This rule is as easy
to practise as it is to give; but such was not the case when it was
desirable by this regulation to establish some rules in order to
fix the _strength of the body_ of the characters. At the time when
this regulation was made, apparently no person was found competent
to give correct ideas on that point, which was very important, as it
would operate to correct abuse, and to give order and precision where
there had never been any before. In default of proper information, a
master printer gave as a rule the characters which he found in his
own printing office, with all their imperfections. The law which was
then obtained, not being founded on any principles, has consequently
remained unexecuted, which is the reason why the characters have
never had fixed and accurate sizes, and that this disorder still
remains as great as it was formerly.
“In article lix. of this Regulation, it is given, as a _fit body_,
that _Petit-canon is equal to two Saint-Augustins; Gros-parangon is
equal to a Cicero and a Petit-romain, &c._, but the size that the
Saint-Augustin, the Cicero, or the Petit-romain ought to have is not
given, in order to make together the Petit-canon or Gros-parangon.
Consequently this law can always be evaded, and it is evaded whenever
any one wishes, without being liable to any penalty, because one
person might make a body of Saint-Augustin more slender than another,
and the Petit-canon might be cast to this double thickness, by which
means the law would be fulfilled. Another person might make the body
of Saint-Augustin more or less strong, and from two of these bodies
he will cast a Petit-canon: here again the law is fulfilled, although
in a spirit opposed to that of the Regulation. Thus confusion is
perpetuated, until at length it gives one some trouble to make the
distinction of the two bodies, of which the larger is weak and the
smaller strong. It happens then that the characters of the same body
vary more or less, and when two such are found in a printing office,
the workmen mix the spaces and quadrats together, which spoils the
founts.
“The Regulation has provided for this default, it will be said, when
it ordains that there should be sent to the founders a certain number
of letters of each body, in order that they might agree under pain
of fine. But these letters which are thus proposed at hazard, and
which are never given, would not have remedied the evil which it is
wished to avoid. These pretended rules, instead of causing order and
precision, on the contrary augment the confusion, by multiplying
the parts without necessity. From thence it comes that the bodies
of Petit-canon, Gros-parangon, Gros-romain, Cicero, Philosophie,
Gaillarde, Mignone, are found, according to the Regulation,
without double bodies, on which two-line letters can be made, of
which nevertheless none of the bodies can do without. Here then
are seven or eight bodies without names, useless for every other
purpose, and with which the printing office is overloaded. Moreover,
these combinations of the body of a Cicero and a Petit-romain
to make a Gros-parangon, of a Petit-texte and Petit-romain to
make a Gros-romain, of a Petit-texte and a Nonpareille to make a
Saint-Augustin, truly proclaim little experience and capacity on the
part of those who proposed them. The defect has been perceived, but
no one has tried to find a remedy, and that because the printers, who
are alone consulted in this affair, are not type founders sufficient
to make proper experiments, and to give rules to a part of the trade
which they do not exercise, and of which often they know only the
name.
“This then is what engaged me to disentangle this chaos, and to give
to these matters an order which they have never before had. I think
I have had the happiness to succeed in it, with an exactness and
precision which leaves nothing to be desired, by the invention of
_Typographical Points_. It is nothing more than the division of the
bodies of characters by equal and determinate degrees, which I call
_Points_. By this means, the degrees of distance and the affinity of
the bodies may be known exactly. They can be combined together in the
same manner as numerical signs; and as two and two make four, add
two, it will become six, double all this, you will have twelve, &c.,
in the like manner a Nonpareille, which is equal to six points, added
to another Nonpareille will make together a Cicero, which has twelve
points, add again a Nonpareille, you will have eighteen points or a
Gros-romain, double all this, and it will make thirty-six points, or
a Trismegiste, which has that number; and in like manner the others,
as may be seen by a reference to the _Table of Proportions_ which
follows.
“In order to combine the bodies, it will be sufficient to know the
number of _Typographical Points_ of which they are composed. These
points or given sizes should be invariable, so that they may serve
as guides in the printing office, as the _foot_, _inch_, and _line_
are used in geometry. For this purpose, I have fixed these points
at the exact sizes they ought to have, in the scale which is at the
head of the _Table of Proportions_; and that their exactness may be
relied upon invariably, I have contrived an instrument which I call
_Prototype_.
“The invention of these points is the first service which I rendered
to printing, in 1737. Obliged then to commence a long, painful, and
laborious career by the graving of all the punches necessary to form
the establishment of my foundery, I found no rule established which
could guide me in fixing the body of the characters which I had to
make, and I was thus under the necessity of forming them for myself.
“The table exhibits at the top a fixed and definite scale, which I
divide into two inches, the inches into twelve lines, and the line
into six of these typographical points; the total is 144 points. The
first small divisions are of two points, which is the exact distance
which there is from a Petit-texte to a Petit-romain, or from that
to a Cicero, &c. The scale contains in the whole twelve bodies of
Cicero. It is necessary to measure by this gauge the number of points
which I assign to each of the bodies. These measures, taken truly
for each body separately, and verified on the _Prototype_, will form
altogether a general correspondence for all the bodies of characters.”
“_Of Height to Paper._ The height of the characters called _height
to paper_, that is to say, from the foot to the face which leaves
its impression on the paper, is fixed by regulations of the book
trade, and noted down by them, on the 28th February 1723, at ten and
a half geometric lines. This law was established for rendering all
the French characters conformable in their parts, in order that,
passing from one printing office to another, by the death of the
proprietor or otherwise, there might be no disparity among them.
