Dagger. See Obelisk.

Dances. See Form Dances.

DANISH.

The Danish alphabet consists of twenty-seven letters.

Remarks on the Alphabet.

Q, q, (Ku, pronounced coo) is here omitted, being not merely superfluous and useless, but even prejudicial to a faithful representation of the language, by observing the origin and affinity of words, for instance, Kvinde, woman, is derived from Kone, wife; bekvem, convenient, from komme, to come (Fr. venir); Kvartér, a quarter of an hour, is also called Kortér; Kvast, tuft, is originally the same word as Kóst, broom; and kvæle, suffocate, the same as the English kill. The Q is therefore justly rejected by the celebrated grammarian P. Syv, as also by the learned Prof. S. N. J. Bloch in his Danske Sproglære, Odense 1817. It is however still used by some, but always followed by v, never by u in any Danish book, as, Qvinde, beqvem, Qvarter, &c.

The Alphabet.

Z, z, (Zet, pronounced sett) has crept from the German orthography into a few words, which should be written by s, according to the true pronunciation; as, Zobel, sable; Zire, to adorn; better Sobel, sire.

Å has been, till the beginning of this century, commonly represented by aa, according to the old Low German orthography, but å is found in ancient Danish and Norwegian manuscripts: its reintroduction, proposed by the celebrated Danish grammarian Höjsgård 1743, later by Schlegel, Baden, Nyerup, Schrejber, Thonboe, &c. has, in the last decennium, been realized in about thirty separate books or pamphlets by Prof. A. Gamborg, Mr. H.J. Hansen, Mr. N.M. Petersen, and also by E. Rask, and several anonymous writers. At all events the sound is simple, and continually interchanging with other simple vowels (a, æ, o,) in the inflection and derivation of words, for instance, tæller, to count, in the past tense talde or tålde, counted; gå, to go, Gang, gait, gængse, current, common; from Får, sheep, is derived Færøerne, the Farroe islands. Thus even in kindred dialects; as, Vingård, vineyard; Tåre, tear, German Zähre; Måned, month, German Monath; åben, open, &c. Whereas aa is sometimes long a, sometimes even to be read in two syllables as: Haarlem, Aaron, Kanaan, Knud Danaast, the name of a Danish prince. The learner however will find aa for å in most printed books hitherto published.

Æ, like Å, represents a simple vowel sound, and must never be separated or resolved into ae, which make distinct syllables, for instance, bejae (be-ya-e), affirm.

Ø and Ö are commonly confounded, so that Ø is used for both sounds in books printed in the Gothic type, Ö in those in the Roman character.

There are no diphthongs in Danish, but aj, ej, oj, uj, öj, even though written by some ai, ei, oi, ui, öi, are pronounced with the open sound of the vowels and a distinct y consonant following, never like ai, ei, French oi, ui or the like, for instance, ej, not, sounds like English eye or I; Konvoj, a convoy, like the verb to convoy, &c.

In like manner av, ev, iv, ov, æv, øv are pronounced as clear vowels followed by a distinct v consonant or rather w, for the v also is softer after the vowels than at the beginning, for instance, tav, was silent; Brev, letter; stiv, stiff; Tòv, cable; Ræv, fox; døv, deaf. The sound of w is particularly observable, when another consonant follows, for instance, tavs, silent; Evropa, Europe; stivne, to stiffen; hovne, to swell; Hævn, revenge; søvnig, sleepy, drowsy.

As to the division of words into syllables, j is always referred to the preceding vowel, which is in these cases constantly pronounced short and sharp, for instance, Vej-e, ways, not Ve-je. The other consonants are usually referred to the vowel following, when single; or divided between the preceding and succeeding vowel, when more than one, no care being taken to distinguish the radical parts from the accessories, but in compound words, for instance, Da-ge, days, from Dag, day, but for-ud-si-ge, foretell, from for-ud, beforehand, and sige, tell, say.

