A study of type founding and of the development
of presses and other printers’ machinery in
America presents many interesting considerations.
If the attempt were made to give in detail the story
of American type founding and the accomplishments
of the notable American type founders, and at the
same time to chronicle the improvements and inventions
which American genius has contributed to the
machines and processes used in printing and the
allied industries, a very large book might readily be
produced. While such a book would not be without
interest and would certainly have very great value,
it would be valuable mainly as a work of reference
and would lack the interest which ought to attach to
a book of the sort contained in this series. It has
seemed to the writer best, therefore, not to attempt
to collect an encyclopedia of information, but to give
a brief sketch of the development of types and
presses in the United States, with a special view to
the beginnings in both departments. It is greatly to
be hoped that a more competent hand may later be
set to the production of such an encyclopedic volume
as has been indicated, but such a work does not
belong in this series.
In these matters, as in so many others, we find a
definite course of development going on. Originally
American dependence upon Europe was complete.
The political dependence of the colonies in those days
was much more thorough-going than anything we
know at present. The political and economic ideas of
the eighteenth century were so different from those
with which we are familiar that it is difficult for the
6ordinary man who is not widely read in the literature
and history of that period to understand them at all.
Briefly it may be said that the prevailing idea, not
only in England, but elsewhere, was that all colonies
should be governed from the mother country; that
they should send their raw materials to the mother
country and receive all of their manufactured products
from the mother country; and that they should
not trade directly with any other part of the world,
but that the mother country should act as a receiving
and forwarding station for trade in both directions.
This dependence extended much further than to
politics and business. The American colonists, for
example, got their literature, their art, their fashions,
and many of their ideas from the mother country.
The nearer the good people of Boston, New York,
and Philadelphia could get to the ways of thinking,
speaking, dressing, and acting which prevailed in
London, the happier they considered themselves.
Accordingly we find that at first type and presses
were all imported. Later we find that although type
founding was being successfully carried on in this
country, foreign models, especially in type, long continued
to be followed. In machinery, American
independence very soon asserted itself. Although
some important machines and presses were not
invented in this country, many were invented and
nearly all were materially improved in American
hands. This remark applies to the machines for
producing type as well as to other mechanical operations.
In the matter of type faces and typographical
design America followed English models until comparatively
recently. Indeed, it may be questioned
whether there are more than a very few type faces
now in use in this country which can be said to be
American inventions. Many type faces have been
designed, however, which were modifications and
improvements of European designs. So true is this
that probably the greater part of the type in use in
this country would be considered as of American
7design, although its indebtedness to Caslon, to
Baskerville, to Bodoni, or to Jensen, as a remote
original, might be recognized. As a matter of fact,
the original designing of letter faces, regardless of any
previously existing design, has been of very rare
occurrence in this country. Within the last generation,
however, we are pretty well emancipated from this
following of foreign originals. We still study the products
of the foreign type foundries and printing
offices, but as sources of suggestion, not as models for
imitation.
The great American printing houses of today are
more and more the masters of their own craft, not
the imitators of others. This condition is also true of
the type founders and manufacturers of machines
and materials used in the industry. The sentiment
of independence is bound to become more marked,
and the originality of American printing more pronounced,
with the development of a generation of
better printers.
CHAPTER I The Pioneer Type Founders
8
During all the early years of American printing,
as has already been said, all type used was
imported. The first type cast in this country appears
to have been made by Christopher Sauer, in Germantown,
Pennsylvania, about 1735. Sauer (the family
afterward anglicized the spelling of the name into
Sower) was one of those Germans, colloquially known
as Pennsylvania Dutch, who were an important element
in the population of the colony of Pennsylvania
and are still numerous in the State. Sauer printed
books, and in 1739 we find him beginning a newspaper,
all or nearly all in German. As an auxiliary
to his printing business he seems to have cast his
own German type or at least a part of it. His work
had no particular commercial importance, but
deserves record as the beginning of type founding in
America.
In 1768 a Scotchman named Mitchelson came to
Boston bringing the tools for type founding with him.
We have no record that he ever cast any type.
Probably he lacked capital to go into business and
there was no one to employ him.
In 1769 Abel Buel submitted to the Legislature of
Connecticut a document printed from the first English
type known to have been made in the United States.
