TECHNICAL TERMS OF THE CRAFT.
Alley.—The space between two stands.
Ascending letters.—Letters that ascend into the upper shoulder; as, b, d, l, &c. and all the capitals.
Author’s proof.—The clean proof sent to an author after the compositors’ errors have been corrected.
Bank.—A table about four feet high, to lay sheets on at press.
Bastard title.—A short title preceding the general title of a work.
Bastard type.—Type with a face larger or smaller than its regular body: as Nonpareil on Minion body, or Minion on Nonpareil body.
Batter.—Types accidentally injured in a form.
Beard of a letter.—The outer angles supporting the face of a type and extending to the shoulder.
Bearer.—A strip of reglet to bear off the impression from a blank page. A long piece of furniture, type-high, used in working jobs. A solid-faced type interspersed among the blank parts of a page composed for stereotyping, to resist the pressure of the knife when the plate is shaved.
Bearer-lines.—The top line and bottom line in a page prepared for stereotyping.
Bed.—The flat part of the press on which the form is laid.
Bevels.—Slugs cast nearly type-high, with a beveled edge, used by stereotypers to form the flange on the side of the plates.
Bite.—An irregular white spot on the edge or corner of a printed page, caused by the frisket not being sufficiently cut out.
Blanket.—A woollen cloth used in the tympan.
Blank-line.—A line of quadrates.
Blocks.—The mahogany forms on which stereotype plates are placed for printing.
Blocked up.—When the fount of type is all set, and none is available for present use.
Bodkin.—A delicate awl-like tool used for correcting errors in type.
Body.—The shank of the letter.
Botch.—A bungling, incompetent workman.
Bottled.—Type wider at the bottom than at the top.
Boxes.—The compartments of a case in which the types are placed.
Brayer.—A wooden or glass rubber, flat at the bottom, used to bray or spread out ink on the ink-block.
Break-line.—A short line.
Broad-side.—A form of one page, printed on one side of a whole sheet of paper.
Broken matter.—Pages of type disrupted and somewhat intermingled.
Bundle.—Two reams of paper.
Bur.—Rough edge of a type which the founder neglected to take off in dressing.
Cabinet.—A receptacle for cases, chases leads, &c.
Cancelled figures.—Figures cast with a line across the face.
Caret.—A character [^] used in proofreading to denote the place where omitted words should be inserted.
Case.—The receptacle for type, divided into numerous compartments.
Cassie paper.—Formerly, the two outside quires of a ream, consisting of defective sheets.
Casting off.—Estimating how many pages a certain quantity of copy will make in type.
Cattie.—Imperfect or smutty look of a printed sheet caused by an oily or unclean roller.
Ceriphs.—The lines or cross-strokes at the ends of the stem of a letter.
Chapel.—A printing-office.
Chapel laws.—Rules of a printing-office.
Chase.—A rectangular iron frame in which pages of type are imposed.
Circular quadrates.—Blank types curved on one side.
Clean proof.—A proof containing few faults.
Clearing away.—Properly disposing of materials after a work has been completed.
Clicker.—The chief of a companionship.
Close matter.—Solid matter with few break-lines.
Companionship.—All the hands employed on a work.
Composing.—Setting type.
Composing-rule.—A steel or brass rule, with a beak at one end, used in typesetting.
Composing-stick.—An instrument in which types are arranged in words and lines.
Corner quadrates.—A quarter section of a hollow square or rectangle.
Correct.—A compositor is said to correct when he amends the faults marked in a proof.
Corrections.—The alterations or errors marked in a proof.
Cut-in letter.—A type of large size adjusted at the beginning of the first paragraph of a chapter.
Cut-in note.—A note justified into the side of a page.
Dead horse.—Matter charged and paid for before it is set.
Dele, ₰.—A proof-reader’s mark, signifying to take out.
Descending letters.—Letters that go down into the lower shoulder of the body; as, g, j, p, q, y.
Devil.—The errand-boy of a printing-office.
