PRINTING AND BOOKMAKING.
 

EMB
 

in the same sense that Bodoni and Baskerville afterwards
did, although their printing was well done, and they pub¬
lished many small books. The total number of works
issued by them was 1,213. Many were without their im¬
prints, as considerations of expediency forbade, but a
comparison of the type and the ornaments conclusively
fixes the printers. Several books have been published
upon this family and their work.

Elzevir Type.—Letters cut in imitation of those
used in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and re¬
sembling those used by the Elzevir family. They went
out of use in the reign of George II., when Caslon began
cutting his faces, but have been revived within the last
dozen years by a distinguished Parisian type-founder.
Lately three American founders have brought out faces
which closely resemble the original, although differing
from each other slightly, and it is probable that these
faces will for a long time be used for neat work, where
the body of composition is not large. They appear
much sharper and cleaner than the originals, as the press-
work of to-day enables more justice to be done to them.
Lines of Roman, Elzevir and old-style capitals are here
given, that the difference between them may be seen:

GREATEST OF MODERN TYPE-FOUNDERS
GREATEST OF MODERN TYPE-FOUNDERS
GREATEST OF MODERN TYPE-FOUNDERS

Em.—The square of a body of type. The common
method of measuring in America is by ems, but in Eng¬
land by ens or letters, which are assumed for this pur¬
pose to be ens, although as a matter of fact they are
considerably thinner. The number of ems in a line is
multiplied by the number of lines, and the result gives
the quantity set. Tables for facilitating this calculation
are used in every newspaper office, but in book offices
the varieties of sizes of type are so numerous and the
number of measures is so great that few find them con¬
venient.

Em Dash.—A dash (—) an em long, used as a pause,
an indication for something to follow or a ditto mark,
or for the composition of tables. In England it is known
as an em rule.

Em Quadrat.—A quadrat with a square shank. It
is supposed that its name is derived from the letter m,
which in size comes nearest to it of all the small letters.
It generally begins a paragraph, although in wide meas¬
ures the indentation may be an em and a half, two ems
or even three ems, and it also is used to separate the
period at the end of a sentence from the word which fol¬
lows. In this place it should not be increased equally
with the other spaces in the line, and it should be the
first diminished. In France only a thick space or an en
quadrat is used in such a position. Em quadrats are
much used in tabular work, and are indispensable in
their justification. Measures are not set with em or
larger quadrats, but with the requisite number of m's
laid on their sides.

Em Rule.—The name in England of the character
which is known in America as an em dash.

Embossed Press.—A machine for raised or em¬
bossed stamping.—Jacohi. In this country such a press
would be called an embossing-press.

Embossed Printing.—Printing in which the sur¬
face is in relief. The part which shows rises towards
the reader, and consequently the impression must be
made from the back, but with types or characters which
are not reversed. It therefore in nearly all cases in¬
volves the cutting of a brass die, which is locked up in
a chase, if the job is to be done on the printing-press ;
but if the paper upon being laid upon the die strikes
squarely against a flat metallic surface only a very slight
impression will be made. To admit of the distension of
the paper a counter is made, and this is cut away where
 

the die is raised, and is in relief where the hollows are
to come. Leather, pasteboard, lead or india-rubber can
be used for this latter purpose. Thus the inequalities
in the die and the reverse exactly fit each other, and the
paper takes the form desired. When the embossing is
done in this way there is no color upon the top of the
letters. This can be put on by placing upon the bed of
the press a block of wood, nearly type high, which is
inked at each impression. The sheet is brought up
against the board where the jaws come together, and the
color is left upon it. When there are only a few copies
to be done a hand-roller can pass over them, or color can
be applied by a brush, skillfully handled. Another way
is thus described by Lynch:

''This description of printing is done by using metal¬
lic dies, into the surface of which the lettering has been
cut or punched. The counter die is made by cutting a
piece of thick, smooth leather to the size of the die; the
side which is to receive the impression must now be
moistened, and, being laid upon the surface of the die,
a sufficient pressure must be given to it to make the
leather go into all of the cavities in thc plate. The
counter is then to be removed from the die and its edges
trimmed so that both will be of the same size, after which
the leather must be adjusted to its place on the face of
the die and its back covered with a thick mucilage;
another impression must be made, so as to transfer the
counter to the tympan. A thin sheet of gutta-percha
should now be warmed on one side and laid upon the
face of the plate, with the side which has been heated
uppermost. An impression must again be made, by
which the leather and the gutta-percha will become at¬
tached, the result being an elastic counter which will
retain sufficient firmness to throw up any part of the
under surface of the card without breaking the parts at
the edges of the letters. When the job is of large size,
such as a show-card, the counter die may be made by
pasting ten or twelve sheets of smooth paper together
with mucilage, and when they are in a damp state to
press the die into the pulpy mass and leave it to dry be¬
fore they are separated. The printer must be careful
in his choice of ink. Whatever color is used should be
strong in body, and the roller must be passed over the
form in all directions so as to secure a perfectly uniform
coating of ink. The form must be cleaned, as occasion
may require, by the application of spirits of turpentine
with a brush."

Printing for the blind is embossed. The types to
show on the first, fourth, fifth and eighth pages of a
sheet must be applied on the second, third, sixth and
seventh pages, with sufficient force to cause the impres¬
sion to stand up half a nonpareil.

In bookbinding, embossing is stamping a design or
lettering upon the cover. In order to secure the requi¬
site stiffness these covers are made thick, pasteboard or
tarboard being in the centre, paper inside, and cloth or
leather on the outside. To print against this outside
brass dies are used, which can be heated if necessary in
most presses, the bed and platen or the two jaws coming
together with perfect evenness and squareness and com¬
pressing the cover where that is needed. The area of the
cover of a book is much less than that of an ordinary
sheet of paper, being in octavo not more than 10 by 15
inches, and in quarto not more than 12 by 18 inches.
Thus the requisite pressure can be attained, as the sur¬
face is much less than in ordinary printing, while on
many covers there are only a few lines to be marked. It
should be noted that while this press is called an emboss¬
ing-press and the result embossing, the machine is really
an indenting-machine, and the consequence indenting.
All lines of the die are driven into the cover, and the
parts which are really embossed are the waste places or
blanks. The three methods of pressing in gilt or in an¬
tique, or with printing-ink, each require different proced¬
ures, and the result is different. Fine calf or morocco
work is tooled instead of being embossed, little designs

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