set up to oneself

In hand composition, to set up to oneself meant to compose and typeset consecutive portions of text in a single job without handing the work to another typesetter partway through. A compositor would complete one section, then continue directly into the next section, maintaining continuity of the typeset matter rather than breaking off and passing the job to a colleague.

This practice stood in contrast to the alternative workflow where multiple compositors shared a single job in succession. One typesetter might complete pages 1 through 5, then pass the manuscript and the compositor's stick to a second operator who would continue from page 6 onward. Setting up to oneself meant avoiding that handoff entirely, keeping all the type matter in one operator's control from start to finish.

The term implied both efficiency and quality consistency. A compositor working continuously on the same piece maintained better familiarity with the text, special characters, and spacing requirements. It also reduced the risk of inconsistency in letter spacing, line length, or typographic interpretation that could occur when different hands took over the work. Wages and piecework rates sometimes reflected whether a job was performed by one compositor or divided among several.

This vocabulary became obsolete with the mechanization of typesetting. Linotype and Monotype machines, which emerged in the 1890s and 1900s, fundamentally changed how composition work was organized and measured. By the mid-twentieth century, the distinction between setting up to oneself and passing work between operators had ceased to be meaningful in active printing practice, and the phrase disappeared from working vocabulary.