diff options
Diffstat (limited to '23754.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 23754.txt | 9390 |
1 files changed, 9390 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/23754.txt b/23754.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0a45d4c --- /dev/null +++ b/23754.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9390 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Building of a Book, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Building of a Book + A Series of Practical Articles Written by Experts in the + Various Departments of Book Making and Distributing + +Author: Various + +Commentator: Theodore L. De Vinne + +Editor: Frederick H. Hitchcock + +Release Date: December 6, 2007 [EBook #23754] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BUILDING OF A BOOK *** + + + + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier, Christine P. +Travers and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +[Transcriber's note: Obvious printer's errors have been corrected, all +other inconsistencies are as in the original. The author's spelling has +been maintained.] + + + + + THE BUILDING OF A BOOK + + + A SERIES OF PRACTICAL ARTICLES + WRITTEN BY EXPERTS IN THE VARIOUS + DEPARTMENTS OF BOOK MAKING AND DISTRIBUTING + + + WITH AN INTRODUCTION + BY THEODORE L. DE VINNE + + + EDITED BY + FREDERICK H. HITCHCOCK + + + [Illustration: Editor's arm.] + + + + + THE GRAFTON PRESS + PUBLISHERS NEW YORK + + + + + Copyright, 1906, + By THE GRAFTON PRESS. + Published December, 1906. + + + + + DEDICATED + TO READERS AND LOVERS + OF BOOKS THROUGHOUT + THE COUNTRY + + + + +FOREWORD + + +"The Building of a Book" had its origin in the wish to give practical, +non-technical information to readers and lovers of books. I hope it +will also be interesting and valuable to those persons who are +actually engaged in book making and selling. + +All of the contributors are experts in their respective departments, +and hence write with authority. I am exceedingly grateful to them for +their very generous efforts to make the book a success. + + THE EDITOR. + + + + +ARTICLES AND CONTRIBUTORS + + + Page + + INTRODUCTION 1 + By THEODORE L. DE VINNE, of Theodore L. + De Vinne & Company, Printers, New York. + + THE AUTHOR 4 + By GEORGE W. CABLE, Author of "Grandissimes," + "The Cavalier," and other books. Resident of + Northampton, Massachusetts. + + THE LITERARY AGENT 9 + By PAUL R. REYNOLDS, Literary Agent, New York, + representing several English publishing houses and + American authors. + + THE LITERARY ADVISER 16 + By FRANCIS W. HALSEY, formerly Editor of the + _New York Times Saturday Review of Books_, and + literary adviser for D. Appleton & Company. Now + literary adviser for Funk & Wagnalls Company, New York. + + THE MANUFACTURING DEPARTMENT 25 + By LAWTON L. WALTON, in charge of the + manufacturing department of The Macmillan Company, + Publishers, New York. + + THE MAKING OF TYPE 31 + By L. BOYD BENTON, Mechanical Manager of the + Jersey City factory of the American Type Founders' + Company. + + HAND COMPOSITION AND ELECTROTYPING 41 + By J. STEARNS CUSHING, of J. S. Cushing & + Company, Norwood, Massachusetts, one of the three + concerns forming the Norwood Press. + + COMPOSITION BY THE LINOTYPE MACHINE 53 + By FREDERICK J. WARBURTON, Treasurer of the + Mergenthaler Linotype Machine Company. + + COMPOSITION BY THE MONOTYPE MACHINE 66 + By PAUL NATHAN, a member of Wood & Nathan, + New York, selling agents for the Lanston Monotype + Machine. + + PROOF-READING 77 + By GEORGE L. MILLER, with the Charles Francis + Press, New York. + + PAPER MAKING 89 + By HERBERT W. MASON, of S. D. Warren & Company, + Paper Makers, Boston, Massachusetts. + + PRESSWORK 99 + By WALTER J. BERWICK, of Berwick & Smith + Company, Norwood, Massachusetts, one of the three + concerns constituting the Norwood Press. + + THE PRINTING PRESS 112 + By OTTO L. RAABE, with R. Hoe & Company, New + York, Printing Press Manufacturers. + + PRINTING INK 139 + By JAMES A. ULLMAN, of Sigmund Ullman Company, + Ink Makers, New York. + + THE PRINTER'S ROLLER 144 + By ALBERT S. BURLINGHAM, President of the + National Roller Company, New York. + + THE ILLUSTRATOR 154 + By CHARLES D. WILLIAMS, Artist, New York. + + HALF-TONE, LINE, AND COLOR PLATES 164 + By EMLYN M. GILL, President of the Gill + Engraving Company, New York. + + THE WAX PROCESS 176 + By ROBERT D. SERVOSS, Engraver of maps, + etc., by the wax process, New York. + + MAKING INTAGLIO PLATES 180 + By ELMER LATHAM, Manager of the mechanical + department of M. Kramer & Company, Photogravure + Makers, Brooklyn, New York. + + PRINTING INTAGLIO PLATES 190 + By GEORGE W. H. RITCHIE, Printer of + photogravure plates, etchings, etc., New York. + + THE GELATINE PROCESS 198 + By EMIL JACOBI, Manager of the factory + of the Campbell Art Company, New York, and + Elizabeth, New Jersey. + + LITHOGRAPHY 204 + By CHARLES WILHELMS, late of + Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographing and Printing + Company, Brooklyn, New York. + + COVER DESIGNING 216 + By AMY RICHARDS, Artist, New York, her + specialty being cover designs. + + THE COVER STAMPS 221 + By GEORGE BECKER, of Becker Brothers + Company, Die Cutters, New York. + + BOOK CLOTHS 226 + By HENRY P. KENDALL, of the Holliston Mills, + Book Cloth Manufacturers, Norwood, Massachusetts. + + BOOK LEATHERS 234 + By ELLERY C. BARTLETT, of Louis Dejonge & + Company, Dressers and Importers of Book Leathers, + New York. + + THE BINDING 237 + By JESSE FELLOWES TAPLEY, President of + J. F. Tapley Company, Binders, New York. + + SPECIAL BINDINGS 248 + By HENRY BLACKWELL, Fine Binder, New York. + + COPYRIGHTING 257 + By FREDERICK H. HITCHCOCK, Member of the + New York Bar; President of The Grafton Press, + Publishers, New York. + + PUBLICITY 269 + By VIVIAN BURNETT, formerly in charge of + the Publicity Department of McClure, Phillips + & Company, Publishers, New York. + + REVIEWING AND CRITICISING 292 + By WALTER LITTLEFIELD, a Member of the Staff + of the _New York Times Saturday Review of Books_, + and literary correspondent of the _Chicago + Record-Herald_, and other papers. + + THE TRAVELLING SALESMAN 303 + By HARRY A. THOMPSON, formerly representing + John Lane, and Small, Maynard & Company, Publishers. + Now one of the Associate Editors of the _Saturday + Evening Post_, Philadelphia. + + SELLING AT WHOLESALE 320 + By JOSEPH E. BRAY, formerly with A. C. + McClurg & Company, Wholesalers, Chicago. Now with + the Outing Publishing Company, New York. + + SELLING AT RETAIL 328 + By WARREN SNYDER, Manager of the Book Stores + of John Wanamaker, Philadelphia and New York. + + SELLING BY SUBSCRIPTION 339 + By CHARLES S. OLCOTT, Manager of the + Subscription Department of Messrs. Houghton, + Mifflin & Company, New York. + + SELLING AT AUCTION 350 + By JOHN ANDERSON, Jr., President of the + Anderson Auction Company, New York. + + SELECTING FOR A PUBLIC LIBRARY 362 + By ARTHUR E. BOSTWICK, Chief of the + Circulation Department of the New York Public Library. + + RARE AND SECOND-HAND BOOKS 370 + By CHARLES E. GOODSPEED, Dealer in Rare and + Second-hand Books, Boston. + + + + +THE BUILDING OF A BOOK + + + + +INTRODUCTION + +By Theodore L. De Vinne. + + +To the hasty observer printing seems the simplest of arts or crafts. +The small boy who has been taught to spell can readily arrange +lettered blocks of wood in readable words, and that arrangement is +rated by many as the great feature of printing. With his toy +printing-press he can stamp paper upon inked type in so deft a manner +that admiring friends may say the print is good enough for anybody. +The elementary processes of printing are indeed so simple that they +might have justified Dogberry in adding typography to the +accomplishments of the "reading and writing that come by nature." With +this delusion comes the desire for amateur performance. Men who would +not undertake to make a coat or a pair of shoes are confident of their +ability to make or to direct the making of a book. + +In real practice this apparent simplicity disappears. Commercial +printing is never done quickly or cheaply by amateur methods. The +printing-house that undertakes to print miscellaneous books for +publishers must be provided with tons of type of different faces and +sizes. It needs type-making and type-setting machines of great +complexity, printing-presses of great size and cost, and much curious +machinery in the departments of electrotyping and bookbinding; but +these machines, intended to relieve the drudgery of monotonous manual +labor, do not supplant the necessity for a higher skill in +craftsmanship. They really make that craftsmanship more difficult. + +The difficulty of good book-making is greater now than ever. +Improvements made during the last century in processes of engraving +and the making of ink and paper and the increasing exactions of +critical readers and reviewers, compel a closer attention to the petty +detail of manufacture. The novice soon finds that some of the methods +recently introduced are incompatible with other methods. For the +production of a superior book practical experience and theoretical +study of all processes are needed to harmonize their antagonisms. One +has but to read over the headlines of the foregoing table of contents +to note how many different arts, crafts, and sciences are required in +the construction of a well-made book. A reading of these articles +makes one understand the scope and limitations of each art and the +necessity for its proper adjustment in its relation to the +workmanship of other crafts with which it may be associated. + +For this purpose this book has been prepared. It is believed that a +compilation of the experience of men eminent in their respective +departments will be a useful guide to the amateur in authorship or the +novice in publication. + + + + +THE AUTHOR + +By George W. Cable. + + +In a certain fine and true sense books of imaginative writing--and the +present writer cannot undertake to speak of any others--are not built, +but born. Nevertheless, there has always been an unlucky tendency on +the part both of writers and readers to overstate this non-mechanical +nature of poetic works, whether in prose or verse, and to give the +processes of this production that air of mystery--not to say +miracle--in which art is always tempted to veil its methods. There is +an anatomy of the book, which is not its life, but is just as real as +its life, and only less essential. There is an architecture awaiting +the book while it is still in its author's brain; and for want of due +regard to this architecture's laws, for want of a sound and shapely +anatomy, many a book misses the success--not commercial only, but +spiritual as well--which the amount of toil and talent spent on it +ought to earn. And now that reading has become so democratic that the +fortunes of a book of the imagination are largely in the hands of the +Crowd, which cares nothing and feels nothing as to grace of form and +tone in what it reads, the commercial risk in the physical deformities +of a book is not so great as the risk of its spiritual failure. Now, +too, that the magazines have made it so very desirable to the author +that his work should be printed first in them, their mechanical +limitations, which are legion, bear upon the author and often seem to +him (and his personal friends) to bear cruelly. This difficulty is not +a flattering or gentle discipline, nor are its discriminations always +good or always bad. It works almost as crudely as that of the stage +works on the theatrical dramatist. A cunning subservience to it covers +a multitude of sins, and often achieves for the literary craftsman +place and preference over the truer artist, if he overlooks the need +of being also a craftsman. Yet it is the hard demand, not of the +magazines alone, but of every highest interest, that the cure for this +injustice be found in the truest artist making himself also the +cunningest craftsman. "He that would be first among you let him be the +servant of all." + +Well, then, what are some of these mechanical rules of construction? +The space here allowed--see there, for instance!--gives room for but a +hint or two; but, first of all, an author should know before the +actual constructure of his creation begins to rise, how long it is to +be. Of course he would like to say he cannot tell; that he is in the +hands of his muse, and all that; but the truth is, his "artistic +temperament" is trying to shirk the drudgery of the engineering +problem involved. It is far better for him as an artist that he should +thoroughly solve that problem; it will take time and labor, but it +need not waste them. The length of his work will, or should, depend +upon the breadth of it; by which we mean that a certain fulness of +treatment involves a certain length. For instance, one cannot +reasonably hope to keep a story short if it is about several persons +and involves a conflict of their characters or fates. That is the +second necessity; the length must be planned in proportion to the +breadth. But, thirdly, both length and breadth should be governed by +the importance, the dignity, the substantial value, the business, the +substance, the spiritual stuff, of which the projected book is to +consist. Hence the writer of true literary conscience will put the +first, as above named, last, and the last first: spiritual substance, +then breadth, then length. + +In order to make fairly sure of these essentials, as well as for other +reasons, the author should have a clear determination of all the main +features of the structure he proposes to raise. Especially the bridge +should not be itself begun until its builder knows very definitely +where and how it is to reach the other shore; nothing between the +beginning and the end is so important to be sure about from the +beginning, as the end. There is a great difference among writers as +to the sense of need for a complete preliminary framework on which to +build. But beyond doubt many feeble, many abortive, results come of +having too little preparatory framework, too slender a scenario, to +use a playwright's word which authors and editors are borrowing more +and more. + +It seems good that a literary artist should always write for himself. +Yet, of course, he should write unselfishly; we may say he would do +well always to aim at the entertainment of the noblest minds, even +when he does not exhort their loftiest moods. But he certainly +achieves much besides if, while he does these things, at the same time +and in the same doing he entertains the great commonalty of readers. +If he does this, and all the more if he has the rare genius to do all +these in one, his books, we may almost say, _ought_ to go first +through the magazines. If he wants them to do so, then it will be a +godsend to himself as well as to the editors if he will lay his plans, +as far as they have any arithmetical character (and they can have +much), according to the magazines' mechanical exigencies. He should +know just how much of any magazine page his own typewritten pages will +occupy; how many of its own pages that magazine commonly allows to +writings of the kind he proposes to offer--how many yearly, and how +many monthly; and so on. It is well that he should know the best time +of the magazine's business year in which to seek to arrange with +them. To a certain degree magazines actually "lay in stock" for a +coming season and after that, for a time, are languid buyers. + +Be it understood that these remarks are as impromptu as a letter, and +are intended only as hints and pointers. Yet much as they leave +unstated, let a word be said as to the relation of the author to his +book after he and all the later artisans of it have done their several +parts in its building, and it is built. The care of the edifice ought +still to be, far more than it commonly is, in the author's hands. The +publisher has the fortunes of hundreds of works to promote and keep in +repair; the author has but his own. Even an author may say that any +publisher is glad to have suggestions from any author as to plans for +keeping the children of that author's own brain alive in the world. + + + + +THE LITERARY AGENT + +By Paul R. Reynolds. + + +The work of the literary agent in the building of a book may be +roughly divided into two parts, first, in relation to the author, and +second, in relation to the publisher. When the author has finished his +manuscript, he brings it to the literary agent to be placed. The +literary agent reads it and decides what house is most likely to +publish such a book. He does not offer a book on Nervous Disorders to +a house which never publishes that kind of book. He does not offer a +sensational novel to a conservative house. He offers a book on +Political Economy to a house which publishes that class of book and +which is in touch with the people who buy books of that order. Among a +number of houses which bring out books of any definite class, he can +select the house that is most energetic in pushing its books, that has +behind it a prestige and name which will help its publications, and +which possesses the requisite skill to lay its wares before the public +advantageously. The success of many a book has depended more on the +shrewdness of the publisher in laying it before the public in +attractive and seductive guise than either the public or the author +often realize. + +If the publisher accepts the manuscript offered to him by the literary +agent, the latter arranges terms with the publisher, making as good a +business arrangement as all the conditions justify. He draws up the +contract with the publisher, and after the book is published, he +collects the royalties from the publisher as they fall due. He enables +the author to avoid any house that has a reputation for sharp +practices. Knowing the personnel of the different houses, he knows the +proper man to approach in offering his book, and he is of aid to the +author in blowing his trumpet for him, telling what his previous work +has been, in a way that the author, sensitive as he often is, cannot +properly do. In short, the agent takes off the author's shoulders all +the business end of publishing, leaving him free to devote himself to +his own proper vocation without the vexatious business worries which +he finds all the more vexatious because he has not had any training or +experience in coping with them. + +I think the literary agent can be, and as time goes on, will be, of +increasing use to the publisher. The literary agent, if he understands +his business, takes up no manuscript in which he does not believe. +When he brings the publisher a manuscript, it is because he thinks +there is money in such manuscript for the publisher, for the author, +and as far as commission is concerned, for himself. While it is an +advantage to the author that he should have the judgment of the agent, +because the agent looks at any manuscript from a cold-blooded business +point of view, it is also of advantage to the publisher to know that +the agent, free from the confidence and perhaps the bias that the +author has about his own wares, is offering him any individual +manuscript because he (the agent) believes it will sell. The result is +that the publisher gets to know that the agent won't offer him a +manuscript that is not up to a certain standard, and which, even +though it should in the end not prove suitable to this publisher's +special list, must receive careful consideration. In this way the +agent becomes of use to the publisher because he tries never to offer +him anything that is mere trash or that simply wastes the publisher's +time. Some time ago a publishing house wrote to an agent telling him +they wanted a certain kind of novel for the next season, and +describing, with a good deal of particularity, the kind of book they +wanted. The agent, after thinking the matter over, submitted two +manuscripts. The publisher considered them and accepted both. In such +a case the agent had certainly been of great use to the publisher. He +had given him what he was looking for, and had saved him the nuisance +and the actual expense of reading through a large number of +manuscripts before finding the right one. + +It may be admitted frankly that the agent is sometimes accused of +asking more for his wares than they are worth. In reply to this +accusation it may be said that asking is not getting, and the agent +who asks more than the market justifies, and thereby spoils the +chances of a satisfactory arrangement, is not serving the best +interests of his client. On the other hand, he will get the best price +obtainable in the market, taking into consideration the character of +the publishing house, its prestige and ability in pushing books, and +as he is offering and selling every day he can generally obtain a +better price and make a better arrangement than the author can. +Realizing that the author and publishers are partners in an enterprise +whose success depends upon a frank and clear understanding, he will do +his best to make such relations friendly and harmonious and to the +mutual advantage of both parties to the contract, never forgetting, +however, that his especial client is the author, and that it is his +duty to represent the author's interests. + +One of the notable features of the times is the growth of magazines. +The arrangement for the serialization of a long story in a magazine, +the placing of short stories and articles in magazines, the selling of +stories, articles, and books in England, and arranging the +simultaneous issue in both countries,--all this involves an immense +amount of detail which one has to encounter fully to realize. +Sometimes, where an author is putting out a good many manuscripts, the +complications are numerous and perplexing. In the case of one author +living abroad whom we will call Smith, a book was arranged with a +house A, and a second with a house B. The author was taken ill, could +not finish the first book in time so that A had to postpone it till +the next year, and this meant that B had to postpone his book. Then a +publishing house took a story which the same author had sold direct to +it for magazine publication, without reserving book rights, and +brought such story out in book form. This meant another complication. +After B had postponed his book twice the author produced another book +which he thought better than the second book, and wished published +before B's book. Four times B was asked to postpone his book and each +time agreed to, though not without certain _quid pro quos_. All these +matters the agent had to straighten out, while the author was living +three thousand miles away. + +The agent can also be of use to the author because he looks at any +manuscript in an objective rather than in a subjective way. The +author, who has toiled and striven over the child of his brain, +regards it as fathers generally regard their children. Sometimes he +cannot see its faults, sometimes he misjudges its virtues. It is too +much a part of himself to be regarded coldly and calmly. When the +publisher makes an offer for a book the author may with hasty disdain +wish to reject it as entirely inadequate, or he may wish to accept it +with eager haste, so glad is he for the chance of seeing the book in +print. In this state of hasty acceptance or hasty rejection, the agent +can look upon an offer calmly and dispassionately, to be accepted or +rejected as the author's best interests shall dictate. Then again, as +time goes on, more and more authors must live at a distance from the +great centres. Some of them live in the uttermost parts of the earth. +One author wrote recently to his agent from the wilds of Africa, +saying, "I have found a nicely secluded spot, surrounded by gorillas +and chimpanzees." To such authors it is essential that they should +have an agent who is in touch with the publishers who are publishing +their works. + +Then again, the agent can be of use to the author in sparing him some +of the bitterness that the author feels when his manuscript is +rejected. Who that has read it can ever forget the story of how +Hawthorne, while still struggling for success, submitted a collection +of short stories to a publisher, and of how the publisher, not having +much capital, laid the manuscript aside, intending to publish it when +things were a little easier; and how Hawthorne, after months of dreary +waiting, wrote an angry letter to the publisher, and when he got the +manuscript back, in bitter, hopeless rage burned it up? Years +afterward the publisher admitted that the manuscript contained some of +the most exquisite work Hawthorne had ever written. This story +emphasizes the intense sensitiveness of the author about his work. +Often after two or three rejections he will give the manuscript up as +hopeless and of no value, while it may be that he has only failed to +find the house that is looking for that kind of book. An agent, if he +has once taken the book up, does not drop it so quickly. Only recently +an agent sold a book which had been declined by fifteen houses to the +sixteenth. He is willing to persevere with a manuscript and with an +author, in spite of rebuffs and discouragement, if he believes that +the author has merit; and if he is willing to persevere with an author +in the day of small things, he will reap his reward later on. + +In conclusion the writer believes that the agent, as he has tried to +indicate, can perform a definite and valuable service to both author +and publisher by helping the author to bring his wares to the man who +will publish them most advantageously, and by obtaining for the author +the prices that such wares are worth in the open market, and he can +help the publisher by acting as a sifter and bringing before the +publisher and editor manuscripts that are really worthy of +consideration. + + + + +THE LITERARY ADVISER + +By Francis W. Halsey. + + +The position of literary adviser to a publishing house differs in its +duties, according as the adviser may be employed in a house highly +organized, or in one that is not. When the organization is such that +the duties in the various departments are not well differentiated, the +adviser's work will be likely to involve many things that properly +belong to the manufacturing and advertising departments. These +conditions, however, if they exist at all, will be found in the +smaller houses, or in houses which, as to personnel, are undergoing +reorganization; they are, and ought to be, exceptional. + +The adviser's actual duties should pertain almost exclusively to the +manuscripts, and to the relations of the house with those who produce +them. In this way, the adviser acts as an intermediary between the +publisher and the author. This relation seems, on the surface, to be +somewhat delicate, and it usually is confidential, but most men find +the occupation an agreeable one. Authors as a class, so far from being +an irritable race, will usually be found, at least in their relations +to publishers, not only interesting men and women, but candid and +reasonable human beings. Probably the most delightful rewards of the +literary adviser's calling come from the opportunities it gives him to +extend his friendships among charming people. + +Any house which is large enough to employ a literary adviser will +probably receive, in the course of a year, at least one thousand +unsolicited manuscripts, which will come from every part of the +country. They will naturally be of widely varying degrees of +excellence; quite two-thirds of them will be fiction, and a +considerable number will bear convincing evidence of having already +been for some time in search of a publisher. Testimony from various +houses has at different times been given as to the percentage of +volunteered manuscripts which eventually find acceptance. It does not +materially vary, being from one to two per cent. Some years ago, in +order to test this estimate, I went carefully over the unsolicited +manuscripts which had reached a large publishing house during a period +of several months, and found that exactly one and one-half per cent of +them had been published. + +This small showing should not imply that the remaining ninety-eight or +ninety-nine per cent could in fairness be called worthless. With +occasional exceptions, rejected manuscripts have been prepared with +considerable intelligence; knowledge of themes is shown in them; +there is some real literary skill in evidence, and particular care has +been taken to secure legibility, about nine-tenths of them being in +typewritten form. What they lack is certain other qualities more vital +in the formation of a judgment as to their availability. In the case +of fiction, they lack novelty of treatment, or for some other reason +fail to be interesting, and in general there has not been infused into +them the real breath of life. When they deal with serious subjects, +they often cover ground which has been better covered before, or they +attempt to achieve the not-worth-while, or the impossible. + +There is always a small number of manuscripts against which no other +objection can be raised than that it would be impossible to secure +from the public an adequate return in sales for the expenditure +necessary in the manufacture and distribution of the books. One of the +pathetic sides of the publishing business is the fact that manuscripts +of this kind cannot oftener, in this day and generation, secure the +amount of attention they deserve from the reading public. When a sale +of one or two thousand copies would be necessary to make good the cost +of publication, the publisher is confronted with the fact that he +could not secure a sale exceeding five hundred. Indeed, when one +considers the almost certain fate that awaits them, pathos of the most +genuine kind is closely associated with volunteered manuscripts--those, +I mean, which come from new writers. Hardly any form of endeavor to +which educated minds devote themselves should more often awaken +sympathetic feeling. Those who produce them almost always have their +rewards far to seek, and seeking will not find them, and yet they +"wrought in sad sincerity." + +The public is familiar with stories of successful books which, in the +course of their peregrinations, were several times rejected by +publishers. This, doubtless, has been the experience of all authors +who have made notable successes with first books, and it doubtless +always will be the experience of new authors. But along with this we +must set down the further, but consoling fact, that probably no +meritorious manuscript, possessing the possibilities of a great sale, +ever yet failed ultimately to find a publisher. The best proof of this +seems to be the absence of any notable instance of a book which, after +being rejected by all the regular houses, finally was brought out +privately, or at the author's expense, and then made a hit. + +It is a common impression that manuscripts are not carefully read in +publishing houses. Again and again has this fiction been exploded by +houses whose word should be accepted as final, but it now and then +lifts up its head as if untouched before. Of course there are +manuscripts which no one ever reads completely through from beginning +to end, chapter by chapter, and page by page, simply because it has +been found not to be necessary to do so. Every conscientious reader, +however,--and most readers known to me have been nothing if not +conscientious,--reads at least far enough into a manuscript to learn +if there be anything in it that in the least degree is promising. He +understands full well the danger of overlooking a meritorious work, +and experience has taught him to be careful. Moreover, he is usually +fired with the worthy ambition to make a discovery; but he acts +according to his light only, and hence makes mistakes. The conditions +in which his work is done, however, preclude the possibility of +careless reading. + +It is doubtless true--indeed, I believe the records of every +publishing house in the country will sustain this statement--that +while no house has failed at some time in its career to reject at +least one manuscript that was afterwards a highly successful book, +mistakes of this kind have been extremely few; whereas the mistakes +made by the same houses in accepting manuscripts that were afterward +found to be unprofitable have been numerous. A further fact, which is +seldom borne in mind, although it ought always to be remembered in any +discussion of literary success, is that highly successful books +usually bring to their publishers as much surprise as they do to any +one else. This is distinctly true of novels by new writers, whose +"big-sellers" have seldom or never been anticipated. It is well known +in the trade that at least two, and probably a half-dozen, books +highly successful during the past ten years, and all the works of new +writers, were sent to press for the first edition, with a printing +order for only two thousand copies. + +The public has gotten very much into the habit of judging the fortunes +of a publishing house by the successful fiction which it puts forth, +and this is also true of many men in the trade, whose means of knowing +better ought to be ample. Probably the literary gossip prevalent in +newspapers and periodicals is largely responsible for this habit. The +facts are, however, that, from these books alone, no publishing house +in this country is, or could be, well sustained. Unless there be in +the background some other publishing enterprise that is producing +constant revenue from year to year, mere fiction will accomplish +little to make or save the publisher. The real sources of stability +lie elsewhere, far beyond the ken of the superficial observer, and +they are very commonly overlooked. In one instance, this mainstay is +religious books; in another a cyclopaedia; in another medical books, or +educational; in another a dictionary; in another a periodical; and +fortunate the house that has not one, but two or three, such sources +of prosperity. + +It might be set down as an axiomatic statement that no large +publishing house in this country could possibly live exclusively from +what are known as miscellaneous books, by which is meant current +fiction and other ephemeral publications. The worst thing about such +books is that they create no assets; their life is short, and once it +is ended, the plates have value only as old metal. A house, therefore, +in publishing this class of books finds that each season it must begin +all over again the work of creating business for itself. Books of the +more substantial kind, however, whether they be religious, +educational, scientific, medical, or in other senses books of +reference, do not perish with the passing of a season. Once the right +kinds have been found, they are good for at least ten years, and not +infrequently for a generation. + +But this is wandering somewhat away from the subject of the literary +adviser. His duties primarily are to preserve and to create good-will +from authors toward the house which employs him, for that good-will is +an asset of the first importance to a publishing house. Other kinds of +good-will at the same time are essential to its fortunes,--notably the +good-will of the bookseller and that of the book buyer,--but behind +these, and primarily as the source of these, lies the good-will of the +author. Houses now known to be the most prosperous in this country +possess this good-will in abundance. So, too, the houses which are +destined to much longer life are those which, by all legitimate +means, shall seek to preserve and increase that good-will. Equally +true is it, that the houses which in future shall fail will be those +which do not cultivate and cherish the good-will of authors as the +most valuable asset they can ever hope to possess. + +It is because of this possession that a publisher gets an author's +book. It was by this means that he got the books he already has, and +by this will he get those which will make him successful in the +future. His books being good, it is through them that the bookseller's +good-will is acquired, and through them also that the publisher will +secure the good-will of the book buyer. No wiser words on this subject +have been uttered in our generation than those which may be found, +here and there, in "A Publisher's Confession," which I hope was +written, as reputed, by Walter H. Page, for it is certainly sound +enough and sane enough to be his:-- + + "The successful publisher sustains a relation to the + successful author that is not easily transferable. It is a + personal relation. A great corporation cannot take a real + publisher's place in his attitude to the author he serves." + + "Every great publishing house has been built on the strong + friendships between writers and publishers. There is in + fact, no other sound basis to build on; for the publisher + cannot do his highest duty to any author whose work he does + not appreciate and with whom he is not in sympathy. Now, + when a man has an appreciation of your work, and sympathy + for it, he wins you. This is the simplest of all + psychological laws,--the simplest of all laws of friendship, + and one of the soundest." + + "Mere printers and salesmen have not often built publishing + houses. For publishing houses have this distinction over + most other commercial institutions--they rest on the + friendship of the most interesting persons in the world, the + writers of good books." + + "And--in all the noisy babble of commercialism--the writers + of our own generation who are worth most on a publisher's + list respond to the true publishing personality as readily + as writers did before the day of commercial methods. All the + changes that have come into the profession have not, after + all, changed its real character, as it is practised on its + higher levels. And this rule will hold true--that no + publishing house can win and keep a place on the highest + level that does not have at least one man who possesses this + true publishing personality." + +These are golden words. Men who knew them as self-evident truths laid +the foundations, and in a few instances reared the superstructures, of +the most famous publishing houses known to modern literature. Let us +in part call the roll, restricting it to the dead: James T. Fields, +the first Charles Scribner, George P. Putnam, Fletcher Harper, William +H. Appleton, Daniel Macmillan, and the second John Murray. These men +were more than publishers, adding as they did to that vocation the +duties of the literary adviser, and becoming the ablest of their kind. +Well may the literary adviser of our day, who is seldom himself a +publisher, read the story of their lives and take heart from it in the +discharge of his own duties. + + + + +THE MANUFACTURING DEPARTMENT + +By Lawton L. Walton. + + +The manufacture of a book consists primarily of the processes of +typography,[1] or type composition, or the setting up of +type--presswork or printing--photo-engraving or other methods of +reproduction--designing--die-cutting--and binding, all of which are +involved in transforming a manuscript into the completed book as it +reaches the reader. + + [Footnote 1: The word "typographer" is used to + differentiate between the compositor and the + printer, the latter being the one who does the + presswork.] + +In the machinery of a modern publishing house the manufacturing man is +the person who follows these processes in their devious volutions and +evolutions, until the finished production comes from the binder's +hands. + +After a manuscript has been accepted by a publishing house, it is +turned over to the manufacturing man with such general instructions +regarding the make-up of the book, as may have been considered or +discussed with the author, who invariably and sometimes unfortunately, +has some preconceived notion of what his book should look like. + +The manufacturing man then selects what he considers a suitable style +and size of type and size of letter-press page for the book, and sends +the manuscript to the typographer with instructions to set up a few +sample pages, and to make an estimate of the number of pages that the +book will make, so as to verify his own calculations in this respect. + +If these sample pages do not prove satisfactory, others are set up, +until a page is arrived at finally that will meet all the requirements +that the publisher deems necessary. This is then invariably submitted +to the author for his approval. + +This detail settled, the typographer is now instructed to proceed with +the composition and to send proofs to the author. Sometimes a book is +set up at once in page form but more often first proofs are sent out +in galley strips, on which the author makes his corrections before the +matter is apportioned into pages; another proof in page form is sent +to the author on the return of which the typographer casts the +electrotype plates from which the book is printed, unless, as in rare +instances, the book is to be printed from the type, when no +electrotype plates are made. + +The manufacturing man keeps in touch with this work in its various +stages as it proceeds, and as soon as the number of pages that the +book will make can definitely be determined, he places an order for +the paper on which it is to be printed. + +Meanwhile, if the book is to be illustrated, an illustrator must be +engaged, and furnished with a set of early proofs of the book from +which to select the points or situations to illustrate. When the +drawings are finally approved they are carefully looked over, marked +to show the sizes at which they are to be reproduced, and sent to the +engraver for reproduction. + +Upon receipt of the reproductions from the engraver, the proofs are +carefully compared with the originals, and if the work has been +satisfactorily performed, the cuts are sent to the typographer or the +printer for insertion in their proper places in the plates or type +matter of the book. + +The matter of the paper on which the book is to be printed has now to +be considered: First, the size of the page, _i.e._ the apportionment +of the margins around the page of letter-press, is decided. Second, +the quality of paper to be used, and the surface or finish is then +selected; and finally, the bulk or thickness that the book must be, to +make a volume of proper proportions, is determined. The paper is then +ordered, to be delivered to the printer who will print the book. + +Time was when paper was made by hand in certain fixed sizes, and the +size of the book was determined by the number of times the sheet of +paper was folded, and the letter-press page was adapted to the size +of the paper. In these days of machinery, when paper can be made in +any size of sheet desired, the process is reversed: the size of the +letter-press page is determined and the size of the sheet of paper +adapted thereto. Upon receipt of the paper the printer sends a +full-sized dummy of it to the manufacturing man so that he may compare +it with the order that was given to the paper dealer. The book is then +put to press, and as soon as the printing has been completed, the +printed sheets are delivered to the binder. + +If the book is to have a decorative cover, a designer has been +employed to furnish a suitable cover design. When the design has been +approved, it is turned over to the die cutter to cut the brass dies +used by the binder in stamping the design on the cover of the book. + +The dies when finished are sent with the design to the binder to be +copied. He stamps off some sample covers until the result called for +by the designer has been attained and is then ready to proceed with +the operation of binding the book, as soon as the printed sheets have +been delivered to him from the printer. + +The binder is usually supplied by the printer with a small number of +advance copies of the book, before the complete run of the sheets has +been delivered. These advance copies are bound up at once and +delivered to the manufacturing man so that any faults or errors may +be caught and improvements be made before the entire edition of the +book is bound. + +Printed paper wrappers for the book have been made and supplied to the +binder for wrapping each copy, and as soon as the books are bound, +they are wrapped and delivered at the publisher's stock rooms. + +The manufacturing man sees that early copies of each new book, for +copyright purposes, are furnished to the proper department that +attends to that detail, and that early copies also are supplied to the +publicity department, to place with editors for special or advance +reviews. + +The manufacturing man also provides the travelling representatives of +his house with adequate dummies (_i.e._ partly completed copies) of +all new books as soon as the important details of their make-up have +been decided. + +This brief outline covers all of the steps in the process of the +evolution of a book. Reams, however, could be devoted to the +innumerable details that interweave and overlap each other with which +the manufacturing man has to contend, when, as is often the case in +our larger publishing houses, he has from forty to fifty books, and +sometimes more, in process of manufacture at one time. I know of no +man to whom disappointment comes more often than to him,--from the +delays due to causes wholly unavoidable, to the blunders of stupid +workmen and the broken promises of others; but these are all +forgotten when the completed book, that he has worried over in its +course through the press, in many instances for months, reaches his +hands completed, "a thing of beauty." + + + + +THE MAKING OF TYPE + +By L. Boyd Benton. + + +Type are made of type metal, a mixture of tin, antimony, lead, and +copper. As antimony expands in solidifying, advantage is taken of this +quality, and the mixture is so proportioned that the expansion of the +antimony will practically counteract the shrinkage of the other +ingredients. The proportion of the mixture is varied according to the +size and style of type and to the purposes for which it is used. + +Type are cast separately in moulds, a "matrix" at the end of the mould +forming the letter or other character. + +Machinery is used very largely in modern type-making. The steps of its +manufacture are in this order: drawing the design, producing of a +metal pattern therefrom, placing the pattern either in the engraving +machine to produce steel punches and type-metal originals, or in the +matrix-engraving machine to produce matrices, adjusting the matrix to +the mould, and finally, casting the type. + +The design for a new style of type is made generally with pen and +ink, the capital letters being drawn about an inch high and the others +in predetermined proportions. When the design is for a plain text +letter, similar to that with which this book is printed, it is +essential to have the letters proportioned and shaped in such a manner +as will cause the least strain on the eye in reading, and, at the same +time, produce a pleasing effect when the page is viewed as a whole. +When the printed page conveys information to the reader, without +attracting attention to itself, it is ideal. + +While this is true in regard to a design for a text letter, the design +for a display type is often made to attract attention, not only to +itself, but to what it proclaims, by its boldness and beauty and +sometimes even by its ugliness. + +After the design has been drawn, it is placed in a "delineating +machine," where an enlarged outline pencil copy, or tracing, is made, +so large that all errors are easily seen and corrected. New designs +may, however, be drawn in outline by hand on the enlarged scale, thus +rendering unnecessary both the pen-and-ink drawing and the tracing. + +With the aid of the delineating machine, the operator, besides being +able to produce an accurately enlarged outline pencil tracing of a +design, is also enabled, by various adjustments, to change the form of +the pencil tracing in such a manner that it becomes proportionately +more condensed or extended, and even italicized or back-sloped. That +is, from a single design, say Gothic, pencil tracings can be made +condensed, extended, italicized, and back-sloped, as well as an +enlarged facsimile. + +The next operation consists in placing the enlarged outline pencil +drawing in a machine which enables the operator to reproduce the +outline drawing, reduced in size, on a metal plate, evenly covered +with wax, with the line traced entirely through the wax. The plate is +then covered with a thin layer of copper, electrically deposited, and +is "backed up" with metal, and trimmed and finished, similar to an +ordinary electrotype plate of a page of type. A copper-faced metal +plate is thus produced, on which are the raised outlines of a letter. +This is called the "pattern." From this pattern all regular type sizes +may be cut. It determines the shape of the letter, but the size and +variations from the pattern are determined later by the adjustments of +the engraving machine in which it is used. + +The pattern is now sent to the engraving room. Machines have +superseded the old-fashioned way of cutting punches and originals by +hand, and they have enormously increased the production of new type +faces. Whereas in the old days it took about eighteen months to bring +out a new Roman face, or style of letters, in seven different sizes, +to-day it can be done in about five weeks. The reason is that formerly +only one artist, known as a punch-cutter, could work on a single face, +and he had to cut all the sizes, otherwise there were noticeable +differences in style. By machine methods, where all sizes can be cut +simultaneously, it is only a question of having the requisite number +of engraving machines. + +As to the quality of machine work, it is superior to hand work both in +accuracy and uniformity. The artist formerly cut the punches, or +originals, by hand under a magnifying glass, and the excellence of his +work was really marvellous. However, when changing from one size to +another, there were often perceptible variations in the shapes of the +letters, or the sizes were not always evenly graded. By the machine +method the workman uses the long end of a lever, as explained below, +and has therefore a greater chance of doing accurate work. In addition +to this, a rigid pattern forms the shape of the letter, and to it all +sizes must conform. + +Another gain the machine has over hand-cutting is its greater range. +When the old-time artist made an unusually small size of type for +Bible use, he did it with great strain on his eyes and nerves. At any +moment his tool might slip and spoil the work. With the machine, on +the other hand, and with no physical strain whatever, experimental +punches have been cut so small as to be legible only with a +microscope--too small, in fact, to print. At present there are two +styles of engraving machines employed,--one cutting the letter in +relief,--called a "punch" if cut in steel, and an "original" if cut in +type metal,--and the other cutting a letter in intaglio,--called a +"matrix." Both machines are constructed on the principle of the lever, +the long arm following the pattern, while the short arm moves either +the work against the cutting tool, or the cutting tool against the +work. The adjustments are such that the operator is enabled to engrave +the letter proportionately more extended or condensed, and lighter or +heavier in face, than the pattern. All these variations are necessary +for the production of a properly graded modern series containing the +usual sizes. In fact, on account of the laws of optics, which cannot +be gone into here, only one size of a series is cut in absolutely +exact proportion to the patterns. + +As it is impossible to describe these machines clearly without the aid +of many diagrams and much technical language, only a brief description +of their operation will be given. + +When the letters are to be engraved in steel, blocks or "blanks" are +cut from soft steel and finished to the proper size. A blank is then +fastened in the "holder," the machine for cutting the letter in relief +adjusted to the proper leverage, and the pattern clamped to the "bed." +The long arm of the lever, containing the proper "tracer" or follower, +is moved by the operator around the outside of the pattern on the +copper-faced metal plate, causing the blank to be moved by the +shorter arm around and against a rotating cutting tool. This operation +is repeated several times with different sizes of tracers and +different adjustments to enable the cutting tool to cut at different +depths, until finally a steel letter in relief is produced, engraved +the reverse of the pattern and very much smaller. After being hardened +and polished, this is called a steel punch, and, when driven into a +flat piece of copper, it produces what is known as a "strike" or +unfinished matrix. + +If in the same machine type metal is used for blanks, the resulting +originals are placed in a "flask," or holder, and submerged in a bath, +where they receive on the face of the letter a thick coating of +nickel, electrically deposited. As soon as the deposit is of +sufficient thickness, they are removed and the soft metal letters +withdrawn, leaving a deep facsimile impression in the deposited metal, +which also is an unfinished matrix. + +The machine for engraving a matrix in intaglio is operated in much the +same manner as that for engraving a punch in relief. The same patterns +are used, but the operator traces on the inside of the raised outline +instead of on the outside. Besides following the outline, the operator +guides the tracers over all the surface of the pattern within the +outlines; otherwise the letter would appear in the matrix in outline +only. The matrices are cut in steel and in watchmakers' nickel, and +the work is so accurately done that about half the labor of finishing +is saved. + +It will be noted from the foregoing that all three processes of +engraving end in the production of an unfinished matrix. + +The adjusting of the matrix to the mould is technically called +"fitting," and requires great skill. If type are cast from unfitted +matrices, be the letters ever so cleverly designed and perfectly cut, +when assembled in the printed page they will present a very ragged +appearance. Some letters will appear slanting backward, others +forward, some be above the line, others below; some will perforate the +paper, while others will not print at all; the distances between the +letters will everywhere be unequal, and some will print on but one +edge. Indeed, a single letter may have half of these faults, but when +the matrices are properly fitted, the printed page presents a smooth +and even appearance. + +The mould for this purpose is made of hardened steel, and in it is +formed the body of the type. The printing end is formed in the matrix. +The mould is provided at one end with guides and devices for holding +the matrix snugly against it while the type is being cast, and for +withdrawing the matrix and opening the mould when the type is +discharged. At the opposite end from the matrix is an opening through +which the melted metal enters. The moulds are made adjustable so that +each character is cast the proper width, the opening of course being +wider for a "W" than for an "i." Only one mould is necessary for one +size of type, and with it all the matrices for that size may be used. +Commercially, however, it is often necessary to make several moulds of +the same size in order to produce the requisite amount of type. + +After the adjustments are made, the casting of the type follows. Type +are now cast in a machine which is automatic, after it is once +adjusted to cast a given letter. The melted type metal is forced by a +pump into the mould and the matrix, and when solidified, the type is +ejected from the mould and moved between knives which trim all four +sides. The type are delivered side by side on a specially grooved +piece of wood, three feet long, called a "stick," on which they are +removed from the machine for inspection. Type are cast at the rate of +from ten to two hundred per minute, according to the size, the speed +being limited only by the time it takes the metal to solidify. To +accelerate this, a stream of cold water is forced through passages +surrounding the mould, and a jet of cold air is blown against the +outside. + +The automatic casting machine performs six different operations. +Formerly, all of them, except the casting itself, were done by hand, +and each type was handled separately, except in the operation of +dressing, or the final finishing, where they were handled in lines of +about three feet in length. + +After the type have been delivered to the inspector, they are examined +under a magnifying glass and all imperfect type are thrown out. The +perfect type are then delivered to "fonting" room, where they are +weighed, counted, and put up in suitable packages in proper proportion +of one letter with another, ready for the printer. + +Formerly the various sizes of type were indicated by names which had +developed with the history of type making. It was a source of +considerable annoyance to printers that these old standards were not +accurate, and that two types of supposedly the same size, and sold +under the same name, by different makers, varied so much that they +could not be used side by side. Of recent years the "point" system, by +which each size bears a proportionate relation to every other size, +has done much to remedy this trouble, and now nearly all type is made +on that basis. An American point is practically one seventy-second of +an inch. Actually it is .013837 inch. It was based on the pica size +most extensively in use in this country. This pica was divided into +twelve equal parts and each part called a point. All the other sizes +were made to conform to multiples of this point. The point is so near +a seventy-second of an inch that printers frequently calculate the +length of the pages by counting the lines, the basis being twelve +lines of 6 point, nine lines of 8 point, eight lines of 9 point, and +six lines of 12 point to the inch. This calculation is really quite +accurate. + +The following table will show the old and new names for the various +sizes:-- + + 3-1/2 Point, Brilliant. + 4-1/2 Point, Diamond. + 5 Point, Pearl. + 5-1/2 Point, Agate. + 6 Point, Nonpareil. + 7 Point, Minion. + 8 Point, Brevier. + 9 Point, Bourgeois. + 10 Point, Long Primer. + 11 Point, Small Pica. + 12 Point, Pica. + 14 Point, 2-line Minion or English. + 16 Point, 2-line Brevier. + 18 Point, Great Primer. + 20 Point, 2-line Long Primer or Paragon. + 22 Point, 2-line Small Pica. + 24 Point, 2-line Pica. + 28 Point, 2-line English. + 30 Point, 5-line Nonpareil. + 32 Point, 4-line Brevier. + 36 Point, 2-line Great Primer. + 40 Point, Double Paragon. + 42 Point, 7-line Nonpareil. + 44 Point, 4-line Small Pica or Canon. + 48 Point, 4-line Pica. + 54 Point, 9-line Nonpareil. + 60 Point, 5-line Pica. + 72 Point, 6-line Pica. + + + + +HAND COMPOSITION AND ELECTROTYPING + +By J. Stearns Cushing. + + +The form of the book, the size of the type page, and the size and +style of the type having been determined, the manuscript is handed to +the foreman of the composing room, with all the collected directions +in regard to it. He fills out a scheme of the work which tells the +whole story,--somewhat as shown in illustration opposite page 42. + +Under the heading "Remarks," in the scheme shown, are noted general +directions as to capitalization, punctuation, and spelling (whether +Webster, Worcester, or English spelling--which means generally not +much more than the insertion of the "u" in words like "favor," +"honor," etc., and the use of "s" instead of "z" in words like +"recognize," "authorize," etc.). Sometimes these directions are given +by the publisher, sometimes by the author, but more often by the +superintendent or foreman of the printing-office. The office generally +has a fairly well established system, which is followed in the absence +of other orders. It is rarely the case that it is not the wisest +course, if one is dealing with a reputable firm of printers, to leave +all such details, except deciding the dictionary to be followed, to +them. It is their business, and they will, if allowed, pursue a +consistent and uniform plan, whereas few authors and fewer publishers +are able, or take the pains, to do this. Too often the author has a +few peculiar ideas as to punctuation or capitalization, which he +introduces just frequently enough to upset the consistent plan of the +printer. He will neither leave the responsibility to the latter nor +will he assume it himself, and the natural result is a lack of +uniformity which might have been avoided if the printer had been +allowed to guide this part of the work without interference. + +The compositors who are to set the type are selected according to the +difficulty of the matter in hand, and each one is given a few pages of +the "copy," or manuscript. The portion thus given each compositor is +called a "take," and its length is determined by circumstances. For +instance, if time is an object, small takes are given, in order that +the next step in the forwarding of the work may be started promptly +and without the delay which would be occasioned by waiting for the +compositor to set up a longer take. + +When the compositor has finished his take, the copy and type are +passed to a boy, who "locks up" the type on the galley--a flat brass +tray with upright sides on which the compositor has placed his +type--and takes a proof of it upon a galley-or "roller"-press. This is +the proof known as a "galley-proof," and is, in book work, printed on +a strip of paper about 7 x 25 inches in size, leaving room for a +generous margin to accommodate proof-readers' and authors' +corrections, alterations, or additions. + +[Illustration: MEMORANDUM No. + + Date: ____ + Name and Address of Author: ____ + Name and Address of Publisher: ____ + Uniform with ____ + Size of Page: ____ + Type,--Old Style or Modern face: ____ + Text in ____ leaded with ____ + Foot-notes ____ in leaded with ____ + Extract in ____ leaded with ____ + Other Types: ____ + Running Titles in ____ + Left-hand Running Title: ____ + Right-hand Running Title: ____ + + PROOFS to be sent as follows: + + 1st Rev. and Copy to ____ + 2d Rev. and Old Rev. to ____ + + (Put Changes of Orders as to Proofs in this column.) + + F. Proofs: ____ + When begun: ____ When to be completed: ____ + REMARKS. ____] + +[Illustration: Example of a proof-read page of "Address at Gettysburg".] + +The galley-proof, with the corresponding copy, is then handed to the +proof-reader, who is assisted by a "copy-holder" (an assistant who +reads the copy aloud) in comparing it with the manuscript and marking +typographical errors and departures from copy on its margin. Thence +the proof passes back again to the compositor, who corrects the type +in accordance with the proof-reader's markings. Opposite page 44 is a +specimen of a page proof before correction and after the changes +indicated have been made. + +New proofs are taken of the corrected galley, and these are revised by +a proof-reader in order to be sure that the compositor has made all +the corrections marked and to mark anew any he may have overlooked or +wrongly altered. If many such occur, the proof is again passed to the +compositor for further correction and the taking of fresh proofs. The +reviser having found the proof reasonably correct, and having marked +on its margin any noticed errors remaining, and also having "Queried" +to the author any doubtful points to which it is desirable that the +latter's attention should be drawn, the proof--known as the "first +revise"--and the manuscript are sent to the author for his reading and +correction or alteration.