Chapter 2

There is another point of which Authors are frequently not aware--the desirableness of their Manuscripts being written on one side only. The convenience of this is, that any Remarks, Notes, Interlineations or Directions to the Printer, may be inserted on the opposite Blank Pages; and also that in the process of Printing, it may, if needful for speed or otherwise, be divided at any given point, without danger of mistake or confusion.

In all cases it is desirable that Manuscripts intended for the press should be written as much as possible, with a tolerable degree of uniformity, each Page containing about the same number of Lines, and each Line about the same number of Words. This is certainly not essential, but it will generally be very convenient, as it will at once enable the Author to judge of the probable extent of his work, and the Printer or Publisher, when the Manuscript is completed, to decide on the quantity. To write on Ruled Paper is perhaps the most effectual mode of accomplishing this.

Another point to be attended to is, that Manuscripts should always be Paged. This will not only shew the quantity either in whole, or in part, without the trouble of counting, but will prevent mistake should any portion be misplaced.

When a Manuscript, therefore, is about to be written or copied for the Press, it would be desirable to have prepared, a Quarto Book, Ruled, with a narrow margin, and lines across, and to have it Paged beforehand, on the right hand page only, on which page only the Manuscript should be written.

It is not, however, essential that these points should be regarded, should circumstances not permit. In such cases, if legibility can be secured, other obstacles may be surmounted: there will always, however, be considerable difficulty in calculating an irregularly written Manuscript. Should a Manuscript be closely written, and insertions be necessary, it will be preferable not to interline them, but write them on a separate Paper, numbering each, and referring them to the Pages, and on the Pages to the Paper.

When a Manuscript is about to be sent to the Press, it should be finally and carefully read over by the Author, who should mark any directions he may wish attended to in the Printing, and with his pen make any words plain which may happen to be obscure, by doing which, he will frequently prevent those errors of the Press which often change the sense of a passage, and are liable to escape detection.

When the Manuscript has thus been prepared, the next step will be the

CHOICE OF PAPER,

that is, to determine on the Size of the Work. This is a question which will generally be decided by what is customary. If a work of Fiction, the size will be what is called Post 8vo. If Historical or Scientific, Demy 8vo. If Poetry, Foolscap, Post, or Demy 8vo. as may be preferred. There are, however, a variety of other sizes, regulated by the number of leaves into which the sheet may be folded, as well as by the size of the Paper adopted, which may be more readily seen than described. The size and qualities of Paper, are of every variety.

PAPER MAKING.

The Manufacture of Paper, as now used, is not an Art of very ancient date, probably not earlier than the thirteenth century; but of its origin nothing is certainly known.

Various substances were in ancient times employed for writing, as Skins, Ivory, Lead, &c. In Egypt, from a very remote period, the inner films pressed together of the Papyrus or Biblos, a sort of Flag, or Bulrush, growing in the marshes there. From whence the word Paper is derived.

Paper is made from Rags, the best from Linen Rags; thus rendering that which had become useless, an article of universal importance, and permanent value. Without this indispensable material, Printing would have been deprived of its chief auxiliary; but with it, and by the present improved system of Manufacture, the productions of the Press, and of the Paper Mill, can be carried to any extent.

The Process of Paper Making is thus conducted. The Rags are first washed; then ground in the Mill with water, so as to form a Pulp; this Pulp is then conveyed to a Vat, furnished with a Mould of fine wire cloth, which takes up a sufficient quantity to form the Sheet, which, when the water has drained from it, is laid on a pile, and pressed so as to discharge the remaining moisture: it is then hung up to dry, after which, unless it has been sized in the Vat, which is the case with some kinds, it is dipped into a tub of fine size; and when again dried and pressed, is fit for use.

One of the greatest modern improvements in Paper making, is Bleaching the Rags. This enables the Paper-maker to produce the finest Paper from any kind of Rags. He has only, therefore, to find such materials as will make a Paper of a strong texture, and a fine even surface, and by the Bleaching process he can produce whatever shade of Colour he may desire.

A good supply of clear water is of the greatest importance in Paper Making. On this account, Paper Mills are built on clear streams.

By the recent improvements in machinery, Paper can now be made with almost any required degree of rapidity.

The next consideration to the size of the Paper, will be

THE CHOICE OF TYPE.

Type is cast of almost every conceivable variety. The sizes most in use for Books, are English, Pica, Small Pica, Long Primer, Bourgeois, Brevier, Nonpareil. The following are specimens of these various sizes:--

(_English._)

(_Pica._)

(_Small Pica._)

(_Long Primer._)

(_Bourgeois._)

(_Brevier._)

(_Nonpareil._)

It will be well to familiarize the eye with these different Sizes of Type, which may easily be done by a little practice, as it will greatly facilitate the understanding of the various technical details connected with the Press.

Next to the Size of the Type, the Size of the Page will have to be decided upon. Though both these points are in a great degree regulated by custom, they are yet in practice sufficiently open to variation, to meet the case of each particular Work. Thus by the Size of the Type, and Number of Lines, a Work may be either expanded, or compressed, as may be desired.

