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ting a Space between each two Words, forms one Line after another ; till the Stick being full, he empties it out upon an otherlnftrument, call'd the Galley ; feveral of which ranged in a Frame, call'd a Chafe, are ready for the Prefs.
This fhort View of Compofing, we fhall further illuflrate and enlarge upon.
The Compofing- Stick, then, (reprefented Tab. Miscel- lany, Fig. 7.) confifts of a Plate, or Slip of Brafs, Iron, or Wood, more or lefs broad, and contrived fo as to be made more or lefs long according to the width of the Page, and the Number of Lines to be compofed in it.
From the right Side of this Plate arifes a Ledge a a, about half an Inch high, running the whole length of the Plate, and ferving to fullain the Letters, the fides of which are to reft againft it ; from the fame Plate likewife arife two other leffer pieces, b and c. one of which, b, is contrived to Hide along it, that fo the two pieces may be either ap- proached or withdrawn at pleafure, to adjuit the length of the Line to the Meafure intended. See Composing- Stick.
Add, that where Marginal Notes, References, %$c. are re- quired in a Work ; a fecond Hiding Piece is added in the Compofing-Stick, at the proper diflance from the former : as ate.
E'er the Workman proceedsto compofe, a Rule, or Slip of Brafs-Plate, cut to the length of the Line, and of the fame height as the Letter, is placed in the Compofing-Stick again!! the Ledge thereof; for the Letter to bear imme- diately againft.
Things thus prepared, and having the Copy lying before him, and the Stick in his left Hand ; with the right he picks up the Letters, Spaces, &c. and places 'em againft the Rule ; while with the Thumb of the left he preffes them clofe to the upper Screw, or Chech ; and thus keeps them tight and fteady : while the other Hand is conftantly em- ploy'd in fetting in more Letters : The whole performed with a degree of Expedition and Addrefs, not eafy to be imagined.
A Line being thus compofed, if it end with a Word or Syllable, and fill the Meafure ; there needs no further Care 5 otherwife more Spaces are to be put between the feveral Words to jufltfy the Lines, i. e. to make the Meafure pretty ftiff ; and thus he proceeds to another Line.
The Spaces here ufed area fort of blank Characters, of the lik^^imenfions as the Letters, butlefshigh ; and whofe Faces,' therefore, when fer, do not appear, nor give any Imprefiion. They are of feveral kinds according to the Dimentions of the Blanks, or Intervals to be made by them, viz. Quadrats, to fill up a Break at the end of a Paragraph , or the like; M quadrats, which are fquare, and of the thicknefs of an m, ferving to make the diiiance after a Pe- roid, or between Sentence and Sentence ; Ts-quadratS, of the thicknefs of an n, to be placed after Colons, Semi- colons, and Comma's ; and thick or thin Spaces, to be ufed between the Words in juilifying, as above.
For Marginal Notes, in the Spaces referved for them, between the two Aiding pieces of the Compofing-Stick, are put little quadrated pieces of Metal, call' 'd Quotations', which are juftified by other ftnaller pieces : a Slip of Scale- board being placed from the top of the Page to the bot- tom, to keep the Note and Text atadue diltance.
The firft Line thus compleatly juftify'd, theCompofitor advances to a frefh one ; in order to which, he moves the brafs Rule from behind the former, and places it before it, and thus compofes another Line againft it, after the fame manner as the former: and thus he goes on till his Stick be full, which'he empties into the Galley, after themanner following.
Taking the Rule from behind the laft Line, he places it before it ; and with his two middle Fingers fqueezes rhe Lines in the Stick clofe ; his two Fore-fingers at the fame time being apply'd on the outfide of the Rule : thus he lifts them out of the Stick, and clapping his two Thumbs beh ind the firft Line, lifts them into the Galley ; taking care to difengage his two Thumbs without breaking the Lines.
The Compofitor having thus fet the proper Number of Lines in his Stick, viz. four, fix, or eight, and emptied them out into the Galley ; he again fills, and empties as before, till a compleat Page be form'd : Remembring at the bottom of every Page to fet a Line of Quadrats, and at the end thereof the firlt Word of the Page enfuing, for a Catch-Word ; and, if it be the firft Page of the Sheet' one of the Letters of the Alphabet for a Signature.
The Galley is aflat wooden Inftrument, in form of a long Square ; of a length and breadth proportionable to that of the Page : It confifts of two Parts, the Upper, call'd the Slice, whereby the Pages of large Volumes, when com- pofed, are Hidden upon the Stone ; the other, which is the Body of the Galley, isledged on three fides, to contain the Slice ; the inner Ledge not to exceed half an Inch in height, that the compofed Page riling above it by one half
the height of the Letter, may be tyed up, or bound down and removed without danger. . *
This Galley is placed at the Top of the Cafe, ar) j j tamed by two wooden Pins from Hiding down the BoxeV See Galley. ■ "■
The Page, then, compofed and ranged in the Galley he ties it up therein with a Cord or Pack-thread ; and f et5 j t by ; and proceeds to the next, till the Number of Pag eso f the Sheet be compleated : which done, he carries them to the Impofing or CorreBmg-Stone, there to range them i„ Order, in a Chafe ; which they c-MImpcpng.
