538 REVIEW. Hansard's Typographia, "In printing, the Chinese do not use a press, as we do in Europe; the delicate nature of their paper would not admit of it; when new, however, the blocks are engraved, the paper is cut, and the ink is ready, one man, says du Halde, with his brush can, without fatigue, print ten thousand sheets in a day*. Had this number been stated in figures, I should have given the printer credit for having introduced a cipher extraordinary, in honour of Chinese industry. The account is absolutely incredible. "The block to be printed must be placed level, and firmly fixed. The man must have two brushes; one of them of a stiffer kind, which he can hold in his hand, and use at either end. He dips it into the inkt, and rubs the block with it, taking care not to wet it too much, or to leave it too dry; if it were wetted too much, the characters would be slurred; if too little, they would not print. When the block is once got into a proper state, he can print three or four sheets following, without dipping his brush into the ink. "The second brush is used to rub over the paper, with a small degree of pressure, that it may take the impression: this it does easily, for, not being sized with alum, it receives the ink the instant it comes in contact with it. It is only necessary that the brush should be passed over every part of the sheet with a greater or smaller degree of pressure, and repeated in proportion as the printer finds there is more or less ink upon the block. This brush is soft, and of an oblong form." This subject is illustrated by two pages of a Chinese work, which were brought to this country from China about a century ago, by Capt. Gough, father of the celebrated Antiquary. Sect. VI. contains a good account of the Stationers' Company, with representations of the antient and modern appearance of their neat Hall, and the carved oak screen there. Sect. VII. embraces the history of eminent printers: Faust, Jenson, Aldus, Baskerville, Bodoni, Bulmer, Bensley ‡, McCreery (whose excellent poem, intituled "The Press," is here re-printed, with his permission), and Moxon: with biographical notices of the Bowyers, Griffith Jones, John Nichols, John Hughs, Luke Hansard, W. and A. • "Dix mille feuilles." ↑ A mixture of " Indian ink," made of a due consistence. It would have gratified us, had the work included a portrait of the present highly respected Master of the Stationers' Company, the celebrated Bensley. [Dec. Strahan, A. and R. Spottiswoode, A. J. Valpy, &c.-With great pleasure we extract the following account of a living ornament of his profession, who in the intimate knowledge of his art, and unbounded devotion to it, has never been exceeded. "Mr. Luke Hansard § was born at Norwich in 1748, and served his apprenticeship to Mr. Stephen White, a man of much versatility of talent and ingenuity, not confined entirely to his own profession. Upon the expiration of his term Mr. Hansard came to London, and obtained an engagement as a compositor in the office of Mr. Hughs, until the period when he became Mr. Hughs's acting manager. After some years exertion, as great perhaps as ever was witnessed, certainly never exceeded by any one, in making the interest of his employer the first and sole object, he became in 1799 a partner in the concern; and by a subsequent arrangement in 1800, he succeeded as the entire proprietor of a business to which he has, with unremitted exertion, devoted almost 40 years of his life; and has rendered it the first in the world for that promptitude and dispatch so essential to the interests of the Legislature and the Nation. The increasing business of the House of Commons, and the vast accumulation of stock requisite for executing it, requiring more room, a large and commodious building, suitable to the purpose, was erected in Parker-street, Queen-street, Lincoln's Inn Fields. The whole business is conducted under the firm of Luke Hansard and Sons, Mr. Hansard giving the old house (which for cleanliness, convenience, and above all, immensity of stock of materials, is as a printing establishment unequalled) the greater share of his personal attention. Long may he live endued with strength both of body and mind, to enjoy the delight (and he seeks no other pleasure) of his incessant drive of business. To this he devotes 18 out of the 24 hours of every day of his life. He has a family of sons and grandsons (nor any lack of the other sex), who promise fair to rival in numbers engaged in the ty pographic art, the Elzevirs of the 17th cenprobability of failure, a long succession of tury; and to insure, beyond any ordinary the name of HANSARD in a profession, in which Luke Hansard has, by his own talents and industry, raised a fame beyond all his § Mr. Hansard has transferred in his lifetime to the Stationers' Company, 1000l. 4 per cents. the interest to be given to poor freemen of the Company; and 1500l. 3 per cents. to provide every apprentice with a prayer-book (these usually amount to about 200 copies a year), and for two annuities to decayed printers' warehousemen. compeers. 1895.] REVIEW.