justification of the mould is then described; after which the important operation of striking the steel punch into copper, and forming and justifying the matrix, is treated of, with instructions for "botching" matrices in the event of a mistake in the latter process. The matrices being thus ready, the founder is instructed how to adjust them to the mould in preparation for casting,-a solemn process. which may be best described in the writer's own language:

"Wherefore, placing the under-half of the Mold in his left hand, with the Hook or Hag forward, he clutches the ends of its Wood between the lower part of the Ball of his Thumb and his three hind-Fingers. Then he lays the upper half of the Mold upon the under half, so as the Male-Gages may fall into the Female Gages, and at the same time the Foot of the Matrice place itself upon the Stool. And clasping his left-hand Thumb strong over the upper half of the Mold, he nimbly catches hold of the Bow or Spring with his right-hand Fingers at the top of it, and his Thumb under it, and places the point of it against the middle of the Notch in the backside of the Matrice, pressing it as well forwards towards the Mold, as downwards by the Sholder of the Notch close upon the Stool, while at the same time with his hinder-Fingers as aforesaid, he draws the under half of the Mold towards the Ball of his Thumb, and thrusts by the Ball of his Thumb the upper part towards his Fingers, that both the Registers of the Mold may press against both sides of the Matrice, and his Thumb and Fingers press both Halves of the Mold close together. Then he takes the Handle of the Ladle in his right Hand, and with the Boll of it gives a Stroak two or three outwards upon the Surface of the Melted Mettal to scum or cleer it from the Film or Dust that may swim upon it. Then he takes up the Ladle full of Mettal, and having his Mold as aforesaid in his left hand, he a little twists the left side of his Body from the Furnace, and brings the Geat of his Ladle, (full of Mettal) to the Mouth of the Mold, and twists the upper part of his right-hand towards him to turn the Mettal into it, while at the same moment of Time he Jilts the Mold in his left hand forwards to receive the Mettal with a strong Shake (as it is call'd) not only into the Bodies of the Mold, but while the Mettal is yet hot, running swift and strongly into the very Face of the Matrice to receive its perfect Form there as well as in the Shanck."

This done, the mould is opened, and the type released; Moxon adding that a workman will ordinarily cast 4,000 such letters in a day.

Then follow rules to be observed in breaking off, rubbing, kérning, settingup and dressing, with descriptions of the dressing-sticks, block-groove, hook, knife and "plow." That these operations, as well as the casting, had undergone no alteration nearly a century after Moxon's day, may be judged from the fact that Moxon's descriptions are used verbatim to accompany the view of the

interior of Caslon's foundry, shown in the Universal Magazine of 1750, where all these operations are exhibited in active progress.

With regard to the preparation of the type-metal, Moxon's account is minute and a trifle peculiar. This metal was, according to his account, made of lead hardened with iron. Stub-nails were chosen as the best form of iron to melt, and the mixture was made with the assistance of antimony, of which an equal amount with the iron was added to the lead, in the proportion of 3 lb. of iron to 25 lb. of lead. The great heat required to melt the iron necessitated open furnaces of brick, built out of doors, in a broad, open place, well exposed to the wind, into which the iron and antimony mixture was put in pots surrounded with charcoal. After half an hour's time the metal men were to "lay their Ears near the Ground and listen to hear a Bubling in the Pots," which is the sign that the iron is melted. They then were to erect another small furnace, "on that side from whence the Wind blows," which was to contain the large pot full of lead. The lead being melted, they were to carry it at a great heat, with a "Labour would make Hercules sweat," to the open furnace, filling up the pots of iron and antimony with the lead, and stirring at the same time. The open furnace was to be then demolished, and the mixed metal left to cool in the pots. And "now," says Moxon, "(according to Custom), is Half a Pint of Sack mingled with Sallad Oyl provided for each Workman to Drink; intended for an Antidote against the Poysonous Fumes of the Antimony, and to restore the Spirits that so Violent a Fire and Hard Labour may have exhausted."

Such is a brief account of the practice of typefounding in Moxon's time. Of the trade customs of the day our author also presents us with a curious picture, in his account of the Chapel.

"A Founding-House," he says, "is also call'd a Chappel : but I suppose the Title was originally assum'd by Founders to make a Competition with Printers. The Customes used in a Founding-House are made as near as may be those of a Printing-House; but because the Matter they Work on and the manner of their Working is different, therefore such different Customes are in Use as are suitable to their Trade, as :

"First, To call Mettle Lead, a Forfeiture.

"Secondly, A Workman to let fall his Mold, a Forfeiture.

"Thirdly, A Workman to leave his Ladle in the Mettle Noon or Night, a Forfeiture."

1 Iron does not appear to have continued much longer as a staple ingredient of English type-metal. There was, however, no rule as to the composition of the alloy. The French typemetal at the beginning of the eighteenth century was notoriously bad, and drove many printers to Frankfort for their types, where they used a very hard composition of steel, iron, copper, brass, tin and lead.

We are given to understand that in the case of other offences, common to both printing and typefounding, such as swearing, fighting, drunkenness, abusive language, or giving the lie in the chapel, or the equally heinous offence of leaving a candle burning at night, the journeyman founder was liable to be "solaced" by his fellow-workmen, in the same hearty and energetic way which characterised the administration of justice among the printers.

After Moxon's time we meet with numerous accounts of foundries and their appointments. The interesting inventory of the Oxford foundry, appended to the specimen of the press in 1695, gives a good idea of the extent of that establishment. There were apparently two casters, two rubbers, and two or three dressers, and the foundry possessed twenty-eight moulds. The punches were sealed up in an earthen pot, possibly to protect them from rust or injury; or possibly, because having once served their purpose in striking the matrices, they were put aside as of little or no use. The small value put upon punches after striking is constantly apparent about this period. Very few punches came down with the foundries which were absorbed by that of John James; and of those that did, the greater portion were left to take their chance among the waste as worthless. The small value set upon the punches of Walpergen's music, in the inventory of his plant,1 shows that they were considered the least important of his belongings. Matrices did not wear out in the old days of hand-moulds and soft metal, as they do now under steam machines and "extra hard"; but the liability to loss or damage, and the importance of protecting and preserving the steel originals of their types, can hardly have been less with the founders of a century and a half ago than it is to-day.

The entertaining letters of Thomas James from Holland, in 1710,2 point to a curious practice in that country, which we believe has never obtained in this. We refer to the habit of lending casters and matrices by one founder to another. In each of the two foundries he visited there were places for four casters; but in one case only one man was at work, and in the other no one was to be found, for this reason. This system of interchange is hardly consistent with the jealousy and suspicion shown by the same Dutch founders towards their English rival in his endeavours to procure sets of matrices from their punches. In this endeavour, however, he succeeded, much to his own satisfaction. He also purchased moulds, which, like all the other Dutch moulds he saw, were made of brass. Voskens' foundry, which he visited, appears to have been "a great business, having five or six men constantly at the furnace, besides boys to rub, and himself and a brother

1 See post, chapter ix.

2 See post, chapter x.

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