ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD

norm: engravings on wood

text:
As the method of printing engravings on wood, here described, applies to what is termed fine printing, it may be as well in the outset to define what is meant by this expression, in its application to this subject.

Fine printing, in this point of view, is the art of obtaining impressions from an engraving on wood, of the surface and the surface only, so as to produce the effect which the artist intended, in the highest state of perfection.

There is a material difference between an engraving on wood and one on copper: the first is engraved in relief, that is, the lines are left standing, and the part which in the impression is to appear white is cut away or, technically, blocked out; the lines of the engraving on copper, on the contrary, are cut in the metal, and the part that is to be white in the impression is left untouched in the metal by the engraver.

There is also a material difference in the manner of obtaining impressions: those from an engraving on wood are produced by coating the surface of the lines with ink by beating it with balls or passing a roller over it, and then, with a piece of paper upon it, submitting it to pressure between two parallel plane surfaces, or by a cylinder rolling over it. An engraving on copper is smeared over the whole face with ink, which is worked into the lines; the surplus ink is then wiped off the surface of the plate, on which a piece of paper is laid to receive the impression, and these are passed between two cylinders, which press the paper into the engraved lines by a violent squeeze.

It will easily be perceived by this slight description that the two processes are completely distinct from each other, although the effect produced is nearly the same.

I will now proceed to describe the process of producing impressions from engravings on wood in a superior manner.

After putting a block on the press, the workman ought to be very gentle in the pull for the first impression, to prevent an accident, which has frequently occurred from thoughtlessness in this particular, by making the pull too hard, and crushing some of the lines; by avoiding this he will be safe, and can proportion his pull to the subject. He should also examine, previous to pulling, that there be nothing on the block—no pins that he may have for his tympan sheet, nor any needle with which he may have been taking out a pick.—Such accidents have happened, and caused great trouble to the engraver, as well as loss of time and disappointment; besides entailing a character of carelessness on the printer.

In imposing a single block, where the press is large at which it is to be worked, it will be in danger of springing out of the chase while beating, from the quantity of furniture about it: it is a good remedy to impose it in a job chase, and to impose this chase again in a larger one; this will cause it to lie flatter on the press, and firmer in the beating, as the small chase can be locked up tight in the large one, without having too much furniture, and the large one can be secured firmly on the press by quoins and the corner irons.

Neither the pressure nor the impression in an engraving on wood should be uniformly equal: if they be, the effect that is intended to be produced by the artist will fail; and instead of light, middle tint, and shade, an impression will be produced that possesses none of them in perfection; some parts will be too hard and black, and other parts have neither pressure nor colour enough, with obscurity and roughness, and without any of the mildness of the middle tint, which ought to pervade great part of an engraving, and on which the eye reposes after viewing the strong lights and the deep shades.

To produce the desired effect, great nicety and patience are required in the pressman; a single thickness of thin India paper, which is the paper I would always recommend to be used as overlays for engravings, is frequently required over very small parts, with the edges of it scraped down, for it is advisable that the overlay should never be cut at the edges, but, even where great delicacy of shape is not required, that it should be torn into the form wanted, which reduces the thickness of the edges, and causes the additional pressure to blend with the surrounding parts.

Particular parts of the impression will frequently come up much too strong, and other parts too weak, it will then be necessary to take out from between the tympans a thickness of paper, and add an additional tympan sheet, cutting away those parts that come off too hard, and scraping down the edges; scraping away half the thickness of a tympan sheet in small parts that require to be a little lightened will improve the impression.

The light parts require little pressure, but the depths should be brought up so as to produce a full and firm impression.

If a block be hollow on the surface, underlaying the hollow part will bring it up better than overlaying it, at least so much that it shall only require a thickness or two of paper as overlays. If a block be too low, it is advisable to underlay it, for the purpose of raising it to the proper height, in preference to making use of overlays, for they act in some measure as blankets, being pressed into the interstices, and rendering the lines thicker than in the engraving.

It will be necessary sometimes, when the surface of the block is very uneven, to tear away parts of the paper in the tympan, to equalise the impression where it is too hard.

The pressman will find it convenient to pull a few impressions while he is making ready, on soiled or damaged India paper, for out of these he can cut overlays to the precise shape and size that is wanted, as he will constantly find it necessary to do so in instances where great accuracy is required in overlaying particular portions; and in these instances he cannot well do without a sharp penknife and a pair of good small scissars. A fine sharp bodkin and a needle or two, to take out picks, are also needful; but he should be particularly careful in so using them as that he do no injury. The best way to avoid this is to draw the bodkin or needle point cautiously in the direction of the lines.

Engravings that are in the vignette form require great attention to keep the edges light and clear, and in general it is necessary to scrape away one or two thicknesses of paper, in order to lighten the impression and keep it clean; for the edges being irregular, and parts, such as small branches of trees, leaves, &c. straggling, for the purpose of giving freedom to the design, they are subject to come off too hard, and are liable to picks, which give great trouble, and are difficult to be kept clear of. Bearers letter-high placed round the block, if they can be applied without the balls touching them, will be found advantageous; if they cannot, pieces of reglet, pasted on the frisket in the usual way, and taking a bearing on the furniture, must be substituted, but the high bearer is to be preferred where it can be adopted; these bearers equalise the pressure on the surface of the engraving, and protect the edges from the severity of the pull, which is always injurious to the delicacy of the external lines. They also render the subject more manageable, by enabling the pressman to add to, or diminish, the pressure on particular parts, so as to produce the desired effect.

When great delicacy of impression is demanded in a vignette, it will be found beneficial, after the engraving is beat with ink, to take a small ball without ink, and beat the extremities: this will not only take away any superfluity of ink, but will be a means of preventing picks, and give to the edges lightness and softness, particularly where distances are represented.

If the extremities are engraved much lighter than the central parts, underlays should be pasted on the middle of the block, which will give a firmer impression to those central parts of the subject: it would save trouble to cause the block to be a little rounded on the face, as it would give facility in obtaining a good impression.

When highly finished engravings on wood are worked separately, woollen cloth, however fine, should never be used for blankets, as it causes too much impression; two thicknesses of stoutish hard smooth paper, in lieu of it, between the tympans is better: sometimes even a piece of glazed pasteboard is used inside the outer tympan. The parchments ought to be in good condition, stretched tight, of a smooth surface, thin, and of regular thickness, so as to enable the pressman to obtain an impression as nearly as possible from the surface only of the engraved lines.

It is indispensably necessary that the balls should be in the best order, the same as for the finest work; and the pressman should be very particular in taking ink, distributing his balls, and beating the block well, otherwise he will not obtain clear, uniform, good impressions. If the block be small, and it is worked by itself, he will find that he can take ink more uniformly in small quantities, by first taking ink with a pair of regular sized balls, and distributing, and then taking ink from them to work his cut with; and this more particularly if he be using a pair of small balls. For this work he ought always to have the best ink that can be procured.

A large wood cut left on the press stone all night is very apt to warp; when this happens, a good method to restore it to its original flatness is to lay it on its face upon the imposing stone, with a few thicknesses of damp paper underneath it, and to place the flat side of a planer upon it, and four or five octavo pages of tied up letter; in the course of a few hours the block will be restored to its original flatness. This method is preferable to steeping the block in water, which has been frequently practised; for the steeping swells the lines of the engraving, and consequently affects the impression to a much greater extent than this operation. For retaining the original effect, as it came from the hands of the artist, I would carefully prevent the block ever being wet with water, and, when it had been worked in a form with types, would take it out before the form was washed.

To prevent this warping during the dinner hour or the night, turn the tympan down upon the form, run the carriage in, and pulling the bar handle home, fasten it to the near cheek by the catch, where there is one, or else by a chain or rope, or by a stay to the bar from the offcheek; in iron presses this way is efficacious.

However long a time boxwood may be kept in the log, it will always twist and warp when cut into slices for engraving, on account of fresh surfaces being exposed to the air: large blocks may be restored to their flatness by laying them on a plane surface, with the hollow side downward, without any weight on them, in the course of a night.

When only a few proofs are wanted from an engraving, good impressions may be obtained with little trouble on dry India paper, with about six thicknesses of the same sort of paper laid over it, and pulled without the tympan. This observation applies to small cuts, and those of a moderate size; if proofs are wanted from large ones, it will be found advantageous to put the India paper for a few minutes into a heap of damp paper.

A fine engraving on wood should never be brushed over with lye: the best method that I have found in practice, is to wipe the ink off with a piece of fine woollen cloth damped with spirits of turpentine; and if it should get foul in working, to clean it with a softish brush and spirits of turpentine. It will be found in practice that spirits of turpentine take off the ink quicker, and affect the wood less, than any other article used; and the facility with which the block is again brought into a working state, more than compensates for the trifling additional expense incurred, as nothing more is required than to wipe the surface dry, and to pull two or three impressions on dry waste paper.

The engravers always show an impression when the block is taken home to their employer; and this impression is taken in a manner, where the subject is not of a large size, such as to produce a superior effect to what a printer can with a press, when he has a number to do, which are generally worked in a form with types, and his price so low for printing, as not to enable him to do justice to the subjects. This causes great dissatisfaction to his employer, and he is unable to remedy the grievance; for the engraver’s proof is obtained by means of a burnisher, with one thickness of paper in addition to that printed on, so that he can examine each part to bring it up where it is required, and leave the others as delicate as he pleases: he thus obtains an impression from the surface only, perfect in all its parts, with the best ink that can be procured; while the printer gives dissatisfaction, because he cannot, in the way of trade, perform impossibilities.

Papillon, in his work on Engraving on Wood, published in 1766, complains of a plan nearly similar being adopted by the French engravers, with which he finds great fault. The following is a translation of the passage:—

“Some engravers on wood have the knack of fabricating the proofs of their engravings far more delicately, and in a more flattering manner than they really ought to be; and this is the means they make use of—they first take off two or three, in order to adjust one of them to their fancy, and which they think will favour their imposition; having selected it, they only beat anew the parts of the block charged with shades and the deeper strokes, in such a manner, that the lighter ones, distances, &c. being only lightly covered with ink, in as far as not being touched in the new beating, they retain no more than what was left by the preceding impression; the result is, that the new proof comes off extremely delicate in those places, and appears pleasing to the eye; but when this block is printed in conjunction with letterpress, the impressions then appear in their natural state, and totally different from that which they presented on delivery of the work. The strokes are of one equal tint, hard, and devoid of softness, and the distances are often less delicate than the foregrounds. I shall risk little by saying that all the three Le Sueurs have made use of this trick.”