Dished.—A defect in electrotyped plates, the centre of a letter being lower than its edges.
Distributing.—Returning types to their various boxes after having been printed from. Spreading ink evenly over the surface of a roller.
Double.—Among compositors, repetition of words; among pressmen, a sheet that is twice pulled and mackled.
Dressing a chase or form.—Fitting the pages and chase with furniture and quoins.
Drive out.—To space widely.
Duck’s-bill.—A tongue cut in a piece of stout paper and pasted on the tympan at the bottom of the tympan-sheet, to support the paper when laid on the tympan.
Duodecimo, or 12mo.—Twelve pages to a form.
Em.—The square of the body of a type.
En.—Half the dimensions of the preceding.
Even page.—The 2d, 4th, 6th, or any even-numbered page of a book.
Fat.—Poetry and leaded matter.
Fat face, or Fat letter.—Broad stemmed letter.
Father of the chapel.—President or chairman of a composing-room or press-room chosen by the hands.
Feed guide.—An implement attached to a press to aid in correct feeding.
Feeding.—Supplying the press with sheets.
First form.—The form first printed, which generally contains the first page of a sheet.
Fly.—The person or apparatus that takes off the sheets from the press.
Folio.—Two pages to a form.
Foot-sticks.—Sloping pieces of furniture placed at the bottom of pages, between which and the chase the quoins are driven to fasten the pages.
Form.—The pages when imposed in a chase.
Foul proof.—A proof with many faults marked in it.
Fount.—A complete assortment of type, of the same nick, body, and face, put up by type-founders in accordance with an ascertained ratio.
Fountain.—Reservoir for ink, attached to printing-presses.
Friar.—A light patch in a printed sheet, caused by defective rolling.
Frisket.—An iron frame fastened by a hinge to the upper part of the tympan, to hold the sheet of paper fast as it goes in and comes from the press.
Fudge.—To contrive without proper materials.
Full press.—When two men work at the press with hand rollers.
Furniture.—Strips of wood or metal placed around and between pages to make the proper margin.
Galley.—A wooden or brass flat oblong tray, with side and head ledges, for holding type when composed.
Galley-slaves.—An ancient term of derision applied by pressmen to compositors.
Gauge.—A strip of reglet with a notch in it, passed with the make-up, to denote the length of the pages.
Gauge-pin.—An instrument to aid in feeding job presses correctly.
Get in.—To set close.
Good colour.—Sheets printed neither too black nor too light.
Guide.—A strip of metal frequently used to denote the last line of copy set.
Gutter-sticks.—Furniture used in imposition to separate the pages.
Half press.—When but one person works at the press.
Half-title.—The title of a book inserted in the upper portion of the first page of matter.
Hanging indention.—Where successive lines are set-in an em or more beyond the first line.
Head-sticks.—Furniture put at the head of pages in imposition, to make margin.
Hell.—The receptacle for broken or battered letters; the old-metal box; the shoe.
High-line.—Term applied to a type that ranges above the rest in a line.
High (or low) to paper.—Applied to a type cast higher or lower than the rest of the fount.
Hollow quadrates.—Metal quadrates mortised for the insertion of types, &c.
Horse.—The stage on the bank on which pressmen set the heap of paper.
Horsing.—Charging for work before it is executed.
Imposing.—Arranging and locking up a form of type in a chase.
Imposing-stone.—The stone on which compositors impose and correct forms.
Imprint.—The name of the printer or of the publisher appended to jobs or title-pages.
Inferior letters.—Small letters cast near the bottom of the line.
Inset.—Same as offcut.
Jeff.—To throw for the first choice with em quadrates instead of dice.
Justifying.—Spacing out lines accurately.
Keep in.—To crowd in by thin spacing.
Keep out.—To drive out or expand matter by wide spacing.
Kerned letter.—Type of which a part of the face hangs over the body.
Laying cases.—Filling cases with a fount of new type.
Laying pages.—Placing pages of type on the stone in a proper order for imposition.
