ABSTRACT

Eng1Iohwoman'. Review] Wood E11nl'aving aB a Pro.fe88ion. 445 October 15th, 1881. .., 'J' out for themselves. In eommencing business your fu-st care should be to prepare a business card. This card should have some pretty and uncommondesign, and should also have on it your initials aud surname, with "Engraver in Wood," underneath, followed by the address. The card ought to be entirely engraved by yourself, and will serve as a specimen of work. One of these cards should be sent to every printer and publisher in the town in which you live, and to anyone else you think would be likely to give or obtain you employment, If you care to go to the expense you might bave a circular printed, of the ordinary trade-kind, and send oue with each card, hut bave it so worded that it may be signed with initials and surname; do not put it in the third person. Provide yourself also with a label to put on your blocks, whether you send them by hand, post, or rail; you will find it a great convenience. Any tradesman's label will show you tbe kind, and you will find it cheapest to cut the whole block yourself, it will besides practise you in letter cntting. Eave tbe labels a smaH size, and printed on adbesive paper, it saves :a good deal of trouble. In putting up your blocks wrap them neatly and carefully in stout brown paper, with a piece of cardboard over tbe face of tbe block, tie with twine, and put on one of your labels. Avoid the use of newspaper or thin light paper, it has an nntidy appearance and tbe blocks might break through. You should lay in a stock of business or memorandum paper for writing your business letters on; we ourselves would give tbe preference to memorandum paper if a choice bas to be made; it saves time in a abort note, requirE's neitber beginning nor ending, but only tbe Dame of the person or firm you are addresbing and the date 8t top. Any general printer will show you specimens of both kinds. For envelopes the common blue kind are those in general use for business communications. Very likely you will consider it of little consequence what sort of paper and envelopes you use, it seems Buch a. smaU matter, but it is in just these little things that the difference between au amateur and a professional comes out. Take care, therefore, not to use crested envelopes or superfine note-paper with a fancy monogram when

446 A Few Hinta to Women Adopting [EnglishwomaD'8 Review October I~th. 1881. writing on business, it will remind the r,erson you are writiug to that he is dealing with a "lady' unacquainted with business details, and not with a business woman~ Be always as business-like as you can in all your transactions and arrangements. An india-rubber hand stamp with name, profession,. and addJ'ess, for stamping post-cards you will find very useful, and indeed they are in such general nse now that you could hardly do without one. It will do for envelopes also unless you da not mind the expense of having them stamped in the usual way by a printer. In the latter case you must go to the expense of a die, which will cast a few shillings. Some firms like to have an invoice sent in with a finished order, therefore you may require to' have a book of invoices or ., receive notes;" you can obtain it from your printer. There is one articIe that we have found so useful to ourselves tbat we would advise an engraver to furnish herself with one even before ehe sets up in business, and that is an inking roller. It saves a great deal of time and strength, and is weIl worth the monev. It should be a six-inch printers' roller, covered ~ith the same composition as the large rollers in use in printing machines. A marble slab about 9 by 14-incheswill be necessary for rolling the ink on, and take care t.o keep both it and the roller perfectly free from dust. W rap a piece of paper close I'ound the roller directly you have done using it, glazed writing paper is the best for this purpose.