The ink was good—well-aged linseed oil, boiled until viscous when cool, and mixed in a mortar with resin black. It was mixed in the proportion of thirty-two ounces of oil to five ounces of black. Of course, it was variable, its quality depending upon the quality of the ingredients and the care exercised in preparation. It was spread on the type by means of balls of leather stuffed with wool and firmly attached to wooden handles. One of these balls was taken in each hand, a small portion of ink was spread evenly over the balls by rubbing them together, and the ink ball was then passed over the type so as to distribute the ink as evenly as possible. Composition was done by the full page. This was a fairly reasonable method of reckoning, as the kinds of printing were not varied as they are now. Compositors worked “on honor” and were paid by time. Payment by ems is a very late advance, not having been adopted until about 1775. Imposition was done practically as now. The pressman’s day began by the preparation, through softening and cleaning, of the balls which were to be used on the day’s run, and the mixing of the amount of ink considered necessary for the day’s work. Make-ready, adjustment of margins, register, and the like had to be attended to before the impressions could be taken. Meanwhile the paper had been dampened. The old screw press could not print on dry paper. Paper came from the mill in “hands” or packages of twenty-five sheets, folded once and laid inside each other as note paper is now sold by the stationer. A “hand” was dipped in a tub of water. It was then taken out and the sheets were placed flat under weights to squeeze out the superfluous water and keep the sheets in shape. After the water had been squeezed out the sheets were re-folded into “hands” and sent to the pressroom to be placed upon the press while still damp. Two men worked together on the press, one inking the type and the other making the impression. They worked turn and turn about in hour shifts so that the more and less laborious work was equally distributed. Two-color work was done by taking two impressions from one form. The parts which were intended to be printed in red were set in higher type than the rest and a perforated frisket was used. The red ink impression was taken first. The type for red ink was then removed and slugs were put in, making the form type high throughout. From this form the impression was taken in black ink. As might be supposed, the register was almost always imperfect. The printed leaves while still damp were piled under weights to remove the counter impression of the type which naturally struck through the damp paper. The printing was done with the paper sufficiently damp to make this simple process of removal fairly successful. Later the printed sheets were pressed between heated plates of metal, giving a very smooth and glossy surface to the page.