Printing and Publishing.

READY FOR THE PRESS.

THE process of printing, when compared with
writing, is unquestionably a cheap process;
provided a sufficient number of copies of any
particular book are printed, so as to render the
proportion of the first expense upon a single
copy inconsiderable. If, for example, it were
required, even now, to print a single copy, or
even five or six copies only of any production, the
cost of printing would be greater than the cost
of transcribing. It is when hundreds, and
especially thousands, of the same work are
demanded, that the great value of the printing
press in making knowledge cheap, is particularly
shown.

It is probable that the first printers did not
take off more than two or three hundred, if so
many, of their works; and, therefore, the earliest
printed books must have been very dear, on
account of the limited number of their readers.
Caxton, as it appears by a passage in one of his
books, was a cautious printer; and required
something like an assurance that he should sell
enough of any particular book to repay the cost
of producing it. In his 'LEGENDS OF SAINTS,'
he says, "I have submysed (submitted) myself to
translate into English the 'Legend of Saints,'
called 'Legenda aurea' in Latin; and WILLIAM,
Earl of Arundel, promised to take a reasonable
quantity of them, and sent me a right worshipful
gentleman, promising that my said lord should,
during my life, give and grant to me a yearly fee, that
is to note, a buck in summer, and a doe in winter."

15. To have any particular word or part printed in italics.

16. To have words printed in small letters, "lower case."

17. Points out a letter that does not stand with the others, "wrong fount."

18. To keep in that which by accident had been scratched out.

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19, 22. To have certain parts printed in small or large capitals.

20. To take away any superfluous word or letter. The sign stands for the first letter of the Latin word dele, meaning "destroy," or "blot out."

24. To put straight that which stands crooked. 25. To change the italics into Roman letters.

SIZE OF PAPER.

The author's "copy" being ready for the printer, the first practical step to be taken is to settle the size and shape of the book. The author may have some already existing book in his eye as a specimen, but he ought never to decide the point irrevocably until he has consulted with his publisher and fortified himself with his approval.

The size of the book is determined by the size of the sheets of paper to be used and the number of the foldings of each sheet. The more common sizes are named imperial, super-royal, royal, medium, demy, crown, post, and foolscap. A sheet, of whatever size, when fully spread out is denoted by the term "broadside." A sheet folded once gives two leaves (or four pages), each "folio" size (Fig 1). If folded twice, four leaves (or eight pages), each "quarto" size (Fig. 2). If folded three times, eight leaves (or 16 pages), each "octavo" size (Fig. 3). If folded four times, 16 leaves (or 32 pages), each "16mo" (i.e. sexto decimo) size (Fig. 4). If folded five times, 32 leaves (or 64 pages), each "32m0" size (Fig. 5). In the foregoing cases each fold has divided the page into two equal parts. Sometimes, however, the full sheet is folded twice and thus divided into three equal parts; these arc then folded in two equal parts, and these again into two equal parts: the four folds divide the sheet into 12 leaves (or 24 pages), each “12mo (or duodecimo) size (Fig. 6). The 18mo, and others, are formed similarly.

In the following illustrative diagrams, the folds are indicated by dotted lines. Only one side of the sheet (the outer) is, of course, seen. The figures in each of the diagrams denote the numbers of the pages when the sheet is properly folded up.