FORM
Once the compositor had set the individual letters in his stick, 5 or more lines at a time, depending on the point size of the type, he transferred them to a tray and eventually, the entire page was ready. The block of type is then tied up tightly with a string to keep the letters from shifting. In the case of quartos (which was what most sueltas are) the two times four pages that are to be printed on one side of a sheet, each in a pull of the press, make up the form.
The form comprises the four pages arranged in imposition and then locked into an iron frame called a chase. The chase with the form in it is placed on the bed of the press, waiting to be inked. Generally, the outer form (i.e., pages 1, 4, 5, and 8) of gathering A in the sueltas would be printed first. Page 1 would display the drop title or full title page. The inner form (i.e., pages 2, 3, 6, and 7) would be printed the next day on the blank (white) side of the sheet, taking care to keep the register in place on the tympan of the press by using the pin holes in the center made the previous day. Gathering B of the suelta would have pages 9 through 16, with outer form consisting of pages 9, 12, 13, and 16, and inner form 10, 11, 14, and 15. [CB]
In the period before 1700 it seems to have been the practice to set the inner form first. In a quarto in 4s this means you have to cast off 1, 4 and 5 (2 & 3, and 6, 7, 8 are consecutive and don’t need casting off). To set the outer form first, you set 1, cast off 2 & 3, set 4 & 5, cast off 6 & 7, set 8, which means you have cast off one more page. Calderón’s Tercera parte (1664), a 4to in eights, was set: inner form, inner sheet first, then outer form of that sheet; then inner form of outer sheet, followed by outer form of outer sheet, for all 69½ sheets. [DWC]
The form comprises the four pages arranged in imposition and then locked into an iron frame called a chase. The chase with the form in it is placed on the bed of the press, waiting to be inked. Generally, the outer form (i.e., pages 1, 4, 5, and 8) of gathering A in the sueltas would be printed first. Page 1 would display the drop title or full title page. The inner form (i.e., pages 2, 3, 6, and 7) would be printed the next day on the blank (white) side of the sheet, taking care to keep the register in place on the tympan of the press by using the pin holes in the center made the previous day. Gathering B of the suelta would have pages 9 through 16, with outer form consisting of pages 9, 12, 13, and 16, and inner form 10, 11, 14, and 15. [CB]
In the period before 1700 it seems to have been the practice to set the inner form first. In a quarto in 4s this means you have to cast off 1, 4 and 5 (2 & 3, and 6, 7, 8 are consecutive and don’t need casting off). To set the outer form first, you set 1, cast off 2 & 3, set 4 & 5, cast off 6 & 7, set 8, which means you have cast off one more page. Calderón’s Tercera parte (1664), a 4to in eights, was set: inner form, inner sheet first, then outer form of that sheet; then inner form of outer sheet, followed by outer form of outer sheet, for all 69½ sheets. [DWC]
The form locked in the case is labeled OPQR; The sheet, mounted on the tympan, is labeled QRST, and the frisket is labeled STVX.Diderot, Denis. Encyclopédie; ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers Paris: Briasson [etc.], 1751-1772.
