[32] Works of the late Dr. Benjamin Franklin, consisting of his Life, written by himself, in 2 vols. London, 1793, 8vo, i, 143. It is a very singular fact that in a later corrected edition of the same work, edited by John Bigelow, and published in Philadelphia in 1875, the passage above quoted reads as follows: “I contrived a mould, made use of the letters we had as puncheons, struck the matrices in lead, and thus supplied in a pretty tolerable way all deficiencies.” Whichever reading be correct, the illustration is apt, as proving the possibility of producing type from matrices either of clay or lead in a makeshift mould.
[33] Origine de l’Imprimerie, i, 144.
[34] From this method of forming the matrices (says a note to the Enschedé specimen) has arisen the name Chalcographia, which Bergellanus, among others, applies to printing.
[35] Printer’s Grammar. Lond., 1755, p. 10.
[36] It has been suggested by some that wood could be struck into lead or pewter; but the possibility of producing a successful matrix in this manner is, we consider, out of the question. In 1816 Robert Clayton proposed to cast types in metal out of wooden matrices punched in wood with a cross grain, which has been previously slightly charred or baked.
[37] In the specimen of “Ancienne Typographie” of the Imprimerie Royale of Paris, 1819, several of the old oriental founts are thus noted: “les poinçons sont en cuivre.”
[38] In the 2nd edition of Isaiah Thomas’ History of Printing in America, Albany, 1874, i, 288, an anecdote is given of Peter Miller, the German who printed at Ephrata in the United States in 1749, which we think is suggestive of the possible expedients of the first printers with regard to the mould. During the time that a certain work of Miller was in the press, says Francis Bailey, a former apprentice of Miller’s, “particular sorts of the fonts of type on which it was printed ran short. To overcome this difficulty, one of the workmen constructed a mold that could be moved so as to suit the body of any type not smaller than brevier nor larger than double-pica. The mold consisted of four quadrangular pieces of brass, two of them with mortices to shift to a suitable body, and secured by screws. The best type they could select from the sort wanted was then placed in the mold, and after a slight corrosion of the surface of the letter with aquafortis to prevent soldering or adhesion, a leaden matrix was cast on the face of the type, from which, after a slight stroke of a hammer on the type in the matrix, we cast the letters which were wanted. Types thus cast answer tolerably well. I have often adopted a method somewhat like this to obtain sorts which were short; but instead of four pieces of brass, made use of an even and accurate composing-stick, and one piece of iron or copper having an even surface on the sides; and instead of a leaden matrix, have substituted one of clay, especially for letters with a bold face.” De Vinne describes an old mould preserved among the relics in Bruce’s foundry at New York, composed (with the matrix) of four pieces, and adjustable both as to body and thickness. Bernard also mentions a similar mould in use in 1853.
[39] A curious instance of this occurs in the battered text of the De Laudibus Mariæ, shown at p. [24], where the rubricator has added his red dashes to capital letters at the beginning, middle and end of a palpably illegible passage.
[40] Notizie storiche sopra la Stamperia di Ripoli. Firenze, 1781, p. 49. Prezzi de’ generi riguardanti la Getteria (letter foundry).
| s. | d. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acciaio | (steel) | liv. | 2 | 8 | 0 | la lib. | ( = 9 | 0 | per lb.) |
| Metallo | (type-metal?) | ″ | 0 | 11 | 0 | ″ | ( = 2 | 0 3⁄4 | ″ ) |
| Ottone | (brass) | ″ | 0 | 12 | 0 | ″ | ( = 2 | 3 | ″ ) |
| Rame | (copper) | ″ | 0 | 6 | 8 | ″ | ( = 1 | 3 | ″ ) |
| Stagno | (tin) | ″ | 0 | 8 | 0 | ″ | ( = 1 | 6 | ″ ) |
| Piombo | (lead) | ″ | 0 | 2 | 4 | ″ | ( = 0 | 5 1⁄4 | ″ ) |
| Filo di ferro | (iron wire) | ″ | 0 | 8 | 0 | ″ | ( = 1 | 6 | ″ ) |