THE TYPEFOUNDER.

The business of a Type-founder consists in melting the metals which are used in the formation of the letters used in the art of printing, and casting the composition afterwards into suitable moulds for the various letters, figures, &c. &c.

The history of the type-founder is so closely connected with the history of printing itself that we must refer to the article Printing for
many particulars which we shall not now repeat. We will, however, observe, that it appears William Caxton was the first person in
England who practised the art of printing with fusile types, and, consequently, the first who brought the metal types to perfection, which he is supposed to have done in the year 1474.

The first printers usually cast their own letters ; but for some time past the typefounder has become a separate business.

The first part of the type-founder's business is, to prepare the metal, which is a composition of lead and regulus of antimony,
melted together in a furnace. In large founderies this metal is cast into bars of about twenty pounds each, which are delivered to
the workmen as occasion may require ; this is a laborious and unwholesome part of the business, owing to the fumes which are thrown off. Fifteen hundred weight of this metal is cast in a day, and the founders usually cast as much at one casting as will last six months.

We now come to the letter-cutter ; that is, the person who cuts the moulds in which the letters are cast; he must be provided with
vices, hammers, files, gravers, and gauges, of various kinds. He then prepares steel punches, on the face of which he draws, or marks, the exact shape of the letter, and with pointed gravers and sculpters he digs out the steel between the strokes or marks which he made on the face of the punch, leaving the marks standing. Having shaped the inside strokes of the letter, he deepens the hollows with the same tools ; for if a letter be not deep in proportion to its width, it will, when used at press, print black, and be good for nothing. He then works the outside with files till it is fit for the matrice.

A matrice is a piece of brass or copper, about an inch and a half long, and thick in proportion to the size of the letter it is to contain. In this metal is sunk the face of the letter intended to be cast, by striking the letter-punch. After this, the sides and face of the matrice must be cleared with files of all bunchings made by sinking the punch.

When the metal and other things are properly prepared, the matrice is fastened to the end of the mould, which the caster holds in
his left-hand, while he pours the metal with his right ; by a sudden jerk of the hand the metal runs into the cavity of the matrice, and
takes the figure, or impression. The mould consists of an under and upper half, of which the latter is taken off as soon as the letter is
cast; he then throws the letter on a sheet of paper, laid for the purpose on a bench or table, and he is ready to cast another lettef, as before.

When the casters have made a certain number of types, which are made much longer than they are wanted, boys come and break
away the jets, or extra lengths, from the types; the jets are cast into the pot, and the types are carried to a workman, who
polishes their broad-sides. This is a very dextrous operation, for the man, in turning up the types, does it so quickly, by a mere
touch of the fingers of the left-hand, as not to require the least perceptible intermission in the motion of the right upon the stone.

The caster pours the metal into the mould. He takes it up with a small ladle from the pan, which is constantly kept over the fire in a sort of stove under the brick, work. There is an iron plate on the right-hand of the caster to defend him from the heat of the fire, and a screen between the two workmen to prevent the other man from being injured by the metal, which is apt to fly about by the
operation of casting.

A type-founder will cast upwards of three thousand letters a day ; the perfection of letters thus cast, consists in their being all
straight and square, of the same height, and evenly lined, without sloping one way or the other.

What is called a fount, or font, of letters, is a quantity of each kind, cast by the letterfounder, and properly sorted. A complete
fount includes, besides the running letters, all the single letters, double letters, points, lines, characters for reference, and figures.

Letter-founders have a kind of list, by which they regulate their founts : this is absolutely necessary, as some letters are much
more frequently used than others, of course the cells containing these should be better stored than those of the letters which do not
so often occur. Thus a fount does not contain an equal number of a and b, or of c and a. In a fount containing a hundred thousand
characters, the a should have five thousand, the c three thousand, the e eleven thousand, the i six thousand, and the other letters in
proportion.

Printers order their founts either by the hundred weight or by the sheet. If they order a fount of five hundred, they mean that the
whole shall weigh about five hundred pounds. But if they require a fount of ten sheets, it is understood, that with this fount they shall be able to compose ten sheets, or twenty forms, without being obliged to distribute. The founder reckons one hundred and twenty
pounds to a sheet ; but this varies with the nature of the letter.

We must not quit the type-founder without calling the reader's attention to the recent introduction of what is called Stereotype. We
mentioned the nature of it under the article Printing; our confined limits prevent us from describing minutely the method of casting the plates ; but a general outline is indispensable.

The page of any work is set up in the usual mode of printing, from which a mould of plaster of Paris is taken off, and from this
mould a plate of type-metal is cast, from which the stereotype print is worked. Of course the plates are cast in distinct pages, which are to be put together in the usual way when a sheet is to be printed. The metal with which stereotypcs are made, is a compound of regulus of antimony and hard lead, or tea-chest lead. The general method of mixing the metal is to take one hundredweight of regulus of antimony, and break it into small pieces, separating it from all dust and dirt, and then add to it from five to eight hundred weight of hard lead, according as the metal is required more or less hard. The lead is to be melted over a slow fire, and when melted, the scum is to be taken off', and the regulus is put in. To every hundred weight of lead may be added a pound or two of block-tin ; but this is supposed by many persons not necessary.

In England, a person of the name of Ged appears to have been the inventor of this process, about the middle of the last century; which has been since much improved by Mr. Andrew Wilson. Didot, at Paris, the celebrated printer, is also eminent in stereotype.