This sheet, which is still in the archives of Connecticut,
is printed in a very well-cut long primer (ten-point)
roman of Buel’s own casting. We have no
evidence that Buel ever cast a great deal of type,
but his personality is so interesting, and his character
so typical of the proverbial “Connecticut Yankee”
that it is worth while to recall the story of his life.
9Buel appears to have been born in Connecticut,
not far from 1750, and apparently early learned the
printing trade. With more than his share of youthful
irresponsibility, though he appears not to have
been a really bad man at heart, he proceeded to
counterfeit the State currency of Connecticut. This
was not a difficult operation, as the early colonial
currency was printed from ordinary type with stock
ornaments upon ordinary paper by means of the
ordinary printing press. The first definite record that
we find of him is that he was pardoned in 1766 from
a life sentence for counterfeiting these bills. The
lesson that he got on this occasion seems to have
cured him not only of counterfeiting, but of printing,
as he apparently never again did either, although it
was by no means the last time that he found himself
at odds with the authorities.
He then invented a method of polishing crystals
and precious stones. The amount of this valuable
material in the hands of the good people of Connecticut
was apparently not sufficient to afford him a
livelihood, and we find him next engaged as an undertaker
and a singing master. In this latter connection
he was summoned before the authorities by certain
good people who were greatly scandalized because
while in charge of a church choir he had introduced
the use of a bass viol into the services. This was
deemed little short of blasphemy, but apparently no
technical charge could be sustained against the
culprit.
Buel early interested himself in the cause of the
freedom of the colonies. Meantime he had evidently
been experimenting in type founding, for the petition
of 1769 sets forth that the petitioner has discovered
the art of casting type, but that he lacks the capital
and is, therefore, unable to go into business commercially.
He accordingly petitions the Legislature to
advance to him the necessary funds. The Legislature
voted him a loan of £100 for seven years and promised
him £100 more after he had been carrying on the
10business successfully for one year. As we shall see
in a moment, before the year was out Buel’s interest
transferred itself elsewhere and we hear no more of
his type casting. When the seven years were up
Mrs. Buel paid back the £100. Where and how she
raised it is something of a mystery, as she asserted
when she made the payment that she did not know
where her husband was. He was not permanently
lost, however.
Buel, as we have seen, had interested himself in
the cause of American independence, and in 1770 he
was arrested for participating in the tearing down of
a lead statue of George III which had stood in
New York. With true Yankee thrift Buel tried to
combine his patriotism and his type founding, for a
considerable portion of George III was found in
Buel’s house in the process of being cast into type.
Things were not lively enough in Connecticut to suit
our friend. He went to Boston, where we find him
participating in the Boston Tea Party, serving a
cannon in the Concord fight, and wounded at Bunker
Hill. Later he fell into the hands of the British and
was confined in one of the prison ships of unhallowed
memory which were moored in Wallabout Bay,
Brooklyn. Very likely he was in one of those floating
wooden tombs when his wife declared that she did
not know where he was. How long he remained as
a prisoner of war and what his later military experiences
were we do not know.
We hear of him next, after the war was over, being
appointed to make a map of the coast from Maine
to Florida and then appointed master of the mint for
Connecticut, where he devised and erected the
machinery for striking the copper cents then coined.
One wonders if the master of the mint often thought
of his youthful conviction for counterfeiting the money
of the same community.
Later, when the world was becoming interested in
cotton spinning under the stimulus of Arkwright’s
invention, Buel went to England to learn how to spin
11cotton. He came back, bought some machinery,
and set up in New Haven the second cotton mill in
America, the first being Samuel Slater’s mill in
Pawtucket, Rhode Island. This seems to have been
the last shift in Buel’s varied life. He died in 1825
at the age of about seventy-five. He was an interesting
product of his time and its conditions and as
such his story deserves record, for it must be remembered
that he was not a “sport,” but a “type.”
In 1774 Jacob Bay attempted type founding in
Philadelphia, but he also was apparently only an
experimenter.
