University of Virginia Library

II

After the complications of the volumes of the 1790's, the figures in the books of Isaac Riley in the 1810's may seem rather simple. Nevertheless they furnish, aside from the Encyclopaedia, the most concentrated example of press figures thus far discovered in American printing, for works published by Riley consistently contained them between 1810 and 1816. Born in Cornwall, Connecticut, on 29 November 1770, Riley had established himself as a bookseller, "I. Riley & Co.," in Middletown as early as 1791, and in the following years he entered into partnerships with merchants in several cities (Freeman & Riley in Baltimore, Goodrich & Riley in Philadelphia, Overton & Riley in Middletown), while he carried on business himself in New York. By 1799 he had become the silent partner of Henry Caritat, a bookseller, and by June 1804 he had set himself up as a printer and publisher (I. Riley & Co.). During the next decade his location, according to his imprint, was 1 or 4 City Hotel, Broadway, but in 1815 he moved to 12 and 14 Wall Street and in 1816 to 27 William Street. After 1817 (until his retirement in 1822 and his death in Maine on 14 March 1824) his activities were principally confined to bookselling in Philadelphia.[26]

It appears that Riley first began using press figures in 1809. Although I have not examined every book that Riley printed and am presenting only a representative sample here, I have not discovered press figures in any of his books before that year and have found that his books from 1810 on almost invariably contain them. That 1809 is the borderline is suggested by the fact that the first volume of Royall Tyler's Vermont Reports (1809) does not have figures, while the second volume (1810) does have. In addition, one work of 1809 which utilizes figures carries them on $4v, whereas Riley's practice beginning in 1810 was almost always to place them on $3v

(in octavos printed by half-sheet imposition). This work, deposited for copyright on the same day as Tyler's Reports, 27 October 1809, is Edward Augustus Kendall's three-volume Travels:

The regularity of the figuring is striking, for there are only three instances where the figure appears on a page other than $4v, in Qq of Volume I and in N and Nn of Volume III. The reason for the change is not clear, since there is nothing unusual about $4v in those gatherings that would make a figure there awkward; certain gatherings which do have a short text on $4v, as M and X in Volume I and Y in Volume II, still have the figure as usual. Neither is it possible to determine why (if there was a reason at all) a few figures are nearer the right side of the page (in E and U of Volume I, M and Gg of Volume II, Dd of Volume III), when they are generally nearer the left. Nor is the significance of the unfigured quires more apparent here than in the earlier books. Since the same figure often appears in consecutive quires, the absence of a figure cannot refer to the same man as the last one indicated but rather suggests a sixth man who worked without a number. The only matter on which the figures seem to offer some comprehensible evidence is whether the work was printed by half-sheet imposition or by working two half-sheets together (inner A and B in one chase, outer A and B in another). If the latter method had been used one would not find figures on the same pages of consecutive gatherings, a situation which occurs throughout most of these three volumes; one may conclude that this work, like most of Riley's later octavo volumes, was printed by half-sheet imposition.

Since the three volumes of Kendall's Travels must have been printed at roughly the same time in Riley's shop, one is tempted to look for relationships among the figures that might suggest, if not concurrent printing, at

least the distribution of work. But evidence from these three volumes alone provides justification for saying no more than the obvious: that 1 and 2 shared most of the work on Volume I, helped out by 3 and 4 at the end; that 3 replaced 1 beginning with the fifteenth sheet of Volume II, replaced in turn by 4, who performed an increasingly large share of the labor near the end of the volume; and that 1, working the beginning and end of Volume III, was helped by 4 and 5 in the middle and by 3 briefly at the end. Beginning with 1810 several different works with figures (rather than volumes of the same work) can be cited for each year, and their copyright deposit dates can be used to indicate roughly the time of year; but, even so, a more complete survey of Riley's books would be necessary before any fairly reliable statements could be made about the size of the editions or the presswork schedule in his shop.