It is a great advantage in the Danish orthography, that every noun substantive is written with a capital letter at the beginning, as numbers of words, else perfectly alike, are thereby easily distinguished at the first view. Ex.

On the other hand, adjectives of national names are usually written with small initials, contrary to the English usage, as, dansk, Danish; norsk, Norwegian; svensk, Swedish; hollandsk, Dutch; engelsk, English; angelsaksisk, Anglosaxon.

Though the Roman character is daily gaining ground, being introduced into the Transactions of the Royal Academy of Copenhagen, and of most other learned societies in Denmark and Norway, as also used in many excellent works of private authors, yet the monkish or Gothic form of the letters is still preferred by many.

In this character the capital J is also usually applied for the I, for instance, Jsrael and Jesus; the long ſ is constantly applied in the beginning of syllables, even in the combinations: ſk, ſl, ſp, ſt.

For å, has been proposed another figure, viz. [#], which has been adopted by the celebrated Capt. Abrahamson in his first edition of Langes Dänische Gramm. für Deutsche, as also by Rask, in the first edition of his Icel. Grammar; that he has afterwards preferred the å, is not only from patriotic motives; this figure being found in old Danish MSS. down to 1555, but also because it is introduced into several other languages, as Swedish and Laplandic, and has even been used in the upper German dialects; also in the Bornholm dialect by Mr. Skougaard, in the Farroic by the Revd. Mr. Lyngbye, and in the Acra (on the coast of Guinea) by Capt. Schönning, whereas [#] is used nowhere else in the world.—From Rask’s Danish Grammar, Copenhagen, 1830.

Dash. See Punctuation.

DELE,

Lat. The second person singular, imperative mood, of the active verb deleo, to blot out, to expunge. This is a word that is much used in a printing office; and its initial, with a round top, [#] or [#], is the regular mark in proofs to expunge a letter, word, or words that are redundant. See Correcting.

DELIVERING BOOKS.

It is the general practice with publishers to leave a work when finished, in the warehouse of the printer, and to send written orders for the delivery of a part, as occasion or convenience suits; the warehouseman should always be prepared to deliver copies to these orders at the moment, otherwise complaint will be made against him, and he will incur blame; but he ought not on any account to deliver copies without a written order, for should there happen a mistake, or an omission in the publishers making an entry, credit will not be given for them, and he will become responsible. He ought invariably to enter them instanter, and take the person’s signature to the entry, and file the order. He will then be enabled, when an account of the delivery is called for, to prove its correctness.

DEVIL.

The pressman sometimes has a week boy to take sheets, as they are printed, off the tympan: these boys do in a printing house commonly black and daub themselves; whence the workmen do jocosely call them Devils; and sometimes Spirits, and sometimes Flies.—M. The boys that make the fires, sweep the rooms, assist in the warehouse, and go on errands, are now called Devils, or Printers Devils; but in the trade they are generally styled Errand Boys and Warehouse Boys. See Fly.

Diæresis. See Accented Letters.

DIAMOND.

The name of a type one size smaller than Pearl, and the smallest that is cast in the British founderies. It originated in casting a type with a pearl face upon a smaller body, for the purpose of getting in, in printing pocket Bibles; the founders subsequently cut it with a smaller face, and made it completely a distinct size. It is not enumerated in Moxon’s list. See Types.

Dilly, Charles. See Donations.

DIPLE.

A mark in the margin of a book to show where a fault is to be corrected.—Bailey’s Dict. This word is not used in the profession.

DIRECTION.

The word that stands alone on the right hand in the bottom line of a page.—M. It is the first word of the following page. See Catch Word.

DIRECTION LINE.

The line the direction stands in.—M. See Catch Word.

To DISTRIBUTE.