The pressman will find it an advantage, if it be necessary to do full justice to an engraving, to have a good impression from the engraver, and place it before him as a pattern, and then arrange the overlays, &c., till he produces a facsimile in effect; but the most valuable lesson will be when he can obtain the assistance of the artist at the press side, to direct him in making ready the cut, and I would advise him by no means to be impatient at the tediousness of the operation, as he will obtain more information how to produce a fine impression by this than by any other means. It will also instruct him how to meet the wishes of the draftsman and the engraver, with regard to effect, in a way superior to any other; and will, with care and attention, ultimately lead him to excellence in printing engravings on wood.

An assertion is now generally promulgated, that machine printing is superior to that of the press, even for engravings on wood, and thus misleading publishers and the public. When I come to speak of machines, and of presses, I will endeavour to show that it is incompatible with the principle of a machine that it can equal a press in producing fine work.

Errand Boy. See Devil.


entrelacs

norm: entrelacs

kind: definition

letter: E

letter_raw: E

text: A method of decorating borders by means of curving garlands and leaves. Their source is Muslim arabesques, with early printed specimens adorning the Historia Romana of Appianus, printed by Erhard Ratdolt of Augsburg in 1477. In their use in book decoration, entrelacs have been used by most French gilders since the 16th century. See also: COTTAGE STYLE; FANFARE STYLE.

siglum: RE

author: Roberts, Matt T.; Etherington, Don

work: Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books: A Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology

rights: US Government publication (Library of Congress), published openly in electronic edition by CoOL. Not a Gutenberg/pre-1930 public-domain text -- verify rights before reprinting rather than quoting.

rights_tier: us-government-flagged

citations: Glaister, Geoffrey Ashall. An encyclopedia of the book. Cleveland. World. 1960.


environment

norm: environment

text: The surrounding conditions or forces that influence or change books or other archival materials, and which include: 1) the entire climatic and biotic factors that act upon materials and ultimately determine their permanence, or lack of it; or 2) the aggregate of use, misuse, or nonuse that influence the permanence of materials. See also: DURABILITY; PERMANENT MATERIALS.

citations: Guldbeck, Per Ernst. The care of historical collections; a conservation handbook for the nonspecialist. Nashville. American Association for State and Local History. 1972.


enzyme

norm: enzyme

text:
A class of complex organic substances that are capable of acting outside of living organisms and can accelerate or catalyze specific chemical transformations, such as the formation of bloom on leather, the tanning of leather (see: BATING), and the modification of native starches in sizing processes.

The rate of an enzymatic reaction depends upon the temperature, pH, substrate concentration, and the presence of activators, co-enzymes, and enzyme inhibitors. The reactions of enzymes usually accelerate with an increase of temperature; however, since enzymes are proteins and are denatured at elevated temperatures, reaction rates increase only to the point where denaturation overcomes the accelerating effect of increasing temperature.

Enzymes exert their influence by combining with the substrate to form an enzyme-substrate complex, which then decomposes to give the products and release the enzyme for further action. Because of this, the rate at which enzyme products are formed depends both on the concentration of the enzyme-substrate complex and the rate of its decomposition. The formation of the complex depends on mass action between the enzyme and the substrate; therefore, taking a given quantity of an enzyme, the complex increases with the quantity sufficient to convert nearly all the enzyme into the complex.

citations: Casey, James P. Pulp and pa per: chemistry and chemical technology. 2nd ed. New York. Interscience. 1960-61. 3 vol.

citations: Kingzett, Charles Thomas. Kingzett's chemical encyclopedia; a digest of chemistry & its industrial applications. Ed. by D. H. Hey, and others. 9th ed. London. Baillière, Tindell and Cassell. 1966.

citations: Sharphouse, John Henry. The leatherworker's handbook. London. Leather Producers' Association. 1963.

citations: Wilson, John Arthur. Modern practice in leather 367. manufacture. New York. Reinhold. 1941.


epidermis

norm: epidermis

text:
A protective, hard-wearing layer of keratinous cells, which, although of varying thickness over the body of the animal, is very thin compared with the underlying DERMIS.

It consists of a continuous mass of cells usually differentiated into the following regions: Stratum corneum, or the uppermost layer, containing dry, dead cells, flattened to form a relatively continuous thin outer membrane skin that is highly cornified or keratinized; Stratum lucidum, which is the region where dying cells are located, and which contain an oily substance that renders them translucent; Stratum granulosum, in which the cells contain large granules; Stratum spinosum, where the cells show marked spines or bridges between each other; Stratum basale, where the cells contain living basal cells called keratinocytes and melanocytes; and the lowest region, the epidermal-dermal junction (often called the basement membrane), which consists of a thin zone of ground substance, containing no fibers, lying between the basal cells and the dermal surface.

The epidermal-dermal layer has little resistance to bacteria and enzymes, and is easily attacked by them, as in enzyme UNHAIRING.

It is also easily disintegrated by alkalis, such as caustic soda, sodium sulfide, etc., which is the basis of common commercial unhairing processes.

The term derives from the Greek "epi" (upon) and "dermis," which had its origins in the Greek "derin" (to flay). See also: LIMING

citations: O'Flaherty, Fred, and others, eds. The chemistry and technology of leather. New York. Reinhold. (American Chemical Society monograph series, no. 134. 1956-65. 4 vol.

citations: Reed, Ronald. Ancient skin, parchments and leathers. London. Seminar Press. 1972.


epithelial tissue

norm: epithelial tissue

text: The cellular tissue that covers all free surfaces within and without an animal's body, and, in the case of skin, is called epidermal tissue. The epithelial tissue affords covering and general protection against light, water and other fluids, bacteria, etc.


epoxy resins

norm: epoxy resins

text: A class of resins produced by the polymerization of epichlorohydrin with diphenylolpropane, and manufactured from phenol and acetone. A range of resins of widely differing molecular weights, e.g., 400 to 6,000, can be produced by varying the proportions of reactants, as well as reaction conditions. Epoxy resins possess exceptional chemical resistance and adhesion. They are usually supplied in two parts, which must be mixed before use. Such resins have limited use equivalent weight in conservation work; however, they are useful where exceptional strength is required, such as in corner rebuilding and box making.

citations: Miall, Laurence Mackenzie, and D. W. A. Sharp, eds. A new dictionary of chemistry. 4th ed. New York. Wiley. 1968.

citations: Skeist, Irving. Handbook of adhesives. New York. Reinhold. 1962.


equivalent weight

norm: equivalent weight

text:
1. The weight of a particular paper of any size expressed in terms of some other size. Equivalent weights are in direct proportion to the areas of single sheets. If the weight of a given size of paper is known, the equivalent weight of the paper of a different size can be calculated by multiplying the known weight of the paper by the area of the paper required and dividing by the known area of the paper:

Weight of paper of which      Area of paper of which

size and weight are known  X  weight is required

-------------------------------------------------    = equivalent weight

Area of paper of known weight

Thus, the weight of a ream of paper 5 x 40 inches in the substance of 30 to 40 inches, 60 pounds per 500 sheets is:

60 X (25 X 40)

-----------

(30 x 40)

= 50 pounds/500 sheets, 25 x 40 inches.

2. In chemistry, equivalent weight is one of the comparative weights of different compounds, elements, or radicals which possess the same chemical value for reaction when compared by reference to the same standard (usually oxygen, i.e., 8).

Parallel lines also outline a center panel. All of the lines, both horizontal and vertical, cross near the extreme ends forming squares at the corners of the covers. The central panel is usually decorated with a pattern made up of small, almost touching, tools, and both borders are similarly decorated with a succession of tools; those of the broad inner one often are interrupted with a scroll bearing the name of the bookbinder. Many bookbinders of the latter half of the 15th century produced these so-called Erfurt bindings, including CONRADUS DE ARGENTINA and JOHANNES FOGEL.

In an acid, the equivalent weight is the quantity which would yield one gram ionic weight of hydrogen ion (1.008 g.), while in a base, it is the quantity which would yield one gram ionic weight of hydroxyl ion (17.008 g.). Thus an equivalent weight of sulfuric acid (H2SO4) is one-half the molecular weight, and an equivalent of aluminum hydroxide (Al(OH)3) would be one-third the molecular weight.

citations: American Paper and Pulp Association. The dictionary of paper, including pulp, paperboard, paper properties and related papermaking terms. 3rd ed. New York. American Paper and Pulp Association. 1965.

citations: British Federation of Master Printers. Preliminary technical course in printing. London. British Federation of Master Printers. 1967. 7 vol.

citations: Gazurian, Johnny A. The advertising & graphic arts glossary. Los Angeles. Los Angeles Trade-Technical College. 1966.

citations: Goldschmidt, Ernst Philip. Gothic and Renaissance bookbindings. 2nd ed. Amsterdam. Israel. 1967. 2 vol.


erasability

norm: erasability

text: That property of a material relating to the ease with which writing or printing can be removed by means of mechanical abrasion, the smoothness and cleanliness of the erased surface, and the reusability of the erased surface.


Erfurt bindings

norm: erfurt bindings

text: A university town in Central Germany. the name of which was applied to 18th century bindings featuring a scheme of decoration in which the entire cover is divided by a double border which encloses a long, narrow panel. The outer border is narrow, with a broad inner border separated from it by several parallel lines.


errata

norm: errata

variant: erratum

text: Errors or omissions in writing or printing, generally restricted to typographical errors, but sometimes including imperfections in either presswork or binding. They are usually printed on a separate slip or leaf and placed among the preliminaries, or added to an existing page of type at the beginning or end of the book. Errata sheets must frequently be tipped in by the library or the binder.

citations: Carter, John. A B C for book collectors. 5th ed. London. Hart Davis. 1972.


