What are these in leather case?

Compositor’s setting rules. Used to set the measure of an adjustable composing stick. Before Rouse made the Pica stick with its presets, a necessity. Still useful when setting solid.

Also, these were often manufactured by type foundries to their own in-house point systems before the 1880s point standardization. They were necessary to be able to set your stick to match the type from that foundry. You may in fact find that the ones you have there don’t match the ATF point system.
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Michael Hurley
Titivilus Press
Memphis

I´ll have to look at them closer and see if there is any stamps for size of branding.

Or are they just printing rules?

Jumps from 12-8. So I may be missing 10. There is also some additional brass ones.

Used some leather balm and found a name but can´t quite work it out.

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The notches and lugs allow you to angle the rule out after you have set a line and put it in place for setting the next line, when setting solid matter.
CEFMOR was a UK maker.

In the UK, sets of these often in a wooden box with a sliding lid, were the property of the compositor himself, like his composing stick, not the property of the employer. Sometimes given by the employer as a reward for a particularly successful apprenticeship when the lad was ‘banged out’ and became ‘Mr’.

I’ve never seen these with the markings on the top in the US. Do they correspond to picas?

John, if they predate standardized points they may not correspond to modern picas even if that’s what they were intended to mark.
—
Michael Hurley
Titivilus Press
Memphis, TN

Great information, thanks guys.

I’ve got several sets of setting rules, but I’ve understood that all the rules are just slightly shorter than the size indicated on them. The compositor would set the width using quads, often keeping a clean set just for that. The setting rule being ever so slightly shorter makes it easier to remove the type from the stick. In French they’re called ‘lève-ligne’, which clearly explains its purpose.

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The items at the left side of the leather bag seem to be steel perforating rule, used on ticket stubs and like printed items’.

Caslon setting rules:- I have a couple of sets of setting rules, one supplied by Caslon in a wooden box with a sliding lid. the rules are brass and most of them are stamped with the em length. pictures attached

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From a Cefmor catalogue and a set I have,

cheers John

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Any chance of scanning that Cefmor catalogue and making it available? See our Drukwerk in de marge website for instance… we’re always looking for additions!
https://drukwerkindemarge.org/techniek/documentatie/

Is there a way of turning on notifications so I get an email etc when someone replies to my post??

Greta replies & I don’t want to miss them.