In 1775 an experiment was made which, from the
conditions and from the character of the maker, we
should expect to find successful, but which failed
nevertheless. At this time Benjamin Franklin brought
out from France a full set of tools and punches and
undertook, with his son-in-law, Bache, to establish a
type foundry, there being then no type founding done
in this country if we may except what was being
done in Sauer’s establishment. The Franklin-Bache
foundry was well equipped with roman, italic, Greek,
and Hebrew matrices. Bache had received some
instruction from Fournier, the great French type
founder, from whom Franklin had purchased the tools.
They had for their workman a man named Frederick
Geiger. Geiger was what is known as a “redemptioner,”
or a man who in return for his passage money
to America, his board, and a small amount of money
wages agreed to be the bond servant of his creditor
for a certain period. These arrangements were very
common at this time and reflected no discredit upon
the young men who made them. Geiger was a
mathematical instrument maker by profession, but
became with study and practice a very expert matrix
cutter and founder. Franklin had brought him out
and he served his time with Franklin, but appears to
have left him as soon as his time was out and to have
gone to the Philadelphia mint. Like many another
12skilled mechanic, however, he became interested in
the search for a perpetual motion machine and finally
died an insane pauper.
For some reason, the Franklin foundry was not
successful. It has been conjectured that one reason
may have been that Franklin was very much influenced
by French models in his designs, and that the printers
and the reading public were so accustomed to English
type faces that they did not take kindly to the new
forms. Curiously enough American printers have
never taken kindly to French type faces although
many of them, from Garamond down, are very beautiful.
Some of the French types designed, not far from
1875, seem to have become Americanized and are
among the most legible and beautiful in use, but
the American printers have never been very willing
to use them. Whatever the reason, the Franklin
foundry was added to the list of unsuccessful attempts
at type founding.
One more attempt was to be made before type
founding was permanently established in America.
This time the attempt was successful, but not permanent.
In 1783 John Bain (or Baine) sent his grandson
to Philadelphia with an outfit of type founder’s tools.
Bain had been associated with one of the famous type
founders of the time, Alexander Wilson, of Glasgow.
Wilson not only had a market in Scotland and
England, but also in Ireland and in North America.
Bain had been chosen by lot to start a foundry in
Dublin, but after remaining there a time he went to
Edinburgh, whence he turned his attention to the
other side of the Atlantic. Encouraged by the
reports from his grandson, Mr. Bain soon went,
himself, to Philadelphia. He was further encouraged
by the firm of Young & McCullough, then a leading
house of Philadelphia printers. In 1785 he opened
business under the quaint title of John Bain & Grandson
in Company. Their work was good and the
firm was immediately successful, theirs being the first
13commercially successful attempt to cast type in
America. Bain, however, died in 1790, and the
business was soon given up by his family.
About the same time that Bain began business
Adam Gerard Mappa made an unsuccessful attempt
to start a foundry in New York. Mappa was born in
Belgium in 1750. He spent his early life in the army,
from which he retired after twelve years of service
with the rank of lieutenant. He then purchased a
part interest in the old firm of Voskens & Clerk. This
firm was established some time before 1677, and had
long been one of the principal sources of supply of
type for England. As pointed out elsewhere in this
series (No. 52, A Short History of Printing in England)
many of the types used in England for a long period
came from continental foundries, particularly Dutch.
Shortly after the purchase the Government underwent
important changes, in consequence of which Mappa
left the country. He landed in New York somewhere
about 1787, bringing with him his complete outfit
of tools and matrices. He had a number of very
handsome Dutch and German faces, some ordinary
roman type, and seven varieties of Orientals. For
these last Voskens & Clerk undoubtedly had found
considerable use, but America was as yet far from
needing any considerable supply of Oriental types.
Mappa’s capital had apparently been absorbed in his
purchase and lost in emigration. In 1798 he was very
ready to take himself and his equipment into the
service of Binney & Ronaldson. Probably Mappa
had no practical knowledge of type founding and very
little interest in it, for he left the service of Binney &
Ronaldson in 1800 to go into that of the great Holland
Land Company. He seems there to have found his
place and served in important positions until the end
of his life.
CHAPTER II The Establishment of Type Founding
14
So far our story has been one of failure. There
is, however, plenty of evidence that the time
was ripe for success. The new country was growing
rapidly. The Americans, then as now, were insatiable
readers, especially of newspapers. The demand
for type was constantly increasing. America was
becoming more and more independent, more and
more desirous of supplying her own wants, and more
and more impatient of the inconvenience, expense,
and delay involved in ordering such merchandise as
type from England. If the persistency and courage
of the elder Bain had been shared by his family
unquestionably fortune would have been easily
within their grasp, but they paid the penalty of their
lack of good business qualities.
