A. step is to ascertain how many words a printed page of the size chosen will contain, and this is done by putting a few lines of the manuscript into type. Supposing, then, each page will contain 250 words, and the whole of the manuscript to be printed contains 5000 words, the book will consist of 20 pages, viz. BOD Words Words in a to be 250) 5000 (20 pages. 0 It is necessary, however, that the manuscript should be fairly and regularly written to get an accurate estimate: If there are many interlineations, or many parts struck out, or if one part is written larger or smaller than other parts, one page will not be the measure of the rest, and no average can be obtained. The words in every page must in that case be counted to get a correct estimate; but this is a process too tedious to be adopted, and, therefore, the size and cost of the book become a mere matter of chance. The master or overseer of the printingoffice, or "governor," as he is usually called, having received the copy from the author, gives it out in portions to the workmen who are to print it. These are the "compositors," who range and dispose the types into words, lines, and pages. We shall suppose for the sake of making the description as simple and clear as we can, that only one compositor is engaged on the book to be printed, though there are generally more. The first thing the compositor does is to distribute or place in his case the sort of letter in which the book is to be printed. A philosopher has said it would take many pages to describe how to handle a wheelbarrow, though with a picture of it the operation might be described in two lines. For the same reason we give a representation of a pair of letter cases. (See pages 128 and 129.) These cases, it will be seen, are divided into cells or boxes, in which the different letters of the alphabet are kept. The boxes differ in size, because the letters, as we have already stated, differ in number, whilst the boxes containing those used most are placed nearest to the hand of the compositor, because he may have the less distance to carry them when he is composing. This will be more clearly explained as we proceed. The cases are put on a frame and stand thus. (See page 130.) A frame usually contains two pair of cases, one with the Roman fount, and the other with the Italic; the latter is not shown in the cut. The letter is placed in the cases in this way. The compositor takes up a "handful" of type, that is, ten or twenty lines which have been composed in printing some other book, with a rule or lead, and holding it in his left hand, takes word after word of it between the thumb and fore-finger of the right hand, and beginning with the first letter of the word, separates each letter from the rest, and drops the whole of them one after the other into the boxes to which they belong. For instance, if the word taken up is "London," he drops the L into the L box in the upper case, which contains the capital letters, the o into the o box, the n into the n box, the d into the d box, and |