, its
style of type, the weight of its paper, and the form of its binding? How
many copies shall be printed? How much money shall be expended in
advertising it? etc., etc. Occasionally the author is consulted
concerning some of these questions, especially in regard to
illustrations, for which he is sometimes requested to furnish
photographs; but more often he is not. The publisher, who bears the
expense of illustrating the book, generally reserves the right to select
the artist for this work as well as to decide upon the number, the
style, and the size of the pictures.

There is so much art in the making of a book that by the aid of large
type, wide spaces between lines, heavy paper, and broad margins a small
manuscript may suffice for a large volume; while by the use of small
type set "solid," thin paper, and narrow margins an immense amount of
matter may be compressed into very small compass. As a rule the large or
medium-sized volumes, especially among those known to the trade as
"Juveniles," sell best, for there are many people who in the purchase of
books follow the plan of the Chinaman in buying shoes, and select the
largest size to be had for the money.

[Illustration: SETTING UP THE BOOK.]

After forming the subject of innumerable consultations between those
interested in its success, our manuscript book is finally "put in hand,"
or sent to the foreman of the composing-room, who scatters its pages
here and there among his printers. As soon as half a dozen or ten or
twenty sheets have been "set up" or turned into type, a galley-proof is
"pulled" and handed to the proof-reader for correction. The galley is a
long, narrow, brass-lined frame, in which a column of type is placed.
The face of this type is inked with a hand-roller, a long strip of white
paper is laid over it, and the whole goes into a hand-press. The
printing thus done is not very fine, but it is plenty good enough to
enable the keen-eyed proof-reader to detect any errors that have been
made. He marks these on the margins of the proof, and hands it back to
the compositors, each of whom corrects the mistakes appearing in the
portion he has set. There is no more interesting sight in a
composing-room than that of a skilled compositor making these
corrections, picking out and replacing the little black types,
transferring whole lines or paragraphs from one place to another,
spacing, leading, punctuating, without dropping a type or making a
mistake. The