A. A. Stewart

“ Printing owes its development first and chiefly to movable metal types. The so-called invention of printing was the discovery of a method of making serviceable type in quantity. The idea of a separate type for each letter of the alphabet was probably conceived long before Gutenberg’s time, but it remained for him and his associates to devise an apparatus for making them quickly and accurately enough to be of practical value. ”

“ One of the great defects of machine composition is its lack of intelligent, trained craftsmanship in typography. Too often it is the work of machine-thinking operators rather than of intelligent compositors trained to use the machine to increase their product and make it of better effect and worth.
Training in hand composition should be a prerequisite for machine keyboard operation. In no other way can the niceties of typography be so thoroughly or conveniently learned as with composing stick and type case. ”

“ A type case, with 49 to 100 or more small boxes, is not a simple thing to make by hand labor. While the making of the outside frame and the bottom involve no special difficulties, the box partitions and their proper fastening to each other and to the bottom of the case require patience and skill. Only a highly developed system of specialization could provide the cases of today at the prevailing cost. ”

“ An initial at the beginning of a chapter or other text requires nicety of spacing and justification. In modern practice the use of initials is often overdone, being used in many cases where they might better be omitted. Before the invention of typography, and since, the initial letter has been considered the feature of a page that could be used for decorative purposes. Early manuscripts show many elaborate, beautifully colored initials done by artists and illuminators. It was the custom of early printers to leave blank spaces in their printed pages for initials to be drawn in later. ”

“ A common class of “lining” types for job work are the combination series, or those having two or more sizes of face (capitals only) cast on bodies of the same size. Each face is made to line with the others on the same body, and all the faces are readily used in combination, with a single size of spaces and quads. In order that the type of each face may be readily distinguished, the nicks are varied in number or position—a single nick for one face, two nicks for another, etc. ”

“ In large departments, however, especially where floor space is pretty fully occupied and the working spaces are narrow, a permanent workstand directly over a group of cases that are frequently used by several persons has been found to be an annoying and time-wasting arrangement.
About thirty years ago a radical change of this practice was proposed, and is now being gradually adopted for modern equipments. This plan places the working stand on one side of the cabinet and the case rack on the other side, so that there is freer access to cases by all workmen. ”

“ The increasing use of machines for book and periodical composition during the past few years is gradually eliminating the double cases which were necessary for large quantities of type when type was set solely by hand-work. Type cases in pairs are still generally used, however, and in many composing rooms they hold the chief working fonts of large as well as small sizes of type. A thorough familiarity with the box plans of the upper and lower cases should be the first acquirement of every apprentice. ”

“ Each type is cast separately in a mold, and has the letter or printing character in bold relief on one end.
Exact uniformity of body is necessary in order that the types, when composed in lines and pages, may be locked together by pressure at the sides so as to make a compact mass. All types in a printing form must be of the same height, so that their faces may present a uniformly level surface from which an impression may be made that will show all the characters clearly. A short type will print faintly or will not print at all, while a long one will be unduly forced into the sheet. ”

“ In no other trade is there a greater multiplicity of details to be considered in order to obtain a finished product, and a thoughtless, unnecessary waste of time, effort, or material in attending to these details adds enormously to the expense of the product. And so it is becoming [Pg 15] the practice of good managers to use cases more abundantly than formerly and to store them in convenient racks and cabinets, so that this large mass of material may be kept classified and may be obtained quickly when needed.
Fig. 11. Lead and Slug Case. Fig. 12. Wood Type Case. Fig. 13. Metal Furniture Case. ”

“ Many careless compositors persist in correcting lines on the galley in a puttering, botchy manner which results in badly justified lines. The beginner is usually inclined to do the same thing because he has not yet learned to perform with ease and safety the trick of transferring lines back and forth from the galley to the stick. Instead of shirking this operation because it looks difficult, he should practice it until he can do it safely and quickly. A compositor who does not justify his lines properly is rated as a careless workman. ”

“ Lead forms the chief part of all type metal, as it melts easily and fuses readily with other metals; but lead alone is too soft for the service required of type. Antimony is brittle and gives hardness, and tin is added to impart toughness. Lead and antimony in approximately these proportions make an alloy which has [Pg 27] the unusual quality of expanding slightly, instead of shrinking, when cooling, thus permitting a full, sharp cast in all parts of the mold. Tin flows readily when melted and increases the smoothness of the cast on the surface of the mold. ”