-Hansard's Typographia. compeers. His eldest son [the author of the present work] migrated to Peterboroughcourt in 1805, and upon the expiration of his lease in 1823, moved to a more central part of the City, and more convenient to those connexions he had been most anxious to form, in order to avoid any possible collision with the interest of his father and his younger brothers. Having purchased the freehold of a house in Paternoster-row, he fitted it up for business according to his idea and experience of what a printing-office ought to be, as far as the scite of ground allowed, and named it The Paternoster Row Press." Section VIII. is devoted to the history of Type Founding; and contains a good abstract of Mr. Rowe Mores' curious" Dissertation on Type Founders." All the old masters in the art are noticed, but we prefer bringing forward the biographical sketches of living members of the profession. "The third William Caslon (grandson of the first William) sold his share of the paternal foundry to his mother and sister-inlaw, and removed to Finsbury-square, and afterwards to Dorset-street; and his house in Finsbury was converted by the celebrated bookseller Mr. Lackington into the Temple of the Muses. In the hands of Mr. Wm. Caslon, Mr. Jackson's foundry was greatly enlarged and improved, particularly by his elegant collection of cast ornaments, a species of typographical decoration which he has the merit of introducing into this country. He is the first letter-founder, of modern times at least, who was honoured with the royal appointment. His specimen of 1785 was very superior to any thing that had been before exhibited by the English founders, and became the pattern for that mode of display of their type which has since been adopted by most of the profession. If his friends had not yet the pleasure of occasionally receiving his lively salutations -of enjoying the gay, the gentlemanlike converse; the whim, the anecdote, and the agreeable bagatalle of Wm. Caslon, aforesaid; I might be induced to amplify on these points; but the biography of contemporaries is rather delicate ground to touch upon; and I therefore pass by with a hearty wish that his choice spirit may long continue buoyant to impart its enlivening sallies. The mention, however, of one thing, must not be omitted. Some years ago he was deprived of sight by the formation of a cataract in each eye: still his musical ear furnished the faculty of distinguishing persons whom he knew by their voices; and his cheerful spirits enabled him to sustain the calamity with a becoming temper of mind. At length, his courage in undergoing the operation of couching three several 589 times was rewarded with the perfect restoration of his sight; and his friends again experience the delight of hearing him truly say, Ah! I'm happy to see you, by But, although ever ready with anecdote and whim, to enliven; still more to his honour as a man, may it be added, that he can at once turn the cheerful smile into serious solicitations for the assistance of a decayed old friend, his orphau, or his widow. "In 1807 he relinquished business in favour of his son, the fourth William Caslon, who had previously been in partnership with his father, and to him we owe the greatest improvement in the art of type-founding that has taken place in modern times; namely, the pierced matrices for large types, which he without impropriety denominated disposed of his foundry to Messrs. Blake, Sanspareil. In 1819, Mr. W. Caslon, jun. Garnett, and Co. of Sheffield, whither the whole stock has been removed. Mr. Caslon relinquished his profession to enter into a gas-light concern on the North side of the metropolis, and transferred to the Sheffield founders such a specimen of type and flowers as will ever cause us printers to regret the loss of such a competitor for fame in this difficult business. The premises in which this foundry was conducted, have since been converted into a printing-office [that of Messrs. S. and R. Bentley]." We cannot compliment Mr. Hansard on his portrait of our lively friend Mr. W. Caslon. "Mr. VINCENT FIGGINS was apprentice to Mr. Jackson*. He was bound in 1782, and served him as apprentice and journeythree preceding years had the entire manage man till his death in 1799, having, for the ment of the concern. Of this candidate for public favour as a letter-founder, Mr. Nichols says, With an ample portion of his kind derable share of his talents and industry, and instructor's reputation, he inherits a consihas distinguished himself by the many beautiful specimens he has produced; and particularly of Oriental types.' On the death of Mr. Jackson, he failed in succeeding to his foundry and materials, by not bidding more worth; or than he should be enabled to than he conscientiously thought they were pay. But his character had long been observed by Mr. John Nichols, who, for many years, was the intimate friend of Mr. Jackson. Under his auspices Mr. Figgins was encouraged to rear a foundry for his own name. A large order (two founts, great primer and pica, of each 2000 lb. even before he had produced a single specimen) gave the young adventurer the best heart to proceed; neither did his liberal patron suffer See a Memoir of Mr. Jackson, in our vol. LXII. p. 92; and a Portrait of him in vol. LXVI. p. 728. 540 REVIEW.-Tour of a Foreigner in England and Scotland. him to want the sinews of trade as long as such assistance was required*.” The "Second Part" gives a description of the practice of the Art of Printing, divided under the heads of "Case," "The Press," " Fine Printing," "Inking Apparatus," "Improved Manual Presses," Printing Machines, Printing Ink, the respective offices of Overseer, Reader, Warehouse Department, Stereotype Printing, Lithography, Decorative Printing, &c. On all of these subjects very important information is brought to light by Mr. Hansard, important to all concerned in Typography, but more especially to the Tyro; and we shall conclude with our hearty recommendation that the young aspirant to eminence in the art should devote "his days and his nights to the study of" HANSARD. 