Pica is the type usually employed in Printing works of History, Biography, Travels, &c., in the Demy octavo size; Small Pica, in Novels, Romances, &c., in the Post octavo size; and Long Primer, Poetry, in the Foolscap octavo size.

To take for an example, the Novel, or Romance size. The ordinary Page employed in Works of this kind, contains twenty-two Lines, each Line containing, on an average, eight Words. Three hundred such Pages are considered the proper quantity for an ordinary size Volume. If a Manuscript, therefore, should contain about two hundred Pages, each Page containing about thirty-three Lines of eight Words, it would occupy about three hundred Pages in Print. Should the Manuscript, however, contain but one hundred and eighty such Pages, then in order to form three hundred Printed Pages, each Page would have to consist of but twenty, instead of twenty-two Lines.

On the above principle, it will not be difficult for an Author to form a tolerably correct idea of the extent of a Work--that is, sufficiently so for all general purposes; and the comparison may be extended to any Work of any kind thus--having first selected a Work in Print, which it is desired that in Manuscript should resemble, the Number of Words in a Line, and of Lines in a Page of each, being ascertained, if the disparity between them shall be in any specific ratio, as in the instance above, a Page of Manuscript being equal to a Page and a half of Print, the result will be immediately apparent; but should it be otherwise, a different process may be necessary: should the Manuscript contain but twenty-five, instead of thirty Lines, then the most direct mode of Calculation would be to take the three Lines per Page, by which the Manuscript would exceed the Print, and multiply the Manuscript Pages by three--this would give six hundred; these six hundred lines divided by twenty-two, the number of Lines in the Printed Page, give twenty-seven and a fraction; the whole would therefore, on this supposition, make about two hundred and twenty-seven Printed Pages, of twenty-two Lines each. There are, however, other circumstances which may affect such Calculations--as the Breaks in Chapters, Paragraphs, Conversations, &c., where the Work may have been written in Manuscript continuously. These points would, where desired, be best ascertained by having a number of Pages set up, and by then comparing them in the aggregate with the Manuscript.

The next point in order, will be

CORRECTING THE PRESS;

and this should invariably, when possible, be done by the Author; no one can so thoroughly enter into the train of thought and expression, and to no one could the disturbance of either prove so annoying: where this cannot be done, and the task must be deputed, the Manuscript should, in all cases, be considered the Authority, and no departure be made from it, except as may have been directed, or in extreme cases.

Corrections of the Press should be marked clearly; and this can never be done so satisfactorily, both to the Corrector and Printer, as by employing those Typographical Marks, which, from having been universally adopted, are, in consequence, understood by all persons connected with the Press.--The following Pages will exemplify these: First, the Proof corrected; Secondly, the Proof Revised.

_Proof Corrected._

_Proof Revised._

_Explanation of the Typographical Marks._

No. 1, is used to correct a _wrong letter_, drawing a line down through it, and placing the right letter before a corresponding stroke in the margin; _a wrong word_ is corrected by drawing a line across it, as in No. 2, and writing the proper word in the margin.

_Where any thing has been omitted_, or is wished to be inserted, a Caret is marked at the place where it is to come in, and the word or words written in the margin, putting underneath an answering Caret.

_Where a space is wanting between two words or letters_ that are intended to be separated, a parallel line must be drawn where the separation ought to be, and the mark No. 4 placed opposite in the margin. Also _where words or letters should join_, but are separated, the circumflex No. 5, must be placed under the separation, and the same mark be made in the margin.

_When letters or words are set double_, and are required to be taken out, a line is drawn through the superfluous word or letter, and the mark No. 6, which is the letter _d_, an abbreviation of _dele_ (_expunge or erase_) must be placed in the margin.

_A turned letter_, or one placed the wrong way upward, is noticed by making a dash under it, and placing the mark No. 7, in the margin.

_Where a black mark_ is seen in any part of the line, which is occasioned by a space standing up, it is noticed by making a dash under it, and placing the mark, No. 8, in the margin.

_Where two words are transposed_, the word placed wrong, should be encircled, and the mark 9, (_tr._ an abridgement of transpose,) be placed in the margin; but where several words are to be transposed, that which is intended to come first should have the figure 1 placed over it, that second 2, and so on, the mark (_tr._) being also placed opposite in the margin.

_Where a new paragraph is required_, a crotchet should be made at the place where the new paragraph should begin, and a similar mark (No. 10.) be placed in the margin. Where a new paragraph should not have been made, a line should be drawn from the last word of the previous paragraph, and in the margin should be written, _No break_.

_Where several lines or words are to be introduced_, they should be written at the bottom of the page, and at the place where they are to come in, a Caret should be made, from which a line should be drawn to the first word of the passage to be inserted.

If a word, or words, are required to be in Capitals, Small Capitals or Italic, such word or words should be underlined--for Capitals with three lines; for Small Capitals, with two; for Italic, with one; writing opposite in the margin, _Caps._, _Small Caps._, or _Ital._

If they should be required to be altered back, a line should be drawn under the Italic, and the word _Roman_, and under the Capitals or Small Capitals, and the words _Lower-case_, written in the margin.

_Where words have been erroneously struck out_, or are otherwise wished to remain, dots should be placed under them, and the word _Stet_ (_let it stand or remain_) written in the margin.