Leaders.—Dots or hyphens placed at intervals of one or more ems in length, to guide the eye across the line to the folio in tables of contents, &c.
Leads.—Thin strips of metal cast of various thicknesses, quadrate-high, to separate lines of type.
Lean.—Close and solid matter.
Lean face.—Light, thin type.
Letter hangs.—When the page is out of square.
Letter-press printing.—Printing from types.
Ligatures.—Two or more letters cast on the same shank, as ff, fi, fl, ffi, ffl, æ, œ.
Line formers.—Brass rule bent in various shapes to aid in making curved lines of type.
Locking up.—Tightening up a form by means of quoins.
Logotypes.—The same as ligatures.
Long cross.—The bar that divides a chase the longest way.
Long pull.—When the bar is brought close to the cheek of a press.
Low case.—When the compositor has set almost all the letters out of his case.
Lower case.—The case containing the small letters of the alphabet, figures, points, &c.
Low-line.—Applied to a type that ranges lower than the rest in a line.
Mackle.—When part of the impression appears double.
Make-up.—To arrange the lines of matter into pages.
Make-up rule.—A steel rule with a projection on the top, for making up matter.
Making margin.—In imposition, arranging the space between the pages of a form so that the margin will be properly proportioned.
Making ready.—Preparing a form on the press for printing.
Mallet.—A wooden hammer.
Matter.—Composed type.
Measure.—The width of a page.
Monk.—A black spot in a printed sheet, owing to the ink not being properly distributed.
Naked form.—A form without furniture.
Nicks.—Hollows cast in the front of the lower part of the shank of a type, to show the compositor how to place it in his stick.
Octavo, or 8vo.—Eight pages to a form.
Octodecimo, or 18mo.—Eighteen pages to a form.
Odd page or folio.—The 1st, 3d, and all uneven-numbered pages.
Off.—Signifies that the pressman has worked off the form.
Offcut.—A portion of a sheet that is cut off before folding.
Off its feet.—When matter does not stand upright.
Open matter.—Matter widely leaded or containing numerous break-lines.
Out.—An omission marked in a proof by the reader.
Out of register.—When the pages do not back each other.
Overlay.—A scrap of paper pasted on the tympan-sheet to bring up the impression.
Overrunning.—Carrying words backward or forward in correcting.
Page-cord.—Twine used for tying up pages.
Passing the make-up.—Passing to the next hand in order the lines remaining (if any) after a compositor has made up his matter, together with the gauge and proper folio.
Peel.—A broad, thin board with a long handle.
Perfecting.—Printing the second form of a sheet.
Perforating rule.—Brass or steel rule, somewhat higher than type.
Pi.—Type promiscuously intermingled.
Pick.—A particle of ink or paper imbedded in the hollow of a letter, filling up its face and occasioning a spot.
Pigs.—An ancient nickname given in derision by compositors to pressmen. The press-room was called a pigsty.
Planer.—A smooth block of wood used for levelling the surface of pages of type when imposed.
Planing down.—To bring down types evenly on their feet, by laying a planer on the page and striking it firmly with a mallet.
Platen.—The part of a printing-press which, acted upon by the lever, gives the impression to a sheet.
Point-holes.—Fine holes made by the points to register the second impression by
Points.—Two thin pieces of steel with a point at one end, adjusted to the tympan with screws, to make register.
Quadrate.—A low square blank type, used to indent the first line of a paragraph, and to fill up blank spaces.
Quarters.—Octavos and twelves are said to be imposed in quarters, not from their equal divisions, but because they are imposed and locked up in four parts.
Quarto, or 4to.—Four pages to a form.
Quire.—Twenty-four sheets of paper.
Quoins.—Small wedges for locking up a form.
Quotation furniture.—Quotations cast of various sizes in length and width, used for blanking and as furniture.
Quotations.—Large hollowed quadrates.
Rack.—Receptacle for cases.
Ratchet.—An instrument for turning the screws of stereotype blocks.
Ratting.—Working at less than the established prices.
Ream.—Twenty quires of paper.
Recto.—Right-hand page.