98. Historical and Literary Tour of a Foreigner in England and Scotland. 2 vols. 8vo. Saunders and Otley. THIS work is written in imitation of M. de Stael's "Germany," and consequently differs much from the general character of those numerous Tours in England annually published on the Continent. Foreign travellers who, up to this time, have published their remarks upon this Country, have devoted themselves principally to the consideration of its constitution, laws, industry and commerce; but the present writer justly considered that English Literature deserved to be made more generally known. He has therefore devoted a large portion of his pages to the literature of the present day, and he has accompanied his remarks upon various writers with brief observations, displaying considerable knowledge and candour. [Dec The first volume of the work is chiefly dedicated to London and its envirors, and it contains a critical review of the Public Buildings, the Arts, the Drama, and the Learned Professions. "The bustle which prevails in the City exceeds description. The foot pavements, which are narrower here than at the West end of the town, are insufficient to accommodate the crowd of passengers who are continually moving to and fro. One is ment for a moment, and walk in the horse often compelled to abandon the foot paveroad, a thing which never happens, the English politely say, but to dogs and Frenchmen. Cheapside and Fleet-street are described by Sir W. Scott in his novel of the Fortunes of Nigel,' but the Citizens of the time of Good King James would be mightily astonished at the present splendor and magnificence of the shops of those streets. Cheapside and Fleet-street are like our Rue St. Denis and Rue Vivenne combined. "We shall find handsomer streets in the West end of the town; but before we proceed to join the fashionable bazaars, or in Bond-street, let us station ourselves on London Bridge and look down the river, where a forest of masts extends for the space of four miles. Here I confess that London is the first of capitals, and the Seine is but a streamlet in comparison with the Thames. We must next pay a visit to Blackfriars' Bridge, which has not received its new name of Pitt's Bridge, which some persons proposed giving it in honour of the illustrious rival of Fox. From Blackfriars' Bridge we have a view of St. Paul's, the Tower, the Monument, Somerset House, Churches. Westminster Bridge, which was Westminster Abbey, and more than thirty the handsomest in London before the construction of Waterloo Bridge, was the work of a Frenchman. But Waterloo Bridge is not only the finest in London, it may be called the most magnificent in the world. At the sight of its elliptical arches, sus "It is a singular coincidence that the three eminent printers, successive proprietors of the same concern, should be the patrons of three foundries which have so eminently flourished; namely, the first Mr. Bowyer was the patron of the first Mr. Caslon; the second Mr. Bowyer, of Mr. Jackson, who served his apprenticeship to Mr. Caslon; and Mr. John Nichols, of Mr. Figgins, who, as just above stated, served his time to Mr. Jackson. The patronage also of the delegates of the Oxford University press, and the type on which Mr. Bensley printed those two splendid works, Bowyer's History of England, and Macklin's Bible, established Mr. Figgins in all the reputation he could desire; and he has never since ceased in his efforts to make his foundry one of the most complete in England. No foundry existing is better stocked with matrices for those extraneous sorts which are cut more with a view to accommodation than profit: such as, astronomical, geometrical, algebraical, physical, genealogical, and arithmetical sorts; and I feel it particularly incumbent on me to add, that, as his specimen bears equal rank with any for the number and beauty of its founts, so he has strayed less into the folly of fat-faced, prepos terous disproportions, than either Thorne, Fry, or Caslon. I consider his five-line pica german-text, a typographie curiosity." pended 1925.] REVIEW.-Time's Telescope. pended so lightly and elegantly from one side of the river to the other, one cannot feel astonished at Canova having said that he would willingly resign all his glory for the honour of having created that masterpiece of Rennie's genius. But we are now beyond the boundaries of the City, and have reached Charing Cross, in the centre of which stands the equestrian statue of Charles I. Further on, in a sort of courtyard behind Whitehall, the palace from which the Monarch was conducted to the scaffold, is the statue of the last King of the House of Stuart, James II. which was erected to him the year before his abdication. The pedestal bears the inscription of his name and his title of King, which the new dynasty did not deface." In the tenth Chapter we find some remarks upon the present state of sculpture in London, at the conclusion of which the following passage occurs: "The English Sculptors, it is true, have, like the French, generally disguised historical