ERRATA

text: A list of errors that have escaped both the author and the printer. It is generally printed in a small type at the end of the work. It should always be kept down, and never brought out in a prominent manner. Some authors seem partial to extend the errata, by noticing the most trifling mistakes, such for instance as a turned letter, and adding corrections of the writing and of misstatements of facts, as well as new facts which may have arisen; and all under the name errata, as if they were entirely the errors of the printer; in this case they ought to be styled Corrections and Additions. In my opinion, there is no occasion to insert in the errata any thing that does not affect the sense. Mr. Beloe, in his Anecdotes of Literature, states that “the book which is distinguished by the greatest number of errata on record, is that containing the works of Pica Mirandula, printed at Strasburgh in 1507, by a printer of the name of Knoblouch. The errata of this volume occupy no less than fifteen folio pages.”

siglum: DAP

author: Savage, William

work: A Dictionary of the Art of Printing

rights: Public domain (Project Gutenberg, pre-1930 text)

rights_tier: public-domain


esparto grass

norm: esparto grass

text:
A coarse grass, native to Southern Spain and Northern Africa, obtained from two species, Lygeum spartum and Stipa tenacissima, and used in the manufacture of paper. Esparto fibers have thick walls and are short, normally less than 3 mm in length, with an average length of 1.5 mm. The fiber diameter varies from about 0.005 to 0.015 mm, with an average of about 0.012 mm, giving a length to diameter ratio of 125 : 1. The fibers also tend to be curved. One of the principal characteristics of esparto is its hairs, which are located on the inner surface of the leaf. Looking something like commas, they are commonly referred to as "comma hairs." They are also called tooth cells since they also somewhat resemble teeth. In addition to the hairs, small cells with serrated edges, appearing something like miniature concertinas, are present. Both hairs and cells have a length of less than about 0.06 mm. The best grade of esparto grass is known as Spanish, while the cheaper grade (from Africa) is called Tripoli.

Introduced in England in 1850 by T. Routledge, esparto is used extensively in Great Britain, but is seldom employed in the United States, mainly because of the cost of transporting the grass or pulp made from it. In England, it is employed principally in the production of better grades of book paper.

The presence of esparto in paper is determined by the iodine-zinc chloride test, which stains deep violet, or by boiling the specimen in a 1% solution of aniline sulfate, which turns the paper pink in the presence of the grass. Also called "alfa grass," "halfa grass," and "Spanish grass." See also: ESPARTO PAPER,

citations: Grant, Julius. Books & documents; dating, permanence and preservation. London. Grafton. 1937.

citations: Langwell, William Herbert. The conservation of books and documents. London. Pitman. 1957


esparto paper

norm: esparto paper

text: A paper produced from ESPARTO (GRASS) pulp, usually in a mixture with a relatively small amount of chemical wood pulp. Esparto is generally used in the manufacture of better grades of printing papers (those containing 90 to 95% esparto, the balance being chemical wood). Esparto helps provide better formation and a good bulk for a given basis weight. The paper takes ink readily, presents minimum problems with regard to shrinkage and stretch, has excellent folding properties, and does not tend to dust or fluff during printing. Its major shortcoming is its low strength, which is due to its relatively short fiber length.


esparto wax

norm: esparto wax

text: A yellowish-white WAX obtained from waste liquors in the preparation of ESPARTO (GRASS) pulp.


essential oil

norm: essential oil

text: A naturally occurring volatile liquid, formed in various parts of plant life, principally in the leaves, flowers, or fruit. The main constituents are the terpines, i.e., hydrocarbons which generally have the empirical formula C10H16, and their derivatives. They also contain alcohols, aldehydes, esters, ketones, as well as compounds containing nitrogen and sulfur. Essential oils are volatile in steam, have characteristic odors, and leave no oily marks on paper. They are virtually insoluble in water but are soluble in alcohol and ether. Many are susceptible to oxidation in the presence of air or oxygen. They are obtained by steam distillation or by extraction.


esters

norm: esters

text: Organic compounds formed by the union of an acid and an alcohol (or a phenol) with the elimination of water, and which during HYDROLYSIS break down to these component parts. An ester may also be regarded simply as an organic acid. Esters may be specified either by constituents (e.g., ethyl silicate may be considered to be the silicone ester or ethyl alcohol), or by the ethyl ester or silicic acid. Esters are sometimes used to remove fat and grease stains from paper, and, less frequently, to inhibit bookworms.

citations: Mayer, Ralph. A dictionary of art terms and techniques. New York. Crowell. 1969.


ether

norm: ether

text: A colorless liquid ((CH5)2O), with a pleasant, characteristic odor. It is highly volatile and its vapor, which is strongly narcotic, forms an explosive mixture with air. It is soluble in water to 7%. soluble in strong sulfuric and hydrochloric acids, and miscible with many organic solvents. Ether is manufactured by passing alcohol vapor into a mixture of 92% alcohol and 67% sulfuric acid at 128 C. It may also be produced as a byproduct in the manufacture of alcohol and ethylene. It is used as a solvent.


ETHIOPIC

norm: ethiopic

text:
The Ethiopic language is descended from the Hebrew, yet approaching nearer to the Arabic than to any other of the Semitic languages. It observes the order of reading and writing from left to right, in common with the other languages of the same origin. It has twenty-six characters peculiar to itself, of which the order, figure, name, and power are as follow:—

Of these ጰ: and ፐ: are used only in words of Greek and Latin origin. In expressing Arabic these seven, ሰ: ተ: ነ: ከ: ዘ: ደ: ጠ:, and in Portuguese and Italian these three, መ: በ: and ለ:, are made use of with the addition of certain horns.

Moreover, none of the above letters are connected, except ገ:, which, in the name of God, sometimes coalesces with ዘ:, in this manner ዘ:, as ለዘለበሐረ:

The power of the letters approaches nearest to those which have been added, whence it appears that ሀ: ሐ: and ኀ:, also ሠ: and ሰ:, also አ: and ዐ:, and lastly ጸ: and ፀ:, are generally pronounced in the same manner, which causes no small confusion in writing, as one cognate letter is often put for another, so that it should always be borne in mind in looking for a word in the lexicon, that if it is not to be found under one letter, we should continue our researches under the cognate.

These four ቀ:, ጠ:, ጰ:, and ጸ: or ፀ:, have a sound altogether at variance with European custom, and the correct pronunciation can only be learnt by hearing. But one destitute of a preceptor may approach nearer to their genuine sounds, by first prefixing to each the power of the vowel i, thus, ik, it, ip, iz, and afterwards, having substituted in its place an apostrophe, he may add the vowels, in this manner ’k-a, ’k-e, ’k-i, &c., and similarly with ’t-a, ’p-a, ’z-a, &c.

In Ethiopic the numbers are not represented by the letters, but by certain peculiar figures formed apparently from the Greek letters, and which are included within two small lines, in the following manner:—

The other numbers are compounded from these, the greater being always placed first, as as ፲፩: 11. ፲፪: 12. &c. ፳፩: 21. ፳፪: 22. &c. ፻፩: 101. ፻፪:102.

In Ethiopic the vowels are not expressed by particular letters, as in the European, or by separate points, as in the Oriental languages, but by certain small lines or circles annexed to the top, middle, or bottom of the letters themselves, or by the shortening or lengthening of one of the strokes, which changes are in number seven; whence arise so many orders of letters, or rather of syllables, of which the first is considered as the simple figure, and the remainder as compound, and are read—the first by a short, the second by u, the third by i, the fourth by a long, the fifth by e long, the sixth by e or y short, and the seventh by o; in this manner:

The diphthongs are formed not only by the letters ው: and ይ:, mutes of the sixth order, after a letter of the first or fourth order, as, for instance, አውራኀ: months, ተሠይመ it is appointed; but also the four letters ቀ: ኀ: ከ: and ገ: with the addition of certain peculiar points, are generally considered to form diphthongs in the first, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth orders, in this manner:

In Ethiopic each separate word is distinguished by two thick points, and the periods by four or more; there are no marks of accentuation.

The preceding observations are extracted from a small treatise on the elements of Ethiopic grammar by George Otho, professor of the Greek and Oriental languages at Marburg in Hesse Cassel, with an acknowledgment of being indebted for his information to Ludolph; and bound in connexion with the “Fundamenta Punctationis Linguæ Sanctæ” of Jacob Alting, printed at Frankfort on the Main, in 2 vols., 1717.

Ethiopic Types in the British Founderies.

English.—Oxford University. Thorowgood & Besley. Formerly Bynneman’s.

Pica.—Caslon & Livermore. Thorowgood & Besley. Walton’s Polyglot; through Andrews’s and James’s founderies to Fry.

caption: The Ethiopic Alphabet

alt: The Ethiopic Alphabet

credit: William Savage, A Dictionary of the Art of Printing, 1841

caption: Ethiopic numerals

alt: Ethiopic numerals

caption: Ethiopic vowels

alt: Ethiopic vowels

caption: Ethiopic diphthongs

alt: Ethiopic diphthongs


ethyl acetate

norm: ethyl acetate

text: A colorless, volatile, highly flammable liquid ester (CH3CO2C2H5), prepared from ethyl alcohol and acetic acid. It is used as a solvent and is not dangerously toxic if handled properly.

citations: Book Production. Tricks of the trade. New York. Bookbinding and Book Production. 1944.


ethylene dichloride

norm: ethylene dichloride

text: A colorless, toxic liquid (C2H4Cl2), with an odor much like that of chloroform. It is prepared by the vapor- or liquid-phase reaction of ethylene and chlorine in the presence of a suitable catalyst. It finds some use as a solvent and is employed in the manufacture of vinyl chloride and in the fumigation of books.


ETRUSCAN

norm: etruscan

text:
The confines of ancient Etruria bordered closely upon the city of Rome, being separated from it only by the Tyber to the south-east and south. There is proof, indeed, that almost all Italy was at one time under the power of Etruria.

Although the Etrurians seem to have arrived at the highest point of civilization, and even of luxury, at an early period, whilst Rome had as yet no existence, and to have been distinguished in a variety of respects far beyond the people of surrounding nations, we are almost wholly ignorant of their history, and even their origin is involved in the greatest doubt.