The Chafe is a Rectangular Iron Frame of different Di. menfions, according to the Size of the Paper to be printed on ; having two crofs pieces of the fame Metal, call'd 1 long mi fhort Crofs, mortifed, at each end, into the Frame fo as to be taken out occafionally.
By the different Situations of thefe Croffes, the Chafe is fitted for different Volumes; for Quarto's and Octavo's one traverfes the middle length wife, the other breadthwife' fo as to interfect in the Centre ; which is the molt cufto- mary Situation : For Twelves and Twenty-fours, the fhort Crofs is fhifted nearer to one end of the Chafe : For Folio's the long Crofs is left entirely out, and the ihort one placed in the Middle ; and for Broadfides, or Sheets printed on one fide only, both Crofl'es are fet afide.
To drefs the Chafe, or range and fix the Pages therein, they make ufe of a Set of Furniture, confifting of Riglets' or Hips of Wood of different Dimenfions, and about half an Inch high, that they may be lower than the Letters: Some of thefe are placed at the Top of the Pages, call'd" Hiad-flicks ; others between them to form the inner Mar- gin, call'd the Gutter flicks ; others at the Sides, call'd Side-flicks ; and others at the Bottom, call'd Foot-flicks.
The Pages, then, placed in order on the Stone, the Chafe is put over 'cm, and the Riglets apply'd between the Letter and the Chafe, in the Pofuion above-mentioned ; the whole is lock'd up by means of other leffer pieces, cut in the Wedge-form, call'd Quoins, which are driven with a Mallet and Shooting-flick, to a fufficient Tightnefs.
Before the Form be quite lock'd up, they drefs down the fame, by paffing a fmouth pieceof Wood, call'd the Plainer, over the Letters.to make their Surfaces Hand flat and even; and when lock'd up, they lhake it, to fee that nothing ftir.
In this condition the Work is call'd a Form, containing more or fewer Pages, according to the Volume. See Form.
As there are two Forms required for every Sheet, when both fides are to be printed, 'tis neceffary they be exactly of the fame length and breadth, i. e. the correfponding Riglets, Head-fticks, S$c. are to be equal in both Forms.
Here, then, properly ends the Compofitor's Office ; the Form, thus finifh'd, being to be committed to the Prefs- Man.
Indeed, as it is impoffible but there muft be Miftakes in the Work, either thro' theOverfight of the Compofitor, or by the tranfpofition of the Letters in the Cafes ; after drawing off a Proof, it is deliver'd to the Corrector, who reading it over, and rectifying it by the Copy ; it 'is re- manded to the former Operator, to be corrected accor- dingly.
For the Characters ufed in correcting a Sheet for the Compofitor, fee Correction.
The Compofitor, then, unlocking the Form upon the- correcting Stone, by knocking out or loofening the Quoins 5 and fpreading his corrected Proof fo, as that the Lines there- of range with the refpective ones of the Metal ; by running his Eye along both, he eafily fpies where Corrections are to be made : according to which, he proceeds ro pick out the faulty Letters, Points, 2fc. with a fharp-pointed Steel- Bodkin, and puts others in their places.
Where the Alterations are confiderable, and particularly where Infertions or Omiflions are to be made, there ufually arifes a neceffity of over-running ; in order to which, they muftde-compofe, or return the Lines back from the Chafe into the Galley, and from the Galley again into the Com- pofing-Stick, to be new modell'd and rcctify'd accordingly.
If, e.gr. one or more Words to be inferred in a Line, cannot begot in by changing the Spaces of the Line for leffer ones; part of the Line muft be put back into the clofe of the pre- ceding one, or forward into the beginning of the fubfequent one, or both ; till room is got. If the'lnfertion be large, feveral Lines will need to be over-run, either backward or forward, till a Break is arrived at ; when, if it be not got in, a Line is to be driven out ; and to get in that Line, the next Pages, either backward or forward, muft fometimes be over-run e'er it can come in.
Where an Oiniflion is to be made, the contrary courfe muft beraken. If it be but little, the Compofitor takes it out, and drives out the Matter; by either enlarging his Spaces, or be- llowing the beginning of the following, or the clofe of the preceding Line, therein. If it be confiderable, he may be obliged to over-run feveral Pages e'er it can be driven out.
Office