To replace the types in their respective boxes in the cases after printing therewith, in order to their being used again. This is done in a very expeditious manner by the compositor, who, placing his composing rule against the head of a page, with his thumbs against it, pressing the sides of both his third fingers against the sides of the matter, and his forefingers against the bottom line of the quantity which he means to lift, takes up what is termed a handful, and keeping the face of the letter towards him, rests one end of the composing rule against the ball of the thumb of his left hand, and pressing the other end of the rule with the third finger, steadies the matter with his forefinger, and thus has his right hand at liberty, with which he takes a word or part of a word from the uppermost line as he holds it in his hand, and drops the several letters into their particular boxes. Matter is always wetted when distributed, to render it slightly cohesive, as the operation is thus performed with more facility than when dry. When the form has not been well rinsed in laying-up, and the types have been much used, the ends of the fingers are apt to get smooth, so as to lose the command, in some measure, of dropping the types into their places with quickness and certainty; in this case compositors frequently keep a piece of alum in some part of the case, and occasionally touch it with their thumb and two fingers, which gives them a little roughness, and restores their command of the types.

If a compositor is desirous of producing his first proofs free from literal errors, he should be particular in distributing clean, that is, depositing each letter in its proper box.

When new letter remains in chase, locked up for any considerable time, it becomes what is termed, baked. See Bake.

Distributing Stick.—M. See Composing Stick.

DIVIDING.

There are practical rules in printing for dividing words where the whole of a word cannot be comprised within the line; and there are also grammatical rules for the same object. Every printing office has some peculiarity on this subject.

The most general practical method of dividing words is to preserve the primitive word at the end of a line, and carry the termination to the next line; but this cannot always be done, as the following few instances will show. In these and similar cases it will be better to avoid dividing the word, and either drive the whole out, or get the termination in, as the spacing of the line will best allow.

Words whose plurals are formed by the addition of s, which adds another syllable to them, by making the last into two, ought not to have these two syllables divided; such as—

The terminations of words, chion, cial, cient, cion, cious, shion, sian, sion, tial, tion, and tious, ought never, in my opinion, to be divided, as they each form one sound, although Murray and Walker say they form two syllables.

When the primitive word cannot be retained at the end of a line, I would prefer the prefixes ab, ac, ad, al, anti, be, bi, co, com, con, de, di, dia, dis, en, in, per, pre, pro, re, sub, super, un, when words in which they occur require to be divided; provided it does not cause any great violence in the spacing.

When it is necessary to divide a word at the end of a line, it is also necessary to study the appearance of the termination of that line, as well as of the commencement of the succeeding line, for they are equally affected. An improper division of a word will sometimes look better than a proper one, but it ought always to be avoided, if possible.

It frequently happens that the last syllable, when it is short, has a meagre appearance at the beginning of a line; when this is the case, it is preferable to drive out another syllable, provided the appearance and the correctness of the first part of the word are not compromised.

It is not usual, and is looked on as bad workmanship, to divide a word with a single letter at the end of a line, for it may be driven out, or, if the line be wide spaced, the next syllable may be got in; but should the second syllable of the word be a long one, or the last syllable a very short one, it will then be advisable to overrun a preceding line or two, to get rid of the objectionable division.

Neither is it usual to carry over the last syllable of a word if it consist of two thin letters only; for the hyphen is more than equal to one of them, and changing two or three spaces will make room for the other, without affecting the appearance.

Some persons object to the dividing of words at all in printing, as being unnecessary and displeasing to the eye; but then they must sacrifice all regularity of spacing, which is still worse, and has the appearance of bad workmanship. I would recommend that a compositor should make each give way a little to the other, always preserving such an uniformity in spacing that there should be no glaring disproportion in different lines.

Avoid dividing words in lines following each other, so as not to have hyphens at the ends of two adjoining lines, but never have three or more divided words at the ends of consecutive lines; although five or six may occasionally be seen, yet in book work it is held to be bad workmanship, and should never be allowed to pass. Neither is it desirable to divide proper names, nor the last word in a page so as to have part of a word to begin the succeeding page, particularly when it is an even one; sums of money and series of figures are never divided.

