Display case

“ Out in the library—the big room where the telephone is, you know—you will find a carved box on the lower shelf of the big case with glass doors in the corner not far from the fireplace. That is, it'll be there if that confounded woman hasn't 'regulated' it to somewhere else! ”

“ The early type cases are shown in pictures of the time as made of a single tray containing all the characters of the font and resting in a slanting position on a rude frame or “horse,” at which the compositor is usually seated. All the boxes of the case are represented as of the same size, which probably was not the fact even in early practice any more than it is today. Early designers and artists no doubt overlooked or ignored what they considered an unimportant detail, just as today they often persist in misrepresenting the true outline of the printer's lower-case. ”

“ Top-light is unsatisfactory for rooms in which objects in cases are to be shown. If the cases are large, the reflection of the ceiling light in the glass seriously interferes with seeing the objects in the case. If, on the other hand, the objects are small and are placed in an ordinary desk case, the visitor in bending over the case finds his own image looking up at him from the glass, and it is only by a great effort that it is possible to see the objects on exhibition. ”

“ In the first place, it is much easier and safer to store objects of uniform size; in addition, they are more easily exhibited, whether in separate frames or in a wall or desk case, and in loan exhibitions where prints from other collections are shown they are much more easily handled if all of similar sizes. ”

“ Whether this for one moment diverted my attention I cannot say, but I heard the faint click of the case opening, I saw the little hand take up the larger clasp, and, resting it on the velvet of the case, slowly withdraw the miniature and the lock of golden hair. The case was closed again, and I knew that the fringed lids were rising, and the eyes, strange and dilated, hunted, met mine. I felt that the thing was advancing towards me, the light around it becoming dimmer; but the eyes were on me. ”

“ Another comparatively small collection can be made up of pictorial watch papers, those rare little pictorial views which once reposed in the interior of the cases of old watches. Watches are by no means common curios of the household, but now and then an old silver verge or a decorated watch case thought little of is found to contain one of those pretty pictures which were chiefly engraved and printed in the eighteenth century. ”

“ I have invented a square case to strap on the back, which is attached to a mask covering the head, and this will contain enough compressed air to last for several hours' consumption, so that I can walk under the waves with ease and comfort. ”

“ There is no aperture so shaped that it cannot be framed in screens by the ablest screen makers. In the case of the metal screen the bent work is really a work of art, in that they are not puckered or pinched, but are sans humps, sans bumps, sans everything but beauty, rigidity and conformity to conditions. ”

“ The student must be careful to see that the inside of the camera is a dead black, and that it keeps so. At times the camera may leak or get out of register, that is, the plate does not exactly take the place of the ground glass, in which case he should at once send it to the maker. |Test for register.| Should the student wish at any time to test the register of his camera, he has only to pin up a printed card and focus it as sharply as possible, using a magnifying glass, if one is at hand. ”

“ The reflection of the mirror will appear on the wall as a luminous space, oval or oblong as the case may be, and if you have placed it at the proper angle with reference to the screen, and move your cardboard shapes about cleverly between the candle and the mirror, you will forthwith see little fantastic figures projected in shadow on the screen, while the uninitiated spectator is wholly at a loss to discover how you produce them. ”

“ Ranged down the sides of the room we see scores of laborers industriously at work, each one before a stand or frame, in shape similar to the music-stand at an orchestra. Each frame is constructed so as to hold two pairs of cases, one containing the Roman, the other the Italic letters of the same “fount,” or kind. The upper case has ninety-eight little divisions for the different kinds of type; the lower case has fifty-four boxes, arranged as in the diagram on the opposite page. The “compositor” or “type-setter,” is said to “work at case;” ”

“ The splitting of the bottom and the separation of the partitions allowed small types to drop out and to shift under the partitions. These defects were partially overcome by papering the [Pg 13] bottoms of the boxes, the proper accomplishment of which was at one time considered a part of the compositor's duty.
Fig. 3. Section Showing Triple-Veneer Bottom of Case. The modern American type case is better made than its predecessors, being so far superior in several essential particulars as to be a distinct achievement in factory woodwork. ”

“ To have the name of the artist, his dates, and the name of the picture on one label, the name of the donor on another, and the catalogue number on a third, is a very common and disagreeable error. Everything should be done to avoid spottiness in appearance. Each additional bit of brass or cardboard added to a frame detracts from the continuity of the impression given by the picture.
Glass in front of a painting should be avoided if possible, because of the reflection. ”

“ Cabinet has equipment for two compositors, supply of leads and slugs and assortment of materials such as brass and copper thin spaces and quads. Fig. 25. Double “City” Stand with working cases and case racks. Note that the lower case may be pushed up when necessary to allow access to galley underneath. The closed-in cabinet is the modern plan for a compositor's working stand and for holding cases of type in common use. This is a frame or stand enclosed at the sides and back to exclude dust and debris from the cases. ”

“ Have only a limited number of good type faces, but have plenty of each size and character. Also have an abundance of 2-point leads, 6-point slugs, 12-point slugs, quads, spaces and metal furniture. Labor-saving brass rule—1-point face on 3-point body, is of particular advantage for borders of labels, panels for box-tops, etc.; 2-point face rule on 2-point body, and 6-point face rule on 6-point body, are also very useful. Running borders of artistic design, in 6-, 12-, 18- and 24-point sizes, are admirable for borders for box labels of the larger size. ”

