Black Bird, 1790 (p1)

The title page to this small chapbook lists the 8 ballads printed therein along with a decorative woodcut.

Black Bird, 1790 (p8)

A line of printer's flowers is used to separate the end of one ballad from the start of the next in this 8-page chapbook; because this is the last page, the phrase finis is placed at the end.

Connecticut, Proclamation, 1783

If you look closely at this broadside, you might see that the text at the top and bottom have light shadows---a faint double impression caused by an accidental bounce of the paper on the inked type

Encyclopédie plates, 1769 (vol 7, pl 14)

An illustration of a pressroom: on the left the paper is being placed on the tympan while the type is being inked; on the right a separate press is being pulled while the beater works the ink in the background. At the bottom of the page is a top-down view of the press showing how a quarto imposition looks on the press stone and how it is inked on the paper held on the tympan.

Encyclopédie, Plates, 1769 (vol 7, pl 1)

An illustration of compositors working along with detailed pictures of pieces of type.

Encylopédie plates, 1769 (vol 7 pl 15)

This side view of the common press is particularly useful for showing how the frisket folds down over the paper on the tympan, which then folds down over the imposed forme for printing. The pressman (standing facing us) would then roll the forme under the platen (barely visible hanging between the upright cheeks) and then reach across to pull the lever to lower the platen, creating the pressure to transfer the ink from the type to the paper.

Febrés, Arte de lengua de Chile, 1765 (2A4r)

This page is from a textbook teaching Spanish speakers the Mapuche language, spoken by the Mapuche people of present-day Chile and Argentina. It showcases how type works to transliterate phonemes from a non-Romance language into a Latin alphabet. It is interesting to compare the tildes on the Ñs in the text to the contemporary variety. The book seems to be tightly bound, based on the close cropping on the left side of the image.

Febrés, Arte lengua Chile, 1765 ([*]1r)

This title page comes from a book that documents the linguistic complexities of 18th-century Chile, including the language of the Mapuche, Chile’s indigenous inhabitants, combined with Spanish-speaking colonizers. Both red and black ink are used to add emphasis on areas of the book’s contents, such as advertising that in addition to its main contents, it also includes a “very curious ‘Chilean-Hispanic’ dialogue.” The somewhat misaligned nature of the lines indicates that the two-color inking friskets were not precisely lined up during printing.

Rowe, Laura, 1775 (A1v)

This ad selling letterpress printing to the public appears on the back of a title page; the book lacks an imprint statement, and the shop location given here allows researchers to suggest a time-frame for the book's publication.

Ruban, Kratkaia letopis Malaia Rrossiia, 1777 (И5)

The 6 in the headline's 1736 and the 6 in the same date in the third line of the text both are missing the same area of print on the bottom of the number. It can't be the same piece of type, since both 6s need to be in the forme simultaneously. But perhaps the matrix used to cast the 6s in this font didn't have a deep enough strike to cast the number correctly.