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How to Keep Border-Founts.

Various methods are adopted in different offices, in regard to the laying and storing of borders and ornaments; but as a rule, they are unsatisfactory. In most offices, there is no system at all; borders, rules, and ornaments, are distributed by each man (or boy) just as he pleases, and each new combination added to stock increases the confusion. Visiting a newspaper and job office some time ago, Typo was shewn MacKellar's « Egyptian » border, « So much waste of money, » remarked the proprietor. « I'll have no more combinations. » And he was quite right. There was no one in the office who could compose or distribute it properly; the whole three series had been dumped at random into an ordinary upper-case along with Schelter & Giesecke's « Pretiosa » border and « Shieldface » ornaments and the spaces of both founts; some of the pieces had been used in a job with a coarse red ink, and distributed unwashed (!), the surface covered and hollows filled with red lead, as hard as concrete, while the whole case was thickly coated with dust. This is far from being an isolated case.

But even in offices where some attempt is made to maintain order, the disposal of borders is a matter of serious difficulty. The ordinary type-case is not suitable. A few borders—where there is just a running-piece and a corner, and the body is not too large—will bear laying loosely like ordinary type. But where there are four or five sorts, they must be stood upright, or they will be mixed. For the sorts in large quantity, there is no box large enough; for those in small quantity the boxes are too large, and temporary divisions are liable to fall down and allow the sorts to mix. If the boxes are packed full, the types cannot be removed without injury, the case divisions being higher than the type. When the box is partly emptied in composition, the probability is that in sliding in the case, the remainder of the border will fall down, and before the dis. can be put in, there is half-an-hour's work to put the case in order. Moreover, a case filled with type standing upright, weighs some 701b, and is much too cumbrous and heavy to be safely handled.

The intricacy of modern combinations requires special arrangements for each fount; and the exigencies of office fittings demand that these should be on a uniform system. Miller & Richard's Ribbon and Flower border, which is in nearly every office, has 62 sorts, varying from 6-point to 48-point But recent combinations have gone far beyond this. We recently noted one of German origin, of over four hundred sorts, from 3-point to 96-point, and with most of the pieces triplicated for color-work! It is manifest that such a fount could not be satisfactorily arranged in any ordinary type-case. It might be neatly packed, but that is just what is not wanted. Every sort should be readily accessible, and so arranged that it may be as readily restored to its place when work is distributed.

For some years past we have had in use a system of arranging combination borders which has proved so satisfactory that we have gradually extended it so as to take in all our larger job-founts, rule combinations, and electro emblems. It involves a little trouble when the border is first laid; but it prevents all trouble, confusion, or injury to type ever after.

The principles of our system are: 1, To keep all such types upright, in trays half the size of an ordinary case; 2, To have a separate compartment for each sort; 3, To have the divisions a pica wide, and lower than the types, so that the types may be readily removed; 4, To have the case so fitted that all the bearings shall be on the divisions, and the type can by no possibility be jammed; 5, To keep spaces separate; 6, To strictly confine the contents of a case to borders of one body, and preferably, from one foundry.

Our trays are exactly one inch deep, so that they may be piled one upon another without risk of injury to the type. The bottoms are somewhat thicker than those of ordinary type-cases; the exterior dimensions are 17 × 14 in.; the interior exactly 15½ × 12½. For divisions we cut ordinary pica reglets 15½in. long; and for cross divisions we keep a stock of pica reglets cut to 2¼, 3, 3¼, 4¼, 5¼, 6¼, 8¼, and 10¼ ems. We buy these ready cut, as they must be accurate in length, and are required in great numbers; and are cheaply supplied by the printers' joiners. For emerald borders, we have our reglets cut in Germany to corresponding lengths of « Cicero, » —2¼, 3¼, &c. The English reglets are of good sound oak—the German, rather more costly, of soft white deal; however, they answer our purpose.

With these materials, we proceed thus. Open the fount of border, and separate the sorts. Arrange them on a galley approximately as they are to be placed in the tray. Have at hand twelve or fourteen 15½in. reglets, and the shorter lengths in packets. Unless there are very small pieces in the combination, probably nothing smaller than 4¼ need be used; and 6¼ and 8¼ for the larger. Our plan is to arrange the smallest sorts at the front, and the larger farther back. Do not begin with the type. First, put in a 15½in. pica reglet, which should fit tightly, but not spring. It is a good plan to glue all the divisions, but this takes a good deal of time—time, however, saved in the long run. Then begin, say, with a 4¼ reglet. Never let the types come close to the sides of the tray. Have a pica all around. The short pieces at the ends, too, give a firm bearing to the divisions. If the smaller sorts are pica, put in say four rows of the first sort, and then a 4¼ reglet; then the next; and another reglet. If there are two or three nonpareil sorts, put them about the middle of the row, eight lines instead of four. If your nonpareils and picas do not fill up, put (at the ends) two rows of two-line pica sorts. When your row is full (but not on any account spaced tight), press in another 15½in. reglet tight and true, and go on again. Three-line pieces, set double, with 6¼ reglets between. An ordinary 30/- or 40/- combination will occupy about one-third of the tray. The advantage of glueing the divisions down is, that you have a fixture; the reglets cannot spring up and let the types underneath. However, with care, we have found the loose divisions answer very well. If the case is not full, be very careful to brace the last 15½in. division with furniture against the back of the tray—if this is neglected, you will find the whole contents of the case gradually work backwards and go to pie. Sometimes, the sorts are just too many to come in a row. In this case, do not leave out any of the divisions; but substitute two or three brevier reglets for the picas. We find it a good plan, where more than one border is laid in a case, to mark the division by a 15½in. great primer reglet. Though more than one sort should never be laid in one compartment, it is always necessary, where there is a large quantity of one character, to divide it into portions.

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In this system, the type is just loose enough to be readily removed, and the pica division just allows room for the fingers to work. The great essentials are—the tray higher than the type; the divisions lower than the type; and also ½-nonpareil longer. If the type gathers dust, take the tray outside and brush gently with a soft shoe-brush, and then blow with bellows. By this system type may be kept in good order and fair use for a life-time. At the head of this article we give a full-size diagram of the corner of a tray so arranged.

Our plan is adapted equally to all classes of combinations, large and small, and provides also for adjuncts, such as brass rule, up to 15½in. in length. It is specially useful where a fount—the « Pretiosa, » for example — contains « pins and needles. » This is how we deal with them:

The 3-em-pica reglets we use for 2-line great primer bodies. Four average founts, without lower-case, can be kept in one tray,—a great saving of space. The divisions fall in all kinds of irregular places, thus giving a firm bearing, as below.

This shows the actual arrangement, in three rows, of a 2-line great primer fount of « Cabalistic » —a few letters and points being omitted, our measure not being wide enough to shew the whole.

As an instance of economy of space, we may mention that in one of these trays we have a fount of 3-line Arboret No. 1, 2-line Arboret No. 1, 2-line Arboret No. 2, and all the ornaments for the two sizes of No. 1 and three of No. 2—each in its own compartment. In another, we have Series 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 11 of MacKellar's line ornaments, with the elliptical spaces belonging to No. 9. The two weigh 321b each, and together only occupy the space of an ordinary type-case. In a small corner of our office we have forty-five of these trays; the contents of which, in ordinary methods of arrangement, would occupy from sixty to seventy full-sized cases, and would be far less easy of access. Trays, such as we have described can, if desired, be readily and advantageously fitted into a dust-proof cabinet.