History of the Government Printing Office (at Washington D. C.) with a brief record of the public printing for a century 1789-1881.

Front matter

LIBRARY OPEN--10 A. M.

UNTIL 5 P. M.

Shelf No.

CHAPTER I. History of Public Printing from 1789 to 1881 . 15

CHAPTER n.

Superintendents of Public Printing from 1852 to 1881 37

Chief Clerks from 1852 to 1881 37

Foremen and Assistant Foremen of Printing and Binding from 1861 to 1881 37

Presci t Organization of the Office 38

Office of Public Printer 39

Synopsis of Laws relating to Duties of Public Printer 40

Chief Clerk's Office, Duties, etc 42

Machine and Carpenter Shop 43

Stereotype Vault ." 43

Warehouse for Printing- Papers 44

Binders' Warehouse ; 44

The Stables, etc 45

Watchmen 45

Items 45

CHAPTER III. The Printing for Congress 53

Documents, Reports, etc 54

Distribution of Documents 55

Forthcoming and Annual Publications of Congress and the Departments 56

Chapter IV

The Government Printing Office Building : History of its Purchase, etc 65

Value when Purchased. 67

Additions to the Building 68

Capacity of the Office for doing great quantities of work 69

Printing for the Executive Departments 71

CHAPTER V. The Printing Department 73

The Document Room , 73

The Piece Department 75

The Executive Printing or Job Room 77

The Patent Office Specification Room 78

The Press Room 80

The Dry-Press Room 85

^ Contents.

(AGE.

Machinery in the Press Room 87

The Folding Room 88

Machinery in the Folding Room 93

The Record Room, with a brief allusion to the early publication of the Debates of

Congress loi

The Branch Office, Treasury Department 106

Other Branch Offices - 107

CHAPTER VI. The Stereotyping and Electrotyping Department 109

Machinery in the Stereotyping and Electrotyping Department 115

CHAPTER VH.

The Binding Department 117

The Ruling Room 126

The Sewing Room 130

The Forwarding Room 132

The Finishing Room 138

Machinery in the Bindery. 140

Appendix

Alphabetical list of Employes at date of publication 143

Laws relating to the Public Printing up to the close of the Forty-sixth Congress. . . 159

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Frontispiece — Government Printing Office Building. page.

Hon. John D. Defrees 3-

The Document Room 54

The Job Room 68

The Press Room. So

The Folding Room — H Street Wing 88

The Folding Room — North Capitol Street Wing 92

The Congressional Record Room 102

The Electrotype and Stereotype Room no

The Bindery — Ruling and Sewing Room 130

The Bindery — Forwarding Room 132

Fig. I. The Bullock Press 82

2. Cottrell & Babcock Two-Revolution Cylinder Press 84

" 3. Hoe's Cylinder Press 85

" 4. Gill's Hot Rolling or Calendering Machine 86

" 5. Chambers' Folding Machine... 93

" 6. Chambers' Folding and Pasting Machine 94

" 7. Jones' Hydraulic Sheet Pressing Machine 95

" 8. Sheridan Cutting Machine 96

" 9. Thompson's Wire Stitching Machine 97

" 10. Novelty Wire Stitching Machine 98

II. Brown's Rotary Card Cutter 99

" 12. Acme Cutting Machine 100

" 13. Dynamo-Electric Machine 110

" 14. Stereotype Plate Shaving Machine in

" 15. Elecirotyper's Sawing Table 112

" 16. Electrotyper's Trimming Machine 113

" 17. Electrotype and Stereotype Planing Machine 115

" 18. W. O. Hickok's Ruling Machine iiS

" 19. W. O. Hickok's Double Ruling Machine 120

'• 20. Sheridan Embossing Press 123

" 21. Sheridan Embossing Press (another style) , 125

" 22. Plow and Press 125

" 23. Book Sawing Machi ne 127

'• 231^. Book Sawing Machine (another kind) 128

" 24. Table Shears . 129

" 25. Sewing Bench 130

26. Blank Book Sewing Bench 130

" 27. Paging Machin". l^i

" 28. Acme Automatic and Foot Clamping Cutter 133

" 29. Semple Cutting Machine 134

6 List of IUMst7'ations.

rAGB.

Fig, 30. Knife Grinding Machine 135

" 31. Wire Book Sewing Machine 136

" 32. Standing Press 137

" 33. Stabbing Machine 138

*• 34. Backing INIachine 139

35. Binders' Board Cutter. 140

*

INTRODUCTIOxN.