We come now to the story of the first permanently
successful type foundry in America, a foundry which
continued in vigorous existence until the erection of
the Jersey City foundry of the American Type
Founders Company, with which it was merged.
There met one day in an ale house in Philadelphia
two men whose lives were thenceforth to run together.
I suspect that they were drawn together in the first
place by the fact that they were both Scotchmen,
and that in their first contact they showed each other
the qualities which bound them together. They
were Archibald Binney and James Ronaldson.
Binney had learned and practiced the trade of type
founding in Edinburgh, Scotland. Ronaldson was a
biscuit-maker, out of business because of the burning
of his establishment, but with some ready money in
hand. It seemed to Binney that here was a heaven-sent
15opportunity to combine his knowledge with
Ronaldson’s capital and enter under the most favorable
circumstances the business of type founding.
At this date there was no active foundry in America.
The successful Bain concern had been closed out.
The Sauer business, if active at all at this time, was
only an adjunct to a printing office, while Mappa was
finding it impossible to get started. They accordingly
agreed to enter the business as equal partners,
Binney putting in his tools, which were appraised at
$888.88, while Ronaldson put in the same amount
in cash.
With this they started business, the first entry in
their account book being November 1, 1796. We
learn that they rented a frame house on “Cedar
Street atwixt ninth and tenth streets” at $17.33 a
month. In 1800 the frame house was valued at
$40.00 and cost $82.09½ “to shove it to its present
location.” It must be remembered that at this time
a half-cent coin was in circulation and that accounts
were kept down to a quarter of a cent. At the time
of the moving of the house the firm bought the
property and built a new house on the same lot.
The new house cost $2,500 and they paid $72 a year
ground rent, apparently for additional land not
included in the purchase. Entries in their first
account book show that one or both members of the
firm lived in the house. They started with a small
assortment of type, but of the most important faces.
These faces appear to have included brevier (eight-point),
bourgeois (nine-point), long primer (ten-point),
small pica (eleven-point), pica (twelve-point),
and some two-line letters. They probably employed
as matrix cutter one Fürst, a die maker in the Philadelphia
mint, who afterward cut a medal bearing
Binney’s face on the obverse and an appropriate
design on the reverse.
At an early period, as we have seen, they took
over Mappa and his outfit, and in 1799 they bought
the tools of the Bain concern, paying $300 for them.
16In 1806 the excellent Franklin outfit was in the
hands of a man by the name of Duane. Duane
became interested in Binney & Ronaldson and offered
to lend them any of the Franklin tools and matrices
which they desired to use. Ronaldson was so
impressed with the superiority of a part at least of
the Franklin equipment that, fearing that Duane
might change his mind and not being willing to take
any chances, he himself borrowed a wheelbarrow and
moved the material over to Cedar Street in the
middle of a very hot summer day.
Binney & Ronaldson were enterprising, thrifty, and
obliging. They did good work, took good care of
their customers, and were immediately and permanently
successful. They prospered greatly from the
beginning and both of them made fortunes, as
fortunes went in those days, within twenty years.
A study of their account books is extremely
interesting. Among other things they give the names
of 114 customers who found their way onto their
books in the first five years of the business. It would
hardly be worth while here to give the names of these
customers, but it is interesting to see where they
were. They were located as follows:
Philadelphia
49
Pennsylvania (outside of Philadelphia)
6
New York City
22
Albany, New York
1
Delaware
4
Virginia
7
New Jersey
2
Maryland
4
District of Columbia (Washington and Georgetown)
2
Connecticut
1
Massachusetts (Concord)
1
Georgia
1
Augusta (state not given; probably Georgia)
1
Tennessee (Knoxville)
1
Location not given
12
In 1811 Binney invented an improved type mold
which increased the output of the caster fifty per cent
17and saved labor. He experimented with a machine
for rubbing type, but in this was not successful.
