HALF A PRESS.

When but one man works at a press, it is called Half a Press.—M. It is still termed a Half Press. A man is said to be working Half Press.

HALF WORK.

He that works but three days in the week, does but Half work.—M.

Hangs. See Letter Hangs.—M.

HANG UP PAPER.

To hang the sheets upon the poles to dry after they have been printed.

For this purpose the warehouseman takes the peel in his hand, and lays it flat upon the heap that is to be hung up, so as to let the paper project beyond the left side of it; he turns over upon it from six to twelve or fourteen sheets of paper, with the wrapper, and then moves the peel two or three inches to the left, and goes on repeating the process, till he has got as many lifts on it as it will conveniently support; he then raises them above the pole on which they are to be placed, and holding the handle slanting the sheets open at the under side, so that when the peel is withdrawn the lifts are left suspended on the pole; he then inserts the end of the peel between the first and second lifts, which are undermost, where he shifted his peel in taking them up, lifts them a little, and moves them farther from each other on the pole, still letting the one overhang a little the other he leaves in its first place, and thus he proceeds till one by one he has separated all he had upon his peel; he then takes another peelful, repeating this process, and so he goes on till the whole heap is hung up.

He is guided by circumstances as to the number of sheets he should take in a lift: if the work is in a great hurry, or his vacant poles are not in a favourable situation for drying, or the weather be rainy and the atmosphere charged with moisture, he will hang the paper up thin; but if he is short of pole-room, and the work is not in a great hurry, if the situation is favourable for drying, and the weather dry and warm, he will make his lifts thicker; but I would caution him not to go to an extreme, as in that case the paper may mildew upon the poles, particularly in the fold.

Houses of extensive business have drying rooms fitted up with pipes, and heated either with steam or hot water, so that they can dry their printed paper expeditiously, without hinderance or drawback.

HANG THE PLATEN.

To tie the platen to the hose hooks, in a wooden press.

To perform this it is usual to lay on the press stone a form of solid type, and to turn the tympans down upon it, to place the platen in its place, square with the press, to pull the bar home, and to keep it in this situation by a letter board placed so as to take a bearing against the shoulder of the bar close to the handle, and also against the off cheek; but I prefer a piece of wide furniture with a notch cut in one end for the bar, and the other end against the off cheek, as it is more secure and less liable to be displaced; then to make a noose on a piece of laid cord, place this on one of the front hose hooks, and take a turn round the corresponding platen hooks, and continue these turns till a sufficient quantity of cord is wound round the hooks; take a hitch round one of the hooks to prevent the cord slipping, then begin to wind the cord round these layers, every two or three turns drawing it tight by taking a turn round a short piece of broad or narrow furniture, by means of which it may be drawn more forcibly, so as to bring the parts together, which makes it so firm that there is no danger of its giving way; the end may then be fastened to one of the hooks. The same process is repeated at the opposite angle, behind the press; then at the two other angles; the platen is then firmly hung, and is ready for work.

The same process is observed in iron presses, with the exception that the platen is not tied with cord; it is attached to the press by means of screws.

Hansard, Luke. See Donations.

HARD IMPRESSION.

When there is too much pull in working at press, particularly with engravings, and the lines come off strong which ought to be light and delicate, it is said the impression is hard.

HARD INK.

Ink very well boiled.—M. It is now called strong ink.

HARD JUSTIFYING.

If a compositor fills his stick very stiff with letters or spaces, they say it is hard justified.—M.

HARD PULL.

In justifying the head of a press for a short pull, which is done by putting solid blocks of wood into the mortises of the cheeks, it is called an Hard Pull.—M. This relates to wooden presses; but, instead of the blocks of wood, scaleboard is now used, additional pieces of which are put into the mortises, by lowering the head, which is again tightly screwed up: in the Stanhope Press, and in Clymer’s, it is accomplished by shortening the coupling bar, by means of a screw; in Cogger’s press, by a screw through the head; and in Cope’s press, by putting pieces of plate iron upon the crown of the platen. In Sherwin and Cope’s Imperial press, by turning a screw attached to a wedge placed in the front, above the spindle; Mr. Hopkinson has adopted the same method in Cope’s press, placed on the near side.

HARD WORK.