[2] + + [Footnote 2: If the book is to be illustrated, the + author or publisher should be particular to + indicate the position of all cuts by pasting proofs + of them on the margin of the galley-proofs nearest + the place desired. The time occupied by the + "make-up" in "overrunning" matter for the insertion + of cuts is charged as "author's time," and they can + be inserted at less expense in the galley-proofs + while making-up the type into pages than at any + other time. All alterations, so far as practicable, + for the same reason, should also be made in the + galley-proofs, especially those which involve an + increase or decrease in the amount of matter, since + changes of this nature made in the page-proof + necessitate the added expense of a rearrangement of + the made-up pages of type.] + +On the return of the galley-proofs to the printer, the changes +indicated on the margins are made by compositors selected for the +purpose, and the galleys of type and the proofs are then turned over +by them to the "make-up." The "make-up" inserts the cuts, divides the +matter into page lengths, and adds the running titles and folios at +the heads of the pages. + +At this stage the separate types composing the page are held in place +and together by strong twine called "page cord," which is wound around +the whole page several times, the end being so tucked in at the corner +as to prevent its becoming unfastened prematurely. The page thus held +together is quite secure against being "pied" if proper care is +exercised in handling it, and it can be put on a hand-press and +excellent proofs readily taken from it. A loosely tied page, however, +may allow the letters to spread apart at the ends of the lines, or the +type to get "off its feet," or may show lines slightly curved or +letters out of alignment. The proof of a page displaying such +conditions often causes the author, unlearned in printers' methods, +much perturbation of mind and unnecessary fear that his book is going +to be printed with these defects. These should in reality be no cause +for worry, since by a later operation, that of "locking-up" the "form" +in which the pages will be placed before they are sent to the +electrotyping department, the types readily and correctly adjust +themselves. + +Proofs of these twine-bound pages are taken on a hand-press, passed to +the reviser for comparison with the galley-proofs returned by the +author, and if the latter has expressed a wish to see a second revise +of the proofs, they are again sent to him. For such a "second revise" +and any further revises an extra charge is made. The proofs to which +an author is regularly entitled are a duplicate set of the first +revise, a duplicate set of "F"-proofs,--to be mentioned later,--and +one set of proofs of the electrotype plates; though it may be added +that the last is not at all essential and is seldom called for. + +Usually the author does not require to see another proof after the +second revise, which he returns to the printer with his final changes +and the direction that the pages may be "corrected and cast," that +is, put into the permanent form of electrotype plates. Some authors, +however, will ask to see and will make alterations in revise after +revise, even to the sixth or seventh, and could probably find +something to change in several more if the patience or pocketbook of +the publisher would permit it. All the expense of overhauling, +correcting, and taking additional proofs of the pages is charged by +the printer as "author's time." It is possible for an author to make +comparatively few and simple changes each time he receives a new +revise, but yet have a much larger bill for author's changes than +another who makes twice or thrice as many alterations at one time on +the galley-proof, and only requires another proof in order that he may +verify the correctness of the printer's work. The moral is obvious. + +After the pages have been cast, further alterations, while entirely +possible, are quite expensive and necessarily more or less injurious +to the plates. + +The author having given the word to "cast," the pages of type are laid +on a smooth, level table of iron or marble called an "imposing stone." +They are then enclosed--either two or three or four pages together, +according to their size--in iron frames called "chases," in which they +are squarely and securely "locked up," the type having first been +levelled down by light blows of a mallet on a block of smooth, hard +wood called a "planer." This locking-up of the pages in iron frames +naturally corrects the defects noted in the twine-bound pages, and not +only brings the type into proper alignment and adjustment, but +prevents the probability of types becoming displaced or new errors +occurring through types dropping out of the page and being wrongly +replaced. + +When the locking-up process is completed, the iron chase and type +embraced by it is called a "form." A proof of this form is read and +examined by a proof-reader with the utmost care, with a view to +eliminating any remaining errors or defective types or badly adjusted +lines, and to making the pages as nearly typographically perfect as +possible. It is surprising how many glaring errors, which have eluded +all readers up to this time, are discovered by the practised eye of +the final proof-reader. + +The form having received this most careful final reading, the proof is +passed back to the "stone-hands"--those who lock up and correct the +forms--for final correction and adjustment, after which several more +sets of proofs are taken, called "F"-proofs (variously and correctly +understood as standing for "final," "file," or "foundry" proofs). A +set of F-proofs is sent to the author to keep on file, occasionally +one is sent to the publisher, and one set is always retained in the +proof-room of the printing-office. These proofs are characterized by +heavy black borders which enclose each page, and which frequently +render nervous authors apprehensive lest their books are to appear in +this funereal livery. These black borders are the prints of the +"guard-lines," which, rising to the level of the type, form a +protection to the pages and the plates in their progress through the +electrotyping department; but before the plates are finished up and +made ready for the pressroom, the guard-lines, which have been moulded +with the type, are removed. + +After several sets of F-proofs have been taken, the form is carried to +the moulding or "battery" room of the electrotyping department, where +it leaves its perfect impress in the receptive wax. Thence it will +later be returned to the composing room and taken apart and the type +distributed, soon to be again set up in new combinations of letters +and words. The little types making a page of verse to-day may do duty +to-morrow in a page of a text-book in the higher mathematics. + +After the type form has been warmed by placing it upon a steam table, +an impression of it is taken in a composition resembling wax which is +spread upon a metal slab to the thickness of about one-twelfth of an +inch. Both the surface of the type and of the wax are thoroughly +coated with plumbago or black lead, which serves as a lubricant to +prevent the wax from adhering to the type. + +As the blank places in the form would not provide sufficient depth in +the plate, it is necessary to build them up in the wax mould by +dropping more melted wax in such places to a height corresponding to +the depth required in the plate, which is, of course, the reverse of +the mould, and will show corresponding depressions wherever the mould +has raised parts. If great care is not taken in this operation of +"building-up," wax is apt to flow over into depressions in the mould, +thereby effacing from it a part of the impression, and the plate +appears later without the letters or words thus unintentionally +blotted out. The reviser of the plate-proofs must watch carefully for +such cases. + +The mould is now thoroughly brushed over again with a better quality +of black lead than before, and this furnishes the necessary metallic +surface without which the copper would not deposit. Then it is +"stopped out" by going over its edges with a hot iron, which melts the +wax, destroys the black-lead coating, and confines the deposit of +copper to its face. + +After carefully clearing the face of the mould of all extraneous +matter by a stream of water from a force-pump, it is washed with a +solution of iron filings and blue vitriol which forms a primary copper +facing. It is then suspended by a copper-connecting strip in a bath +containing a solution of sulphate of copper, water, and sulphuric +acid. Through the instrumentality of this solution, and the action of +a current of electricity from a dynamo, copper particles separate +from sheets of copper (called "anodes," which are also suspended in +the bath) and deposit into the face of the mould, thus exactly +reproducing the elevations and depressions of the form of type or +illustrations of which the mould is an impression. After remaining in +the bath about two hours, when the deposit of copper should be about +as thick as a visiting card, the mould is taken from the bath and the +copper shell removed from the wax by pouring boiling hot water upon +it. A further washing in hot lye, and a bath in an acid pickle, +completely removes every vestige of wax from the shell. The back of +the shell is now moistened with soldering fluid and covered with a +layer of tin-foil, which acts as a solder between the copper and the +later backing of lead. + +The shells are now placed face downward in a shallow pan, and melted +lead is poured upon them until of a sufficient depth; then the whole +mass is cooled off, and the solid lead plate with copper face is +removed from the pan and carried to the finishing room, where it is +planed down to a standard thickness of about one-seventh of an inch. +The various pages in the cast are sawed apart, the guard-lines +removed, side and foot edges bevelled, head edge trimmed square, and +the open or blank parts of the plate lowered by a routing machine to a +sufficient depth to prevent their showing later on the printed sheet. + +Then a proof taken from the plates is carefully examined for +imperfections, and the plates are corrected or repaired accordingly, +and are now ready for the press. + +Although, owing to the expense and to the fact that the plate is more +or less weakened thereby, it is desirable to avoid as much as possible +making alterations in the plates, they can be made, and the following +is the course generally pursued. If the change involves but a letter +or two, the letters in the plate are cut out and new type letters are +inserted; but if the alteration involves a whole word or more, it is +inadvisable to insert the lead type, owing to its being softer and +less durable than the copper-faced plate, and it will therefore soon +show more wear than the rest of the page; and so it is customary to +reset and electrotype so much of the page as is necessary to +incorporate the proposed alteration, and then to substitute this part +of the page for the part to be altered, by cutting out the old and +soldering in the new piece, which must of course exactly correspond in +size. + +As a patched plate is apt at any time to go to pieces on the press, +and may destroy other plates around it, or may even damage the press +itself, it is generally considered best to cast a new plate from the +patched one. This does not, however, apply to plates in which only +single letters or words have been inserted, but to those which have +been cut apart their whole width for the insertion of one or more +lines. + +The plates having been finally approved, they are made up in groups +(or "signatures") of sixteen, and packed in strong boxes for future +storage. Each box generally contains three of these groups, or +forty-eight plates, and is plainly marked with the title of the book +and the numbers of the signatures contained therein. + +The longevity of good electrotype plates is dependent upon the care +with which they are handled and the quality of paper printed from +them; but with smooth book paper and good treatment it is entirely +possible to print from them a half million impressions without their +showing any great or material wear. + + + + +COMPOSITION BY THE LINOTYPE MACHINE + +By Frederick J. Warburton. + + +The Linotype, pronounced by _London Engineering_ "the most wonderful +machine of the century," was not the product of a day. Its creator, +whose early training had never touched the printer's art, was +fortunately led to the study of that art, through the efforts of +others, whose education had prepared them to look for a better method +of producing print than that which had been in use since the days of +Gutenberg; but his invention abolished at one stroke composition and +distribution; introduced for the first time the line, instead of the +letter, as the unit of composition; brought into the art the idea of +automatically and instantly producing by a keyboard solid lines of +composed and justified type, to be once used and then melted down; +rendered it possible to secure for each issue new and sharp faces; +abolished the usual investment for type; cheapened the cost of +standing matter; removed all danger of "pieing," and at the same time +reduced greatly the cost of composition. The story is an interesting +one. + +In the autumn of 1876, Charles T. Moore, a native of Virginia, +exhibited to a company of Washington reporters a printing machine upon +which he had been working for many years, and which he believed to be +then substantially complete. It was a machine of very moderate +dimensions, requiring a small motive power, and which bore upon a +cylinder in successive rows the characters required for printed +matter. By the manipulation of finger keys, while the cylinder was +kept in continuous forward motion, the characters were printed in +lithographic ink upon a paper ribbon, in proper relation to each +other; this ribbon was afterwards cut into lengths, arranged in the +form of a page, "justified," to a certain extent, by cutting between +and separating the words, and then transferred to a lithographic +stone, from which the print was made. Such print was not, of course, +of the highest character, but it was a beginning; and the machines +were used in Washington and New York, mainly in the transcription of +stenographic notes taken in law cases and in the proceedings of +legislative committees. A number of these machines was built, but +mechanical difficulties became so frequent that the parties interested +resolved, very wisely, before proceeding to build upon a large scale, +to put the machine into the hands of a thorough mechanical expert, so +that it might be tried out and a determination reached as to whether +or not it was a commercially practical one. At the head of the little +company of men who nurtured this enterprise and contributed most +largely by their labors and means to its development, were James O. +Clephane, a well-known law and convention reporter, and Andrew Devine, +then the Senate reporter of the Associated Press. In their search for +an expert, a Baltimore manufacturer named Hahl, who had constructed +some of these machines, was consulted, and upon his recommendation his +cousin, Ottmar Mergenthaler, was selected to undertake the work, and +thus the future inventor of the Linotype was discovered. + +Mergenthaler was born in 1854, in Wuertemberg, Germany, had been a +watchmaker, and at this time was employed upon the finer parts of the +mechanical work done in Hahl's shop. The contract was that +Mergenthaler was to give his services at a rate of wages considerably +beyond what he was then receiving, and Hahl was to charge a reasonable +price for the use of his shop and the cost of material. The task +undertaken, however, proved to be a far larger one than had been +anticipated, and the means of the promoters were exhausted long before +the modifications and improvements continually presented had been +worked out. The circle of contributors was therefore necessarily +widened, and indeed that process went on for years, enough, could they +have been foreseen, to have dismayed and disheartened those who were +there "in the beginning." Mergenthaler and Moore, assisted by the +practical suggestions of Clephane and Devine, continued to work upon +the problem for about two years, by which time the lithographic +printing machine had become one which indented the characters in a +papier-mache strip, and this being cut up and adjusted upon a flat +surface in lines, the way was prepared for casting in type metal. The +next step of importance was the production of the "bar indenting +machine," a machine which carried a series of metal bars, bearing upon +their edges male printing characters, the bars being provided with +springs for "justifying" purposes. The papier-mache matrix lines +resulting from pressure against the characters were secured upon a +backing sheet, over this sheet was laid a gridiron frame containing a +series of slots, and into these slots type metal was poured by hand to +form slugs bearing the characters from which to print. This system was +immediately followed by a machine which cast the slugs automatically, +one line at a time, from the matrix sheets. + +It was in this work that Mergenthaler received the education which +resulted in his great invention and in due time he presented his plans +for a machine which was known as the "Band" machine. In this machine +the characters required for printing were indented in the edges of a +series of narrow brass bands, each band containing a full alphabet, +and hanging, with spacers, side by side in the machine. The bands +tapered in thickness from top to bottom, the characters being arranged +upon them in the order of the width-space which they occupied. By +touching the keys of a keyboard similar to a typewriter, the bands +dropped successively, bringing the characters required into line at a +given point; a casting mechanism was then brought in contact with this +line of characters, molten metal forced against it through a mould of +the proper dimensions, and a slug with a printing surface upon its +face was thus formed. This was recognized as a great advance and was +hailed with delight by the now largely increased company. The +necessary funds were provided and the building of the new machine +undertaken. But Mergenthaler continued active, and before a second of +the "Band" machines could be built, he had devised a plan for dealing +with the letters by means of independent matrices. These matrices were +pieces of brass measuring 1-1/4 inches by 3/4 of an inch and of the +necessary thickness to accommodate the character, which it bore upon +its edge in intaglio; they were stored in the newly devised machine in +vertical copper tubes, from the bases of which they were drawn, as +required, by a mechanism actuated by finger keys, caught by the "ears" +as they dropped upon a miniature railway, and by a blast of air +carried one by one to the assembling point. Wedge spacers being +dropped in between the words, the line was carried to the front of the +mould, where "justification" and casting took place. + +Success seemed at last to have been reached, and now the problem was, +first, how to obtain means to build machines, and second, how to +persuade printers to use them. The first of these was the easier, +although no slight task; the second was one of great difficulty. The +field for the machine then in sight was the newspaper, and the +newspaper must appear daily. The old method of printing from founder's +type, set for the most part by hand, was doing the work; a +revolutionary method by which the type was to be made and set by +machine, although promising great economies, was a dangerous +innovation and one from which publishers naturally shrank. They could +see the fate which awaited them if they adopted the new system and it +proved unsuccessful. However, a number of newspaper men, after a +careful investigation of the whole subject, determined to make the +trial; and the leaders of these were Whitelaw Reid of the _New York +Tribune_, Melvin Stone of the _Chicago News_ (to whom succeeded Victor +F. Lawson), and Walter N. Haldeman of the _Louisville Courier-Journal_. +Into these offices, then, the Linotype went. To Mr. Reid belongs the +honor of giving the machine a name--line of type--Linotype, and of +first using it to print a daily newspaper. Of the machine last +described, two hundred were built, but before they were half marketed, +the ingenious Mergenthaler presented a new form, which showed so +great an advance that it was perforce adopted, and the machines then +in use, although they gave excellent results, were in course of time +displaced. The new machine did away with the air blast, the matrices +being carried to the assembling point by gravity from magazines to be +hereafter described, and the distributing elevator was displaced by an +"arm" which lifted the lines of matrices, after the casting process, +to the top of the machine to be returned to their places. + +The improvements made in the Linotype since Mergenthaler's time (who +died in 1899 at the early age of forty-five) have been very great; +indeed, almost a new machine has been created in doing what was +necessary to adapt it to the more and more exacting work which it was +called upon to perform in the offices of the great American book +publishers. These improvements have been largely the work of, or the +following out of suggestions made by, Philip T. Dodge, the patent +attorney of the parties interested in the enterprise from the +beginning, and later the president of the Mergenthaler Linotype +Company. They went on year after year under the supervision of a corps +of gifted mechanical experts, the chief of whom was John R. Rogers, +the inventor of the Typograph, until from the machine of Mergenthaler, +supplying through its ninety keys as many characters, a machine +appeared yielding three hundred and sixty different characters from +the like keyboard. The magazines, too, were capable of being charged +with matrices representing any face from Agate (5-point) to English +(14-point), and even larger faces for display advertising and for +initial letters, by special contrivances which cannot be described +without carrying this article beyond reasonable limits. Among the +ingenious devices added are: the Rogers systems of setting rule and +figure tables, box heads, etc.; the reversal of the line so as to set +Hebrew characters in their proper relation; the production of +printers' rules of any pattern; the making of ornamental borders; a +device for the casting of the same line an indefinite number of times +from one setting. The machine was also greatly simplified in its +construction. + +The amount of money expended in the enterprise before the point of +profit was reached was very great; it aggregated many millions of +dollars; but the promoters had faith in the success of the machine and +taxed themselves ungrudgingly. Among those who contributed largely to +the ultimate result by substantial aid and wise counsel in the conduct +of the business the name of D. O. Mills should be particularly +mentioned. + +It was Mergenthaler's great good fortune to have had as his supporters +many men of the character of those mentioned above, and in thus being +relieved of all financial anxiety and permitted to work out thoroughly +and without delay every idea that suggested itself either to him or +to the ingenious men who had been drawn into the enterprise. His +profits, too, were proportionate to the company's success, and +although he did not live to enjoy them for his natural term of years, +he had the satisfaction of knowing that a handsome income would +continue to flow into the hands of his wife and children. + +The company's principal works are situated in the Borough of Brooklyn, +New York City, and have a space devoted to manufacturing purposes of +about one hundred and sixty thousand square feet. Approximately one +hundred Linotypes, besides a large number of smaller machines and a +vast quantity of supplies, are turned out from there every month; but +the growing demand from abroad for American-built machines has led to +the consideration of plans for an entirely new establishment, to be +built in accordance with the latest modes of factory construction. +About ten thousand Linotypes are now in daily use. + +The machine as at present built is shown in part by the accompanying +cut, and its operation may be briefly described as follows:-- + +The Linotype machine contains, as its fundamental elements, several +hundred single matrices, which consist of flat plates of brass having +on one edge a female letter or matrix proper, and in the upper end a +series of teeth, used for selecting and distributing them to their +proper places in the magazine. These matrices are held in the +magazine of the machine, a channel of it being devoted to each +separate character, and there are also channels which carry quads of +definite thickness for use in tabular work, etc. The machine is so +organized that on manipulating the finger keys, matrices are selected +in the order in which their characters are to appear in print, and +they are assembled in line side by side at the point marked _G_ in the +illustration, with wedge-shaped spaces between the words. This series +of assembled matrices forms a line matrix, or, in other words, a line +of female type adapted to form a line of raised printed characters on +a slug which is cast against them. After the matrix line has been +composed, it is automatically transferred to the face of a slotted +mould, as shown at _K_, and while in this position the wedge spaces +are pushed up through the line, and in this manner exact and +instantaneous justification is secured. Behind the mould there is a +melting pot, _M_, heated by a flame from a gas or oil burner, and +containing a constant supply of molten metal. The pot has a perforated +mouth which fits against and closes the rear side of the mould, and it +contains a pump plunger mechanically actuated. After the matrix line +is in place against the front of the mould, the plunger falls and +forces the molten metal through the mouth pot into the mould, against +and into the characters in the matrix line. The metal instantly +solidifies, forming a slug having on its edge raised characters +formed by the matrices. The mould wheel next makes a partial +revolution, turning the mould from its original horizontal position to +a vertical one in front of an ejector blade, which, advancing from the +rear through the mould, pushes the slug from the latter into the +receiving galley at the front. A vibrating arm advances the slugs +laterally in the galley, assembling them in column or page form ready +for use. To insure absolute accuracy in the height and thickness of +the slugs, knives are arranged to act upon the base and side faces as +they are being carried toward the galley. After the matrices have +served their purpose in front of the mould, they are shifted laterally +until the teeth in their upper ends engage the horizontal ribs on the +bar _R_; this bar then rises, as shown by the dotted lines, lifting +the matrices to the distributor at the top of the machine, but leaving +the wedge spacers, _I_, behind, to be shifted to their box, _H_. The +teeth in the top of each matrix are arranged in a special order, +according to the character it contains, the number or relation of its +teeth differing from that of a matrix containing any other character, +and this difference insures proper distribution. A distributor bar, +_T_, is fixed horizontally over the upper end of the magazine and +bears on its lower edge longitudinal ribs or teeth, adapted to engage +the teeth of the matrices and hold the latter in suspension as they +are carried along the bar over the mouths of the magazine channels by +means of screws which engage their edges. Each matrix remains in +engagement with the bar until it arrives at the required point, +directly over its own channel, and at this point for the first time +its teeth bear such relation to those on the bar that it is permitted +to disengage and fall into the channel. It is to be particularly noted +that the matrices pursue a circulatory course through the machine, +starting singly from the bottom of the magazine and passing thence to +the line being composed, thence in the line to the mould, and finally +back singly to the top of the magazine. This circulation permits the +operations of composing one line, casting from a second, and +distributing a third, to be carried on concurrently, and enables the +machine to run at a speed exceeding that at which an operator can +finger the keys. A change from one face of type to any other is +effected by simply drawing off one magazine and substituting another +containing the face required, so that the variety of faces needs to be +limited only by the number of them which the printer chooses to carry +in his stock. + +[Illustration: A Linotype Matrix.] + +[Illustration: Diagram of the Linotype Machine.] + +[Illustration: Linotype Slugs.] + +[Illustration: The Linotype Melting Pot and Mold Wheel.] + +Matrices are also made bearing two characters, as the ordinary body +character and the corresponding italics, or a body character and a +small capital or a black face, and either of these is brought into use +as desired by the touching of a key, so that if, for instance, it is +required to print a word in italics or black face at any part of the +line being composed, it is effected in this way, and composition in +the body letter is resumed by releasing the key. + +The latest pattern of machine is supplied with two magazines, +superimposed one above the other, each with its own distributing +apparatus. The operator can elect, by moving a lever, from which +magazine the letter wanted will fall--the same keyboard serving for +both. It is thus possible to set two sizes of type from one machine, +each matrix showing two characters as described above. + + + + +COMPOSITION BY THE MONOTYPE MACHINE + +By Paul Nathan. + + +Though for more than half a century machines adapted for the setting +of type have been in use, it is only within a few years that the +average printer of books has been enabled to avail himself of the +services of a mechanical substitute for the hand compositor. The fact +seems to be that despite the ingenuity that was brought to bear upon +the problem, the pioneer inventors were satisfied to obtain speed, +with its resultant economy, at the expense of the quality of the +finished product. Thus, until comparatively recently, machine +composition was debarred from the establishments of the makers of fine +books, and found its chief field of activity in the office of +newspaper publishers and others to whom a technically perfect output +was not essential so long as a distinct saving of time and labor could +be assured. Thanks, however, to persistent effort on the part of those +inventors who would not be satisfied until a machine was evolved which +should equal in its output the work of the hand compositor, the +problem has been triumphantly solved, and to-day the very finest +examples of the printed book owe their being to the mechanical +type-setter. + +The claim is made for one of these machines, the monotype, that, so +far from lowering the standard of composition, its introduction into +the offices of the leading book printers of the world has had the +contrary effect, and that it is only the work of the most skilful hand +compositor which can at every point be compared with that turned out +by the machine. The fact that the type for some recent books of the +very highest class, so-called "editions de luxe," has been cast and +set by the monotype machine would seem to afford justification for +this claim, extravagant as at first glance it may appear. + +The monotype machine is, to use a Hibernicism, two machines, which, +though quite separate and unrelated, are yet mutually interdependent +and necessary the one to the other. One of these is the composing +machine, or keyboard, the other the caster, or type-founder. To begin +with the former: this is in appearance not unlike a large typewriter +standing upon an iron pedestal, the keyboard which forms its principal +feature having two hundred and twenty-five keys corresponding to as +many different characters. This keyboard is generally placed in some +such position in the printing office as conduces to the health and +comfort of the operator, for there is no more noise or disagreeable +consequence attendant on its operation than in the case of the +familiar typewriter, which it so markedly resembles. + +It has been said that the machines are interdependent; yet they are +entirely independent as to time and place. The keyboard, as a matter +of fact, acts as a sort of go-between betwixt the operator and the +casting-machine, setting the latter the task it has to perform and +indicating to it the precise manner of its performance. A roll of +paper, which as the keyboard is operated continuously unwinds and is +rewound, forms the actual means of communication between the two +machines. The operator, as he (or she, for in increasing numbers women +are being trained as monotype operators) sits facing the keyboard, has +before him, conveniently hanging from an adjustable arm, the "copy" +that has to be set in type. As he reads it he manipulates the keys +precisely as does an operator on a typewriter, but each key as it is +depressed, in place of writing a letter, punches certain round holes +in the roll of paper. Enough keys are depressed to form a word, then +one is touched to form a space, and so on until just before the end of +the line is reached (the length of this line, or the "measure," as it +is termed, has at the outset been determined upon by the setting of an +indicator) a bell rings, and the operator knows that he must prepare +to finish the line with a completed word or syllable and then proceed +to justify it. "Justification," as it is termed, is perhaps the +most difficult function of either the hand or the machine compositor. +On the deftness with which this function is discharged depends almost +entirely the typographic excellence of the printed page. To justify is +to so increase the distance between the words by the introduction of +type-metal "spaces" as to enable the characters to exactly fill the +line. To make these spaces as nearly equal as possible is the aim of +every good printer, and in proportion as he succeeds in his endeavor +the printed page will please the eye and be free from those +irregularities of "white space," which detract from its legibility as +well as from its artistic appearance. + +[Illustration: The Monotype Keyboard.] + +[Illustration: The Monotype Caster.] + +That the monotype should not only "justify" each line automatically, +but justify with a mathematical exactness impossible of attainment by +the more or less rough-and-ready methods of the most careful human +type-setter is at first thought a little bewildering. The fact +remains, however, that it does so, and another triumph is to be +recorded for man's "instruments of precision." + +Monotype justification is effected as follows: an ingenious +registering device waits, as it were, on all the movements of the +operator, with the result that when he has approached as close to the +end of the line as he dare go, he has merely to glance at a +cylindrical dial in front of him. The pointer on this dial signifies +to him which of the "justifying keys" he must depress. He touches +them in accordance therewith, and the line is justified, or rather it +_will_ be justified when, as will be seen later on, the casting +machine takes up its part of the work. That is the outward +manifestation; it remains to be seen in what manner the machine +accomplishes its task. Firstly, the machine automatically notes the +exact width of the space left over at the line's end; then, also +automatically, it records the number of spaces between the words +already set which form the incompleted line; finally, it divides the +residuary space into as many parts as there are word-spaces, and +allots to each of these one of the parts. Thus if there is one-tenth +of an inch to spare at the end of the line and ten word-spaces, then +one-hundredth of an inch added to each of these spaces will justify +the line with mathematical accuracy. But the machine will do something +more wonderful than this. It will separately justify separate parts of +the same line. The utility of this is comprehended when it is pointed +out that when the "copy" to be set consists of what is technically +termed "tabular" matter, the various columns of figures or so forth +composing it are not composed vertically but horizontally and so each +section must of necessity be justified separately. + +Should the compositor be required to "over-run illustrations," as the +term goes, in other words to leave a space in which the "block" for a +cut may be inserted, so that it may have type all around it or on one +side of it only, the machine offers no difficulty at all. All that the +operator has to do in this case is to carry the composition of each +line as far as necessary and then complete it with a row of "quads," +or spaces. Thus, when the composition is cast by the casting-machine +the space into which the block is to fit is occupied by a square of +"quads." These have only to be lifted out, the block inserted, and the +trick is done. + +We will then imagine that the operator has finished his task. Of the +bank of two hundred and twenty-five keys in front of him (the +equivalent of a full "font" of type, with figures, italics, and +symbols complete), he has depressed in turn those necessary to spell +out the words of his copy, he has put a space between the words he has +justified in accordance with the dictates of the justifying dial, has +arranged the spaces for the insertion of blocks or illustrations, and +as the result of his labors he has merely a roll of perforated paper +not unlike that which operates the now familiar pianola or +piano-player. Yet this roll of paper is the informing spirit, as it +were, of the machine. Its production is the only portion of the work +of the monotype for which a human directing agency is necessary, every +other function being purely automatic. + +The roll of perforated ribbon is lifted off the keyboard and put in +place on the casting-and setting-machine. As it is swiftly unwound it +delivers to the casting-machine the message with which the operator +has charged it. Through the perforations he has made compressed air is +forced. Now, as has been explained, the holes correspond to the +characters or typographic symbols of the "copy," and the jet of air +forced through them sets in motion the machinery, which controls what +is known as the "matrix-case," a rectangular metal frame about five +inches square, which contains two hundred and twenty-five matrices, or +little blocks of hardened copper, each one of which is a mould +corresponding to a character on the keyboard. This frame is mounted +horizontally on a slide, which by an ingenious mechanical movement +brings any one of the two hundred and twenty-five matrices over what +is termed the mould. The particular matrix thus placed in position is +determined by those particular holes punched in the paper ribbon at +the keyboard, through which the compressed air is at that precise +moment being forced. + +The mould referred to is closed by the matrix, a jet of molten metal +is forced in, and in an instant the type is cast, its face being +formed by the matrix, its body or shank by the mould. The cast type is +ejected and takes its place in the galley, to be followed by another +and that by yet others in their regular rotation. It must, however, be +pointed out that the composition emerges from the machine hind part +foremost and upside down as it were. This enables the justification +holes, which were originally punched at the _end_ and not at the +beginning of each line, to direct the proper casting of the spaces in +the lines to which they correspond. + +It will be seen, therefore, that the casting portion of the monotype +machine is actually automatic. It performs all its operations without +human assistance or direction. Occasionally it will stop of its own +accord and refuse to work, but this merely means that it has found +something amiss with the perforated instructions, a mistake as to the +length of a line or so forth, and it refuses to continue until the +workman in charge of it puts the error right, then it starts on again +and continues on its even course, casting letters and spaces and +punctuation marks, and arranging them first in words, then in lines, +next in paragraphs, and finally in a column on the galley. + +The casting-machine works at so high a rate of speed (casting from one +hundred and forty to one hundred and fifty characters per minute) that +it can in its output keep well ahead of the operator on the keyboard. +This, however, so far from being an inconvenience or leading to any +loss of time, is an advantage, for four casting-machines, which can +easily be looked after by one man and a boy, can cope with the work of +five keyboard operators, or if all are engaged on the same character +of composition two casters can attend to the output of three +keyboards. This suggests a reference to the facilities offered by the +machine for the production of matter composed in various faces of +type. The machine casts practically all sizes in general use from +five-point, or "pearl," to fourteen point, or "English." Owing to the +number of characters included in the matrix-case, it can at the same +time set upper and lower case, small capitals, and upper and lower +case italics, or any similar combination of two or even three +different faced alphabets. To change from one complete set of matrices +to another is a simple operation, performed in about a minute of time, +while the changing of mould, which insures a corresponding change in +the size of the "body" of the type, takes about ten minutes. + +To return, however, to the perforated roll of paper, which it must be +imagined has passed entirely through the casting-machine and has been +automatically re-rolled. Its present function has come to an end, and +it is now lifted out of its position on the machine and placed away +for future reference in a drawer or cabinet. This is a by no means +unimportant feature of the Monotype, for it is thus no longer +necessary to preserve the heavy, cumbrous, and expensive "plates" of a +book in anticipation of a second edition being called for at some +future time. As a matter of fact, indeed, "plates," or electrotypes of +monotyped matter, are by no means a necessity. Many thousand +impressions can with safety be printed from the types themselves, and +these latter at the conclusion of the job can be remelted and new type +cast from the resultant metal. The paper rolls, occupying but a few +square inches of space, can be kept, and when the time arrives may be +passed through the casting-machine again, to supply a new printing +surface identical in every respect with the original. + +But the galley of monotyped composition has been waiting during this +digression. It is lifted off the machine by the attendant and a rough +proof pulled, which is corrected by the proof-reader. The advantage of +the individual types is then apparent, for the composition is +corrected and otherwise handled precisely as would be the case had the +matter been set entirely by hand. Indeed, the operation consumes even +less time, for the discarded characters, instead of being placed back +carefully in their proper compartments in the case for future use, are +merely thrown aside by the corrector, to find their way eventually +into the melting pot. It may be added, however, that the Monotype +itself furnishes the types used in the correction of its +matter--"sorts," as they are termed by the printer. These are cast by +the machine during the times when it is not employed upon more +important work. + +Indeed, an attachment has recently been added to the machine, whereby +its use as a type-caster is still further extended. As has been +mentioned, the machine casts and composes type of any sized face, from +five to fourteen point. With, however, the attachment referred to, it +can now cast for the use of the hand compositor complete fonts of type +up to and including thirty-six point in size, so that an entire book, +title-page included, nowadays often owes its typographical "dress" to +the ingenious machine known as "The Lanston Monotype." + + + + +PROOF-READING + +By George L. Miller. + + +When part of a book has been set up in type, in what is called "galley +form," an impression is taken, technically known as "first proof," and +this proof is handed to the proof-reader. This long-suffering +individual lives in a chronic state of warfare with the compositors on +the one hand and the author on the other. His first duty is to see +that the proof agrees with the author's manuscript, that nothing has +been omitted, and nothing inserted that is not in the copy. He must +see, further, that the spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar, +and so forth, are correct, and the book set according to the "style" +ordered. He first of all, therefore, compares the proof with the +manuscript, or an assistant reads the manuscript aloud, the +proof-reader listening intently for any variation from the proof +before him and marking any errors he may find. + +Now this seems easy enough, and if every author prepared his copy +carefully, so that there could be no possible mistake as to his +meaning, nothing would be easier; but in practice a number of +questions arise which would never be thought of by an outsider. On a +new work being put in hand, some half-dozen compositors are given a +few sheets of copy apiece, and if the proof-reader happens to be +readily accessible he is bombarded within the first half-hour or so +with, "How am I to spell centre?" "Has travelling one or two l's?" +"Shall I capitalize the word State?" "Shall I spell out two hundred?" +"Do you want ships' names in Italic?" and so on and so on. As to +punctuation, every compositor thinks he knows better than proof-reader +and author combined and follows his own sweet will. As every error on +the first proof must be corrected by the compositor at his own +expense, here arises the cause of war mentioned in our opening +paragraph. + +Much has been written about printers' errors and the mistakes of "the +intelligent compositor." Aside from those caused by illegible +manuscript, mistakes arise from faulty "distribution," that is to say, +the type has been thrown into the wrong boxes. Thus we get _c_ for +_e_, _h_ for _n_, _y_ for _p_, etc., these boxes being contiguous and +the letters of the same thickness; if, for instance, the compositor +picked up _u_ instead of _t_ the difference in thickness would at once +be noticed by him and the mistake rectified. Then letters are +sometimes set upside down and we find letters of a different "face" +which have got into the case by mistake. In type set on machine, +errors arise from striking adjacent keys, or some matrix will stick +in the channel and make its appearance later, sometimes even in the +next line. But the chief source of error is illegible or carelessly +prepared manuscript, and to the author's slips of the pen must be +added in these days the slips of the typewriter. + +It is quite possible for a man to be an expert in astronomy, medicine, +or natural history and yet have hazy ideas on spelling and +punctuation. "When in doubt use a dash" is an old standing joke, but +some authors use dashes all the time, making them do duty for commas, +semicolons, and periods. They will write indifferently 4 or four and +frequently their capital _a_'s _c_'s, _m_'s, and _n_'s cannot be +distinguished from the small letters. They will commence a story +telling that the "Captain" did so and so, and lo, on the next page the +"captain" sinks into a common noun; and so with "Father," "mother," +"Aunt," "uncle," etc. Just see what the story would look like if set +according to copy! + +Now the proof-reader is expected to rectify all this, thereby drawing +on his head the wrath of the compositor, who says "he followed the +copy," and occasionally incurring the wrath of the author as well for +departing therefrom. Sometimes instructions are given that the +author's spelling, punctuation, etc., are to be carefully followed, +when of course no question can arise; and the proof-reader will query +on the proof submitted to the author anything which does not seem to +him to be correct. + +The great newspapers and magazines have what they call a "style sheet" +for the guidance of their compositors and proof-readers and insist on +its being faithfully followed. Only by this means could uniformity in +the appearance of the paper be secured. In this style sheet careful +and minute directions are given for the use of capital letters, the +use of Italic, spelling out of numbers, compound words, etc. In the +Government printing-office in Washington they have a style book of +some two hundred pages. Some book printing-offices have what they call +"the style of the office," which will be followed if no instructions +are received from the author to the contrary, while some publishing +houses with connections in England insist on English spelling being +followed in all their books, as books with American spelling will not +sell over there. + +Here is an outline of an "office style":-- + +"Spell and divide words according to Webster's dictionary. + +"Capitalize President and all Secretaries of State, Senator, +Congressman, Governor, Government (of U.S. or other country), King, +Emperor, Republican (and all political parties), all pronouns relating +to the Deity, Legislature, State, Nation, Street, Avenue, (Hudson) +River. + +"Use small capitals for B.C., A.D., A.M., and P.M. + +"Use Italics for names of ships, names of characters in plays, names +of newspapers and magazines, and all foreign words. + +"Use quotation marks for names of books. + +"Spell out all numbers under 100. + +"Compound co-operate, to-day, to-morrow. + +"Use period after per cent., and Roman numerals I. VI., etc. + +"Bible references in this style: 2 Kings vii. 29. + +"All poetical quotations to be in smaller type than text." + +Now, some authors will not accept the above style and insist on one +entirely different. Many will accept Webster's spelling but draw the +line at _theater_, which they want spelt _theatre_, and balk at +_skillfully_ and _skillful_ or _installment_. They will order spelling +according to the Standard Dictionary, yet will not accept _sulfur_, +_rime_, or _worshiping_. One man wants all his numbers in figures, and +another does not like compound words. Still another abhors dashes or +colons, or quotation marks, and yet another will not have Italic type +used in his work. + +So it frequently happens that a proof-reader will have passing through +his hands three or four books in entirely different styles, each of +which he must bear in mind and conform to if he would avoid trouble. +But whatever style be adopted, it is essential that it be strictly +adhered to throughout the work; therefore in large printing-offices +where there are many proof-readers care is always taken that, however +many compositors may be engaged in setting up the work, the same +reader handles it from start to finish. + +If the proof-reader finds any passages whose meaning is not clear, or +sentences of faulty construction, he will call the author's attention +thereto. He will also call attention to Biblical or poetical +quotations which he may know to be incorrect. Many authors will quote +Scripture or poetry from memory, which is found to vary in many +respects from the original on verification. And then they complain +because "the printer did not set it up right,"--when they are charged +for corrections. But why should the compositor bear the expense of +correction--or the master-printer for that matter--when the copy was +clearly wrong in the first instance? A moment's thought will show the +injustice of such a procedure. + +From what we have said may be seen the importance of the reading of +"first proof." Many offices have the proofs read twice, first without +referring to the copy, when the more glaring errors may be corrected +at leisure, and then again carefully read by copy. The proofs are then +returned to the compositors for correction, each man correcting the +portion he set up. + +A second proof is now taken which is put in the hands of another +proof-reader (or "reviser") for revision. His business is to see that +the corrections of the first reader have all been duly made. Should +he find any palpable errors that have been overlooked by the first +reader, he will call his attention thereto and on approval mark them. +It may be necessary to return the proofs again to the compositors for +correction, and even a third time. When found to be what is called +"clean," they are sent to the author (usually in duplicate) along with +the copy. + +And now the author sees himself in print, perhaps for the first time. +He will notice that his work presents a different appearance from what +it did in manuscript. Here and there a passage can be improved, a +phrase polished, an idea amplified--the same man will think +differently at different times; and lo, here, the stupid printer has +made him speak of a marine landscape when he wrote Maine landscape! +(That proof-reader must be disciplined.) And here a sentence has been +left out which he wrote on the back of his copy and has been skipped +by compositor, copy-holder, proof-reader, and reviser alike! Then the +queries of the proof-reader must be answered, and a few commas here +and there would improve things,--and so he proceeds to mark up his +proofs, for all of which corrections he has to pay at so much per +hour--second cause of war. + +The proofs are now returned to the printer and corrected, and a revise +(after passing through the proof-reader's hands) sent to the author, +which process may be repeated _ad infinitum_, until the author gives +the order to make up into pages. + +The type is now handed over to the "make-up," and inasmuch as his work +must be carefully revised by the proof-reader, we may describe it +here. Having first of all made a gauge showing the size of the +page--supposing the page to be seven inches deep, he will cut a notch +in a thin piece of wood showing that size--he must "cast off" or +estimate how the pages are going to "break." There must not be any +short lines, or "widows" as the printers call them,--that is, the +concluding lines of paragraphs which are not full length,--at the +heads of pages. The first line of a paragraph should not appear at the +bottom of a page (but this rule is more honored in the breach than the +observance), and the concluding page of a chapter should not be less +than one-quarter page in length. These difficulties are avoided by +"saving" a line here and there,--that is, where the last line of a +paragraph consists of only one or two words, in squeezing them into +the line above, or by "making" lines, which is accomplished by +spreading long lines out and driving one or two words over. Any line +containing one word only at the end of a paragraph ought to overlap +the indention of the first line of the next paragraph. Such a word as +"is" or "it" will not do so and should be turned back to the line +above. Then again, where cuts or illustrations are inserted in the +text a page will sometimes break in the middle of a cut, which, as +Euclid says, is impossible, therefore the cut must be moved, sometimes +necessitating slight alterations in the text, _e.g._ "The following +illustration" must be altered to "The illustration on the next page," +or "The illustration above," as the case may be. And here we may +remark that all cuts or illustrations should be made and furnished to +the printer in time to be inserted in the first proof. The writer +calls to mind an instance where the cuts arrived after the whole book +had been made up into pages, necessitating a re-make-up at +considerable expense. + +Proofs of the pages being furnished to the proof-reader, he first of +all compares them with the author's last galley proof to see that +nothing has been omitted (frequently lines fall off the ends of +galleys), that they are in due sequence and "join up," and that the +author's last corrections have been made. He then sees to the +pagination, the running heads at top of each page, and sees that the +foot-notes have been inserted in the pages where they belong and +verifies the reference marks. The author will probably have used the * +[symbol: dagger][symbol: double-dagger] Sec. and they will have been so +set up, as they appeared on each page of the original manuscript. But +when in type and made up into pages they will probably fall +differently, the note bearing the Sec. mark may come on the following +page and of course must be altered to an *, a corresponding change +being made in the text. A much better plan is to number foot-notes 1, +2, 3 and so on, when no alteration on making-up will be required. + +The proof-reader must also look after the "widows" and other matters +before mentioned. If the book is set in linotype, the make-up will +have been unable to make these changes. He will simply allow the +proper space and the changes required will be marked by the +proof-reader and a number of pages corrected at a time. This is a +point of economy. + +All corrections having been made and revised, proofs are submitted to +the author for his final approval. The author may find it advisable to +make alterations even after his book is made up into pages, +necessitating further revises; but everything finally being in order, +he gives the order to print or to electrotype. + +If the pages are to be electrotyped or made into plates, they are +"locked up" in an iron frame called a "chase," two or four together, +and proofs are given to the proof-reader for a final reading. + +If the book is to be printed from the type, the pages are "imposed" in +sheets of eight, sixteen, or thirty-two, so arranged that the folios +will be in order when the sheet is folded up. They now make what is +called a "form," and a proof of this--known as the "stone proof"--is +taken for final reading. + +The proof-reader now reads the work all through, looking carefully to +the spelling, punctuation, and grammar, as in reading "first proof," +and more especially looking out for bad or imperfect letters. If many +corrections have been made, the type is very apt to be broken and the +spacing between words to become irregular. All imperfect letters must +be replaced and bad spacing rectified. Then again, commas, hyphens, +periods, and thin letters, such as _l_, _f_, or _t_, are apt to slip +out of place at the ends of lines. And here a serious source of error +may be mentioned which can be found out only by reading the whole page +over. In type set on the linotype machine every line is one solid +piece of metal. Any correction to be made involves resetting the whole +line. Now the compositor in inserting the new line is very apt to take +out a line _beginning with the same word_, replacing it with the new +one, thus making a very serious blunder, and of course the +proof-reader or author who sees the next proof has no intimation that +the wrong line has been tampered with. On reading the page over, +however, it will be noticed that something is wrong, previous proofs +can be referred to, and the mistake rectified. + +The proofs having been finally read, revised, and marked O. K., the +pages are sent to the foundry or to press, as the case may be. + +But the proof-reader has not done with them yet. If the book is +electrotyped, the plates may turn out faulty; sometimes the type will +sink in places under the enormous pressure applied in moulding. It is +therefore highly advisable that proofs should be taken of the plates +and gone over for imperfections; this may save valuable time later +when the book is on the press. Some authors don't mind the expense of +making changes in their work even after the pages are cast. + +The proof-reader only takes leave of the book when it is on the press +and all is ready to go ahead and print. A sheet is submitted to him +which he must _vise_ for bad letters, see that nothing has fallen out +in transit to the pressroom, and that the pressman has not taken out +any cuts to underlay and reinserted them upside down. He will also +verify the folios again (if the book is printed from plates this will +be the first opportunity of doing so) and see that the pages join up +to what has gone before. Here his work ends. + + + + +PAPER MAKING + +By Herbert W. Mason. + + +The word "paper" derives its name from the ancient Greek word +"papyrus," the name of the material used in ancient times for writing +purposes, and manufactured by the Egyptians from the papyrus plant, +and which was, up to the eighth century, the best-known writing +material. Probably the earliest manufacturers of paper were the +Chinese, who used the mulberry tree and other like plants for this +purpose, and may be called the inventors of our modern paper +manufacturing, as they have practised the art of paper making for +almost two thousand years. + +In the ordinary book papers of to-day the materials used are largely +rags and wood fibres. "Esparto," a Spanish grass, is used in England +to a great extent, but it is too expensive to import to this country, +and is, therefore, not used here. Many other materials could be used +to advantage, such as "bagasse," the waste material of sugar cane, and +corn stalks, both of which make good book paper; also hemp, wild +clover, and other plants which have a good fibre. + +Only two kinds of rags are used, linen and cotton, of both of which +there are several grades. Linen rags make a very strong paper, and are +mostly used in manufacturing fine writing papers, ledgers, and covers +for books where strength is necessary. Cotton rags may be divided into +three distinct kinds, whites, blues, and colors, and these in turn are +subdivided into several grades. Most of the blue rags are now imported +from Germany, Belgium, and France; none from Japan as formerly. The +whites and colors are bought in this country. + +Wood fibres are divided into two classes, the harder woods, such as +spruce, fir, etc., and the softer, such as poplar, cottonwood, etc. +There are three ways of reducing or disintegrating wood fibres: first, +by sulphurous acid or bi-sulphite of lime fumes, which gives the name +"sulphite fibre"; second, by caustic soda, which is called "soda +fibre"; and third, by grinding. The last is usually only used for +stock in very low grades of paper, such as newspaper and wrapping +paper; it is rarely used for book paper. Many persons think that this +ground wood, which is merely spruce ground very fine into pulp, is +used in book papers; but if it were, the paper would not last long, +and would almost immediately discolor on exposure to light and air. +There is a theory that no paper made from wood fibres is lasting, and +that therefore high grades of paper for fine books should be made +only of rags, but this is erroneous, for wood stock and rag stock +nowadays are treated and prepared in the same way, and only +practically pure cellulose matter goes into the paper. It would be a +different matter, however, if _ground_ wood were used for fine papers, +for in this stock the cellulose matter is not separated. + +Rags are usually purchased by the paper manufacturer in solid bales, +which have been graded into whites, blues, or colors. After being +opened, they are thrown into a thrashing machine, which thrashes and +shakes out the greater part of the loose dust and