In 1812 Binney & Ronaldson published a specimen
book which is interesting as showing the development
of their business. This book shows eleven faces
larger than pica, fifteen kinds of body type, the
smallest being pearl (5 point), two sizes of Anglo-Saxon,
four sizes of Greek, four sizes of Hebrew,
two sizes of German text, six sizes of black letter,
three sizes of German, four sizes of Oriental letter, one
size of script and 120 kinds of “flowers” or borders,
the greatest number of these being on English
(14-point) body. It is not unlikely that some if not
all of the foreign letters may have come from the
Franklin and Mappa stocks. We know that Franklin
had Greek and Hebrew and that Mappa had German.
Mappa’s Orientals did not appear. Probably even
if Binney & Ronaldson still had the matrices it would
not have been worth while to include them in their
specimen book. The preface says that they were
obliged, contrary to their inclinations, to imitate
European taste. Evidently America had not yet
become independent except politically. They gave
two examples of erroneously formed faces in long
primer and small pica, which were really condensed
faces as we should now call them. They appear to
have invented the dollar mark $ in 1797 and the
abbreviation l̶b̶ for weight pounds in 1798.
In 1819 Mr. Binney retired with an ample competence.
Mr. Ronaldson ran the business alone for a
while, but in 1823 he was succeeded by his brother
Richard, who conducted the business for ten years.
In 1833 the business was taken over by Lawrence
Johnson and George E. Smith. Johnson was able,
enterprising, and energetic, and introduced new vigor
into the conduct of the concern. Contemporaneously
with Jedediah Howe he introduced stereotyping into
Philadelphia. Smith retired in 1845 and Johnson
took in as partners Thomas MacKellar, John F. Smith,
and Richard Smith, young men who had grown up
18in the business and were thoroughly interested in it
and devoted to it. The firm continued to prosper
greatly. Johnson died in 1860, but his partners took
in Peter A. Jordan, changing the firm name to
MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan. By this time the house
had acquired a great reputation and a leading position
among American type founders. Mr. Johnson died
in 1884 and the next year the firm was still further
increased by the addition of William B. MacKellar,
G. Frederick Jordan and Carl F. Huch. The firm
name was again changed to The MacKellar, Smiths
& Jordan Company. During all this time, however,
the house was known among printers as the Johnson
Type Foundry. For many years it had acquired
great distinction for its diligence in electrotyping
foreign designs as well as in originating new faces
for ornamental types and borders. The fashion of
the time for typographical decoration was largely
developed by the publication of a house organ called
the “Typographic Advertiser,” a quarterly journal,
edited by Thomas MacKellar, which contained a
fund of matter of interest to printers and a vast
quantity of fanciful borders and other material now
out of fashion.
In 1892, when the American Type Founders Company
was organized by the consolidation of some
twenty foundries, the MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan
Company entered the combination and became the
Philadelphia branch.
Now that we have told the story of this great
house in detail, we may go back to consider some
more of the early firms. The success of Binney &
Ronaldson was due to a combination of personal
qualities and favorable conditions. The increase of
printed matter was very great. Americans have
always been a newspaper-loving people, and after the
independence of the colonies the founding of new
newspapers went on apace. It must not be forgotten
that all printing in the early days of the last century
was done with foundry type, hand set. The demand
19for type, therefore, was not only large, but was increasing.
Up to the outbreak of the war of 1812 the few
type foundries in America were regularly from three
to four months behind their orders, so greatly did
demand outrun production.
Under such circumstances Binney & Ronaldson
could not have the field to themselves. In 1805 we
find Samuel Sower & Company at work at Baltimore.
Sower belonged to the family of Christopher Sauer,
and used the material of the old firm with additions.
He made some fonts of roman and italic and appears
to have made a specialty of small type faces such as
diamond (4½-point), brilliant (4-point), and excelsior
(3-point).