It is not possible in every instance to divide words correctly, particularly when the page is of a narrow measure, and the type large; when this happens, the compositor is obliged frequently to sacrifice correctness to necessity; but when the page is of a width proportionate to the size of the type, he may in the usual way of workmanship preserve his regular spacing, and also his correct dividing.

The preceding observations may be looked on as practical ones for printing. Lindley Murray gives the following grammatical directions for dividing words.

“1. A single consonant between two vowels must be joined to the latter syllable: as, de-light, bri-dal, re-source: except the letter x; as, ex-ist, ex-amine: and except likewise words compounded; as, up-on, un-even, dis-ease.

“2. Two consonants proper to begin a word, must not be separated; as, fa-ble, sti-fle. But when they come between two vowels, and are such as cannot begin a word, they must be divided; as, ut-most, un-der, in-sect, er-ror, cof-fin.

“If the preceding syllable is short, the consonants must be separated: as, cus-tard, pub-lic, gos-ling.

“3. When three consonants meet in the middle of a word, if they can begin a word, and the preceding vowel be pronounced long, they are not to be separated; as, de-throne, de-stroy. But when the vowel of the preceding syllable is pronounced short, one of the consonants always belongs to that syllable; as, dis-tract, dis-prove, dis-train.

“4. When three or four consonants, which are not proper to begin a word, meet between two vowels, the first consonant is always kept with the first syllable in the division: as, ab-stain, com-plete, em-broil, dan-dler, dap-ple, con-strain.

“5. Two vowels, not being a diphthong, must be divided into separate syllables; as, cru-el, deni-al, soci-ety.

“A diphthong immediately preceding a vowel, is to be separated from it: as, roy-al, pow-er, jew-el.

“6. Compounded words must be traced into the simple words of which they are composed; as, ice-house, glow-worm, over-power, never-the-less.

“7. Grammatical, and other particular terminations, are generally separated: as, teach-est, teach-eth, teach-ing, teach-er, contend-est, great-er, wretch-ed, good-ness, free-dom, false-hood.

“Two consonants which form but one sound, are never separated: as, e-cho, fa-ther, pro-phet, an-chor, bi-shop. They are to be considered as a single letter.

“8. In derivative words, the additional syllables are separated: as, sweet-er, sweet-est, sweet-ly; learn-ed, learn-eth, learn-ing; dis-like, mis-lead, un-even; call-ed, roll-er, dress-ing; gold-en, bolt-ed, believ-er, pleas-ing.

“Exceptions. When the derivative word doubles the single letter of the primitive, one of those letters is joined to the termination: as, beg, beg-gar; fat, fat-ter; bid, bid-ding.

“When the additional syllable is preceded by c or g soft, the c or g is added to that syllable: as, of-fen-ces, cotta-ges, pro-noun-cer, in-dul-ging; ra-cer, fa-cing, spi-ced; wa-ger, ra-ging, pla-ced, ran-ger, chan-ging, chan-ged.

“When the preceding single vowel is long, the consonant, if single, is joined to the termination: as, ba-ker, ba-king; ho-ping, bro-ken; po-ker, bo-ny; wri-ter, sla-vish; mu-sed, sa-ved.

“The termination y is not to be placed alone: as, san-dy, gras-sy; dir-ty, dus-ty; mos-sy, fros-ty; hea-dy, woo-dy; except, dough-y, snow-y, string-y, and a few other words. But even in these exceptions, it would be proper to avoid beginning a line with the termination y.

“Some of the preceding rules may be liable to considerable exceptions; and therefore it is said by Dr. Lowth and others, that the best and easiest directions for dividing the syllables in spelling, is to divide them as they are naturally separated in a right pronunciation, without regard to the derivation of words, or the possible combination of consonants at the beginning of a syllable.”