The people of Etruria, called by the Romans Etrusci or Tusci, are styled Tyrrheni or Tyrseni by the Greek historians.

The difficulties of the Etruscan question are increased by a difference of statement and of opinion in the accounts recorded on the subject, by Herodotus and Dionysius, two of the greatest antiquaries and historians of ancient times.

Herodotus, who, says Athenæus (lib. xii.), obtained his account from Lydians, gives to the Tyrrheni a Lydian origin, and states that they emigrated under the command of Tyrrhenus, one of the sons of Atys: while Dionysius, partly because Xanthus, an historian of Lydia, is silent respecting this emigration, will not allow the tradition to be true, but imagines them to have come from the north. It is not improbable that both are in part correct: the earlier portion of the Etrurians might have come from the north, while the later colony (who must have been advanced in civilization to have effected the voyage) might have been Lydians; and in all probability these subsequent settlers constituted the dominant portion of the invaders of Etruria.—Sir William Gell’s Topography of Rome, 8vo. 1834.

The Etruscan language must have been the same, or nearly so, with the Hebrew and Phœnician. For, whether we consider them as descended from Ashur, Peleg, the Egyptians, Phœnicians, or even Celtes, and from some of these they undoubtedly descended, their language must have been either the same with the Hebrew and Phœnician, or nearly related to them. The first Pelasgic settlements in Etruria could not have been many centuries after the deluge, and very few after the dispersion; and at that time the languages, or rather dialects, of the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Celtes, Syrians, Arabs, &c., must have approached extremely near to the Hebrews and Phœnicians, which the learned allow to have been almost the same. With regard to the Canaanites or Phœnicians migrating into Etruria, after the first colonies of the Pelasgi or Tyrsenians settled there, it cannot be denied, that their language had received but little alteration from the primitive Hebrew. So that both sacred and profane history concur to evince the Hebrew, Phœnician, and Etruscan tongues to have been, in the earlier ages, nearly the same.

This likewise farther appears from the letters and manner of writing anciently used in Etruria. The letters are almost the same with those of the earliest Greeks, brought by Cadmus out of Phœnicia. The manner of writing is purely Oriental, the letters being drawn from the right hand to the left, consonant to the practice of the Eastern nations. The former point is rendered indisputably clear by the Eugubian tables, in conjunction with the Sigean inscription, and the latter by a bare perusal of the generality of the Etruscan inscriptions. Nay, the very remote antiquity of the first colonies that settled in Etruria, as well as of the Etruscan language and alphabet, may be easily inferred from those inscriptions. For as the Pelasgic alphabet, that prevailed in Greece before the age of Deucalion, consisted of sixteen letters, the Etruscan or Pelasgic alphabet, first brought into Italy, composed of only thirteen letters, must have preceded the reign of that prince. The high, not to say almost incredible, antiquity of the Etruscan language and alphabet, has been clearly evinced in two dissertations, by Mr. J. Swinton, printed at Oxford in the year 1746.—Univ. Hist. 8vo. vol. xvi. 1748.

The author of a “Tour to the Sepulchres of Etruria, in 1839,” in a visit to General Galassi’s museum at Rome, says, “If we had been surprised at Campanari’s exhibition, we were petrified at the general’s. Here we saw an immense breastplate of gold, which had been fastened on each shoulder by a most delicately wrought gold fibula, with chains like those now made at Trichinopoly. The breastplate was stamped with a variety of arabesques and small patterns, as usual in the Egyptian style. The head had been crowned with fillets and circular ornaments of pure gold, and a rich mantle had covered the body, flowered with the same material. In this grave also had been found a quantity of arms, round bronze shields with a boss in the centre which was stamped, spears, lances, and arrows; a bier of bronze, as perfect as if made a year ago; a tripod, with a vessel containing some strange looking lumps of a resinous substance, and which on being burnt proved to be perfumes so intensely strong, that those who tried them were obliged to leave the room. There were many small images, perhaps of lares, or of ancestors, in terra cotta that had been ranged in double lines close to the bier; also some large common vessels for wine and oil, and some finely painted vases and tazze, with black figures upon a red ground, which had been consecrated to the dead. There were wheels of a car upon which the bier had been brought into the sepulchre, and many other things which I do not remember; but the wonder of all these treasures was a sort of inkstand of terra cotta, which had served as a schoolmaster’s A. B. C. On it were the Etruscan letters, first in alphabet, and then in syllables, and both the letters and the syllables are the same as the oldest form of the Greek. It was deciphered by Dr. Lepsius, and is the key to all we at present know, and will be the basis of all we are ever likely to know, of the Etruscan tongue.”——“This humble article is likely to prove to Europe, what the stones of Alexandria and Rosetta have been before it, the dictionary of a lost language, and the interpreter of an extinct race.”

“I noted that upon this inkstand were four alphabets engraved, and after each the syllables,—thus, ba, be, bi, &c., ma, me, mi, and so forth; that one of these is in the oldest or archaic form of the Greek alphabetic letters, and that hence connexion is likely to be traced and demonstrated between the Egyptian, Etruscan, and Pelasgic.”

The Primitive Etruscan Alphabet.

To these letters may be added the four following complex characters [#], [#], [#], and [#].

Etruscan in the British Founderies.

Pica.—Caslon and Livermore. Cut by Caslon for the celebrated linguist, the Rev. John Swinton, Oxford, about 1733.

caption: The Etruscan Alphabet

alt: The Etruscan Alphabet


Etruscan calf

norm: etruscan calf

variant: Etruscan style

text:
A method of decorating calfskin bindings by acid staining, so called because of the contrasting colors or shades of leather (light brown or terra cotta) in conjunction with dark brown or black tooling. The terra cotta shades and decoration represent Greek and Etruscan vases. Etruscan bindings usually have a rectangular panel on each cover, or, occasionally, a plain oval with a classical urn in the center. They are tooled in black, surrounded by a border of Greek palmate leaves, which are also in black. and with outer borders of classical design (Grecian key or Doric entablature) tooled in gold. The spines are also decorated with classical ornaments.

Many 19th century authorities attributed this style to John Whitaker: however, it seems more likely that it was the creation of William EDWARDS OF HALIFAX.

There appears to be no very conclusive evidence as to the origin of the style, but it is known that Edwards employed it at an early date, circa 1785. It was popular during the period 1785-1820.

citations: Coutts, Henry T., and George A. Stephen. Manual of library bookbinding; practical and historical. London. Libraco. 1911.

citations: Crane, W. J. E. Bookbinding for amateurs…New York. Scribner. 1903.

citations: Harthan, John P. Bookbindings. 2nd ed. London. H. M. Stationery Office. (Victoria & Albert Museum illustrated booklet no. 2). 1961.

citations: Prideaux, Sarah Treverbian. An historical sketch of bookbinding. London. Lawrence & Bullen. 1893.


Eucalyptus

norm: eucalyptus

text:
A tree of the genus Eucalyptus, which has some 600 or more species, including many with bark rich in tannin. It is believed that only in Australia (to which the trees are indigenous) has the bark been exploited on a large scale, and then entirely from trees growing in the wild.

One particular bark, called Mallet (maletto) bark, obtained from Eucalyptus astringens, is actually one of the world's richest tannin-containing barks, having a tannin content that is often well over 40%, and even as high as 52 to 55. Another tree, mugga, or red ironbark (E. sideroxylon), which is also grown commercially in Morocco, has bark containing 30 to as much as 45% tannin.

While the tanning properties of eucalyptus are good, the tannin tends to produce leather that is too darkish red in color. In addition, Mallet bark is low in soluble non-tans (8%) and therefore must be mixed with other tannins or acids to induce swelling or good plumping; mugga tannin fixes slowly giving a leather that is too soft and also dark red in color. See also: VEGETABLE TANNINS.

citations: Frank Norman. Howes, Frank Norman. Vegetable tanning materials. London. Butterworth. 1953.


Eve style

norm: eve style

text: A framework of various geometrical-shaped compartments linked together by interlaced circles; the centers of the compartments are filled with small floral ornaments and the irregular spaces surrounding them with circular scrolls and branches of laurel and palm. An elaborate style of the end of the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth century.

siglum: NBL

author: Bailey, Arthur L.

work: Notes on Bookbinding for Libraries


EVEN LINES

norm: even lines

text: When a piece of printing has to be executed in great haste, a number of compositors are employed on it, and the copy is cut into small pieces for each, to facilitate the making-up, imposing, and the general furthering of the work; if the copy should be in long paragraphs, the compositors have each to begin a line and to make their copy end a line, frequently with great irregularity of spacing; this is termed making even lines. In daily newspapers it is of constant occurrence.


EVEN PAGE

norm: even page

text:
The second, fourth, sixth, or any other even numbered page is called an even page.

Exclamation, Note of. See Punctuation.


EVEN PAGE

text: The 2d, 4th, 6th, or any even-numbered page of a book.

siglum: AMP

author: MacKellar, Thomas

work: The American Printer: A Manual of Typography


exceptional volume

norm: exceptional volume

text: A term used by the Library Binding Institute to indicate types of books—such as music scores, certain art books, periodicals with narrow binding margins or stiff paper— which require good openability. The Institute specifies that such volumes should be sewn through the folds: when such sewing is used, any weak folds are to be reinforced with bond paper (which is too heavy for this type of guarding): loose leaves are to be hinged, and the sewing done on tapes or (sawn-in) cords. The term applies only to library binding.

citations: Library Association. Library Binding Institute standard for library binding. 5th ed. Boston. Library Binding Institute. 1971.


excitation purity

norm: excitation purity

text: A colorimetric quantity used in designating depth of color.