With compositors, ill written copy, much Italick, Latin or Greek, or marginal notes, or few breaks, &c. is called Bad, Heavy, Hard Work: with pressmen, small letter and a large form is called Hard Work.—M. See Bad Work.

There has been an alteration in the mode of paying for work since Moxon’s time, which is to the advantage of the workman: foreign languages, Greek, and marginal notes are now extra charges; and the Pressman has an additional price for his work, as the type decreases in size and the size of the page increases. See Prices.

HEAD.

That part of a wooden press in which the nut of the spindle is fixed; it has a tenon at each end which fit into long mortises in the cheeks, not tightly, but sufficiently so to prevent lateral motion; and it is suspended from the cap by two long iron bolts, which go through the head and the cap, above which are iron washers and screws by which to lower the head, or screw it up tighter. The head is usually made of elm. The whole of the pressure in the process of printing is between the head and the winter.

HEAD BAND.

A thin bar of iron that connects the two sides of the tympans at the top: it is made thin, to allow it to run under the platen without impediment. The half of the frisket joints are riveted to the head band. See Frisket Joints.

HEAD BOLTS.

Two long bolts that pass through the head and the cap, in wooden presses, with a screw at the upper end: the head of the press is supported upon the heads of the bolts, and their screw ends pass through the cap, upon which they are secured by washers and female screws that can be tightened by the fingers; these screws are for the purpose of screwing up the head, to justify the pull.

HEAD LINE.

The top line of a page in which is the running title and the folio, but sometimes only a folio: the divisions and subdivisions of a work, when they are set in lines, and chapters, are also called Head Lines.

HEAD OF A PAGE.

The top or beginning of a page.—M.

HEAD PAGE.

The first page of a work, and each page on which a new division of the subject commences, such as parts and chapters, provided they begin the page.

HEAD PIECES.

The same changes have taken place with regard to head pieces that I have described under the article Fac; from the beautiful drawings with which manuscripts and some of the first productions of the press were illuminated, they gradually descended to engravings on wood, which was the first step, then to cast metal ornaments, and then to the types called flowers, which were displayed in every variety of form that they were capable of, or that the ingenuity of the printer could devise; these gave place to a piece of double brass rule, that is now out of fashion; and head pieces at the present day are only spoken of as things that once existed. See Fac.

HEAD STICK.

Pieces of furniture put at the head of pages when a form is imposed, to make the margin at the head of the page; they are called reglets, if they exceed not an English thick.—M. See Bolts.

HEAP.

So many reams or quires as are set out by the warehouse-keeper for the pressman to wet, is called a Heap; but then it is called a dry heap, till the pressman have wet it, and then it is indeed called a Heap.—M.

When paper is given out for a work, and wetted, it is called a heap, and retains that name till it is made up into books.

In gathering the printed sheets in the warehouse, all the sheets of each signature are placed upon the gathering table, arranged in their regular order, except it be a long number, and then about a bundle of each; each signature in this situation is called a heap.

HEAP HOLDS OUT.

When it hath its full intended number of sheets.—M. At the present time, when accidents and other causes have not reduced the surplus so much as to prevent the warehouseman from delivering the proper number.

Heavy Work. See Bad Work and Hard Work.

HEBREW.

The Chaldaic letters are derived from the ancient Hebrew or Samaritan, which are the same, or nearly so, with the old Phenicien. The prophet Ezra, is supposed to have exchanged the old Hebrew characters, for the more beautiful and commodious Chaldee, which are still in use.

Hebrew has no capitals; and therefore letters of the same shape, but of a large body, are used at the beginning of chapters and other parts of Hebrew work.

The Hebrew Alphabet.

Particular attention should be paid to the letters in the column “Similitude” in the Table of the Alphabet, which are liable to be mistaken, one for the other, on account of their great resemblance one to another.

The vowels properly so called are ten in number, viz.:

Sheva (בְ‎) ‎is sounded like very short e. 1. At the beginning of a word. 2. In the middle after a long vowel, or instead of a long vowel. 3. After a companion, i. e. another (וְ‎). 4. Under dagesh, also under dagesh understood.

Dagesh, from the Chaldaic, he punctured, is a point in the body of a letter, and is either lene or forte.

Dagesh lene removes the aspiration from the six letters בְּגַדכְּפַת‎, and strengthens their pronunciation in some degree.