One of the books which Riley printed in early 1810, another travel account, may be used to reveal the transition at this time to his fixed policy of placing figures on $3v, for the first volume of the work, like the Kendall book, has the figures on $4v, while the second has them regularly on $3v:

Clearly, 1 preferred to place his figure on $4v and 4 on $3v; 1 does not vary from his practice in Volume I, and 4 varies only rarely in Volume II.[27] Again the figures are normally at the left (those in B and O of the second volume being the only exceptions). The figures here offer a way of confirming the normal expectation that the preliminary gatherings were printed last (or at least after the rest of Volume I), for quire 2 has the figure 4, not found otherwise in that volume but occurring throughout most of Volume II (and, according to 4's custom in Volume II, the figure appears on 3v). The fact that figure 1 appears in every quire but one in Volume I may raise some doubts about the assumption that figures were used only when a regular and customarily followed scheme was broken; on the other hand, the exclusive printing of a volume by one man or press would probably not be an ordinary pattern, except when the size of the edition was such that composition and presswork proceeded at an equal pace. Four more of Riley's octavos in fours of 1810 illustrate his consistent use of $3v as

the location for figures: in John Anthon's An Appendix to the Touchstone of Common Assurances, figures occur in only fifteen gatherings, on $3v in all but four of them; in William Sampson's Trial of the Journeymen Cordwainers of the City of New-York, $3v is chosen for thirteen out of sixteen figures; in Sir George Steuart Mackenzie's A Treatise on the Diseases and Management of Sheep, five out of eight figures are on $3v; and in C. J. Ingersoll's Inchquin, the Jesuit's Letters, twelve out of sixteen occur on that page.

Another category of Riley's output, the duodecimo volumes gathered in sixes and printed by half-sheet imposition, is represented in the books of 1810. In this format the figures generally appear on the fifth verso of each quire, as in Sophie R. Cottin's The Saracen. There are only two instances in each of its two volumes where a figure appears on a page other than $5v; one of those, in Q of Volume II, occurs where the text of 5v is very short (but this may not be the reason for the change, since a figure does appear on another short page, X5v). A rhythmical pattern of alternation exists for a time between 2 and 4 in Volume I and between 5 and no figure in Volume II; but 4 prints the last half of each volume almost without help. Again it appears to be a sixth man who works without a figure. Other examples of the duodecimo format, however, show that the figures do not occur with the same regularity in these volumes as in the octavos. In Mary Palmer Tyler's The Maternal Physician (1811), figure 1 appears on $5v six times and on $4v five times, out of a total of 24 gatherings; in The Mirror of the Graces (1813), figures occur on only four of 21 half-sheets (two of those times on $5v); in The Universal Receipt Book (1814), on only seven of 24 (six times on $5v); and in John Bonnycastle's The Scholar's Guide to Arithmetic (9th ed., 1815), on eleven of 20 (eight times on $5v). Some of these later volumes, though published by Riley, were printed by Charles Wiley or his partner Cornelius Vanwinkle. Both Vanwinkle and Wiley were located at 3 Wall Street during this period (with Riley at 14 Wall in 1815); there must have been a close association among the three men, for Vanwinkle and Wiley did a number of printing jobs for Riley and are the only American printers besides Riley who actively used press figures in the post-1810 period, so far as I have yet discovered.

This much will have suggested that Riley's books, of various formats and sizes, continually employed press figures, and in a fairly consistent way. Before further progress can be made toward analyzing these figures, however, more of them must be put on record, so that a comprehensive picture of the activities in Riley's shop at any given time can be pieced together. Most important for this purpose, because it bulks largest in the amount of time required for composition and presswork, is the series of thick octavo volumes which issued in a steady stream from his presses. It is also the most important part of his output historically, for it includes his many legal treatises—he not only reprinted standard British works which were needed

by American lawyers but also contacted a number of state supreme courts urging that their reports of cases be prepared for publication. He was one of the American pioneers in this field, and his imprint appears on the early volumes of reports for Connecticut, New York, South Carolina, Vermont, and Virginia. Of the volumes I have thus far located and examined, several fall into the period of late 1810 and early 1811; by tabulating their figures together, a pattern may begin to emerge even before every book and odd job on hand at the time have been identified.

