Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books
A Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology

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impression

1. The pressure required to transfer ink from one surface to another, as, for example, plate to paper, or plate to blanket, etc. It is usually expressed in terms of thousandths of an inch beyond that needed to produce first contact between two printing cylinders. 2. A printed copy or the result of impressing ink upon a receiving surface. 3. The indentations remaining in paper as a result of the pressure used in letterpress printing plus the dampness of the paper. These impressions were often quite pronounced in early letterpress printing. See also:CONVEX COVERS . 4. The effect produced by stamping, blocking, printing, or tooling a design or lettering on the covers of a book. 5. All copies of a work printed at one time from one setting of type. There may be several impressions (presumably unaltered) of one edition, each new printing from standing type or original plates constituting a new "impression" of the work. If, however, the pages are reimposed to produce a different format, the resultant impression is a different edition. 6. A single copy of a print or map. 7. A print taken by means of a special engraving press, from an enlarged plate. (12 , 17 , 83 )




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