dirt. Later, they +are sorted more carefully by hand into several grades, according to +their colors and cleanliness. All the woollens, gunny, buttons, hooks +and eyes, silks, and foreign materials are thrown aside. As the rags +are usually too large to be thrown into the boilers to be cooked, they +are cut into very small pieces by means of sharp revolving knives, to +which they are fed rapidly from an endless belt. When cut, they are +packed into a revolving kettle or boiler, called a "rotary," and +cooked with caustic soda and lime for several hours, to disintegrate +the fibres, separate the cellulose matter, and "start" the colors. The +rags, after coming out of the boiler, look very dark, and are all +mashed together. They are then thrown into a tub of water and revolved +horizontally by means of a large wheel fitted with radial knives, +which tear and bruise them while water continually runs in and out, +carrying away the dirt. In a few hours the rags look much cleaner, and +a small amount of chlorate of lime and sulphuric acid is run in to +bleach them white. After having been thoroughly stirred for a while, +the stock is run into what is called a drainer, where it is allowed to +stand for several hours to drain off as much water as possible. Liquid +chloride of lime, which is used for bleaching, and sulphuric acid is +then run over the fibre, which in turn is drained and washed off +again. By this time the pulp is white enough to be sent to the +beaters, to be prepared for the paper machines, and is called +"half-stock." + +Wood fibres for book papers are usually treated in the same general +way as rags. First, the logs are peeled and are cut into suitable +lengths to be thrown into a wood chopper and cut up in very small +pieces. If the wood is treated by sulphurous acid or bi-sulphite of +lime fumes, it is called the "sulphite process"; if by caustic soda, +the "soda process." This wood is cooked in large upright kettles +called "digesters." In one case the sulphite fumes are allowed to +permeate through the wood under a high pressure, and in the other the +caustic soda is put in "straight," and the wood is cooked under a high +pressure of steam. This is done to dissolve out all the gum and +resins, in order to leave the pure cellulose matter. After the cooking +is done, the stock has to be bleached in very much the same way as +the rags and washed thoroughly before it is ready for the "beaters." + +For "beating," the stock is thrown into a large revolving tub. Rag and +wood fibre may be mixed in different proportions, according to the +grade of the paper wanted. The stock is then washed a little to be +sure that it is clean and white. Water at first is mixed in with the +fibre until it is so diluted that it will flow freely; then it is +beaten for several hours by means of an iron wheel covered with iron +or steel knives about one-quarter of an inch thick, which revolves +over an iron bed-plate with similar knives. During this beating +process, clay is mixed with the stock, mainly to give the paper a +well-filled and better appearance, and not, as most people think, to +add weight, although this is sometimes an object. Sizing material is +also added, which helps to keep the fibres together and hold the ink +in printing. If it is desired to give the paper a white shade, a small +amount of aniline blue or pink is mixed in; otherwise it is called +"natural" or "unblued." + +The beating part of the process of paper making is the most important. +The stock has to be beaten up so that all the fibres are separated and +broken into just the right lengths according to the weight and +strength of the paper to be made. The harder the roll is set down on +the bed plate, the shorter the fibre will be and _vice versa_, but if +the roll is not put down hard, the stock has to be beaten so much +longer. + +"Machining" may be divided into five processes:-- + +_First._ When the stock leaves the beater it is run into a large +"stuff" chest, and is continually being stirred so that it will not be +lumpy. By this time the pulp is about as clean as possible and is +ready for the paper machines. The first thing to be done on the +machine is to dilute the stock with pure water to the consistency of +buttermilk, according to the thickness of the paper required. Then +this liquid stock runs through what are called "sand settlers," which +are supposed to collect what dirt, iron, etc., remain. + +_Second._ From the sand settlers the stock runs on to a screen, +through which it is drawn by means of suction. This process prevents +fibres which are lumpy and too long from getting on to the machine, +and allows only those of a certain size and length to go forward to be +made into paper. An endless and very fine wire cloth, which is +continually moving at the same rate of speed as the rest of the paper +machine, takes the stock after it has been screened. This is the first +step toward making the material into actual paper. Thick rubber straps +on each side of the wire determine the width of the paper. This wire +shakes a little in order to weave the fibres together while in a state +of suspension. At this period the stock looks like thick cream, but +soon changes its appearance to the form of a sheet more or less solid +on coming to the end of the wire, where there is what is called a +"dandy,"--a roll covered with similar wire cloth pressing lightly on +the paper as it runs along the wire. Designs in relief on the surface +of this roll produce the well-known marks called "water marks." Just +beyond the "dandy," underneath the wire, is a suction box which draws +enough of the water out so that the paper can go through the "couch" +roll at the end of the wire without being crumbled. + +[Illustration: Cross-section of a Paper Machine.] + +_Third._ The couch roll is a small hard roll covered with a thick felt +called a "jacket," and is used on the paper machine to prevent the +paper from being crushed, for it presses out much of the water and +flattens the paper so that it will pass from the wire to the felts +without breaking and through the press rolls without crushing. From +this couch roll the paper leaves the wire and is carried along on an +endless woollen felt to the press rolls, which are made of hard +rubber, steel, or brass. These rolls press the fibres together well, +squeezing out more of the water and flattening the sheet. + +_Fourth._ From the press felts the paper is carried to the "dryer +felts," which in turn carry the paper to the "dryers," which revolve +and by means of the felt carry the paper along to the next dryer, and +so on. The dryers are hollow iron or steel cylinders, heated by means +of the exhaust steam from the engines which run the machine. More or +less steam is allowed to run into the dryers, according to the quality +of paper being made. + +_Fifth._ As soon as the paper has been carried over all the dryers, +during which time it becomes, perfectly dry, it is run through a set +of so-called steel "chilled rolls," at the end of the machine, which +are under pressure and which give the paper a fairly smooth surface +for ordinary type printing. If a rough surface is desired, the paper +is simply wound on reels from the dryers. + +Super-calendered papers are those which have a high finish and smooth +surface, and are used for cuts, lithographic work, magazine papers, +and ordinary illustrations. To calender paper, it is run through a +series of alternate "chilled" and "paper" rolls. The chilled rolls are +made of steel and have a very smooth and even surface. The "paper" +roll is made of circular discs of thin, but strong manila paper, +clamped together on an iron shaft, and then put under hydraulic +pressure, this pressure being increased constantly until it reaches +one hundred tons of pressure to the inch. The rolls are sometimes kept +under this pressure for five or six weeks, and then are turned on a +lathe into a true and smooth cylinder, and finally burnished by being +revolved against each other. + +A "cotton" roll, used at times in place of the "paper" roll, is made +in the same manner, except it is made of pieces of cotton cloth +instead of thin manila paper. There is a heavy pressure on these +rolls, and the paper goes through at a high rate of speed. When an +especially smooth surface is wanted, steam is run on the paper as it +unwinds, dampening it and giving the web a surface like that on ironed +linen. + +"Coated" paper is treated differently, being covered with a fine +coating, which, after super-calendering, gives the paper a glazed and +smooth surface for fine half-tone illustrations. Clay, mixed with +casein, the product of skimmed milk, or glue, is the chief material +used for coating. It is put on the paper by means of large brushes. +Then it is dried by fans and passed through a long passageway heated +by steam to a high temperature. After being reeled, it is allowed to +stand for a while to harden; then is run several times through the +calenders to get the smooth surface. If a high, glazed finish is +necessary, steam is put on while running through the calenders. This +gives a very bright surface for fine lithographic work. For the best +coated papers, instead of clay, sulphate of lime and sometimes +sulphate of barium is used, with glue or casein. Formaldehyde, a +chemical compound, is used to prevent decomposition in the coating +materials; and soda or borax is used to "cut" or dissolve the casein +or glue. + +If the paper is to be printed "from the web," that is, from the roll, +it first has to be trimmed to the correct width, then wound tightly +under a high pressure to a certain thickness, then the rolls are +packed up in wrapping paper ready to be shipped. Some rolls contain as +much as five miles of paper. When the paper is to be put up in +sheets, it has to be cut to exactly the correct width and length on +the cutting machine. It is all very carefully sorted--the imperfect +sheets being thrown out--counted and packed in wooden cases, or done +up with strong wrapping paper in bundles, ready to be sent to the +printer. + + + + +PRESSWORK + +By Walter J. Berwick. + + +Books are printed in "forms," or sheets, of four, eight, twelve, +twenty-four, or thirty-two pages at a time, the number being +determined to a great extent by the size of the type page and by the +class of the work. + +An ordinary twelvemo book, without illustrations in the text, is +usually printed in forms of thirty-two pages, on what is known as a +single-cylinder flat-bed press, which prints only one side of the +paper at an impression. For large editions, the size of the sheet of +paper is sometimes doubled and sixty-four pages printed at a time. The +class of work in question may also be printed on perfecting presses +which print both sides of the paper at one time, and in this way as +many as one hundred and twenty-eight pages are frequently printed on +one sheet, there being sixty-four pages on each side. Large editions +of books having small pages, such as small Bibles, are often printed +two hundred and fifty-six pages (one hundred and twenty-eight on each +side) at one time. + +High grade, illustrated books are always printed on one side of the +sheet at a time, the reverse side being printed after the first +impression has dried properly. Thus a smooch, or "offset," the result +of handling the paper before the ink has become dry, is prevented. + +For convenience, I shall describe the process of printing a book from +electrotype plates on a press which prints thirty-two pages at a time +and on only one side of the paper. + +Before ordering his paper, the publisher must first determine the size +of the paper page of his proposed book, and from this arrive at the +necessary size of the sheets of paper. He must also determine the +thickness of the paper needed to give the finished book its proper +bulk. + +If the book is to be trimmed on top, bottom, and front, about +one-eighth of an inch must be allowed on top and front for the binder +to trim off, and about one-fourth of an inch on the bottom. The +dimensions from back to front, including the amount left for the +"trim," should be multiplied by eight; and the page dimension the +other way, including the trim, by four. This would give the size of +paper needed. As an illustration, if the trimmed size of a book is +7-7/8 x 5-3/8 inches, the paper should be 32 x 44 inches. If the book +is printed 16 pages at a time, the paper should be 22 x 44; and if 64 +pages at a time, 44 x 64. + +The quality of the paper and the size of the sheet being decided upon, +and the number of pages known, any large paper house can tell the +weight necessary to give the required thickness to the book. + +On receipt of the printing order, with directions as to whether the +book is to be trimmed or not, the printer first makes up what is +called a "form" of so-called "patent" blocks on which the stereotype +or electrotype plates are placed during the printing of the book. +These blocks are made of wood or iron planed to an even thickness of +about three-fourths of an inch, so that when an electrotype plate is +placed upon one, it will take only a few thicknesses of thin paper +between it and the electrotyped page to make the whole "type-high," +that is, as high as an ordinary piece of type. + +Two adjacent edges of these blocks are bound with strips of brass, +which project above the block and are turned over slightly, so as to +receive the two bevelled edges of the electrotype plate. The other two +edges are provided with movable clamps, which are screwed tight +against the flat edges of the electrotype plate by means of ratchets, +thus holding the plate firmly in its place. + +In practice, the longer of the two brass-bound edges is called the +"back" of the block and the shorter one the "head," the other long +edge being known as the "front" and the other short edge, the "foot." +These terms, as a matter of fact, originated from the use of the same +words in describing the printed page of a book, the "back" +corresponding with the side of the page next to the binding of the +book, the "head" being the top of the book, and so on. + +One-half of a set of blocks--thirty-two being a set in this case--are +made with the backs on the left and one-half with the backs on the +right edge of the block. The common way is to place thirty-two of +these blocks, in four rows of eight blocks each, in a "chase," or iron +frame, with a cross-bar in the centre. Thus sixteen blocks are on each +side of the cross-bar, and all have their backs toward it. The form +then appears like this:-- + +[Illustration: Blocks, cross-bar.] + +Strips of wood, called "furniture," are then used to fill up the +spaces between the blocks, care being taken to see that all the backs, +fronts, and heads are in uniform positions. As some people prefer the +printed pages of a book to be near the centre of the paper pages, +while others like the head and back margins to be much narrower than +the margins at the front and foot, the distances between the blocks +must be arranged according to the taste of the publisher or the +author. + +After the blocks have been spaced as desired, and the spaces filled +with furniture, the form is "locked up," or tightened securely, with +wedge-shaped pieces of iron called "quoins," and it is then placed in +position on the bed of the press, securely fastened by screw clamps, +and "making ready" for printing is begun. + +Notwithstanding the care that has been taken to have all the "patent" +blocks and the electrotype plates of even and uniform thickness, there +is almost never a case where a form can be put on the press and +printed off properly without considerable work being required to make +the surface of the plates absolutely flat so that the entire printed +part of the page will receive the same amount of ink and will press +evenly on the paper. + +The first step in making a press "ready" is to place a sheet of heavy +cardboard around the cylinder, and over it draw a smooth piece of +muslin or cotton cloth. This is called the "packing." In many of the +best offices this sheet of heavy cardboard is not used, but in its +place is a patent make-ready called "Tympalyn." + +Over this a thick sheet of manila paper is shrunk, it being pasted +under clamps on the front of the cylinder, and carried around and +fastened to hooks on a rod on the back. The rod is then turned until +the sheet is perfectly tight and smooth. + +While the pressman is laying out his plates the feeder should be +cutting thin sheets of paper the size of one of the plates. Some of +these papers are cut about one inch shorter than the plates for +"bevels," and these are pasted on the middle of the full-size pieces. +These bevels and the larger "blank" sheets are to go between the +plates and the blocks to overcome any variation there may be in the +thickness and to make the surface of the form as nearly level as +possible. The "bevels" raise the centres very slightly above the edges +of the plate, thus reducing the pressure of the cylinder at the points +of contact and departure, and saving the plates from wear. + +The cylinder being properly packed, and the form of blocks fastened on +the press so that the impression of the form will come in the middle +of the paper sheets, it is necessary to know whether the binder is to +fold the sheets by hand or by machine, and if the latter, what kind of +machine, as different ones require different "imposition" or +arrangement of pages. This being decided, the plates are fastened on +the blocks so arranged that when the sheet is cut and folded the pages +of the book will run consecutively. Before levelling up the form with +the bevels and blank sheets, the plates of all open or short pages, if +any, are replaced with solid pages, as these sheets and underlay are +to remain through the printing of all the forms of the book. The +rollers are now put in the press and adjusted to just touch the inking +table, the ink put on the rollers and distributed, and one impression +printed on one of several sheets of thin paper which are run through +the press together.[3] This printed sheet is then turned face down by +the pressman and any unevenness of the impression noted. One of the +printed pages is taken as a standard and by removing as many pieces of +the thin sheets as necessary from under the plates where the +impression is too heavy, and by adding where it is not heavy enough, +the surface of the form is finally "evened," or made as nearly equal +as possible. + + [Footnote 3: If one sheet of paper were run through + the press before "making ready," it would not + receive any impression, there being a space equal + to the thickness of ten sheets of paper between the + cylinder and the surface of the type. A bunch of + six or eight sheets is therefore run through to get + an impression for "make-ready" purposes.] + +After this another impression is taken, and of this sheet an +"underlay" is made to further "even up" the form. The low places in +the individual plates are carefully marked with crayon or a soft +pencil on the impression, and the spots so marked are covered with a +piece of thin paper. The printed pages are then cut out a little +larger than the type page, and placed under the plates from which +they were printed. The plates of the solid pages, which had been +substituted for the open pages, are now removed, and the open pages +are put back in their places on the form. + +Up to this point, all the "making ready" which has been done, is of +permanent use in printing all of the forms of the book in question. +The work that follows has to be done on each form as it is put on the +press. + +More thin sheets of paper are now run through the press, the number +run through together being one less than were printed for the +underlay. These printed sheets are used for "overlays," which are very +much like an underlay except that much more care is taken in marking +any uneven places. A thinner paper is used to bring up the low places +in the plates. An impression of the form is then made on the manila +paper sheet which had, as before mentioned, been drawn around the +cylinder, and on this printed manila sheet this overlay is pasted, the +impression on the manila paper being a guide for the placing of the +overlay. + +Another overlay is now made in the same way as the first; only it will +now be found, if the work has been properly done, that there will be +only a few spots to be covered with tissue. After this overlay has +been made and the necessary pieces pasted over the first one, a thin +sheet of manila is smoothly and tightly drawn around the cylinder, +covering completely the thick manila sheet with the pasted overlays on +it. The form is then ready to print. + +While the feeder, as the man who feeds the paper into the press is +called, has been "filling in" the overlay, the pressman should have +been getting "register,"--that is, moving the plates so that the +headlines and the sides of the plates align properly, and that when +both sides of the paper have been printed, the pages will exactly back +each other. The ink fountain should also have been so regulated by +means of thumb-screws that the right amount of ink will run on the +rollers and be distributed evenly over the form. Where too much ink +shows on the printed sheet, the thumb-screws on the fountain are +tightened a little, to decrease the flow, and where not enough ink +shows the thumb-screws are loosened to increase its flow. This process +is repeated until the "color" is all right. The grippers, which seize +and carry the sheets of paper through the press, the reels, cylinder +bands, and many other things have also to be adjusted. These cannot +well be described, but have to be learned by actual experience. + +The "making ready" and watching the sheets as they come from the press +to see that the "color" does not vary, is the skilful part of the +process. The feeding can be done by a bright boy after a few weeks' +experience, but is now done automatically by machines to a great +extent. + +While the press was being made ready, another set of men in charge of +the paper have taken it out of the cases or bundles, counted out the +number of sheets required for each form, piled it on hand trucks, +keeping that required for each form separate, and have delivered it to +the press. If a machine feeder is used, the paper is piled on the +elevator of the feeder, from which it is automatically taken, one +sheet at a time, and delivered on endless tapes to gauges on the feed +board of the press, thus bringing every sheet in the same position +each time. The number of sheets required for the order are printed +from one form on one side and then from another form on the other +side. + +From the preceding it can be seen that to get a press ready may be a +matter of hours, while, in the case of ordinary book work, a press +generally prints from 1200 to 2000 impressions and more per hour. + +The principal difference between making ready a form on a flat-bed +perfecting press with two cylinders and on a single-cylinder press is +in extra work necessary to obtain correct registering of the plates +and in preventing an offset of the fresh ink on the second cylinder. +Otherwise, a perfecting press is very much like two cylinder presses +joined together. It has two sets of rollers, two ink fountains, two +cylinders, two forms, etc., but only one feed board and one delivery. +The sheet is fed to one cylinder and printed, taken from this +cylinder by the second and printed on the second side, and delivered +on the "fly board" ready to go to the shipping department. + +The process of making ready forms containing illustrations is +practically the same as for plain ones, except that a new underlay is +made for each form, and much more care and skill must be used on the +cuts themselves. It frequently happens that one or even two days are +spent making ready a form of half-tone cuts, before the actual +printing, which takes perhaps half a day to do, can be begun. + +In most offices, a special "cut overlay" is made for forms with cuts, +or illustrations. The cut is placed on a hand press before the form is +made up, and proofs on four different thicknesses of paper are made. +The heaviest paper is used as a bottom sheet, and the others are +pasted on it. Out of the next to the thickest paper of all, the solid +blacks are cut and pasted accurately on the same places on the bottom +sheet. From the second or next thinner sheet, the medium shades +including the solid blacks are cut and pasted on the bottom sheet, +thus building up the blacks and strong shadows. From the thinnest +sheet of all, the high lights and very light shades are cut, and the +rest of the sheet is pasted on the bottom one. In this way the solid +blacks and dark shadows on the cut have three thicknesses on the +overlay; the next shades two, and the light shades one, where the high +lights are cut out altogether. This is the common form of "cut +overlay" used in most offices; but there are many other kinds, some +being made on metal by chemical action. All kinds are fastened +carefully over the impression of the cut made on the heavy manila +sheet covering the cylinder, and the cut must not be moved on the form +after the overlay has been fastened on the cylinder, or the effect of +all the work will be entirely lost. + +One of the great troubles which the printer has to contend with, is +electricity in the paper. The pressman is unaware of its presence +until he lifts a printed sheet from the pile and receives a slight +shock, and finds the sheets stick together. In the case of a cut form, +the ink is almost sure to be offset, and in printing the second side +of the paper the feeder will have to stop frequently to separate the +sheets. Much money has been spent and many devices originated to +overcome this trouble. Ink manufacturers make a liquid preparation to +be applied to the packing. A row of lighted gas-jets placed near the +point where the sheet goes on to the "flyboard," a heated steam-pipe, +and many other things have been used, but a new device by which +electricity is generated and carried into the press, and there +neutralizes the electricity in the paper, is the best of them all. + +The printed sheets are counted automatically by the press, and as fast +as enough accumulate, they are piled on hand trucks and removed to the +shipping room. Here they are "jogged up" so that the edges are even +and are counted again by hand. If they are to be shipped away, they +are tied up in bundles or nailed in cases and marked for shipment. If +the bindery is connected with the pressroom, they are simply jogged, +counted, and piled on trucks and delivered in this way. + + + + +THE PRINTING PRESS + +By Otto L. Raabe. + + +Throughout the stages of development of the book-printing press the +chief object has been to lessen the cost of printing. Whether the +direct purpose of an improvement has been to increase the working +speed of the press, to lessen the necessary operating power, to +simplify the mechanism, to strengthen the parts, to lighten the +pressman's labor, or to better the quality of printing, the ultimate +aim has always been the same. It has been the constant incentive to +invention and the standard for judging the adaptability of a press. + +The first printing press was the "wooden screw" press, which came into +use about the middle of the fifteenth century, and was built upon the +same mechanical principle as the linen presses in the homes of the +well-to-do. This was the press used by Gutenberg. + +It consisted of two upright timbers held together at the top and the +bottom by crosspieces of wood and with two intermediate cross-timbers. +One of these intermediate cross-timbers supported a wooden or stone +"bed" on which the form of type was placed, and through the other +passed a large wooden screw, the lower point of which was attached to +the centre of a flat, wooden plate, called the "platen." The lower +side of the platen was covered with a soft "packing" or "blanket" of +cloth. After the type had been inked, a sheet of paper was laid on it. +This paper had previously been dampened so that it would take a better +impression of the type. The screw was then turned down until the +platen pressed the paper against the inked type, and produced a +printed sheet. + +The form of type was incased in a frame called a "coffin." These +coffins and the type within them were very heavy, but they had to be +lifted in and out of the press by hand. After each impression the +platen was screwed upward so that the sheet of paper which had been +printed could be removed and hung up to dry. + +This simple form of press continued in use without material change +until the early part of the seventeenth century. The first +improvements on it came about 1620, and consisted of a device for +rolling in and out the wooden or stone bed on which the type rested +instead of lifting it by hand, of a new form of iron hand-lever for +turning the screw, and of an iron screw in place of the wooden one. +These were the inventions of William Janson Blaeuw, a printer of +Amsterdam. Blaeuw's press was introduced into England and used there +as well as on the continent. It was substantially the same press as +that on which Benjamin Franklin worked when in London in 1735. + +After this first type of printing press had been in use for three and +a half centuries, a much-improved form was invented by the Earl of +Stanhope in 1798. The frame of his press was made of iron, cast in one +piece; the bed, the impression plate, or "platen," and the other large +parts were also of cast iron, while the working parts were of iron, +steel, or brass. The iron impression screw was retained, but connected +to it was a combination of levers whereby its power was greatly +increased. This enabled the printing of larger forms and the use of a +thinner and harder "packing," or "tympan," between the platen and the +sheet of paper to be printed, resulting in a sharper and clearer +impression. Much less exertion was required to work the lever, and at +first, on this account, a printer, who was accustomed to use all his +physical force on the old screw press, found it difficult to work on +the new one. + +This improved style of press was received with so much favor by +printers that several persons took up its manufacture, and competition +soon reduced its cost and brought it into general use for printing +newspapers as well as books. The process of printing remained about +the same as in the earlier presses. Two men were required to work it. +One spread the ink on a wooden block, rolling over it with two +leather-covered balls, about six inches in diameter, stuffed with +wool or horsehair, and fastened to round wooden handles. Holding one +of these inking balls in each hand, he then rolled one upon the other +to distribute the ink evenly over both of them, and applied the ink to +the face of the type by rocking the balls over it until the entire +form was inked. While this was being done, the other man was placing +the sheet of paper on the "tympan." This was a light frame, in two +parts, really forming two frames, one inside the other, and both +covered with parchment. There was a woollen or felt blanket between +them, and the two frames were held together by hooks. The outer frame +was hinged at its lower end to the outer end of the bed of the press, +and when ready to receive the paper, it stood in a nearly upright +position at about right angles to the bed. On the frame were two or +four pins, upon which the sheet of paper was impaled. + +Attached to the upper end of the inner frame by hinges was a thin and +narrow frame, called the "frisket," of the same length and width as +the inner tympan frame. This frisket was covered with strong paper in +which were openings, cut a little larger than the size of the pages of +the type-form. When the sheets of paper had been placed upon the +tympan frame, the frisket was folded down upon it, and the two were +then turned down over the form of type. The bed was then "run in" +under the platen by means of a crank at the side of the press, and +the platen was screwed down to make the impression. After the +impression had been taken, the platen was screwed up, the bed "run +out," the tympan frame and frisket lifted, and the printed sheet taken +off. + +The introduction of this Stanhope press gave a great impetus to the +development of the printing press in other countries as well as in +England, and many varieties were devised during the thirty years +following. Although as early as 1811 Koenig had made a cylinder press +which had proved fairly successful, the better grades of printing +could be obtained only by the flat pressure of the hand-presses. In +some of these hand presses, the platen, or upper impression plate, was +moved into position over the bed and remained stationary while the bed +with the type-form upon it was forced upward to make the impression. +In others, the platen was hinged to the bed, but in all of them the +mechanism was complicated. + +The "Columbian" press, devised by George Clymer, of Philadelphia, in +1816, gained considerable distinction both in this country and in +England, where it was introduced in 1818. It differed from the +Stanhope in that the screw was dispensed with, the platen being +depressed by a combination of levers and lifted by the aid of a +weighted balance-lever. + +The reduction of the hand-lever movement to its simplest and most +powerful form is now seen in the Washington hand press, devised by +Samuel Rust, of New York, in 1827. His patent was later purchased by +R. Hoe & Co., who made nearly seven thousand of these presses in +different sizes and still make many of a greatly strengthened pattern +for taking fine proofs from photo-engraved plates. Some of these +presses made before 1850 are still in use, and occasionally one hears +of a Washington hand press being used for printing upon handmade paper +an edition of a small and limited number of copies of a book. Of all +the hand presses, this is the only one that has survived to the +present day. + +With the introduction of other means for applying power than the +hand-lever, a distinction came to be drawn between printing _presses_ +and printing _machines_. The term "machine" might perhaps be more +appropriately used for the huge printing presses of the present day, +yet, as the first essential is the impression power, all other +features being subordinate, the term "press" is still the proper one +to apply, even to the greatest combination of printing units yet +devised. + +The "bed and platen" system of printing as first used in hand presses +occupies such an important place in the history of the book-printing +press that a further description of its career is necessary. + +In December, 1806, Friedrich Koenig, a Saxon, who later gave to the +world the first practical cylinder press, went from Germany to England +to seek assistance in carrying out his plans for the construction of +a greatly improved printing press, having failed in his efforts in his +own country and in Russia. He succeeded in enlisting the support of +Thomas Bensley, a London printer, and constructed a press in which all +the operations but laying on and taking off of the sheet were +performed mechanically. + +An accurate description of this press is not extant, but it is known +to have consisted of a large wooden frame, a platen worked by a +vertical screw and gears, a type-bed drawn forward and backward by +means of straps fastened to a large roller underneath the bed, a +tympan frame and frisket arranged to open and close automatically with +the movement of the bed, and an inking apparatus, consisting of an +ink-box with a narrow slit in the bottom through which the ink was +forced by a piston upon a roller below, from which it was transmitted +by two intermediate rollers to another and lower roller which inked +the form as it passed underneath. The two intermediate rollers had an +alternating, lateral motion which spread or distributed the ink +sideways before it reached the lowest roller. + +This press was the first to have ink-distributing rollers and the +first to be run by steam power. In April, 1811, the "Annual Register" +for 1810 was printed on it by Mr. Bensley at the rate of eight hundred +impressions an hour. Nothing further is recorded about this press, and +it was probably abandoned as being too complicated. + +In the following year, Koenig's first cylinder press was completed, to +be followed two years later by an improved cylinder press made for the +_London Times_, which will be referred to farther on. + +In his experiments, the Earl of Stanhope had tried, without success, +to find a substitute for inking-balls by making rollers covered with +different kinds of skins. He also tried other materials, such as +cloth, silk, etc., but the unavoidable seam and the impossibility of +keeping these materials soft and pliable defeated his purpose. About +1813 inking-rollers made of a composition of glue and molasses came +into general use, and this important invention was of great assistance +in the further improvement of the printing press. + +Other cylinder presses with mechanical inking appliances were devised +and patented, the most notable of which were those of Rutt, Bacon, +Cowper, Applegath, and Napier, but the mechanical imperfections of +these presses unfitted them for the better grades of book printing. + +Further efforts were, therefore, directed to increasing the output of +the bed and platen presses by the application of improved inking +devices, sheet-feeding, and impression mechanisms. About 1825 there +was constructed by D. Napier, a machinist in London, a press +containing such appliances which produced six to seven hundred +impressions an hour. Other presses constructed upon the same +principle, but with two type-beds, two sets of friskets, two inking +mechanisms--and only one platen, in the centre of the press--were made +by Hopkinson & Cope and by Napier, and were known as "double platen +machines," though this is really a misnomer as there was only one +platen. + +Napier's invention achieved the greatest popularity and came into +general use. At each end of his press there was an inking device, a +type-bed, and a frisket, each set of which operated alternately with +the other, but either could be made inoperative if the "feeder," or +"layer-on," failed to place the sheet in time. Four boys, besides the +printer, were required--two to lay on, and two to take off the sheets. + +When the type-bed and the frisket carrying the sheet of paper were in +position under the platen, the latter was drawn downward to make the +impression by means of a "toggle" joint which acted upon two strong +rods, one on each side, and was then raised again by a counterbalance +weight. Owing to the awkward method of handling the paper, the working +speed of the press was necessarily slow, and the size of the sheets +limited to double royal, or 25 x 40 inches. + +The best presses of this type were those devised and patented by Isaac +Adams, of Boston, in 1830 and 1836, and by Otis Tufts, also of Boston, +in 1834. R. Hoe & Co., of New York, acquired Adams' business in 1858 +and continued the manufacture of his presses. Over one thousand in +many different sizes were made by this firm, the largest printing a +sheet 33 x 46 inches at a working speed of one thousand impressions an +hour. The last Adams press was made in 1882, but quite a number are +still in use in prominent printing-offices in New York, Boston, and a +few other cities, where the results on fine book work are still +considered better than from the faster cylinder presses. The +mechanical principle employed in the Adams press for exerting a flat, +parallel pressure has now been generally adopted for heavy stamping +and embossing presses. + +To go back to the early part of the nineteenth century, when Koenig +found his bed and platen press impracticable, he immediately set to +work, assisted by one of his countrymen, Andreas Bauer, a mechanic who +had helped him formerly, and in the latter part of 1812, the first +flat-bed cylinder press was erected by them in Bensley's office. The +cylinder of this press had three impression surfaces with spaces +between them, and each covered with a soft blanket. With each forward +movement of the type-bed the cylinder made one-third of a revolution +and then came to a standstill, while the bed returned to its +starting-point. The spaces between the impression surfaces allowed the +type-form to pass under the cylinder without touching the blankets. At +the end of the cylinder and at equal distances along its circumference +were hinged three frisket frames, each fitted with tapes having reel +springs at one end. The frisket frame of the uppermost impression +surface rested in a vertically inclined position against the high +framework of the inking mechanism. The sheet of paper was placed upon +the blanket, and the cylinder then turned forward, drawing the frisket +frame down with it, while the tapes, kept taut by the reel springs, +adjusted themselves to the curvature of the cylinder and held the +sheet upon it. After one-third of a revolution, the cylinder came to a +stop to let the type-bed return. On the next forward movement of the +bed and the next one-third of a revolution of the cylinder, the +impression was made, and on the next repetition of these movements, +the sheet was taken off by hand, and the cylinder returned to its +original position to have another sheet placed on the first frisket. +At every complete revolution of the cylinder and three complete +reciprocating movements of the bed, three sheets were printed. + +The inking mechanism was similar to that employed on the bed and +platen press, but the mechanism for forcing the ink through the slit +in the bottom of the fountain was improved. The inking-rollers were +covered with leather as before. The type-bed was moved by a very +ingenious mechanism which is in use even at the present time, and is +described farther on, when the two-revolution press is mentioned. The +different parts were not connected with each other, the cylinder, the +type-bed, the inking-rollers, and the fountain being operated +independently by separate driving mechanisms. This press printed eight +hundred sheets an hour, on one side. A part of Clarkson's "Life of +William Penn" was printed on this press, and was the first book ever +printed on a cylinder press. + +Printers and publishers were sceptical as to the practical value of +this novel invention, but Mr. John Walter, the proprietor of the +_London Times_, with better foresight than the others, and needing +increased facilities for printing his paper, contracted for two +presses, each to have two impression cylinders. These were constructed +for him with great secrecy in a building adjoining the pressroom of +the _Times_, and on November 28, 1814, the entire edition of that +paper was printed on them,--the first cylinder presses driven by steam +power. + +The mechanical principles were the same as in the first cylinder +press. There were two impression cylinders, but only one type-bed, and +the latter had, therefore, to travel a greater distance than in the +single-cylinder press. This made it impossible to obtain quite double +the output of the single-cylinder press, but each of these new presses +produced eleven hundred impressions an hour, a very respectable +performance for that early stage. The threefold motion of the +cylinders was retained, but the frisket frames were displaced, and +tapes running over rollers and underneath the cylinders held the +sheets against the impression surfaces. An improvement was also made +in the inking mechanism by the addition of an intermediate roller +between the fountain and the upper distributing cylinder roller. + +The next step in advance was the construction of the first of the +so-called perfecting presses, which was patented, December 24, 1814, +and erected in Mr. Bensley's office in 1815 or 1816. This press had +two type-beds and two impression cylinders, one of each near either +end of the press. The cylinders instead of having a threefold motion +revolved continuously. The circumference of each corresponded +approximately to the distance traversed by one of the beds. The part +of the cylinder which made the impression was a little larger in +diameter than the remainder, the low portion giving the necessary room +for the type-bed to return without touching it. The board from which +the sheets were "fed" was near the centre of the press, and at the top +adjoining the feed board was an endless belt made of cloth as wide as +the board and running with an intermittent motion over two rollers. + +The sheet of paper was laid upon this belt, which then moved forward, +carrying the sheet between the tapes and leading it to the top of, +down and around, the first cylinder where it received the first +impression. Thence the sheet was conveyed by the tapes to the top of +and around the second impression cylinder and was printed on the +reverse side, that is "perfected," and it was then taken from the +lower side of the second cylinder by hand and laid upon a board in the +centre of the press, between the two impression cylinders and +underneath the feed board. This press printed both sides of a sheet +21 x 34-1/2 inches at a speed of nine hundred to one thousand an hour. + +Shortly afterward a single-cylinder press was constructed upon the +same principle, the forerunner of what is now known as the single +large or drum cylinder press. + +Within the next few years, Applegath and Cowper greatly simplified the +presses in the _Times_ and in Bensley's office by removing many of the +gear wheels. They also invented the first inking-table, a flat, iron +plate attached to the type-bed which enabled the rollers to distribute +the ink more evenly than before. They placed rollers at an angle +across the ink-table and introduced the revolving roller and the +scraping blade in the ink-fountain. + +More important, however, were Napier's inventions about 1824, of +"grippers" which seized the sheet of paper at its front edge and drew +it from the feed board, while the cylinder was in motion, and of a +method of alternately depressing and raising the impression cylinders +on the forward and backward stroke of the type-bed, making it +unnecessary to have a part of the cylinders of smaller diameter than +the rest to allow the type to pass under it as the bed returned. This +made it possible to use cylinders of a smaller diameter. These +improvements were first embodied in a perfecting press made for +Hansard, a London printer. + +Although a number of presses were already being operated by steam +power, Hansard, in his description of the Napier bed and platen press +(the "Nay-Peer," he called it) finds a peculiar advantage in that "it +supersedes the necessity of steam power, as the motion of this machine +is gained by two men turning a fly-wheel which acts as the impelling +power." + +I have described the development of the printing press up to this +state with considerable detail, because it discloses the main +principles of the book press of the present day. During the first +quarter of the last century, the manufacture of cylinder presses was +confined to England, not only because London was then the leading +centre of civilization, but because nowhere else could be found the +mechanical facilities for constructing the large metal frames and +parts. Koenig left London for his native land in 1817, dejected by the +treatment he had received at the hands of Bensley, both in financial +matters and in the attempts to disparage his achievements. He was +followed two years later by his friend Bauer, and together they +founded the firm of Koenig & Bauer at Oberzell, where it still thrives +as one of the largest factories in Germany. + +It was not long, however, before the United States took the lead in +the number of presses manufactured as well as in their improvement, +and the present high state of efficiency of American presses makes +them models which are copied in all other countries. These +improvements and the perfections of details often presented problems +which were more difficult to solve than those of the earlier +inventors, and thousands of patents have been granted to Americans for +new and ingenious devices. + +The firm of R. Hoe & Co., which as early as 1822 was already engaged +in the manufacture of hand-presses in New York, commenced about 1832 +to manufacture flat-bed cylinder presses, beginning with the single +large or drum cylinder press which was followed soon afterward by the +single small cylinder and the double small cylinder press, the +flat-bed perfecting press, the stop-cylinder press, the two-revolution +press, and the rotary book press. They also made and are still making +large newspaper and color presses which are used all over the +civilized world, but of these we will not treat here. + +As stated at the beginning of this article the chief object in press +making has always been to lessen the cost of printing, but after +increased speed had been attained, there came a demand for a press +that would produce the finest quality of printing without sacrificing +the quantity produced. + +To meet this no press has ever surpassed the stop cylinder. It has +been made in several different sizes, the largest having a type-bed +45 x 65 inches. Resting upon and attached to a heavy iron foundation +are two iron side frames which are securely braced together by an +upper iron frame, called the "rib." This upper frame contains four +tracks faced with hard steel, on which run a series of friction +rollers, supporting the iron type-bed. Attached to the front of the +type-bed is an iron plate, called the ink-table, its surface level +with the surface of the type-form as it lies upon the bed. + +At the front of the press is the ink-fountain and a number of steel +and composition rollers, called the "distributing rollers." The ink is +delivered a little at a time from the fountain to the revolving +distributing rollers, and from them to the ink-table which moves under +the rollers with the motion of the type-bed. By this means the ink is +distributed upon the entire surface of the ink-table in a thin, even +film. From the ink-table the ink is taken by a set of six rollers, +called the "form rollers." Resting on the form rollers and moving in +contact with them are additional rollers which help to distribute the +ink still finer before it reaches the type. + +The impression cylinder is located at a distance from the front of the +press of about two-thirds of the entire length of the press. The +circumference of the cylinder is equal to the distance that the +type-bed travels in one direction. When the type-bed moves from the +front to the rear, the cylinder rotates in unison with it, and thus +the cylinder makes one revolution. While the bed returns the cylinder +does not move. + +Near the rear of the press is a large wooden board extending across +the press and lying in a slightly inclined position with its lower +edge almost directly above the centre of the impression cylinder. This +is the "feed board" upon which the sheets of paper lie before they are +printed. The impression cylinder has a set of grippers, and when the +cylinder is at rest, these grippers are close to the edge of the feed +board and stand open to receive the edge of the sheet of paper. +Extending a little over the front of the feed board are two gauges +against which the front edge of the sheet of paper is placed, while +one side edge of the sheet is placed against a gauge at the side of +the feed board. Just an instant before the cylinder commences to +rotate, the grippers seize the front edge of the sheet, and the gauges +lift out of the way. The cylinder then carries the sheet around, meets +the moving inked form, and makes the impression. Before the cylinder +completes its revolution, the grippers open and release the sheet, and +at the same instant another set of grippers on an adjoining cylinder, +called the "delivery cylinder," seize the sheet. From this delivery +cylinder the sheet runs down over a set of strings, and is lifted off +the strings by a sort of fan, or "sheet flier," and deposited on a +table at the rear of the press. This method of delivering the sheets +is known as the cylinder or rear delivery. This press may also be +fitted for "front delivery." By this method the sheet of paper after +being printed is carried around on the impression cylinder until the +front edge comes again to the feeding point. Just as the impression +cylinder comes to a stop, a set of grippers seize the front edge of +the printed sheet, draw it over and away from the impression cylinder, +and deposit it, with the printed side up, upon a table near the front +of the press and above the ink-fountain and distributing rollers. + +The average speed of one of these presses is from one thousand to +fifteen hundred impressions an hour, depending upon the desired +quality of the work. + +Notwithstanding the excellent qualities of the stop-cylinder press, +commercial necessities often demand a sacrifice of quality to speed, +and this has brought the two-revolution press into very general use. +As the name implies, the cylinder makes two revolutions, one to print +the sheet, and the other, an idle one, to allow the bed to return. +While the bed is returning, the impression cylinder is lifted to clear +the type-form. As the cylinder rotates continually at a uniform speed, +the type-bed must also travel at a constant speed. The reversal of the +movements of the bed must, therefore, take place in a short space of +time. + +The study of inventors has been concentrated upon this subject more +than upon any other connected with flat-bed presses, and hundreds of +patents for "bed motions" have been taken out. Considering the fact +that in the larger presses the weight of the bed and form is about one +and a half tons and that this weight moving at a speed of about six +feet in a second must be brought to a full stop and put into motion +again in the opposite direction at full speed in about one-quarter of +a second, it is obvious that the problem was not an easy one, +especially when the reversal of the bed must be accomplished without a +jar or vibration. The mechanism employed has always been a driving +gear and one or two toothed racks. In Koenig's original movement, the +driving gear on the end of a rising and falling shaft ran on top of a +rack attached to the bottom of the bed in order to drive the bed in +one direction, and then descending around the end of the rack ran in +the bottom to the same rack to drive the bed in the other direction +and ascending at the other end to repeat the movement. This, as +already stated, has proven a very efficient mechanism and is employed, +with improvements, by some of the press manufacturers of the present +time. + +In a pamphlet entitled "A Short History of the Printing Press" (New +York, 1902), by Robert Hoe, the writer describes a method of reversing +the bed. Although somewhat technical, it seems desirable to quote him +as follows: "As early as 1847, Hoe & Co. patented an entirely new +bed-driving mechanism. To a hanger fixed on the lower side of the bed +were attached two racks facing each other, but not in the same +vertical plane, and separated by a distance equal to the diameter of +the driving wheel, which was on a horizontal shaft and movable +sideways so as to engage in either one or other of the racks. By this +means, a uniform movement was obtained in each direction. The reversal +of the bed was accomplished by a roller at either end of the bed +entering a recess in a disc on the driving shaft, which in a +half-revolution brought the bed to a stop and started it in the +opposite direction. This involved a new principle; a crank action +operating directly upon the bed from a shaft having a fixed centre, +and within recent years modifications of this patent have been +successfully employed to drive the type-bed at a high velocity and +reverse it without a shock or vibration." + +This invention appears to have been the forerunner of the more recent +improvements in bed motions. A notable one is that employed in the +Miehle presses, which have gained much celebrity, run at a high rate +of speed, and are used in many printing-offices in this and other +countries. The reversal of the bed movement is accomplished by a +so-called "true crank" movement and with an absence of jar and +vibration never before obtained in any other than the stop-cylinder +presses. + +At the present time, the latest development in printing presses is Hoe +& Co.'s new two-revolution press, in which, also, the reversal of the +bed is accomplished by the true crank movement, but with an +improvement which brings it to an easy stop and returns it without the +least vibration. + +On all two-revolution presses there are employed, to assist in the +reversal of the bed, air-chambers or cylinders, without which the +reversing mechanisms could not withstand the enormous strain to which +they are subjected. These are iron cylinders, closed at one end, +approximately six inches in diameter and eighteen inches long, and +varying in size according to the size of the press. Some presses have +two and others four of these cylinders, one or two at each end. The +open ends of the cylinders are toward the bed, and attached to the bed +are two or four pistons which enter the air-chambers as the bed nears +the end of its stroke. The compression of the air in the cylinders +makes a cushion and checks the momentum of the moving bed. The pistons +can be adjusted to regulate the air compression to suit the velocity +of the bed and the weight of the form, which vary in different kinds +of work. + +The delivery of the printed sheets is performed either by a delivery +cylinder or by a front delivery with the printed side of the paper +uppermost as already described for the stop-cylinder presses. Grippers +are not used in the front delivery carriage, as the sheet is +discharged from the cylinder by its continuous rotation. + +The average running speed of a two-revolution press is about one-third +greater than that of a stop cylinder, or about eighteen hundred +impressions an hour, as against from one thousand to thirteen hundred +and fifty impressions from the stop cylinder, this being the +comparison in presses of the average size, printing sheets about +33 x 46 inches. The driving power required is in the proportion of +about five for the two-revolution press to three for the stop +cylinder, and the wear and tear is in about the same proportion. + +Another press, which is still employed to a small extent for +book-work, is the flat-bed perfecting press. This press is virtually +two two-revolution presses combined into one, with the advantage that +they require only one man as "feeder," but with the disadvantage that +they produce only about two-thirds as much work as two separate +single-cylinder, two-revolution presses. Their greatest disadvantage +lies in the difficulty of preventing the fresh ink on the side of the +sheet first printed from "setting off" on the packing of the cylinder +which prints the reverse or second side. Mechanisms are employed to +move the "tympan sheet" or outside covering of the second cylinder +along at fixed intervals, but they are complicated and troublesome. +These presses are expensive and cumbersome, and can generally be used +only for inferior grades of work in large editions. Under the care of +a skilful and painstaking pressman, good work can be produced from +them, but fine book-work is always done on stop-cylinder and +two-revolution, single-cylinder presses, which have now been brought +to a high state of perfection. + +Nearly a hundred years ago Hansard wrote, "The printing machine in its +present state appears susceptible of little improvement." He was, in +truth, right so far as the main principles of the flat-bed cylinder +press are concerned, but there have been immense improvements in many +of the details. With the introduction of automatic sheet-feeding +devices, and improvements in the driving, inking, and delivery +arrangements, mechanical ingenuity seems to have been exhausted. The +temptation is strong to apply Hansard's prediction to the flat-bed +cylinder press of the present day, but with the many surprises that +meet us in other fields this would border on temerity. + +Already there have been great advances in adapting the entirely rotary +principle to the printing of high-grade work, although its use is +still restricted to the production of large editions. + +As early as 1852 Hoe & Co. made a rotary press for D. Appleton & Co., +especially for printing the famous Webster spelling-book. The types +were locked up on the cylinders in curved beds, called "turtles," and +the sheets were delivered by a sheet-flier. Probably thirty million +copies were printed on this press, which was dismantled nearly +twenty-six years ago. + +In 1886 this same concern made a press which is still used for +printing some of the forms of the _Century Magazine_. This press had +two pairs of cylinders, and curved electrotype plates were used on it. +The paper was in a roll at one end, and at the other end there were +delivered, to each revolution of the cylinders, eight eight-page +signatures already folded to the size of the _Century_ page. This was +the first rotary press made for a good grade of book-work. Two similar +presses were afterward made for _Harper's Weekly_ and for the _Strand +Magazine_ of London. + +What is known as the rotary art press was made in 1890 for printing +the fine half-tone illustrations in the _Century Magazine_. + +This has one plate cylinder and one impression cylinder, and curved +electrotype plates are used. The sheets are "fed" by hand in the usual +manner, and are printed on one side at a time and delivered by a +sheet-flier. It produces as much work as four flat-bed cylinder +presses and of better quality. The plates are inked by sixteen +rollers. The performance of this press is another demonstration of the +superiority of the rotary over the flat-bed principle of printing. + +Since then hundreds of rotary presses have been made for magazine and +book printing, most of them equipped with attachments for folding the +sheets as they are printed, and all having a high rate of speed. C. +B. Cottrell & Co. have made many rotary presses for magazine printing, +most of which deliver the sheets flat, without folding, and most of +them made to suit some predetermined size or sizes of sheets or pages. + +In the evolution of the printing press there are three sharply defined +stages: first, the flat impression surface and the flat printing +surface, requiring the exertion of all of the impressing power upon +the entire surfaces; second, the cylindrical impression surface and +the flat printing surface, requiring the exertion of all of the +impressing power upon only a narrow line or a small portion of the +printing surface; third, a cylindrical impression surface and a +cylindrical printing surface, still further reducing the area upon +which all the impressing power is exerted. + +Just as the second stage has, particularly for book-work, virtually +superseded the first, so the third is destined to supersede the +second. It is only an adaptation of the means to the ends. The +mechanical principles of the rotary press are, in fact, simpler than +those of the flat-bed cylinder press, and it may be said that so far +as the purely mechanical part of the press is concerned, they have +been fully developed, but much still remains to be done in other +directions. The variety in the sizes of the pages of different books, +the smallness of the editions, and the fact that the finer grades of +paper, especially coated paper, cannot be obtained in roll form, are +obstacles to be removed. As most book forms are electrotyped for +flat-bed presses, and as it requires but