Before quitting this subject, it should be stated that there is yet a mode of dividing, which is peculiar to the philologist. To him it appears but natural that a compounded word should be divided at the point where its elements were originally conjoined. With respect to a purely English compound we find this to be one of Murray’s rules; but in an adopted word, however much from its recurrence it may seem to have become our own, the scholar’s eye is offended, if, where a division has become requisite, it be made in violation of etymological principles. This remark must be understood as having reference only to the division which would occur in the neighbourhood of the point of junction: in other respects he does not impugn the validity of the rules which are in general laid down. To apply with precision this principle, which, when judiciously practised, is frequently very highly approved, it is evident that an acquaintance with the language from which the imported word has been derived, is necessary: yet, as a person not thus qualified may occasionally be required to make his divisions in conformity with this system, it has been thought desirable to subjoin a brief list of words in which an uninitiated person would be most likely to err. A few of the following divisions will appear a little startling, and they are in consequence generally evaded; but it has been thought proper in this place to conceal nothing from the general eye which may appear to militate against the full adoption of the system. The words selected are but a few of the very large class of compounds; but the rest have been omitted, as their analytical and their syllabical divisions will in general be found to coincide.

DIVISORIUM.

Commonly called Visorum.—Smith. See Visorum.

DOMESDAY BOOK.

The register of the lands of England, framed by order of William the Conqueror. It was sometimes termed Rotulus Wintoniæ, and was the book from which judgment was to be given upon the value, tenures, and services of the lands therein described.

In 1767, in consequence of an address of the House of Lords, His Majesty George III. gave directions for the publication of this Survey. It was not, however, till after 1770 that the work was actually commenced. Its publication was entrusted to Mr. Abraham Farley, a gentleman of learning as well as of great experience in records, who had almost daily recourse to the book for more than forty years. It was completed early in 1783, having been ten years in passing through the press, and thus became generally accessible to the antiquary and topographer. It was printed in facsimile, as far as regular types, assisted by the representation of original contractions, could imitate the original.

The type with which the Domesday Book was printed, was destroyed in the dreadful fire which consumed the printing office of Messrs. Nichols in Red Lion Passage, Fleet Street, London, February 8, 1808.

Abbreviations in Domesday Book, from Hutchins’s Domesday Book for the County of Dorset.

Superior Letters, which are of frequent occurrence in contracted Records, are generally laid in the small capital boxes.

The character & is displaced to make room for [#] and [#] on works using those characters exclusively.

There are various characters, such as [#], [#], [#], [#], [#], [#], and others, that do not frequently occur, which may be kept in the two boxes in the upper case marked “various;” a general box is necessary in every Domesday case.

The characters c̚, g̚, m̚, &c., placed in the figure boxes, are a variation only of c̉ , g̉ , m̉ , &c., and the two sorts are never used together in the same work. See Records.

DONATIONS.

Abstract of the Charitable Donations at the Disposal of the Court of Assistants of the Worshipful Company of Stationers. I have selected those Donations only which relate, directly or indirectly, to Printers.

DOTTED QUADRATS,

or dotted leaders. Quadrats with dots on them, similar to full points, at regular distances. They are cast from an en, with one point, to four ems.

In tables of contents, indices, and other similar matter, dotted quadrats are preferred to metal rules, or hyphens, being thought to have a neater appearance.

DOUBLE.

A sheet that is twice pulled and lifted never so little off the form after it was first pulled, does most commonly (through the play of the joints of the tympan) take a double impression: this sheet is said to double. Or if the pressman run in so, as the foreside of the platen print with the first pull into part of the second pull, or the hind edge of the platen print with his second pull into part of his first pull; either of these twice printing is called Doubling. Doubling also happens through the loose hanging of the platen, and through too much play the tenons of the head may have in the mortises of the cheeks; and indeed through many wearings and crazinesses that often happen in several parts of the press.—M. Moxon’s account of doubling and its causes refer to the two pull wooden presses, but some of them apply equally to iron presses.