EXERCISING THE PELT

norm: exercising the pelt

text: Frequently currying a pelt, to get it into condition, is termed Exercising the Pelt, or Giving the Pelt Exercise.


expandable cloth

norm: expandable cloth

text: A type of cloth woven with a crinkled cross-thread and used for lining the spines of books, usually in edition binding. The cloth expands with the spine during rounding and backing. See also: STEAMSET.

citations: Glaister, Geoffrey Ashall. An encyclopedia of the book. Cleveland. World. 1960.


expanding medium

norm: expanding medium

text: See: MARBLING SIZE.


expansion

norm: expansion

text: A change in the dimensions of a sheet or strip of paper or board resulting from atmospheric changes. See also: HYGROEXPANSIVITY.


extended

norm: extended

text: 1. An addition to the inner or binding margin of a leaf of a book. This procedure is more often required for title leaves, plates, the last leaves of a book, etc., than elsewhere, as these are most likely to become detached, frayed, or otherwise damaged. Occasionally, however, if a book has to be made up from a narrower copy, the narrow leaves may be extended so that their outer edges are even with the other leaves. 2. See: EXTRA-ILLUSTRATED.


extended cover

norm: extended cover

variant: extension cover

text: A term used in pamphlet binding to indicate covers which extend beyond the trimmed edges of the leaves, as distinguished from CUT FLUSH. See also: SQUARES; YAPP STYLE.


extender

norm: extender

text: 1. In the adhesive industry, a substance, usually one of some adhesive capability, which is mixed into an adhesive in order to increase the amount of the adhesive, and also at times to reduce CRAZING (1). 2. A transparent or semi-transparent chemical added in powder form to a printing ink, either to alter the strength of its color or to improve working properties.

citations: Skeist, Irving. Handbook of adhesives. New York. Reinhold. 1962.


extensibility

norm: extensibility

text: The extent to which a material, e.g., rubber, leather, etc., can be stretched without breaking. See also: STRETCH.

citations: American Paper and Pulp Association. The dictionary of paper, including pulp, paperboard, paper properties and related papermaking terms. 3rd ed. New York. American Paper and Pulp Association. 1965.


extension tabs

norm: extension tabs

text: The leather. cloth or paper tabs made to extend from the fore edges of the leaves of books. usually for indexing purposes. See also: INDEX TAB.

citations: Pleger, John J. Bookbinding. Rev. ed. Chicago. Inland Printer. 1924.


extra account-book binding

norm: extra account-book binding

text:
An English expression for a particular style of BLANKBOOK BINDING distinguished by an overall superior binding structure, including the taping of six sections at front and back, sewing by hand on webbings, made endpapers with leather joints, marbled edges, a calfskin or cowhide lining, a drawn-on SPRING-BACK (1) of millboard. split boards. and a calfskin or cowhide covering, with Russia bands. See also: BANDING;

STATIONERY BINDING.

citations: Vaughan, Alexander J. Modern bookbinding; a treatise covering both letterpress and stationery branches of the trade…New ed. London. Skilton. 1960.


extra binder

norm: extra binder

text: A somewhat archaic term for a craftsman who uses the best materials available and employs only techniques of forwarding known to be sound. An extra binder often decorates his bindings with a design created specifically for the particular book.

citations: Harrod, Leonard Montague. The librarians' glossary of terms used in librarianship and the book crafts, and reference book. 3rd ed. London. Deutsch. 1971.


extra binding

norm: extra binding

text: A term originally applied to the binding of books in full leather, usually morocco, in which the best materials and workmanship were used throughout. The term also implied extra care in finishing and extensive use of gold tooling. Today the term is used more loosely and is applied to a book or small lot of books bound with some special care, with attention not only to utility but to beauty of design and workmanship.

citations: Carter, John. A B C for book collectors. 5th ed. London. Hart Davis. 1972.

citations: Strauss, Victor. The printing industry…Washington, D.C. Printing Industries in America. 1967.


extra binding

text: a trade term for the best work.

siglum: BCB

author: Cockerell, Douglas

work: Bookbinding, and the Care of Books


extra calf

norm: extra calf

text: An obsolete term applied to a book covered in a better grade of calfskin in lieu of morocco.


extra check binding

norm: extra check binding

text: An obsolete term applied to a style of binding in which the leaves were wire-stitched or stabbed and bound in full canvas or cloth, or quarter-bound in leather with cloth sides.


extra cloth

norm: extra cloth

text: An obsolete term for a superior grade of book cloth, made of a base of cotton, starch-filled on the reverse side and color-filled rather than dyed. It was made in both a plain finish and in a variety of patterns, the heavy color coating concealing the weave of the fabric and giving a solid color effect. See also: BUCKRAM,


extra gilt

norm: extra gilt

text: A term sometimes applied to elaborate gold tooling on the spine and covers of a leather binding.


extra high bulk book paper

norm: extra high bulk book paper

text: A book paper which, in a basis weight of 45 pounds (25 X 38 — 500), bulks 344 pages or fewer to the inch under a pressure of 35 pounds per square inch.


Extra thick

norm: extra thick

text: A term used by library binders to indicate a book greater than a stated specified thickness, usually 2 1/2 inches. The significance of the term is that library binders generally impose an additional charge for each inch or fraction thereof in excess of the prescribed "normal" thickness.


extra time

norm: extra time

text: An hourly charge imposed by a binder or bindery, in the latter example, usually a library binder, for excessive repairs, mending, guarding, scoring, etc., beyond the extent considered "normal" for the average book. "Extra time" would normally apply to operations involved in sewing a book through the folds instead of oversewing. It may also apply to the repair and/or cleaning of water- or smoke-damaged books, or other unusual and/ or time consuming work. "Extra time" is not meant to be applied in cases of regular work involved in library binding, e.g., collating.


extra-illustrated

norm: extra-illustrated

text: A book illustrated by means of engravings, variant title pages, and the like, which were not included in the book by the publisher, but added later. This additional matter may consist of original drawings, manuscripts, etc., but it may also consist of leaves taken from other books. The added material may be mounted, inlaid, or trimmed to conform to the size of the other leaves of the book. Also called "Grangerized" (a term derived from the vogue begun by the publication of James Granger's Biographical history of England, in 1769, in which Granger had blank leaves included so that the owner could insert desired illustrations).


extracted bone glue

norm: extracted bone glue

text: See: BONE GLUE.


eyelet

norm: eyelet

text: A fastener, made of plastic or metal, and used on looseleaf papers, stiff covers, etc. to protect apertures from tearing o ut where cords, thongs, or fasteners are inserted.


eyelet crusher

norm: eyelet crusher

text: A hand-operated, pliers-like device used for fastening a reinforcing grommet in an eyelet.


eyelet punch

norm: eyelet punch

text: A punch and die used to make eyelets in cloth, leather or paper, generally for hanging purposes.


eyeletting

norm: eyeletting

text: The process of reinforcing punched holes with plastic or metal grommets. This work is generally done by firms specializing in calendar work, and the like. <!-- BEGIN F -->


f

norm: f

letter: F

letter_raw: F

text: Abbreviation for feint, which, when applied to ruling, signifies feint ruling, i.e., the fine, pale horizontal lines ruled on a sheet of blankbook paper by means of a ruling machine; vertical feint lines would be indicated by d. & f. (q.v.), or downs and feints.

citations: Porte, Roy Trewin. Dictionary of printing terms. 4th ed. Salt Lake City. Porte. 1941.


f.t.p

text: Abbreviation of folded, trimmed, and packed, a term applied to books, pamphlets, etc., to indicate that the printed sheets have been folded, trimmed and packed for shipment, usually to a bookbinder.


fabric

norm: fabric

text: See: BOOK CLOTH; CLOTH.


fabric bindings

norm: fabric bindings

text: A general term occasionally applied to a binding having a covering material consisting mainly of cloth. Specifically, the term refers to EMBROIDERED BINDINGS.


fabric book cloth

norm: fabric book cloth

text: A term sometimes applied to a BOOK CLOTH that has had its reverse side surfaced with a soy-bean starch, and which is not calendered. The starch prevents adhesive penetration, while at the same time preserving the natural texture of the fabric.


fabrikoid

norm: fabrikoid

text: The trade name for a type of pyroxylin-coated BOOK CLOTH, although it is also at times used in a general sense. In the early period of its use, it was often referred to as IMITATION LEATHER.

citations: Klinefelter, Lee Miller. Bookbinding made easy. Rev. ed. Milwaukee. Bruce. 1960.


FAC

norm: fac

text:
Before the introduction of printing into Europe, and its application to the production of books, the Librarii or writers of books, in Rome, were a regular company who had several immunities: their business was a trade, and they were regulated by certain laws. Besides these writers of books, there were artists whose profession was to ornament and paint manuscripts, who were called Illuminators; the writers of books first finished their part, and the illuminators embellished them with ornamented letters and paintings. We frequently find blanks left in manuscripts for the illuminators which were never filled up. Some of the ancient manuscripts are gilt and burnished in a style superior to later times. Their colours were excellent, and their skill in preparing them was very great.

This practice, of introducing ornaments, drawings, emblematical figures, and even portraits into manuscripts, is of great antiquity. Varro wrote the lives of seven hundred illustrious Romans, which he enriched with their portraits, as Pliny attests in his Natural History. Pomponius Atticus, the friend of Cicero, was the author of a work on the actions of the great men amongst the Romans, which he ornamented with their portraits, as appears in his life by Cornelius Nepos; but these have not been transmitted to posterity. However there are many precious documents remaining, which exhibit the advancement and decline of the arts in different ages and countries. These inestimable paintings and illuminations, display the manners, customs, habits, ecclesiastical, civil, and military, weapons and instruments of war, utensils and architecture of the ancients; they are of the greatest use in illustrating many important facts, relating to the history of the times in which they were executed. In these treasures of antiquity are preserved a great number of specimens of Grecian and Roman art, which were executed before the arts and sciences fell into neglect and contempt. The manuscripts containing these specimens, form a valuable part of the riches preserved in the principal libraries of Europe. The Royal, Cottonian, and Harleian libraries, as also those in the two Universities in England, the Vatican at Rome, the Imperial at Vienna, the Royal at Paris, St. Mark’s at Venice, and many others.