October 1810 — March 1811[28]

• 14. Royall Tyler. Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of . . . Vermont. Volume II. New York: Riley, 1810. Shaw 19098. Copyright 30 November 1810. ICU-L, NN, VtU.
• 8°: π4, 1-614, 248 leaves, pp. [i-iii] iv-v [vi-viii], [1] 2-488.
• Summary of figures: 55 of 62 half sheets figured.

               

Fig.	3v	4v	Totals
2	10	0	10
3	20	0	20
4	9	1	10
5	6/1	0	7
6	8	0	8
	----	--	--
Totals	53/1	1	55

• 15. William Johnson. Reports of Cases Adjudged in the Supreme Count of . . . New-York. Volume II. New York: Riley, 1810. Shaw 15759. Copyright 1 October 1810. WU-L.
• 8°: [a]4 b2 A-3T4, 266 leaves, pp. [i-v] vi-xii, [1] 2-520.
• Summary of figures: 37 of 66 half-sheets figured; one quarter-sheet figured (with 3).

                 

Fig.	2r	2v	3r	3v	4v	Totals
1	0	0/1	0	1	0	2
2	0	1	0	2	0	3
3	0	0	0	8	1	9
4	0	0	0	5	0	5
5	1	2	1	12	1	17
6	0	0	0	1	0	1
	--	---	--	--	--	--
Totals	1	3/1	1	29	2	37

• 16. William Pyle Taunton. Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Court of Common Pleas. Volume I. New York: Riley, 1810. Shaw 20243. Copyright 1 November 1810. MWA.
• 8°: π4 A-3G4 a-d4, 232 leaves, pagination according to earlier edition.[29]

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150




• Summary of figures: 20 of 58 half-sheets figured.

               

Fig.	2v	3v	Totals
1	0	1	1
2	1	7	8
3	0	3	3
4	0	4	4
6	0	4	4
	--	--	--
Totals	1	19	20

• 17. William Johnson. Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of . . . New-York. Volume I, second edition. New York: Riley, 1811. Shaw [? cf. 15759]. Copyright 17 January 1811. ICU-L, WU-L.
• 8°: [a]4 b4 A-4L4 4M1 1-24 32, 339 leaves, pagination according to earlier edition.
• Summary of figures: 61 of 84 half-sheets figured; 1 quarter-sheet figured (with 4).

               

Fig.	1v	2v	3r	3v	Totals
1	0	1	0	9	10
2	0	1	0	7	8
4	2/1	1	1	12	17
5	0	3	0	17/1	21
6	0	1	0	4	5
	---	--	--	----	--
Totals	2/1	7	1	49/1	61

• 18. Elihu Hall Bay. Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Superior Courts of . . . South Carolina. Volume II. New York: Riley, 1811. Shaw 18661. Copyright 7 February 1811. WU-L.
• 8°: π4 A-4E4, 300 leaves, pp. [i-iii] iv-viii, [1] 2-591 [592].
• Summary of figures: 45 of 75 half-sheets figured.

                 

Fig.	2v	3v	4r	4v	Totals
1	0	5	0	0	5
2	0	7	0	0	7
3	1/1	8/1	1	1	13
4	0	13	0	0	13
5	0	3	0	0	3
6	1	3	0	0	4
	---	----	--	--	--
Totals	2/1	39/1	1	1	45

• 19. William W. Hening and William Munford. Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia. Volume IV. New York: Riley, 1811. Shaw 16644. Copyright 11 February 1811. WU-L.
• 8°: [a]4 b4 A-4E4, 304 leaves, pp. [i-v] vi-xv [xvi], [1] 2-592.
• Summary of figures: 48 of 76 half-sheets figured.