This law, however, though wise and good, is but partially executed,
many printers having adhered to the height of the characters which
they found already in their offices. Some countries, as Flanders,
the Lyonnois, and others, which have the characters much higher by
the ordonnance of the Porte, have preserved them thus, so that from
these causes we see the characters varying from ten and a quarter
to eleven lines and a half high. Those who have preserved them in
this last way are among the dupes, because the characters which are
according to the ordonnance cost a hundred pistoles, while those that
have more metal in them are worth eleven hundred francs, because
being one eleventh higher are one eleventh heavier.
“The officers of the chambres syndicals have neglected this part of
the regulation; thus nothing is more common than to see in every
printing office, the characters some a little too high and some a
little too low. This makes it necessary to put the highest upon the
tympans of the press within the places where the lines are too low.
Sometimes many folds of paper are put under these low types upon the
stone of the press, in order to raise the low parts up to the level
of the high ones. This confusion does not originate with the founder,
who is obliged to conform to the will of those for whom he works.
Three parts of the French printers, at least, have their printing
offices regulated according to the measure of ten lines and a half;
and though there may be little inequalities which leave some of the
characters a little too high and some a little too low, yet when
there is only this slight difference, perhaps being sometimes but the
thickness of a paper, the inequality is very inconsiderable. To avoid
this confusion, and to make the founderies preserve one standard to
regulate the height, and preserve it always the same, rests with the
master. There are two ways: the first is a thin plate of copper or
iron on which is made a notch of ten lines and a half high, and the
other, which is in greater use and more convenient, is making a form
of justification.”
The French have varied from Fournier’s standard, and have introduced
fresh sizes since he published his work; when Fertel wrote, in 1723,
he gave a list of nineteen sizes, but at the present time they have
twenty-five; they are also changing their names, and now designate
them by numbers, as will be perceived by the following list, which
is copied from the specimen book of De la Tarbe, of Paris, 1835,
to which I have affixed the number of points assigned to them by
Fournier.
+-------------------------------+----------+
| |Fournier’s|
| | Points, |
| | 1737. |
+-------------------------------+----------+
| Cinq, ou Parisienne | 5 |
| Six, ou Nonpareille | 6 |
| Six et demi | |
| Sept, ou Mignonne | 7 |
| Sept et demi, ou Petit-Texte | 8 |
| Huit, ou Gaillarde | 9 |
| Neuf, ou Petit-Romain | 10 |
| Dix, ou Philosophie | 11 |
| Onze, ou Cicero | 12 |
| Treize, ou Saint-Augustin | 14 |
| Quatorze, ou Gros-Texte | 16 |
| Seize, ou Gros-Romain | 18 |
| Dix-huit, ou Petit-Parangon | 20 |
| Vingt, ou Gros-Parangon | 22 |
| Vingt-deux, ou Palestine | 24 |
| Vingt-six, ou Petit-Canon | 28 |
| Trente-trois, ou Trismégiste | 36 |
| Quarante, ou Gros-Canon | 44 |
| Cinquante six, ou Double-Canon| 56 |
+-------------------------------+----------+
Soixante-six, ou Deux Points de Trismégiste.
Quatre-vingt, ou Deux Points de Gros-Canon.
Quatre-vingt-huit, ou Huit Cicéro.
Cent dix, ou Dix Cicéro.
Cent-trente-deux, ou Douze Cicéro.
Cent-soixante-cinq, Quinze Cicéro.
The German letter founders vary still more than the English or the
French, for there is no standard body in Germany, every printing
office has its varieties; the height is equally very different,
but generally much higher than the French types. The German scale
is formed by dividing their Petit, a size between our Brevier and
Bourgeois, into four lines, so that each additional number is one
fourth of their Petit. The names of many of the sizes also vary in
different parts of Germany. The list that I give, with the number
of lines to each size, I was favoured with by Mr. Edward Hænel, of
Magdeburg, an eminent printer of extensive business; I have other
lists, of letter founders, in different parts of Germany, but I do
not think it necessary to insert more than one.
The German letter founders have types for printing maps, with which
they form the line of the sea coast, with all its irregularities, its
promontories, its bays, &c., the boundary lines, and the rivers. I
had a map, printed in this manner, sent to me from Germany, which is
very clever, and shows great ingenuity in the execution.
_The names of German types, with the number of lines in each size._
1. Diamant | 2 || 12. Doppelcicero | 12 |
2. Perl | 2½ || 13. Doppelmittel | 14 |
3. Nonpareille | 3 || 14. Kleine Canon | 16 |
4. Colonell | 3½ || 15. Grobe Canon | 20 |
5. Petit | 4 || 16. Kleine Missal | 26 |
6. Burgeois | 5 || 17. Grobe Missal | 32 |
7. Corpus | 5 || 18. Kleine Sabon | 38 |
8. Cicero | 6 || 19. Grobe Sabon | 42 |
9. Mittel | 7 || 20. Real | 48 |
10. Tertia | 8 || 21. Imperial | 54 |
11. Text | 10 || | |
_Dutch names of types. From Smith’s Printer’s Grammar._ 1755.
Nonpareil. Paragon.
Brevier. Dubbelde Dessendiaan.
Burgeois. Dubbelde Mediaan.
Garmond. Dubbelde Augustyn.
Dessendiaan. Kanon.
Mediaan. Groote Kanon
Augustyn. Parys Romeyn.
Text.
_Italian Names._ _English Names._