little additional expense to +curve the plates, this one item is not much of an obstacle to +overcome. It is, however, still difficult to curve the plates +perfectly, and the pressmen, even if they can produce excellent work +from flat-bed presses, require considerable training if they have had +no experience on rotary presses. All these difficulties are sure to be +overcome in time. + + + + +PRINTING INK + +By James A. Ullman. + + +The process of making printing ink consists of grinding a pigment, +black, white, or colored, into a suitable varnish. The pigment is that +constituent which makes the impression visible, while the varnish is +the vehicle which carries the pigment during the operation of grinding +and during its distribution on the press to the type, from the type to +the paper, and ultimately binds it to the paper. + +A complete factory for the production of printing ink consequently +consists of three distinct plants,--one for the production of the +varnishes, one for the manufacture of the pigments, and one for the +grinding of the pigments into the varnishes. + +Roughly speaking, the varnishes are divided into three classes, the +first and second of which are the varnishes proper, _i.e._ the resin +and the linseed varnishes, while the third class consists of dryers, +etc., whose purpose is to influence the drying and consistency of the +inks. + +Taking up first the proper varnishes, we find that these are produced +by the destructive distillation of resin in huge cast-iron stills. By +this process, the solid resin of colophony is split up into water, +various resinic acids or naphthas, and resin oils of various specific +gravities and consistencies, all of which are separated from each +other into separate containers which are ready to receive them. As one +distillation is not sufficient to purify the resin oils from the water +and acid, which would not only give the resulting ink an obnoxious +odor but be detrimental to type, plates, etc., the distillation is +repeated a number of times until the oils become perfectly pure. The +grades of varnishes made from these resin oils are used for the +cheaper classes of printing inks, not only on account of their lower +cost, but because they are more suitable for the class of work for +which such inks are used. + +The linseed varnishes are made by boiling refined linseed oils at a +very high temperature. The linseed oil loses its acrid elements by +volatilization, and gradually becomes thick and viscous, the various +"numbers" or consistencies of these varnishes being dependent upon the +length of time during which the oil is subjected to the process, and +to the temperature applied. + +The dryers are made by adding to the linseed oil during the boiling, +suitable oxidizing agents, such as compounds of lead or manganese, by +means of which the oil is chemically affected, _i.e._ it is oxidized. +Such dryers, when added to printing ink, attracts the oxygen of the +air and transfer it by catalytic action to the varnish of the ink, +thus causing it to oxidize more rapidly, or to become, as it is +commonly called, dry. + +Having disposed of the manufacture of the varnishes and dryers, we now +come to the manufacture of pigments. This is such a large field that +it can be only cursorily covered within the limits of a short article. +The pigments are of many kinds and classes. The blacks alone would +form a large chapter by themselves; yet all of them consist of carbon, +produced by the combustion of hydrocarbons of various kinds, and +according to their origin they are the so-called carbon blacks, lamp +blacks, spirit blacks, oil blacks, Frankfort blacks, etc., each of +which has its distinct and peculiar properties and value for its +specific purpose. + +The other pigments fall naturally into two divisions,--chemical colors +and the so-called "lakes." The chemical colors are in general of +mineral origin, produced by the action of one chemical upon the other, +or in some cases by physical or chemical action upon earths and ores. +In the first group, we have such colors as vermilions, white lead, +chrome yellows, the ferrocyanide blues (Milori blues, bronze blues, +Prussian blues, Chinese blues, Antwerp blues, Paris blues, Berlin +blues), ultramarines, etc.; in the second group, such colors as +cyanides, umbers, Indian red, and many others. + +The lakes are principally formed by the use of coal-tar derivatives, +and are usually incorrectly grouped as anilines. They are produced by +precipitating water-soluble dyes upon a suitable substratum or base. +Their shades, strength, brilliancy, permanency, and working qualities +are dependent upon the nature of the dye itself, upon the nature and +percentage of the substratum or base, and also upon the suitable +selection and manipulation of the precipitating agents. This class of +colors is to-day by far the most important of all, since through great +progress made in chemistry in recent years, it is possible to make +them of the greatest possible strength and permanency, together with a +brilliancy of shade which was for many years an ideal earnestly +striven for, but apparently impossible to accomplish. + +Having thus considered the products which are the principal raw +materials of printing ink, we now come to the ink itself. Being +provided with all the varnishes, pigments, dryers, etc., of suitable +qualities and shades, it is necessary to combine them in proper +proportions, after selecting such as will be mutually compatible, and +to grind them to the utmost fineness. The machinery to accomplish this +purpose consists, first, of mixers, in which the ingredients are +thoroughly incorporated with each other. This being done, the +resulting mixture or "pulp," as it is called, is ground upon mills +formed of rollers or cylinders, which are set in close contact by +means of screws and made to revolve by power. Between these rollers +the pulp is passed again and again, the number of times being +dependent upon the consistency of the ink and the nature of the +pigments, until it is ground or comminuted to the utmost fineness. The +result is printing ink as it is known to the printer, varying in +consistency, strength, intensity, permanency, brilliancy, drying, and +other working qualities, according to the nature of the various +varnishes, dryers, and pigments with which it is made. + + + + +THE PRINTER'S ROLLER + +By Albert S. Burlingham. + + +Notwithstanding the fact that no one thing connected with the art of +printing has done more toward the advancement of that art than the +simple inking appliance familiarly and commonly known as "the +printer's roller,"--without which, indeed, the evolution of the power +printing press from the primitive hand machines of the fathers would +not have been possible,--it is an inexplicable truth that historians +and encyclopaedia makers who have made investigation of the origin and +progress of the art seem to have attached so little of importance to +the invention or introduction of the composition roller that only +meagre and casual reference is made to it. Even its predecessor, the +"ink-ball," receives but scant courtesy at the hands of these +chroniclers, for while they enter into the minutest detail (and +properly so) in investigating as to whom the world is indebted for the +idea of movable types and the invention of the printing press, they +have not thought it worth their while to rescue from oblivion the +suggester or adapter or constructor--whatever he may have been--of +the device by which those types were inked to receive the impression +from that press, and without which neither types nor press would have +been of any avail. + +It seems to be established beyond doubt, however, that the first +suggestion of a roller to take the place of the ink-balls in applying +ink to type forms was that of William Nicholson, with whom, also, the +idea of the cylinder press originated, in 1790. He recognized the fact +that no power press on the cylinder principle could be of practical +use without an inking apparatus different from the primitive +ink-balls. These were hollowed-out blocks of beech, mounted with a +handle, the cavity stuffed with wool and covered with untanned +sheepskin which had been well trodden until it was soft and pliable. + +The early printing presses were made of wood, and two men were +required to work a press--one to make the impressions and one to ink +the forms with the balls. The ink was contained in a receptacle called +the ink-table. It was enclosed on three sides, and was attached firmly +to one post, or cheek, of the press, on which were the racks for +holding the ink-balls when not in use. A beechen implement, resembling +somewhat our potato masher, and called the "brayer," was used to +manipulate the ink as it lay on the table; an iron shovel, known as +the "slicer," being used to portion out from the mass of ink such +quantities as were needed from time to time for the brayer. + +It required much strength to manipulate the ink-balls properly, and +thus it was a man's work. Taking up ink with them from the table, the +operator vigorously beat the balls together with a rolling movement, +turning them a little at a time so as to make the ink cover the entire +surface and distribute it perfectly thereon. Then the type-forms were +beaten with them until they were properly inked. The work of printing +off an edition was divided between the two men, one manipulating the +ink-balls for an hour, and then taking his turn at the press, while +for the next hour his fellow-workman attended to the inking. + +William Nicholson, seeing at once that the idea of a cylinder press +could never be worked out to practical perfection with such a process +of inking as that, built up an inking roller with manifold layers of +cloth, which he covered with the trodden sheep-pelt surface used in +the ink-balls, the distribution of the ink on the roller to be made by +contact with a revolving cylinder of wood. The idea was there, but +that it would have had the intended result was never known, for +although Nicholson's press contained nearly all the principles on +which the cylinder presses of our day are constructed, it lacked one +vital feature--the attaching of the type-forms to the cylinders--and +was consequently not of any practical use. + +The Earl of Stanhope, who, in 1798, invented the first iron frame and +"platen" press, with the improvement of levers in addition to screws +to give the impression, coupled with his object Nicholson's idea of an +inking roller or revolving cylinder. He spent large sums in trying to +find a substance that he could utilize for that purpose. He +investigated with the skins of many animals, domestic and wild, and +tanned and dressed in various ways. Different textures of cloth and +varieties of silk were used, but without success. The seam that was +necessary down the entire length of the roller was one great +impediment to success, and even if that could have been overcome, the +proper softness and pliability of surface for receiving and depositing +the ink evenly and smoothly on the type could not be obtained from any +of the processes experimented with; and Stanhope's improvement in +printing presses was still subject to the inconvenience of the ancient +ink-balls. + +In 1807 a printer named Maxwell made a sheepskin roller which he +introduced into Philadelphia. It failed of success, and the printers +returned to the ink-balls. This Maxwell roller was reintroduced by +Fanshaw, a New York printer, in 1815, but the printers of that city +rejected it. + +The inventors in England were still busily engaged in trying to solve +the problem of the cylinder press that Nicholson had more than +suggested in 1790, and the one great obstacle to success was the +absence of a proper substance for supplying the need of an inking +roller, the difficulty of the type and cylinder having been overcome +by the invention of the "turtle" form. In 1813 a man whose name one +historian gives as B. Foster, another as T. B. Foster, and to whom +another refers as "Forster, an ingenious printer, employed by S. +Hamilton, at Weymouth, England," one day visited the Staffordshire +pottery. In a coloring process in use there Forster, or Foster, +noticed a peculiar composition that covered the surface of the +potter's "dabber." It was moist, pliable, and elastic. The historians +do not say so, but we may well imagine that this "ingenious printer," +seeing in that composition what he believed to be the long-sought +substance that would do away with the sheep pelt as an inking device, +with all that implied to the progress of the art of printing, must +have awaited with feelings of acute anxiety the answer of the potter +to his query as to what that composition was. + +And what was it? "Glue and treacle,"--two of the simplest of articles, +and the easiest to obtain. The printer experimented with them, and +although he was the first to put to practical use in the art of +printing the thing that revolutionized it and advanced it to its +present state of wonderful perfection, yet so far as the printed +chronicle of him goes, we do not know what his Christian name was, or +whether his surname was Foster or Forster; and one chronicler states +that it was in 1813, and another that it was in 1815, that he +discovered roller composition to his fellow-printers. + +The collateral evidence, however, is to the effect that it was in +1813. Forster (admitting that to have been his name), proved the +availability of glue and molasses as an inking surface, not by using +it in the form of a roller, but by coating a canvas with it, and using +the canvas thus prepared in place of the sheep pelt on inking balls. +From this the press inventors got the idea of coating a wooden +cylinder with the composition. Applegath & Cowper, inventors of the +Applegath cylinder press, were the first to adapt it in roller form, +and for a time held a patent on the use of it; but the courts of +England decided that there could be no patent on the composition, and +substitutes for the manufacture of rollers having been devised which +were no infringement on Applegath & Cowper's moulds, the compound came +into open use, and Koenig, who had so improved and perfected +Nicholson's ideas and plans for a power cylinder press, was able, in +1814, by the adaptation of the glue and molasses roller, to print the +first edition of a newspaper that was ever run from a cylinder +press--the historic edition of _The London Times_. The problem of the +inking apparatus solved, there was no longer any limit to the exercise +of inventive genius in the advancement of the printing art; and it +is, therefore, to the printer's roller, more than to any one thing, +that that art owes its wonderful preeminence to-day. + +There is no record in any of the histories of printing, or in +encyclopaedias, of who it was that introduced the composition roller +into use in this country, or any reference to the date when it came +into service. De Vinne, in his "Typographia," published in 1876, says +that ink-balls were in use here "fifty years ago," or in 1826; but it +must have been only in isolated and out-of-the-way rural printing +offices, for it can hardly be supposed that Yankee "go-aheadativeness" +would have failed to recognize at once the importance of the +discovery, or have long delayed its general adoption, although the +hand press, with many improvements, remained the universal printing +machine in the United States until 1822, when the Treadwell power +press gave the first impulse to more rapid printing. The Treadwell was +not a cylinder press, but its invention would have been of no +consequence without the composition roller. It is certain, however, +that more than sixty years ago the melting pot and roller mould had +become an important adjunct to every rural printing office, and the +making of a new roller was an event in the routine of the +establishment. The orthodox mixture for the composition in the +printing office where the writer of this was the "devil" forty-seven +years ago was "a pint of sugar-house molasses to every pound of the +best glue, with a tablespoonful of tar to every three pints and three +pounds." And that was the customary composition of that day among +country printers. + +There is a tradition among printers and roller-makers that the first +roller turned out in this country was moulded in a stove pipe; but +whether it was or not, and no matter who the first roller-maker might +have been, it is a fact that the advance in the art of roller-making +has had to be rapid in order to keep pace with the vast improvements +in the cylinder press which the first composition called into use, and +the old-fashioned glue and molasses rollers would be now of no more +service to them than would the primitive ink-balls which the roller +replaced. A comparison between the mode of making a roller in the +early days of the business and the methods in use to-day will be of +interest. + +In the old days the composition was cooked in a caldron over a coal +fire, with water between two jackets to make the steam that forced the +melting. The cast-iron moulds were placed near a stove to give them +the necessary warmth of inner surface, a warm mould being required to +give a good "face" to the roller in the casting. While cooking, the +composition was constantly stirred with a stick to assist in the +proper assimilation of the ingredients. After it had reached the +proper stage, it was strained from the melting kettle into pouring +kettles, similar to ordinary milk pails. The composition was poured +from the top. Naturally, this let into the moulds, with the +composition, the air bubbles and froth that were always present, which +caused imperfections in the rollers. After pouring, it was necessary +to let the moulds stand all night, so the composition might become +sufficiently cool to permit the "drawing" of the rollers. This was +effected by placing a stick against the iron journal at one end of the +roller core and pushing until the roller was forced out of the mould. + +But the roller factory of to-day is quite a different affair. Instead +of separate moulds standing about a stove to get ready for the +pouring, there are moulds in nests, or cylinders, resembling a Gatling +gun, or a tubular boiler. There will perhaps be twenty roller moulds +in a nest. The cylinders are balanced in the centre on journals, thus +enabling the workman to place them at any angle desired, for purposes +of oiling the moulds and loading them with the roller cores. The +cylinders have hot and cold water contact, by which they may be +surrounded by either at will. To warm the moulds the cylinder is put +in an upright position, and hot water circulated about it the required +length of time. + +The composition--which is something more than the old-time glue and +molasses--is prepared for pouring by melting in a double-jacketed +steam kettle, the stirring being done by a mixer run by steam power. +When ready, the composition is drawn off from the bottom of the +cooking kettles into pouring kettles which have air-tight hoods. To +these a hose is attached, the other end of the hose being connected +with a tank which is charged with air by a pump. The hose being then +attached to the cylinder, the air is introduced from the tank into the +pouring kettle, forcing the composition upward into the cylinder, and +all air from the moulds. This insures a perfect roller. + +When the composition has reached the top of the roller stocks, the +valve at the bottom of the cylinder is closed, and the process is +continued to the next cylinder ready for pouring. The cooling of the +cylinders is effected by turning the cold water current around them, +and a nest of moulds may be filled and emptied four or five times a +day. After the cooling, the bottom plate of the cylinder is removed; +the rollers drop out, are trimmed, and are ready for the shipping box. + + + + +THE ILLUSTRATOR + +By Charles D. Williams. + + +It is only in comparatively modern times that the art of illustration +has received the encouragement that makes for perfection. For this, +the cheapening of the manufacturing cost in printing is mainly +responsible. An illustration proper should always accompany text and +in days past the making of a book was so costly in itself that the +possibility of illustration was almost beyond thought. Only the +wealthy could afford illustrated books and as their reading was very +limited, naturally illustration was crowded to the wall. Those with +money to spend on pictures preferred decorations or portraits, +consequently the endeavors of artists were aimed at supplying what +suited the tastes of buyers. Illustration is and always has been the +art of the people. It makes clearer to the imagination their stories +and their songs, it mirrors their manner of life, interests, and +pursuits in a way that brightens what would otherwise often be +commonplace. + +Art seems to entwine itself about the strongest figures in a +community, absorbing with its nourishment the ethical qualities of +the leader. Thus we have Michael Angelo in a community ruled by the +church, creating, at its demands, a "Day of Judgment," a "Magdalen at +the Cross," a "Moses," and Velasquez, evolving a marvellous technique +while immortalizing in wonderful portraits the vanity of his Spanish +lords. + +So that at the present day, with the people in ascendency, what is +more probable than the perfect development of the art which most +appeals to their tastes? Every day, artists of the highest +intelligence find in illustration an opportunity to give the best that +is in them, and the chances that illustration will reach the heights +of perfection attained by other branches of art are exceedingly good. + +The opportunities for an illustrator are without end, and the problems +are beyond number. It is a difficult performance to hand out, to +order, pictures in which human emotions stand counterfeited. In the +fact that illustration springs from and stands with the written tale +and must finally serve its proper place between board covers, the man +who labors at it finds some of his work already finished for him by +the author. But it is a saving that tantalizes more than it assists. + +The technical equipment of the artist must twist into realistic +semblance, clear to the eye, the imaginary product of the author. He +must not add to it nor take away from it--even for the sake of beauty +in his picture--one iota of the facts given him. His imagination, +grasping all the ideas of the author, must assemble them and find a +place for each one, good, bad, and indifferent, and present them to +the reader in a form that will command his approval. + +The artist cannot tease the mind with the vague influence of +description, as can the author, nor can he veil his products with the +pleasing glamour of unreality. Without haze his work stands forth, +bold facts in half-tone reproduction and printer's ink, fighting an +uncertain fight at best with the imagination of the reader. + +People will have illustrations, though. If the pictures do not +literally fill the bill, they nevertheless please. Something definite, +carrying a story idea, is always acceptable. + +Something which excites the imagination invariably challenges +interest, and the illustrator who is true to his calling and above +shirking his task enhances the interesting features of a book a +thousand fold, if he spares no pains in arriving at an actual +expression of the author's intention. + +The knowledge that an illustrator brings to his work should be as +broad and varied as human history. Above and beyond his ability to +draw or execute in a manner technically pleasing, should stand his +knowledge of people, places, and events. It should include all Things, +Ologies, and Isms. A living Index he must be, knowing just enough to +readily discover more, and with this knowledge he must make others +feel and imagine. + +If the author would tell of wars, Trojan, Egyptian, or Siamese, the +illustrator must follow him and be truthful. He must know enough of +Troy, Egypt, or Siam to make clear to the reader the face, form, and +clothes of the characters, their weapons of bloodshed, their way of +killing, how they marched to do it and through what manner of country. +He must know or find out all these things, and within all his pictures +must carry the spirit of terror and murder that stalked at the time, +so carefully expressed that the terror and murder will be of that +particular epoch and no other. All this must be shown as clearly as +that the characters belong to their helmets or shields, their war +chariots or bamboo lances. Simple the task may seem in these days of +public libraries and ready reference, yet it is a most nerve-racking +business, this placing an embossed helm or set of greaves on the hero +of a story, so that he may stand out a Roman, and when the labor is +finished having him stare genially out at you, insistently proclaiming +the masquerade, and seemingly proud of his resemblance to a St. Louis +button salesman. + +When all is said and done the illustrator's strongest asset is spirit. +Technique and a grain of insight will help a man over many a rut in +portraiture, and a knowledge of patting clay and using a chisel has +saved many a sculptor, but technical equipment alone never made an +illustrator, because he deals too directly with life in action. Slack +drawing and impatience of method will always be pardoned in an +illustrator, if his picture convinces. + +Let a writer tell of a pair in love and the illustrator pictures their +kiss; if he convinces the reader that the kiss is in earnest, the +drawing may be full of faults, but the point is made and nothing more +is asked, save that "she" be pretty and "he" manly. Consider the +difficulty of this trick of convincing, when the words of love +carefully weighed and prepared by the author and set into the +atmosphere of a scene equally well prepared will often occasion +derisive smiles. So it may be explained that the purpose of +illustration is to carry the spirit of action rather than to serve as +a basis for deft expression of technical skill, and illustration will +reach its highest development along the lines which give it an excuse +for its existence. + +The mechanical processes for the reproduction of illustrations have +served to develop various methods of drawing the original picture. The +half-tone screen in connection with photography has made possible an +almost exact copy of the artist's work, and at very small cost. +Formerly an illustration was drawn on a wood block and turned over to +a wood engraver, who laboriously cut it into the block and as he cut +away the drawing as he worked it was impossible to compare his +reproduction with the original. It can be readily seen that only a +very good engraver was to be trusted to reproduce anything of value, +and as there were never very many engravers of the first class, +artists' work usually suffered. Half-tone engraving reproduces a +drawing by photography and necessarily shows much of the individual +method of the artist. Zinc etching of pen-and-ink drawings is even +more exact in its results. Lately, methods of reproducing colored +originals and paintings have been brought forward, and the results are +surprisingly good. Scientific photography is at the bottom of this, +and the old method of lithography, which demanded ten or twelve +printings in reproduction, and then fell short, seems to have seen the +last day on which it will break the heart of the artist. + +Because of the sun and the dry plate, illustrators had to find inks +and methods which would aid the engraver as much as possible. The use +of opaque white as a ground for the mixture of tones, with its +resultant bluish cast in black-and-white drawing, has almost +disappeared. The camera will not find gradations in blue and artists +have found it better to use pure india ink washed out in water, +allowing the white of the paper to serve for high lights. Of course, +opaque has its uses, but it is only after much experience and many +disappointments that an artist can learn just where to use it and how. +Pen-and-ink drawings and crayon drawings on rough paper in which the +crayon is applied direct, and not rubbed, will always please the +engraver most and return the best reproductions; but in this case +cleverness and technique demand the greater notice from the artist if +he would have the result interesting. A successful pen drawing is an +achievement almost equal to an etching and it is unfortunate, +considering the ease with which it may be successfully engraved, that +good pen drawing is so rare. + +Black-and-white oil offers an inviting field to the illustrator who +aims at a sense of completeness in his work. Honestly handled, there +is no other method of working that can convey an equal feeling of +solidity and earnestness. By its use an artist can suggest all the +qualities of a full-color painting and impress one with the +last-forever look that thought and study gives to earnest work. + +Most drawings for reproduction are worked in wash--why, it is hard to +say. Oil will shine and reflect lights, and the engraver has this to +overcome; but, barring the lightness and appearance of ease that wash +suggests, there is no very apparent difference in the reproductions, +and oil has the advantage of greater simplicity in detail. + +For deftness and brilliancy illustrations finished in crayon rubbed +into tones easily surpass those done by other methods, but the process +has the disadvantage of appearing thin in the reproduction, unless +the plate is very carefully tooled and printed. + +When the illustrator has chosen his subject and decided on the method +of treatment that will best serve the demands of the story to be +pictured, fully half his labor is completed. + +The preliminary sketches necessary to the condensing of his ideas open +the door to the real pleasure in his work--standing up a model and +creating therefrom a character is pure joy, and it is for this alone +that the illustrator toils through the dry dust of reference libraries +and costume shops. + +Models are either a great aid or a great drawback in the picturing of +characters, for while they assist the artist by simplifying the labor +of drawing, they often handicap him by intruding their own personality +into the work, thereby spoiling the sense of character aimed at. When +an illustrator allows this to happen, it does not matter how beautiful +or accurate his sketch may be, he fails in the first essential of his +craft, entering forthwith into the field occupied by painters and +decorators, who can do the same thing very much better. So, while the +model is often a necessary appendage to the construction of a +character, it is imperative that the spirit and sense spring from the +artist, whose business is, not to reproduce the model, but to use it +sparingly as he would a book of reference. + +The illustrator finds that the speech an author puts into the mouths +of his characters is the best index to their personality. They may be +described as tall or short, dark or light, stout or thin, and their +creator may explain their capacities for love, hate, villany, or +dissipation, but it is only the words with which they express their +ideas that really describes them. His description of the beauty of a +girl will not be accepted on trust. He must supply her with deportment +and breeding before her beauty can be truly imagined. Thus it may be +explained that the measure of an author's conception and clearness +often determines the qualities in an illustration. The true +illustrator is sensitive to faults in the delineation of character, +and, although he may not be aware of it, his work will show it. Of +course it often happens that an artist is taken up with ideas of +technique and, author or no author, will make his pictures in just +such a way; but such work is hardly illustration and serves itself +better standing alone. + +And thus it goes throughout the scene to be pictured--place, time, and +people, all must be imagined twice and equally clear, by both the +author and the illustrator, before the reader will agree. + +To the illustrator, hampered by given quantities, falls the most +difficult task in this duet of imagination, and he can at best hope +only for the reader's approval, as all credit for conception goes to +the author. It is on this approval, though, that he builds, for if he +succeeds in making things clearer to the reader's imagination, he has +accomplished what he set out to do and has proved himself worth his +hire. + +So the aims of illustration are set forth, but whether the laborer +completes his work well or ill, whether he brings great ability or +only honest intention to its accomplishment, he is engaged in a +business as fascinating as it is uncertain. Failure only drives him to +another try, and success is always just around the corner. The +illustrator who would live by his work must live with it. If he has a +thought in his mind that does not deal in some form with illustrations +and half-tone plates, he is wasting that thought and his time besides. + + + + +HALF-TONE, LINE, AND COLOR PLATES + +By Emlyn M. Gill. + + +Practically all book illustrations, as well as those in catalogues and +periodicals of all kinds, are made by some method of photo-engraving. +Wood engraving is almost a thing of the past, and many who are in a +position to know predict that after the present generation of wood +engravers has passed out of existence, artistic wood engraving will be +a lost art. It is certain that there is now no younger school of wood +engravers growing up to take the place of the engravers whose work in +the leading magazines, up to a few years ago, made them famous. + +The quickly made and comparatively inexpensive process plates have not +only taken the place of wood engraving, but have increased the field +of illustration to a very large extent. They have made possible +hundreds and even thousands of publications which could not have +existed in the old days of expensive wood engraving. The use of +photo-engraved plates has increased enormously each year during the +past twenty years, and with this increased use has come the inevitable +decrease in cost, so that illustrations are no longer much of a +luxury to the publisher. + +Photography is the basis of all the mechanical processes that come +under the general head of photo-engraving. These processes are +generally called mechanical, yet, as in photography, great skill is +required to produce the best results. The higher grades of half-tone +work require much careful finishing, which is all done by hand, and +which, moreover, must be done by a skilful, intelligent, and artistic +engraver. Practically all things may be reproduced successfully by +photo-engraving, but the vast majority of subjects that go to the +photo-engraver are either photographs or drawings. + +All methods of relief plate photo-engraving come under two general +heads: "Half-tone" and "line engraving," the latter being very +generally known as "zinc etching." Zinc etching is the simplest method +of photo-engraving and should be thoroughly understood before one +begins to inquire into the intricacies of the half-tone process. It is +used to reproduce what is known as "black and white" work, or line +drawings. Any drawing or print having black lines or dots on a white +background, without any middle shades, may be engraved by this +process. The old-fashioned "wet-plate" photography is used in making +practically all process plates, either in line or half-tone. + +I will describe briefly all the operations gone through in making a +line plate, taking for a subject a map drawn in black ink on white +paper or a head drawn by Charles Dana Gibson,--subjects wide apart in +an artistic way, but of absolutely equal values so far as making the +plate is concerned. The drawing is first put on a copy board in front +of a camera made especially for this work, in whose holder the wet +plate has already been placed by the operator. The subject may be +enlarged or reduced to any desired size, nearly all drawings being +made much larger than they are desired to be reproduced in the plates. +The exposure is much longer than in ordinary dry plate work, generally +lasting in the neighborhood of five minutes. The result is a black and +white negative. That is, the lines that were black in the drawing are +absolutely clear and transparent in the negative, but the rest of the +negative is black. From the photographer, the negative goes to the +"negative-turning" room. Here the negative is coated with solutions of +collodion and rubber cement, which makes the film exceedingly +tough--so tough that it is easily stripped from the glass on which it +was made, and is "turned" with the positive side up on another sheet +of glass. If this were not done, the plate would be reversed in +printing--that is, a line of type would read from right to left, or +backward. After the negative is "turned," it is ready for the etching +room. Here the surface of a sheet of zinc about one-sixteenth of an +inch thick, which has been polished until it is as smooth as plate +glass and without a scratch or a flaw of any kind, is flowed with a +sensitized solution, easily affected by light. The negative is placed +in a printing frame over the sensitized zinc and a print is made. That +is, it is exposed to the sunlight or to a powerful electric light, and +the light shines through the transparent parts of the negative, and +hardens the sensitized surface; while the black part of the negative +protects the sensitized surface from the action of the light. The +plate is next "rolled up" with a lithograph roller which distributes a +thin coating of etching ink over the entire surface. The plate is then +washed off carefully by the operator, but the ink adheres to all +portions of the plate that have been acted upon by the light. We now +have a fully developed print on the highly polished surface of the +zinc that is an exact reproduction of the original drawing. It is now +necessary to make this print acid proof, and this is done by covering +the plate with a coating of very fine resinous powder, called +"dragon's blood," which adheres to the printed portions of the plate. +The plate is subjected to enough heat to melt this powder, and is then +ready for the acid bath. + +A strong solution of nitric acid is used for etching zinc plates. This +acid is placed in trays, which are rocked constantly, either by power +or by hand, while the plate is being etched. The melted dragon's +blood makes a perfect acid resistant and the acid, therefore, does not +affect the print (or picture itself), but eats away the bare surfaces +of the metal between the black lines and the dots. When this etching +has proceeded far enough to make a plate that may be used in printing, +the lines and dots of the picture stand up in bold relief, while the +metal around these lines and dots has been eaten away to a +considerable depth. + +There are many details that cannot be described in a short article, +but these are the principal operations gone through in etching the +plate. One very important detail in etching is to prevent +"undercutting." It is obvious that if the acid will eat down, it will +also eat sidewise. The acid resistant is only on the surface. If means +were not taken to prevent it, as soon as the acid got below the +surface, it would begin to eat in under the print and the lines and +dots of the picture would disappear; therefore, as soon as the plate +has had its first "bite," it is taken from the acid, dried, and +dragon's blood is brushed against the sides of the lines. This powder +is then melted and the plate given another etching. While the plate is +being etched down, it is removed from the acid several times, and the +sides of the dots and lines are again protected. After leaving the +etching room the plate goes to the "router," an ingenious machine, +with a cutting tool revolving at a speed of fourteen thousand +revolutions a minute, which quickly removes the waste metal in the +large open places between the lines and dots. The zinc plates are +carefully looked over by a finisher, defects are removed, and the +metal plates are then nailed on wooden blocks, so that they will be +"type-high," that is, of exactly the same height as the metal +type-forms used in printing. Hand presses are a necessity in all +photo-engraving shops, and with these several "proofs" of each plate +are printed in order that the customer may judge of the quality of the +plate. + +While the line, or zinc etching process is immensely useful, in +reproducing pen-and-ink drawings, maps, wood-cut prints, etc., yet the +half-tone process is the one that practically revolutionized all known +methods of illustration, after it had become perfected. While zinc +etching is limited in its capabilities to the reproduction of black +and white subjects, practically everything in art or nature may be +reproduced by the half-tone process. The half-tone "screen" makes it +possible to take a photograph or wash drawing and break the flat +surface of the picture up into lines and dots, with the white spaces +between that are an absolute essential in relief plate printing. If a +half-tone print taken from any magazine or periodical is examined +closely, either with the naked eye or a magnifying glass, it will be +seen that the entire picture is a perfect network of lines and dots, +and that there are two sets of lines running diagonally across the +plate at right angles to each other. In the darker portions of the +picture it will be seen that the lines are very heavy, with a small +white dot in the centre of each square, made by the intersecting +lines. In the lighter portions of the picture, these lines will be +found to be very fine, while in the lightest parts, or in the "high +lights," as they are called, the lines disappear and in their places +are a mass of fine dots, not much larger than a pin point. + +To make a half-tone plate of a photograph or other subject, it is +necessary to break the negative up into lines and dots. It is for this +purpose that the half-tone "screen" is used. The screen consists of +two thin pieces of plate-glass, on the surface of which a series of +very delicate parallel black lines have been ruled running diagonally +across the glass. When these pieces of glass are placed together, face +to face, the parallel lines ruled on them intersect each other at +right angles, giving a very fine "mosquito-netting" effect. The method +of making the negative is very similar to that described in making +line negatives, excepting that in making a half-tone negative the +screen is placed in the plate-holder directly in front of the +negative. The subject is then photographed, and the result is a +negative completely covered with a mass of fine transparent lines and +dots. + +Copper is generally used instead of zinc in making half-tone plates. +In making a print on copper the light shines through the transparent +lines and dots of the negative and hardens the sensitized surface of +the plate. The black parts of the negative between the transparent +lines and dots protect the sensitized surface. When the plate, after +printing, is placed under a water tap, the parts of the sensitized +surface that have not been acted upon by light wash away, leaving a +print that becomes acid proof after being subjected to an intense +heat. + +The method of etching a copper plate is similar to that already +described for etching zinc plates, excepting that sesquichloride of +iron is used instead of nitric acid. In a half-tone the dots and lines +are so close together that great depth is neither desirable nor +possible, and no steps are taken to prevent undercutting. + +The half-tone plate, after it has been carried as far as possible by +mechanical processes, is capable of great improvement in the hands of +skilful engravers. The plate as it comes from the etching bath may be +termed a mechanical product. Though great skill is necessary in making +the negative, the print, and the etching, the hand-finishing gives the +plate many of its artistic qualities. The unfinished plate is apt to +be more or less "flat" in appearance; the high lights may not be light +enough, while the dark portions of the plate are apt, in cases, to be +too light. The most common methods of finishing are reetching and +burnishing. The finisher dips a camel's-hair brush in acid and +applies it to the high-light portions of the plate, or other places +that are too dark, and allows it to act on the metal until these parts +of the plate are lightened sufficiently. The parts of the plate that +are too light are made darker by rubbing down the surface of the plate +with a tool called the burnisher. The skilful, artistic finisher has +other methods at his command of making the plate reproduce as +accurately and as artistically as possible the original drawing or +photograph. High lights are sometimes cut out entirely, or a fine +engraver's tool may be "run" between the lines; while a +"wood-engraved" finish is produced by cutting, in certain portions of +the plate, lines similar to those used in wood engraving. + +In the price-cutting that has been going on as a result of the fierce +competition that has existed among photo-engravers during the past few +years, the artistic possibilities of the half-tone have been lost +sight of to a certain extent. The product of the engravers is sold by +the square inch, regardless of the fact that the cost of one plate may +be double the cost of another plate of the same size, but from a +different subject. + +A point also worth remembering is that until the plate reaches the +finishers' hands, it has been more or less of a mechanical product; +and that the plate is made an artistic creation by the skill, care, +and brains of an intelligent class of men earning from $25 to $50 a +week. Those expecting "the best" at "the lowest price" can easily +guess about how much of this high-priced finishing they will get when +the price paid barely covers the cost of the mechanical product. Then, +engravers striving for high quality in the product pay from +twenty-five to fifty per cent higher wages, as a rule, than the cheap, +commercial shops. But the idea of square-inch price has so generally +permeated the buying public, that the larger and better shops have +been compelled, to a greater or less extent, to meet the prices of +their less skilful competitors. They are enabled to do this and give +their customers much greater value for their money, only through +better business methods, more modern facilities, and by conducting the +business on a very large scale. + +The screens used in making half-tones represent an enormous outlay in +the large shops. A comparatively small screen costs in the +neighborhood of $100. A screen 18 x 20, ruled 120 or 133 lines to the +inch, costs about $500. Screens are made with different numbers of +lines to the inch, from 65, for coarse, newspaper work, up to 400. The +screens in general use are 65, 85, 100, 110, 120, 133, 150, 166, 175, +and 200; but intermediate sizes are also used, such as 125 and 140. A +screen containing 200 lines to the inch is about the finest ever used +for ordinary printing purposes, though a few screens with 250, 300, +and 400 lines to the inch have been made. A well-equipped +photo-engraving establishment must have all these screens, and all of +them in many different sizes. In the writer's shop there are fifteen +cameras, all of them in constant use in the daytime and five or six of +them are always in use all night. Some days the bulk of the work in +the place will be a fine grade of magazine engraving calling for a 175 +screen. In order to keep all the cameras at work all the time, a thing +that is very important in a well-regulated place, it is necessary to +have a number of 175 screens almost equal to the number of cameras. +The same is true of most of the other screens in general use. +Fortunately for the engraver and the consumer these screens +practically last forever if carefully handled. + +The greatest developments in process work during the past few years +have been in the making of color plates. Beautiful results are +obtained in two colors by the "duograph" or "duotone" processes, the +plates being made for two printings. The three-color process aims to +reproduce all colors in three printings, by using inks of red, yellow, +and blue. This process is very interesting, but somewhat intricate. +Primarily, the results are made possible by color separations. The aim +is to take a colored subject--an oil painting, for instance--and by +photographing it three times, each time through a different colored +piece of glass, to divide all the colors into what are called the +three primary colors--red, yellow, and blue. From each of these color +separations a half-tone plate is made, and when these plates are put +on the printing-press, and the impressions are printed over each other +in yellow, red, and blue inks, respectively, the result is a printed +picture reproducing correctly all the colors of the original subject. + +While many subjects may be reproduced accurately by this process, yet +the three-color process seems inadequate to give perfectly +satisfactory results in all cases. Nearly all three-color process +houses are now prepared to add a fourth, or key, plate, to be printed +in black, in case the subject seems to need it. The three-color +process has enabled many of the leading magazines to use illustrations +in colors, and there is not the slightest doubt but that there is a +great future for this class of work. + + + + +THE WAX PROCESS + +By Robert D. Servoss. + + +Almost all of the maps found in text and reference books, as well as +the geometrical diagrams used in mathematical and scientific works, +are made by what is known as the "wax process." + +This process was invented and patented by an Englishman named Palmer +about 1840, shortly after the discovery of the method of making +electrotype plates for printing purposes. He announced that he would +furnish artists with copper plates covered with a waxlike composition +on which they could make their own drawings, in a manner similar to +but much simpler than the method followed by the etcher on copper. +After receiving the artist's work, the plates were to be returned to +Palmer, who then made an ordinary electrotype of the engraving. A +circular, issued about 1841, gives the necessary instructions for +engraving, and the prices for the wax-coated plates and the subsequent +electrotypes, and shows many beautiful illustrations made by artists +of that time. It was then called the "glyphographic process." + +The process was first introduced into this country by a firm of +printers in Buffalo, New York, and was used by them for several years +for illustrating the United States patent office reports until it was +superseded upon the introduction of photo-lithography and the +subsequent adoption by the government of a uniform standard for patent +drawings. + +This process may be described in a general way as follows: A copper +plate having a highly polished surface is first blackened by the +application of a weak solution of sulphuret of potassium, or other +chemical which will oxidize the copper. Then a composition, made by +melting together in proper proportions, beeswax, zinc-white, and +paraffin, is "flowed" over the blackened surface, producing an opaque +whitish engraving ground. The thickness of the wax is varied according +to the subject to be engraved, but in general should not exceed that +of heavy writing paper. After it has been allowed to cool with the +plate lying perfectly horizontal, the wax is smoothed down to an even +thickness by a steel scraper, and the plate is then ready to receive +the engraving. + +Taking for an example the engraving of a map, the original copy is +either photographed on the wax surface, or is transferred to it by +covering the back of the copy with red chalk and tracing over every +line with a steel point. The photograph, or the tracing, on the wax +must not be a reversed one, as might be supposed, but should "read +right." The outlines of the map are then gone over, with an engraving +tool which cuts out a small channel in the wax, down to, but not +into, the surface of the copper plate. The bottoms of these channels +will eventually form the surface of the relief lines in the resultant +electrotype plate, but now appear as dark lines against the whitish +groundwork of the wax. + +The engraving tools are made in different sizes, and therefore +channels of varying widths at the bottoms may be cut in order to +produce lines of different sizes. In cutting lines to indicate +rivers,--which must be thin at the source and increase in thickness as +they approach the mouth,--tools are used in graduated sizes. The first +one cuts its own line of equal width for a very short distance, then +another and slightly wider tool is used, the next still wider, and so +on until the river line is completed. In reality a series of steps, +the work is so done that the line appears to the eye to increase in +width evenly and gradually from a very fine beginning to a heavy +ending. The wavy lines indicating hills and mountains are made in +substantially the same way. Special steel punches are pressed through +the wax to the copper to show town and capital marks, and after all +the lines and marks are completed, the plate is ready to receive the +lettering. The name of each individual town, city, state, or river is +set up in printer's type and stamped one name at a time into the wax. +The type is placed in a small tool resembling a vise, which holds it +in perfect alignment and on a perfect level. Tools of various shapes +are used for stamping the names in straight and curved lines. It is +necessary to wet the type to prevent its adhering to the wax. + +The plate is then carefully compared with the original copy and after +any necessary corrections have been made it is gone over by an expert +operator, who cuts out any of the channels which may have been +obliterated by the burr of the wax, resulting from pressing in the +names. + +We now have a plate in which the lines have been cut in small channels +and the names stamped with type. This is a matrix, or mould, from +which an electrotype of the lines now sunken in the wax may be made in +high relief for printing, but the blank portions of the wax are so +thin that it is first necessary to fill in all these places on the +plates with wax in order to produce a sufficiently deep electrotype +plate. This is done by "building up" the plate. A small hook-shaped +tool, heated over a gas jet, is used to melt small pieces of wax which +are run carefully around all the names and in the spaces between +lines, thus filling up all these spaces with a round, smooth body of +wax. From this mould an ordinary electrotype is made by the method +described elsewhere in this book. + +All these operations require much skill and patience at every step, +but the plates produced by the wax process are always much deeper and +stronger than those made by any other process. + + + + +MAKING INTAGLIO PLATES + +By Elmer Latham. + + +The method by which a photogravure plate is produced, is probably the +least understood of all of the many photo-processes of reproduction. +This is chiefly on account of the difficulty of the process, which is +not an easy matter to explain in detail, and also on account of the +secrecy with which all plate makers guard their processes. + +The reproduction of a mezzotint or line-engraved print, when made by a +good photogravure process, produces in most cases a print which cannot +be detected from the original. The originator of the process was +probably Fox Talbot, an Englishman. The writer has seen one of his +prints, made between 1855 and 1860, which was a very creditable piece +of work. Dujardin of Paris took up Talbot's process, and after much +modification, succeeded in developing a successful process which he is +working to-day. All photogravure plate makers of the present time have +more or less copied the process of Fox Talbot. + +There are three different methods of making these plates known to the +writer. The reader probably knows that a photogravure plate is not a +relief plate, but an intaglio, and is printed on an etching-press in +the same manner as an etching and requires special skill in printing +on the part of the printer to produce the best results. I will give a +brief explanation of the three different processes. + +The first is known as the transfer process. In this process a reversed +photographic negative is made from the copy, from which a positive or +"transparency" is made, either by contact or in the camera. A piece of +carbon paper is then coated lightly with gelatine, sensitized with +bichromate of potassium and allowed to dry. The paper is then placed +in contact with the positive and printed in daylight until the image +is imprinted on the gelatine coating of the paper, such portions of +which as have received the most exposure from the action of light +becoming quite insoluble. A copper plate, cleaned so that it is free +from grease, is introduced into a large box into which has been blown +a very finely powdered resin, which is allowed to settle somewhat +before putting in the plate. The plate is allowed to remain in the box +until a fine deposit of resin has settled all over it. It is then +carefully removed and heated over a gas burner until the resin adheres +firmly to the plate. The resin is melted only to such a point that it +forms a fine grain all over the plate, leaving interstices of bare +copper between. The paper, on the gelatine surface of which the +picture is printed, is now placed in a tray of warm water, and the +parts of the image which have had the least exposure are thereby +dissolved and washed away, the image being thus fully developed on the +paper. This is placed in contact with the grained plate, which has +been placed in the tray of water, and firmly squeezed in contact with +the plate. The paper is stripped off, leaving the gelatine film on the +copper. The plate is now removed from the tray and dried, and is then +ready for etching, which is accomplished by placing the plate +successively in several baths of acid of different strengths until the +desired results are obtained. This process gives a shallow plate, of +not great wearing quality, and, as a rule, requires a great deal of +work by the engraver to bring the plate up to anything like the copy. +The light tints come out very soft and smooth, but the black tones +etch "flat" and lose all detail. These blacks must be put in by hand. +The poor wearing qualities of these plates make them undesirable in +cases where a large edition has to be printed. + +The next process is the "deposited" plate used by "Goupil" of Paris, +in which copper is deposited by electricity upon a swelled gelatine +film which has had a grain formed upon its surface chemically or +otherwise. The deposition has to be continued until the plate has +acquired the necessary thickness, which takes about three weeks; and +this is a long time to wait in these days, when a publisher usually +expects his order executed in ten days. These plates are practically +hand made. The process gives a plate that could not possibly be used +without a great deal of retouching by an expert engraver. Goupil turns +out a beautiful plate, due principally to his large force of +engravers, one man working on a particular part of the plate, then +passing it on to another who does some other portion, and so on, until +the plate is finished. In this way each engraver becomes exceedingly +skilful in one thing. Line engraving is reproduced by this process +exceedingly well, but such plates, like the transfer process, are +shallow and give out soon in the printing. + +The last process that I have to deal with is the one I am working +myself. In this process the plates are made in two or more etchings, +according to the requirements of the subject which is to be +reproduced. This method produces a plate of great depth both in the +light and black tints, and on account of the small amount of hand-work +required after the plate is etched, the copy is followed very closely. +With a good positive and favorable conditions, quite frequently a +plate is made upon which the retoucher needs to do no work at all, and +a more faithful reproduction is made than by any of the other methods +that I have mentioned. After a good positive is procured, the copper +plate is cleaned, and a sensitized solution of gelatine is flowed over +the plate, dried down, and then printed under the positive, with a +short exposure. The plate is grained as in the transfer process, and +is then etched. + +This first etching, on account of the short exposure, goes over the +plate in about three minutes, and is simply intended to get the light +tints. The plate is again cleaned off and coated, this time in a +different manner, and given a much longer exposure under the positive. +The next etching takes about three hours, which gives the blacks great +depth. Comparing this with the transfer plate which has an etching of +from fifteen to twenty minutes, the reason for the difference in the +wearing qualities of the plate is quite evident. This process, whether +used by myself or others, I feel free to say is the best one that has +ever been worked, inasmuch as it gives a far more faithful +reproduction than any of the others with a minimum of work by the +retoucher. + +Some plate makers claim to make all their plates without any +retouching, which cannot be done. As I have mentioned before, +occasionally a plate can be made as good as the copy without +hand-work. But to say that any chemical process gives such results +continually, or that a plate cannot be improved by a skilful retoucher +is, to say the least, misleading. All of the different processes are +very sensitive to atmospheric influences, and no small amount of +chemical as well as mechanical skill is required to keep things +running smoothly; and at certain times the best of operators are at a +loss to remedy some slight fault that may upset things temporarily. +Photogravure making is based upon a foundation of small details, that +must be looked after with the utmost care, and the neglect of any one +of which means failure at the end. So it may be surmised that at times +the operator has trouble of his own. + +Every maker of plates, no matter which process he uses, has his +individual ways of doing things, so that except in a general way no +two processes are operated alike. This gives an individuality to each +man's work, and an expert can easily tell one from another. For +high-class illustrations, no other photographic process can compare +with photogravure, and no doubt it will be many years before anything +will be found to excel or even equal it. Much experimenting has been +done with other methods, but the results have always been inferior, +and I think it is safe to predict that the photogravure will always be +popular. + +Etchings, mezzotints, and steel engravings are still occasionally used +in the illustration of fine books, and brief descriptions of how they +are made will be of interest. + +An etching is usually made on a copper plate. The plate being covered +with a thin coating of wax, the artist works on it with an etching +point, sketching his subject on the plate in fine lines as he would in +making a pen-and-ink drawing, but cutting his lines through to the +copper. The plate is then "walled in" with a high rim of wax, forming +a sort of tray of the plate. Into this tray is poured a diluted +solution of nitric acid, which etches, or "bites," into the uncovered +lines on the plate. Some artists give a plate a short "bite," as the +etching is called, for the light lines, then cover these portions of +the plate with wax and give the