                 

Fig.	2v	3v	4r	Totals
1	1	3	0	4
2	2	6	0	8
3	1	8	1/1	11
4	2/1	9	0	12
5	1	9	0	10
6	0	3	0	3
	---	--	---	--
Totals	7/1	38	1/1	48

• 20. Collections of the New-York Historical Society. Volume I. New York: Riley, 1811. Shaw 23554. Copyright 23 March 1811. WHi.
• 8°: π4 A-3G4 3H2, 218 leaves, pp. [i-iii] iv-vi [vii-viii], [1] 2-428.
• Summary of figures: 48 of 54 half-sheets figured; 1 quarter-sheet figured (with 5).

                 

Fig.	2v	3v	4v	Totals
1	0	2	0	2
2	0	3	0	3
3	0	6	0	6
4	0	11	0	11
5	1	11	0	12
6	0	13	1	14
	--	--	--	--
Totals	1	46	1	48

On the basis of these seven volumes alone certain generalizations emerge about the consistency of Riley's practice in figuring half-sheet octavos. Out of a total of 478 quires, 317 (or about two-thirds) are figured. Of those that are figured, 276 (or 87%) have the figure on $3v; the next most popular position is $2v, but this occurs only 24 times. Rectos are figured only seven times, and never the first leaf recto. The figures normally occur near the left margin, for only eight out of the 317 appear at the right edge. Figures 4 and 5 are found most frequently (72 and 71 times, respectively), with 3 running close behind (63 times); 2, 6, and 1 occur least often (47, 40, and 24 times, respectively). Beyond this one cannot go without further data; it is futile to attempt a reconstruction of the printing schedule or to deduce information about the size of these editions, when Riley obviously printed more than seven books in his shop during this period, and those other books must enter into one's calculations. Toward this end, I shall present one more group of Riley books, all of 1811. The legal octavos issued by Riley after that, between 1812 and 1816, were only "Published by I. Riley"; the printing was done by Charles Wiley or by Vanwinkle & Wiley. A further look at some of these volumes will serve for comparison with the practices in Riley's own shop. Then a statistical summary at that point will perhaps have somewhat greater validity.

1811

• 21. Alexander de Humboldt. Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain, translated by John Black. Volume I. New York: Riley, 1811. Shaw 23006. CSmH.
• 8: π4 2π2 A-Tt4 Uu2, 176 leaves pp. [i-iii] iv-xii, 2[i] ii-cxv [cxvi], [1] 2-221 [222-224].
• Summary of figures: 26 of 43 half-sheets figured; 2 quarter-sheets unfigured.

             

Fig.	1v	2r	3v	4r	Totals
1	0	0	8	0	8
4	0	0	4	0	4
5	1	0	4	0	5
6	1	1	6	1	9
	--	--	--	--	--
Totals	2	1	22	1	26

• 22. Humboldt. Volume II. CSmH.
• 8°: [A]4 B-3A4 3B2, 190 leaves, pp. [1-3] 4-377 [378-380].
• Summary of figures: 41 of 47 half-sheets figured; 1 quarter-sheet unfigured.

             

Fig.	2v	3v	4v	Totals
1	0	4	1	5
4	0/1	13	0	14
5	2	11	0	13
6	3	6	0	9
	---	--	--	--
Totals	5/1	34	1	41

• 23. Giles Jacob. The Law-Dictionary, revised by T. E. Tomlins. Volume I. Printed for, and published by I. Riley, New-York; and P. Byrne, Philadelphia. I. Riley, Printer. 1811. Shaw 23105. ICU-L.
• 8: π4 2π1 A-3U4 3X2, 271 leaves, pp. [i-iii] iv-x, [1] 2-531 [532].
• Summary of figures: 22 of 67 half-sheets figured; 1 quarter-sheet figured (with 1).

           

Fig.	3r	3v	Totals
1	1	19	20
2	1	0	1
5	0	1	1
	---	--	--
Totals	2	20	22

• 24. Jacob. Volume II. ICU-L.
• 8°: π1 A-3Y4 273 leaves, pp. [2] [1] 2-543 [544].
• Summary of figures: 58 of 68 half-sheets figured.