Dagesh forte doubles the letters in which it occurs. Regularly it follows a short vowel, and only a long one when accented.

Mappik is a point in הּ‎ final only, but vanishes on an increase of the word.

Accents.

Hebrew accents are either mere points, or lines, or circles.

Those which are mere points or dots, consist of one, or two, or three such points, and are always placed above the middle of the accented letter, thus

That consisting of

The lines are either upright, inclined, or transverse.

The upright is either solitary or with points or dots.

The solitary is either

With points, namely

Inclined lines hang either above or below.

Above, towards the right

Above, towards the left

Below, towards the right—Leader tiphcha, ב֖‎, fatigue, from the song, or note.

Below, towards the left

The transverse line is either right or curved, thus: ‏֮־ ‎.

The right line is placed between two words, connecting them together, thus, ב־ב‎, and is called maccaph, i. e. connexion.

The curved, or waved line, ב֮‎, is called leader, zarka, or, the disperser, from its modulation and figure.

Circles are either entire or semi.

The entire circle is placed always above, and has a small inclined line attached to it.

Either, on the left, when it is placed at the head of the word, ב֠‎, and is called leader telisha the greater, or, the great evulsion.

Or, on the right, when it is placed at the end, ב֩‎, and is called subservient telisha the less.

On both together, ב֟‎, called leader karne para, the horns of the heifer, from its modulation and figure.

The semicircle is either solitary or pointed.

The solitary is either angular or reflected.

The angular is on the right

The angular is on the left

The reflected is

When joined with other points, it is either above or below the letter.

When above the letter it has a small line attached to it on the left, ‎ב֡‎, leader paser, the dispersor, from the diffusion of the note.

When below the letter, it is pointed either downwards, ב֑‎, called royal athnach, respiration, as the voice must rest on it, and respire; or upwards, ‎ב֪‎, subservient, jerah-ben-jomo, the moon of its own day, from its figure.—Bythner’s Lyre of David, translated by the Rev. Thomas Dee, A.B. 8vo. Dublin, 1836.

The following observations are from Buxtorf’s Hebrew Grammar:

The finals are commonly called Camnephatz. But they are excepted in four places, namely, Isaiah ix. 6. where the final Mem is in the middle of a word; Nehemiah ii. 13. where the open Mem is at the end; and Job xxxviii. 1. and xl. 6. where נ‎ is at the end.

These seven letters ﬡ‎ ﬢ‎ ﬣ‎ ﬥ‎ ﬦ‎ ﬧ‎ ﬨ‎ are sometimes lengthened, either for the sake of elegance, or for filling out the line, which is never to be finished with a divided word.

The units are compounded with the tens and hundreds, as יא‎ 11, קא‎ 101, and so on: but for יה‎ 15 is טו‎ 9 and 6, lest the sacred name
יָהּ‎ Jah should be profaned.—Buxtorf.

Hebrew is read from the right to the left. In composing it, the general method is to place the nick of the letter downwards, and when the points are put to the top, to turn the line and arrange those points that come under the letter, taking care to place them in the following order; if the letter has but one leg, the point must be placed immediately under that leg, but otherwise the point must be placed under the centre.

Smith, in his Printer’s Grammar, has the following observations on Hebrew; I have not been able to ascertain upon what authority his reasoning is founded, but I have ascertained the fact of the variation in the types, that he speaks of, by an examination of a Hebrew Bible.

“But we must not pronounce it a fault, if we happen to meet in some Bibles with words that begin with a letter of a much larger Body than the mean Text; nor need we be astonish’d to see words with letters in them of a much less Body than the mean Text; or wonder to see final letters used in the middle of words; for such Notes shew that they contain some particular and mystical meaning. Thus in 2 Chron. I. 1. the word Adam begins with a letter of a larger size than the rest, thereby to intimate, that Adam is the father of all Mankind. Again, in Genes. I. 1. the great Beth in the word Bereschith stands for a Monitor of the great and incomprehensible work of Creation. Contrary to the first, in Prov. XXVIII. 17. the Daleth in the word Adam is considerably less than the Letter of the main text, to signify, that whoever oppresses another openly or clandestinely, tho’ of a mean condition; or who sheds innocent blood, is not worthy to be called Man.