When the art of printing was first applied in Europe to the production of books, they were in imitation of, and sold as, manuscripts; and blanks were left at the commencement of the respective divisions of the work, for the illuminator to fill in with the proper letters, and ornaments, as was usual in manuscripts, and so close was the imitation that, even in our own time, it has required the assistance of a chemical test to ascertain which was manuscript and which was printed. When the secret of printing was divulged, and the deception could not be continued, ornamental letters of a large size were introduced, and printed with two colours, generally red and blue, the letter being of one colour, and flourishes, extending the whole length of the page, in the other, so as to have the appearance of being done with a pen; then succeeded various grotesque figures, in attitudes to resemble letters; afterwards small Roman Capital Letters, with ornaments round them forming a square design; subsequently the block was pierced so that any letter could be introduced, and the ornamented part could be used for any initial; the next descent was for the letter founders to cast the ornament in type metal, and pierce it for general use, and these cast ornaments for letters were called Facs, as an abbreviation, I believe, for Facsimile. The last descent was to the extreme, to put a plain Roman Capital Letter, frequently extending four or five lines in depth; and this is the substitute for a beautiful coloured drawing.


face

norm: face

text: 1. That part of a cowhide, between the ears and eyes to the nose, excluding the cheeks. It is of no use in bookbinding, and is actually generally removed before tanning. It is used in the manufacture of glue. 2. That part of a type character that appears in relief on the printing end of the type and which produces the impression in printing, blocking, etc. 3. The printing surface of a plate. 4. A particular design or style of a font of type. See also: TYPE FACE.

citations: Gazurian, Johnny A. The advertising & graphic arts glossary. Los Angeles. Los Angeles Trade-Technical College. 1966.

citations: Wilson, John Arthur. Modern practice in leather 367. manufacture. New York. Reinhold. 1941.


FACE OF A LETTER

norm: face of a letter

text: The surface of that extremity of the type which bears the letter.


Face of a Page

norm: face of a page

text: or Form.* The Superficies of a *Page* or *Form*, where the *Faces* of every *Letter* lies in the same Plain.

siglum: MOX

author: Moxon, Joseph

work: Moxon's Mechanick Exercises, Volume 2


FACE OF A PAGE,

norm: face of a page,

text: or Form. The superficies of a page or form, where the faces of every letter lie in the same plain.—M.


faced

norm: faced

text: A method of folding used for books made up of DUPLEX (1) paper, in which the sheets are folded in such a manner that the same shades face each other throughout the volume. It is a term used mainly with reference to the binding of blankbooks, which are frequently made up of duplex papers.

citations: Hasluck, Paul Nooncree, ed. Bookbinding. Philadelphia. McKay. 1903.


faced cloth

norm: faced cloth

text: A cloth that is finished (coated and glazed) on one side only. As only one side of the cloth used in covering books is visible when on the book, most book cloths are "faced," in distinction to those in which the cloths are finished on both sides.

citations: Philip, Alexander John. The business of bookbinding for librarians …Gravesend. A. J. Philip. 1935.


facsimile binding

norm: facsimile binding

text: A bookbinding which closely resembles a binding style of previous times. See also: CONTEMPORARY BINDING. (2)


facsimile leaf

norm: facsimile leaf

text: A leaf (or leaves) prepared so as to closely imitate and replace that missing from a book, usually an older and generally valuable book.


facsimilist

norm: facsimilist

text: One who restores a book or binding in such a manner that it retains its contemporary appearance. See also: CONTEMPORARY BINDING.


fadeometer

norm: fadeometer

text: An accelerated aging testing device which exposes samples of colored materials or coatings to a carbon arc to determine their resistance to fading. The arc emits an intense actinic light which in a matter of hours approximates the destructive effect of a much longer period of ordinary daylight. Although it does not exactly duplicate the effect of prolonged exposure to natural light, it is still an effective indicator of the degree of light stability that can be expected of a material, and of the comparative resistance to fading of a number of samples. See also: ACCELERATED AGING TEST.

citations: Casey, James P. Pulp and pa per: chemistry and chemical technology. 2nd ed. New York. Interscience. 1960-61. 3 vol.

citations: Mayer, Ralph. A dictionary of art terms and techniques. New York. Crowell. 1969.


fading

norm: fading

text:
The gradual loss of color of a pigment or dye that is chemically unstable. Unstable dyes or pigments become colorless (or at least less highly colored) compounds when they undergo chemical reactions upon exposure to the ultraviolet radiations of natural light, and to the oxygen, moisture, and other elements of the atmosphere. Dyes and pigments subject to these reactions are generally referred to as FUGITIVE COLORS.

There is no known way of preventing the fading of unstable colors.

citations: Grant, Julius. Books & documents; dating, permanence and preservation. London. Grafton. 1937.


fair agate

norm: fair agate

text: A marble pattern consisting principally of black in small widely spaced spots, supplemented by large drops produced by sprinkling potash on the marbling size.

citations: Hannett, John. An inquiry into the nature and form of the books of the ancients…London. Groombridge. 1837.


fair calf

norm: fair calf

text: See: LAW CALF.


fall in

norm: fall in

text: The condition of a book in which the spine has collapsed inward after some use, usually because of inadequate or improper rounding, backing, lining of the spine, or combinations thereof.

citations: Town, Laurence. Bookbinding by hand, for students and craftsmen. New York. Pitman. 1950 (1951).


FALLING OUT

norm: falling out

text:
The same as Dropping out, which see. But this term is more generally applied to a page, a quarter, or a whole form, when any one of them falls out of a chase from the shrinking of the quoins and furniture.

In summer time particularly, forms in chase require to be frequently examined, and the quoins tightened, to prevent this accident, and more especially when they have been imposed in wet furniture. Compositors should neither be negligent, nor forgetful of this, as in the progress of a work the forms are in their charge, and if the whole of a form, or part of it, falls out, they not only have to distribute the pie, but to recompose the matter gratuitously.


false back

norm: false back

text: A somewhat misleading term applied to a HOLLOW BACK.

citations: Diehl, Edith. Bookbinding; its background and technique. New York. Rinehart. 1946. 2 vol.


false bands

norm: false bands

text: The imitation raised cords (bands) found on some books. They consist of narrow strips of leather (or other material, e.g., vellum) attached directly to the hollow of the cover, or in the case of a tight back binding, directly to the spine of the book. The false bands stand out in imitation of a book sewn on raised cords. In England, they were introduced as early as the 17th century. Cf: HUBS. See also: FLEXIBLE SEWING.

citations: Glaister, Geoffrey Ashall. An encyclopedia of the book. Cleveland. World. 1960.

citations: Horne, Herbert Percy. The binding of books; an essay in the history of gold-tooled bindings. 2nd ed. New York. Haskell House. 1970.


fan style

norm: fan style

text: A style of decorating a book characteristic of Italian bindings of the 17th century, and also Scottish bindings of the 18th century (usually referred to as Scottish "wheel" bindings). In this style a design in the likeness of a fan is tooled on the covers of the book making a full circle in the center of the cover, and often quarter circles in the corners. It represents a development of center and cornerpiece bindings. See also: SCOTTISH STYLE.

citations: Harrod, Leonard Montague. The librarians' glossary of terms used in librarianship and the book crafts, and reference book. 3rd ed. London. Deutsch. 1971.

citations: Toldo, Vittorio de. The Italian art of bookbinding. London. Batsford. (Monographs of decorative arts, 3). 1925.


fancy Dutch marble

norm: fancy dutch marble

text: A modification of the WAVE MARBLE, consisting of red, black, and any one of a variety of shades of blue. The red is dropped on first, followed by the black in the same proportion but somewhat thicker, and with more ox gall so that it spreads and produces larger spots. The blue is made still thicker so that with still more gall it spreads even more than the black. The surface is finished with more gall and water, which must be spread more than any of the colors. The surface of the size is then raked as for the "wave," and the design is finished with a double comb.


fancy hand tools

norm: fancy hand tools

text: See: UNIT TOOLS.


fancy marble

norm: fancy marble

text: An edge marble produced by spreading a finely ground vegetable coloring matter mixed with spirits of wine (a solution of 90% ethyl alcohol in water). The alcohol causes the coloring matter to spread in a diversity of forms, which are then transferred to the edges of the book.

citations: Nicholson, James B. A manual of the art of bookbinding… Philadelphia. Baird. 1856.


fanfare style

norm: fanfare style

text: An elaborate style of decoration consisting generally of geometrically formed compartments of varying sizes, each bounded by a ribbon consisting of a single fillet on one side and a double fillet on the other, each of which, with the exception of the center compartment (which is larger or otherwise distinguished), being filled with leafy spirals, branches of laurel, and other sprays, floral tools, rare in the last fifty years or so. See and the like. Fanfare was a rich and luxurious style and called for the greatest skill on the part of the bookbinder. It was imitated, with varying degrees of fidelity, throughout Europe from about 1570 until well into the 17th century, although its elements were largely imitative of previous styles of embellishment. Originally, the style was attributed exclusively to Nicholas and Clovis Ève, but it is more likely that a number of Parisian finishers executed many of these binding. The name "fanfare," which originated long after the style was first executed, derives from a binding of the 19th century binder, JOSEPH THOUVENIN, who revived the style on a volume he bound in 1829, Les Fanfares et Corvees abbadesques. See PLATE VI.

citations: Carter, John. A B C for book collectors. 5th ed. London. Hart Davis. 1972.

citations: Harthan, John P. Bookbindings. 2nd ed. London. H. M. Stationery Office. (Victoria & Albert Museum illustrated booklet no. 2). 1961.

citations: Oxford University. Bodleian Library. Fine bindings 1500-1700 from Oxford libraries: catalogue of an exhibition. Oxford. Bodleian Library. 1968. 254.


fanfare style

text: When the compartments on a decorated corner formed by fillets or curves, or both, are filled with little branches, vines, etc., the style of decoration is said to be fanfare—from its first having been used on a book of which this word formed the principal part of the title.