The original design of this book was simply to furnish something which would answer as a guide to the many visitors who yearly inspect the different departments of the Government Printing Office. It was not intended to elaborate it with any allusion to the early printing for the Government ; to embody in it the laws relating to the subject of public printing ; to supply any data of the former business of the office ; nor to illustrate it as it now appears. It was intended only to recapitulate, in as brief a manner as possible, the present dimensions and capacity of the office, with a reference to the machinery in use, the number of hands engaged, the style of work produced, the manner of its execution, etc. But it has grown greatly beyond its first conception, and my own intention and expectation ; and whether the present design be good or bad, I have no apology to make, as I believe the many historical and other incidents contained in its pages will prove of some value and interest, although possibly not presented in the most attractive form.

But few persons outside of a printing office, or those having daily business with printers, have any idea of the numerous processes through which written matter must pass before it becomes a finished, printed book. Printing is a slow and tedious business at best, notwithstanding the many and diversified improvements which have been invented to facilitate the rapid production of printed matter.

That the reader — if he be not a printer — may form some conception of the magnitude of the undertaking, I will endeavor to give, without the use of trade terms where they can be avoided, the many different and devious processes, in the order of their occurrence, involved in the production of a simple public document, from the time of its entry into the Government Printing Office until it reaches the Capitol for distribution to Senators and Representatives as a completed, printed volume.

The first operation, and perhaps the most important one, at least to the author, after the receipt of the manuscript in the office, is to see that it is arranged in the order in which it is supposed to have been

Int7^oduction.

written. It not unfrequently happens that the document has been kicked from pillar to post at the committee-rooms of the Capitol for days, or pulled to pieces by a dozen different correspondents in their eager hunt for news; and, nine times out of ten, when it reaches the Public Printer it is in the reverse order of its original production, or so badly ^' mixed up" by the displacement of pages, that it would be a mass of nonsense if printed as received at the office. But here it falls into the hands of careful and conscientious workmen, to whom the authors of Government literature owe a debt of gratitude of great magnitude, who exert a ''rectifying" influence over this rumpled monstrosity that smooths its future career, and places the author in the first ranks of modern writers. When the order of its being has thus been determined by these experts, it is carefully read over, page after page, by the same individuals, who seek to harmonize the many inconsistencies found, and by a series of hieroglyphic pencil-marks, only intelligible to printers, indicate the particular type in which each headline or portion of the text is to appear. Each page of the manuscript is then numbered, from the first to the last, to prevent any confusion in its subsequent career.

It is now ready for another process : It goes to the person having charge of the mechanical branch of the Document Room (for instance), where it is parceled out to the compositors, who reproduce the original in type. If it is an extensive publication, perhaps a hundred or a hundred and fifty men will be engaged upon it at once, and in an hour from the time the copy reaches the compositors' hands, the proof-slips are passing into the Proof Room to be read. When a certain number of lines have been set in the composing-stick, the composed matter is dexterously lifted out, and placed on a frame with brass bottom and wooden sides lined with brass, and called a "galley," in which it is securely fastened by the aid of a piece of beveled wood, called a side-stick, and small wooden wedges or quoins. When a number of these galleys, filled with type, are ready, they are removed to a proof-press, and impressions taken, which is called a first proof, and with these printed proofs the manuscript is sent to the Proof Room, where it is given out to, perhaps, as many different readers as there are galley-proofs, the manuscript being separated to correspond in quantity precisely with the matter on each proof-slip. The reader now looks over the printed impression, marking the errors detected as he proceeds, in a manner peculiar to the craft, while a "copy-holder" by his side reads aloud every word and figure or peculiar mark or character found on the original copy. The effort of this reader is to produce an exact counterpart of the manuscript, for sometimes the value of an official document depends as much upon itr,

Introdiution.

peculiarities of construction as it does ujDon the faithful production of the language used.

It is next passed to another reader, who is termed a "silent reader," and he goes over it to detect any errors of ''omission or commission" on the part of the first reader. He also refers frequently, in case of doubt, to the original copy, but does not have an assistant like the first reader.