“ Probably in no other important particular has the tendency of printers to hold to past methods been more strongly emphasized than in their refusal to adopt any important change in the style of the most used type cases and the arrangement of the types in the boxes. Force of habit and dislike for innovation have kept practically unchanged for two and a half centuries the relative positions of the chief characters in the case. ”

“ Lines of type are easier handled by the aid of a composing rule. It is not practicable to set small types in the stick without some support or to set a second line immediately next to another without a lead or rule to separate them. The composing rule furnishes a smooth surface against which to place the types as they are assembled and to keep them in line while the respacing and justifying is done. The rule is also convenient for lifting lines out into the galley and for handling them in later operations. ”

“ Large types, such as are used for posters and large bills, are made of wood. The smallest size for practical use is 48-point, or 4-line pica. Sizes of wood type are multiples of the pica, and are so named, as 8-line, 10-line, etc. They are much cheaper than metal types, though not as durable or satisfactory for printing. The wood commonly used is maple, and the letter is made on the end of the grain. It must be well seasoned and polished. Pine and other soft woods are used for very large sizes of wood type and poster engravings. ”

“ A short word divided by a hyphen at the end of a line should not be divided between two pages. A little respacing of the bottom line of one page and the top line of the next will usually overcome a division of this sort.
In book work, the first page of the preface, introduction, table of contents, and of each chapter should be sunk uniformly about one-sixth of the distance down from the top of a full-length page. This space may be varied in different books according to choice, but the sinkage should be the same throughout any one book. These pages are always on the first side of a leaf. ”

“ The compartments of the cases may be made wide or narrow to accommodate the size of the types they are to hold.
The apprentice who wants to learn about the latest and best feature of composing room equipment should make a special point to examine the catalogues of manufacturers and dealers in printers' supplies. These catalogues continually show new and improved articles that are finely illustrated and specifically described as to their particular advantages. ”

“ The old-time method of casting type was with hand molds, the melted metal being poured in at the foot of the mold with a small ladle while the mold was held in the hand. In the modern casting machine, the mold with its matrix, is assembled by the side of the metal pot, in which the metal is kept at a uniform temperature by means of a gas furnace. ”

“ Philadelphia
[Page 3]
PREFACE THERE is a prevalent notion that setting type by hand is not now as important a part of the printer’s vocation as it was years ago. Ingenious composing machines now perform so much of the work of putting into printable shape the literature of the world that it is often assumed the hand compositor’s occupation is fast disappearing and does not offer much inducement for an ambitious young man to follow seriously. ”

“ The matrix covers the opening at one end of the mold, and on the opposite end (which is the foot of the type) is an opening through which the melted metal is injected. A mold is made for a single body-size of type but it is adjustable sideways to correspond to the various widths of the letters in an alphabet. One mold may be used to cast, in succession, all the letters of a font of type, or it may be used to cast any number of fonts of different faces that may be made on the [Pg 21] same body, by merely changing the matrices that form the face. ”

“ With a supply of the regular spaces at hand it will be seen that for average work there is ample opportunity for careful spacing and proper justification. The trouble often comes, however, because of an insufficient supply of the thinner spaces. Unfortunately in many places these are not supplied in right quantities and the usual boxes for holding them are inadequate for a proper supply. Improper distribution of the thin spaces is also responsible for the lack of a proper supply, as well as for great loss of time in sorting and hunting during composition. ”

“ The size of a type is the vertical thickness of its body—the thickness of a line up and down the page. The width of a type is its set. Thus a 12-point en-quad is 12-point body and 6-point set, a 10-point figure of the thickness of an en quad is 10-point body and 5-point set, etc. The total length of a type, including feet and face, is its height-to-paper.
American type sizes conform to a graduated scale known as the point system. ”

“ Special care should be taken to keep the feet of the type free from dirt or lumps of any kind. A good practice of many compositors, after tying up pages that are not too large to allow it, is to lift the page perpendicularly and hold it in the left hand while the bottom is brushed off with the right hand, and then to wipe off the surface of the press or imposing table before laying the page down.
In composing rooms where a great deal of job composition is done the time spent in tying up pages is considerable, and the work is often done carelessly. ”

“ The Monotype keyboard, being an entirely separate machine, may be and usually is operated in any place away from the casting apparatus and work may be executed on it anytime before casting. The perforated roll may be fed through any number of times to produce duplicate castings of the matter, and a matrix-plate for a different face may be used if desired. In the casting of the line the proper spaces are cast with it, the spacing needed to justify each line being indicated on the perforated record during composition on the keyboard. ”