In 1809 the second permanently successful foundry
was started by Elihu White and a man by the name
of Wing in Hartford, Connecticut. Here again we
have a sample of characteristic Yankee courage,
resource, and ingenuity, qualities which have enabled
Americans at all times to accomplish the apparently
impossible. Neither White nor Wing knew the business
of type founding. They had certain ideas of
their own and for the rest they apparently worked
backward from the finished type. Their attempt was
to cast several letters at once, to be afterwards
separated, instead of casting the letters singly as
was the general practice. Probably partly for that
reason and partly because of ignorance, perhaps also
because of their confidence in their ability to improve
on accepted methods, they did not use the approved
moulds. The attempt to cast letters by wholesale,
as it were, was not successful and their entire progress
was slow and unsatisfactory. After many failures,
they sent a man to Philadelphia in order that he might
learn the trade secrets. In those days type founding,
like many other trades, was to a great extent a secret
trade and one of the chief duties of the workman
was to keep his employer’s secrets. Their attempt to
steal the trade failed and they were thrown back
upon their own resources again. Finally, however,
20their efforts were crowned with success and they
began to turn out commercially successful type. In
1810 White separated from Wing and went to New
York, where he and his brother Julius established a
business under the firm name of E. & J. White.
From this time on they were steadily and brilliantly
successful.
In 1820 they opened branches in Buffalo and in
Cincinnati to meet the requirements of an expanding
trade. The business remained in the family until
1854, when it was bought out by three employees
who continued it under the later well-known firm
name of Farmer, Little & Co.
Another famous name in the annals of American
type founding appears at about the same time as
that of White. This was the name of Bruce. David
Bruce was born in 1750, in Wick, Caithness, Scotland.
When a mere boy Bruce was impressed into the
British navy after the bad old custom of that day
and served for a while in the Channel Fleet under the
command of Lord Howe, afterwards well known,
together with his brother General Howe, for their
part in the Revolutionary War. After he left the
navy Bruce was apprenticed to a printer. He came to
New York in 1793 and obtained work on a newspaper.
Shortly afterward he sent for his brother George and
apprenticed him to a printer.
In 1806, after George had become a journeyman
printer, the brothers were offered by publishers the
printing of Lavoisier’s Chemistry. The fact that they
had no plant, no equipment, and no money did not
deter them from accepting the offer. Bruce managed
somehow to secure a place and a press, and he
borrowed a font of type. He introduced the standing
press for dry pressing his sheets, and he turned out
so good a piece of work that the publishers offered him
all the printing that he could do. From this start
he set up a successful business.
In 1811 Bruce, with his usual business acumen,
recognized the importance of stereotyping and went
21to England to study it. As we have seen, however,
it was not easy to learn other people’s trades in those
days and Bruce met with great difficulty. He did,
however, succeed in learning something from a Scotch
workman, perhaps helped by a certain sense of
kinship, which is common among the Scotch, and
returned home to make experiments for himself.
Times were not favorable for keeping business running,
to say nothing of starting new business. The conditions
preceding the war of 1812 were disastrous for
business in the United States. American commerce
was crushed between the upper and nether millstones
of England and France, who had been at war for
many years and were attempting to fight each other’s
commerce and industries as well as each other’s
soldiers. The condition was very similar to that
which preceded the entrance of the United States
into the great war of 1917, excepting that it continued
much longer and, owing to the comparative weakness
of the United States, was much more serious than the
later difficulty. The war did not mend things
industrially and its close in 1815 left the United States
in a bad business condition for a good many years.
Nevertheless, the courage and persistency of the
Bruces enabled them to weather the storm, and they
not only held their own but developed along new
lines.
In 1814 and 1815 Bruce produced the first two sets
of stereotype plates made in America. They were a
common school testament in bourgeois type and a
12mo Bible in nonpareil. Bruce invented a machine
for planing the backs of the plates to make them of
uniform height. This was a great improvement and
was so successful that it is said that of the entire
two sets of plates only a single plate needed a slight
overlay.
The development of the stereotyping process, however,
brought to light difficulties with type. Foundry
type was sold with the shoulder beveled off for ordinary
printing and this was not favorable for stereotyping.
22The type founders would not make the high spaces
and quads which were needed. As the best way of
meeting these difficulties, Bruce, in 1815, went into
company with the Starr brothers for the manufacture
of type. It soon appeared that type founding and
stereotyping promised to be more profitable than
printing and Bruce sold out his printing establishment
to devote himself to the other branches. Bruce and
the Starrs were unable to agree and the partnership
was soon dissolved, Bruce deciding to carry on the
business alone in spite of the difficulties of every
sort which surrounded it. In addition to the business
conditions of the time, neither of the Bruces had any
practical knowledge of type founding and the matrices
of their only complete font were stolen, presumably
by someone who was interested to secure their failure.