“Sometimes the open or common Mem stands in the room of a final one; as in Nehem. II. 13. where the word hem has an open Mem at the end, in allusion to the torn and open walls of Jerusalem, of which there is mention made; and in Es. VII. 14. where the Prophet speaks of the Conception of the Virgin Mary, the Mem in the word haalma, or Virgin, is a close or final letter, to intimate the virginity of the mother of our Saviour. Such are the peculiarities of some Jewish Rabbis in Bibles of their publication; of which we have instanced the above, to caution compositors not to take them for faults, if such mystical writings should come under their hands.”—Smith.

The following is the date to an Hebrew and Spanish folio Bible, printed by Proops of Amsterdam in 5522 (i. e. 1762), showing the date as usual in a sentence, the letters by which the date is computed being larger.

‎‎בשנת וׅׄיקראו בספרׅׄ תוׅׄרת אלהיׅׄם מפורשׅׄ לפ׳ק‎
A^o.    5522.

Rabbinical.—The language or dialect of the Rabbins is divided into two branches; one approaching nearer to the Hebrew, and the other to the Chaldee, yet each agrees with the other in many points, and both are generally used in conjunction in writing.

The letters agree with the Hebrew and Chaldee in regard to their number and power, but they differ as to the form; for although in the Talmudic text of the Holy Scriptures the Hebrew square character is used, yet in commentaries and elsewhere a rounder letter is adopted, better suited to promote facility in writing. Their points of agreement or difference are shown in the subjoined table:—

The finals are the same as in Hebrew, the forms of which they also imitate, in this manner, ך ך‎, ם ם‎‎, ן ן‎‎, ף ף‎‎, ץ ץ‎‎.

There are no lengthened letters in printed books.

The two letters א‎‎ and ל‎‎ are often connected by the Rabbins in this manner, ﭏ‎; as, הﭏ‎ for אֶלָּא‎ Deus, ﭏא‎ for אֶלָּא‎ sed.

It is also to be remarked that they write the name of GOD in different ways; namely, the Tetragrammaton, or יְיָ‎ with the Targumists, or יי‎, or האם‎ and abbreviated ה׳‎, nomen illud, i.e. the most excellent; but in expressing the word אלהים‎, they change the letter ‎ה‎ into ד‎ or ק‎, thus, אלדים‎ or אלקים‎, which agrees with a general superstition of the Jews.

The vowel points are the same as in the Hebrew, but they are rarely expressed, except in books written for the use of students. When they are wanting, they must be gathered from analogy, in which much assistance may be gained from the frequent use and study of the Hebrew; but where conjecture may be difficult, the three letters ‎י‎ ו‎ א‎, which are called the mothers of reading, are used in order to assist the reader. Thus ‎(1.) א‎ denotes Kamets in גנשי‎ turpitudo, וודאי‎ confessum, פדאם‎ redemit eos, &c; (2.) Vau denotes Cholem, Kybbutz, and Kametscatuph; as, לקרוא‎ vocare, ‎פוקד‎ visitans; כולם‎ for כֻלָּם‎ omnes illi, ‎כהוכה‎ for ‎‎כְהֻכָּה‎ sacerdotium, לפותרו‎ for לְפָתְּרוֹ‎ ad explicandum illud, &c; (3.) Jod denotes Chirek, Tseri, Segol, and occasionally in the Talmud both simple and compound Sheva; as, תפילה‎ precatio, ‎בישר‎ annunciavit, איבר‎ perdidit; also פירוש‎ for פֵרוּש‎ explicatio, ‎אילי‎ for אֵלַי‎ ad me, שיני‎ for שֵׁנִי‎ secundus, ביה‎ for בֵּהּ‎ in eo, בריה‎ for בְרֵהּ‎ filius ejus, and so continually to mark the feminine affix בְּרָהּ‎.

The rules for the vowels, and for the Sheva, both simple and compound, and also for the diphthongs, are the same as in the Hebrew and Chaldee.