         

Fig.	2v	3r	3v	4v	Totals
1	0	2	43	2	47
5	1	0	10	0	11
	--	--	--	--	--
Totals	1	2	53	2	58

• 25. Jacob. Volume III. ICU-L.
• 8°: π1 A-4H4 4I1, 310 leaves, pp. [2] [1] 2-618.
• Summary of figures: 69 of 77 half-sheets figured.

               

Fig.	1v	2v	3r	3v	4v	Totals
1	3	1	2	38	4	48
2	0	0	0	4	2	6
4	0	0	1	3	0	4
5	0	0	0	7	0	7
6	0	0	0	4	0	4
	--	--	--	--	--	--
Totals	3	1	3	56	6	69

NOTE: Volumes IV, V, and VI of Jacob's Law-Dictionary also were published jointly by Riley and Byrne and bear the date 1811. But they were printed by Fry and Kammerer and contain no figures.

• 26. William W. Hening. The American Pleader and Lawyer's Guide. Volume I. New York: Riley, 1811. Shaw 22987. Copyright 6 August 1811. NN (which lacks 2 leaves of [1] and 3S4).
• 8°: [1]4 2-64 A-3S4, 280 leaves, pp. [i-viii] ix-xlvii [xlviii], [1] 2-509 [510-512].

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153




• Summary of figures: 50 of 70 half-sheets figured.

                 

Fig.	2v	3v	4v	Totals
1	1	11	0	12
2	0	7/1	0	8
3	0	12	1	13
4	2	6	0	8
5	1	6	0	7
6	0	2	0	2
	--	----	--	--
Totals	4	44/1	1	50

• 27. Thomas Day. Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of . . . Connecticut. Volume III. New York: Riley, 1811. Shaw [? cf. 17286]. Copyright 16 November 1811. WU-L.
• 8°: [A]4 B-3Z4, 276 leaves, pp. [i-iii] v v[vi-viii], [1] 2-543 [544].
• Summary of figures: 63 of 69 half-sheets figured.

             

Fig.	2v	3v	4v	Totals
1	0	6	0	6
4	2	22	2	26
5	2	28	0	30
6	0	1	0	1
	--	--	--	--
Totals	4	57	2	63

• 28. Speeches of John Philpot Curran, Esq. Volume I. New York: Riley, 1811. Shaw 22651. Copyright 20 November 1811. NN.
• 8°: π2 A-Tt4 Uu2, 172 leaves, pp. [4] [1] 2-340.
• Summary of figures: 40 of 42 half-sheets figured; 2 quarter-sheets unfigured.

           

Fig.	2v	3v	4v	Totals
1	1	26	2	29
4	0	4/1	0	5
5	1	5	0	6
	--	----	--	--
Totals	2	35/1	2	40

• 29. Curran. Volume II. CSmH, NN.
• 8°: π2 A-Ss4 Tt2, 168 leaves, pp. [4] [1] 2-331 [332].
• Summary of figures: 38 of 41 half-sheets figured; 2 quarter-sheets unfigured.

             

Fig.	2v	3r	3v	4v	Totals
1	2	1	23	1	27
4	0	0	1	0	1
5	0	0	5/1	0	6
6	0	0	4	0	4
	--	--	----	--	--
Totals	2	1	33/1	1	38

Charles Wiley, 1812-1814

• 30. William Johnson. Reports of Cases Adjudged in the Supreme Court of . . . New-York. Volume III. New York: Printed by C. Wiley, 1812. Shaw 26287. Copyright 27 May 1812. WU-L.
• 8°: π4 A-3I4, 224 leaves, pp. [i-v] vi-viii, [1] 2-439 [440].
• Summary of figures: 52 of 56 half-sheets figured.

           

Fig.	1v	2r	2v	3v	4v	Totals
1	1	0	3	13	0	17
2	0	1	0	16	0	17
6	1	0	1	14	2	18
	--	--	--	--	--	--
Totals	2	1	4	43	2	52

• 31. Thomas Day. Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of . . . Connecticut. Volume IV. New York: Riley, 1813. Printed by C. Wiley. Shaw 28214. Copyright 6 July 1813. WU-L.
• 8°: π2 A-3S4, 260 leaves, pp. [i-iii] iv-v [vi-viii], [1] 2-512.
• Summary of figures: 60 of 64 half-sheets figured; 1 quarter-sheet figured (with 2).