It needed more than that, however, to discourage
this persistent Scotchman. George Bruce set himself
at work to learn punch cutting and mould making.
His first efforts were crude, but he had an artistic
temperament, a critical spirit, and a practical knowledge
of printers’ needs. By these qualities and his
own persistence he soon became very proficient.
By 1820 the Bruce foundry was the best in the
country, doing better work than even Binney &
Ronaldson at that time. In 1822 Bruce undertook
to remedy the confusion in sizes which was then
and for a good many years a source of difficulty,
annoyance and expense to printers. He devised a
scientifically correct system by which the size doubled
with every seven sizes of the system. This was
uniform throughout, so that wherever you touched
the system, you found any given type twice as large
as the seventh below and half as large as the seventh
above. In spite of the fact of the simplicity and
scientific correctness of the system it did not prove
suited to commercial work and was not adopted.
In 1828 William M. Johnson had invented a type-casting
machine in which a pump forced the liquid
metal into the mould, giving the type a sharper face
23than was possible with hand casting. The machine
was a step in the right direction, but was crude and
imperfect. White took it up and tried to improve it,
but he did not succeed in removing its fundamental
defects. The types were not cast solid. Being
hollow they were light and too weak to withstand the
pressure of the presses. The first successful type-casting
machine was made by David Bruce, Jr., in
1838, in development of the Johnson idea. George
Bruce bought David Bruce’s patents and used the
machine until 1845, when David Bruce made further
improvements and produced the type of machine
which is now in general use not only in this country
but in Europe, where the method was soon adopted.
James Conner, a printer of New York, began business
as a stereotyper in that city in the year 1827.
His was the first stereotype edition of the New
Testament. He also earned a good reputation as
the publisher in the United States of the Bible in
folio form. To the business of stereotyping he soon
after added that of type founding, in which he was
remarkably successful. With the aid of Edwin Starr,
then in his employ, he made the electrotype matrices
which enabled him largely to increase the stock of
his foundry. After the death of James Conner, in
1861, the foundry was managed by his sons and
grandsons, who finally merged the business in that
of the American Type Founders Company.
Meantime the business of type founding spread
from its original centers and new fields were occupied.
By 1818 the Boston Type Foundry had been founded
by Beddington & Ewer, and undertook to cast types,
set types, and make stereotype plates. Samuel N.
Dickinson was taught the trade of a printer in the
State of New York, but afterward was employed as a
compositor in the Boston Type and Stereotype
Foundry. In 1829 he began business as a master
printer and in 1839 he began type founding after
having designed for an Edinburgh foundry a series
of Scotch-cut letters. The success of this face determined
24him to cast type for himself. In 1845 he had
a full assortment of types and issued a specimen
book. Dickinson was not a strong man, however,
and died of consumption in 1848, at the age of forty-seven.
The business was continued by Sewall Phelps
and Michael Dalton. Both the Boston Type Foundry
and the Dickinson Type Foundry had unusually
successful careers and were later absorbed in the
American Type Founders Company.
Type foundries were started in Albany, Buffalo,
Pittsburgh, Louisville, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Philadelphia,
Baltimore, and in New York, where there
were at least seven foundries. This led to over-production,
competition, and the failure of many
weak concerns, a condition of things which was not
entirely remedied until the organization of the
American Type Founders Company in 1892.
In 1840 Augustus Ladew and George Charles
opened at St. Louis the first foundry west of Cincinnati.
This firm continued in successful operation
until it was merged into the American Type Founders
Company at its organization.
In 1806 Robert Lothian, of Scotland, tried and
failed to establish a type foundry in New York. His
son George B. Lothian, who had been taught the
trade of stereotyping in the stereotype foundries of
John Watts, of New York, and B. & J. Collins, of
Philadelphia, had also received instruction from his
father and from Elihu White in type founding,
undertook to establish a type foundry in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. It was an unsuccessful enterprise and
Lothian returned to New York. In 1822 he undertook
to make type for the old firm of Harper &
Brothers. The face of Greek, which he cut for the
Anthon Classical Series, was very much admired.