In composing, the term is applied when a word, a line, a sentence, or any part of the copy is composed twice; that is, if the compositor’s eye catch a part that he has already composed, and he repeats it.

DOUBLE DAGGER.

This is the technical name of a mark used as a reference, ‡; it is generally placed the third in order,—after the obelisk or dagger.

DOUBLE LETTERS.

Æ, œ, ſt, ſh, and several others cast on one shank, are called double letters: ſ and f have several ascending letters joined to them, because their beaks hanging over their stems would (were they not cast on one shank) ride upon the tops of the stems of the adjoining ascending letters.—M.

By discarding the ſ, we have lessened the number of our double letters, which are now reduced to the diphthongs æ and œ, and to ff, fi, fl, ffi, and ffl, which are so termed by printers.

DOUBLE NARROW.

A piece of furniture equal in breadth to two narrow quotations. There are different sizes used in making margin, and in imposing, viz., double broad, double broad and narrow, broad and narrow, broad and double narrow.

DOUBLE PICA.

The name of a type, one size larger than Paragon, and one smaller than Two-Line Pica. It is equal in depth to two Small Pica bodies. See Types.

DRAW.

When a form is working at press, and any of the letters are loosely justified, or from any other cause are not tight in the form, and the adhesion of the ink and balls or rollers pulls them out, they are said to draw. This accident too frequently occurs; and as it is not always perceived, errors arise which neither the care nor the skill of the reader can prevent; when it is perceived, after an impression or two have been pulled, the pressmen often put the letters into the wrong place, and thus cause an error. They are occasionally left by the ball on the form, and produce a batter, which is a waste of materials, and of time in repairing it. A good compositor guards against this evil by care in justifying his lines, and also in locking up.

DRAWN SHEETS.

In collating books in the warehouse, after they have been gathered, duplicate sheets, and sheets of wrong signatures, are occasionally found; arising, in the one instance, from the carelessness of the gathering boys, in taking up more than one sheet of the same signature; and, in the other, from a lift of another sheet being occasionally taken down and mixed in the heap: in these cases the sheets are drawn out of the book, and laid on one side, and, after some accumulation, are replaced upon their respective heaps, to be gathered again right. These sheets are called Drawn Sheets.

DRESS A CHASE,

or, Dress a Form, is to fit the pages and the chase with furniture and quoins. See Margin.

DRESSING BLOCK.

Made of pear tree, because a soft wood, and therefore less subject to injure the face of the letter; it is commonly about three inches square, and an inch high.—M. Used the same as our planer. See Planer.

DRIPPING PAN.

Literally so, made of tinned iron, extending the whole length of the press, fixed under the long ribs, to preserve the floor from the droppings of oil.

They are useful articles; for presses to be kept in good working order require to be frequently oiled; and for want of a dripping pan, I have known the oil run through the joints of the floor upon a pile of paper in a room underneath, and spoil a considerable quantity.

DRIVE OUT.

When a compositor sets wide, he is said to drive out or run out. In founding, if letter be cast too thick in the shank, it drives out.—M. If copy make more than was calculated on, they say, it drives out; if less, and it is intended that it shall make the precise quantity decided on, they say, you must drive out; that is, it must be branched out in proportion, and not cramped.

DROPPING OUT.

After a form is locked up, and, when it is being lifted from the stone, or being laid upon the imposing stone, or the press, any letters, spaces, or quadrats fall out, it is said something drops out, or something has dropped out; this may arise from some of the lines being badly justified—some of the leads riding—or some of the furniture binding—or similar causes—and frequently produces errors at press by other letters drawing out. See Form Dances.

In this case, before the form is put to press, it should be examined to ascertain the cause, and any impediment to its safety should be removed.

Drum. See Wheel.

DUBLIN.

Plan of a Lower Case as used at Dublin. The Upper Case is the same as used in London.