These proof-slips, which, perhaps, from the number of pencil corrections on the margin, would lead one to believe that a first-class epidemic of small-pox is raging in the office, are now transferred to the compositors for further manipulation, v/ho proceed to correct the proof; /. e., to change letters in wrongly-spelled words, or to substitute the proper words, and sometimes whole sentences, for those which have been incorrectly deciphered. After this operation is completed, a second impression, in "galley" form, is made, which is called a "revise," and this is carefully compared by a proof-reviser with the first proof, to see that no errors have been neglected by the compositors. This second or revised proof is now again sent to the compositors, and they proceed as before to correct any remaining errors. This process of revising, in the more important scientific jjublications, is frequently repeated three and four, and sometimes five and six times, to insure the utmost accuracy in the future book.

The matter is now ready to be "made up" into pages, which is done by means of a gauge, of the exact length of the pages in the proposed book; and, when so cast off into proper lengths, is securely tied up with a strong cord to facilitate the handling of the four or five thousand little pieces of metal which go to make up a page of matter. ^ It is now arranged on an imposing-stone, in such a manner that when printed the pages will follow in regular order; and when a sufficient number of pages — usually sixteen — are made up and so arranged, a chase — a light frame-work of iron, divided by bars into four equal sections — is placed around them, and they are tightly wedged or "locked up."

If the matter is to be stereotyped, the pages of type, before they reacli this stage of progress, are sent to the Stereotype Foundry.

These several pages are now called a "form," or a "signature," from which another proof or revise is taken, which is again sent to the reviser, who goes over the headings of each page carefully, and whose duty it is to scrutinize the general make-up or arrangement of the whole, and to see that the pages have been correctly imposed; e., arranged in the proper numerical order, etc. When any errors found in this form revise have been corrected, it is lowered into the Press Room by steam power.

lO

Introduction

Here it is taken in charge by one of our ''colored brethren," and placed upon the bed of the press; the irregularities in the surface of the type planed down by the pressman, and it is now ready for the clean white paper. The young lady who is to manipulate these snowy sheets with her delicate taper fingers, now ascends to the raised platform at the side of the press, and by a peculiar push and pull separates a single sheet from the pile of paper at her elbow, and gently lowers it within reach of the steel fingers of the press, which clutch it viciously, and drag it into a dark abyss. A single revolution of the huge cylinder carries it over the waiting form beneath, and elastic tapes convey it to the rear of the press, where it appears transformed into a printed "signature" of the future book.

There are now three ways of treating these printed sheets before they are gathered into books, all of which, however, when done, have about the same effect, viz, to remove any irregularities in the surface of the printed signature: ist, they may be "dry-pressed," in the old-fashioned way, by placing three or four sheets between hard, smooth pieces of pasteboard, and subjecting them to powerful pressure in a hydraulic press; 2d, or they may be passed through Gill's Hot Rolling or Calendering Machine, which not only removes all irregularities from the printed Signature, but imparts a pleasant, glossy surface to the paper ; 3d, or they may be permitted to lie in sheets a day or two, and then folded and pressed in bundles in Jones' Hydraulic Sheet Pressing Machine. When either the first or the second of these operations has been consummated, the sheets are ready to be transported by elevators to the Folding Room on the fourth floor.

When these pressed sheets reach this room, the many signatures are divided among the lady folders, and each sheet is folded separately, so that the first and last pages of the signature are on the outside. They may, however, be folded by machinery. The process of machine folding is fully described elsewhere, and need not be stated here. •

The next operation is termed "gathering"; /. (?. , gathering the sheets or signatures into books. The folded sheets of the book are laid out along the edge of the gathering table in the regular numerical order of the signatures, and the "gatherer" then commences at the last sheet or signature, taking one from that pile, one from the next, and so on until the first sheet or title of the book is placed upon the top of all the others. This completes a set of the signatures in the coming book. This operation is, of course, repeated as many times as there are volumes printed. These gathered signatures are now examined, or "collated," as the process is called, to see that the sheets have been collected in their proper alphabetical or numerical order.

Introditction.

If the book is to be delivered unbound, it is then passed — if it is a hurried document — to the stitchers, twenty, or forty, or a hundred of whom can be put at it instantly, and the work rushed out with great rapidity. But if it does not exceed one hundred or one hundred and fifty pages, and is not specially hurried, it may be stitched upon Thompson's Wire Pamphlet Stitching Machine. Books intended for binding are sent to the Bindery as soon as collated, as the process of sewing is, I believe, the world over, a part of the work of the binder.

It is not the intention to give here a description of the various processes or of the numerous styles of binding books in practice in the office; but to refer only to the more important manipulations books receive, and the number of machines used in the process. Cloth binding is commonly termed "cows" by the binders here, but the derivation of the term is unknown to me. Although it is one of the cheapest styles of binding, it is one which requires the use of more machinery than the more expensive bindings.