FANNING

norm: fanning

text: This is a term used in the Warehouse, in counting paper. It consists of taking hold of the right hand lower corner of a portion of the paper between the flat side of the fore finger and the end of the thumb, and pinching it tolerably tight; then with a twist of the wrist turning the right hand edge of the paper up, and running the left hand over the surface of the paper, it separates the sheets at the top corner, so as to have somewhat the appearance of a fan, and enables the person to count it with facility.


fanning out

norm: fanning out

variant: fan over

text: The process of working out the ends of a pile of sheets for pasting, preparatory to tipping, or for counting, folding, etc. Also called "run out," or "running out."

citations: Porte, Roy Trewin. Dictionary of printing terms. 4th ed. Salt Lake City. Porte. 1941.


fascicle

norm: fascicle

text: Sections of a work which, for various reasons, including the economics of publishing and the convenience of printing, are issued in installments. They are frequently incomplete in themselves and do not necessarily coincide with the formal divisions of the publication. They usually consist of sections, or groups of plates, protected by temporary (sometimes printed) wrappers, and may or may not be numbered or designated as part, fascicle, etc. They present binding problems, particularly in that they do not necessarily coincide with the divisions of the work, and they must either be bound as odd units or held until publication or printing has been completed. Publication in parts, or fascicles, began in England in the early 17th century, become common in the 18th century, and has become relatively also: PARTS OF A BOOK.


fast back

norm: fast back

text: See: TIGHT BACK.


fast colors

norm: fast colors

text: Those colors which are resistant to the action of external influences, such as light, acids, alkalies, etc. In textile dyeing and other industrial processes, fast colors are those which will satisfactorily resist fading for the useful life of the product in which they are used. In book cloths, the term refers to nonfading over long exposure to artificial light,- but not to natural light. Also called "lightfast," and, inappropriately, "sunfast." See also: FADING; FUGITIVE COLORS.

citations: American Paper and Pulp Association. The dictionary of paper, including pulp, paperboard, paper properties and related papermaking terms. 3rd ed. New York. American Paper and Pulp Association. 1965.


FAT

norm: fat

text:
With compositors, short pages, blank pages, and light open matter: with pressmen, light forms, forms that only require one pull at wooded presses; and very small numbers, such as five, ten, fifteen, or twenty copies each, are termed Fat.

Fat. See Beat Fat.—M.


FAT

text: Poetry and leaded matter.


Fat Face

norm: fat face

text: or *Fat Letter*, is a broad Stemmed *Letter*.


Fat Face

text: or *Fat letter*.—Broad stemmed letter.


FAT FACE,

norm: fat face,

text:
or Fat Letter, is a letter with a broad stem. For observations on them and specimens, see Type.

Fat Form. See Fat.

Fat Work. See Fat.


fat tanning

norm: fat tanning

text: A process of converting hides and skins into a stable, imputrecible material by means of treatments involving the incorporation of soft animal fats which undergo chemical changes while in contact with the fibers of the skin, leading to the fixation of fatty matter. See also: OIL TANNING.

citations: British Standards Institution. British standard glossary of leather terms. B. S. 2780: 1956. London. British Standards Institution.


Father of the chapel

norm: father of the chapel

text: President or chairman of a composing-room or press-room chosen by the hands.


fatigue failure

norm: fatigue failure

text: The failure of a material, such as an adhesive or paper, resulting from a number of repetitions of load (or strain), e.g., folding or flexing, in distinction from CREEP, which is a deformation caused by the continuous application of load over an extended period of time.


fatliquoring

norm: fatliquoring

text:
The process of introducing oil into a skin following tannage but before the leather is dried. In fatliquoring, which is usually applied to light leathers, the oil is introduced into the leather in such a manner that the individual fibers of the skin are uniformly coated. The actual percentage of oil on the weight of the leather is relatively small, being about 3 to 10%.

The principal function of fatliquoring is to influence the degree of fiber cohesion which takes place before drying. If there were no cohesion whatsoever, the skin would separate into its constituent fibrils, leaving no leather structure. On the other hand, if all the fibrils and fibers cohered, the skin would then take the form of a hard and horny material having no value as leather. Somewhere between these two extremes there is an ideal degree of cohesion for any given purpose for which the leather is to be used.

The fatliquoring process probably acts to control the differential shrinkage of grain versus corium (dermis) of the leather during drying, thus playing an important role in controlling the degree of tightness of BREAK of the leather. In addition, it also influences the handle, drape, flexibility, durability, stretch, and water resistance of leather, and also adds greatly to its strength. These are factors of primary importance in leather used for covering books.

Fatliquoring is usually carried out in a drum at the highest temperature practical for the type of leather, or about 45° C. for vegetable tanned leather and 60 to 65° C. for full chrome tanned leather. The skins are run in a drum for 30 to 40 minutes. After drumming, the leathers are usually struck out on the flesh side, carefully set out to smooth the grain, nailed or toggled out flat to dry, or paste dried.

To allow a small amount of oil to be spread uniformly over the very large surface area of the leather fibers, it is necessary first to dilute the oil. Although this could be done by means of a solvent, e.g., benzine, it is more economical, safer, and more convenient to emulsify the oil. In an EMULSION with water, the oil is dispersed in microscopically small droplets. It is important that the drops of oil in the water remain as an emulsion until they penetrate the leather, and not separate out as large drops or as a layer of oil, which could not penetrate the leather fiber and result in merely a greasy surface layer.

The properties of the finished leather can be varied by controlling the degree to which the emulsion penetrates before it "breaks," depositing the oil on the fibers. Relatively shallow penetration, which leaves the inner layers of the leather with comparatively little oil, gives a leather that has a tight break and is soft and resilient. On the other hand, if the oil is allowed to penetrate uniformly through the leather, the result will be a leather that is soft and stretchy, with any natural grain looseness accentuated.

The liquors incorporated into the leather are called fatliquors, of which there are several types. One of the earliest was the soap fatliquor, consisting of neatsfoot oil and common soap. When a vegetable-tanned leather is drummed in such a fatliquor, the slight acidity of the tannage neutralized the soap, causing fine drops of oil to be deposited on the fibers. The greater the acidity of the leather, the more rapidly this occurs, so that the oil may be deposited before it has penetrated sufficiently. Consequently, soap fatliquors are described as having poor emulsion stability, and are generally used where a fairly heavy surface fatliquoring is required. It is possible, however, to modify many types of oils chemically so that they become miscible with water without the use of emulsifying agents.

Sulfated oils are used frequently because they give good, fine-oil dispersions and are less sensitive to acid than soap fatliquors. This results in deeper penetration of the oils into the leather before they are deposited. Sulfated oils are prepared by treating fish, animal, or vegetable oils with sulfuric acid at a temperature of 10 to 20° C. The resultant product is washed with a strong brine solution to remove excess acid. The salt is necessary to prevent the sulfated oil from emulsifying with the water. Soda ash is then added to form the sodium salt of the sulfated oil and to neutralize the last traces of the acid. The more the oil is sulfated, which is to say, the more sulfuric acid that has been fixed, the greater will be its stability to acid and the more thorough its penetration into the leather. Conversely, the more acid the leather, the less the penetration. However, increasing the amount of sulfation or water miscibility, decreases the "oiliness" of the oil and therefore its lubricating powers.

Sulfonated oils are prepared by a similar process, usually at a higher temperature; the fatliquor contains the sulfonic group which gives greater stability and emulsions which penetrate deeper into the leather under acid conditions.

Still another method of obtaining emulsifying properties is to sulfite the oil. In this process, the oil is mixed well with a strong solution of sodium bisulfite (NaHSO3), while the mixture is thoroughly aerated by means of compressed air. Sulfited oils behave in a manner similar to sulfated oils, but are usually said to be more acid stable and to afford deeper lubrication.

In addition to the emulsifying element of the fatliquor, a raw oil, such as mineral, castor, neatsfoot, cod or coconut oil is frequently included in the formulation. See also: CURRYING; STUFFING (2).

citations: O'Flaherty, Fred, and others, eds. The chemistry and technology of leather. New York. Reinhold. (American Chemical Society monograph series, no. 134. 1956-65. 4 vol.

citations: Post, Daniel. Chemical treatment of hides and leather, by John Partridge. Park Ridge, N. J. Noyes Data Corp. 1972.

citations: Reed, Ronald. Ancient skin, parchments and leathers. London. Seminar Press. 1972.

citations: Sharphouse, John Henry. The leatherworker's handbook. London. Leather Producers' Association. 1963.

citations: Wilson, John Arthur. Analysis of Leather and materials used in making it. New York. McGraw-Hill. 1931.

citations: Wilson, John Arthur. Modern practice in leather 367. manufacture. New York. Reinhold. 1941.


fats

norm: fats

text: The esters of fatty acids with glycerol. They are generally insoluble in water and are not very soluble in cold alcohol. They are soluble in hot alcohol, as well as ether, acetone, carbon disulfide, chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, benzene, as well as other organic solvents. Fats may be hydrolized to glycerol and fatty acids by boiling them with acids and alkalies, by superheated steam, and by the action of certain enzymes, notably the lipases. When alkalies are used for hydrolysis, the fatty acids combine with the alkali to form soap; therefore, alkaline hydrolysis is sometimes referred to as saponification. Fats are used in the tannage of some leathers, in the FATLIQUORING of light leathers, in leather dressings, etc. See also: FAT TANNING; WAX.


fatty acids

norm: fatty acids

text: Monobasic acids which contain only carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. They consist of an alkyl radical attached to the carboxyl group, and when saturated have the general formula (C_nH_2nO_2) Formic and acetic acids are the two lowest members of this saturated series. Unsaturated fatty acids follow several series, including: 1) the oleic acid series (C_nH_2n-2O_2); 2) the linoleic acid series (C_nH_2n-4O_2); and 3) the linolenic acid series (C_nH_2n-6O_2). There are also other naturally occurring fatty acids that are found in nature mainly as glycerides, which constitute the most important part of the fats and oils, and as esters of other alcohols and the waxes.


faulty margin

norm: faulty margin

text: An unequal margin, one generally resulting from imperfect REGISTER (3). Such a margin may result in part of the printed matter being obscured by oversewing, or cropped unintentionally during trimming.


feather edge

norm: feather edge

text: The finely pared edge of a piece of leather, or a thin, rough edge, such as deckle edge. See also: EDGING (1).

citations: Palmer, Elbridge Woodman. A course in bookbinding for vocational training. New York. Employing bookbinders of America. 1927.


feather ornament

norm: feather ornament

text: An engraved finishing tool resembling a feather. It is found mainly on clasps and catches, but also at times, in the form of a tool used in decorating leather bindings.

citations: Oldham, James Basil. English blind-stamped bindings. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1952.


feather stitch

norm: feather stitch

text: An embroidery stitch consisting of a line of diagonal blanket stitches worked alternately to the left and right.

