Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 4.djvu/73

Rh there was no great hazard in this; for his character was so well known, that even they themselves spoke honourably of him, and seemed to join with his friends in lamenting the fall of so brave and so worthy a man.

In personal appearance, colonel Gardiner was tall, well proportioned, and strongly built, his eyes of a dark grey, and not very large ; his forehead pretty high; his nose of a length and height no way remarkable, but very well suited to his other features; his cheeks not very prominent, his "mouth moderately large, and his chin rather a little inclining to be peaked. He had a strong voice, and lively accent; with an air very intrepid, yet attempered with much gentleness: and there was something in his manner of address most perfectly easy and obliging, which was in a great measure the result of the great candour and benevolence of his natural temper; and which, no doubt, was much improved by the deep humility which divine grace had wrought into his heart; as well as his having been accustomed from his early youth, to the company of persons of distinguished rank and polite behaviour."

GED, the inventor of stereotype printing, was a goldsmith in Edinburgh, in the early part of the eighteenth century. He is said to have first attempted stereotyping in the year 1725. The invention, as may be generally known, consists in casting, by means of a stucco mould, a representation of the superficies of arranged types, which, being fitted to a block, may be used under the press exactly as types are used, and, being retained, may serve at any time to throw off an additional impression. As the metal required for this process is very little compared to that of types, stereotyping is accomplished at an expense, which, though it might come hard upon ordinary jobs, is inconsiderable in others, where it may be the means of saving a new composition of types for subsequent impressions. In the case of a book in general use, such as the Bible, and also in cases where the publication takes place in numbers, and one number is in danger of being sold to a greater extent than another, the process suggested by Ged is of vast utility. In July, 1729, Mr Ged entered into a partnership with William Fenner, a London stationer, and, for the purpose of carrying his invention into practice, allowed Fenner half the profits, in consideration of his advancing the necessary funds. Afterwards, Mr John James, an architect, was taken into the scheme for the same purpose, as was likewise Mr Thomas James, a letter-founder, and Mr James Ged, the inventor's son. In 1730, the association applied to the university of Cambridge for printing Bibles and Common-Prayer books, by stereotype, and, in consequence, the lease was sealed to them, April 23, 1731. In their attempt they sank a large sum of money, and finished only two prayer-books, so that it was forced to be relinquished, and the lease was given up in 1738. Ged imputed his disappointment to the villany of the pressmen, and the ill treatment of his partners, particularly Fenner, whom John James and he were advised to prosecute, but declined. In 1733, this ingenious man returned with blighted prospects to Edinburgh. Afterwards, however, by the advice of his friends, he gave to the world, a specimen of his invention, in an edition of Sallust, finished, it is said, in 1736, but not published till 1744, as the following imprint on the title page testifies:—"Edinburgi, Gulielmus Ged, Aurifaber, Edinensis, non typis mobilibus, ut vulgo fieri solet, sed tabellis seu laminis fusis, excudebat, MDCCXLIV." James