140
APPENDIX No. XXVlht.
As these works progressed, a larger supply was found necessary. New works illustrative ofthe Exhibition woro contemplated : and tho supply of new type was eventually increased to37 tons, in addition to the usual resources of the house. Tho cost of this largo quantity oftype and other necessary material amounted to above 60007. And, adding the quantity requiredfor tho Report of tho Commissioners and for tho Jury Reports, a weight amounting to nearly48 tons was set apart for tho sorvico of tho Exhibition of 1851.
The printers of the Catalogues are type-founders as well as printers, and by working nightand day, with relays of hands, they produced a great portion of this quantity themselves : theassistance of other founders, however, was necessary ; and tho Messrs. Miller and Richard ofEdinburgh, and the respective firms of Desley, Caslon, and Figgius, of London , supplied thoremainder.
The technical names of the typo afford but little information : they appear, however, inTable I., with the quantity of each sort manufactured, and tho weight required for eachseparate work.
As an illustration of the amount of typo in use in tho various publications, it may beobserved that tho combined quantity would bo equal to the printed surface of 116 singleTimes’ newspapers.
A groat subdivision of labour is necessary in tho manufacture of typo : the persons employedare usually in tho proportion of 5 men to 3 boys. Tho following statement shows the weightof four descriptions of typo manufactured in one week by 20 men and 12 boys, and thonumber of separate types in each quantity:—
300 lbs. Small Pica, equal 124,720 separate types.
240
„ bourgeois,
„ 122,880
190
„ brevier,
„ 113,280
168
„ Minion,
„ 109,200
Although typo is much lower in price now than it was some few years back, it is still an expen-sive articlo, not so much from the cost oftho rawmaterial—a compound of lead, antimony, andtin—as from tho amount of labour necessary for its production, fivo operations being requiredto complete a single typo ;* whilo, from its natural softness, and tho heavy pressure of themachine in printing, it soon wears out. In the case of the small English Catalogue, from tholarge number of copies printed, tho value has been deteriorated at least GO per cent.
The price of type varies according to its size ; each page of the small English Catalogue cost20s. GJfit, and of the Illustrated Catalogue 21s. !)£«'. Large as these prices may appear, theyare exceedingly low, when compared with tho average market price, and are such as couldonly be obtained by contracting for the manufacture of large quantities.
Printers' Joiners ; Iron-Founders .—After the typo is arranged and formed into pages by thocompositors, iron frames, pieces of wood, and small wedges (technically named chases, fur-nituro, and quoins), are necessary to fix it securely before printing: and of these articles800 chases, weighing 17i tons, 16,000 feet of furniture, and 12,800 quoins, were requiredfor this purpose.
Tabi.k II. Showing the Number of Reams of Paper manufactured for the Official Catalogues ;for tho Reports of tho Juries ; and the Report of tho Commissioners ; also the Weight inlbs., and Amount of Paper Duty thereon.
No. ofllcuing.
No. of lbs.Weight.
Amount ofPaper Duty ,at ljrf. peril).
Super-royal, for the Illustrated Catalogue
Double Foolscap for the small Official CataloguesColoured Paper for Covers to Small CataloguesMiscellaneous Papers
2,5°°
24.173
357
200
100,000
507,031
14,067
C,ooo
£. s. d.C25 0 0
3,172 14
87 18 4i37 10 0
Total for the Catalogues
27,230
623,698
3,923 2 6
Super-royal for the 4to. editions of the Jury Reports')and Illustrated Catalogue - - - - - J
Super-royal for the Jury Reports (8vo. edition)
250
2,800
100
15,000
112,000
3,400
93 15 0
700 0 0
21 5 0
Total
30,380
758,098
4,738 2 6
The small Official Catalogue, with its cover, before the edges woro cut, weighed 1 lb.; thoduty on each copy was therefore 1 J(7., or Jtli tho selling price : equal to 12J per cent on thocost of tho Catalogues, but 21 per cent, on the manufacture of the Paper .
* To this must be added punch cutting, and matrice and mould-making: 320 steel punches, and the snmenumber of copper matrices, are necessary to the manufacture of each complete fount of typo. 11 ail it beenrequired to have cut punches for tho various descriptions of type need in the Exhibition publications, itwould have been equivalent to tho additional labour of 10 persons for 274 days.