citations: Davenport, Cyril James Humphries. English embroidered bookbindings. London. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner. 1899.


feather work

norm: feather work

text: A style of decoration, originally used on Irish bindings of the 18th century, emphasizing curved lines probably made with a gouge, which radiate outward from a central point producing a delicate and very rich featherlike pattern.

citations: Harrod, Leonard Montague. The librarians' glossary of terms used in librarianship and the book crafts, and reference book. 3rd ed. London. Deutsch. 1971.


feathering

norm: feathering

text: 1. See: EDGING (1). 2. A printing fault seen as the spreading or feathering of the ink outside the printing area and generally along the direction in which the fibers lie. It may be a result of excess solvent in the ink, an unsuitable paper, or both.


featherweight

norm: featherweight

text: 1. Papers which are extremely light in proportion to their bulk. Pure esparto papers are the bulkiest, but are difficult to handle, as they are soft and spongy. Paper of standard bulk or above is termed featherweight, while the same grade of paper under the standard bulk is called ANTIQUE BOOK PAPER. 2. A general term indicating lightweight book paper, thin opaque writing paper, etc.


featherweight book paper

norm: featherweight book paper

text: Paper used mainly for fiction, especially where bulkiness is desired for a given number of leaves. The standard basis weights range from 50 to 80 pounds (25 X 38—500). In England, such papers are made largely from ESPARTO (GRASS). Featherweight book papers are porous and difficult to handle.

citations: Glaister, Geoffrey Ashall. An encyclopedia of the book. Cleveland. World. 1960.


Feed guide

norm: feed guide

text: An implement attached to a press to aid in correct feeding.


feeder

norm: feeder

text:
An apparatus for feeding paper into a printing press, ruling machine or folding machine, gathered sections into a sewing machine, sewn books into a casing-in machine, etc. It may also be the device on automatically fed machines performing the same function. The first feeders moved the sheet forward and adjusted it, while the sheets in the pile were still separated by hand. From this early "semi-automatic" feeder, which still exists in numerous machines, particularly in library binding, the modern completely automatic feeders were developed.

Three classes of automatic feeders are in general use: 1) the pile feeder, which operates by means of a jet of air which raises the sheet and brings it into contact with a suction wheel which moves it forward into the feed table. As the sheets feed off the top of the pile, the entire pile is raised to keep the top sheet always at the same level. Some pile feeders separate the sheets by means of push fingers that buckle up the corners of the paper and move it forward one sheet at a time; 2) the continuous feeder, which uses bands of webbing to carry the sheets which are previously fanned out and placed on the feeder. The bands carry the sheets around a roller and up to the feed wheels where a combing wheel advances the top sheet to a guide. At the correct moment, the guide drops and another wheel drops on the edge of the paper and carries it forward. Some continuous feeders use an air jet and suction wheel to advance the sheets; 3) the friction feeder, which operates in a manner similar to the continuous, expect that the sheets are not carried around a roller; in this case each new lift of paper must be slipped under the edge of the previous lift.

citations: Pratt, Guy A. Let's bind a book. Rev. ed. Milwaukee. Bruce. 1944.

citations: Strauss, Victor. The printing industry…Washington, D.C. Printing Industries in America. 1967.

citations: U.S. Government Printing Office. Theory and practice of bookbinding. Rev. ed. Washington, D.C. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1962.


Feeding

norm: feeding

text: Supplying the press with sheets.


feel

norm: feel

text: The qualities or properties of texture, finish, bulk, grain, smoothness, suppleness, stretchiness, softness, etc., of leather, paper, cloth, etc., as judged by the sense of touch. Although purely subjective in nature, "feel" is nonetheless one of the properties by which leather and paper are judged.

citations: Gazurian, Johnny A. The advertising & graphic arts glossary. Los Angeles. Los Angeles Trade-Technical College. 1966.


FEET OF A PRESS

norm: feet of a press

text: The frame of a wooden press that lies horizontally on the floor, into which the cheeks and hind posts are inserted by means of mortises and tenons.


felt

norm: felt

text: 1. The blanket of absorbent material, e.g., wool, placed between sheets of handmade paper that have just been removed from the mold. The purpose of the felt is to absorb water from the wet sheets. See also: COUCH (1, 2). 2. A continuous belt on a papermaking machine, generally made of wool, but also as a combination of wool, cotton, asbestos. and synthetic fibers. Felts perform the function of mechanical conveyors or transmission belts, provide a cushion between the press rolls, and serve as a medium for the removal of water from the wet web. 3. The blanket of a printing press used to soften the impression. 4. The inside lining found in some book boxes. 5. A cloth produced from matted fibers of wool, or wool and fur or hair, and made into a compact material by compression, usually while wet

citations: American Paper and Pulp Association. The dictionary of paper, including pulp, paperboard, paper properties and related papermaking terms. 3rd ed. New York. American Paper and Pulp Association. 1965.

citations: Porte, Roy Trewin. Dictionary of printing terms. 4th ed. Salt Lake City. Porte. 1941.


FELT

text: Pieces of felted hats. This is the best substitute for scaleboard, when there is a deficiency of that article, to use as cards in the head of a press; and even when there is no scarcity of scaleboard, a few pieces put in improve the pull. See Cards.


felt side

norm: felt side

text: The side of a sheet of paper that has not been in contact with the Fourdrinier wire, and which therefore is the smooth side of the sheet rather than the WIRE SIDE. The felt side is considered to be the "top" of the sheet.

citations: Battista, Orlando A. Synthetic fibers in papermaking. New York. Interscience. 1964.

citations: Winans, Leonard G. The book from manuscript to market. New 370. York. Grosset 8 Dunlap. 1941.


felted

norm: felted

text: 1. A term sometimes applied to the characteristic of firmness or solidity of a book that has been heavily pressed several times during the course of binding, thus compacting the leaves. 2. See: FELTING.

citations: Vaughan, Alexander J. Modern bookbinding; a treatise covering both letterpress and stationery branches of the trade…New ed. London. Skilton. 1960.


felted fibers

norm: felted fibers

text: A material used in the manufacture of book-cloth substitutes, as a basis for imitation leathers, and in lieu of spine lining fabric in edition binding. It consists of synthetic fibers felted together into sheets and laminated to impart strength. One of these fiber-bonded fabrics is made from regenerated cellulose, the finished product being reasonably strong and durable. It is impregnated with appropriate fillers for use as a substitute for book cloth and leather. Untreated, the material is much cheaper than spine lining fabric and stronger than paper. Some edition binders use the parallel laid bonded fiber fabric to form the joint between the case and text block. As a book-covering material, this substitute is said to be easy to work and block, but most are aesthetically unappealing, lacking the texture and appearance of substance of cloth and buckram. They are decidedly inferior to leather in virtually every respect. They are marketed under a number of trade names.

citations: Clough, Eric A. Bookbinding for librarians. London. Association of Assistant Librarians. 1957.


felting

norm: felting

text: The process of intermingling the fibers during the manufacture of paper, either on the wire of the machine, or on the mold when making paper by hand.


Female Gage

norm: female gage

text: *Screws*, &c. The *Hollow Gage*, or *Hollow Screw* that receives its *Match Gage* or *Screw*, &c.


fence

norm: fence

text: 1. The movable guide attachment of a card or board cutter that controls the location and extent of the cut. See also: BACK GAUGE. 2. The thin cards placed between the boards and fly leaves of a book to prevent marking by the turn-ins or tongue of the split boards when pressing, and also, in books having excessive swell after sewing, to facilitate smashing without "throwing out" the sections at the spine. See also: PRESSING TINS (2). 3. An endpaper of a blankbook.

citations: Gray, Niel. Paper-cutting machines…Chicago. United Typothetae of America. (Typographical technical series for apprentices, pt. 1, no. 10). c. 1918.

citations: Practical printing and binding; Odhams complete guide to the printer's craft, edited by Harry Whetton. 3rd ed. London. Odhams Books. 1965.


fenders

norm: fenders

text: See: FENCE (2) ; PRESSING TINS (2).


Ferrar, Nicholas

norm: ferrar, nicholas

text: One of the more interesting figures in the history of English bookbinding. Ferrar and his relative, John Collet (as well as Collet's wife and 14 children), and Ferrar's mother, established a semi-religious community called the English Protestant Nunnery, at Little Gidding, in Huntingdonshire, in about 1625. Ferrar employed a bookbinder, who taught the family the craft, as well as gilding and the so-called pasting-printing by means of a rolling press. The members of the community produced the remarkable "Harmonies" of the Scriptures, one of which was produced by Mary Collet for King Charles 1. Some of their bindings were in gold-tooled leather, some were in velvet which had a considerable amount of gold tooling, and one was in red parchment with the center and corners of each cover ornamented with pieces of white parchment, pierced and gilded. Some of the embroidered bindings of this period have also been attributed to the so-called nuns of Little Gidding.

citations: Book collector. London. Queen Anne Press.

citations: The library; a quarterly review of bibliography. London. Milford.


ferrous sulfate

norm: ferrous sulfate

text:
An astringent salt (FeSO4), usually obtained in the form of the pale green efflorescent, crystalline heptahydrate (FeSO4 .7H2O) as a byproduct, and used extensively in the 19th century in the production of SPRINKLED CALF, MOTTLED CALF, and TREE CALF bindings. Unfortunately, its use resulted in severe deterioration of the leather in most cases. It was also used in the execution of the JAPAN MARBLE.

It is sometimes used today in dyeing or finishing with dyewoods to impart a blue-black shade to leather, in the manufacture of writing inks, and in engraving and lithography. Also called "copperas," or "green vitriol."

citations: Middleton, Bernard C. The restoration of leather bindings. Chicago. American Library Association. (A. L. A. Library Technology Project, LTP publication no. 18). 1972.


festoon drying

norm: festoon drying

text: A method of air drying paper. The paper is hung in loops (festoons) over rods which move slowly through a drying chamber in which the temperature and humidity are controlled. This type of drying is used for paper that has been tub sized or coated.

citations: Ainsworth, John H. Paper; the fifth wonder. 2nd ed. Kaukauna, Wisc. Thomas. 1959.