f a book to be near the centre of the paper pages,
while others like the head and back margins to be much narrower than
the margins at the front and foot, the distances between the blocks
must be arranged according to the taste of the publisher or the
author.

After the blocks have been spaced as desired, and the spaces filled
with furniture, the form is "locked up," or tightened securely, with
wedge-shaped pieces of iron called "quoins," and it is then placed in
position on the bed of the press, securely fastened by screw clamps,
and "making ready" for printing is begun.

Notwithstanding the care that has been taken to have all the "patent"
blocks and the electrotype plates of even and uniform thickness, there
is almost never a case where a form can be put on the press and
printed off properly without considerable work being required to make
the surface of the plates absolutely flat so that the entire printed
part of the page will receive the same amount of ink and will press
evenly on the paper.

The first step in making a press "ready" is to place a sheet of heavy
cardboard around the cylinder, and over it draw a smooth piece of
muslin or cotton cloth. This is called the "packing." In many of the
best offices this sheet of heavy cardboard is not used, but in its
place is a patent make-ready called "Tympalyn."

Over this a thick sheet of manila paper is shrunk, it being pasted
under clamps on the front of the cylinder, and carried around and
fastened to hooks on a rod on the back. The rod is then turned until
the sheet is perfectly tight and smooth.

While the pressman is laying out his plates the feeder should be
cutting thin sheets of paper the size of one of the plates. Some of
these papers are cut about one inch shorter than the plates for
"bevels," and these are pasted on the middle of the full-size pieces.
These bevels and the larger "blank" sheets are to go between the
plates and the blocks to overcome any variation there may be in the
thickness and to make the surface of the form as nearly level as
possible. The "bevels" raise the centres very slightly above the edges
of the plate, thus reducing the pressure of the cylinder at the points
of contact and departure, and saving the plates from wear.

The cylinder being properly packed, and the form of blocks fastened on
the press so that the impression of the form will come in the middle
of the paper sheets, it is necessary to know whether the binder is to