Form rises. When the form is so well locked up in the chase, that in the raising of it up neither a letter nor a space drops out, it is said that the form rises.
Froze out. In winter, when the paper is frozen, and the letter frozen, so as the workmen cannot work, they say they are froze out. [Such accidents never occur in good printing-houses.]
Going up the form. A pressman’s phrase when he beats over the first and third rows or columns of the form with his ink-balls.
Great bodies. Letter termed “English,” and all above that size: small bodies are long primer, and all smaller letter.
Great numbers. Above two thousand printed of one sheet.
Hard work, with compositors, is copy badly written and difficult; [such as they too frequently receive from the Editor of the Every-Day Book, who alters, and interlines, and never makes a fair copy,] hard work, with pressmen, is small letter and a large form.
Hole. A place where private printing is used, viz. the printing of unlicensed books, or other men’s copies.
[Observe, that this was in Holme’s time; now, licensing is not insisted on, nor could it be enforced; but the printing “other men’s copies” is no longer confined to a hole. Invasion of copyright is perpetrated openly, because legal remedies are circuitous, expensive, and easily evaded. So long as the law remains unaltered, and people will buy stolen property, criminals will rob. The pirate’s “fence” is the public. The receiver is as bad as the thief: if there were no receivers, there would be no thieves. Let the public look to this.]
Imperfections of books. Odd sheets over the number of books made perfect. They are also, and more generally at this time, called the waste of the book.
M thick. An m quadrat thick.