The first process the book passes through after it reaches the bindery is termed "smashing"; /. <?., reducing the sheets of a volume, by enormous, sudden pressure in a powerful toggle-jointed machine, to the smallest possible space, to facilitate its more convenient handling by the sewers, etc.

After being properly pressed in the smashing machine, they are "sawed out" for "sewing." The machine for this purpose has a number of circular saws, with teeth projecting about one-eighth of an inch above the top ; the books are put up in bunches of six or eight, carefully knocked up evenly on the backs, and passed over the saws, which cut five grooves across the back. They are now ready for sewing. This is an important part of book-making, and has a great deal to do with the good or bad appearance of the future book, as the work is properly or poorly performed. The operation is somewhat complex and difficult to explain, but consists in securing the several signatures together in proper form, by means of a combination of peculiar stitches, with the aid of a sewing frame to hold the work as sewed. The process is also performed to a certain extent by the aid of machinery. The Wire Book Sewing Machines enjoy a monopoly of a certain class of the work, while certain other classes of the literature issued from the office are sewed exclusively by hand.

The volumes are now ready for the forwarder, who first pastes together the two outside, white, or "waste leaves," which is done to add strength to the book ; they are then beaten with a hammer, to remove all surplus swell caused in the sewing, and are next put up in bunches of suitable size for cutting. They are now removed to the cutting machine, and the edges trimmed precisely according to the intended

Introduction.

margin. The forwarder now glues the backs, and when ahiiost dry, he rounds them. This is done by hand, no machinery having yet been invented which does the work in a satisfactory manner ; and it is done by beating the backs with a hammer into a convex shape ; after which they are ready to be backed. The books are now removed to the backing machine ; they are placed perpendicularly between the jaws of the machine, having the back and sides exposed about one-eighth of an inch; the iron roller of the machine is now worked back and forth over the back, forming a joint or projection on each side of the book, sufficiently large to accommodate the covers. The forwarder now again takes them, and lines the back with brown paper, after which the books are ready for their cases or covers.

The cases are made by another set of operators, who are termed "case-makers." The only machinery used in this operation is a common clothes-wringer, and a gauge in the shape of a letter T, with two parallel pieces of iron forming the back, one of which works in a slot which can be moved any distance required, according to the size of the back of the book. The cloth, having been previously cut by machinery the proper size, is generously smeared with glue all over the surface; the gauge is then laid upon the cloth, two pieces of board are placed evenly against the gauge, and a strip of Manila paper inserted in the back ; the gauge is then taken off, and the edges of the cloth turned over the boards, which are then passed through the wringer to make the cloth adhere to the boards. This process, simple as it may appear, requires considerable skill and experience, before a workman can become sufficiently expert to make the number of cases required as a day's work. After the cases are perfectly dry, they are removed to the embossing press, where they are embossed, and the backs lettered. These presses are the most powerful -and expensive machines used in the Bindery.

The books are cased by another set of workmen, called "casers"; and after the cases are put on they are subjected to more pressure in a standing press, after which they are ready for delivery.

The public document which we set out to follow through the many processes involved in its completion as a finished book, is now ready to be lowered by elevators to the first floor, whence it is taken by wagons to the Capitol, where it is delivered in lots to the Folding Rooms or the Document Rooms of the Senate and House of Representatives; and when receipts are received for the volumes, the responsibility of the Public Printer ceases. No matter how humble or unimportant the subject treated of in this document may be, the law provides for its distribution to every State and Territory of the Union ; while another law directs the distribution of a limited number, through the Librarian of Congress, to foreign Governments.

Inlroduction.

I am indebted to many kind friends connected with the establishment for valuable assistance and advice in preparing this volume, and if it is acceptable to them, and the many others who inspired me with substantial encouragement in the shape of "dollar subscriptions" — without which it would undoubtedly never have survived its conception — I will consider myself well repaid for the labor required in its preparation.

The drawings for the illustrations of the interior and exterior of the Government Printing Office building were made by Mr. C. F. Trill, and the engraving was executed on wood by Mr. H. H. Nichols, the well-known Washington engraver. That they have both performed their difficult parts in a most satisfactory manner, is evident to those familiar with the many obstacles which had to be surmounted.

The excellent likeness of Mr. Defrees, the present Public Printer, was also engraved by Mr. Nichols.

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