Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1863-11-25
Asr WoRDs OF STEPHEN a. DoUoLAs.
An Egyptian Printing Office.
Ts


? An Egyptian Printing Office
/, a CORRESPONDENT writing from Cair
to the Boston Advertiser gives the fol
lowing description Of a government print
; ing Office in that city We next Yisitet
the government printing Office, which i
situated in a large building near the bank
of the Nile. In the spacious rt-yar,
about which the various apartments arr
placed, We found at the door Of the room
which we first entered, a picturesqu,
group of two Arabs seated upon a carpet
in the open air engaged in proof reading
One held the copy and the other the proof
sheet, making queer little Arabic eharac-
ters on the margin as they proceeded.
Pdusing but a moment here, we entered
the apartment where we found Arab
workmen engaged in all the processes of
the composing room Of any printing Of
fee. The Arabic alphabet naturally con
tains but twenty-eight letters, but the
printed alphabet requires many more
types on account Of the double letters
and combinations necessary by reason Of
the peculiar shape Of the character, in the
same way tAat the English printed al
pbabet requires distinct type for the
combinations, because the separate f and
Ieannot stand together. The composing
stick is made to hold a single line only
As the arabic language reads from right,
requiring the lines Of type to read from
left to right, I was puzzled at first BY OBJ
serving that the composition proceeded to
set'letters IN the same way as we do, from
right to loft-but the mystery was ex-
planned on closer observation, when I no.
tieed that he reversed or inverted each
I type as he put tin place-so that his
line was always upside down this is the
reason why they can haYe but one line at
a time in the stick. IF this we're other
wise, all the work would need to be done
left handed After finishing a line, and
justifying it with the space, as with US,
the eompOsitQr empties it into a galley
which he keeps by his side A sufficient
humber of lines is made up into a page,
always surrounded by a double, brass rule,
and then tied about with string, as with
US. saw man taking a proof, using
the palm of his hand to impress the damp
paper on the types, just as used to ef-
feet my earliest juvenile printing--indeed
itis avery good way. From the eouipo-
sing room ] went into the press room,
which is another large apartment OPEN
ing from the central court or quadrangle. I
Here are no less than fifteen hand press
es of the common form, of which four or
FIVE we're in operation, pulled by brawny
Arab pressmen, with bright Arab boys
to manage the ink rollers. One of the
presses was working off sheets of the 7
Koran in handsome octave edition. l :
noticed that it was printed from movable T
type and not from stereotype plates, as / 7
should have thought would be apt to be
the case with such standard work. An
other press was working off sheets of a
manuel of tactics for soldiers in the ar
my; the Scott" OF Hardee" of the
Paeha's service. 1 subsequently, found
the autographs press printing the self
same sort Of illustrations or diagrams Of
the movements as those to which we have
lately become so much accustomed in our
studies for the drill club at home. The
work IS neatly done, and the register
carefully preserved by points as uponsour
best presses. From the press room I
vent to the type foundry, another large
apartment, on the ground floor, Qiteral-
y) opening from the principal court.
We found here Arabs engaged in the
familiar processes Of casting type, with T
implements of the European and Ameri-
,an fashion, but they said their matrices
we're made in Egypt. They east a very
lean, nice type. next went to the {
ithographic room, another large apart 7
nent on the ground floor, where are at
east six or eight photographic presses, Z
everal Of them at work About the {
Dom were large numbers of lithograplfic :
tones. The bindery completed the cir !
.uit of apartments on the ground floor; a
lere the ordinary processes of book bind c
ng were performed, with such changes c
n the manipulation only as result from
he fact that Arabic books have the tide i
'age at the end. Among the books which E
hey we're binding was a Treatise on AL Il
ebra. next went up stairs into one OF n
wo lofts, where printed sheets are yet
are stored; here were masses
f the Koran, and of Commentaries on /
he Koran and other works. "
Almost every one has an acquaintance who, a
5 Sidney Smith said, thinks he is pious when a
G is only bilious afflicted with an uncom-
,rtable feeling in the stomach, that he fancies
is religion, when it is nothing but iudiges- :
on. 81