References.—Letters or characters serving to direct the reader’s attention to notes at the foot of a page.
Register.—To cause the pages in a sheet to print precisely back to back.
Register sheet.—The sheet used to make register.
Reglet.—Thin furniture, of an equal thickness all its length. It is made to match the depth of type.
Reiteration.—The form printed on the second side.
Revise.—The last proof of a form before working it off.
Riding.—One colour falling on another. Type at the end of a line catching against a lead.
Rise.—A form is said to rise when, in raising it from the correcting stone, no letters drop out.
Roller.—A wooden cylinder covered with composition, which, set in an iron frame, revolves upon a rod, and is used for inking type.
Rounce.—The handle for running in and out the carriage of a hand-press.
Round pick.—A dot in a letter in a stereotype plate caused by an air-bubble.
Running title.—The title of the book or subject placed at the top of the pages.
Runs on sorts.— Requiring an inordinate proportion of particular letters.
Saw-block.—A box similar to a carpenter’s mitre-block, to guide in cutting furniture, &c.
Schedule.—A sheet of paper passed with the make-up, containing folios, on which the compositor marks his name opposite to the pages set by him.
Set off.—When sheets that are newly worked off soil those that come in contact with them, they are said to set off.
Shank.—The metal body upon which the face of a letter stands.
Sheep’s-foot.—An iron hammer with a claw-end.
Sheetwise.—When the pages of a sheet are imposed in two forms, which are backed in printing.
Shooting-stick.—A wedge-shaped instrument for locking up a form.
Short cross.—The short bar which, crossing the long bar, divides the chase into quarters.
Shoulder.—The surface of the shank of a type not covered by the letter.
Side sorts.—Types in the side and upper boxes of a case, consisting of letters not frequently used.
Side-sticks.—Sloping furniture on the outside of the pages next to the chase, where the quoins are inserted.
Signature.—A letter or a figure used at the bottom of the first page of a sheet, to direct the binder in placing the sheets in a volume.
Slice galley.—A galley with an upper movable bottom, called a slice, used for pages and jobs too large to be lifted by the fingers.
Slug.—A thick lead. Sometimes with a word or figure on top, used to denote the ownership of matter on galleys.
Slur.—A blurred impression in a printed sheet.
Solid pick.—A letter in a stereotype plate filled up with metal, resulting from an imperfect mould.
Sorts.—The letters in the several case-boxes are separately called sorts, in printers’ and founders’ language.
Space-rules.—Fine lines, cast type-high, and of even ems in length, for table and algebraical work.
Spaces.—Low blank types used to separate words.
Squabble.—A page or form is squabbled when the letters are twisted out of a square position.
Stand.—The frame on which the cases are placed.
Stem.—The vertical strokes of a type.
Stereotype printing.—Printing from stereotyped plates.
Stet.—Written opposite to a word in a proof, to signify that the word erroneously struck out shall remain.
Sub.—A compositor occasionally employed on a daily paper, to fill the place of an absentee.
Superior letters.—Letters of a small face, cast by the founder near the top of the line.
Table-work.—Matter consisting partly of rules and figures.
Take, or Taking.—A given portion of copy.
Token.—Two hundred and fifty sheets.
Turn for a letter.—When a sort runs short, a letter of the same thickness is substituted, placed bottom upward.
Tympan.—A frame covered with parchment or muslin and attached to the press-bed to lay the sheet on before printing.
Underlay.—A piece of paper or card placed under types or cuts to improve the impression.
Uppercase.—The case containing capital and small capital letters, fractions, &c.
Verso.—Left-hand page.
Wayz-goose.—A term given in England to the annual dinner customary among printers there during the summer months.
White line.—A line of quadrates.
White page.—A blank page.
White paper.—Until the second side of a sheet is printed, pressmen call the heap white paper.
Work and turn.—When a sheet is printed half-sheetwise, the paper must be turned and worked on the second side.
Working in pocket.—When the hands share equally their earnings on a work.
PROOF PRESS.
