Ornamental types are made in endless variety for printing cards and circulars, and for other fancy purposes; but of these it is only neces sary to mention particularly what is called Script type, which is cut to imitate writing. The early attempts to imitate cursive characters by letters cast upon a square body were very clumsy, it being impossible under such circumstances to give an easy inclination to the letters, and to make them join neatly. To remedy this M. Firmin Didot invented types with a body the sides of which form oblique angles with the top and bottom, and are so formed that they will, neverthe less, lock firmly together, without any inclination to slide upon each other. This may be readily understood from the annexed cut, which represents the words " Bought of " set up in script type, with a triangular piece of metal added at each end to allow of their being wedged up with typo or quadrats of the usual form. Didot cast, on bodies of this form, the component parts of letters ; but his idea was improved upon by English founders, who cast the letters complete, and provide for every variety of junction which may be required by casting some of the letters of different bodies, according to the relative positions they may be required to occupy. More recently, some founders have succeeded in casting types on a square body, which answer the same purpose, as Script, and these, on account of the greater facility of composition, are more generally used for common work.
Many schemes have been suggested for facilitating the manufacture of types by the use of machinery ; but as these have failed to come into general use, they may be dismissed with a very brief notice. One of the earliest formed part of a very comprehensive project for the improvement of printing brought forward by Mr. William Nichol son, editor of Nicholson's Journal,' about 1790. Another, which was patented about 1823, by Dr. William Church, of Birmingham, proposed to cast types at the rate of 75,000 per hour, and to inch and recast them after each time of printing from. A third, of less preten sions, as it did not propose to dispense with the subsequent rub bing and dressing, was the process of Henri Didot, patented in England by Louis John Pouch6e, for casting at the rate of 24,000 per hour ; which has been practised, although it did not supersede the ordinary mode of casting by hand, More recently an ingenious machine has been invented. In this, by turning a crank-wheel, the metal is injected with considerable force into the typo-mould, brought by the machinery in' front of a reservoir of metal kept fluid by a gas-fire beneath it, and by a con tinued movement is delivered out of it at a rate varying from six to ten times the rapidity with which the operation can be performed by hand. Both in casting by hand, and in the machine, the mould is
liable to become obstructed by particles of the metal remaining, when it has to be brushed clean. When this happens to the machine, it ceases to act, and thus at once informs the operator of the defect.
Composing.—The processes in the business of a compositor are distributing and composing.
1. Distributing.—Each compositor works at a sort of desk called a frame, and in most instances he has the desk or frame to himself. The frame projects laterally from the wall, having the light on the left hand, unless when lighted from the top. The front and lowest part of this frame is about as high as the elbow or ribs of the compositor, in order to allow his arm to move freely over it. The back is about a foot or 15 inches higher. The space between is about 28 inches, and is divided into two inclinations. Upon the lower and flatter of these rests the lower-case ; on the upper and more acute inclination rests the upper-ease. Each frame is constructed to hold two pair of eases. Each pair of cases contains all the letters of the alphabet, whether small letters or capitals, as well as points, figures, &c., &c. One of these pairs of cases is usually occupied by the Roman letters, the other by the Italic. The upper-case is divided into 98 partitions, all of equal size ; and these partitions contain two sets of capital letters, one denominated "full capitals," the other " small "; one set of figures ; the accented vowels ; and the marks of reference for notes. The lower-case is divided into partitions of four different sizes, some at the top and ends being a little smaller than the divisions of the upper-case, others nearer the centre being equal to two of the small divisions, others equal to four, and one equal to six. In all, there are 53 divisions in the lower case. The inequality in the size of the cells of the lower-case is to provide for the great differences as to the quantity required of each letter.
The proportion in which a particular letter is required renders it necessary that the cells of the lower-case should be arranged, not as the letters follow each other alphabetically, but that those in most frequent use should be nearest the hand of the compositor. The point at which he stands is not far removed from the centre of the lower case, and within a range of about six inches on every side lie the c, d, e, s, m, n, o, p, n, t, a, and r, the letters in most frequent use. The spaces, which he wants for the division of every word, lie close at his hand at the bottom of the central division of the lower-case. It must be quite obvious that the man who contrived this arrangement saved a vast deal of time to the compositor.