Two men worked together on the press, one inking the type and the other making the impression. They worked turn and turn about in hour shifts so that the more and less laborious work was equally distributed.
Two-color work was done by taking two impressions from one form. The parts which were intended to be printed in red were set in higher type than the rest and a perforated frisket was used. The red ink impression was taken first. The type for red ink was then removed and slugs were put in, making the form type high throughout. From this form the impression was taken in black ink. As might be supposed, the register was almost always imperfect.
The printed leaves while still damp were piled under weights to remove the counter impression of the type which naturally struck through the damp paper.
The printing was done with the paper sufficiently damp to make this simple process of removal fairly successful. Later the printed sheets were pressed between heated plates of metal, giving a very smooth and glossy surface to the page.
The pressman was paid by time like the compositor, but he was expected to accomplish a given amount of work in a day. In Paris, about 1575, he was expected to print 2650 sheets, while at Lyons the day’s work was held to be 3350. All folding, of course, was done by hand with no further assistance than that of the bone or wooden folding stick. The first sheet from the press was taken as a sample or proof. Proving, as distinguished from printing, was then unknown.
Proofreading was done practically as now and the proof marks were substantially the same. Two corrections per page must be made by the compositor without extra compensation. Other corrections were apparently not made by the original compositor, but by other workmen who were employed as piece workers on that particular occupation for the time being. The printer appears to have ordinarily managed to get these corrections charged to the author.
There was a rude system of cost finding and estimating in force. In making a price on a job the printer charged first for the paper. Whether or not he took a profit here is uncertain, but he probably did when he thought he could get it. The paper did not enter any further into his computation. He next estimated the cost of the labor. He then figured 50 per cent of the labor cost as overhead, including such minor items as ink and other special materials which might be needed on that particular job before it got to the customer. He then added another 25 per cent of the labor cost, which was supposed to be profit, and upon that basis he made up his price. Presumably there were price cutters and more or less unsuccessful guessers in those days as there are now, but the method just outlined was supposed to be that by which printers generally reached their figures. The financial success of the printer depended, of course, on operation. He might so conduct his work that the 50 per cent overhead might leave a considerable margin to be added to the 25 per cent profit or, on the other hand, he might so bungle it as to eat up the 25 per cent and more too.
CHAPTER VIII
Internal Organization of the Industry
The workers in the industry were divided into four clearly defined classes, namely apprentices, laborers, journeymen, and masters. In this, as in most respects in this volume, the study is based largely on conditions prevailing in France for the reason that we have much more abundant material from French sources than elsewhere. The conditions in France, however, were probably substantially the same as those which existed elsewhere, so that by studying conditions in France we get a very fair idea of those which generally prevailed at this period.