‎א‎ is often absorbed by crasis, as, מצינא‎ for מָצֵי אֲנָא‎ possum, as if it were potens ego, ידענא‎ scio, also of the feminine by an enallage frequent in this contraction, thus in לית‎ and ליכא‎ for לא אית‎ and ‎לא אינא‎ non est. In the same manner ‎ה‎ is omitted by the Jews in ‎תילם‎ for תהילים‎ psalmi. But many others are accustomed to be contracted in this manner by the Jews of Jerusalem, viz., א‎ in נילו‎ for ‎כאילו‎ quasi, ות‎ for ואת‎ et tu, דת‎for דאת‎ quod tu, דנא‎ for ‎דאנא‎ quod ego, ‎והיידינו‎ for והיידא דין הוא‎ quodnam est illud; ה‎ in לון‎ for ‎להון‎ illis; ח‎ in ‎תותי‎ for תחותי‎ sub; ד‎ in קם‎, קום‎, or קותי‎, for ‎קודם‎ ante.

Apocope is frequent among the Talmudists, as, בי‎ for בית‎ domus, or ‎בין‎ inter. So in the pronouns both separate and suffixed, אתו‎ for ‎אתון‎ vos, נו‎ for נון‎ vos, vester, הי‎ for הון‎ illis, suis; also in the feminine, ‎ני‎ for נין‎, הי‎ for הין‎; and in the verbs, as, ‎גרסי‎ for גרסית‎ docui, ‎שקלתו‎ sustulistis, קאיו‎ stans, &c.

Aphæresis also occurs, though seldom, in חד‎ for אחד‎ unus, נא‎ for ‎אנא‎ ego, נן‎ for אנן‎ nos, מר‎ for אמר‎ dixit.

They leave the Dagesh, both lene and forte, to be collected from analogy, but where it may be difficult to guess at, as in the preterite Pihel, the letter י‎ indicates the little Chirek as well as the Dagesh forte, as, כיסה‎ for כִסָּה‎ texit; and in defectives the letter which had been thrown aside is sometimes restored, as, ‎ינקם‎ for יִקֹם‎ ulciscetur, from נקם‎ ulcisci.

A point at the end of a letter generally denotes a number, as, א׳‎ unum, ב׳‎ duo, ג׳‎ tria, &c; but at the end of two or more letters it signifies a word cut off by a certain abbreviation, as, ‎את׳‎ for dixit, ‎לות׳‎ for לותר‎ dicere, ה׳ ית׳‎ for הַשֵׁ‎ ‎יִתְבָרֵךְ‎ Deus benedictus, וגו׳‎ for ‎וִגוֹמַר‎ et cætera, in an abrupt passage of Scripture, וכו׳‎ for וְכֻלּוֹ‎ et totum illud, in sacred or profane use. Also פי׳‎ for פֵרוּשׁ‎ interpretatio, or ‎פֵרֵשׁ‎ interpretatus est, ר׳‎ for רבי‎ Rabbi, Magister, שנ׳‎ for ‎שֶׁנִּאֱמַר‎ quia dictum est, &c.

A double point affixed to a letter indicates either compound numbers, as, י״ד‎ 14, ט״ו‎ 15, תמ״ד‎ 444; or letters taken materially, as, א״לף‎ Aleph, ב״ית‎ Beth, גי״מל‎ Gimel, &c.; or lastly abbreviations by initial letters alone, denoting entire words, which is called ‎ראשי תיבות‎; the number of these is very great, as אי״ה‎, that is, ‮(‏יעזור‎) ‎אם ירצה השם‎‬ si voluerit (or juverit) Deus, א״כ‎ אִם כֵן‎ si sic, si verum est, ‎אע״פיש‎ for אַף עַל פִי שֶׁ אף על פי ש‎ etsi, quanquam, ה״בה‎ or הק״בה‎ for הברוך הוא‎ or הקדוש ברוך הוא‎ Deus benedictus, Deus sanctus benedictus; ‎ה״שו‎ for השם ימברך‎ Deus benedictus, ז״ל‎ for ‎זכרונו לברכה‎ memoria ejus sit in benedictione, or in the plural number זכרונם לברכה‎ memoria eorum sit in benedictione; מ״ו‎ for ‎מס ושלום‎ parce et pax sit, that is, absit; ״א‎ for יש אמרים‎ sunt qui dicunt; ״מ‎ for מפרשים יש‎ sunt qui interpretentur; ‎י״ל‎ for יַשׁ לוֹמַר‎ est dicere, respondendum est; יצר׳‎ for ‎ישמרהו צורו וגואלו‎ custodiat eum petra ejus, et redemptor ejus; ‎כ״א‎ for ‎כִּי אִם‎ sed, nisi; כ״כ‎ for כָל־כַךְ‎ tantopere; ‎נ״פ‎ for כָל־פָנִים‎ omnibus modis; כ״ש‎ for כָל־שֶׁכֵּן‎ quantò magis, quantò minus; ל״ש‎ for לְשֵׁם שָׁמַֽיִם‎ in honorem Dei; ‎מ״מ‎ for מִכָּל־מָקוֹם‎ nihilominus, tamen; ע״ד‎ for עַל דֶרֶךְ‎ more, in modum; ע״ה‎ for השלום‎ super quo pax, ע״ז‎ for עבודה זרה‎ ‎cultus alienus, idololatria; ע״פ‎ for על פי‎ ad formam, modum; ‎ע״צ‎ for עַל צַד‎ ad latus, juxta; פ״א‎ for פירוש אקר‎ expositio alia; ר״ל‎ for רוצה לומר‎ vult dicere. Also ר״אבע‎ Rabbi Aben-Ezra, ר״דק‎ Rabbi David Kimchi, רל״בג‎ Rabbi Levi Ben Gerson, רמ״בם‎ Rabbi Moses Ben Maiemon, ר״שי‎ Rabbi Salomon Iarchi, or Isaac, &c., which are also read abbreviated, and, as it were, figuratively, Raba, Radak, Ralbag, Rambam, Raschi, &c.