“ The drawing of plans of the different styles of cases in the room is not only a good way to learn the cases accurately but is also a good exercise in the use of pencil and type-measure; it is a simple problem in mechanical drawing which the young compositor should practice, in preparation for more advanced “layout” work which he may do later. ”

“ American founders have adopted the practice of casting type-faces on uniform lining systems, variously known as American line, standard line, uniform line, etc. The earlier practice was to cast the type of a font so that the letters would align at the bottom only with their mates of the same font, without reference to any other face of type. ”

“ A line in which there is a change of the spaces or of the justification should be lifted into a composing stick of the right measure for correction. Any important change in a line of type should always be made in a stick, where accurate justification is most readily secured. First place the composing stick conveniently at hand, with its back toward the compositor. Insert the composing rule down at the top of the line in the galley, press both ends of the line together, and raise it up gently; when it is clear of the other lines turn it so that the rule is under, and then transfer to the stick. ”

“ An em is a square of type body of any size. This 10-point em □ is ten points square; a 10-point three-to-em space is one third of the em, a four-to-em is one fourth, etc. The en quad is really a thick space, though called a quad, and is equal to half the em. Larger blanks are the two-em and three-em quads, used to fill the last lines of paragraphs and other wide spaces.
The metal blanks shown here are the regular spaces and quads belonging to a font of type of the size of 10-point. ”

“ Clean printing can not be done from dirty type. For this reason, as well as for greater ease and cleanliness in handling, it is important that type (which has to be used over and over again) should be washed as clean as possible after use. Ink should not be allowed [Page 68] to dry hard on a form, as it will if left over night or over an idle day. The type face should be cleaned after taking proofs. It should show a clean face while corrections are being made, and also when it goes to press or to the moulding room. ”

“ In old or much-used fonts to which additions have been made after the first supply, the new letters, being cast later in a different mold, may often show a difference in the position or the number of nicks. In cases of this kind the apprentice should observe carefully and inquire before deciding that a type with a different nick does not belong to the font. ”

“ Leads and brass rules should not be so long that they bind tightly when they are placed in the measure. When this happens the type lines near them will rarely lock up tight without very great pressure in the chase.
The beginner at composition is not at first apt to realize the importance of careful justification. It is not till later when he must lock up the types for printing that he learns why they must be exactly upright to give the proper impression and carefully fitted together to hold solidly in the form. ”

“ An apparently equal spacing between all words in a line means that in some cases there must be a slight variation in the width of the actual spaces used. The size and shape of the letters at the ends of words will often affect the amount of white space, especially in the larger faces of type. ”

“ When type is cast by a hand machine it is unfinished, as a piece of metal called the jet still adheres to the bottom of each type. This jet is broken off, and the types are set in long lines and fastened in a narrow channel, face down. A small plane smooths away the rough surface caused by breaking off the jet. This leaves a shallow groove on the bottom of each type and allows it to stand squarely on its [Pg 23] feet. The types also have slight burs and sharp edges of metal which must be rubbed off before they are ready for inspection and for the font-room. ”

“ In the center of this metal pot is a rod with a spring attachment which, at each operation of the machine, acts as a plunger to force a small stream of hot metal through a side aperture into the jet-hole of the mold. After the casting, the two parts of the mold separate slightly, the matrix is drawn away from the face of the type, and the cast is moved out; then the mold and matrix close together again and the operation is repeated. Cold water or air is circulated near the mold to keep an even temperature. ”

“ Study to avoid as much as possible all superfluous motions. Do not mistake nervous, fussy, trust-to-luck motions for speed; they are usually [Page 27] the reverse. Be deliberate and accurate, even if slow at the start. Learn first to do it right, then strive to do it quickly. Speed is important, but correctness is much more so.
Justifying the Lines
Each line of type must end with a completed word or a syllable. When the line is first set, however, it rarely happens that the types fill the line snugly without more or less changing of the spaces. ”

“ The unit of measurement for types, leads, rules, and other small items used in composing a page is the point, approximately 1⁄72 of an inch, shown by the thickness of this mark:| The most used type bodies are those of 6-point and others graduated by one point up to 12-point.
The amount of type in a page is measured in ems of the size of type used. An em is a square of the body , and varies in size with each size of type. Thus, an 8-point em is 8 points deep and 8 points wide; a 12-point em is 12 points deep and 12 points wide. ”