plate successive "bites," stopping out +each part as it gains its required depth. Others remove the coating +and "prove" the plate by taking a print from it after each +"bite,"--each of these prints being known as a "state of the plate" +and showing what is still required to be done. In the work of an +etcher like Whistler the impressions of the "first state," "second +state," etc., are of considerable interest, as they show the progress +of the man's work, but, except as an object of interest or as a +curiosity, these prints can have no real value as they are unfinished +work, simply showing the various stages in the making of a work of +art. + +A mezzotint is also usually made on a copper plate. A texture, or +groundwork, is worked on the copper plate with a tool resembling a +cabinet maker's toothed plane iron, except it is rounded at the end. +The teeth are very fine, ranging from forty to one hundred and twenty +to the inch in different tools. This tool is called a "Bercier," or +"rocker." The rounded edge allows the tool to be rocked across the +plate, the rocking motion causing the teeth to form indentations in +the copper. The rocking has to be continued until the surface of the +plate is completely covered, and it then presents an appearance like +velvet. Rocking in from forty to sixty directions is necessary to +cover the plate properly. The durability of a mezzotint plate depends +entirely upon the pressure put upon the rocker, and the depth to which +it penetrates the copper. After the ground is thus laid, the outline +is sketched in on the rocked surface, which takes the pencil easily, +and then with steel scrapers and burnishers the light and middle tints +are worked down, leaving undisturbed the portions of the surface where +the strongest blacks are to be. From time to time, a print is taken +from the plate, to note the progress of the work, which advances +slowly to the finish. On account of the length of time necessary for +the laying of the ground and the scraping of the plate, many artists +hesitate to attempt mezzotint plates. There are very few men in this +country to-day who do mezzotint engraving, which, considering the +results to be obtained, seems somewhat surprising. + +For flesh tones, drapery, and landscapes it has no equal. The velvety +richness of the blacks, the beautiful gradations of the middle tones, +and the extreme delicacy of the light tints give the artist a power of +expression not obtainable by any other method of engraving. Besides +this, as the engraving is done on the bare copper, the artist can see +at all times the progress of his work without having to take off the +wax ground as he must in making an etching. This is a great advantage, +for as the effect of each stroke can be plainly seen on the plate, the +element of uncertainty which always attends the production of an +etching is entirely eliminated, and it is then simply a question of +skill with the scraper. The difficulty of obtaining rockers is one +great drawback. I doubt if one could be obtained in New York to-day. +The teeth have to be very accurately cut, and a perfect tool has a +value to an engraver that cannot well be estimated. The lack of demand +has prevented their manufacture in this country, but they could be +made here by any fine tool maker. + +Steel engravings are still used to some extent in this country, +although only in portrait work. A wax ground is laid on the plate as +in etching. A tracing is made from the photograph, from which the +picture is to be made, and is then transferred to the wax ground. The +engraver then follows the lines of the tracing with an etching point, +the hair, head, and outline of the features being gone over carefully. +Then the plate is etched with weak nitric acid. If the face is to be +"stippled," it is covered with fine dots made by a graver directly on +the surface of the metal after the plate has been etched and the wax +cleaned off. If the face is to be a mezzotint, that part of the work +is all rocked over, and then scraped down within the etched outline, +when the flesh is modelled as in a regular mezzotint. The drapery, +background, etc., is usually done by a ruling machine with fine or +coarse, waved or straight lines, as the texture may require. These +lines are ruled through a coating of wax, and then, by etching and +stopping out, the required results are obtained. + +This method of engraving is also giving place to process work, and in +a few years more the steel engraved portrait will probably be a thing +of the past. + + + + +PRINTING INTAGLIO PLATES + +By George W. H. Ritchie. + + +The method of printing etchings, mezzotint, and other intaglio plates +is the same to-day as it was in the time of Rembrandt and Durer. The +modern inventor has found no way to economize time, labor, or expense +in the work--excepting that in the case of postage stamps, bond +certificates, and similar plates, which are printed in vast +quantities, the work has been adapted to the steam press. + +In the olden time the engraver, or etcher, himself was to a +considerable extent his own printer. He worked at engraving his plate +until he needed a proof to show him how the work was progressing. Then +he printed, or "pulled," a proof and resumed his work, taking proofs +from time to time until he had completed the plate to his +satisfaction. Then, if only a small edition was required, he printed +it. Proofs taken during the making of a plate are known by plate +engravers and printers as the "states" of a plate, and it is due to +the whim of the etcher, the softness of the copper, and the wearing of +the plate in printing that we have prints representing many "states" +of a single plate which might otherwise have had but one state, thus +depriving one modern print collector of the privilege of discovering +in his proof three hairs more or less in a donkey's tail than his +rival finds in another proof, which makes the former's more valuable +by several hundred pounds. + +One form of press is used for all manner of intaglio plate printing. +It consists of a framework supporting two heavy iron rollers, between +which moves a flat iron travelling plank, or bed, and on this bed the +plate to be printed is laid. The pressure of the rollers is regulated +by screws at each end of the top roller, which is covered with two or +three pieces of thick felt. This top roller is revolved by handles and +the bed moves along with it under the pressure of the roller. At one +side of the press stands a rectangular box, or "stove," made of iron, +or having an iron top. The top is heated by gas and on it the printer +puts his plate while inking and wiping it. The heat thins the ink as +it is applied, allowing it to be worked freely and to be "lifted" +easily by the paper. + +The ink is made of fine bone dust, vegetable or other form of carbon, +which has been carefully cleansed from foreign matter and ground to +the necessary fineness in combination with burned linseed oil. Its +strength and consistency should be varied according to the plate which +is in hand, and the color also may be varied to suit the character of +the plate by the addition of pigments. + +The paper used in plate printing may be one of several kinds, but the +usual variety is a fine white paper free from spots and imperfections +which might mar the appearance of the finished print. This paper is +made either by hand or machinery of selected bleached cotton rags, and +has a soft, spongy surface which yields readily under the pressure of +the plate. Before it can be used the paper is moistened and allowed to +stand for from one to twelve hours, or even longer, until it becomes +evenly and thoroughly dampened,--but not wet,--so that it will more +readily force itself into the lines of the plate and take therefrom +and hold the ink. + +Before printing a photogravure, mezzotint, or other engraved plate the +printer must first carefully examine it to see that it has no +scratches, and that no dried ink remains in the lines from the last +printing, and, in fact, that there are none of the many possible +impedimenta which might prevent the production of a perfect print. The +plate being in proper condition, it is then thoroughly cleansed with +turpentine or benzine, all traces of which must be carefully wiped +from the surface before the ink is applied. The plate is then laid on +the heated iron box or "stove" until it has become thoroughly warmed. +The surface of the plate is covered with ink, put on by means of an +ink-roller, or perhaps the old-fashioned dauber, and the ink is +thoroughly worked into the lines or depressions in the plate. After +this the ink on the flat surface of the plate is entirely removed by +wiping with rags. The printer's hand, which has become more or less +covered with ink from the rags, is then passed over a piece of chalk, +or gilder's white, and lightly rubbed over the surface of the plate, +to remove the last vestige of the ink, leaving a highly polished flat +surface with the incised lines or depressions filled with ink to the +level of the surface. + +The plate is then ready for printing and is placed on the bed of the +press, a sheet of dampened paper laid upon it, and both are then run +between the rollers of the press. As the top roller is encased in soft +blankets, the soft, dampened paper is forced into the ink-filled lines +of the plate, and when the paper is removed the ink clings to it and +shows an exact impression of the engraving. This entire process must +be repeated for each print made from an intaglio plate. + +While the printing of a steel engraving or photogravure is a more or +less mechanical operation, the printing of an etching--and "dry +points" may be included--is oftentimes as much of an art as the actual +etching of the plate. The two styles of printing may be compared to +two kinds of fishing,--that of fishing for flounders with a drop line, +from a flat-bottomed boat at low tide when one must just sit tight +until one has a bite, and then haul in the fish, bait up, drop the +line and wait again, as against that of angling for trout on an early +spring day, dropping the fly in a likely spot without success at the +first cast, persevering until rewarded by a rise and then by the sport +of playing the fish, giving him line and reeling him in as about he +circles and finally is landed. A good one, perchance, but the sport +was in landing him. So it is with printing an etching. There is the +opportunity to play with, and work hard over, a plate. Perhaps the +etcher has not, for reasons only known to himself, put in the plate +all that can be shown in the print by ordinary printing. The printer +actually has to interpret in his printing the etcher's meaning, for +the which, as a rule, he gets "more kicks than ha'pence," and in the +end wishes he had stuck to plain plate printing as far as the profit +is concerned. + +In the process of printing an etching, the printer first covers the +plate with ink and then wipes it with the rags, and, if necessary, +with the hand. It depends entirely upon the etched work of the plate +as to how it must be wiped, and it rests with the printer to prepare a +proof which is satisfactory to the etcher. The plate is wiped +"closely" where the high lights are required or a tint (a thin coating +of ink) left over certain portions where it needs to be darker. After +this the plate is "retroussed," which is accomplished by passing a +very soft piece of fine muslin, or a "badger blender,"--a soft brush +used by artists,--delicately over the work in the plate and drawing +the ink up and over the edges of the lines. This softens and broadens +the lines and gives a very rich effect, and, if continued +sufficiently, fills the spaces between the lines and produces an +almost black effect. All this work is varied according to the wishes +of the etcher. A plate that left the etcher's hand a mere skeleton may +be made to produce a print which is a thing of life. The possibilities +of an etching in the hands of a skilful printer are almost limitless; +the effects can vary with every impression, each showing a new +picture. His processes are as interesting as those of the etcher +himself, and it is within his capabilities to transform an etching +from a broad daylight effect into a moonlight scene, including the +moon, by judiciously, or injudiciously, inking and wiping the plate. + +A "dry point" plate is produced by drawing on a copper plate with a +steel or diamond point, and without biting by acid. The lines are cut +into the copper and a burr thrown up which holds the ink in printing, +and produces a soft, velvety line. The method of printing such a plate +is similar to that of an etching, but the possibilities are not as +great in the printing, as they rest to a greater extent upon the work +of the artist. A great depth of color, producing wonderfully rich +effects, can be obtained and the finer lines can be made much more +delicate than by any other method. + +The printing of intaglio plates in color flourished for a short period +in the latter portion of the eighteenth century, and the best prints +of that time now in existence are of rare beauty and bring enormous +prices. The process, now almost a memory, is a costly one, and this +prevents its use in book illustration excepting for volumes which +command a very high price. This kind of printing requires the plate to +be actually painted by hand with inks of such colors as the picture +may require, and the painting has to be repeated for every impression +that is taken. The colors are put on with a "dole,"--a small piece of +muslin turned to a point,--and great care must be taken that they do +not overlap, or run into, each other. As each color is placed, the +plate is wiped clean with rags as already described, and when all the +colors have been properly placed, the plate is pulled through the +press in the same manner as in ordinary printing. + +The successful printer of color plates must be a rare artist or else +work under the direction of an artist. Little of this work is now done +except in Paris and Vienna, and the limited number of color plates of +this kind used for book illustration in this country does not warrant +the time and expense necessary to train printers capable of doing the +work. Even English plates are usually sent to Paris to be printed. + +It is difficult to describe the work of what is termed artistic +printing. Every plate is a subject to be treated by itself, and no +hard and fast rule can be applied. It is really a matter of artistic +feeling, and to revert to the simile of the angler, one cannot explain +how a trout should be played, but can only say that it depends on the +fish, the water, and the circumstances. A fisherman can _show_ you, if +you are on the spot, and so can the printer. + + + + +THE GELATINE PROCESS + +By Emil Jacobi. + + +Of the many photo-mechanical processes which have come into existence +in recent years, the photo-gelatine, next to the half-tone process, +has shown the greatest adaptability for practical use in art and +commerce. + +Whatever the name may be,--Collotype, Artotype, Albertype, Phototype, +or Carbon-gravure,--the principle is the same; an impression is made +in printer's ink from a photo-chemically produced design on a gelatine +surface, either on the hand-press or on a power cylinder press similar +to that used in lithographic printing. + +There is hardly any process which is more capable of producing fine +works of art. It is the only true method for reproducing, in the full +sense of the word, an etching, engraving, a drawing in pen and ink, an +aquarelle, a painting, or objects from nature. The depth and richness +of tone of an engraving, the delicate tints of an aquarelle or +india-ink sketch, and the sharpness of the lines of an etching or pen +sketch can be reproduced with such fidelity that it is often +impossible to distinguish the copy from the original, and this is +achieved the more easily as the printing can be done in any color and +on any material, be it paper, parchment, leather, or textile goods. + +Another great advantage of a gelatine print is its inalterability and +durability, no chemicals being employed in transferring the picture to +the paper. The picture itself being formed by solid pigments, such as +are used in printer's ink or painter's colors, there is no possibility +of its fading or changing color, which cannot be said even of platino +prints, at present considered the most lasting of all photo-chemical +processes. + +Like all new inventions, the photo-gelatine process, in its early +stages, had to undergo severe trials, and for some years almost +disappeared from public view, after many failures precipitated through +unscrupulous promoters and inefficient persons who claimed +impossibilities for the new process. It took years of patience and +perseverance to regain the lost ground and overcome the opposition of +those who had suffered by the failure of this process to produce the +promised results; but at present it is, in Europe, one of the methods +in most general use for illustrating, and in this country it is making +steady progress and rapidly finding favor. + +The process, simple as it may seem to the casual observer, requires, +more than any other photo-mechanical process, skilled hands in its +different manipulations to keep it up to the standard of perfection. +The following short description will give the uninitiated sufficient +enlightenment to think and speak intelligently about it. + +The foundation or starting point, as of all the other photo-mechanical +processes, is a photographic negative; that is, a picture on glass or +some other transparent substance, in which the light parts of the +picture appear dark, and the dark parts light in transparency, +graduated according to the different shades of tone in the original. +The next and most prominent feature is the printing plate. A perfectly +even glass, copper, or zinc plate is covered on the surface with a +solution of fine gelatine and bichromate of potassium, and dried. This +printing plate is then placed under a negative and exposed to the +light. The action of the light on the bichromated gelatine forms the +basis of this process. In proportion to the graduated density of the +negative, the light acts more or less on the bichromated gelatine, +rendering the latter, in proportion, insoluble and hardening it. After +sufficient exposure the plate is washed out in water to eliminate the +bichromate not acted upon by the light, and is then actually ready for +the press. + +If the printing is to be done on a hand press, a lithographic leather +roller is charged with printer's ink, and the plate, which has been +fastened on a suitable bed-plate in the press, is rolled up while it +is still moist. Those parts of the plate which were acted upon by the +light and hardened, repel the water and take up the ink, and thus all +the graduating tones, up to the high lights or white parts, which have +not been affected by the light, will take the ink proportionately. The +white parts of the picture, where the light did not act upon the +gelatine during the exposure under the negative, retain the natural +property of gelatine to absorb water, and consequently repel the ink +altogether. + +From the foregoing it will be easy to understand that a certain degree +of moisture in the plate is necessary to get a correct impression. +After the leather roller, a composition roller, such as is used in +typographical processes, is employed to make the ink smooth and give +the fine details not obtainable from the rough surface of a leather +roller. A sheet of paper is then placed upon the plate and by pressure +the ink is transferred from the plate to the paper. + +The printing, in former years, could only be done on hand presses; but +with the introduction of improved power presses especially adapted to +it the process itself has been so perfected that the finest work can +be executed on them, at the same time insuring greater evenness and +increased quantity of production, and also admitting the use of larger +plates than would be possible on a hand press. + +The prevailing impression, whenever machinery is employed to supersede +hand-work, is that the production is increased to such an extent as to +reduce the cost to a minimum, but in the gelatine printing process, +even with the aid of power presses, the rapidity of printing is far +behind the possibilities of the lithographic or typographical printing +press, and the process, therefore, is only applicable to works of art, +and the better grade of illustrations in literary and commercial +publications. + +The lesser rapidity of production and the greater cost is balanced by +the quality, where this item comes into consideration; and where only +small editions are required, even the cost compares favorably with +other methods, as the initial cost of preparing the printing plate is +small compared with the cost of photogravure or the better class of +half-tone plate. It is only in cases of large editions of many +thousands that the advantage of rapid printing reduces the cost of the +initial expense. But fine art publications and illustrations will +never be used in very large quantities, and, therefore, there is a +large field for the photo-gelatine process in this country, where it +is as yet so little used. In France, Germany, and Austria there are +dozens of establishments which employ ten or more power presses for +photo-gelatine work, while here only within the last few years has the +process been sufficiently appreciated to warrant the introduction of a +few steam presses; and these have to be imported from abroad at a high +rate of duty, as the present demand for the presses does not make it +advisable for our domestic press builders to invest in their +construction, especially after an isolated attempt in that line, +misguided by inexperienced and unpractical men, which turned out to be +a total failure. + +Notwithstanding all these difficulties and obstacles, it is a fact +that the photo-gelatine process has gained ground sufficiently to +indicate a prosperous future, as its products are becoming more widely +known and appreciated. + + + + +LITHOGRAPHY + +By Charles Wilhelms. + + +As an embellishment to the modern book, chromo-lithographed +illustrations are quite popular and in some cases absolutely +necessary, being not only attractive, but conveying an accurate idea +of the color as well as the form of the object illustrated. Although +the illustration is nothing more than a colored print, it may be a +revelation to some when they learn of the numerous details incidental +to its production. + +It may not be generally known, and yet of sufficient interest to the +reader to state that the art of lithography, or surface printing, was +invented accidentally. The inventor, Aloys Senefelder, had been +engaged for years endeavoring to find some process for etching copper +plates as a substitute for typographic printing plates; and the piece +of stone (of a kind now known as Solenhofen lithographic stone), which +eventually led him to the discovery of lithography had been used by +him as a slab upon which he had been accustomed to grind his printing +ink. The materials which he used for his acid-resisting mixture while +etching his copper plates were beeswax, soap, and lampblack, and in +selecting these materials he accidentally invented the basis for all +crayons or lithographic "tusche" or inks, now used so extensively for +drawing on stone. It seems that Senefelder finally became thoroughly +disheartened about his etched copper plates, mainly owing to the great +expense and labor connected with their production, and was about to +discontinue his efforts when the idea occurred to him to experiment +with the stone which he had used as an ink slab for so many months, +treating it in the same manner as the copper plates. + +He knew that the calcareous stone was easily affected by acid and that +he could protect its surface against it by a layer of wax. After +polishing the surface of the stone and coating it with a slight layer +of wax, he made his drawing with a pointed tool, laying bare the +surface of the stone where he desired the engraving. Then applying the +acid and removing the remaining wax, he filled the etched lines with +printing ink, cleaned the surface of the stone with water, and was +enabled to obtain an impression on paper from it. This manner of +treating a stone has been employed by vignette engravers for many +years, but of late has become obsolete. The result gave encouragement +to Senefelder and induced him to renew his experiments, when he was +accidentally led a step farther in the direction of surface or +chemical printing. + +Senefelder had just ground and polished a stone, when his mother +entered the room and asked him to take a memorandum of some clothes +which she was about to send away to be laundered. Having neither paper +nor ink at hand, he hastily wrote the items with a pen, dipped in his +acid-resisting mixture, upon the stone which had just been polished. +When he afterwards started to wipe the writing from the stone, it +occurred to him that it might be possible to reverse his process by +etching the surface of the stone, leaving the writing or drawing in +relief, which could be printed from in the same manner as from type. +He was fairly successful in this, and after many disappointments and +much hardship, he eventually succeeded in interesting a capitalist, +with whose assistance he was enabled to establish his new relief stone +process on a commercial basis. + +The process, however, was at best only an imperfect one, and it seems +strange that the final discovery of surface or lithographic printing +should have been so long delayed, when Senefelder was in reality so +near it, when he first poured the acid over the stone containing his +laundry memorandum. If he had instantly washed off the acid and +cleaned the surface of the stone with water, he might have proceeded +to print thousands of impressions by simply keeping the surface of the +stone moist while passing the ink roller or dabber over it, then +drying and taking an impression, and repeating this operation +indefinitely. It is not surprising, therefore, that a man of such +persistence and capability as Senefelder should eventually discover +the best method for drawing and printing from stone; for it is a fact +that, since he perfected his invention, more than a hundred years ago, +it has been hardly possible to improve on his methods, so completely +did he cover the entire field of manipulation in this direction. +Continuing his experiments, Senefelder finally found that the +calcareous stone absorbed and held grease, and that it just as readily +absorbed water, where the surface was exposed and clean; that any +design drawn or transferred with a greasy crayon or ink upon a cleanly +polished stone would be firmly held, after being slightly etched; and +that after such a stone had been moistened, it could be inked with +rollers, the ink adhering only to the greasy matter constituting the +design (although it did not stand out in the relief) and that the ink +rollers would not smut the stone, the ink being repelled by the water +or moisture covering its surface. Upon this principle of chemical +affinity, the adherence of greasy substances to each other and the +mutual antipathy of grease and water, the art of lithographic printing +is based. + +The methods or processes now employed in reproducing oil-paintings, +colored photographs, or water-colors by lithography are numerous, and +require great skill and experience, not only on the part of the +lithographic artist, but also on the part of the printer. Photography +has of late years been used to a great extent in creating the basis of +the color plates, to be afterwards perfected by the manipulation of +the experienced chromo-lithographer. + +To insure a satisfactory result the first essential is, of course, a +good original, which can be made in water-color, oil, or pastel. The +number of printings to be employed should be predetermined and a color +scale adopted. The lithographer must carefully analyze the original +painting, making his calculations as to the best way of obtaining the +desired color effects by a judicious selection and use of his colors, +and the superimposing of one printing over the other, so as to obtain +true color values. It must be remembered that, while the average +painter has an unlimited variety of pigments at his disposal, the +lithographer is in this respect very much at a disadvantage, not +usually having more than from six to fourteen colors with which to +produce a facsimile of the original. + +The first step is the making of the so-called key-plate. A piece of +gelatine is laid on the original, which is, let us say by way of +illustration, a water-color to be reproduced in ten printings, and a +careful tracing of the original is made by scratching, with an +engraving needle, the outline of each wash or touch of color composing +the picture. This being completed, the lithographic ink (tusche) or +transfer ink is carefully rubbed into the tracing, which is laid face +down on a polished lithographic stone, slightly moistened, and passed +through a hand press; thereby transferring the ink from the engraved +lines to the polished surface of the stone. The design on the stone is +then rolled in with black printing ink and etched, thus enabling the +lithographer to take the necessary ten impressions of the key-plate. +These, in their turn, are again transferred to as many lithographic +stones. This is accomplished by dusting the impressions with a red +powder, which adheres only to the design printed on the sheet. The +powdered outline design is then transferred to the surface of the +stone by passing both through a hand press. The key has been +previously provided with register marks (a short horizontal line +intersected by a vertical one) at top, bottom, and both sides. These +are of the utmost importance to the prover, and finally to the +transferrer, who prepares the work for the press, as without them it +would be impossible to register one color over the other in its proper +place. At any stage of the process, the register marks of all ten +colors, which have been made in succession on a single sheet of paper, +should coincide precisely and appear as a single mark in the form of a +small cross. + +The lithographer now has before him the ten stones, each stamped with +the identical network of lines in red chalk representing his key. He +proceeds to draw each color-plate successively, at all times adhering +closely to the red chalk outlines, filling in with tusche where full +strength of the color is required and using lithographic crayon or the +stipple process to reproduce the various gradations of this color in +order to secure the full color value of each printing. The register +marks are ruled in on each stone corresponding to those on the key, so +that the prover or printer has these marks in the same identical +position on each and every color as a guide for register. + +As each stone is finished it is etched; that is, treated with a weak +solution of nitric acid and gum-water, in order to remove all +accidental traces of scum from its surface, and to prepare it for +printing. Then proofs are made, which serve as a guide to the +lithographer during the progress of his work, and finally as a guide +to the transferrer and to the printer. The proving is done on a hand +press, and it is here that we have our first glimpse of chemical +printing, which, notwithstanding its simplicity, seems so mysterious +to one uninitiated in its secrets. + +The writer recollects his own first experience. A stone had just been +placed fresh from the etching trough in the bed of the press, when, to +his amazement, the prover deliberately proceeded to eliminate every +trace of the drawing with a sponge saturated with turpentine. After +drying the stone by means of a fan, he passed over the surface a +sponge soaked in water, then applied black ink with a roller, when +behold, the drawing was restored in its entirety. The solution is very +simple: the greasy matter is absorbed and held by the stone and in its +turn repels water and attracts grease. + +An impression is made with black printing ink on paper by passing it +through the hand press. The black impression approved of by the +lithographer, the stone is again cleaned with turpentine and proved in +the color required, and so with each color-plate, until the proof is +complete. When photography is employed, the half-tone negative takes +the place of the key. Prints are made from a reversed negative on the +sensitized surface of the stone, or on as many stones as the +color-plates require, and then manipulated by the lithographer, who +adds or modifies strength with his "tusche" or crayon, and scrapes or +washes out lights where necessary. The various modes of procedure are +too diverse to enter into here, but it may be well to mention that the +principal ones are the albumen, the asphaltum, and finally the +three-color process, the latter differing but little as far as the +artistic part of the work is concerned from that employed for making +relief printing plates for the typographic press. + +The original drawing plates, or stones, are not used to print from +direct unless the edition be very small. Just as the typographic +printer uses electrotypes in place of the original type or cuts, the +lithographer makes transfers from the original stones to print his +edition and carefully preserves the original stones for future +editions. The transfers are prepared in a very simple manner. The +original stones are rolled over with a specially prepared transfer +ink, and impressions are taken from them on a paper, known under the +name of transfer paper, coated with a sizing of starch, flour, and +glycerine. By printing from the original, only one copy can be +produced at each impression, whereas by using transfers a number of +copies of the original can be printed at one impression. For example, +if the picture measures 8 x 10 inches of paper, a transfer can be made +containing fifteen copies on one sheet measuring 30 x 40 inches. In +this case fifteen impressions are made from the key-plate as well as +from each of the color-plates, on the paper, and with the ink +described above. + +The first transfer to be made is that of the key-plate. The fifteen +impressions are laid in their proper positions on a sheet of paper of +the required size, and are held in position on same by indentations +made with a dull-pointed steel tool. The sheet is laid face down upon +a cleanly polished stone, which is then repeatedly pulled through a +hand press until all the ink has been transferred from the paper to +the surface of the stone. The transfer paper still adhering to the +stone is then moistened and washed off the stone, leaving the design +completely transferred to the stone. A slight solution of gum arabic +and water is then applied, the stone washed clean, and after being +repeatedly rolled in with printing ink and etched, is ready for +printing. An impression is then made in the usual manner from this +key-transfer, which impression is coated with a solution of shellac. +This is done for the purpose of rendering it impervious to the effect +of the atmosphere, thus insuring against its stretching or shrinking. +Upon this varnished key-sheet all subsequent transfer impressions of +the ten colors are "stuck up," to use the technical term, and +transferred to stone in the same manner as is employed in the making +of the key-transfer. The register marks serve as a guide in "sticking +up" the separate transfer impressions and insure an accurate register +of the colors laid over each other during the process of printing. New +register marks are placed upon the key-transfer at top, bottom, and +sides similar to those on the original (which are removed from the +transfer), and these new marks now appear on all color transfers to +serve as a guide to the steam-press printer in printing his edition. +He likewise uses the hand-press proofs of the picture as a guide in +mixing his inks. + +The lithographic power printing press is constructed on the same +general principle as the ordinary typographic press, excepting that it +is provided with an apparatus for moistening the stone previous to +the application of the ink rollers. The stone containing the design is +placed in the bed of the press, and the moisture, as well as the ink, +is applied by means of rollers similar to those used in the +typographic printing press. All the ten colors are now successively +printed from the transfers on a steam press, and if it is a perfect +job, the pictures can be cut to size and delivered to the publisher. + +At present the cumbrous stone and the slow-moving flat-bed press are +being supplanted by the light and pliable aluminum plates and the +fast-moving rotary presses. The aluminum plate has all the requisites +for the highest grades of lithographic or surface printing, and the +rotary press is beyond doubt a vast improvement over the flat-bed +press, not only as to speed, but also as to the quality and uniformity +of its product. The mode of procedure in making transfers to aluminum +plates is much the same as that employed in making transfers to stone. +The pliability of the aluminum plate and the ease with which it can be +adjusted to a printing cylinder has resulted in the successful +introduction and use of two-and three-color lithographic rotary +presses, printing at one operation two or three colors. It has been +demonstrated that the result is fully equal to that obtained from the +single-color press, provided good judgment be used as to the +succession of the colors or printings. This marks a new epoch in the +art of lithography and enables it to compete with the typographic +three-color process, which has been making such wonderful progress +during the last five years, and at one time seriously threatened +lithography as a medium for the reproduction of certain classes of +colored illustrations. + +Our experience teaches us, however, that the surface or lithographic +and the relief or typographic method will never seriously interfere +with each other, but on the contrary by actively competing in all +matter relating to the reproductive art will continue to improve their +respective methods, and thus enable them to satisfy the continually +increasing demands on the part of the public for colored +illustrations, not only as to the quantity but particularly as to the +quality thereof. + + + + +COVER DESIGNING + +By Amy Richards. + + +So many books of the present day have decorative book covers +especially designed to fit each book that many people who buy the +books are beginning to ask what suggests these designs and how they +are executed. + +Having made book-cover designs for a number of years, I have been +asked to write a practical account of how these book covers are made, +which will give an answer to some of these questions. This account +will have no bearing on the designs used on hand-bound books with +their beautiful "tooled" covers. These are a different branch of the +art altogether from the so-called "commercial bindings" which I am +about to describe. The designs for these tooled covers are as a rule +made by the same hands that bind the books. + +Every year hundreds of books are published that need "commercial" book +covers. In many cases these covers are used to help sell the book; +that is, they must be attractive enough to draw attention to the book +as it lies on the counter in the bookshops and other places where the +book is on sale. + +Some publishers have artists, regularly employed, to make their own +designs exclusively; but as a rule each publisher keeps in touch with +a number of designers, sending for one or the other as the needs of a +particular book require. When a design is needed, the particular sort +of cover required is discussed with the publisher, the number of +colors that can be used is mentioned, also the exact dimensions of the +book and the material to be used in binding the book. Almost every +designer prefers to read the manuscript of the book, if possible, or +to have a synopsis of it, for, naturally, he can make a much more +suitable and successful cover if he has a complete idea of the subject +of the book. + +Having read the book, or having been told what it is about, the +designer makes one or more rough sketches in color, giving a general +idea of the book cover, both as to design, color scheme, and material +to be used in binding. If one of these sketches is selected, the +designer then makes an accurate "working" drawing, either in color, or +black and white. If a black-and-white drawing is made, a rough color +sketch is sent with it to indicate how the die is to be cut. + +A finished book-cover design can be made on water-color paper, +bristol-board, or a piece of book-cover linen. This last method is +popular with publishers, as it shows them how the cover will look when +finished. A designer keeps sample books of all the most popular +bookbinding materials, which the manufacturers are glad to supply. A +practical designer always chooses for the ground color of a design a +cloth that is to be found at one of the regular book-cloth +manufacturers. + +When a book-cover design is finished, it is neatly mounted on +cardboard and a careful note is written on the margin, telling how the +design is to be executed by the binder, the kind of cloth to be used, +and its number in a particular sample book. Unless the design is +executed on a piece of book cloth, a sample of the cloth desired is +pasted under the directions. The design is then cut in brass by a die +cutter, as described in the next chapter, and the covers are stamped +in gold or inks from this die by the binder. The design must be the +exact size of the future book or drawn larger in exact proportion for +reduction to the proper size. + +Gold is of course the most expensive way of reproducing a cover +design, and a publisher generally tries to get as good an effect as +possible without the use of gold, or he limits its use to the title +lines or to a small part of the design. Four inks is usually the +extreme number used, and more often only two or three are used, or +gold and one ink. + +Several styles of decoration are used in designing book covers; but +they may be put roughly into two classes,--those that are purely +ornamental and those that are pictorial. Personally I am in favor of +the purely ornamental cover, as being more dignified; but there are +books that seem to require a pictorial cover that is treated somewhat +in the fashion of a decorative poster. + +A book-cover designer to be successful should be very versatile and +able to make use of figures as well as thoroughly versed in the use of +ornament. + +One of the most important parts of a book cover is the title, to which +the amateur and inexperienced designer does not always give sufficient +attention. The title must be clearly drawn and everything else in the +cover made subservient to it, so that the first thing the eye falls on +is the title. For this reason a thorough study of lettering is +necessary for the successful cover designer, and much practice in +order to become proficient. A very successful cover may be due simply +to a well-selected cloth with lettering properly drawn and placed so +that the eye is perfectly satisfied and the whole has an air of +distinction. Each designer grows insensibly into his or her own +particular style, which those who are interested in book covers grow +to know; but the more varied his style the more in demand will be the +designer. + +The designing of book covers is a minor art, but since there is a +constant demand for ornamented covers, the more taste and skill that +can be devoted to the making of them, the better. When one looks back +to the covers of fifteen years ago, one realizes what an advance has +been made, and that the standard has been raised higher and higher, +until at the present time many a famous illustrator or decorative +painter occasionally turns his or her hand to the designing of book +covers. + + + + +THE COVER STAMPS + +By George Becker. + + +Not many years ago the crudest and most primitive devices were used in +the production of a book cover. The artist, if such he could be +called, who was responsible for the design, seldom went to the trouble +of furnishing the engraver with anything more than a pencil sketch, +which the latter transferred to a brass plate about one-quarter of an +inch thick by coating the plate with beeswax and laying the sketch on +it, face downward. When the paper was removed the beeswax retained the +marks of the lead pencil. He then began the tedious process of +outlining it by hand with a graver and afterward finished it with a +chisel. + +But the exacting demands of modern artistic taste, the improvement of +scientific methods and the pressure of competition have marked a +complete transformation in the business of making dies for book +covers. A few pencils and gravers, a vise bench, and a grindstone no +longer make an engraving establishment. Colored sketches of most +painstaking execution, accompanied by a working drawing in black and +white, have taken the place of the old pencil sketch. These artistic +productions, having passed the ordeal of critical examination, are +handed over to the photographer, who, if he understands his part, does +all that the beeswax did, and a good deal more. He takes the +black-and-white drawing above referred to and reproduces it, in the +size desired, directly on a brass plate covered with a sensitive +coating, and then having prepared it with acid-proof preparations, he +passes it over to the etcher. + +The etcher in his turn, with unerring judgment in the strength of his +acids, does what the most careful outliner could not accomplish; he +produces a perfect facsimile of the original drawing, with all its +artistic freedom. The process used is practically the same as the zinc +etching process described in the chapter on half-tones and line +plates. The plate, having been etched as deep as is safe, is then +turned over to the router, whose business it is to cut out all the +metal between ornaments and lettering to the proper depth. This done, +the engraver, who in former years practically dug out the entire plate +with his hand tools, comes in to give the finishing touches and +correct any slight imperfection that may remain. It is of the utmost +importance, of course, that the dies should be clear-cut and deep, to +avoid clogging up in printing, particularly in the plates used for +stamping in inks. The experienced and watchful engraver is expected +to detect any spots where the etching process has not fully +accomplished its purpose. Lettering, especially, should be cut clear, +deep, and free from "feather," or ragged edges. + +The above process applies to single plates or to plates intended for +printing in one color only, or in gold. Where two or more colors are +wanted, the photographer has to make as many prints as there are +colors in the artist's design, as each one calls for a separate plate. +The proceeding otherwise remains the same, excepting that to the +engraver's task is added the necessity of making sure of a perfect +register or fitting together of the various parts. + +The transformation in the demands of publishers and writers has become +so great since the days of the primitive little shop above referred +to, that a die cutter, working on those lines, would be hopelessly out +of the race at the present day. In order to meet satisfactorily the +artistic expectation of the present generation a first-class engraving +establishment must have: an accomplished staff of artists, supplied +with a library of standard authorities on the various schools of art, +as well as a good selection of modern art publications; a skilled +photographer with a complete photographic outfit, including, of +course, a suitable gallery with the best obtainable light, both +natural and artificial; and lastly a complete staff of routers and +engravers, some of whom should be specialists in lettering, while +others should devote their attention exclusively to figures. + +Of all the elements that go to make book-cover decoration the +lettering is by far the most important. It should receive special +care, as in some cases it constitutes the entire decoration. In this +respect the critical taste of the present day shows itself even more +strongly than in the matter of decorative ornamentation, and no amount +of ornamentation, whatever its artistic value, can redeem a cover +whose lettering is lacking in style, character, or typographical merit +of some kind. Experience is such a good teacher that I can usually +tell, by looking at a die, not only who designed the lettering, but +also what workman engraved it. + +Some dies are intended for stamping in gold or colored leaf and +consequently have to be heated sufficiently to cause the leaf to +adhere to the cloth cover, while others are meant simply for black +stamping or stamping in ink of various colors; but all are engraved on +brass for the sake of durability. Sometimes, where very large editions +are expected, as of school books, steel is substituted for brass. + +The die, when finished, is used by the binder in a stamping press. +Color work calls for considerable skill on the part of the stamper, +who should be an expert in mixing inks as the best-cut die will +often show poor results if not properly handled. In fact, the success +of a book cover depends on three individuals,--the artist who designs +it, the engraver who cuts it, and the stamper who prints it. + + + + +BOOK CLOTHS + +By Henry P. Kendall. + + +The great increase in the number of books produced each year has +brought a corresponding development in the use of prepared cloth for +the bindings. Previous to the beginning of the last century cloth was +almost unknown as a material for covering a book. Books were then very +costly. They were printed laboriously by hand, on paper also made by +hand, and were naturally considered worthy of the most lasting +bindings. As the life of books depends on the strength and wearing +quality of the covers, such materials as wood, vellum, and leather, +often reenforced with metal, were generally used. + +The nineteenth century has marked a great progress in the variety and +quantity, if not in the quality, of published books. Improvements in +methods and in machinery have progressed side by side with economies +in paper making. As the cost of producing the printed sheets became +less, a demand arose for a correspondingly cheaper material for +bindings. The want was satisfactorily met by the use of cloth, and +from the day that it was first used it has become more and more a +factor in book manufacturing. + +When so commonplace a binding material as cloth was selected, artists +and binders and publishers considered that ornamentation on such a +material was almost a waste of time and money. So the libraries of our +grandfathers contained rows of gloomy and unattractive books, bound in +black cloth stamped in old-fashioned designs, with a back title of +lemon gold, and it is only comparatively a few years ago that binding +in cloth began to be considered worthy of the attention of the +designer and the artist, but since then the demand for a more varied +assortment and a wider choice of colors and patterns has been steadily +growing. + +Let us consider briefly the different kinds of book cloths that are +most commonly used to-day and try to make clear to the lay reader the +different fabrics, whose nomenclature is so frequently confused even +by binders and publishers. + +Book cloths, from their appearance and manufacture, fall into two +natural divisions, the first being the so-called "solid colors," in +which the threads of the cloth are not easily distinguishable. This +division contains two grades of cloth, generally known as common +colors and extra colors. The standard width of all book cloths is +thirty-eight inches. The commons and extras are sold by the roll, and +the standard number of yards to the roll of these fabrics is +thirty-eight. + +The second division consists of the so-called "linens" and "buckrams," +in which each thread, with the imperfections and peculiarities of the +weaving, are plainly seen and form a large part of their picturesque +effect. + +The first of the "common colors" to be used was the black cloth +already referred to, but they are now made in many colors, though +chiefly in simple, pronounced shades, such as browns, blues, greens, +and reds. These cloths have been dyed, and sized with a stiffening +preparation. They are the cheapest of the solid colors and are used in +various patterns, which are embossed on the surface during the process +of manufacture. + +The ordinary patterns which are in the greatest use to-day are +designated in the trade by letters. Perhaps the most familiar is the +"T" pattern, straight parallel ridges or striations, about forty to +the inch, and running across the cloth from selvage to selvage. When +properly used, these ribs run from top to bottom of a book cover. For +this reason it is not economical to use the "T" pattern if the height +of the cover is not a multiple of the width of the cloth, as it +results in a waste of cloth. This explains why the cost of the book +bound in "T" pattern is frequently somewhat higher than the same book +bound in another pattern of the same cloth. + +A similar design is the "S" or silk pattern, made up of finer lines +running diagonally across the cloth, giving the surface a sheen +somewhat resembling silk. Also in common use are a group of patterns +composed of small irregular dots or points, the finest of which is +known as the "C" pattern, a coarser pattern of similar design, the +"J," and, coarser still, the "L," which has somewhat the appearance of +the coarse grain of a morocco leather. The pattern known as "H" is a +simple diamond made by intersecting diagonal lines similar to the ribs +of the "T" pattern. Other patterns in less common use are those +resembling morocco leather, pigskin, and patterns in fancy designs. + +Following the increased use of the common cloths, attention was given +to the artistic effects which might be obtained by using colored inks +and gold on lettering and design, and also to the effect obtained by +pressure of hot binders' dies or stamps upon covers made with embossed +cloths, which latter process is known in binding as "blanking" or +"blind" stamping. + +With these advances in the art of cover decoration came the demand for +the more delicate tints and richer shades of the colors, and as a +result finer colors than could be produced in the common cloths were +introduced to meet this demand; these fabrics were called the "extra" +cloths. They have a solid, smooth surface, more "body," and are in +every way firmer and better fabrics, and more costly, too, some of the +shades costing from twenty to forty per cent more than the common +cloths. + +Extra cloths are used largely on the better class of bindings, such as +the popular fiction, holiday books, scientific books, and books of +reference, and whenever fine coloring or a better appearance is +desired. These cloths are chiefly used in the plain fabric, which is +known as "vellum," and in the "T," "S," and "H" patterns. The trained +eye easily recognizes extra cloth from the common cloths, by the +appearance of the surface; but any one may readily distinguish them by +the appearance of the back, which in the extra cloths is not colored, +but in the commons is the same color as the face. + +Of the second division of cloths, in which the appearance of the +threads becomes a part of the effect, there are first the "linen" +cloths. The name "linen" applied to this group is really a misnomer, +for many laymen are led to think that such cloths have flax as a +foundation and are therefore genuine linens. This is not so, for there +is but one genuine linen book cloth to be had, and that is a coarse, +irregularly woven cloth, dyed in dull colors, and manufactured by a +foreign house. It is quite expensive, costing sixty cents a square +yard, which is one of the reasons why it is seldom used. + +The chief characteristics of the linen cloths are that the coloring +used fills the interstices, but allows all the threads to be clearly +seen. The irregularities of the weaving, therefore, stand out plainly, +and produce to a certain extent the appearance of woven linen fabrics. + +Linen book cloths are made in two grades, and are sold by the yard +under special names given to them by the manufacturers. The cheaper +grade is sold under the name of "vellum de luxe," "X" grade, or +"Oxford." A better grade of linen book cloth sells (in 1906) at about +sixteen cents per yard under the names "art vellum," "B" grade, and +"linen finish." It is a very durable fabric and extensively used. + +The linen cloths are made principally in the plain surface, and in the +"T" pattern, but almost never in any other patterns, the reason for +this being the fact that the character of the cloth is very little +changed by the embossing, which is used with greater effect on the +solid colors. These linen cloths are especially adapted for school and +other books which are constantly handled, as their construction shows +the wear less than do the solid colors. + +The buckrams might have been properly classed with the linens, as that +is what, in fact, they are. Linen cloth observed through a microscope +which magnifies the threads to a coarseness of about forty to the inch +gives us the exact appearance of the buckram, which is a heavy, strong +cloth well adapted to large books, and which furnishes the most +durable binding of all the book cloths. The colors of buckrams +correspond closely with those of the linens; they are also sold under +trade names given them by manufacturers, such as "art canvas" and "E" +grade. + +Buckrams are sometimes embossed to imitate in part the appearance of +an irregularly woven fabric called "crash." Crash is a special cloth +which might properly be classed with the buckrams, and when suitably +used is a very artistic material. + +Basket cloth is still another material which could properly be +included with the buckrams. This grade of cloth gains its name from +the fact that the threads are woven in squares resembling a basket +mesh. They are made in the same coloring as the linen cloths. + +In describing the cloths above, only those of American manufacture +have been considered. There are English cloths which correspond to +nearly all of these fabrics, but they are little used in America on +account of the delay in importing them and because of the duty, which +makes the price here higher than for corresponding grades of domestic +manufacture. + +One cannot stand before the windows of the large book stores at +holiday time without being impressed by the possibilities offered by +the many colors and patterns of cloths and the varied hues of inks and +foil, in helping the artist to make books attractive to the eye, and +suggestive of the sentiment and motive of their contents. One feels +that the designer of book covers has surely a wider field to-day than +when he confined his attention entirely to making intricate designs +for single leather-bound folios. + + + + +BOOK LEATHERS + +By Ellery C. Bartlett. + + +There is hardly any part of the world that has not been drawn upon for +suitable skins to be made into leather for bookbinding. The skins +generally used are goat, seal, pigskin, cowhide, calf, and sheep, and +they vary in quality according to the country they come from and the +manner in which the animals are cared for, the stall-fed animals, or +those that are protected from storm and have regular food, producing +the best skins. + +In preparing these skins for bookbinders, great care has to be taken +to extract as much of the natural oil as possible, as this is apt to +discolor the gold leaf decorations put on by the artistic binder. + +Tanners usually buy skins with the hair on. They are first put into +water, for the purpose of softening them, after which they are laid +over a beam and a knife is drawn over them, to still further soften +them. They are then put into vats containing slack lime-water, which +loosens the hair and kills the animal life remaining in the skin. +After having been in these vats for a period of about ten days, they +are washed in water, to remove the lime and clean the skin. Afterwards +they are put through a process called "bating," which destroys any +animal matter in the skins which may have escaped the first process, +and they are then finally cleansed by a solution of bran and water, +which also prepares them for tanning. + +After the skins have been in tan for a week or more, they are taken +out, tacked on drying frames and all the wrinkles stretched out of +them. When thoroughly dry, they are ready for the coloring process. +After being colored, they are again tacked on the frames; and when +they are thoroughly dry again they are taken to the graining room, +where the finishing processes are done by skilled workmen, the utmost +care being needed to produce the desired result. + +The matching of shades is a very difficult process, as the question of +color must be decided while the skins are still wet. Weather +conditions have a very important bearing on the manufacture of +leather, and changes in the atmosphere often spoil all the careful +work that has previously been put on a skin. + +The finest leather for books comes from France, although a good +quality is made in England and Germany, and the United States is +rapidly improving its output. + +The graining of the leather to bring out the natural grain in the +skin, is done by hand and sometimes by electroplate reproductions of +the natural grain by means of the embossing press. When large grain is +wanted, the skins are shaved only slightly on the back; if small +grains are wanted, the skins are shaved thinner. This process removes +all roughness from the back of the skin, leaving it smooth and clean. + +Formerly the binder, in preparing his covers, was compelled to pare +the edges with a knife, which was a slow and laborious process; but +now--thanks to the inventive American talent--he can have the whole +skin split to any desired thickness or thinness, without injury; or, +he can have the edges pared by cleverly devised machinery. + +Leather manufacturers are able, by using splitting machines, to split +skins so that both parts of a skin can be used--the upper part of the +skin being called the grain and the lower the flesh. Were this not the +case, it would be impossible for the binder to supply the needs of his +customers, as the output does not keep pace with the constantly +increasing demand. In fact, binders are constantly looking for +substitutes, but, after all, there is nothing so good as leather. + + + + +THE BINDING + +By Jesse Fellowes Tapley. + + +The changes in the methods of bookbinding during the last sixty years +have been very great, and during the last twenty-five years the +invention of machines for doing the work rapidly has created almost a +revolution in the art. + +Fifty years ago the pay of journeymen bookbinders ranged from eight to +ten dollars a week, for a day of ten hours, and the cost of binding an +ordinary 12mo volume of 500 pages in cloth was from sixteen to +eighteen cents. To-day the same volume can be bound for eight to ten +cents, with the pay of the journeyman from eighteen to twenty dollars +a week, for a day of nine hours. The pay of girls has, as a general +thing, been proportionally increased, while the amount of work they +can turn out with the newly invented machinery is triple as much as +could be done by hand, and on some branches of the work it is more +than six times as much. + +The first process of making a book is the folding. The