_Where the Punctuation requires to be altered_, the Semicolon, Colon, or Period, should be marked and encircled in the margin, a line being drawn at the word at which either is to be placed, as in No. 15.--16 describes the manner in which the hyphen and ellipsis line are marked; and 17, that in which the Apostrophe, Inverted Comma, the Star, and other References, and Superior Letters, and Figures, are marked for insertion. Notes, if added, should have the word _Note_, with a Star, and a corresponding Star at the word to which they are referred.

_Where letters or lines are altered_, they are noticed by drawing lines before and after them, as in No. 18.

A little practice will soon render the use of these Marks familiar.

It has been before observed, that Correcting the Press, so far as the Printers are concerned, is an extremely troublesome, and to them, the most unpleasant part of their business. It occupies much more time than could be supposed, and consequently occasions an Expense which the mere alteration of a few Words in a Page would perhaps scarcely be thought sufficient to justify. But when it is considered that every alteration disturbs the whole adjoining mass of Type, and may do so to the end of the Page, or several Pages, it will be less difficult to perceive the reason of the well ascertained fact, that Printers always greatly prefer being employed in the Setting, rather than in the Correcting department of their office.

It is not uncommon for Authors, unaware of these circumstances, to deliver their Manuscript for the Press, in a very unfinished state; and in some instances, as if they actually considered that they could not satisfactorily Correct their Work, until they saw it in Print--an error which it would probably only require them to combat to overcome: it should, however, in all such cases, be distinctly understood, that the Expenses of Correcting will, if considerable, unavoidably enhance that of the Printing, and this in a ratio that would very naturally surprise those unacquainted with the subject.

All errors which are not in the Manuscript, are considered as errors of the Press; the correction of which devolves on the Printer. Indeed, no proof should be submitted to the Author, until these have been made: a careful Reader in the Printing Office will also sometimes draw the Author's attention to some Word or Sentence, which appears to be susceptible of improvement, and which might otherwise have passed unnoticed; this is, however, not always done, unless requested.

In Correcting a Proof, for the reasons already given, as few alterations as possible should be made; when these are, however, unavoidable, it would be advisable to observe this Rule, namely--always if possible, to insert in a Line or Page, as much as is taken out, or vice versâ; this is in a great majority of instances very practicable; and the advantage of it is, that it will avoid what is technically called _Overrunning_. This will, perhaps, be best explained by referring to the Corrected Proof (p. 40) in the 3rd line of which, it will be seen that the word _for_ is marked out, and the word _of_ inserted in its stead; which, it will be perceived by the opposite Revised Page, has occasioned no alteration beyond the line; but at line 17 there is an insertion marked without an omission; which would have rendered it necessary to carry as many lines as were inserted to the next Page, if the Page had been previously filled up in the usual way. This is called _Overrunning_, and often requires that each subsequent Page should be altered to the end of a Chapter, or if the work is continuous, to the end of all that has at that time been set in Type.

There is also another point to be observed; which is, that where Revises are considered necessary, as few as possible should be required, each Revise requiring the repetition of the process already described in striking off a Proof, and which will not only occasion additional Expense, but will also frequently cause considerable delay in the progress of the Work. Generally speaking, if the Corrections are clearly marked, and not very numerous, the final Revision may be safely entrusted to the care of a skilful Printer. If any error should escape the notice of the Author, or Corrector, and be Printed off, it may be corrected by Re-printing the leaf in which it occurs, which is called a Cancel. This is, however, seldom necessary, when the error is clearly typographical.

It is frequently a convenience to the Author to have two proofs of each sheet, one to be returned corrected, the other to be retained for reference.

It is not, perhaps, generally known, that Works Printed in London may be corrected by Authors residing at any distance, the Proof Sheets passing and re-passing through the Post Office at Single Postage, provided they are not cut, and that the direction is Written _upon_ the Sheet. An Envelope would occasion Double Postage. It is usual also to add the words "Proof Sheet" in the corner.

The various kinds of

ILLUSTRATIVE ENGRAVINGS

have already been slightly referred to. They are of three kinds: Engravings on Steel,[50-*] or Copper; Lithographic Drawings, or Prints from Stone; and Engravings on Wood. The first two are Printed independently of the Work; the latter in connection with it; either incorporated with the Text, or otherwise, as may be desired. Each of these modes may be employed with advantage, where Embellishment is intended, or information beyond that which description is adapted to convey. Coloured Engravings are also frequently employed in such cases.

Next to the Printing a Work, is the

CHOICE OF BINDING.

Until a very recent period, Binding was of two kinds only--that in Paper and that in Leather. The former, called Boarding, being used for Books when first Published, or when purchased for use in that state; the latter for Books when read, or intended to form a permanent part of a Library. Binding in Leather has been carried to very great perfection; and, according to the skill employed, is susceptible of the most varied and tasteful embellishment. The Titles of Books in Boards are affixed by printed Labels--those of such as are bound in Leather in Letters worked in Gold. These latter are produced by laying a leaf of Gold on the Leather, and stamping each Letter singly, a process requiring great skill and labour.