The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1853-11-16
VARIETY.
THE ELECTROTYPE.

One or the most recent and important uses o
elcc rictiy in The arts, u IT'S application to Prin
ting by process known as the elcc.rpyPe,-
THIS c,nsiss in he production, in copper, OF ,
fac-simile OF pagcso Typ :, OF eirsravings :
This result, in type neal, is known amon.
printers as s,ereo'yping. II Is usual among
book aud other publishers when the types OF !
work are all set up, tn have casts. oil each Page
taken from plaster moulds These casts CONT
off In thin plates of type metal, aud after then
completion the Original types may be taken
down and used Ear other works the printing o
the former book being executed from the fac
simile plates before mentioned. But The sfero-
type is more or less defective, since the finer
lines of types and engruvings cannot be per-
fecliy reproduced; the process is also attended
with uncertainties in the preparation OF the
moulds, and requires the utmost care and con-
slant manual labor ia every detail.
In all Of these respec's the elecirotype is lar
superior, more certain and expeditions All
that is required is impression OF the type
page on soft wax. The wax mould is then dns
ted with plumbagn and placed under the action
ola strong galvanic battery. Al the end Of
twelve hours, uns en- by human eye, and un-
aided by a human hand, an exact fac-simile Of
the type page is produced, on thin plate OF
copper metal! Such is the electrotype--a
proce.s by which lightning is made to come
in and actually make and set types for The prin
ter
La the electrotype process there is no danger
of moulds breaking, neither is there any reason
bic limit to the size of the pages to be produ-
ced. Its advantages over the common stereo-
type process are--greater cheapness, rapidIty,
and value. Electro,ypes will on the press
outlast stereotypes by several millions OF i'm
pressions, and afford, besides, much letter
printing.
We have been led to these remarks from
practical experience Of the ofthe process,
and because we believe that all publishers will
find it greatly 10 their advantage to adopt it,
Formerly the pages of the illustrated News
were stereotyped in the common way We
now invariably use the electrotype, finding It
much quicker and cheaper, besides having our
plates produced in copper, instead OF sofi type
metal. The immense number OF our editions
would wear out the type metal, but the elec
trolype resists the hardest usage. Wood en-
cravings of any dimensions or fineness may
thus be readily copied, and reproduced in the
form copper plates All Of the large engravngs
published by us, some Of them covering sur
face Of near three hundred squaic inches each,
were electro,yped.
So exact are the fac-similes, that, under a
powerful microscope, the copy whether from
type or engravings, does not exhibit any varia
ton from the original. All the fine lines are
brought up with fidelity that is truly remark
able. Steel aud copper plate engraving may
also be duplicated, by this process, with the
utmost facility.
Harpers Magazine is now printed from eiec-
t,otype plates, aud we believe they are soon
about to adopt it for all their publications., en-
tircly discardiny the stereotype. Indeed, we
think The time is not far distant when stereoty
ping will 90 wholly out Of use. 1t cannot
compete with electricity, for the latter, power
full, silent and mysterious, labors day and night
night unmatched and never tircd.-Afus tratcd
News.