sheets are +usually printed so as to fold in sections of sixteen pages, with +signature figures, as 1, 2, 3, or alphabet letters, as A, B, C, +printed at the bottom of the first page of each section, for the +guidance of the binder in placing the signatures in regular order for +gathering the book. + +Usually two or four forms are printed on one sheet. One girl could +fold by hand from 3500 to 4000 sections of 16 pages a day. With modern +machines the range is from 17,000 to 48,000, according to the make of +the machine and whether it is equipped with an automatic feeder or +not. + +There are three styles of machines in general use. The point machine, +fed by hand, has needle points on the feed board, on which is placed +the sheet, which has proper holes made by the printing press. The next +is called a drop-roll machine, which, if equipped with an automatic +feeder, will fold 24,000 sections a day, delivering two sections at +each revolution. The next is called a quadruple machine, which, with +an automatic feeder, will fold 48,000 sections a day or as many as +twelve girls could do by hand. + +In binderies where large editions of books are done, it would be +almost impossible to keep the different sections from getting mixed, +unless they were put into compact bundles and tied up until the +complete book is folded. This is accomplished by putting a quantity of +each section into hydraulic or screw presses, with a board at the top +and bottom of the bundle, which is tied with a strong cord. They are +then marked with name and signature, and piled up until wanted for +gathering into books. + +If the book has plates printed separately from the text, they have to +be inserted before it can be gathered. Plating is done by girls, 5000 +being a day's work for an experienced hand. + +Gathering comes next. The sections are laid out in separate piles in +consecutive order, and one signature taken from each pile, making a +complete book. From 30,000 to 45,000 sections is a day's work. + +After gathering, the book is pressed to make it solid. This is done by +passing it through a powerful press, called a smashing machine. The +old-fashioned way was to pile the books between boards in a standing +press, running the screw down with an iron lever, and allowing them to +stay in same for several hours. In a modern smashing machine a book +can be made as solid in half a minute as the standing press will make +it by ten hours' pressing. + +From the smashing machine it goes to the collator, by whom it is +examined to see if any signature is misplaced or left out. + +It then goes to the modern sewing machine. This is one of the most +valuable labor-saving machines for the binder ever invented, as it +almost, if not entirely, supersedes hand sewing on what is called +edition work. This machine will sew from 15,000 to 18,000 signatures a +day, and do it better than it can be done by hand. Each signature is +sewed independently and with from two to five stitches, so that if one +breaks the signature is held fast by the others, while in hand sewing +the thread goes through the whole length of the signature, and if by +chance it is broken, the book is ruined so far as the sewing is +concerned. In addition the machine does more work, in the same time, +than five or six girls sewing by hand. + +After sewing, the books are prepared for trimming by "jogging up" in +bunches of the proper thickness, for the cutting machine. If the work +is large or the paper highly sized and slippery, a light coating of +glue is applied to the centre of the back, to keep the signatures in +place. In olden times books were trimmed in a press having hardwood +jaws and wood screws near each end, worked with an iron lever. Into +this press the books were clamped, the rough edge to be trimmed off +projecting above the jaws. To trim the book, a plough was used, made +of two thick side pieces of hard wood about one foot long and six +inches high, with a long hand screw passing through them. (The end at +the right had a handle outside of the side piece, and the end at the +left engaged a screw in the left side piece.) At the bottom of the +right side piece, and resting on the jaw of the press, was a +sharp-pointed knife. The plough was worked back and forth, and at each +motion the screw in the plough was turned enough for the knife to +take a shaving from the book. To keep the plough in place, the +left-hand jaw had a deep groove on its surface, in which the plough +worked. This was slow and hard work. + +Sometime between the years 1840 and 1850, a machine was invented in +which books were clamped, and a heavy knife descended perpendicularly. +This was an improvement on the old-fashioned press and plough, but it +was found that, unless the knife was very sharp, the tendency was to +draw the paper, and in effect jam it off rather than cut it. + +To obviate this, the next move was to arrange the knife so that it +would give a drawing cut, or come down on a slant, rather than a rigid +descent. This is the principle on which most book and paper cutting +machines are made to-day. + +About 1850 a machine was invented in which a vibrating knife worked +back and forth on the paper to be cut. This was thought at the time to +be the best principle for a cutting machine. + +Ten or twenty years later a new machine made its appearance. This one +had a knife held rigidly in the frame of the machine, and the books +were clamped into a carriage drawn up by a chain against the edge of +the knife. It was the most rapid trimmer that had appeared, and held +its position for a good many years; but in the meantime, for general +work, the machines with a descending slanting knife held their own and +multiplied. + +Within a very short time a new machine has appeared. This has two +slanting descending knives and doubles the work of the older machines, +as it cuts two sides at one blow, and will trim from 7000 to 8000 +ordinary books a day, against 500 or 600 by the old-fashioned press +and plough. + +After the edges are trimmed, the book is rounded and backed. In this +process, too, great improvement has been made. Originally this work +was done by hand with a hammer, the rounding being accomplished by +striking one side of the back as the book lay flat, and then the +other, forming it at the same time by the hand, to give the back the +convex, and the front the concave, form. Some persons are found now +who think the hollow or concave front of the book is made by trimming +it in that way. + +The backing process gives the groove on which the cover is hinged. In +olden times this was done by clamping the book in a press between +backing irons, with the back projecting enough to give the proper +groove, and gradually drawing it over from the centre with the hammer. +In small job shops this is the practice to-day, but in large +establishments it has given place to modern machines. The first +innovation was what is called the roller backer. This makes the +groove, the book being first rounded as described. Then came the +rounder and backer, which is run by power, and both rounds and backs +the book at one operation. + +To show the advance made, it may be stated that 500 books was a good +day's work with press and hammer. With the advent of the roller backer +1000 was a fair day's work, but when the power machine was invented, +the production jumped up to 4000 and over, a day. + +After the book is rounded and grooved, the back is glued and a piece +of coarse woven cloth, wide enough to lap over each side an inch or +more, is put on, and over this another coat of glue and a piece of +paper the width of the back are applied. + +The book is then ready for the cover, which is put on by pasting the +first and last leaf, drawing the cover on, and putting it in press +between boards whose edges are bound with a brass band, the rim +projecting above the surface of the board. This rim presses the cloth +between the covers and the back of the book, making a hinge upon which +the cover opens. Two men can paste and press 1500 to 2000 books a day. +A new machine has been put on the market within a year, that, with the +same help, will do the work at the rate of 4000 a day. This process is +termed "casing in." + +The making of the book cover is a distinct branch in binding edition +work. The pasteboard formerly was cut by hand shears, one piece at a +time. It is now done by rotary shears, cutting from six to ten pieces +as fast as the sheets of board can be fed to the machine. + +The cloth for the cover is cut to the proper size, glued by hand, the +boards laid on by gauge, and the edges turned in with a folder. A man +expert at the work can make from 600 to 800 covers a day. About +fifteen years ago a machine was invented, which turns out from 3000 to +4500 a day. This machine is automatic in its operation, gluing the +cloth, laying on the boards, turning in the edges, and delivering a +more perfect cover than can be made by hand. + +Stamping the cover is a trade by itself. It requires long experience +and skill to make an expert. There are several branches in this trade, +such as blank or blind stamping, stamping with ink (or a colored leaf +made to take the place of ink), and stamping with gold. Laying gold +preparatory to stamping is a distinct branch, and is done by girls. +This is such a delicate operation that it requires long experience. +There has been no improvement in the principle of the stamping or +embossing press since the first machines came into use. The die or +stamp is held in the head of the press by clamps, and the cover is +placed on the platen or bed of the press, which is raised up to the +stamp by a "toggle joint" operated with a "cam." + +Since covers began to be ornamented with ink, attachments have been +added to the presses for inking the stamps. There have also been +invented powerful printing presses, made for stamping covers in ink. +The process is the same as on common printing presses. + +The dies used for stamping covers are cut on hardened brass, and are +capable of standing an immense pressure. They are not set in chases, +as are the forms on printing presses, but are glued to iron plates. +The head of the press to which the plates are clamped is heated, +either by running a jet of live steam through it, or by gas jets. + +For gilt work, or colored leaf, heat is necessary. The cover is +prepared with a coat of size. The gold or ink leaf is then laid on and +an impression is given with the heated die, which melts the size and +fastens the leaf only at the point where the die strikes. The surplus +leaf is brushed off, leaving only the design visible. + +The binding of cheap leather-covered books is essentially the same as +with cloth. The difference is that the covers must be made by hand. No +machine will do any part, except paring the edges of the covers. There +are several machines that will do this work, one machine doing as much +in a day as three men could with knife and paring stone in the old +way. + +Edge-gilding is another distinct branch of the trade, and is generally +done before books are rounded and backed. The books are clamped, after +trimming, between the jaws of powerful screw presses and the edges +scraped to make them perfectly smooth. They are then colored with a +mixture of red chalk, or black lead, applied with a sponge, to give +the gold a dark color. A size made of the white of eggs is then +applied with a brush, the gold leaf floated on, and when dry burnished +with an agate or bloodstone. No machine has yet been invented that +will do this work. + +Edge-marbling is another branch. A shallow trough is filled with a +solution of gum hog or gum tragacanth of the consistency of thick +cream. Each color, which must be ground very fine, is mixed in water +and ox-gall, and sprinkled separately over the surface of the gum with +brushes. The ox-gall prevents the colors from mixing together on the +solution, every drop being distinct. If three or more colors are used, +the first one containing a little gall, the second more than the +first, and the third more than the second, each color will make a +place for itself by crowding the others into a narrower space. The +books are held firmly in a clamp, and as the edges are dipped into the +solution they take up the colors as they lie on the surface. + +There are other edges called for besides the gilt, the marbled, or the +plain smooth cut. The deckle edge is left uncut, just as it comes from +the paper-maker. The uncut or rough cut is made by taking off any +projecting edges of the leaves. There are machines for doing this, one +having a circular knife rigged like a circular saw, the book being run +lengthwise against it. There are also other methods of removing +overhanging leaves, one by using hand shears, another by filing. + +In fine leather binding, while the preparation of the book for the +cover is essentially the same as in cloth work, the covering is all +hand-work, requiring experience and skill, and is a distinct branch of +the trade. + +Finishing by hand is another, and requires long experience to become +an expert. Gold ornamentation requires heated tools, and in the hands +of a practised finisher beautiful designs can be worked out with quite +a limited assortment of rolls, straight and curved lines, and a few +sprigs, dots, and stars. + +In olden times, when all work was done by hand, the product of a +good-sized cloth bindery was from 500 to 1000 books a day. Now, with +modern machinery, in a well-equipped bindery, the product is from 5000 +to 10,000 copies of an ordinary 12mo book. + +There are a number of other machines in use, run by power, which have +not been enumerated in the above sketch, such as wire and thread +stitching machines, gluing and pasting machines, brushing machines, +and last but not least a gold-saving machine, out of whose bowels +large binders take from $200 to $400 worth of waste gold each month. +This waste gold comes from the surplus gold brushed from the covers +after stamping. + + + + +SPECIAL BINDINGS + +By Henry Blackwell. + + +Much has been written about the art of special binding, and many +lengthy treatises have been written on the various methods of early +and modern "extra," or fine binders. It will be my province to +describe the stages through which a book passes, from the time it is +received in the bindery until it is shipped out of the establishment. +I will take for my subject a rare old book that is to be rebound in a +half-levant morocco binding. In a good shop, all books, no matter what +the binding is to be, are treated alike in regard to workmanship, +care, and materials. If a binder puts his name in the completed book, +it is a sign that the book has been to the best of his ability +honestly and well bound. + +When the customer brings the book to the binder, the style of binding, +color of the leather, amount and kind of ornamentation, and all the +other details are determined upon and entered carefully in a numbered +order book, and the number of the order is marked in pencil on an +inside leaf of the book itself, so that the original instructions may +be referred to from time to time. This number is usually left in the +book after it has been finished and delivered to the owner, and not +infrequently has been the means of identifying a lost or stolen +volume. + +The book is then given to the first operator, usually a girl, who +removes the cover, if there is any, and takes the book apart, +separating carefully each of the "signatures," or sections, and +removing the threads of the old binding. If any of the pages are +loose, they are pasted neatly in their proper places and the "insert +plates" (illustrations, maps, etc.), which had been printed separately +from the text and pasted in the volume, are examined to make sure that +they are firmly fixed. Another operator goes over the entire volume +and cleans any of the pages that have become soiled. + +The book is then prepared for the sewing by a man who hammers the back +until it is flat and all the edges of the signatures lie evenly. He +then divides it into sections of half a dozen or more signatures, +places each of these between smooth wooden boards, and puts the whole +into an upright iron press, in which it is subjected to a great +pressure, and where it ought to remain over night in order to make it +entirely flat and solid. A better way of pressing a book at this stage +of the operation is to pass it several times through a rolling +machine, which is made for this special purpose with two heavy iron +rollers, say twenty inches long and ten inches in diameter. These +machines are seldom used in America, but are invariably found in the +equipment of binders' workshops abroad, which is perhaps one reason +why English books are so solidly bound. + +Following the pressing, or the rolling, the book is placed, back +uppermost, in another press, something like a wooden vise. By means of +a handsaw, several cuts, just deep enough to cut entirely through the +fold of each signature, are made across the back of the book. Seven of +these saw marks are usually made, the five in the middle being for the +cords on which the book is sewed, and the two at the ends for threads +which help to make the sewing more secure. If the book is to have a +binding with raised bands across the back, no actual cuts are made, +the back being simply scratched to guide the girl in sewing, so that +the heavy twine on which she sews will stand out on the back, forcing +the leather up in the five middle places and forming the raised bands. + +After it has been sawed, or scratched, the book goes to a girl who +collates it--that is, examines it thoroughly, signature by signature, +and makes sure that everything is in its right place. If the volume is +old or especially valuable, it is gone over page by page. The first +and last signatures are then whip-stitched, or sewed over and over +along the back edges, and then put in their places. + +The book is then sewn on a "sewing frame." This is a small wooden +table about twelve by eighteen inches, with legs only one inch high. +At two corners there are upright wooden screws, some fifteen inches +long with movable collars which support a crosspiece. To this +crosspiece are fastened three stout cords, their other ends being +attached to the table. The position of these cords are regulated to +fit the saw marks on the back of the book, then they are tightened by +means of the screw collars. The sections of the book are then placed +against these cords, one by one, and the threads passed through the +saw cuts and outside the cords, thus sewing them firmly to the back of +the book. When several books of the same size are being bound at one +time, the operator goes right on sewing book after book, one signature +after the other, until she has finished a pile of books a foot or more +high. When the sewing is finished the cords are cut so as to leave a +free end of an inch and a half on each side of the book, and to these +ends are fastened the boards, as described later. + +Linen or silk thread is used in sewing, the heaviness of which depends +upon the size of the book and the thickness of the paper of the book. +If the book has many single leaves, or illustrations, it is sometimes +necessary to whip-stitch each signature before sewing. + +The book, or the pile of books, then passes to the "forwarder," who +"draws off" or separates each book from the others in the pile, and +again hammers the book, to flatten out any "swell" which may be +present after the sewing. He then pastes, or "tacks," the first and +last whip-stitched signatures to the signatures next them, this +pasting being only, say, an eighth of an inch wide along the back +edge. + +The paper is then chosen for the "end papers," usually matching +closely the paper of the book. They are cut a little larger than the +paper page of the book, and pasted along the edge to the outside and +whip-stitched signatures. Marble paper in suitable harmony or contrast +with the leather to be used on the book is then selected for lining +the inside of the covers cut to the same size as the "end papers," and +pasted to them, after having been folded so that the colored sides +come face to face. + +When all this pasting has dried thoroughly, the back of the book is +covered with a thin coating of glue, to preserve its shape and then, +while the back is quite flat, the front edges of the leaves are +trimmed off evenly in a cutting machine. If this edge is to be gilded, +special care is taken to have the edges cut smoothly. + +The back is then "rounded" by use of a hammer; if the book is to be a +"flat back" one, the rounding is very slight. It is necessary even in +the case of a flat back book to round it somewhat so that it will +retain its shape when the finished book is placed on the shelf. After +the rounding, the top, or "head," and the bottom, or "tail," of the +book are trimmed evenly in the cutting machine. + +The book is then ready for the gilder, who places it, with the edge +which is to be gilded uppermost, in a press. This edge is covered with +red chalk, which shows all the uneven places, which are then scraped +with a steel scraper. This operation is repeated until the edge is +very smooth, and it is then treated with a sizing made of white of egg +and water, which is to hold the gold leaf to the edges of the leaves. +The gold leaf is laid on the still wet edge, and when slightly dry is +covered with a sheet of paper and rubbed down with a burnisher, and +when entirely dry is burnished again with a smooth piece of agate or +bloodstone. + +The boards, pieces of strong and durable binders' "boards" made of +paper or tarred rope, are then selected and cut to fit the book, +extending about one-eighth of an inch over the head, tail, and front +edges of the leaves. Each of the cords, on which the book has been +sewed, is moistened with paste, and put through two holes which are +punched side by side in the board and within a quarter of an inch of +the inside edge. The cord is carried down through one hole, and up +through the other, and the remaining end is cut off and hammered down +smooth where it stays firmly fastened by the paste. This is called +"lacing on the boards" and when finished makes, so far as strength +is concerned, the cover-boards and the inside of the book practically +one piece. The book is then given another long pressing. + +The coverer then takes the volume. He first wraps the edges with paper +to keep them clean and then puts on the headbands. These are either +sewn directly on to the book or may be bought ready-made, when they +are put on with glue. + +The back is covered with a strip of coarsely woven crash lined with +several pieces of paper. This is glued to the back to make it hard and +solid and to prevent it from cracking, or "breaking," when the book is +opened. + +The leather is then cut out for the corners and for the back, in the +latter case allowance being made for its extension over and on to the +boards to the proper distance. The back lining is trimmed off to the +top of the headbands, and the leather is pasted on the rough side in +position and turned in at the "head" and "tail" of the back. The five +raised bands are then "pinched up" and the whole back is polished, or +"crushed," with a hot polisher until the leather is smoothed down to +the desired surface. + +In decorating the cover, or "tooling" it, as it is called, the design +is first pressed into the leather of the back with heated tools. These +designs, appearing "blank," or sunken, in the leather, are washed over +with a thin coat of paste and water, followed by a sizing of albumen, +and finally with vaseline, to make the gold stick. Gold leaf is laid +over the "blank" designs and the same heated tools used to press the +gold into the leather. As many as three layers of gold are frequently +put on in this way until the design is full and clear. The waste edges +of the pieces of gold leaf are removed with a piece of soft rubber and +the whole back washed with benzine to remove the grease of the +vaseline and that of the natural leather. + +The part of the leather which projects over the sides is pasted to the +boards, trimmed off straight, and pared down until the edges are very +thin. Another piece of plain paper is then cut out and pasted on the +board, covering it right up to the edges of the leather. This makes +the side board and the leather even in height and prevents the outside +marbled paper from showing ridges made by the edges of the leather. + +When the outside has dried, a piece of paper is pasted on the inside +of each board. This paper has a tendency to shrink a little and to +warp the boards, so that they will hold tightly to the inside of the +book. If this paper were not put on the inside of the covers, the +marbled paper on the outside might cause the boards to warp away from +the book itself. + +The end papers are then pasted down on to the board, and when +thoroughly dry all the leather along the inside and the outside edges +of the cover sides is carefully washed and polished with an iron +polisher. The book is then placed between plates made of steel, either +nickel or silver plated, and placed in the press to remain a day or +two, after which the back is polished again and the sides are finished +with gilt lines along the edges of the leather next to the marbled +paper. Then the book is finally inspected, a silk marker inserted, and +the volume is done and ready for delivery. + + + + +COPYRIGHTING + +By Frederick H. Hitchcock. + + +Copyrighting a book is in most instances not a difficult matter, but +the present United States laws are so complicated and inconsistent +that an inexperienced author may readily fall into errors of one kind +or another. + +In a modern publishing house, the routine work of complying with the +provisions of the copyright laws is usually in the hands of one clerk, +who is responsible for the preparation and filing of the necessary +documents at the proper time and for keeping a complete record of all +that he does. Experience soon brings such a clerk a really valuable +knowledge of the law, but as many questions of vital importance arise +from time to time, it is customary for one of the most responsible men +in the concern, generally a member of the firm or an officer in the +corporation, to exercise a general supervision of all copyright +matters. + +When a book is ready to be sent to the bindery, the manufacturing +department will generally order a certain number of copies to be +finished in advance of the rest of the edition. Some of these will be +for the travelling salesman's use, some for the publicity department, +and at least two for copyright purposes. With the copies delivered to +the copyright clerk, the manufacturing department will send one or two +separate title-pages, either torn from the printed sheets or taken +from the early proofs made by the printer. With these in hand and with +information from the selling department as to the day when the book is +to be published, the clerk in charge will then take the first step +toward copyrighting it. This is the filing of the claim for copyright +and of the title of the book. + +The Copyright Office in the Library of Congress at Washington supplies +free upon request application blanks, and one of these must be +carefully filled in. The information called for by this blank is as +follows: the amount of the fees enclosed, whether a sealed copy of the +record, or certificate as it is called, is desired, whether the volume +is to be classed as a book, periodical, or dramatic composition, an +abbreviated title of the book, the name of the author, or proprietor, +the name and address of the applicant, the name of the country where +the book was printed, whether the applicant is the author, or (having +an assignment from the author) the proprietor, the name of the country +of which the author is a citizen, or subject, and whether the whole or +a part of the book is sought to be copyrighted. + +There is a blank page in the form where the print or proof of the +title-page must be pasted. If neither of these is available at the +time, it is customary to use a typewritten title-page, but as the law +distinctly calls for a "printed" title and as the courts have not +decided whether typewriting is printing within the intention of the +law, it is best to follow the exact letter of the law. + +The fee for filing the application or claim for copyright is fifty +cents if the author is a citizen or resident of the United States, or +one dollar if he is a foreigner. If a copy of the record entered at +the Copyright Office is desired, an additional fifty cents is +required. The fees, preferably in the form of a money-order, are +enclosed in the envelope containing the claim, and the whole +forwarded, postage prepaid, to the Register of Copyrights at the +Library of Congress. + +Upon receiving these, the Copyright Office will acknowledge the +receipt of the fees and make a record of the claim and of the title in +books provided for the purpose. The law specifies that this record +shall be in the following words:-- + +"Library of Congress, to wit: Be it remembered that on the___day +of________190________________ of_________has deposited in this Office +the title of a BOOK, the title of which is in the following words, to +wit:____________, the right whereof_______ claims as author and +proprietor in conformity with the laws of the United States respecting +copyrights. ______________Librarian of Congress." + +It is generally the custom to obtain a copy of this record, which, if +the fee is enclosed, is sent to the claimant as soon after the receipt +of the application as it can be made out in the regular course of the +business of the Copyright Office. This copy is signed by the Register +of Copyrights and is sealed with the official seal of the Library of +Congress. The period of protection under an original claim is +twenty-eight years. + +It is important to remember that the application and the title are +required by law to be delivered to the Register of Copyrights "on or +before the day of publication in this or any other country." If +delayed until after that day, the book cannot have the protection of +the copyright law. + +Prior to 1891 none but citizens or residents of the United States +could obtain copyright, but in July of that year the privilege was +extended to the citizens, or subjects, of such other countries as +grant to the citizens of the United States the same copyright +privileges which they afford to their own countrymen. At the present +time these privileged countries are Belgium, France, Great Britain and +her possessions, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Portugal, +Spain, Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica, the Netherlands (Holland) and her +possessions, Cuba, China, and Norway. + +The law also requires that a book desired to be copyrighted in the +United States must be printed in this country. It is, therefore, not +possible to copyright a book which has been put into type and +electrotyped in England and sent here for the presswork and binding. +Copies of a book manufactured in this country may, however, be sent to +England and copyrighted there. + +The second step is to send two copies of the printed book for deposit +in the Copyright Office, and until this has been done, the copyright +is incomplete. These copies, like the title, must be delivered on or +before the day of publication. + +A printed receipt-form for books to be deposited is supplied by the +Copyright Office, and it is the usual practice for the sender to fill +in his address, and the names of the book and of the author, so that +when the books are received, the Register of Copyrights needs only to +date and sign the receipt-form and return it to the sender. This +receipt-form should be enclosed with the books when they are +forwarded. The package must be plainly addressed (the Copyright Office +furnishes printed labels if desired) and sent, carriage prepaid, +through the mail. + +It not infrequently happens that publication must be made before the +two copies of a book can reach Washington. In such cases the copyright +clerk may take the books to the nearest post-office and obtain from +the postmaster a dated receipt for them which is equivalent to +delivery to the Copyright Office. The package is not finally wrapped +until the postmaster has examined it. + +When these steps have been properly taken, and the certificate, or +sealed copy, of the record and the receipt for the two copies have +been received, the copyright is secure so far as our laws can render +it. It should be borne in mind that the Copyright Office does not +grant a copyright in a manner similar to the granting of a patent +right by the patent office. Its function is simply to record in a +permanent place and in official form the claim made by the author, or +by the proprietor, of that right. When a book is "pirated" and the +offender sued, it must first be established by the records that the +provisions of the law have been complied with fully and correctly. In +this way a copyright is always subject to review by the courts. + +Every copy of a book for which copyright has been claimed must have a +formal notice to that effect, printed on its "title-page or on the +page following." As prescribed by law, this notice must read either +"Entered according to the Act of Congress in the year 1906 by A. B. in +the Office of the Library of Congress," or simply, "Copyright, 1906, +by A. B." The omission of such a notice from the book would make it +impossible for its owner to prevent its being reprinted. There is a +penalty of $100 for using the notice of copyright in an uncopyrighted +book, and when the notice is used, there is a penalty of $25, if the +two copies as required by law are not deposited. This latter penalty +also applies in the case of failure to deposit one copy of a new +edition differing from the former one, if a notice of copyright is +used in the new edition. + +In order to obtain a renewal of a copyright, the claim and the title +must be filed on a form provided for the purpose with the Register of +Copyrights "within six months before the expiration of the first +term," which would be sometime between twenty-seven and one-half and +twenty-eight years from the date of filing the original title. The +copyright period runs from the date of filing the original claim, and +not from the time of depositing the books, and great care should be +taken to ascertain the date of the registration of the original title, +and to compute the time so that the filing of the application for +renewal will surely fall within the specified six months. The renewal +period is fourteen years, and the fees are the same as in the case of +the original application, but a certificate, or copy of the record, of +the renewal claim must be taken and paid for by the claimant. + +Only one copy of a book is required to be deposited to complete the +claim for a renewal term of copyright. This copy also must be +delivered within "six months before the expiration of the first term," +and should be accompanied by a receipt as in the case of the original +deposit. In order to complete the claim, a copy of the certificate +must be published verbatim, within two months of the date of renewal +for four weeks in one or more newspapers printed in the United States. + +In obtaining international copyright, publication on the same day here +and abroad is necessary, and this is sometimes a cause of considerable +inconvenience in actual practice. When a New York publisher wishes to +copyright in England a novel which he is about to publish, he must +prepare six special copies of the finished book, bind them in cloth, +print the copyright notice on the back of the title-page, and the name +and address of the London firm or the individual who is willing to act +as the English publisher of the book, and forward the copies to that +person. At the same time he will write to this agent, telling him of +the shipment and requesting him to enter the book for copyright and +publish it in England on or about such a date. He will, of course, +allow sufficient time for the books to reach London, and he will +carefully point out in his letter any American holidays which occur +near the probable date of publication. Upon receiving the books, the +London agent will cable the New York publisher the date on which he +will publish the book, taking care to allow an interval of a day or +two, because of a possible delay. + +On the day agreed upon, the New York publisher proceeds to copyright +and publish his book in this country in the usual manner, while the +London agent does the same abroad, delivering to the British Museum +one copy of the book, and to Stationer's Hall, for use in certain +libraries, four copies. Both of them will on that day sell at least +one or two copies which will constitute a legal publication. + +It is the custom with many publishers to establish the publication day +of all of their books, by displaying a few copies, or by actually +selling one or more copies to some one. In the case of a very popular +copyrighted book which it is desirable to have the retailers all over +the country begin to sell on the same day, it is deemed safer to make +this technical publication before any of the books are distributed +through the trade. A record of the first sales entered in a +publisher's sales-book in the course of business would effectually +prevent any one from claiming in after years a right to reprint a book +on the ground that the claim, title, and copies were not originally +filed until after the book had been put upon the market. + +Under a recent amendment in our law, an author of a book in a foreign +language, who is a citizen of one of the foreign countries which +allows to our citizens the same copyright privileges as are allowed to +its own countrymen, is permitted to file in the Copyright Office +within thirty days after its publication in a foreign country a copy +of his book with a formal declaration that he is the author and that +he intends to translate it or to print it in its original language and +to apply for copyright in the United States. After doing this, he is +allowed one year in which to complete his proposed translation or to +print it in the original language and copyright it here. + +Before this statute was passed, two or more persons could translate a +foreign book, and each could copyright his own translation. Every copy +of a book for which such protection is desired under this law must +bear a notice stating, "Published ---- Nineteen Hundred and ----. +Privilege of copyright in the United States reserved under the Act +approved March 3, 1905, by A. B." + +Only the author or his assignee (_i.e._ the proprietor) may secure +copyright in a book. An author may transfer orally all or part of his +rights before publication, but after publication it is necessary for +him to make the assignment by some form of written instrument. In +order to make it a valid assignment, the original instrument must be +sent to be recorded in the office of the Librarian of Congress within +sixty days after its execution. The fee for recording an assignment is +one dollar. After the original document has been recorded, it is +signed and sealed and returned to the sender, who should preserve it +with the certificate. + +It is a common practice to have in the contract between the author and +his publisher a clause assigning to the publisher all of the author's +rights for the "full term of copyright and for any and all renewals." +The agreement, of course, includes other provisions such as for the +payment of the usual royalties, accounting, etc. Having been made +before publication such an assignment does not need to be recorded in +the Copyright Office. + +The history of copyright is an extremely interesting subject, but it +cannot be properly treated in the limits of this article. It may be +mentioned, however, that the first copyright law was enacted by +Parliament during Queen Anne's reign and is known as "8 Anne, c. 9." +This statute provided that an author should have complete control of +his literary productions during a first term of fourteen years after +publication, and a renewal term of the same length, and provided +penalties against piracy. A great many questions concerning this law +arose from time to time in trials before various courts, but perhaps +the chief one of interest was that of whether the limitation of the +period during which it granted protection had destroyed the author's +rights which had existed previously. For fifty years after the passage +of the law, the decisions were that the right of ownership existed for +all time as a right in common law unaffected by the statute, but in +1774 the highest English court held that while the rights of the +author before the publication of his book remained unaffected, after +publication he had no rights except during the period specified by the +statute. This decision is still believed by many authorities to have +been a wrong one, but it has been the basis for all subsequent +copyright law in this country as well as in England. Therefore in the +United States to-day, the right of ownership lies in the author until +his work is published, but upon publication he has no rights except +those given him by law, and these he can obtain only by a strict +compliance with the requirements of the law. Any one who is +sufficiently interested to read the first hundred pages of Drone's +"Treatise on the Law of Property in Intellectual Productions" will be +well repaid for the effort, and will obtain considerable light upon +how the "right of copying," or printing, a book developed, why its +duration is not unlimited, and why we must observe certain formalities +in order to protect our literary work by it. + + + + +PUBLICITY + +By Vivian Burnett. + + +The duty of bringing the productions of a publishing house to the +attention of the public is a very important one, and much depends upon +the cleverness and energy with which it is discharged. It can easily +be seen that no matter how good the books brought out by a firm, they +would be likely to remain on stockroom shelves if readers were not +properly made aware of their issue. The name "Publicity department" is +the most descriptive title that can be given to the part of the staff +devoting its energies to the many variations of news-spreading +involved in this work. + +Publicity involves both editorial and commercial elements. From the +editorial side it is of prime importance that the person in charge of +the publicity have at the very beginning a complete and definite idea +of the reasons that have ruled in the acceptance of a book,--what +class of people it was published for, and just what species of a book +it is considered to be. Is it purposed to appeal to a certain +religious class of people? Is it for the distinctly literary? Perhaps +it is one of those volumes on the border line between a juvenile and +an adult's book, which may be presented either as a volume for young +or for grown-up folks. The publicity man must be in full understanding +of this estimate before he can do his work properly. On the commercial +side, he must know just the feeling of the trade in regard to an +author and any type of book; and must be in close touch with the +salesmen, not only at the beginning, but all through the life of the +volume. He can learn from them what amount of success the author's +previous books have met, and thus be enabled to present his volume in +a way that will hitch on to a previous success or avoid the odium of a +recent failure. Salesmen can help him to know the interests of every +section of the country, so that advantage can be taken of them in +bringing the book to the local bookseller's attention and influencing +him to a special effort in its behalf. + +Few people are aware of the influence exerted by the book clerk, who +can substitute something "just as good" much more easily than a drug +or dry goods clerk, especially if he has a good argument to offer. The +largest part of the publicity of a publishing house is aimed to +influence the general reader, but more and more attention is to-day +being paid to the salesman in the bookshop, and quite wisely, too. He +cannot be expected to read all the books, and any effort made to give +him an acquaintance with your books that goes beyond their covers is +clear gain to him, to the publisher, and distinctly to the book-buying +public. + +Now, a book can be made or marred by the publicity it gets. If it is +wrongly launched, it will have an uphill climb, whatever its virtues. +This is especially true, as a result of the fact that a good deal is +written and printed about a book before it is off press and present to +speak for itself. + +One general rule should be most strictly adhered to in publicity, and +that is, be honest and be sincere. Nowhere is the rule "honesty is the +best policy" more unanimously justified. You may be as enthusiastic as +you please, but the book should be put forward for what it really is. +Only under such handling does it stand a chance for the full success +its qualities warrant. This all reverts to the question of the +editorial conception of a volume. Some books are not made for great +sellers; they are written for the keen enjoyment of a select educated +few; and if so presented that they fall into the hands of the popular +novel devourer, they will surely be condemned, and the condemnation +will reach and have its effect upon many who should legitimately have +bought the book. On the other hand, a novel of no literary quality +thrust into the hands of a person of bookish tastes will make an +influential enemy, who will doubtless have among his followers many +persons to whom the book would appeal. It is best to find out what +people will take the book, and advertise it to them. The process of +emasculating your presentation of it by cutting out everything that +would keep _anybody_ from reading it is a dangerous one. The dislikes +of the world of readers are too many for one to be able to dodge them +all, and, after all, most of us like a positive rather than a negative +volume. Just because many people do not read essays,--to take an +extreme case,--is no reason for avoiding the statement that yours is a +volume of essays. Fortunately, there are thousands upon thousands of +people who do read essays; and if the book is a good book of essays, +they will bring their influence--that word-of-mouth influence which is +almost as powerful as a "puff" by President Roosevelt--to bear upon +non-essay reading people, and you will be the gainer by that much for +your wisdom and honesty. + +These observations are germane, and worthy consideration because +commercialism and the endeavor to produce big sellers are always an +influence to overstate, misstate, and be extravagant in the praise of +a volume. But such extravagance always discounts itself in the mind of +the reader, and experience has pretty definitely proved that what a +prospective buyer wants is a straightforward concise indication of the +story and its quality. A word of praise quoted from a review may help +him make up his mind, yet he probably knows it is a pretty poor book +of which _some_ newspaper doesn't say "Holds the reader's interest +from cover to cover" or "We hail the author of this volume as one of +the most promising of our American writers." + +In considering the practical details of publicity, it will be clearest +to take them in chronological order. First: The book should be +thoroughly and critically read. The person in charge of the publicity +ought to have every volume put into his hands as soon as it is +accepted. When he has read it thoroughly and has formed his idea of +it, he discusses it thoroughly with the person responsible for its +acceptance. From this discussion, in which the sales department is +represented, evolves naturally the "editorial attitude" upon which +every line of future publicity and every sentence of salesman's talk +will be based. Without a complete understanding throughout the +establishment of the "editorial attitude" the entire publicity will be +aimless and unconvincing. + +The first work in publicity on a season's book is probably the +catalogue, which must be had ready for the salesmen when they go off +on their trips. The aim of the catalogue is to present as full an +account of the book as possible. It is meant for the eye of an +interested person, who can be counted upon to read rather a lengthy +notice. Every possible detail of price, number of illustrations, +paper, size, kind of binding, table of contents, previous works by the +same author, are given, and thus it becomes a complete reference book. +It is the general custom of publishing houses to issue a complete +catalogue in the Fall, with a supplemental catalogue in the Spring +containing the books of the Spring season. Most firms also bring out a +Fall list, to present their Fall books, which would be buried beyond +notice in a bulky complete catalogue. In this Fall list not +infrequently the Spring books are included, making what is really an +annual catalogue. These three catalogues are essential, and they are +as a rule supplemented by many special book lists and pamphlets. A +holiday catalogue is a steady institution in nearly every publishing +house. Its aim is to present to Christmas buyers the most attractive +volumes of the house's issue, and it is usually elaborate, with many +illustrations, a fine cover, and it is often printed in colors. Then +there are frequently issued catalogues of books on special subjects, +art, children's books, special editions, etc. + +The uses of catalogues are many. A large number are sent to the +publisher's best friend, the bookseller,--sometimes imprinted with his +name,--who distributes them. They also go out by mail to special lists +of people who are known to be interested in books, and a large number +are sent to persons who write asking information. + +In elaborateness the circular follows close on the catalogue, and it +has quite as wide if not a wider field. It is large or small, +depending upon the importance of the book. Sometimes it reaches the +dignity of a bound pamphlet, but it is usually a single leaf or at +most a four-page folder. Here again, all necessary information of +price and contents is given at length. But as the person into whose +hands the circular falls cannot be counted on to be interested +beforehand, the whole make-up and arrangement of the circular is +calculated for drawing attention and fixing interest. The circular, +therefore, must be made attractive. + +And here should be introduced a word in general on the appearance of +the printed matter that is sent out by a publishing house. It must be +good printing. It must be attractive printing. It is the indication to +the people whose eyes it meets of the work of the house it advertises. +Few people want to buy badly made books; and, unconsciously, if a +circular or catalogue is commonplace and badly printed, those +qualities will be attached to the book advertised. And it is quite +true, on the other hand, that the distinction and comely appearance of +a circular will prejudice in favor of the book. Moreover, a circular's +service can be rendered only when it attracts attention, and what is +spent in aiding it to catch the eye, through making it artistically +beautiful and printing it in color, will bring its return and more in +the added efficiency produced. There are, doubtless, people who would +not be affected by bad printing, but people of taste, the people who +most influence the sale of books, are sure to be antagonized. + +Probably, the most useful circular of all is the little leaf or +"slip" circular. It is printed on both sides, and is inserted between +the leaves of books of similar interest to the one it advertises, +usually about three to a book. It is made the size of the ordinary +business envelope, for it is also used in direct circularization of +lists and as an enclosure with bills, statements, and sometimes with +general correspondence. Often, when advertising two or more books, it +has four or even eight pages, though the latter makes it almost too +bulky for insertion in books. These larger circulars have an order +form attached giving the list of books, and a place for the name and +address of the prospective buyer,--a device to make it as easy as +possible for him to order his selection. When such circulars are +inserted in books either the order form is left off, or something +substituted in its place, for, as can readily be seen, the order form +is a bid for direct business by the publisher which would naturally be +obnoxious to the bookseller. Larger and more elaborate circulars than +these as a rule are used only for direct circularization. The subject +of circularization is much too important and complicated to be +exhausted in a few paragraphs, or even in an extended article. Enough +has been said here, however, at least to suggest the circular's field. + +The next problem in publicity to be taken up is the poster. The poster +has had its ups and downs, and in some quarters is a somewhat +discredited form of advertising, but it has its value. The +booksellers always demand posters. The one great argument against them +is that posters good enough to attract attention, that is, with a good +design and in colors, are somewhat expensive for book advertising. If +properly exhibited, they sell books, but the difficulty lies in the +fact that if they are _too_ attractive, they are likely to find their +way into a poster collector's portfolio before they have been exposed +long on the board. Yet, especially with leading books of fiction, this +is one of the risks that must be taken, for with each such +publication, the public eye must be caught with the fact of the book's +issue, and for this purpose a striking poster has no equal. For +serious books inexpensive clear type posters are quite sufficient. + +The book being now nearly off press, there will be needed some matter +for the paper jacket that slips over and protects the cloth cover +while the book is on the stall. Most important is the brief note on +the front that serves to indicate the quality of the volume and thus +guide the purchaser. On a book of fiction fifty or not more than +seventy-five words of the very best possible presentation of the book +is required. Here is the place where most of all the prospective +purchaser's interest must be aroused. Here the most felicitous +publicity inspiration is needed--and the problem is to indicate the +story, yet not tell it, and to pique curiosity to the buying point. On +books of a serious nature a jacket note is just as essential, if not +more so, but the problem is different. The prospective purchaser of +such a book as "Irish History and the Irish Question," "The Flower +Garden," for example, has an interest in the subject already aroused. +What he wishes to know is the scope of the volume and the manner in +which the subject is treated. The note for such a volume, therefore, +should contain a plain, straightforward statement of the importance of +the book, the point of view taken, a brief table of contents +indicating the most important divisions of the subject, and some +mention of the author's special qualification for writing the volume. +On the back of the paper "jacket" and on the little flaps that turn at +the sides of a book, it is customary to put advertisements of cognate +books. Often these paper jackets are treated in elaborate poster +style, and for good reason, since as a rule they are the first part of +a book a buyer sees, and his attention is not likely to be attracted +if only cheap paper be used. + +The date of the book's publication has probably now been set, and the +next step in publicity--a most important one--is the sending out of +review copies. This is the last thing in which haphazard methods would +be permissible. The list of newspapers who get complimentary copies +should be carefully selected, not so much with an eye to size of +circulation, as to quality and standing. A paper that is known to give +attention to books is worth two that have merely large circulations +and no distinction; first, because the books sent will be +appreciatively reviewed, and, second, because people in the habit of +buying books will consult the review columns and be influenced by +them. There are possibly one hundred and fifty or one hundred and +seventy-five papers in the United States to whom it would be +profitable to send a book. A great many more, however, think they +should receive them. With even the most popular novel two hundred +review copies is a generously sufficient number to place for review. +In deciding where these should go, the contents of the book itself is +of course the guide. Some books can be calculated to appeal more to +one section of the country than to another because of their +subject-matter. Certain classes of people--ministers, school-teachers, +sportsmen, doctors--can sometimes be drawn upon by the judicious +distribution of a few complimentary copies, to assist the sale of a +book, and then there is the home of the author, where special +attention can always be expected. + +Opinions differ as to the amount of influence exerted by reviews upon +the fortunes of a book. It is certainly true that to trace direct +returns from reviews is often difficult. Frequently books which are +splendidly reviewed move slowly, and there seems no explanation of +their failure to "catch on." They may be, and frequently are, books of +real value and quality. The history of publishing is full of such +mysteries. On the other hand, _returns_ are visible enough when a book +is slated by the press; there its power is amply evident. + +The American press is notably fair, notably discriminating, and +notably independent. It gives its own views fearlessly, and resents +any efforts made by publishers to get their own adjective-besprinkled +puffs printed. In rush seasons it will make use of publisher's +description, after carefully blue-pencilling obtrusive adjectives, but +it goes no farther. In fact, the newspaper-review part of publishing +publicity is best left alone. The book must do the work itself. + +The book has now reached the place where that which is commonly called +advertising should begin; that is, publicity in newspapers and +magazines. The use of newspapers, to any great extent at least, is a +comparatively recent development in the publishing business, dating +back not much more than ten years. Its efficiency, that is to say, its +proportion of return to outlay, is far from being established. While +at the beginning of the movement great rewards were reaped, the light +of more mature experience seems to show that those books which, under +heavy newspaper advertising, reached editions of 100,000 to 150,000 +were really special cases,--books of a peculiarly popular, almost +low-grade, quality, that had an exceptional public. It is sure that +what brought success with them would not succeed with the average +publication. For this reason, publishers to-day are by no means as +lavish as they used to be with their appropriation for newspaper +advertising. Yet even in this era of retrenchment a very large +proportion of the money devoted to publicity still goes to the +newspapers. + +While it would be foolish to attempt formulating a set of fixed rules +for newspaper advertising, there are certain underlying principles +that should be borne in mind. + +Books are in the class of luxuries; most books at least. There is no +natural demand for them to assist the advertiser, such as there is for +food-stuffs. With a book, it is the advertiser's business to persuade +the buyer that he will be interested or instructed or amused by the +volume to the value of his outlay, be it a quarter or fifty +dollars,--where in the matter of necessities and food commodities the +advertiser's task is the much more simple one of proving that his +product is intrinsically better or better value than any similar thing +on the market. The sale of a book depends entirely upon the almost +artificial desire that is created for it, whereas with other things +there is a real need, and it is necessary only to prove that the +article fills this need. For these reasons book advertising--with +piano, picture, music, candy, and perhaps automobile advertising--is +difficult to carry out profitably. It is the class most expensive +proportionately to the value of the product, for it can count in +only the smallest degree upon what is known as the "cumulative" effect +of a campaign. Every advertisement of such an article as a breakfast +food, for example, whether it be on a bill-board, in a newspaper, or +in a circular, adds to the effect of every other one. The repetition +of the name, whether it be consciously or unconsciously observed by +the public, assists in forcing attention and thus interest, and +finally results in a sale. Half a million dollars can be spent in +making "Whipped Oats" a household word. Every dollar backs up every +other dollar, and the demand for Whipped Oats will last for years. +"The Return from Davy Jones," which can have at the very most say +$5000 spent on it, benefits the very least from the cumulative effect, +and the demand for the book is practically over in a year, especially +if it be a popular novel. Each newspaper advertisement of a book must +in fact bring returns to pay for itself, and this, of course, demands +the very cleverest kind of "copy." + +Many elements enter into the popularity and sale-ability of a book, +but no one seems to know just what they are. Even the best and most +experienced readers fail to pick successes--let big books go by them, +and conversely praise volumes that turn out flat failures. Yet certain +things in the line of publicity can be counted upon to assist in +making a volume's success. The name of a well-known author is the best +asset a book can have. That gets it good advance sales and a quick +and appreciative attention from the book reviewers. In this respect, +nothing could better exemplify the New England homely proverb, "Sich +as has, gits." The work of publicity on a book by a well-known author +is easy, if care is taken always to bring that author's name forward +in connection with his previous achievements. This is especially true +in regard to newspaper advertising. + +Doctors violently disagree over book advertising principles, and +possibly it is best to start by saying that there _are_ none and that +each book is a rule unto itself. Certainly a close and careful study +of a book's points and the class of people to whom it would likely +appeal, its "editorial qualities," is the only proper basis for a +campaign. For the average novel by a well-known author the main +problem is to let the world know it has been issued. Therefore, in +advertising in a newspaper, the announcement of the book's publication +should be made in such a manner that all the readers of that paper +will notice it. The campaign should start with what is technically +known as a "must be seen" notice. It is the publisher's business to +shout loud enough to be heard above the clatter of the small +advertisements, "Just out--New book by Donan Coyle, 'The Return from +Davy Jones.'" If some piquant description of the book follow, this +should be sure to send all those readers of the paper interested in +Donan Coyle to the bookshop in search of the new volume. Much smaller +"ads." following from time to time, that may catch the eye of the +forgetful ones and arouse their interest by some words of personal or +press commendation on the volume, would close a campaign of this kind, +which would have naturally gathered in its trail many readers and even +non-readers not distinctly interested in Donan Coyle. It would at +least have started the mouth-to-mouth advertising of the book, to +which paid-for advertising can after all be regarded only as assistant +and support. In fact, when all is said and done the greatest service +advertising does is in reminding people of books they have heard +praised, and the best advertising is that placed on the road to the +bookstalls, a strong argument for the poster, since it is exhibited in +front of the bookshop, where it can catch the passer-by. In tune with +this conception of the advertisement as an announcement is this +general rule--advertise prominently the name of the book, and the +author's name if it is important. These are commodities you have to +sell, the things you wish people to ask for--just as the bacon-maker +wants you to ask for "Blank's Bacons." + +For books that have no well-known author's name to assist them, or +those for which a large sale cannot be forecasted at the start,--books +that appeal to the select few,--other and more inexpensive methods +must be pursued. In most such cases it is probable that any +advertising in newspapers would be unwise, and this leads to the +subject of magazine advertising, which is much higher grade and more +suited to such books of quality. There are many distinctly literary +publications, the subscribers to which are always searching for books +of a fine type--an interested clientele who will read advertising +pages rather thoroughly, and gladly pay good prices for good books. +Small advertisements--perhaps a page of small advertisements of good +books--in a magazine of this class will bring returns, especially if +the books have been well reviewed. There are also trade journals, +which go to the booksellers, and in these the publisher must announce +his new issues well,--describe them thoroughly, and give some idea of +what he intends doing in the way of energetic general advertising. The +aim of this is to influence booksellers to increase their orders. + +These few paragraphs only scratch the surface of a broad subject of +extreme interest. Each publishing firm has developed through its +experience its own principles of the psychology of public opinion, its +own idea of the qualities a book should possess, and its own way of +getting at the people. Results are frequently so surprising that one +is inclined to class publishing among the games of chance. It is +certain that everybody cannot make a success at it, and there is no +doubt that it requires a definite endowment of genius. + +There falls to the publicity department the writing of a great many +letters,--numbers are in answer to questions concerning books and +authors, but by far the larger number are in the nature of circulars. +The personal typewritten letter or the printed typewritten letter that +masquerades as such, has a power equal to a hundred circulars. It +claims attention at once, if it does not declare itself an +advertisement on the outside, where a printed circular gets swept into +the waste-paper basket unread. It's expensive--about three cents a +letter if done properly, but when there are special ends to be +accomplished, such as calling the attention of the clergy to a novel +that would suggest sermons, or the members of an Audubon society to a +book on birds, it is the surest and most profitable method. + +It is especially in a mail order or subscription book concern that the +circular letter is of most use. The expensive sets of such concerns, +and the large profit figured on them, justify such a costly method of +publicity. It is generally made more expensive by the enclosure in the +envelope of return postal cards and other printed material. + +This subscription business is a business by itself and conducted quite +differently from average publishing. The advertising is lavish, and +the underlying principle of it is, that the prospective purchaser +wishes a complete description of the wares. Attractive premium, and +short-time low-price offers are always made, and the endeavor is to +get the prospective customer to permit the set of volumes to be sent +on inspection, reliance being held in the ability to make him keep +them through the real quality of the books, assisted by a series of +"follow up" letters enlarging upon the virtues of the set. Lists of +names are circularized, and "follow up" letters used here also to +bring orders. + +An important form of publicity is that which has grown up as a result +of the interest shown by readers, especially in America, in the +personality of authors and the desire to know what is happening in the +world of books. This very natural and legitimate curiosity affords the +publisher a chance to push his products forward in an unobtrusive way. +Because it is to all appearances unbiased, it wields quite a deal of +influence, especially in building up the reputation of an author. +Every paper that pretends to any literary standing prints regularly or +occasionally a column of Literary Chat, in which is given brief news +of authors and books. There will perhaps be a humorous anecdote of the +author of a prominent novel, a brief summary of a book shortly to be +issued, some comment by a well-known person on a well-known book, a +biographical sketch of a new author, a telling extract from a book of +serious value, a note that "The Return from Davy Jones" is in its +_n_th edition--all of it really news and of interest. Some newspapers +write their own chat, but the majority print, with small alteration, +such as is furnished by the publicity departments of publishing +houses, which send out weekly or monthly printed or typewritten sheets +of such brief items. In this way Donan Coyle as the author of "The +Return from Davy Jones" is kept before the public. The public also has +a legitimate desire to know something of the appearance of the author +of a popular novel or important books of essays, and the newspaper +reviewer frequently wishes to print a portrait with his review. Here +the publicity department steps in and helps him, by furnishing +suitable electrotype portraits upon request, and not infrequently, by +sending out proofs with interesting notes, suggests the use of the +portrait. The relation between a literary editor who wants to print +the book news and a manager of publicity is a mutually beneficial one. +If they cooeperate thus, they can be of great assistance to each other, +and in the exchange each one gets value received. By a thousand little +methods and devices the person in charge of publicity can furnish +desired information and get this undersurface publicity, and by +putting out _bona-fide_ news and really good stories about them, bring +even his lesser light authors into prominence. In this field, as in +all others, the well-known authors advertise themselves and set up a +demand for publicity. + +The financial end of Publicity is full of complexities. The question +of how much an expenditure per volume is warranted is one that cannot +be answered generally. There are many limiting and defining +considerations. First of all, the book itself. If it is the kind to be +a "big seller," a risk can possibly be taken on a larger advertising +investment than would be warranted in the case of a good book of finer +quality and limited appeal. Certain books of coarser, more obvious +qualities have a large public if it can be reached. In such cases an +exceptional effort will bring exceptional returns. By the risk of a +large advertising outlay the firm may get big profits; while a flat +failure, because the large, non-book-buying public had not been +reached through newspaper and lavish poster advertising methods, might +result if only a few hundreds were spent. Judgment of the finest kind +is required here, and it cannot always decide rightly. + +How much to spend depends essentially upon the book, and there is no +hard and fast rule. Books have been known to reach their public and +reach good sales at an advertising outlay of about one cent per copy. +Others have had fifty cents per copy sold spent upon them, and fallen +flat. + +The publishing business is not one in which there are great profits, +and the margin between the cost of manufacturing and the wholesale +price is small. This small amount must furnish the author's royalty, +the advertising appropriation, the publisher's cost of doing business, +and his profit. It can be seen then that the amount of royalty paid +on a book in a certain degree rules the amount of advertising that +can be done,--the publisher and author are, in a measure, partners, +and if the author demands a large royalty, he thereby cuts down the +amount the publisher can afford to expend in advertising his book. The +larger the appropriation for advertising, the larger the chance for +increased sales. + +It is difficult to make any generalization on the amount that should +be devoted to publicity. Taking the $1.50 novel as a standard, it +might be said that figuring in all kinds of publicity--newspaper, +magazine, circular, literary notices, etc.