Dictionary

imposing stone en · NOUN

Meanings

1. (historical) The stone on which the pages or columns of type are imposed or made into forms.
   • [The printer] gathers the letters marked as corrections in the margin, together with a quantity of spaces of all sizes, and returns to the forms, which in the meanwhile one of them has laid up on the imposing-stones and unlocked. 1841, Thomas Curson Hansard, Treatise on Printing and Type-founding:
   • After the type form has been proofed, corrected, and tied up again, it is ready for printing and must be locked up. This is done on the imposing stone (called a stone because of the flat marble or sandstone on top of the imposing table. 1971, Technical Manual: TM 8-290: Craft Techniques in Occupational Therapy, United States Department of the Army, page 12-25:
   • Imposition is the process of arranging type forms in the desired position for printing so that they may be locked-up om readiness for the press. It is commonly known as stone-work to the practical printer, because the forms are placed and handled on an imposing stone, and the workmen are known as Impositors. 1922, Clifford Wilson Hague, Textbook of Printing Occupations, page 137:

Forms

Relateds

imposing table · stone editor