“ I always made it a rule to have a screen placed before my sideboard as soon as dessert was put upon the table; for in the times to which I allude it was the fashion to clear the cloth, and place the decanters, finger-glasses, d’oyleys, and wines (glasses) on the well-polished mahogany. By having my screen, I could arrange my relays of glasses and decanters, my tooth-picks, my snuff-box, and many other matters too numerous to mention, besides being always at my post to keep up the festivity of the evening, and preserve our family character for hospitality. ”

“ 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. ”

“ It is also used of a box containing instruments, pistols, swords, &c., and sometimes of the contents. In building, a “case” is the facing where the backing may be of inferior material; the framework in which a window or door is hung ”

“ The earliest styles had closed cases, these cases being subjected to various forms of ornament. The dial was not visible till the outer case was opened.
Collectors of watches are collecting something that is dead. The wheels are silent for ever. ”

“ The chief objection to card cabinets or drawers is the insurmountable one of limitation to public use being fixed by the number of drawers or cabinets. With drawers in a counter front one consulter monopolises one drawer, while with tiers of three or four drawers in cabinet form never more than two persons can use it with any comfort. The exposure of only one title at a time is another serious drawback, while the peculiar daintiness of touch requisite for the proper manipulation of the cards makes the use of the catalogue a labour and a perplexity to working people with hardened finger-tips. ”

“ Polhemus Cabinet, case rack and galley top. Fig. 27. Polhemus Cabinet, working side, lower case on tilting brackets. The old-style working stand or cabinet as illustrated in Figs. 20, 21, usually made it necessary for a workman to stand directly in front of a number of cases which he rarely used but which might be frequently used by other compositors. In small workshops this arrangement offers no inconvenience and there need be little loss of time or patience among courteous fellow workmen. ”

“ Notwithstanding this, the sampler-collector need anticipate no discouraging difficulty in getting together examples for a fairly representative collection. It is only in comparatively recent years that we have discovered the value of old samplers as excellent decorative accessories on the walls of a room in which old pieces of furniture are placed. Samplers may be mounted and framed for hanging on a wall as a picture might be, and I know of few objects in the line of antiques that seem so appropriate for use in this manner for adorning the walls of a bedchamber. ”

“ Though the excellence of a moving picture display depends primarily upon the projector and the film, its brilliancy and clear definition can be made or marred by the screen. When the pictures are being thrown from the front of the house and the audience see a reflected projection, the screen must be opaque and prepared from a suitably woven cloth. ”

“ So, placing his box in a proper position, he invited the young men and girls to look through the glass orifices of the machine, and proceeded to exhibit a series of the most outrageous scratchings and daubings, as specimens of the fine arts, that ever an itinerant showman had the face to impose upon his circle of spectators. ”

“ The commonest form of print is on paper, although the most satisfactory print from the photographic standpoint is the transparency on glass or celluloid film.
Transparencies.—Transparencies are made by the regular photographic processes of exposure and development, on glass plates or films placed in contact with the negative, or in the appropriate position in an enlarging camera. The sensitometry and the terms used to describe the qualities of plate or film for this purpose are those already given in connection with the general discussion of plates and films. ”

“ At the point of greatest clearness the image is said to be focused. Such being the principle of the camera, it is evident that in practice the instrument may assume many forms, provided always that it consists of a darkened box or chamber, having a hole at one end for the insertion of a lens or combination of lenses, and at the other a screen, generally made of ground glass, on which to receive the image. ”

“ This screen is slid into the first fold of the bellows of the camera, that is to say, very close to the sensitized plate, and at the moment of focusing, the position of the apparatus is so regulated as to make the image of the subject appear through the apertures in the screen and in the proper position. This process is the most rapid and is the surest. No reflection is any longer possible, and the preservation of the plate is absolute. What is no less advantageous is the sharpness of the outline, which permits of the most delicate junctions ”

“ In the first place, the light you require for your picture may be dissimilar to the light of your studio; and, secondly, one of the principal advantages of the box system is that the sides of the box represent the sides of the hall or room of the picture, so that you see at a glance how the shadows of the groups are cast, you see which portions of the figures stand out dark, and which light, against the background. In short, you get a much more complete idea of what you propose painting than you could possibly manage in any other way. ”

“ They buy a neat little box with a button, which they believe, when touched, will cause a picture to be taken of whatever may be before the little box at the time, no matter where, what the light, or how rapidly the picture may be moving. ”

“ With eyes that do not see, he carefully takes off the long upper portion and lifts up the shallow lower portion of the box on which rests the head, placing it on top of the cover which makes a stand for it, the face looking out toward the audience. ”

“ Nothing can be more convenient than the position of this focusing-screen for working purposes. I look down on the image as I do upon a book resting on a sloping desk, and all the parts of the apparatus are within an easy arm's length.
My reflector in my present instrument is, I am a little ashamed to confess, nothing better than a piece of looking-glass fixed to an axle within the camera, near its top left-hand edge. One end of the axle protrudes, and has a short arm; when I push the arm back, the mirror is raised; when I push it forward it drops down. ”