CORRECTION ON THE PRESS. This is one of the most important of the many opera tions that every piece of printed matter must undergo before it is put into the hands of the reading public; and in every considerable printing establishment, it forms a special department executed by one or more functionaries, technically called "readers." The immediate object of a corrector of the press, or " reader," is to observe and mark every error and oversight of the compositor, with a view to make the printed sheet a perfect copy of the author's manuscript. This is on the supposition that the manuscript itself is quite correct, which is seldom the case; and therefore the duty of a good reader extends to seeing that there are no inconsistencies in orthography, punctuation, abbre viations, etc., and in many cases to the verification of quotations, dates, and proper names. The duty of securing consistency in spelling and punctuation is especially important in the ease of works on which several writers are employed, such as newspa pers and cyeloptedias. The corrector has also to direct his attention to the numbering of the pages; to the arrangement of chapters, paragraphs, and notes; to running titles, etc. It is part of his business to observe the mechanical defects of the work—defectivo types, turned letters, inequalities of spacing between words, sentences, and lines, crooked lines, and to secure symmetry in verses, tables, mathematical operations, and such like. In almost all cases, two proofs are taken, and in difficult works, such as those in foreign languages, tables, etc., even more. Lastly follows the revision, in which little more is none than seeing that the compositor has made all the corrections marked on the last proof. It is usual for the writer or author to reserve the correction of the second proof for himself.
In printing regular volumes, one sheet is usually corrected at a time; but where extensive alterations. omissions, or additions are likely to be made by writer or editor, it is more convenient to take the proofs in long slips, before division into pages. Tho
corrections to be made are marked on the margin; and for tills' purpose an established set of signs or short-hand is used, understood by all printers, and which it is often useful to know. The specimen of a proof on the preceding page exhibits the application of most of these signs.
The thankless and monotonous business of a corrector or reader is more difficult than the uninitiated would believe. It requires extensive and varied knowledge, accurate acquaintance with the art of typography, and above all, a peculiar sharpness of eye. which, without losing the sense and connection of the whole, takes in at the same time each separate word and letter. After the invention of printing, the C. of the P. was exe cuted by the publisher himself, or at least was intrusted to men of ability and learning, and often men of name. Robert Stephen (1526-59), and Plantin (1555-89), had recourse to publicity, hung out the successive sheets of their publications, and promised a reward to any one who would point out a typographical error. Some editions of particular works are held in high estimation from the care with which the press had been corrected. Among the most famous are those that issued from the press of Aldus Manutius in Venice, of which we may mention the works of Petrarch (1514), corrected by Pietro Bembo; Aristotle (1551-53, 6 vols.), corrected by the famous Greek scholar, J. B. Camp' tins; Lactantius (1515), and Suetonius (1516), corrected by J. B. Egnatius; Plato (1513), Athenreus (1514), and Gregory Nazianzene (1516), corrected by Marcus Massunis. The first edition of Homer was printed by Nerlitts in Florence (1484, 2 vols.), corrected by Demetr. Chalkoudylas. Robert Stephen of Paris himself corrected the numerous works that issued from his press; and Erasmus had a great name as a corrector.