Accents are omitted in Rabbinical books; but in pronouncing words the Hebrew accent is transposed from the last syllable to the penultimate, thus, they read בראשית ברא אלהים‎ Beréschith bóro Elóhim, ‎עולם הבא‎ aúlom hábbo; for Vau Cholem is generally pronounced as the diphthong au, and the vowel Kamets as an o.

There are also certain marks of distinction, by which the perfect sense of a sentence is shown; for an imperfect sentence is not pointed off, and often not even a perfect one. But for this purpose there is used, either two perpendicular points, like the Soph-pasuk in Hebrew, but which appears rarely, and indeed not at all in some books; or a single point at the top of the letter similar to the Greek colon; or lastly, a down stroke, either straight, or oblique like the Greek acute accent, which, although the most frequently used, is yet often neglected.

The purer Rabbins commonly use Hebrew words, but they have also some words peculiar to themselves, which are either borrowed from other languages, as, for example, from the Chaldee, אִילָן‎ arbor, ‎‎גַדָּא fortuna, חָזַר‎ rediit, &c.; from the Greek, אויר‎, ἀὴρ, aër, זימן‎, σημεῖον, signum, דורון‎, δῶρον, donum, ‎הדיוע‎, ἰδώτης, idiota, פרהסייא‎, παῤῥησία, בפרהסייא‎ apertè, palàm, &c.; from the Latin, אושפיזא‎ hospes and hospitium, ‎פלעיו‎ and פלעוריו‎ palatium, &c.; and even from the Hebrew, but in a Syro-Chaldaic signification, as, פרע‎ rependit, ultus est, ‎שקל‎ sustulit, פרח‎ volavit, סמר‎ destruxit, &c., or taken evidently in a new sense, as, חין‎ hæreticus, טען‎ argumentando objecit. Also these three, שמים‎ cœlum, המקום‎ locus, and גבורה‎ fortitudo, are often put for Deus, God.

‎קָ‎, from the full particle קָא‎, prefixed to words expletively, and without any increase of signification, seems to be numbered with the serviles by the Talmudists, and which the more vulgar Rabbins, as Rabbi Lipman and the like, who are careless of a correct style, also imitate, as, דקאמר‎ qui dixit, מאי קעביד משה‎ quid fecit Moses? ‎לא הווקא מעייליו ליה‎ non introduxerunt eum, &c.

The preceding observations are translated from a small treatise intituled “Synopsis Institutionum Rabbinicarum,” by George Otho, Professor of the Greek and Oriental languages at the University of Marburg in Hesse, and who acknowledges to having derived his information from Cellarius, Buxtorf, and Hackspan; and bound in connexion with the “Fundamenta Punctationis Linguæ Sanctæ,” of Jacob Alting, printed at Frankfort-on-the-Maine, 2 vols. 1717.

Plan of a Pair of Hebrew Cases, as used in the Queen’s Printing Office.