Chinese PRINTING, is performed from wooden planks or blocks, cut like those used in printing of callico, paper, cards &c.
Rolling press PRINTING, is employed in taking off prints or impressions from copper-plates engraved, etched, or scraped as in mezzotints. See ENGRAVING.
This art is said to have been as ancient as the year 1540, and to owe its origin to Finiguerra, a Florentine goldsmith, who pouring some melted brimstone on an engraved plate, found the exact impression of the engraving left in the cold brimstone, marked with black taken out of the strokes by the liquid sulphur: upon this he attempted to do the same on silver-plates with wet paper, by rolling it smoothly with a roller; and this succeeded: but this art was not used in England till the reign of king James I. when it was brought from Antwerp by Speed. The form of the rolling-press, the composition of the ink used therein, and the manner of applying both in taking off prints, are as follow.
The rolling-press AL (Plate CXLVII. fig. 2) may be divided into two parts, the body and carriage: the body consists of two wooden cheeks PP placed perpendicularly on a stand or foot LM, which sustains the whole press. From the foot likewise are four other perpendicular pieces c, c, c, c, joined by other cross or horizontal ones d, d, d, d, which serve to sustain a smooth even plank or table HIK, about four feet and a half long, two feet and a half broad, and an inch and a half thick. Into the cheeks go two wooden cylinders or rollers, DE, FG, about six inches in diameter, borne up at each end by the cheeks, whose ends, which are lessened to about two inches diameter, and called trunnions, turn in the cheeks about two pieces of wood in form of half-moons, lined with polished iron to facilitate the motion. Lastly, to one of the trunnions of the upper roller is fastened a cross, consisting of two levers A, B, or pieces of wood, traversing each other, the arms of which cross serve instead of the bar or handle of the letter-press, by turning the upper roller, and when the plank is between the two rollers, giving the same motion to the under one, by drawing the plank forward and backward.
The ink used for copper-plates, is a composition made of the stones of peaches and apricots, the bones of sheep, and ivory, all well burnt, and called Frankfort black, mixt with nut-oil that has been well boiled, and ground together on a marble, after the same manner as painters do their colours.
The method of printing from copper-plates is as follows. They take a small quantity of this ink on a rubber made of linen-rags, strongly bound about each other, and therewith smear the whole face of the plate as it lies on a grate over a charcoal-fire. The plate being sufficiently inked, they first wipe it over with a foul rag, then with
U
the palm of their left hand, and then with that of the right; and to dry the hand and forward the wiping, they rub it from time to time in whiting. In wiping the plate perfectly clean, yet without taking the ink out of the engraving, the address of the workman consists. The plate thus prepared, is laid on the plank of the press; over the plate is laid the paper, first well moistened, to receive the impression, and over the paper two or three folds of flannel. Things thus disposed, the arms of the press are pulled and by that means the plate with its furniture passed through between the rollers, which pinching very strongly, yet equally, presses the moistened paper into the strokes of the engraving, whence it licks out the ink.