細節
SALLUSTIUS CRISPUS, Caius (86-34 B.C.). Belli Catilinarii et Jugurthini Historiae. Edinburgh: William Ged, 1739.
12o (127 x 74 mm). Contemporary red morocco, covers with wide gilt border, spine gilt-lettered and decorated, gilt floral endpapers, edges gilt. Provenance: Charles Nodier (1780-1844, bookplate); C. Pieters, bibliographer of the Elzeviers (bookplate); L. Veydt (bookplate); G. Montefiore (bookplate); purchased from Emil Offenbacher, 27 December 1955.
THE FIRST BOOK PRINTED FROM STEREOTYPE. "Stereotyping, an important auxiliary to the use of machinery in printing, was opportunely revived in 1802, largely through the efforts of Earl Stanhope, the inventor of the iron printing press. The art had been discovered in this country by William Ged [1690-1749], an Edinburgh goldsmith, about 1727, but in his endeavors to perfect the invention he met with much opposition and discouragement from type founders and printers. He succeeded in producing only two or three books by this process, among them an edition of Sallust in 1739, and on his death ten years later his discovery dropped into oblivion. Stereotyping is the process by which metal casts are made from pages of type which have been set up and are ready for printing. Instead of being composed of separate letters, as the pages of type are, these casts consist of solid plates having the letters in relief on the surface, and in this respect they are akin to the wood-blocks from which the block-books of the fifteenth century were printed. By making stereotype plates of a work, fresh impressions can be printed off without the expense of re-setting the type. This process is, therefore, much used for books which are in continuous demand, or of which successive editions, involving few or no alterations, are likely to be called for. A further advantage is that by printing from plates the wear of type in long impressions is saved, and, also, as soon as the plates are made the type can be released for other work" (Harry G. Aldis, The Printed Book, Cambridge, 1916). Bigmore & Wyman neglect to list this first stereotype edition, and start with the edition of 1744 (see pp.257-59 for their entries on Ged.) RARE: no copies appear in American Book Prices Current for at least 30 years.
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THE FIRST BOOK PRINTED FROM STEREOTYPE. "Stereotyping, an important auxiliary to the use of machinery in printing, was opportunely revived in 1802, largely through the efforts of Earl Stanhope, the inventor of the iron printing press. The art had been discovered in this country by William Ged [1690-1749], an Edinburgh goldsmith, about 1727, but in his endeavors to perfect the invention he met with much opposition and discouragement from type founders and printers. He succeeded in producing only two or three books by this process, among them an edition of Sallust in 1739, and on his death ten years later his discovery dropped into oblivion. Stereotyping is the process by which metal casts are made from pages of type which have been set up and are ready for printing. Instead of being composed of separate letters, as the pages of type are, these casts consist of solid plates having the letters in relief on the surface, and in this respect they are akin to the wood-blocks from which the block-books of the fifteenth century were printed. By making stereotype plates of a work, fresh impressions can be printed off without the expense of re-setting the type. This process is, therefore, much used for books which are in continuous demand, or of which successive editions, involving few or no alterations, are likely to be called for. A further advantage is that by printing from plates the wear of type in long impressions is saved, and, also, as soon as the plates are made the type can be released for other work" (Harry G. Aldis, The Printed Book, Cambridge, 1916). Bigmore & Wyman neglect to list this first stereotype edition, and start with the edition of 1744 (see pp.257-59 for their entries on Ged.) RARE: no copies appear in American Book Prices Current for at least 30 years.