HOW TO CORRECT PROOFS.

It must always be borne in mind that the printer follows the "copy." If the printer set the copy right where it is obviously wrong, the author will have to pay for what is called "bad copy." If the author, on receiving the proof, make corrections, either necessary or desirable (except such as are due to the printer's departure from the copy), he will have to pay for what are called "author's corrections." The more carefully he prepares his MSS., therefore, the greater the saving in his printer's bill.

It is very necessary, further, to warn the inexperienced writer that an apparently small correction may sometimes involve a considerable rearrangement of type. It may be necessary to "over-run "-to place part of one line in the next, part of the next in the third, and so on. This comes to be very expensive.

We give, in a specimen passage on the next page, all the most necessary marks and signs for correcting proofs. By studying it for half-an-hour, and by recurring to it when he has his own proof-sheets before him, the young author may very soon learn all that is necessary to be learned in these mechanical matters, while the knowledge and the habit cannot fail of being very serviceable to him. We have also given on the opposite page, the proof as it would be when properly revised, or when all the corrections had been attended to. A quick eye and great attention are necessary in correcting proofs; and after the united vigilance of both printer's reader and author, some provoking and obvious mistakes will not unfrequently escape detection, and go forth in print to the world.

When you have finished correcting your proof, mark on the top on the left side "Press," with your initials and the date. If you wish to see another proof, instead of " Press," write "Revise."

If your proof be in slips preparatory to making up in pages, mark the corrected slip "Page." The corrected page is then marked "Revise," or " Press," as before.

FIRST PROOF CORRECTED FOR PRESS.

THE precess of printing, when compared with

writing, is unquestionably a dear process; pro

2

3

Cheap/

vided a sufficient number of any particular book Copies of /

are printed, so as to render the proportion of
the first ex pense upon a single copy inconsiper-s

6 alle If, for example, it were required, even now,
to print a single copy, or even five copies or six
only of any production, the cost of printing would
be greater than the cost of transcribing.

8

ΙΟ

14

15

CIt is when hundreds, and especially thousands,
of the same work are demanded that the great
12 value of the printing press in making knolwedge
cheap, is particularly shown. It is probable 13
that the first printers did not take off more than
two or three hundred, if so many, of their works.
and, therefore, the earliest printed books must
have been very dear, on account of the limited
number of their readers. CAXTON, as it appears 16
17 by a passage in one of his books, was a cautious 18
printer; and required something like an assur-
ance that he should sell enough of any particular
book to repay the cost of producing it. In his
'Legends of Saints,' he says, "I have submysed 19.C
20 (submitted) myself to translate the into English.
the Saints Legend,' called 'Legenda aurea'
in Latin; and William, Earl of Arundel, sent me
a right worshipful gentleman, promising that my
said lord should, during my life, give and grant
to me a yearly fee, that is to note, a buck in 25
and a doe in winter.

22

31

24

26

summer,

Explanation of the Marks used in Correcting.
1. Is the mark for changing the wrong letter in
the word process.

2. To substitute one word for another.
3, 23. The first is the method of marking a short
insertion, the second of marking a long one.
4. To close the word in which a space has been
improperly left.

3. To turn a letter which has been placed upside
down.

to take a

reasonable quantity of thein,

READY FOR THE PRESS.

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

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

15. To have any particular word or part printed 19, 22. in italics.

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

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

To have certain parts printed in small or large capitals.

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

18. To keep in that which by accident had been 24. To put straight that which stands crooked. scratched out. 125. To change the italics into Roman letters.

SIZE OF PAPER.

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

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

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