--from ten to twelve per +cent of the wholesale price on the first edition of 10,000 would be a +liberal allowance. On more expensive volumes, handled as subscription +books, a much larger proportion would be the rule. On new books other +than fiction, where the sale could not be expected to reach more than +a few thousand, there would be no business justification in spending +so much. Such books have more or less to make their own way. + +Publicity is an essential part of the publishing business, and the +breadth of its field, as well as the proper way to apply its +influence, is beginning to be more correctly understood. Fortunately, +for all concerned, the author as well as the publisher and the +book-buying public, it is a power that can work only for good, and in +a good cause. It hastens the fame and the sales of a really good book, +but its power with a bad book is very small indeed. One fact has +developed from the thousands of book advertising campaigns, and it is +this--that you cannot force a really worthless book down the throat of +the American reading public however much money you put into +advertising. You may create a big sale for a very light and frothy +story, with little to recommend it from the literary critic's point of +view, but you can be sure, if it succeeds, your novel has certain +positive, if rather superficial virtues, either in the story, in the +local color, or in the method of telling. And when one contemplates +the huge success of Mrs. Humphry Ward's and Edith Wharton's +distinguished novels, one is obliged to accept the comforting +conviction that the reading public of this country knows a good book +when it sees it. + + + + +REVIEWING AND CRITICISING + +By Walter Littlefield. + + +About 60,000 volumes are annually published in Germany, France, Italy, +Great Britain, and the United States. Germany heads the list, with +something less than 25,000, and the United States ends it, with +between five and six thousand titles, although it should be added that +Continental figures refer to all material bearing an imprint published +for circulation whether pamphlet or book. Aside from purely scientific +and specialistic publications those intended for public perusal of all +grades of literacy and intelligence may be classified as history, +biography, travel, _belles-lettres_ (including art, criticism, and +poetry), and fiction. It is the work of the literary critic to write +about these books in such a manner that neither the author nor the +public may suffer injustice by their purchase or non-purchase. The +critic must explain their purpose, point out their merits and +imperfections, and compare their features with the features of other +books on the same subject. In short, he should tell the public whether +to read the book or not. He should do so in an entertaining manner. + +Now the way this end is achieved in America often excites the derision +of the literary foreigner; for although most American reviews are +readable enough, they often lack the critical emphasis and literary +scope and color so conspicuous in the literary criticism of the +British and Continental reviews. But the foreigner overlooks the fact +that American reviewers usually have something to say about every +publication which claims to appeal to a reading public, and that many +of these would be absolutely ignored by foreign critics, who are +possibly right--when we consider their readers--in selecting only what +they deem worthy of their knowledge and critical acumen. The foreign +man-of-letters' idea of what should constitute the functions of the +critic I find most admirably laid down in Mr. Arthur Symons's +introduction to a new edition of Coleridge's "Biographia Literaria" in +Everyman's Library. Mr. Symons writes:-- + + The aim of criticism is to distinguish what is essential in + the work of a writer; and in order to do this, its first + business must be to find out where he is different from all + other writers. It is the delight of the critic to praise; + but praise is scarcely a part of his duty. He may often seem + to find himself obliged to condemn; yet condemnation is + hardly a necessary part of his office. What we ask of him + is, that he should find out for us more than we can find out + for ourselves: trace what in us is a whim or leaning to its + remote home or centre of gravity, and explain why we are + affected in this way or that way by this or that writer. He + studies origins in effects, and must know himself, and be + able to allow for his own mental and emotional variations, + if he is to do more than give us the records of his likes + and dislikes. He must have the passion of the lover, and be + enamored of every form of beauty; and, like the lover, not + of all equally, but with a general allowance of those least + to his liking. He will do well to be not without a touch of + intolerance: that intolerance which, in the lover of the + best, is an act of justice against the second-rate. The + second-rate may perhaps have some reason for existence: that + is doubtful; but the danger of the second-rate, if it is + accepted "on its own merits," as people say, is that it may + come to be taken for the thing it resembles, as a wavering + image in water resembles the rock which it reflects. + +Obviously, here in America we have a sympathetic tolerance for the +"second-rate." But such tolerance is not without its excuse. The fault +of the uncritical element in many of the book notices which appear in +American newspapers and magazines lies to a large extent at the door +of the author who gives us material which humiliates and silences +criticism, although a certain expository attention must be given for +the very fact that the book invariably has a public awaiting it. For +such gratuitous attention the author should be grateful. At least his +public is not misled. + +Literary criticism is a distinct department of literature, with its +functions and limits as clearly defined as are those of any of the +creative departments,--history, biography, fiction. It presupposes on +the part of the writer the possession of a knowledge of permanent +literature, of the rules of literary construction, of trained taste in +selecting models, and of a quick imagination capable of perceiving +pertinent comparisons and setting forth vivid impressions. Writers +like Lessing, Victor Cousin, Matthew Arnold, and Jules Lemaitre have +exercised in criticism a system which is quite as capable of +exposition and analysis as that of the historian, the poet, or the +novelist. In America this system has also done its best, without +entirely prostituting its art, to meet the exigencies and claims of +pseudo-literary production and its sympathetic, impressionable public. + +Until within quite recent years there were only two acknowledged +schools of criticism: the scientific and the classical. The former +gauged the work to be criticised by rule and measure; the latter +compared it with models which had long been established as criterions +of good taste. Then came the impressionistic school, in which the +critic, while not unmindful of accepted and approved rules of +construction and expression or of classical paradigms, allowed the +author more license, more individuality, and permitted himself the +same freedom in noting a thing good, bad, or indifferent, because it +so appealed to his personal taste at the time of perusal and quite +independent of what had gone before. This impressionistic criticism is +essentially a personal view, and without it very few current books +could be considered critically at all. + +Now of the 5000 odd books annually brought out in the United States +there are possibly not more than 100, including half a dozen novels, +which are worthy subjects for the professional critic. If this be +deemed an exaggeration, one has only to look over the Publishers' List +of twenty-five years ago and see how many books then published are +read to-day. Why, then, do the 4900 receive any attention? + +Books, like every other commercial commodity, whether presented under +the guise of art or science, have their production regulated by the +law of supply and demand. The ability to read print in the United +States is pretty general, and this ability is diffused among all sorts +and conditions of people of vastly varied ideas as to what may give +instruction, satisfaction, or pleasure in the form of books. We know +that a large majority of the people who read do not read what is +considered the best. The enormous circulation of the "Yellow Press," +the low literary value of books of rapidly succeeding phenomenal +editions, prove this. Criticism, except in acknowledged "literary" +reviews, has been obliged to take into account the mental limitations +and tastes of the readers of the 4900 books, and so it fixes its +standard of popular exposition and elucidation at a little above the +average taste, and does its best to explain according to the author's +own lights what to criticise would be remorselessly to condemn. + +But do all the one hundred worthy and elect books receive correct +treatment according to the tenets of criticism? it may be asked. +Probably not at every hand and in all cases. And here may be +introduced another cause of the lack of proficient literary criticism +noticed by the literary foreigner in American magazines, and +especially in those pages of the daily and weekly press devoted to +books. The discussion of books which once occupied several pages in +American monthly magazines is now principally confined to the books +issued by the publishing house which also publishes the magazine. What +has come to be known as the "news value" of books cannot suffer a +review of a novel by a prominent author or of a book on a current +political or sociological topic to appear a month or two or three +after the publication of the book itself. The eagerness of the public +can hardly wait for an elaborate review in the press. Thus the +newspapers rival one another in setting before their readers the first +"news" of the book. It is usually impossible to expect "criticism" in +such active circumstances. The public neither expects nor desires it. +This leads to expositions in which are incorporated generous citations +from the book, and from this the public is invited to form its own +opinion. When such an exposition is properly done, a reader can tell +whether he wishes to peruse the book as a whole. In late years this +system of exposition has been growing in popularity,--a popularity no +doubt augmented by the reader's increasing desire to be his own +critic,--so now only the more important historical, biographical, and +travellers' books receive expert criticism. Why wait months to get +expert opinion on a popular book on Russia, Ibsen, or a journey in +search of one of the poles, while the public is impatient to find out +simply whether the book is entertaining? And again, how expert is +expert opinion? I know of one famous biography of a famous man which, +having been accepted as "the" authority for five years, finally had +its pretensions demolished, its citations proved a mass of forgeries, +by one tireless and persevering critic who would not accept the +"expert" opinion which lauded it to the skies shortly after its +publication. + +Now that criticism, or rather the lack of it, has been explained, it +may be of some interest to learn how the vast number of books which is +annually put forth is handled by the editors of literary reviews and +the "book pages" of the daily press. Having for nearly ten years been +connected with the literary supplement of a New York daily which +prides itself on ignoring nothing which is published with the idea of +being read, my experiences for observation have been somewhat unusual. +The increase in the number of books, and the eagerness of the public +to learn about them at the earliest possible moment, have caused the +daily press to usurp some of the functions formerly enjoyed by the +monthly reviews. The latter do little more than mention the vast +majority of publications and confine more and more their critical +talents to what they consider conspicuous and distinctive literary +productions. Purely literary periodicals have come and gone and left +few mourners. The pages of The Bookman, for example, are no longer +confined to literary criticism, to essays on bookish topics, to gossip +of author and publisher. + +There are four distinct publishing periods in the book world. The +early spring season, principally confined to those books which could +not be made ready to meet the recent holiday season, and to routine +books,--books which on account of copyright exigencies have to be +published then, books which for prestige the publisher would have bear +his imprint, etc. Then comes the late spring season, which is +principally confined to novels of the lighter sort and to books for +supplementary school reading for the coming autumn. Toward the end of +August the first Holiday books usually make their appearance. They +increase in number until the end of September, when there is a lull. +From the middle of October until the end of November there is a +perfect outpour of books. The months of November and December until +Christmas Day are the busiest times in the year for the reviewer. + +As the books come in they are carefully looked over by the one who is +known as the "critic" of the review or paper. He has men and women on +his lists whose pens he has tried before--they may be lawyers, college +professors, sportsmen, society men, professional novel readers, etc. +He considers the author of the book at hand, its seeming importance, +etc., and despatches it to a critic. An expert writer of expositions +is usually ready to relieve him of volumes upon which for some reason +he does not feel justified in requesting expert opinion. Occasionally +he makes a mistake by giving out for exposition a really important +book. The expert who has been impatiently waiting for the volume +points out the error. The work of a well-known novelist is usually +sent to a critic who is familiar with former tales by the same author. +Juveniles are handed over to one of proved sympathy with stories for +boys and girls--one who is conservative yet quick to catch a new +element. Books that are essentially for gifts are disposed of in a +similar manner--to one who has proved his or her ability to set forth +artistic features in books. New editions of classics are turned over +to writers who are acquainted with the mechanical make-up of a book, +so that the reader may learn whether the new edition of the favorite +author is well bound, printed, and appropriately decorated and +illustrated. And among the hundreds of "brief notices," expositions, +impressions, descriptions, and long and short essays that are handed +in, there are invariably some pieces of valuable comment which are +well in keeping with the traditions of professional criticism. The +critic usually returns the book with his article. These books are +ultimately collected and disposed of in various ways. They may be sold +at auction to members of the staff, which is an effective way of +getting rid of them just before Christmas. + +Is there any likelihood of an improvement in literary criticism--any +chance of a return by the daily press to what the Reviews of the past +gave and those of England and the Continent still give? The standard +of criticism is determined by two forces: the quality of books and the +taste of would-be purchasers. If every book were really "criticised," +the criticisms of many would be utterly incomprehensible to many of +their possible readers. The public gets the books it desires; the +books receive the attention they deserve. When the standard of reading +shall be raised, so that the public shall demand better books, it will +be found that more books will receive "serious" attention. As it is at +present, the public does not desire much elaborate, fine criticism. +It, together with its favorite authors, would be sorely dissatisfied +if it got more. It may be added that, in my humble opinion, the +function of a critic as an arbiter of literary taste is measurably +overestimated. Of course, a man who has won distinction as a judge of +books and who signs his articles may have some influence. But it +seems to me that the function of the anonymous reviewer should begin +and end by explaining the book and let the public be its own critic. +It will certainly be in the end. For no critic ever killed a good +book; none ever praised an unworthy volume into success and fame. + + + + +THE TRAVELLING SALESMAN + +By Harry A. Thompson. + + +The increase in the visible supply of authors more than meets the +demand. A manuscript once accepted, the publisher finds no lack of +paper makers ready to supply him with any grade of fair white paper +that he may wish to spoil. Printers even manifest a dignified alacrity +to set the type and print the book, and binders are yet to be accused +of any disinclination to cover it. + +It is only when author, paper maker, printer, and binder have done +with their share in the exploitation of literature that the publisher +finds that the current which had been urging him gently onward has set +against him. Of making many books there is no end, but the profitable +marketing of the same is vanity and vexation of spirit. + +Enter the salesman. + +He is to convince the bookseller, who is to convince the public, that +this particular book--shall we, for our purpose, christen it "Last +Year's Nests"?--is the great American novel (whatever that means), and +that its influence on the reading of unborn generations will be +measured by the rank it holds in the list of the six best sellers. + +The salesman is handicapped not a little by the fact that it is +neither shoes, nor pig-iron, nor even mess-pork that he is selling, +and, therefore, superior quality of workmanship, inferior price, and +personal magnetism count for little. Persuasiveness, which, perhaps, +is a part of personal magnetism, counts; so does an intelligent +knowledge of the contents of the book; likewise hard work and tactful +persistence; also, honesty. But opposed against the combination is the +bookseller, on guard against overstocking, to some extent a purchaser +of a pig in a poke, conscious that one unsold book eats up the profit +on five copies safely disposed of. + +Time was when good salesmanship consisted in overstocking a +bookseller; this was occasioned less by persuasiveness than by +overpersuasiveness. Regardless of the merits of the book and with no +more than a nodding acquaintance with its contents, a persuasive +salesman could "load" a customer--as he called it out of the +customer's hearing--with two hundred and fifty copies of a novel that +had no other merit than that it had been written by a novelist whose +previous book had met with success. The significance of these figures, +two hundred and fifty, is to be found in the maximum discount to +retailers of forty and ten per cent on that quantity. Latterly, the +publisher has found that a bankrupt bookseller has few creditors +besides publishers, and has come to a realizing sense of the futility +of clogging the distributing machinery. He is disposed, therefore, to +exercise some restraint upon his salesman's ardor. Perhaps it were +better to say that the salesman, grown wiser, is more disposed to aid +the bookseller in his purchases to the end that no monuments of unsold +failures will stare him in the face on his next visit to the +customer's store. Yet even to this day, such restraint is tempered by +a certain amount of moderation. + +All of which, while interesting to the historian of the publishing +trade, carries us too far in advance of our text. Let us therefore +return to "Last Year's Nests"--12mo, cloth, illustrated, gilt top, +uncut edges, price $1.50. + +The first edition--it may be one thousand copies or ten thousand--has +been delivered to the publisher by the beaming binder, who alone, in +some instances, knows his profit on them. "Last Year's Nests" is by a +well-known author, and contains some elements of popularity. The +literary adviser has written a beautiful and scholarly appreciation of +it, one of the lady stenographers has declared it grand, and the +salesman, if he is given to reading anything beyond the title-page, +says it's a corker. He starts out with it; along with a trunkful of +other books, to be sure, but our sympathies are wholly with the +"Nests," and it is only its career that we shall follow. + +He may be one of a force of salesmen, each of whom has his own +territory. One may visit only the larger cities, Boston, New York, +Philadelphia, Pittsburg, Chicago; another may take in the smaller +towns along this route; another, the Middle West, Southern or +Southwestern territory. Still another, the cities west of Chicago, +including those on the Pacific coast. Houses publishing competitive +lines and non-copyright books have other methods and machinery for +distribution. I speak only for the copyright salesman, and not to be +too prolix, take only the copyright novel as an illustration of the +day's work. + +The salesman arrives at a town, say Chicago. He goes to the hotel, +orders his trunks and sample tables sent to his room. The tables are +set up--well-worn pine boards on trestles and covered with sheeting. +He unpacks his trunk and arranges his books on the tables as +effectively as his artistic sense permits. Then he visits his +customers and makes appointments that cover a full week. Previous to +his arrival his office had informed the booksellers of his coming, +inclosing a catalogue. This the bookseller handed to a clerk to be +marked up. The clerk had gone over their stock of this particular +publisher's books and had marked opposite each title in the catalogue +the number of copies on hand. Armed with this catalogue the bookseller +keeps his appointment at the room of the traveller. [It ought to be +mentioned in passing that this is a purely hypothetical case, invented +for the purposes of illustration. The clerk who marks up the +catalogue in advance of the salesman's arrival is as fictitious as the +bookseller who keeps his appointment promptly. Perhaps this delightful +uncertainty is another of the many influences that make the book +business, from the writing of the manuscript to the reading of the +printed book, so fascinating.] + +In the salesman's room the customer examines the new books, asks +questions, hears arguments (many of them fearfully and wonderfully +made), and eventually, after much debate, gives his order. Having +ordered all the new books that he wishes, he goes over the catalogue +and gives what is called his stock order; that is to say, he orders +the books on which his stock is low but for which there is still a +demand. + +Perhaps the salesman has reserved for his final battle the sale of +"Last Year's Nests." As prices cut some figure in this argument, we +are driven, for a moment, to the dry bones of prices and discounts. + +Listed in the publisher's catalogue at $1.50, the ordinary discount to +a dealer ordering two or three copies is thirty-three and one-third +per cent, or $1.00 net, the bookseller paying transportation charges. +Competition, however, has increased this discount to forty per cent, +so that we shall assume that in small quantities the book can be had +at $.90 net. In larger quantities extra discounts are given; some +publishers give forty and five per cent on fifty copies and forty and +ten per cent on one hundred copies; others increase the quantities to +one hundred and two hundred and fifty copies respectively for the +extra discounts. But, as has been pointed out, the growing tendency is +not to overload the bookseller, especially in view of the fact that it +is the publisher who loses when the bookseller assigns. + +Assuming that the "Last Year's Nests" is likely to have a large sale +and that the salesman wishes to sell Mr. Bookseller two hundred and +fifty copies, he quotes the extra discount of forty and ten per cent +on that quantity. If he can persuade the bookseller to take two +hundred and fifty copies, he has not only swollen his sales by that +amount, but he has forced a probable retail sale of that quantity. For +once on the bookseller's tables, the very size of the order inspires +every clerk to help reduce the pile, not to mention the fact that the +books are bought and must be paid for. Had the bookseller bought five +copies, extra efforts toward sales would not be forthcoming; the +energy would be applied to another novel. Hence the salesman's efforts +to effect a large sale. + +There is another reason for this extra quantity. Two hundred and fifty +copies of "Last Year's Nests," piled in a pyramid, is a gentle +reminder to the bookseller's customers that it is a mighty important +book. Such an argument is often more potent than the disagreeing +opinions of critics. Here is a case in point. + +A novelist wrote an altogether charming and spirited novel. The +reviewers spoke well of it, but the sale of the book hung fire. It was +the dull season,--May or June,--and there was no other novel of any +worth in the public mind. The salesman said to his employer: "Here's a +book that has a good chance for success. If you'll back me with some +good advertising, I'll guarantee to make that novel sell." + +The publisher replied: "Go ahead, my son; I'll take a gamble on it." +(They really talk that way when they travel mufti.) So the salesman +induced the New York wholesalers to erect a pyramid of a thousand +copies in their respective stores, guaranteeing to take back the books +if they were not sold. This was done for the purpose of impressing the +buyers for country stores who were flocking into New York for their +fall purchases. + +Next the retail booksellers were asked to take, on the same terms, +from one hundred to two hundred and fifty copies and pile them +conspicuously in their stores. As trade was dull and there was no one +big seller clamoring for public recognition at the time, the dealers +were willing to assist in the work of encouraging good literature. + +Then an advertising campaign was planned. Critics there were a-plenty +who wagged a sad head because the advertising was undignified. What +they meant was that it was unconventional, was without the dignity of +tradition to give it its hallmark. It had, at least, the novelty of +originality, and answered the final test of good advertising in that +it attracted attention. Then the sale began, and as soon as New York +City was reporting it among the list of the six best sellers, the +salesman took to the road to carry on the campaign. The result was +eventually a sale reaching six figures. + +But to get back to "Last Year's Nests." It is to be published June 1. +A few sample pages only have been printed, but blank paper fills out +to the bulk of the book as it will be. Illustrations--if they are +ready--are inserted, the title-page printed, and the whole is bound up +in a sample cover. This is technically known as a dummy, and serves to +show the prospective buyer merely the outward and visible sign of an +inward and spiritual appeal to public favor. For the purpose of +informing the bookseller it is worth but little more than the printed +title or a catalogue announcement. For all $1.50 novels look alike, +are printed on pretty much the same kind of paper, and bear covers +differing more in degree than kind. Yet the bookseller likes to handle +something tangible when he is making up his order, and the salesman, +with even a dummy in his hand, finds that there is less wear and tear +upon his imagination. + +Were he selling shoes, the salesman would, as a matter of course, +point out the superior quality of the goods, lay stress on their +style and durability, and as a clincher, present the incontrovertible +argument of low price. On no such brief can the book salesman rest his +case. "Last Year's Nests" varies in no respect mechanically from any +of its 12mo competitors; and if it did, it would make no difference. +"Look at the design of the cover, see how durable it is," argues the +salesman. "What a charming title-page, and note the classic proportion +of the printed page to the margin," he continues. The startled +customer, listening to such an argument, would be inclined to humor +the salesman until he could safely get him into the hands of an +alienist. + +Two arguments and two only comprise the salesman's stock in trade; if +he can say that "Last Year's Nests" is by the well-known author whose +name is a household word and whose previous book sold so many thousand +copies, he has the bookseller on the mourner's bench; if he can (and +he frequently does) add the clinching argument that his firm will +advertise the book heavily, he can leave the bookseller with that +thrill of triumph we all feel when we bend another's will to our own. + +A young and inexperienced salesman, whom we shall call Mr. Green, was +making his Western trip. As he was waiting in a bookseller's store for +his customer's attention, there entered a traveller of ripe years and +experience, representing one of the larger publishing firms. Naturally +the bookseller gave the older salesman his instant attention. With no +desire to eavesdrop, Mr. Green could not avoid overhearing the +conversation. + +"Hello, Blank! Anything new?" + +"Yes, I have a big novel here by a big man. It will have a big sale," +and Blank mentioned the title and author. + +At this point, Green pricked up his ears. He had read the novel in +manuscript form and his immediate thought was, "Here's where I learn +something about the gentle art of making sales." + +Mr. Blank proceeded so tell what he knew about the book. His synopsis +was so inaccurate that Green knew that he had not read the book, but +was glibly misquoting the publisher's announcement. Green's courage +was fired as he reflected how much better he could have portrayed the +chief incidents of the plot. But his triumph was momentary. Blank +ended his argument in a voice that left no doubt of his own faith in +the effectiveness of his logic. "And the firm is going to advertise it +like ----." + +"Send me two hundred and fifty copies," said the customer. + +The longer Mr. Green travelled the more convinced he became that the +old salesman knew his business. The argument of advertising carries +with it a certain persuasiveness that the customer cannot resist. Not +always does a liberal use of printer's ink land a book among the six +best sellers; but it does it so often that the rule is proved by the +exception. A publisher once made the statement, in the presence of a +number of men interested in the book-publishing business, that, by +advertising, he could sell twenty thousand copies of any book, no +matter how bad it was. The silence of the others indicated assent to +the doctrine. But one inquiring mind broke in with the question, "But +can you make a profit on it?" + +"Ah! That is another question," answered the publisher. + +And the ledgers of several publishers will show a loss, due to +excessive advertising, on books that loom large in public favor. The +author has reaped good royalties and the salesman has had no great +draft made upon his stock of persuasive argument. + +It is under such circumstances that the traveller finds his work easy +and his burden light. Another condition under which he meets with less +resistance is in the instance of a second book by an author whose +first book has met with success. The bookseller is a wary, cautious +man; what illusions he once had have gone down the corridors of time +along with the many books that have not helped him. For reasons that +are not so inscrutable as they may seem to the enthusiastic salesman, +the bookseller is disinclined to order more than a few copies of a +first book by a new author. Perhaps the traveller has read the book +and is surcharged with enthusiasm; he talks eloquently and ably in +the book's behalf; he masses argument upon argument--and in the end +makes about as much impression as he would by shooting putty balls at +the Sphinx. Even though the salesman's enthusiasm may find its +justification in the reviewer's opinions and the beginning of a brisk +sale for the book all over the country, still the reluctant bookseller +broods moodily over the past and refuses to be stung again. But let +the book have a large sale and then let the salesman start out with a +second book by this author: the bookseller, with few exceptions, will +go the limit on quantity. Unfortunately, it frequently happens that +the public--which is a discriminating public or not, as you chance to +look at it--does not seem possessed of the same blind confidence, and +the result is a monument of unsold copies. + +The trade, I think, is coming more and more to be guided by the advice +of such salesmen as have proved to be the possessors of judgment and +honesty. By judgment is meant not merely the opinion that one forms of +the literary value of a book, but that commercial estimate that a good +salesman is able to make. The literary adviser can state in terms of +literary criticism the reasons why the Ms. is worthy of publication; +but the traveller, if he happens to be more than a mere peddler, can, +after reading the Ms., take pencil and paper and figure out how many +copies he can place. Publishers are growing to appreciate this quality +in a salesman and are seeking his advice before accepting a Ms. Some +go further and ask his assistance in the make-up of a book; for a good +cover covers a multitude of sins. + +In former years it was considered the salesman's first duty to "load" +the customer; that is, sell him all he could, regardless of the merits +of the books. In those days a denial of the good old doctrine that the +imprint could do no wrong was rank heresy. Such salesmen are no longer +categorised with Caesar's wife, and the new salesmanship is having its +day. Its members are men of reading and intelligence, who have taken +the trouble to learn something about the wares they are selling, and +who have found that it pays to be honest. It doesn't seem to pay the +first year; but if the salesman's judgment of books is discriminating +and he hangs on, the booksellers soon realize that they can trust him. +As they know little of the new books he is offering, they are inclined +to be guided by his advice; should they find that this pays, they will +repose more confidence in him. A traveller who, in lieu of personal +imagination and the power of persuasion, was forced to depend upon +hard work and the common, or garden, kind of honesty for what success +he had on the road, was giving up his work to take an indoor position. +On his final trip he had a "first" book by a "first" author; it was an +unusual book and had in it possibilities of a really great sale. The +firm publishing the book was in the hands of an assignee. The outlook +was not propitious for a large sale: a new book by an unknown author +published by an assignee. But the salesman believed in the book, +believed in it with judgment and enthusiasm. "I found," he said, in +telling the story, "that the trade to a man believed in me. It +affected me deeply to feel that my years of straight dealing had not +been wasted. The booksellers backed me up, bought all the copies I +asked them to buy,--and I asked largely,--with the result that I sold +ten thousand copies in advance of publication. The firm has sold since +over two hundred thousand copies of that book and its creditors +received a hundred cents on the dollar." + +It would seem an axiom that a man selling books should have at least a +bowing acquaintance with their contents, yet I have heard salesmen +argue hotly in favor of the old-time salesman who sold books as he +would sell shoes or hats. Such a one was selling a novel to a Boston +bookseller. He had not taken the trouble to read the book, but had +been told by his firm that it was a good story. Flushed with the +vehemence of his own argument for a large order, he floundered about +among such vague statements as: "You can't go to sleep until you have +finished it! It's great! A corking story! Can't lay the book down! +Unable to turn out the light until you have read the last line!" + +"But what's it about?" quickly interrupted the customer, suspecting +that the traveller had not read the book. + +"It's about--it's about a dollar and a quarter," was the quick retort. + +Perhaps here we find the substitute for the reading that maketh a full +man. Repartee of this sort is disarming, and the quickness of wit that +prompts it is not one of the least useful attributes of salesmanship. +To carry the moral a step farther, it is only fair to say that the +nimble salesman has had the wit to get out of the publishing business +into another line of industry that, if reports are to be believed, has +made him independent. + +The commercial traveller who sells books has no fault to find with the +people with whom he deals. By the very nature of his calling the +bookseller is a man of reading and culture; now and then among them +you find a man of rare culture. So genuinely friendly are the +relations existing between seller and purchaser that a travelling man +has the feeling that he is making a pleasure trip among friends. Such +relations are no mean asset to the salesman, although they are not +wholly essential. For it is to the bookseller's interest at least to +examine the samples of every publisher's representative. It is not a +question of laying in the winter's supply of coal, or of being content +with one good old standby line of kitchen ranges. It is books that he +is dealing in; an article that knows no competition and that has a +brief career. Should my lady ask for Mark Twain's last book, it would +be a poor bookseller who answered, "We don't sell it, but we have a +large pile of Marie Corelli's latest." Or should the customer desire a +copy of Henry James's recent volume, what would it profit the +bookseller to inform her that he did not have it in stock, but he had +something just as good? + +It is because of the immense numbers of titles the bookseller must +carry that the salesman always finds him a willing listener. And in +the end, even though he does not buy heavily, he must order at least a +few each of the salable books. Such complacency on the part of the +bookseller might argue for direct dealing on the part of the publisher +by means of circulars and letters, thus saving the expense of a +traveller. But firms that have tried this have had a change of heart +and have quickly availed themselves of the traveller's services. + +He is useful in ways other than selling. If he is keen to advance his +firm's interests,--and most of the book travellers are,--he will +interest the bookseller's clerks in the principal books of his line. +He will send them a copy of an important book, knowing that the clerk, +should he become interested in the book, will personally sell many +copies. + +In the matter of credits, the travelling man is of considerable +service to his house. He is on the spot, can size up the bookseller's +trade, note if he is overstocked, particularly with unsalable books, +or "plugs," as they are called, obtain the gossip of the town, and in +many ways can form an estimate of the bookseller's financial condition +that is more trustworthy than any the credit man in the home office +can get. There were a dozen publishers' representatives who once sat +in solemn conclave discussing the financial responsibility of an +important customer. He was suspected of being beyond his depth, and +some of the travellers had been warned not to sell him. Several +personally inspected his business, obtained a report from him and his +bank, and threshed out the matter as solemnly and seriously as if they +were the interested publishers whom they represented. It was decided +to extend further credit to the bookseller; his orders were taken and +sent in with full explanations. How many orders were rejected by the +publishers I do not, of course, know. But the judgment of the +travellers, as events proved, was justified. + +The publisher is learning to regard his travelling man as more than a +salesman. He is asking him, now and then, to assist him in the +selection of a manuscript, to aid him in planning the letter-press, +and binding of a book. For by the very nature of his work the +traveller is the one man in the publisher's employ who has a +comprehensive grasp of the many branches of this alluring, but not +very profitable, business. + + + + +SELLING AT WHOLESALE + +By Joseph E. Bray. + + +In the process of manufacture a book passes through so many hands that +if the finished product is exactly in accordance with the plan that +existed in the mind of its designer, he is justified in looking upon +it with the satisfaction felt by an artist who has worked well. After +a book is issued, however, it is quite another and equally important a +matter to sell it, and this part of book publication requires as much +thought and perhaps more dogged persistence than the other. There are +some books, such as "Ben Hur" and "David Harum," for instance, that +make a market for themselves, and the demand for such successes, +though starting perhaps in a rather circumscribed locality, moves +onward and outward, gathering force all the time like an avalanche. +These are rare exceptions, however, and for most books a market must +be created. No matter how good the book, it is not enough to view the +finished product with satisfaction and expect that the public will buy +it in the proportion that it deserves. It has to be marketed like any +other article of commerce; and a book is only on the market properly +when you find its selling points known to the trade, and the volume +itself temptingly displayed on the counters in the bookstores +everywhere, ready to become the property of any one who may be +attracted by a reviewer's description, a clever advertisement, the +polite recommendation of a well-posted clerk, or any other of the many +reasons that induce people to buy books. This condition of course +obtains in all large cities on or soon after the day of publication of +a well-managed book--but urban publicity is not sufficient. The whole +country must be taken care of, and the several thousand booksellers +scattered over this great land must be placed in the same relative +position as their brethren in the large cities. How they are supplied +with the book, posted as to its merits, and enabled to take care of +whatever demands arise, is the wholesale, or "jobbing," side of book +selling. + +This class of booksellers relies mostly upon the wholesaler for +information and supplies. Everyone knows when Winston Churchill and +Mrs. Humphry Ward are writing books, and what they are about; but when +a dealer in a small town gets a call for "The Sands of Time," author +unknown, a book he has never heard of before, he usually transmits the +order just as he has received it to his jobber, who supplies him with +the book if it is on the market, or with the necessary information +regarding it if he is not able to supply it. The jobber's work, +broadly speaking, is twofold: To see that a book for which the demand +is certain to be large and immediate is in the hands of all his +customers promptly after publication, and to take care of all +inquiries that arise throughout the country for lesser-known books. +His establishment must be a very temple of learning, and he has to +know everything in the book world, from the plot of the latest "best +seller" to the relative importance of a work on the differential +calculus. + +Let us take his first duty. A book is to be published by a noted +author, and a large sale is confidently expected. It will be widely +advertised, and the press will feature it in the review columns. His +first move usually is to distribute descriptive notices among his +customers, telling them what he knows about it and inviting them to +send in their orders. His travellers are also notified and are advised +as to how the book is likely to be received by the people, and whether +it is accounted better or worse than the author's previous works. The +jobber has therefore to size up a book early in the game, without +perhaps having seen anything relating to it except the publisher's +advance notices. He has to be very careful not to "over-sell" the +book, and yet at the same time he must distribute it in sufficient +quantities, so that no sales may be lost through dealers not having +supplies. Orders generally begin to come in quickly, and sometimes the +advance sales of popular books are enormous. Then comes the question +of buying a first supply. The suave, persuasive agent of the publisher +waits upon the jobber and tells him what a wonderful work it is, that +the demand is without a doubt going to beat all records, and he had +"better hurry up and place a large order before the first edition is +exhausted," and all that kind of thing. The jobber takes into +consideration the facts he has been able to learn concerning the book, +and places an order accordingly. Then his own travellers are supplied +with dummies or advance copies, and the work of arousing an interest +in the book in all sections of the country proceeds actively. Not only +are all the towns canvassed thoroughly, but even the smaller villages +are visited or the modest orders solicited by mail, though the stocks +of the local booksellers may embrace only a few of the best sellers. + +It is generally arranged so that the stock of the book of the kind to +which we have alluded is delivered to the jobber on or before the day +of publication, and he in turn tries to place it in the hands of his +customers early, usually on or within a day or two of the date of +issue. From Maine to California, and from the northern boundary to the +Gulf, there is no town of importance, and no village where a bookstore +exists, that has not copies of, or information concerning, the book +within a short time of its coming from the press. After this is done, +patience is necessary and a period of comparative inactivity ensues. +The book is before the people, and it is necessary to wait for their +verdict. There are many ways of "puffing" a book. Clever advertising +will do much. Window displays and all the other arts resorted to by +bookseller and publisher sell copies; but unless the people take to +it, unless it appeals to them, unless they talk about it, and pass it +along, none of these ways will do more than give a book a very +temporary period of demand. The wisest publisher sometimes issues +books that never reach a second edition. They awaken no responsive +echo in the hearts of the people, the stamp of public approval is not +put upon them, and although hailed with a flourish of trumpets and a +blast of advertising, they die an early death, the author and the +publisher perhaps being the only people that regret their demise. + +In the case of a work that does meet with public approval, this +approval is soon shown, and it is not a hard matter to care for the +demand. The wholesaler aims to keep a stock on hand sufficiently large +to cover all calls upon him, and does what he can to push the good +thing along, through his salesmen and the circular literature which he +sends out from time to time. + +There are other classes of books, however, in which the wholesaler +must interest himself and which cannot be treated so easily; here +perhaps his service to the community and the publishing field are the +greatest. Only the select few among books are big sellers; the +majority do not sell largely, and only a very small percentage of the +many thousands of books put forth annually make a stir in the world. A +novel by an unknown author, a biography of an eminent man, a modest +work of travel or adventure, technical books and those that add to the +world's knowledge, cannot be given a wide distribution or an inviting +display on the shelves of the trade. The smaller bookseller cannot +afford to carry them. His profits are small and his investments in +books of this class have to be very carefully considered. His margin +of profit is too small for him to take more chances than he has to, +and consequently he relies largely upon his jobber, from whom he in +most cases picks up these books as he needs them. The wholesaler has +to be a bureau of information concerning this part of his business. +His mail brings him in all sorts of inquiries for books that have been +out of print for years. Somebody wants them, can they be obtained by +advertising for them or otherwise? The jobber must know this and give +the information to his customer promptly. Books not yet published. +When will they be issued? What will be the cost? An approximate price +must be given. What are the best books on certain subjects, and how do +they compare with other works in the same field? Hundreds of inquiries +similar to these are constantly received. Sometimes titles are garbled +and twisted all out of shape, taken down perhaps by the rural +bookseller phonetically and confidently forwarded to the wholesaler, +who will certainly know. The right book is usually sent, and not often +is the jobber found to be at fault. Curiously enough, the majority of +people are very careless in regard to titles of books, and many +conundrums of this kind are daily solved by the trade. + +Peculiar in many ways is the book trade, and the ordinary laws of +commercialism do not always apply to the book business. The book +market is fickle to the utmost degree. The books that should sell +sometimes do not "move" at all, and those that apparently have but +little to recommend them turn out to be the best of the bunch so far +as sales are concerned. A jobber has to be something of an optimist; +he must keep his ear to the ground, and, like certain types of +politicians, must be prepared to give the people what they want when +they want it. He can of course help along the demand for good books +and check that for poor literature, and, to his credit, he usually +does this, but the book-buying public is truly democratic and in the +main people are pretty definite in their wants. Oftentimes they can be +led, but it is rarely that they will consent to be driven. + +Another important part of the jobber's business is the supplying of +public libraries and similar institutions. Here his knowledge of books +and the resources of his establishment are put to the severest test. +Libraries use a vast quantity of books, and the demand from this +source is extremely varied in character. Librarians are also very +shrewd and careful buyers, and much work in the way of pricing of +lists, answering inquiries, etc., is demanded. Margins of profit here +are very small, but there is practically no loss in the matter of +accounts, and a librarian is very satisfactory to deal with, as he +usually knows what he wants. The popular novel has been pushed so much +to the front of late years and advertised on such a colossal scale, +that one not versed in the reading demands of the people might very +well think America was reading nothing else. In the orders sent in by +public libraries, however, "solid reading" is very largely +represented, and, as a matter of fact, that class of literature is +making just as great an increase in public demand as the lighter kind. + +The wholesaler therefore is a useful member of the book world and an +important factor in the distribution of books. He must combine the +acumen of the business man with a taste for literature for +literature's sake, have an enormous capacity for detail but be capable +of grasping an opportunity, possess the wisdom of Solomon, the +patience of Job, and the tact of a diplomat. He must be, in short, a +business man, a scholar, and a philosopher; and even with all these +accomplishments he is not likely to endanger the peace of the +community by accumulating an enormous fortune. + + + + +SELLING AT RETAIL + +By Warren Snyder. + + +It is with the finished product of author and publisher that the +bookseller has chiefly to do. In the building of a book he does not +come into contact with author, artist, compositor, printer, or +publisher. If he be in a position to place large orders, his opinion +is occasionally sought as to the advisability of bringing out a new +edition of some book or books for which there seems to be a demand. A +book may have reached an unusually large sale in an ordinary edition; +he is asked if he thinks a finer and more expensive edition would be +warrantable. He is, however, chary in most cases about expressing an +opinion; and he never allows himself to become enthusiastic over any +book in the presence of a publisher or a publisher's representative. +For he feels that if he should display any eagerness, he would, in a +measure, commit himself to placing a large order for that particular +book. + +With books being brought out at the rate they have been for the last +five years, the bookseller finds himself with little time or +inclination either to read or to think about the things to come. He +has enough to occupy his attention in his efforts to display and sell +the books he already has on hand. Witness the pyramids of volumes +towering ceilingward--many of them books that have been there for +several moons at least; and which are likely to remain there until +many more moons have waxed and waned. + +I often wonder if the bookseller of fifty years ago ever dreamed of +what his successor would have to contend with in the way of new +publications. I recall a conversation I had two or three years ago +with a man more than seventy years of age. He had started out in his +business life as a clerk in a bookstore and he said to me, "There are +no booksellers to-day like there were when I was in the book business. +Then," he continued, "a bookseller was thoroughly posted as to the +contents of the books he had for sale; while now they know but little +more about a book than its title." I asked him if he ever stopped to +compare the conditions under which the bookseller of past days worked +with those under which the bookseller of to-day had to labor. I have +read that in 1855 there were but five hundred new books issued in the +United States. In 1905--fifty years later--there were seventy-five +hundred new books launched on the market. This did not include some +six hundred reprints. + +When there was an average of less than ten new books published in a +week, it was an easy task for an intelligent salesperson to get a +fair knowledge of the contents of every one. But when books are ground +out at the rate of one hundred and fifty a week,--twenty-five a +day,--the task becomes an impossible one. Yet I have frequently been +asked by seemingly intelligent persons if I did not read a book before +purchasing it. And when I have attempted to explain that it would be +impossible for me to read all the books issued, they have not +hesitated to convey, by word or gesture, their opinion of this +obviously reckless way of doing business. Not long ago a man came to +my office inquiring for the manager. When he was directed to me he +said: "I