               

Fig.	1v	2r	2v	3v	4v	Totals
1	0	0	0	8	0	8
2	0	0	1	3	0	4
3	2	0	2	10	0	14
5	0	1	1	9	0	11
6	0	0	1	21	1	23
	--	--	--	--	--	--
Totals	2	1	5	51	1	60

• 32. Thomas Harris and John M'Henry. Maryland Reports [1780-1790]. Volume II. New York: Printed by C. Wiley, 1812. Shaw 25956. Copyright 27 May 1812. ICU-L, WU-L (both lacking 634).
• 8°: π4 a-c4 1-634, 268 leaves, pp. [i-iii] iv-viii, 2[i] ii-xxiv, [1] 2-502 [503-504].
• Summary of figures: 60 of 67 half-sheets figured.[30]

                 

Fig.	1v	2v	3r	3v	4v	Totals
1	1	0	0	4	0	5
2	0	1	0	4	0	5
3	0	0	0	1	0	1
4	0	0	1	18	0	19
5	0	2	0	19	0	21
6	1	0/1	0	6	1	9
	--	---	--	--	--	--
Totals	2	3/1	1	52	1	60

• 33. Joseph Chitty. A Practical Treatise on Pleading. Volume I. Second American Edition. New York: Printed by C. Wiley, 1812. Shaw 25064. Copyright 23 June 1812. WU-L.
• 8°: [A]4 B-C4 D2 E4 1-744, 314 leaves, pp. [i-v] vi-xxxiii [xxxiv-xxxvi], then according to earlier edition.
• Summary of figures: 74 of 78 half-sheets figured; 1 quarter-sheet figured (with 1).

             

Fig.	1v	2v	3r	3v	Totals
1	1	3	0	17	21
2	0	0	0	34	34
5	0	0	1	1	2
6	0	1	0	16	17
	--	--	--	--	--
Totals	1	4	1	68	74

• 34. George Cooper. A Treatise of Pleading. New York: Published by I. Riley, 1813. Printed by C. Wiley. Shaw 28225. MWA.
• 8°: [A]4 B-E4 1-494, 216 leaves, pagination according to earlier edition.

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155




• Summary of figures: 52 of 54 half-sheets figured.

               

Fig.	1v	2v	3v	4v	Totals
1	0	2	9	1	12
2	0	0	5	0	5
3	0	1	5	0	6
5	0	0	4	0	4
6	2	3	19	1	25
	--	--	--	--	--
Totals	2	6	42	2	52

• 35. George Caines. New-York Term Reports. Volume I. Second Edition. New York: Published by I. Riley, 1813. Printed by C. Wiley. Shaw 29344. Copyright 7 May 1813. ICU-L.
• 8°: [a]4 b2 1-774 782, 316 leaves, pagination according to earlier edition.
• Summary of figures: 75 of 78 half-sheets figured; 2 quarter-sheets unfigured.

             

Fig.	1v	2v	3r	3v	4v	Totals
1	0	2	2	54	2	60
2	1	1	0	0	0	2
3	1	0	0	1	0	2
6	2	0	0	9	0	11
	--	--	--	--	--	--
Totals	4	3	2	64	2	75

• 36. Caines. Volume II. 1814. Shaw 32323. Copyright 8 February 1814. ICU-L.
• 8°: π4 1-574, 232 leaves, pagination according to earlier edition.
• Summary of figures: 53 of 58 half-sheets figured.

               

Fig.	2v	3r	3v	Totals
1	1	0	17	18
2	3	1	18	22
3	0	0	5	5
4	0	0	2	2
6	0	0	6	6
	--	--	--	--
Totals	4	1	48	53

• 37. William Munford. Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia. Volume II. New York: Published by I. Riley, 1814. Printed by C. Wiley. Shaw 27411. Copyright 21 January 1814. WU-L.
• 8°: [a]4 b4 c2 1-764, 314 leaves, pp. [i-iii] iv-xx, [1] 2-607 [608].
• Summary of figures: 71 of 78 half-sheets figured; 1 quarter-sheet unfigured.

