Glossary

Artist's book: A book which itself becomes an object of art. Content, image, and form are considered essential to the object, but text and traditional book structure might not be used. An edition of one is common.

Broadside: Also known as broadsheet. A sheet of paper printed on one side only, such as a poster or handbill.

Chase: The metal frame into which type is locked by means of expanding quoins.

Colophon: Early printed colophons included the date when printing began and/or ended, the number of copies printed and the name of the ruler under whose protection the book was issued. They are usually found on the last printed page of a book. The word colophon is derived from the Ionian city of Colophon. It was believed that the Colophonians could tip the scale of favour for whichever side of battle they fought, enabling the battle to end. Hence the phrase of Erasmus, "Colophonem adidi" ["I have put the finishing touch to it"] and its use to describe the words at the end of a book. A modern form of colophon is the production note at the end of private press books. It generally reports the typeface, point size, paper and printing press that were used, the number of copies produced and the printer's mark or device.

Compositor: One who sets type and gets the forme ready for printing.

Composing stick: The long three-sided box held in the compositor 's left hand, into which the letters from the type case are placed.

Font: Also called fount. See type family.

Forme: A complete typesetting, assembled into pages and secured, ready for printing.

Frontispiece: An illustration facing the title page of a book.

Galley: Or galley tray. A flat tray on which the compositor makes up the type into pages. It has sides that are lower than the height of the type and is open at one end.

Galley proof: Prints taken on paper for proofing while the type-matter is still on the galley.

Livre d'artiste: Traditionally, a book illustrated with original prints, printed by hand in a small edition on fine paper. In livres d'artiste, the emphasis is placed on the illustration whereas in private press books the quality of the printing is more important than, or as important as, the illustration.

Livre-objet: A type of livre d'artiste which the text and the traditional structure of the book are put aside to create an object in which the content, the image and the form reflect the expression of the artist. The livre-objet is usually conceived and built entirely by the artist, often unique or in an edition of only a few copies.

Make-ready: The work done on the press by the operator in order to obtain the best impression from the forme. Adjustments are made to ensure clear and even printing by adding or cutting away packing.

Matrix: The sunken mould in which type is cast. It is produced by an impression from a punch.

Packing: Material, usually paper, placed on the printing press to give an even pressure.

Printer's mark: Also called printer's device. Used for visual identification of the printer. It was likely the first form of copyright to protect the intellectual contents and to guarantee the quality of a book.

Punch: The steel engraving of a character, from which a matrix is struck.

Quoins: Small wedges of various sizes used to lock up the forme. They are made of wood or metal, and exert lateral pressure on the type within the chase.

Small press: Or small publisher. Presses or publishers very interested in content and not necessarily in the accompanying aesthetic package. Works produced by these presses are generally intended for a very small, select audience of amateurs.

Type: A character used in printing. Generally of metal, each one is nearly or approximately an inch high, and rectangular in shape.

Type case: A tray divided into small compartments in which individual letters, numbers and spaces are kept.

Typeface: The design name of the characters within a type family or font, for example, Times New Roman.

Type family: Also called font, or fount. The characters of one design (ex. Times New Roman) which are available in upper and lower case roman type, with companion italic, bold and small capitals.

Type-founding: The art of casting type. A mould, or matrix, is filled with melted metal. When the metal has solidified, the mould is opened and the type drops out.

Typesetting: The act of composing lines and pages of type. Whether setting type one letter at a time, setting hot-type (whole lines) on a linotype machine, or composing a page to print on the computer.

Typographer: A person with knowledge of letter design, punch cutting, type-founding and printing processes, who designs printed material from moveable type.

Typography: The art of printing from moveable type, including the skilled planning of typeface and size, composition, and layout, to make a balanced and attractive whole.

Wayzgoose: Or waygoose. An annual gathering or outing of printers. Traditionally at the end of summer, when work by candlelight began.

Woodcut: Or wood cut. An image created by cutting into wood along the grain. In printing, ink stands on the raised image and a page is pressed onto it.

Wood engraving: An image for printing created by cutting into the end grain of the wood. This technique allows for greater detail and larger runs than with the woodcut. The development of wood engraving is credited to Thomas Bewick (1753-1828).

For further terminology, refer to the Resources.