their writing, and proceed from left to right. This singularity is sufficient to prove that this cipher is not originally Arabic.

Arabic in the British Foundries.

Great Primer. Thorowgood and Besley. Walton's Polyglot, 1657. This letter was in Grover's foundry, and afterwards in James's.

Thorowgood and Besley. Another Great Primer, cut from drawings made by Dr. Wilkins.

English. Caslon. These were the first punches cut by William Caslon for types. They were cut in 1720 for the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

Thorowgood and Besley. This character was cut by the late Dr. Fry, under the directions of Dr. Wilkins, librarian to the East India Company, and is considered the most perfect fount at present in Europe.

Thorowgood and Besley. Another English from the punches cut for the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

Oxford University.

Watts. Cut under the immediate directions of Professor Lee.

ARMENIAN. "The Armenians had no characters peculiar to themselves until the fourth century, but they used indifferently those of the Syrians, of the Persians, of the Arabians, and of the Greeks. The present Armenian Alphabet contains thirty-eight letters, which they say were invented by one Mesrop or Miesrob, minister of state, and secretary to Warasdates, and Arsaces IV. kings of Armenia. Some authors affirm, that this Mesrop afterwards became a hermit, and corresponded with St. Chrysostom, who lived in the fourth century; though Angelus Roccha, in his discourse on the books in the Vatican library, George, patriarch of Alexandria, and Sixtus Senensis, assert, that St. Chrysostom was the inventor of the Armenian characters, in whose time the Bible was translated into the Armenian language, from the Greek Septuagint, by some of their doctors who had learned the Greek language, and amongst others by one Moses the grammarian, and David the philosopher. Although the Armenian characters are generally supposed to have been derived from the Greek, their forms are very different, and their number exceeds those in the Greek alphabet, by more than one third. The powers of the Armenian letters are peculiarly adapted to the notation of that language, which is very unpolished, and consequently very unlike the Greek. This alphabet contains several letters or marks for sounds which frequently occur in the Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic, and Armenian languages, but are not found in the Greek.

"The Armenians have four kinds of writing: The first is called Zakghachir, or flourished, used for the titles of books, and for the beginning of chapters.

"The second is called Erghathachir, writing with iron, or with a Stylus, which has long been disused.

"The third is called Poloverchir, or round, which is found in their fairest MSS.

"The fourth is called Notrchir, or running hand, which is used for the ordinary affairs of life. The names and powers of the Armenian letters are as follow:

"The Armenians say that Haik, who lived before the destruction of Babel, was the first who spoke the Haikanian or Armenian language."Astle.

ASCENDING LETTERS. This term includes all the capitals and the following small letters, b, d, f, h, k, l.

ASS. Sometimes by way of joke, and sometimes by way of irritation, compositors are called Asses by the pressmen. In Moxon's time they See ANCIENT CUSTOMS. were called Galley Slaves.

ASSISTANTS. See NEWSPAPERS.

ASTERISK, or little star*, directs the reader to some note in the margin, or at the bottom of the page. Two or three asterisks generally

denote the omission of some letters in a word, or of some bold or indelicate expression, or some defect in the manuscript. — Murray. When there are more than one note in a page, the asterisk is the first reference used.

ASTRONOMICAL CHARACTERS. The Twelve Zodiacal Con

Names and Characters of the Planets, with Dragon's Head and Dragon's

The Moon and its changes are thus designated :
:-

8 Opposition.

O Denotes a New Moon.

D First Quarter of the Moon.

AUTHORS' NAMES. See BOTANICAL THORITIES. ORGANIC REMAINS.

The Full Moon.

Last Quarter of the Moon.
AUTHORITIES.

LAW AU

AUTHOR'S PROOF. After the errors of workmanship have been put to rights, a clean proof is printed and sent to the author or editor, who makes on it such alterations and amendments as he may think proper. This is called an Author's Proof; and the compositor is paid for the time occupied in making these alterations in the types.

B.

BACK BOXES. In cases for Italic where there are no small capitals, also in Old English, and similar founts, the boxes in the upper case, that are appropriated to small capitals in Roman letter, are styled Back Boxes, and serve to lay two-line Capitals in, and other irregular sorts. BACK OF A COMPOSING STICK. That part on which the bottom of the types rests.-M.

BACKS. In a form of bookwork, the backs are those pieces of furniture placed between the sides of the pages and the cross of the chase, in quartos, octavos, and duodecimos; and, when a sheet is folded, form, except in quartos, the margin of part of the fore edge of a book. See IMPOSING. MARGIN.

BACKSIDE OF THE FORM, is the under side that touches upon the correcting stone or press stone.

M.

BACK STAY. A piece of girth or leather fastened to the lower hind rail at one end and to the top rim of the coffin at the other, in wooden

presses, to check the running out of the carriage beyond the point which will allow the tympan to rise clear of the front of the platen.

BAD COPY. Such copy as is ill written, or has much Italick, Latin, or Greek, or marginal notes, or few breaks, &c.-M. The term is now used only of manuscript that is badly written, and the words or the sense difficult to make out, with many interlineations. When this is the case, it is usual to pay something extra per sheet. For Greek, and marginal notes, an extra sum is always given, as may be seen in the Scale of Prices. BAD REGISTER. See OUT OF REGISTER.

BAD WORK. Any fault at the case or press, is in workmen's language called Bad Work.-M. We now call it Bad Workmanship; and by the term Bad Work is understood solid matter; that is, not leaded; with long paragraphs; no white lines nor branching out; no short pages; nor any white pages; such work is also called A Solid Dig: any other work is also called Bad Work, that is tedious in the execution, or difficult to perform, and does not fetch the workman a remunerating price.

BAKE. When the compositor lays up a form to clear it away, after a work is finished, if he does not rinse the letter as well as if it were rinsed for present use, or rather better, the ink that is dissolved among the lye would, with long standing by, harden between the letter, and make the letter stick so fast together that when it comes afterwards to be distributed, the compositor cannot without great difficulty and trouble get them asunder. This sticking together of the letter is called Baking of the Letter. And compositors in this case say The Letter is Baked.-M. This is the case particularly with new letter, if it be not distributed almost as soon as worked off; for if it be afterwards allowed to remain some time locked up in the chase, it is very difficult to separate and distribute, and causes great loss of time, and injury to the letter.

The usual remedy for this inconvenience is to pour boiling water on the pages repeatedly, which tends to make the letters separate more readily; but still the compositor has to press them against the edge of his case, which makes the ends of his fingers sore, and when he cannot accomplish it in this way, he not unfrequently must have recourse to his teeth. Soaking the new letter in soap and water before it is used, is said to be the best remedy.

BALDWIN, ELIZABETH.

See DONATIONS.

BALL KNIFE. An old blunt-edged knife, that pressmen lay by, to scrape their balls with.-M. It is generally an old table knife; but a sharp-edged one is better than a blunt one, if it be carefully used. The use of the Ball Knife is now nearly superseded by the adoption of composition rollers.

BALL LEATHERS. The exterior coverings of the balls, made either of pelts, or tanned sheep's skins.-M. Ball Leathers, dressed with oil, were introduced within the author's recollection; but, although more durable, and sweeter in use than pelts, they were not adapted to produce fine work, and were therefore soon discontinued.

BALL LININGS. When balls are made of pelts, the wool in the first instance is covered with the pelt of an old ball, previously soaked in the pelt pot and well scraped; this is again covered with a new pelt, and nailed to the ball stock, which makes the ball complete. The old pelt is called the Ball Lining, and makes it firmer in the neck, and also wear longer. BALL NAILS. The nails that ball leathers are tacked to the ball stocks with.-M.

BALL NECK. That part of the ball which is immediately between the stock and the body of the wool, just below the nails, is named the Ball Neck, or the Neck of the Ball.

BALL RACK. Two round tapering wooden pins fastened into a feather-edged piece of elm, and nailed to the near cheek of the press, in which to place the balls when they are not in use, nearly on a level with the ink block. There is frequently an additional one, for two balls, nailed higher up to the same cheek, under the cap, for a pair of spare balls, or to keep them separate when necessary; pelt balls injure each other when kept together for any length of time; and composition balls should never be left one upon the other, for they adhere to each other, and the surface is frequently torn in separating them.

Moveable ball racks are sometimes used for convenience, with the rack fastened to an upright piece of wood, fixed into a cross piece to serve it for standing upon. BALLS. Two circular pieces of pelt, leather, or canvass covered with composition, stuffed with wool and nailed to the ball stocks, used to cover the surface of the article to be printed with ink, in order to obtain an impression from it. Moxon says they were occasionally stuffed with hair; and that if the ball stocks were six inches in diameter the ball leathers were cut about nine inches and a half diameter. They are made larger, according to the work they are required for; those used for Newspapers were the largest.

Pelt Balls are superseded in London by composition Balls and composition rollers, and nearly so in the country; but when I recollect that the most splendidly printed English books were executed with pelt Balls, and that a printer may be so situated in the country, or in some foreign place, as not to be able to procure composition Balls or rollers, I think it useful to give directions how to make and manage Balls of pelts, so that wherever a printer may be situated, he may sustain no great inconvenience, provided he has a skin at his command: and I shall in the first place give an old Pressman's directions for this purpose, who was well and practically experienced in every variety of press work, and who wrote them expressly for this work.

"The pelt being well soaked, the pressinan scrapes with the ball knife a little of the wet and filth off-twists it-puts it on the currying-iron, holding an end in each hand, and curries it, by pulling it strongly backwards and forwards, till it becomes warm and pliable, and the grease adheres to his hands, so that the pelt is in danger of slipping out of them while currying without treading he cuts the pelt into two equal parts, across, and scrapes both sides of them; he then lays one of them on a press stone, or on any other stone that is large enough, and stretches it and spreads it well with the grain side downwards: the pelt of an old ball being well soaked, he cleans it, scraping it partially, so that some of the moisture may remain in it, and spreads it on the new pelt, as a lining, but does not stretch it nearly so much as the new one, and then nails an edge of them to the ball stock: the wool, being previously carded or combed, he lays in single locks one upon another, crossways, till he has enough for the size of the Ball which he is making. If it be for a newspaper it must be very large; if for bookwork, to be used with common ink, it must be smaller in proportion; but in both cases he brings the ends of the locks of wool into one hand, forming it into the shape of a ball very slightly, and puts these ends into the bowl of the stock; then bringing the opposite edge of the pelt to that already nailed, he also nails that to the ball stock; then he nails two other parts of the pelt opposite to each other, between those parts before nailed; then he plaits the pelt, nailing it regularly on the ball stocks; and cuts off the super