personages by what I could call anachronisms in costume. Thus we see the Charleses and the Jameses clothed in the Roman Toga, and the periwigs are disregarded, an omission very creditable to the artists. In our busts and statues of Lewis XIV. the wig usually encircles the brow of Grand Monarque. "There is, however, nothing offensive in the figure of Charles Fox, represented in a consular robe in Bloomsbury-square; for there was a certain degree of Roman eloquence in the parliamentary speeches of that leader of the Opposition. He is represented seated, with his right arm extended and supporting Magna Charta. His name forms the only inscription on the pedestal. The countenance is said to be a striking resemblance of the distinguished statesman. The attitude is dignified, and the statue, upon the whole, reflects great credit on the talent of Westmacott. In Russell-square, in a situation facing the monument of Fox, there is another statue, which also calls to mind one of those illustrious statesmen of ancient Rome, whose time was divided between the labours of the senate and the care of their Sabine farms. This statue represents the late Duke of Bedford, with one hand resting on a plough, and in the other holding some ears of corn. There are four emblematic figures of the Seasons, at the pedestal of the monument, which is adorned with various rural attributes in bas-relief." The earlier portion of the second volume is devoted to the poets, and in this department the author has evinced considerable knowledge of our litera ture. The latter portion comprises the writer's tour to Scotland, in which he 541 It is the custom of the Editor to give as an introduction, a dissertation at length on some interesting subject: that chosen for the present year, is a very able essay on Man, by Thomas Myers, LL.D.” Section I. treats of the Physical Powers of Man. The chief varieties are, 1. The Caucasian race, with white skin; 2. The Mongolian, with olive skin; 3. The Ethiopian, with black skin; 4. The American, with red or copper coloured skin; and 5. The Malay, with brown or tawny skin. The Caucasian must be considered as the centre division, the Mongoliau and the Ethiopian as the two extremes, while the American and the Malay constitute the middle terms. This diversity, the author thinks, is not sufficient to warrant the unscriptural idea that mankind has sprung from different sources, as man is endowed with a greater degree of pliancy of body than he can exist with comparative ease in the lower species of animals, by which all countries, and in all varieties of temperature. The difference between these apparently various races may therefore be sufficiently accounted for by the continued operation of physical, political, and moral causes. The whole article is extremely interesting, and we heartily join with Dr. Myers in the feelings expressed in the following extract: "On reviewing the whole mechanism of the human frame, we cannot fail of being struck with the peculiar adaptation of its different parts. Manifestly complex and elaborate in its organization, it combines so much have died the days of Index By Wm. Robinson, D. of the Middle Temple, er. Sto. C. Hunter. ROBINSON'S name is known erent publications connected with phical literature; and he has y contributed more towards the of the county of Middlesex any cotemporary writer. His ones of TOTTENHAM, STOKE WINGTON, ENFIELD, &c. have ered his name familiar to every quary; and the present highly ful work is likely to extend his putation amongst the profession which he forms so respectable a member. Indeed its utility will not be confined to the Magistracy or legal profession alone: the publick at large (particularly those connected with trade and parochial duties) may derive the most necessary and important information respecting the present state of the Criminal Law. The most recent authorities are carefully adduced; and the whole is arranged in the most judicious and systematic manner. Its conciseness is the only thing to be regretted; but perhaps the addition of summonses, orders, &c. would have so extended the work, and increased the price, as to have limited its circulation. On this subject we extract the following paragraph, explanatory of the Author's future intentions. "To have added forms of SUMMONSES, WARRANTS, CONVICTIONS, ORDERS, ADJU DICATIONS, &c. would have increased the bulk of the book so much, that it would have defeated the author's intention of compressing the matter so as to bring the book into a convenient size for the pocket; bat as it has been considered by some that a set of practical forms would be a useful ap pendage to the Pocket Book, the Author has it in contemplation, at some day not far distant, to add a series of the most useful and approved forms, as a supplement to this little volume." worthies 101. The Visitation of the Sick. In three memoir of Parts. By the Rev. Henry Wintle, A.M. ay be styled Rector of Somerton, Oxfordshire. 12mo. Te's Telepp. 104. Introductory e are in the a dozen ex THE Visitation of the Sick is far from an easy duty to a conscientious Clergyman. If he leans too much to severity, he defeats the object, or limits its application to the virtuous alone, and, if he be too easy, he opens a door to procrastination of reform. We would phabetically therefore call the Visitation of the de copious Sick, the sanction and aid of the Church afforded ; or Epih of a Justice |