                 

Fig.	2v	3v	4v	Totals
1	5	14	1	20
2	1	10	0	11
3	0	10	0	10
4	0	5	0	5
5	0	2	0	2
6	4/1	18	0	23
	----	--	--	--
Totals	10/1	59	1	71

It can be seen from these examples, all in half-sheet octavo and containing comparable material, that the choice of pages for figuring is just as firm as in the Dobson Encyclopaedia—but in this case the page is $3v. Reasons for the deviations can sometimes be guessed, as in item 36, where 423 v has extra white space at the lower left and 513 v a long footnote, or in item 35, where 33 v and 43 v have long footnotes and 153 v short text. But in 36 there is a figure on 303 v even though the text is short, and in 35 both short text

and footnotes do not prevent the choice of 102 v and 323 v. One cannot therefore carry this sort of argument very far, but in general it seems true that $3v was avoided if it represented an unusual situation (such as short text or long footnotes) that might make insertion of a figure more difficult. Again the edition size is indeterminate without more information, but one can at least speculate that item 14, for example, would require roughly fourteen hours' composition time for each forme of eight pages and that a press working with half-sheet imposition during this time (that is, spending half the time printing white paper and half the time perfecting) could produce an edition of 1750 copies. Identical figures do appear in many consecutive half-sheets of this volume, but there are too many other unknown factors (number of compositors, additional jobs worked off by the same presses during this time) to make the estimate at all reliable.

The statistics of figure frequencies (based on items 14-37 above) do not reveal any striking differences in practice between the shops of Isaac Riley and Charles Wiley (frequencies for Riley come before the hyphen, those for Wiley after):

                   

Fig.	1r	1v	2r	2v	3r	3v	4r	4v	Totals
1	0	3-3	0	8-16	6-2	199-136	0	10-4	226-161	387
2	0	0-1	0-1	5-7	1-1	54-90	0	2-0	62-100	162
3	0	0-3	0	3-3	0	66-32	3-0	3-0	75-38	113
4	0	3-0	0	9-0	2-1	117-25	0	3-0	134-26	160
5	0	1-0	1-1	14-3	1-1	138-35	0	1-0	156-40	196
6	0	1-6	1-0	5-12	0	59-109	1-0	1-5	68-132	200
	--	--	--	--	--	----	--	--	----	----
Totals	0	8-13	2-2	44-41	10-5	633-427	4-0	20-9	721-497	1218
	0	21	4	85	15	1060	4	29	1218

In both cases $3v is the usual page for figures, with $2v the second choice; in both $2r and $4r are unpopular, with $1r never used; in both six figures appear, with figure 1 most frequently. More revealing is the percentage table, which shows that Wiley used figures somewhat more steadily:                    

Vol.	% half-sheets figured	% figured half-sheets figured on $3v
14	88	98	22	87	83	30	93	83
15	56	78	23	33	91	31	94	85
16	34	95	24	85	91	32	90	87
17	73	82	25	90	81	33	95	92
18	60	91	26	71	90	34	96	81
19	63	79	27	91	90	35	96	85
20	89	96	28	95	90	36	91	91
21	60	85	29	93	89	37	91	83
			Averages for Riley	73	90	Averages for Wiley	93	86

Whereas some of the Riley books examined have only 33 or 34% of the half-sheets figured, the Wiley volumes consistently have figures on over 90% of the half-sheets. Of those half-sheets figured, however, Riley's more frequently have the figures on $3v, but only by a margin of 4%. In short, there are no significant differences between the customs of these two related firms in figuring their legal octavos in half-sheet, but their practice does at least provide evidence of the consistency with which press figures were still being used (by some firms, at any rate) in America in the second decade of the nineteenth century.