bought a book here a few days ago, and it is imperfect. There +are a number of pages missing, while some pages are repeated." Then, +with a sneer, "I am surprised that a firm like this should sell +imperfect books." I assured him that we had no intention of selling an +imperfect book; it was an accident that sometimes happened. The wonder +to me was that it did not happen oftener. I was sorry if he had been +put to any inconvenience; we would cheerfully give him another copy. +We could return the imperfect copy to the publishers who would make it +right with us. + +"But don't you examine the books you buy to see if the pages are all +there?" + +I told him how impossible that would be. Why, we often added as many +as fifty thousand volumes to our stock in a single week. He left me, +I am sure, convinced that we were careless in our mode of doing +business. + +Once I was called from my office to meet a lady who also had a +grievance. She accosted me with the air of one who had been basely +swindled. "I bought a book here yesterday," she said, "one you +advertised as cheap. I wish to return it and get my money back. My +husband says it is no wonder that you can sell books so cheap; this +one is not half finished. Look at the rough edges; the leaves are not +even cut." + +Of course I had the price of the book returned to her at once. Then I +proceeded to show her some of the expensive and finely bound volumes +with rough edges. I explained how the value of many of these books +would be lessened if the leaves were trimmed. I tried to give her the +point of view of the book collector. She was incredulous. I think, +however, that she went away a wiser, if not a happier woman; and she +has probably blushed many times since when recalling the incident. + +The buyer of books for a large store does not go out to look for new +publications. He remains in his office, and the publisher sends a +representative to see him in regard to each new book issued. In New +York City he is called upon on an average of once a week by some one +from each publishing house. At certain seasons of the year these +"commercial travellers," as they prefer to be titled, seem to drift +in ten or a dozen at a time. They will often be found waiting in line +outside the buyer's office, each taking his turn. Each will have from +two to ten new books, all to be ready within the next two weeks. + +I have said that the bookseller of to-day has but little time to read +about the volumes that are forthcoming. Therefore, most of the new +books are first brought to his attention by the salesmen who come to +solicit orders. Every book must be given some consideration; and in +most cases some quantity of it must be ordered. It may be five copies +or it may be five thousand. To the inexperienced it is difficult to +explain the precise considerations that govern the amount of the +order. Here is where the strain comes on the buyer; for the +responsibility lies with him. Yet he must decide without having read a +single page; and he must decide quickly--in a few minutes. Many times +he places an order without having seen the completed book at all. Some +pages of the text, a half-dozen illustrations, and the outside cover +are perhaps presented to him. Even the fact that the publisher has had +the manuscript read by three or four experts before deciding to +publish, does not always help him. There are many miscalculations on +the part of both buyer and publisher. + +But, you insist, how does a buyer form a judgment of the number of +copies to buy if he does not read the book? There are many things to +guide him. There is the popularity of the author to be considered; +the subject of the book; the mechanical features; the price; and the +publisher's name and standing. If it is an author's first book the +risk is great. If both the author and publisher are new the risk is +still greater. For the amount of advertising that such a publisher is +likely to do is an unknown quantity. The buyer can estimate pretty +closely on the advertising probabilities of well-established firms; he +knows what they are accustomed to do in that line. + +In the reminiscences of a bookseller who began business more than +seventy years ago, there is a letter from his mother written in 1844, +from which the following is an excerpt:-- + +"I will ask you once more to consider my plea regarding the policy and +character of some portion of your business. The selecting of books for +a reading community is a peculiar responsibility; and if the matter +therein contained be good in its wholesale and retail consequences it +will rise up for you, if bad, against you, even here in this partly +Christianized America." + +But the bookman no longer has the opportunity of selecting for a +community. The conditions are changed. In these days of extended +advertising in newspapers and magazines, the reading public learns all +about the new books before going near a bookstore. The demand is +created outside the shop; the dealer must be prepared to supply it. + +Customers tell him not only what to keep on sale, but what not to keep +on sale. The writer of the present article has been admonished not to +have in stock the writings of many of the great authors--Darwin, +Huxley, Tyndall, Herbert Spencer, Miss Braddon, George Eliot, Mrs. +Humphry Ward, Balzac, Byron, and many others. A letter received about +fifteen years ago read something like this:-- + +"I was much surprised yesterday, while passing through your bookstore, +to find a number of immoral books there for sale. I copied down the +names of a few of them--'An Earnest Trifler' and 'A Desperate +Chance.'" + +There were four others the titles of which I do not recall; but the +two mentioned made an impression on my mind, because I had read the +first one only a short time before; and knew it to be a perfectly pure +story. The second one happened to have been written by an acquaintance +of mine, J. D. Jerrold Kelly, now a commander in the United States +Navy. If he ever reads this article he will probably be informed for +the first time that he is accused of having written an immoral story. +The funny part of the incident was that the letter in question closed +with the following: "I will admit that I have not read any of these +books. I would not soil my mind by reading them; but I think the +titles are quite sufficient to lead many a weak-minded person astray." +I leave the reader to draw his own conclusions. + +I said that the bookseller does not necessarily come into contact with +author or publisher in the building of a book. He is, however, +frequently called upon by authors of the class that might be termed +unsuccessful. These want his help. One came to me with a proposition +that I take five thousand copies of a book he had written. "It's a +wonderful book," he said. "Nothing like it has been written; and it's +bound to make a great stir. It will revolutionize society completely. +All it needs is for you to 'push' the sale." When I asked to see the +book, he said it was not published yet. "I am looking for a publisher; +and will let you see a copy as soon as it is ready. But," he added, +"if you would give me your order now it would be a great help in +securing a publisher." It is scarcely necessary for me to add that I +did not feel called upon to help him to the extent of ordering five +thousand copies of the book without seeing it, even if society had to +remain unrevolutionized for a while longer. I never saw the author +again; nor have I heard of the book. Now many books must have been +written for which no publisher could be found! The pity is that so +many have found publishers--a statement with which I feel sure +publishers and booksellers alike will agree. + +A year or two ago I was asked by a friend to give some advice to a +lady who had written a book. She did not take my advice, however, when +I gave it--I hardly expected that she would. In fact, she went +directly contrary to it, and practically published the book herself. +Later she came to me with the proposition that I take her book and +"push" it as the Century Dictionary and Encyclopedia was being pushed; +she was sure it would have a large sale, if only I would advertise it +in the same way that these other books were being advertised--full +pages in the daily papers. The retail price of her book was, I +believe, one dollar. These are but two instances; I could mention many +more equally ridiculous. How that word "push" does grate on my ears! +It will put me in a bad humor about as quickly as anything I can +recall. + +My first experience in the book business was on Nassau Street, then +one of the great book streets of New York City, if not the greatest. +One morning shortly after the store opened an elderly couple from the +country came in--the man evidently interested in books; but the woman +not at all. While he was looking over the counters she remained well +in the centre of the main aisle, a short distance behind him. +Presently he came to a counter on which there was a placard: "Books +fifty cents each." By some mistake an expensive volume had been laid +with these second-hand books. The man picked it up and began leafing +it over. Then turning to the woman he said, "That's cheap at fifty +cents." "What's it good for?" was her query. "I wouldn't spend fifty +cents for it." Then I heard him say, "That's worth more than fifty +cents. If that's the price I'll buy it." "Young man, what's the price +of this book?" This last to me. I told him, "Nine dollars." The look +he gave the woman was not unkindly, but it spoke volumes. He knew a +thing or two about books; he was thoroughly conscious of his +superiority over her, when it came to their value. + +During the last thirty years a magnificent work has been done in +suppressing and destroying the filthy literature that was almost +openly sold in the streets of many of our largest cities. Too much +credit cannot be given the society that took the matter in hand. I +believe that nearly every dealer to-day aims to keep his stock free +from demoralizing books; but in the nature of things the line of +demarcation cannot be drawn with entire satisfaction to all. About +twenty years ago an itinerant dealer was arrested in a New Jersey town +for selling a certain book. I was present at the trial, which was +somewhat farcical. The defendant had gathered together a large number +of catalogues to show that the book had been sold by the most +reputable dealers in the country; and that it was included in the +catalogues of most of the public libraries. But the judge would not +allow this as evidence. He took the stand that the whole question +rested upon the book itself. It did not matter what the rest of the +world thought of the book; they were there to judge whether or not it +was immoral. (The penalty for selling an immoral book in New Jersey +was, I think, at least one year's imprisonment.) The jury was composed +of twelve yokels, eleven of them had never heard of the book, the +twelfth said he had read it about twenty years earlier. As the whole +thing hinged on the opinion of the jury as to its character, copies +were supplied by the defendant, and the jury was sent into another +room to read the book. After an hour or so they returned. All agreed +that the story was not immoral, and the case was dismissed. + +It would be a pleasure for me to write of the many distinguished +persons with whom I have become acquainted during my career as a +bookseller and buyer. But were I once to begin on the subject I fear +my readers would believe me lacking in "terminal facilities." I should +regret, however, to have to close this article without mention of the +many delightful friendships I have formed with authors, customers, and +publishers. And I may add, with the men who sell to me--whom, almost +to a man, I have found thoroughly conscientious. These are pleasant +features that go a long way toward compensating one for being in a +business, the profits of which, at the best, are small as compared +with those of other lines of trade. + + + + +SELLING BY SUBSCRIPTION + +By Charles S. Olcott. + + +The business of selling books may be divided, in a general way, into +two divisions, one seeking to bring the people to the books, the other +aiming to take the books to the people. The first operates through the +retail book stores, news-stands, department stores, and the like. The +other employs agents, or advertises in the newspapers or magazines, to +secure orders or "subscriptions," on receipt of which the books are +delivered. The latter method of selling has become known as the +"Subscription-book" business. + +The agent usually calls at the office or home of his prospective +customer and shows samples of the text pages, illustrations, bindings, +etc., bound together in a form known as a "prospectus." Sometimes he +exhibits a number of different prospectuses. The customer signs an +order blank, which the agent turns over to the publisher, who makes +the delivery and collects the money. To cover the entire country, the +large publisher establishes branch offices in many different cities or +sells his books to so-called "general agents," who secure their own +canvassers. + +It may be asked, why does such a method exist? Do not people know +enough to go to the book stores and ask for what they want? And why go +to a man and urge him to buy a book he does not want? The answer goes +deep into human nature. People have to be urged to take very many +things which they know they ought to have. The small boy knows he +ought to go to school, but has to be coaxed. Parents know he ought to +go, but compulsory education laws have been found necessary in many +states. The churches are good, but people sometimes need urging even +to go there. Life insurance, honestly conducted, is one of the +greatest blessings a man can buy with money, but the principal +expenditures of the great companies are the vast sums spent in +pleading with the people to take advantage of it. + +Experience has proved this to be true of books. Men and women must be +employed to show the people their value. The latest novel, if popular +and well advertised, will sell fairly well in the retail store, but an +encyclopaedia, or any extensive set of books, must be taken directly to +the people and explained by competent salesmen if the publishers hope +to pay the cost of the plates within a lifetime. This is strikingly +illustrated in the case of the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." The sales in +England of the original ninth edition were less than ten thousand +sets. In America, where subscription methods were adopted from the +first, and in England, after some enterprising American +subscription-book men took it in hand, the sales may be fairly +estimated at something like one hundred and fifty thousand sets. + +Twenty or thirty years ago, by far the most common form of +subscription book was the variety labelled "Manual of Business," or +the "Complete Farm Cyclopedia," or the "Road to Heaven." The publisher +did not advertise for customers but for agents. The books were sold +directly to the agent, and he in turn delivered them to his customers +and collected the money. Anybody out of employment could take up the +business. The aim was to get as many agents as possible and sell them +the books. The agent canvassed with a "prospectus" after committing to +memory his little story. The subscribers signed their names in the +back of the prospectus. Sometimes the young and inexperienced agent +ordered as many copies as he had signatures or more. Woe unto him if +he did, for oftentimes they would not "deliver." Many years ago I +remember calling at a modest little home in the Middle West. While +waiting in the parlor, I noticed how peculiarly it was furnished. +Every corner of the little square room contained a monument of +symmetrical design, all different, but each some three or four feet +high, and all built of books, as a child might build a fairy castle +out of his wooden blocks. A closer inspection showed that all the +volumes were copies of the same book bound in "half morocco"! The +explanation came later when I was incidentally informed that "Willie +had tried canvassing, but most of 'em backed out." + +This reminds one of the remark of Thoreau when, four years after the +publication of his first book (at the author's expense), the publisher +compelled him to remove 706 unsold copies out of the edition of 1000, +and he had them all carted to his home. "I now have," he said, "a +library of nearly 900 volumes, over 700 of which I wrote myself." It +is an interesting fact in this connection that the successors of that +publisher are to-day, fifty years later, successfully selling by +subscription an edition of Thoreau's writings in 20 volumes, the set +in the cheapest style of binding costing $100. + +Among the famous books sold by this method have been Blaine's "Twenty +Years in Congress," Stanley's "In Darkest Africa," and Grant's +"Memoirs." The handsome fortune which the publishers of the latter +were enabled to pay to Mrs. Grant was made possible only by the +application of the subscription method of reaching the people. + +Another form of subscription book, now fortunately obsolete, was the +book in "parts." A "part" consisted of some twenty-four or forty-eight +pages, or more, in paper covers. These were delivered and paid for by +the buyer in instalments of one or two at a time until the entire +work was complete. Then the binding order was solicited. It was an +expensive and unsatisfactory makeshift, intended to reach those who +could pay only a dollar or two a month. The theory was that the people +could not be trusted, and therefore the book must be cut up and +delivered in pieces. Later the publishers learned that "most people +are honest," and the modern method is to deliver the complete +publication and collect the price in monthly instalments. This plan +has proved far more economical both to subscribers and publishers, and +the losses are few if the management is careful and conservative. One +house which carefully scrutinizes its orders has suffered losses of +less than one per cent on a business of several millions of dollars +covering a period of fifteen years. + +In late years by far the greatest part of the subscription-book +business has been done with complete sets of books, usually the +writings of the leading standard authors. These books are sold +directly to the subscriber who gives a signed order, and the publisher +makes the delivery, pays the agent a cash commission, and collects the +payments as they fall due. The old, worthless, "made-up" books are +rapidly disappearing, and the subscription-book of to-day is as a rule +a vastly superior article to that of a score of years ago. In fact +some of the oldest and most reliable publishing houses in America now +offer their choicest output by subscription. A large investment of +capital in plates, illustrations, editorial work, etc., such as is +necessary in many of the extensive editions of standard works, could +not be made unless there, were an assured return. The subscription +method of selling makes such undertakings possible, and the result of +its adoption has been the issue of many superb publications which +never would or could have been undertaken, had the retail book store +been the only outlet to the market. The subscription business has in +this way proved a marked benefit to the lovers of fine editions of +their favorite authors. The book-lover has been benefited, too, in the +matter of prices. The agent's commission under the modern methods is +no greater than the bookseller's profit, and no extraordinary +allowance is made for losses, as many imagine, for the losses are +comparatively small. The desire to extend his business leads the +publisher to make his books more attractive, while there is plenty of +competition to keep the prices down. It is a fact that the buyer is +to-day getting a far better book for his money than ever before. + +The personnel of the canvassing force has also undergone a change. A +business such as the best houses are now doing requires agents of +intelligence, tact, and judgment. The callow youth cannot succeed as +he did once. The man who has failed at everything else will fail here. +There are now men and women engaged in selling books by subscription, +who possess business ability of a high order. Many of them have +well-established lines of trade,--regular customers who depend upon +them to supply their wants and keep them informed. The old jibes about +the book-agent fall flat when applied to them. They do not bore their +customers or tire them out. They serve them, and the customers are +glad to be served by them. + +I have taken care to point out that these observations apply to the +business as conducted by the older and more conservative book +publishers, who value their reputation. In a consideration of the +subject a sharp distinction should be drawn between such publishers +and a class of irresponsible schemers who by various ingenious devices +seek to gain the public ear and then proceed to impose upon their +victims to the full extent of their credulity. In recent years many +schemes have been devised,--a few honest, some about half honest, and +the rest miserable "fakes." + +One of the earliest and most successful "schemes," not dishonest but +certainly ingenious, was that of a publisher who had a large stock of +unmarketable books whose retail price was $6 a volume. He organized an +association and sold memberships at $10, the membership entitling the +subscriber to one of the $6 books and the privilege of buying +miscellaneous books at a discount. The discounts really were no +greater than could have been obtained in any department store, but the +"association" thought it had a great concession and multiplied so +rapidly that the unmarketable book had to be reprinted again and +again. + +The next "scheme" to come into prominence was the so-called "raised +contract." The process was simple. The order blank read, for example, +$5 a volume, but the publisher wanted "a few influential citizens like +yourself" to write testimonials, and had a few copies for sale to such +people--only a very few--at $3, merely the cost of the paper and +binding. By paying cash you could get another reduction, and as a +special favor from the agent still another, and so on, until you found +the price whittled down to the ridiculously low sum of $2.65. When the +customer woke up and found that all his neighbors were also +"influential citizens" who had bought at the same price or possibly +less, and that the book would be dear at $2, he mentally resolved to +"buy no more from that house." The figures are given merely to +illustrate the idea and are not quoted from any particular +proposition. It is unfortunately true, however, that the plan here +illustrated is now in daily use by many concerns, although there are +indications that it is gradually dying as the result of overwork! + +Another scheme is to advertise a "a few slightly damaged" copies of a +book for sale at barely the cost of the sheets--to save rebinding. A +publisher once confided to me that he was doing a "land-office +business" selling "slightly damaged stock." "How do you damage the +stock," I asked,--"throw the books across the room?" "No," he replied, +laughing, "we haven't time to do that." + +Some of the schemes are so ludicrous as to cause one to wonder how +anybody can be made to believe the story. Such was the one which +soberly informed the prospective customer that he had been selected by +a committee of Congress as one of a few representative citizens to +whom the United States government would be willing to sell some of its +precious documents. He was not asked to subscribe, but merely to "let +us know" if he didn't want it, for "another gentleman" was quite +anxious to secure his copy, etc. Of course the fortunate +representative citizen made haste to secure the copy which Congress +intended him to have. I am told that the originator of this scheme +made a fortune out of it. + +All these schemes, from the laughably absurd to the contemptibly mean, +should be regarded merely as an excrescence upon the legitimate +subscription-book business. They are like the "get-rich-quick" and +"wildcat" banking schemes which flourish in prosperous times, but have +nothing whatever in common with legitimate financial affairs. It is +unfortunate for the book trade that these schemers selected books as +the particular kind of merchandise upon which to exercise their +ingenuity. They admit that their agents are expected not to canvass +the merits of the book, but to "sell their story." They might have +done the same thing had they chosen jewelry, bric-a-brac, rugs, +paintings, stocks, bonds, or anything else as the subject for their +exploitation. The reliable publishers are hoping that at no distant +date the schemers will take up some of these other lines, although +they bear no grudge against the latter. + +If any prejudice exists in the public mind against subscription books, +it is caused by the illegitimate use of books as a means of "fooling" +if not of swindling the people. There are many honorable men and many +houses of the highest class who are engaged in the subscription-book +business. These should no more be classed with such schemers as I have +described than Tiffany's with the diamond merchants who ornament the +fronts of their stores with the three balls. The leading legal lights +of the world and the gentry who frequent the police courts are all +called lawyers; the eminent surgeon who performs marvellous operations +involving incredible knowledge and skill and the half-breed who used +to pull teeth in front of the circus, the brass band drowning the +shrieks of his victims, are both called doctors. The eminent divine +and his ignorant colored brother may both be preachers. Intelligent +people know how to discriminate between these, and do not condemn the +one for the faults of the others. And so the intelligent and honorable +book agent who represents a thoroughly reliable publishing house +deserves to be differentiated from the fellow who comes with a lie on +his tongue, for which an unscrupulous schemer is directly responsible. + +The subscription-book business, in the hands of honorable men, has +performed a great service to the whole country, by putting good books +into thousands and hundreds of thousands of homes, where, but for +them, there would be little to read beyond the newspaper or the +magazine. The best publishers have found it the most practicable +method of distribution for their more extensive productions, and +thousands of thoughtful men are glad of the opportunity to receive the +representatives of such houses and to have the best of the new +publications promptly brought to their attention. + + + + +SELLING AT AUCTION + +By John Anderson, Jr. + + +While the auctioneer is admitted to be an important factor in the +handling of a book once it has become a finished product, his +relations to it are not clearly understood, even by many of those who +avail themselves of his services as a medium of sale or purchase. An +endeavor shall therefore be made to present here, in the simplest +possible way, some facts which may prove both pertinent and +enlightening. + +It is to be presumed that the auctioneering of books began at the time +when it first became apparent to the owners of libraries that a +necessity existed for the establishment of a system by which they +could reach the largest number of buyers, and bring about the quickest +sales and returns, for these are, admittedly, the distinguishing +features of the auction method, as opposed to all others.[4] Selling +to the highest bidder proved the happy solution of the problem, and to +this day it has been universally recognized as the most satisfactory +method of dispersion. To quote a book as having sold for so much at +auction gives it in the minds of all true bookmen the best possible +criterion of value. The prices obtained, though variable, represent a +consensus of opinion, and may be considered as standards. + + [Footnote 4: "But it was soon perceived, that when + necessity or inclination determined the disposal of + libraries, the auction method was on the whole by + far the best, producing as it did, and still does, + competition amongst a larger circle of intending + purchasers, with a better result than would have + been obtained by selling _en bloc_."--JOHN LAWLER, + in "Book Auctions in England in the Seventeenth + Century."] + +So far as can be traced, the earliest known book auctions took place +in Holland. The library of Marnix of St. Aldegonde was sold by +Christopher Poret at Leyden, July 6, 1599, this being the earliest +recorded sale. The first English book sale is supposed to have been +that held on October 31, 1676, when the library of the then lately +deceased Rev. Lazarus Seaman was sold at his residence in Warwick +Court, Warwick Lane, London, by William Cooper. The earliest known +sale in America occurred at the Crown Coffee House in Boston, on July +2, 1717, and succeeding days, when was dispersed the library of the +famous early New England divine, Rev. Ebenezer Pemberton. Philadelphia +held book auction sales many years in advance of New York, the +earliest known being that of the library of Charles Read, in 1737. The +date of the first sale in New York is unknown, as is the name of the +auctioneer, but an advertisement of McLaughlin & Blakely, of 41 Maiden +Lane, in a paper of May 4, 1825, reads as follows, "From the long +acquaintance of Mr. McLaughlin with the book auction business, he +trusts that the firm will receive a consequent share of public +patronage." It is known that McLaughlin & Co. held unimportant book +sales at 78 Maiden Lane in 1824, and late though this date is, it will +have to stand as representing the earliest book auction sale in New +York until newly discovered evidence reveals an earlier recorded +one.[5] + + [Footnote 5: "Seventy Years of Book Auctions in New + York," Robert F. Roden.] + +It rarely happens that a really great collection of books is sold +otherwise than at auction. The collector recognizes that the taste and +judgment displayed by him in the acquirement of his library will, by +the medium of the auctioneer's carefully prepared catalogue, be made +evident to all succeeding generations of book lovers. How many would +to-day know the names of George Brinley, John Allan, and William +Menzies, were it not for the sale catalogues of their collections? +They attained book-fame without having sought it. + +In this connection, an extract may be quoted from the will of Edmond +de Goncourt, the distinguished French writer and collector:-- + + "My wish is that my Drawings, my Prints, my Curiosities, my + Books--in a word, these things of Art which have been the + joy of my life--shall not be consigned to the cold tomb of a + Museum, and subjected to the stupid glance of the careless + passer-by; but I require that they shall all be dispersed + under the hammer of the auctioneer, so that the pleasure + which the acquiring of each one of them has given me shall + be given again, in each case, to some inheritor of my own + tastes." + +A list of those whose libraries have been dispersed at public auction +would contain an astonishing proportion of names great in the world's +history. Even in cases where the collections were not directly +dispersed by the auction method, it will be found that the bulk of the +more important works contained therein had, at some previous period, +passed through the auctioneer's hands. + +To unthinking minds, there exist certain prejudices against the +auction method, doubtless due to a want of discrimination between the +many who faithfully pursue their calling, and the few who by +questionable dealings have dishonored and discredited themselves +rather than their craft. Benjamin Franklin is only one among many of +the American book auctioneers whose names were synonymous with +integrity during the long period--nearly two hundred years--in which +their services were employed in the dispersal of libraries. The long +and honorable careers of certain of the English book auction +houses--notably that of Messrs. Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, founded in +1744--shows conclusively that the business itself has been accepted by +the public, as forming an essential part in disseminating the world's +literature. + +The auctioneer is in a position to extend many exceptional advantages +to his customers. + +The quantity and variety of the books offered is far greater than is +possible to be found in the stock of any dealer, being subject to +constant additions and changes. The average quality is high where the +auctioneer makes the sales of private collections a specialty, and +much inferior where dependence is placed upon the sale of material +received from the booksellers which they have been unable to sell +after repeated efforts. Naturally, the better items are reserved for +their own shelves. Among the leaders in the book auction trade, it +will be found that a very large proportion of the material offered by +them comes from authentic private sources, though, in many cases, +there is a disinclination on the part of the owner to allow the use of +his or her name in connection with the sale. + +The prices obtained for books at sales held by regular book +auctioneers (no pretence of recognition need be accorded furniture and +bric-a-brac auctioneers, who occasionally secure consignments of books +from parties unaware of the existence of an establishment devoted +exclusively to their sale) are necessarily variable, being governed, +as is everything else, by the law of demand and supply. A particularly +choice item will command about the same price whenever offered,--generally +an increasing one,--but the ordinary book can often be obtained at +bargain figures. This element of uncertainty goes far toward making +the auction sale so attractive to collectors with slender purses, as +also to those who may be designated "moral book-gamblers," always +ready to take a chance where the outcome is problematical. Many fine +collections have been gathered by well-informed private buyers, who +made a point of attending auction sales, and purchasing desirable +items, when for some reason the prices were lower than usual. Some of +these collections have since been sold at auction, and the owners have +netted a handsome profit on their investments. + +Many book buyers entertain erroneous ideas regarding the condition of +the volumes sold at leading auction houses, confounding them with +those sold at storage warehouses, furniture auction rooms, etc. The +fact is, a very large proportion of the books, even of the older +species, are in fine, clean condition, many being in choice bindings, +and equal to the most fastidious requirement. + +An indication of the important relation of the book auctioneer to the +market, as a source of supply, may be judged from the issue of a +bulletin by the American Library Association during the past year, +calling attention of the three thousand or more public libraries of +the country to the advantages of purchasing at auction sales, +recommending certain named houses, and outlining the mode of procedure +in sending bids. It took years of hard and discouraging labor to bring +about conditions that would warrant this recognition. + +The great majority of buyers at book auctions reside in localities +widely removed from the cities where the sales are held, and it is, of +course, necessary that these customers should be given equal +advantages with the home buyers in effecting purchases at sales. The +printed catalogue is made the medium of this accomplishment. The books +are described in detail, mention being made of the author's name, the +title, size, binding, place, and date of publication, and condition +(if either above or below the average). If the edition is special, or +it is a large paper copy, this is duly set forth in the description. +All imperfections are carefully noted. The aim of the auctioneer is to +bring the book or set of books so clearly before the mind of the +prospective buyer as to gain his confidence. An express stipulation is +made in the conditions of sale that any book found to be otherwise +than as described may be returned, but as the auctioneer desires to +avoid this contingency, he is generally careful in his descriptions, +and they may, as a rule, be depended upon. + +A printed slip is enclosed in each catalogue on which the intending +purchaser notes the numbers of the lots he desires and the limit of +price to which he is prepared to go. It is then forwarded by mail to +the auction house, where the slips are tabulated by a clerk, the names +and amounts being placed against each item in a specially prepared +catalogue. Incidentally, it may be stated that all bids are +considered as strictly confidential. + +At the time of sale, the principal of the establishment, or one of his +chief assistants, takes his place in the audience on an even footing +with all other buyers, and uses the bids, as enrolled, in competition +with such as may be offered by other attendants at the sale. + +Where two or more bids have been received on any item, the competition +is first narrowed by the elimination of all except the two highest +ones, and then the start is made at a figure just beyond the second +highest. The battle between the auctioneer, acting as the +representative of the out-of-town bidder, and some ardent book lover +personally attending the sale, for the possession of a particularly +coveted work, often provokes genuine enthusiasm. It is finally knocked +down to the highest bidder at the point where competition ceases, and +this is often much below the limit named by the buyer. The wise +purchaser at auction, when assured of the honorable standing of the +house with which he deals, will not hesitate in sending liberal bids, +for by so doing he will gain much and lose little. + +The methods of conducting sales and handling bids differ somewhat in +the various cities, but that, as above outlined, is adopted by the +leading houses. In some concerns, the auctioneer himself executes the +commissions from the rostrum, but when this is done, even though he +may be a man of the strictest integrity, the method is open to +criticism, it being well understood that the reputation of an +auctioneer is largely dependent on the high prices he obtains. + +There is a material difference between the English and American +methods of cataloguing books for sale at auction. In England the +charges are inclusive, the cost of printing, postage, etc., being +assumed by the auctioneer, so that he finds it to his interest to +compress catalogue descriptions into the narrowest possible compass, +to minimize the distribution of the catalogue, and to spend as small +an amount of money in advertising as possible. In America, the charges +are exclusive, the commission representing the auctioneer's only +interest, and the incidental expenses of printing, etc., are paid by +the consignor. Because of this, a more liberal policy is pursued as to +expenditures. Many good titles that are bunched in lots in the London +sales are here separately catalogued, mention is made of all defects, +and, on the average, more careful attention is paid to the details of +the descriptions. Catalogues are given a wider circulation in America, +and more dependence is placed on the receipt of bids from out-of-town +buyers. New methods and channels of advertising are being constantly +considered and utilized. It is believed that these elements, combined, +conduce to the benefit of the consignor, when the material offered +possesses real interest and value. + +The auctioneer who conducts a modern high-class establishment, where a +guaranty of intelligent service is given, can employ only the best +available talent for cataloguing purposes, either men of proved +ability and special knowledge, or those that show a decided aptitude +for the work and give promise of attainment. + +Most book auction houses in this country are obliged to call in the +services of an interpreter when a book in other than the English or +French language is to be catalogued, but in Europe the force employed +is, as a rule, equal to all emergencies. To illustrate the variety of +demand made upon the modern auctioneer, in this line, it may be stated +that the establishment with which the writer is connected, can +catalogue items in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, +Portuguese, Latin, Greek, Dutch, Swedish, and Danish; in fact, nearly +all of the European, and some of the Oriental Languages, without +calling upon outside help. + +A book auctioneer would find it as impossible to properly handle books +without the use of a suitable reference library, as for a carpenter to +work without tools. In a live, up-to-date auction house, every +bibliographical work of real value not already possessed is secured +when found in the open markets, and consulted frequently. These +collections often represent an expenditure of thousands of dollars. +Some single works call for the outlay of hundreds, but they are +essential for the use of the expert cataloguer. + +The labor involved in handling books in connection with their sale at +auction is very heavy. Supposing that a library of, say, five thousand +volumes is offered for sale. It is packed by the owner, or under his +directions, and is forwarded to the auctioneer. The boxes are opened +and the contents placed in a special compartment. They are then +catalogued, each item being separately handled. Another clerk then +arranges them for exhibition on the shelves, where they remain until +the time of sale. During the sale, they are again exhibited, and +handled, and after it are laid aside in groups, according to their +newly acquired ownership. When shipment is made the following day, or +later, another handling is required. No scheme can be devised that +will admit of less than four handlings of the entire lot. When we +consider that in some establishments nearly a million separate items +are received and sold each season, some idea may be formed of the +labor involved. + +The auctioneer has been obliged to either adapt his business to modern +conditions, even though it entails heavy expense and added burdens, or +take a rear place in the procession. Business cannot be transacted now +as it was even five years ago, though many attempt to do it by the +antiquated methods of the times "befo' de war." More books are sold +by auction each successive year; and with the wonderful progress being +made in the literary development of this great country, it is likely +that the auctioneer will become in the near future an even more +important factor in the formation and dissemination of libraries than +ever before. + +The following extract from a magazine article on "The Book Auction," +written years ago by Joel Benton, may be deemed a fitting conclusion. +He said:-- + + "In no one place are there so many eager patrons of the book + auction as in New York. Here are men who can give thousands + of dollars for a single book, if they choose, and add it to + an already extremely valuable collection. + + "It is pleasant to see these men and their representatives + sitting in the auction room, and poring, over their + catalogues. There are times when they must not be disturbed, + or spoken to. Great issues depend upon their utmost + attention. Not Izaak Walton, the many rare editions of whose + one great book they rapturously fish for, ever fished more + intently for trout and grayling than they for the beauties + of thought and of the printer's art. + + "No idyls of the brook call your chronic book buyer to bask + in green meadows, and under cerulean skies while the auction + season lasts. The pine floor, the gaslight, and the voice of + the auctioneer hold him. His house may overflow with + thousands of unshelved volumes. Naught cares he. It is not + because he is short of reading that he buys. It is because + he is drawn by that fascinating, never-to-be-accounted-for, + and inexpressible ardor of the pursuit. I have a friend who + says he would rather attend a book auction than spend an + evening with the President, or with our greatest general, or + with a literary lion like Tennyson or Browning." + + + + +SELECTING FOR A PUBLIC LIBRARY + +By Arthur E. Bostwick. + + +In selecting books for a public library, the two things generally +taken into account are the public desire and the public need. The +different values attached to each of these two factors may be said to +determine the policy of the library in book-buying. The extreme cases, +where full force is given to one factor while the other is entirely +disregarded, do not, of course, exist. Libraries do not purchase every +book that is asked for, without considering whether such purchases are +right and proper. Nor do they, on the other hand, disregard popular +demand altogether and purchase from a list made up solely with regard +to what the community ought to read rather than what it wants to read. +Between these two extremes, however, there may be an indefinite number +of means. A librarian may, for instance, purchase chiefly books in +general demand, exercising judgment in disregarding such requests as +he may deem improper. Or he may buy chiefly those books that in his +opinion should be read in his community, listening to the voice of the +public only when it becomes importunate. Several considerations may +have part in influencing his course in this regard. In the first +place, a library with plenty of money at command may in a measure +follow both plans; in other words, it may buy not only all the good +books that the public wants to read, but those also that it should +read. The more limited the appropriation for book purchase, the more +pressing becomes the need that the librarian should decide on a +precise policy. Again, a library whose books are for general +circulation would naturally give more heed to popular demand than a +reference library used chiefly by students. Further, an endowed +institution, not dependent on public support, could afford to +disregard the public wishes to an extent impossible in the case of a +library whose expenses are paid by the municipality from the proceeds +of taxation. Above and beyond all these considerations, the personal +equation comes in, sometimes very powerfully. It often seems as if +some library authorities regard popular favor as an actual mark of +discredit, while others look upon it almost as a condition precedent +to purchase. Take, as an example, the so-called "fiction question," +over which most libraries, and some of their patrons, are at present +more or less exercised. There can be no doubt of the popular regard +for this form of literature, especially for the current novel or +romance. Some libraries would sternly discourage this preference and +refuse to purchase fiction less than one year old, while others do +not hesitate to buy, within the limits of their purses, all such books +as would be likely to interest or entertain the average reader of +taste and intelligence. The views of the selector regarding the +relative importance of the library's duties as an educator and an +entertainer must also affect his views. + +It has been tacitly assumed that the selection is made by one person. +As a matter of fact, however, the final approval is generally given by +a book committee of some kind, usually a committee of the library +trustees or persons responsible to them, often with the help of +outside advisers. The weight of the librarian's views with this body +will depend on various circumstances. Sometimes he has his own way; +sometimes his wishes are practically disregarded. Moreover, the +composition of such a body varies so that any continuous policy is +difficult for it. + +Owing to all these facts, it is probable that no two libraries in the +United States, even when they are closely related by classification, +as when both are branch libraries for circulation, state libraries, +public reference libraries, or university libraries, are pursuing +exactly the same policy in book purchase, although, as has been said, +their various policies are always compounded of different proportions +of these two factors,--regard for the wishes and demands of their +users, and consideration of what is right and proper for those users, +from whatever standpoint. The stickler for uniformity will lament +this diversity, but it is probably a good thing. In many libraries, +there are as many minds as there are men, and it cannot be and ought +not to be otherwise. + +Now, how does the person, or the body, that is responsible for the +selection of books for a library ascertain the facts on which, as has +been said, the selection must be based? It is usually not difficult to +find out what the public wants. Its demands almost overwhelm the +assistant at the desk. Some libraries provide special blank forms on +which these requests may be noted. They are often capricious; +sometimes they do not represent the dominant public wish. The voice of +one insistent person asking for his book day after day may impress +itself on the mind more forcibly than the many diffident murmurs of a +considerable number. In libraries that possess a system of branches, +there is little difficulty in recognizing a general public demand. +Such a demand will be reported from a large number of branch libraries +at once, in which case the chances of mistake will be small. In the +New York Public Library many useful suggestions are gained through the +operation of the inter-branch loan system, whereby a user of one +branch may send for a book contained in any other branch. Books so +asked for are reported at the central headquarters, and if they are +not in the library at all, the request is regarded as a suggestion for +purchase. Should such requests come from users of several branches at +once, the desired book is very likely to be purchased. Often the +demand is general rather than specific, as for "a book about the +Caucasus" or for "more works on surveying," and sometimes they are +vague or misleading, titles being wrong and authors' names spelled +phonetically; yet the work made necessary in looking up these demands +is more than repaid by the knowledge that it may result in making the +library of more value to the public. + +In some cases the librarian desires not only to respond to the public +want, but even to anticipate it. He does not wait to see whether a new +book on Japan will be in demand, because he is sure that such will be +the case. He does not hesitate to order a new book by Kipling or Mrs. +Humphry Ward as soon as he sees its title in the publisher's +announcements. The necessity for some other anticipatory orders may be +less evident, and this kind of work requires good judgment and +discrimination; but in general if a book is to be purchased on +publication, it cannot be on the library shelves too soon after the +date of issue. In any case, where it is desirable and proper to please +the public, double pleasure can be given by promptness; hence the +importance of being a little before, rather than a little behind, the +popular desire. + +All this calls for little but quick and discriminating +observation,--the ability to feel and read the public pulse in +matters literary. It is in regard to the second and more important +factor that failure waits most insistently on the librarian. What are +the public's needs, as distinguished from its desires? What ought it +to read? Here steps in the "categorical imperative" with a vengeance. +The librarian, when he thinks of his duty along this line, begins to +shudder as he realizes his responsibility as an educator, as a mentor, +as a trainer of literary taste. Probably in some instances he takes +himself too seriously. But, no matter how lightly he may bear these +responsibilities, every selector of books for a public library +realizes that he must give some consideration to this question. In the +first place, there are general needs; there are certain standard books +that must be on the shelves of every well-ordered library, no matter +whether they are read or not. It is his business to provide and +recommend them. What are these standards? No two lists are alike. They +start together: "the Bible and Shakespeare"--and then off they go in +divergent paths! Secondly, there are special needs dependent on +locality or on the race or temperament of the users of a particular +library. The determination of these needs in itself is a task of no +small magnitude; their legitimate satisfaction is sometimes difficult +in the extreme. To take a concrete instance, the librarian may +discover that there is in his vicinity a little knot of people who +meet occasionally to talk over current questions, not formally, but +half by accident. They would be benefited, and would be greatly +interested, in the right sort of books on economics, but they have +scarcely heard that there is such a subject. That the public library +might be interested in them and might aid them would never occur to +any of them. The discovery of such people, the determination of just +what books they need, and the successful bringing together of man and +book--all these are the business of the librarian, and it is a part of +his work that cannot be separated from that of book selection. + +In much of this work the librarian of a large library must depend to a +great extent on others. Both the desires and the needs of those who +use his library he must learn from the reports of subordinates and +from outside friends. The librarian of a small library can ascertain +much personally; but both librarians are largely dependent upon expert +opinion in their final selections. After concluding that the library +must have an especially full and good collection of books on pottery, +the selector must go to some one who knows, to find out what are the +best works on this subject. When there is a good list, he must know +where to find it, or at least where to go to find out where it is. He +must consult all the current publishers' lists as they appear, and +scan each catalogue of bargains. His list of books wanted for purchase +should far exceed his ability to buy, for then he must, perforce, +exercise his judgment and pick out the best. If, after all, the +collection of books in his library is not such as to meet the approval +of the public, he must bow meekly under the weight of its scorn. + +The deluge of books that falls daily from the presses is almost past +comprehension. The number of intelligent readers, thanks to the +opportunities given by our public libraries, is increasing in due +proportion. To select from the stream what is properly fitted to the +demands of this rapidly growing host is a task not to be lightly +performed. That the authorities of our libraries do not shrink from it +is fortunate indeed; that the result is no worse than it is, is a fact +on which the reading public must doubtless be congratulated. + + + + +RARE AND SECOND-HAND BOOKS + +By Charles E. Goodspeed. + + +Books are much more indestructible than is generally supposed. +Furniture, clothing, and most of the appurtenances of the house +disappear rapidly with time, but books, by the nature of their +component material and construction, have a longer life. At least this +may be said of books printed before the present era of paper making. +Since the invention of printing in the fifteenth century, the product +of the myriad presses, principally in Europe, has been enormous, and +the output of books in the four hundred odd years of printing defies +computation. While many have been destroyed by use, fire, or other +agencies, an immense number exists at the present time, and their +disposal, made necessary through death or the breaking up of +households, is a matter of practical consideration. As it is usually +impossible for the owner to find individual customers, the second-hand +book-dealer becomes a necessity. The usefulness of the dealer to the +community depends upon his honesty, intelligence, and industry; upon +his honesty, in giving a fair price to the owner, on his intelligence +in finding customers for books apart from general interest, and on +his industry in so conducting his business that his stock may not +become a mass of ill-assorted rubbish. + +The small collection of books in the ordinary household (averaging +usually not over a few hundred volumes), contains, it is safe to say, +a large percentage of no commercial value. The rest may be valued +either for rarity, for the place which they may fill in some +collection, or for the intrinsic excellence of the edition. Customers +for the rarities are found amongst numerous collectors, and to a more +limited extent in the large public libraries. Many individual buyers +prefer the sterling editions printed on rag paper by the old masters +of the craft to books of modern production, and so create a market for +good old editions. Modern editions of standard authors are produced so +cheaply, however, that an old edition will bring but a small price +unless it has some distinguishing merit. + +These points should be borne in mind by those who have books to sell. +They should remember, also, that the public is to-day no longer +interested in many subjects on which books were printed in the past. +It should also be known that the arts, the sciences, and the +professions, have made such advances that old books on these subjects +are of little more value than waste paper, excepting in the few +notable cases of books which are of historical importance to the +student as landmarks of progress. The omission of these works, of +obsolete fiction, and the books of the hour, reduce the bulk of the +ordinary collection to a small value. + +It may then properly be asked where the valuable books come from, and +how are they obtained? It may safely be stated that most rarities +to-day are discovered in out-of-the-way places, in old collections or +libraries, attics, or from sources which have not been investigated by +the keen-eyed collectors and dealers. There are comparatively few +houses, at least in the most thickly settled parts of this country, +which have no books, and in a considerable number of these collections +there are at least some books which have a degree of rarity and a +special commercial value. The large private libraries are also +constantly being dispersed, and, excepting always the books which are +being absorbed by the permanent collections of public institutions, +form a constant supply, passing from the owner to dealer, from him to +a new owner, only to find their way eventually to the market again. + +Books are not valuable merely because of age (excepting those printed +in the fifteenth century), nor solely on account of their rarity. It +is quite apparent that a rare book for which there is no demand can +have no value. It is the combination of desirability and rarity which +gives value, and that value fluctuates with the demand, being subject +to the caprice of the collector or the fashion of the day. This may be +illustrated by the collecting of first editions. Thirty years ago the +first editions of modern authors brought small prices; twenty years +later they were eagerly sought for; while now a reaction is taking +place, and only the great rarities in this line find a ready sale. + +At the present time the books which are most quickly sold in this +country are those relating to American history, particularly those on +the discovery and settlement of the continent, the Indians, the +American Revolution, navy, local history, and genealogy, etc. Books on +these subjects which are really rare, find a ready sale. + +First editions of the early books in _belles-lettres_, books with +presentation inscriptions from their authors, books containing unusual +examples of early engravers, or those made famous by the illustrative +work of such artists as Rowlandson, Leech, and Cruikshank; these are a +few of the lines in which there are numerous collectors, but it should +be understood that they are only a few of the more conspicuous out of +hundreds of similar lines of interest. The number of collectors is +multiplying with the increase of the country's wealth, and there is a +growing tendency for collectors to take up new subjects, which very +much broadens the interest in the books of bygone days. To enumerate +these subjects at length would be but to detail the personal interests +and hobbies of thousands of cultivated collectors. It may be safely +prophesied that books which are regarded to-day as rare and desirable +by any considerable number of collectors will, on the whole, command a +steady increase in value. The tendency, however, is strongly toward a +decrease in the value of books of moderate value and a large increase +in the value of especially desirable items. The accounts given in the +daily press of the finding of valuable books are the innocent means of +misleading a great many people, who labor under the delusion that +because one early edition of a book commands a large price, another +edition of about the same time must necessarily have the same value. +This is one of many errors which the public entertains regarding rare +books. Not only does a few years' difference in the date of +publication mean the difference between a large value and none at all, +but often two editions, apparently the same, bearing identical +title-pages, possess differences in text, which are known only to the +expert, but which make a vast difference in their value. Books +otherwise valuable, but containing material defects (such as lack of +pages or portions of pages), are thereby very much reduced in value; +in fact, the value of an imperfect book is usually but a small +fraction of that of a perfect example. Not only do these grosser +defects reduce the value, but it sometimes happens that the mere +absence of a half title, or advertising leaves, or even the flyleaves, +will make a considerable difference. Such points also as the size of +the copy, whether it is in original binding or not, or, if rebound, +whether the edges have been trimmed by the binder,--these all have an +important bearing upon prices. As a rule, the nearer the book is to +the original state in which it left the publisher's hands, the more +valuable it will be. + +The art of the second-hand bookseller requires a knowledge of the +science of bibliography, and painstaking attention to the details and +orderly arrangement of stock, with a classification by subjects. Other +things are desirable, but these are indispensable. The stock of +second-hand books should be kept in such a manner that any book +inquired for can be instantly located. Nothing is more irritating both +to the dealer and to the customer than an unsuccessful search for a +book known to be in stock. There are probably very few books which at +some time will not be desired by some person; in fact, a large portion +of the books in a dealer's stock would be instantly sold if he could +understand the particular feature which would be of interest to the +possible customer. Usually, the feature is there, and the customer +exists. It is the bookseller's business to find both. + +There is no business in which a thorough knowledge of the stock and a +painstaking attention to small details are of more importance than in +the selling of books, and without them the second-hand bookseller's +establishment degenerates to the level of the junk shop. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Building of a Book, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BUILDING OF A BOOK *** + +***** This file should be named 23754.txt or 23754.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/7/5/23754/ + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier, Christine P. +Travers and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |