CLASS XVII.-PAPER, PRINTING, BOOKBINDING, &c.—With

portions of Class XXX.

SITUATION OF CLASS.-On the Northern Side of the Main Avenue, between Pillars I. and J., 24 and 28, running back between 27 and 28 to G.

PASSING the envelope-folding machine, which is to be seen at work in the Nave (to which we shall refer presently), we will invite the visiter to enter with us while we point out the different objects in as near as we can the order in which the said materials of paper, type, and ink are used, in the production of the printed books which disseminate information and amusement among millions.

Begin we then with Paper. (Exhibitors 27, 29, 36, 42, 42A, 76, 84, 96, 101, 102, 143, 147, 149, &c.)

On entering the space allotted to Class XVII., the visiter cannot fail to observe the immense roll of paper suspended from the Galleries, made in a continuous sheet of 2,500 yards long, and 46 inches wide, which is to be seen at the opposite corner to the envelope folding-machine. This forms a good preparation for the contemplation of the manufacture of this important article, which we are now about to notice, as showing the perfection of the machinery in thus producing from the liquid pulp an unbroken sheet of any length required. There are other long lengths of paper of various kinds “in the web," or continuous sheets, which are also well worth inspection; but we will proceed upon the plan proposed, and commence our survey with the first stages of this important manufacture.

A very interesting collection (149) meets the visiter

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on first entering the compartment. It consists of specimens of the present state of the paper manufacture in Great Britain, as well as of the materials employed in it, in various stages of preparation. Foul rags and other

matters are here shown in strange contrast to the pure white of the manufactured paper. Here too, amongst other "paper materials," is shown a piece of the cable of the "Royal George," and coarse paper made from it— objects worth the notice of those who value relics.

The introduction of paper-making machines, as the word is now understood, is of recent date; a model exhibited in Class VI., which is on the principle by which almost all paper is now made, was patented in 1806. Till within a very few years before this, paper was made almost entirely by hand. And though many improvements had been made in the art since its first discovery by the Chinese (who are supposed to have been the inventors of paper), A.D. 95, it is not in our province now to detail these; but to notice the process through which paper, as now manufactured, has to pass. The first operation is to cut the rags or other materials into small pieces. Then, after having been thoroughly washed, they are conveyed to a cylinder furnished with sharp teeth or cutters, which revolving against other teeth, the rags are reduced to a thin pulp. The pulp, or "stuff," as it is technically called, is then moulded into the form required for the future sheet of paper, upon a frame and rollers covered with wire-cloth, the patterns on which form what is called the "watermark" in paper. The superfluous water draining through the wire-gauze leaves the pulp of a proper consistency for the subsequent operations of pressing, &c. Many specimens of these " dandy-rollers," as they are termed, of pulp-strainers and pulp-meters, and of other portions of paper-making machinery, are to be seen amongst the articles shown in Class VI.

The specimens of paper exhibited include printingpapers, writing-papers, and others (showing contrivances for autograph water-marks and other novelties). Another

branch of the paper manufacture represented is the tissue upon which the designs for pottery and earthenware are first printed, thence to be transferred to the unglazed ware (147, and Class VI., 100). Specimens are also shown of the coarse papers made from old ropes and such-like fabrics, and used for packing; of glazed-boards, employed in pressing cloth; of gun-wadding; of the blue paper used by starch-makers, which has to undergo the process of baking in contact with the moist starch without losing its colour; and of other coarse descriptions of paper. 29 is an exhibition of paper rendered water-proof by the employment of a newly-invented size.

The importance of the paper manufacture of Great Britain may be estimated by the following facts. About 130,000,000 pounds weight are annually made in this country, the value of which is estimated at upwards of 3,000,000l. sterling. About nine-tenths of this quantity are used in home consumption; the exports not exceeding 300,000l. Paper made in the United Kingdom yields an annual return to the revenue of 870,000l. Of cards, drawing-boards, envelopes, and ornamented papers, we shall have to speak when on the subject of fancy stationery.

Let us now proceed with the next of the great requisites in the production of printed books.

Type. (Exhibitors 22, 78, 90, 92, 94, 124, 150, 181, 182, 184, 195, &c.)—Some of these show the type itself, but the greater number of our founders have contented themselves with sending (more comprehensible to the majority of visiters) samples of the work printed therefrom.

Type, as many of our readers doubtless know, is cast in mixed metal composed of lead, tin, and antimony. The character to be cast is first engraved on a hard steel punch, which, struck upon a piece of copper, forms a matrix or reverse for the future type. This matrix is then placed in a mould of the size required for the letter to be cast, into which the type-founder pours the melted metal. 124A and 195 exhibit the matrices and moulds thus em

ployed; and 78 shows the mould used in 1720, contrasted with that of the present day.

In Class VI. may be seen a machine for making type from copper, zinc, or other metal in a cold state, the matrix being used as a die, and the type struck something after the manner employed in coining.

124 illustrates the exactness with which type can be cast, in a super-royal" form" of the very small type called "pearl." This "form,” which weighs 140 lbs., and consists of above 220,000 separate pieces of metal, is supported only by the lateral pressure of "locking-up" (screwing into an iron frame or "chase"); a process that obviously could not be accomplished were not every type perfectly square. Of extremely small (we may say microscopic) type-founding there are two specimens, 92 and 150, each of which is declared to be the smallest ever cast in this country. They are respectively called "Gem," and "Brilliant," and an idea of their size may be formed from the fact, that in one of them (cast by the new type-casting machine, patented by Mr. Richards), Gray's "Elegy," consisting of 32 verses, is contained in two columns 3 inches deep. Every letter a separate casting, and the whole perfectly legible! 22 is an original design of a series of letters called "Arabesques ;" and amongst the collection are to be found a set of Elizabethan or Church text, with initial letters of the Tudor period; ornaments from the remains of Nineveh and Etruria, and other specimens of fancy typography. 78 contains some specimens of borders printed in three or four colours. 94 shows a plan for printing from type in two colours, by making the letters of different heights, so that the inking roller in passing over the form, shall only touch those types which are to be printed in the one colour. 181 has a variety of fancy borders, and specimens of plain and ornamental typography are shown by 113, 136, 140, 180, 187, and others. 140 gives us King Edward VI.'s Book of Common Prayer; coloured diagrams of the first six books of

"Euclid;" with specimens of the missal ornaments, dresses, and decorations of the middle ages. 180 is the speech lately delivered by H.R.H. Prince ALBERT, at the Mansion House, in English, French, German, Turkish, Arabic, and several other languages, exhibited as a specimen of the application of typography to various characters. Brass rules (used for printing the straight lines in tabular work, or the divisions of columns in newspaper and bookwork) are shown (187), arranged in company with pieces of those segmentary ornaments called "combination borders," forming a representation of the front of the Free Church College, Edinburgh. The outlines, shades, and other effects, are all produced by these means, upwards of 12,500 pieces of metal type, and 80 feet of brass rule, being employed. 78 has a machine for cutting brass rules to the proper length, and for "mitering" or forming the angle at the end to make two rules join closely when arranged in the form of a border.

Several purposes, for which it has been found extremely difficult to employ moveable types, remain to be noticed. These difficulties have principally arisen where it has been required to imitate by typography the works of the pen. Calligraphic, or "script" type, is one of these. The difficulty of making moveable types, which when set up should give to the letters the continuous appearance of written words, each letter joined to the next, has often called forth the ingenuity of the type-founders. 78 shows type of this description, in which the difficulties are apparently very well disposed of. Music, too, requiring as it does, whatever notes be printed, a continuous stave running the whole length of the line, requiring also in many instances the most unexpected forms and combinations to express the different musical phrases, has long been another stumbling-block. Of this description of type, however, there are several good specimens exhibited (22, 77, 92, 127, and others). Some notion may be formed of the difficulties attending the printing of music by moveable types, when