He died in 1851, but the foundry continued in business
under other hands until 1875.
The next year Louis Pelouze, the founder of a distinguished
family of type founders, started a business
in Philadelphia. This was another of the successes
25from both a commercial and artistic point of view,
and was another of the constituents of the American
Type Founders Company.
The Boston Type Foundry, which started as a
stereotyping plant, passed through an experience as
a co-operative concern under the direction of the
employees who owned the stock. As is usually the
case with such enterprises, it was unsuccessful until
finally the majority of the stock got into the possession
of Gorham Rogers, from which time it was operated
as in the ordinary way and attained a high degree of
success, doing very fine work. Mr. Conner, foreman
in this foundry, who had started as a stereotyper in
1827, was sent to St. Louis to open a branch establishment
which was very successful and later became
famous as the Central Type Foundry. Conner
invented an electrotype matrix to take the place of
the matrices which had formerly been made by driving
a steel punch into copper.
The Dickinson Type Foundry also did work of a
very high grade. Perhaps the most fortunate thing
that ever happened to it was the entrance into its
service in 1868 of Mr. Joseph W. Phinney. Mr.
Phinney was born in 1848, and after a varied experience
as a printer in several places, went to Boston
in 1868, later entering the employ of the old Dickinson
Type Foundry, in the selling department. He
soon distinguished himself in the service of the
Dickinson Company and after a time became one of
its partners. His skill, artistic taste, and ability soon
made him one of the leaders in type design as well
as one of the great figures in the type founding
business. For many years Mr. Phinney has exercised
an influence for good in type founding which
it would be difficult to overestimate. On the establishment
of the American Type Founders Company
in 1892 the Dickinson concern became one of the
constituent firms and Mr. Phinney’s leadership was
recognized by his election to the position of Vice-President
of the new concern. Mr. Phinney has
26remained in Boston as the head of the New England
branch of the business and is one of the active and
leading officers of the great type founding company.
Certain improvements in the manufacture of type
which have brought it to its present perfection remain
to be recorded. The most important of these were
made by Barth, Marder, Benton, and Nicholas J.
Werner. Henry Barth was born in Leipsic, Germany,
in 1823, and learned the trade of mathematical instrument
maker. Before 1840 the Bruce type caster was
seen in Germany and (not being protected by German
patents) was imitated by German type founders.
Barth was engaged by Brockhaus, one of the more
important German printers, who maintained his own
bindery and type foundry and now added a machine
shop primarily for the purpose of building Bruce
machines. Barth spent several years in the employ
of Brockhaus making type foundry tools and had
two years’ service in the German navy. He came to
America in 1849 and at first practiced his trade as a
maker of mathematical instruments, but before long
connected himself with the Cincinnati Type Foundry.
Here he invented a machine to cast type by direct
steam pressure without the pump. The machine was
successful, but for various reasons did not come into
general use. He then built a 14 × 18 job press, long
well known as the Wells jobber. During his service
with the Cincinnati Type Foundry the hand-casting
machines were entirely replaced by steam machines,
and in 1853 he invented the kerning machine. About
the same time the first shaved leads were made
under Barth’s direction. At first the shaving was
done on a hand machine, but later he devised a steam
shaving machine. During the course of a long
service to the industry Barth was the author of many
important inventions and improvements in the details
of type founding. He died in 1907.
To John Marder we owe the development of the
American point system of type bodies. The Marder
27system was not immediately adopted, but as developed
by later inventions its superiority was so great that
in spite of the trouble and expense involved in the
standardization of type it finally became universal.
L. B. Benton introduced the use of accurate unit
width of type. Previously the width of the letters had
varied with each character. This resulted in a multiplicity
of widths of type. Benton’s theory was that
quicker typesetting and more uniform spacing could
be obtained by having the types standardized on a
minimum number of widths and securing the proper
space between characters by modifying the shapes of
certain letters to conform to these widths. Benton’s
type was popularly called “self-spacing” although
the name was misapplied. Another disadvantage then
existing was that similar style type faces from different
foundries did not line, and even the height-to-paper
of types varied. Type sizes which were supposedly
the same, in reality varied considerably in different
foundries. The confusion and difficulty for the printer
arising out of this lack of standards may easily be
imagined. Each foundry had its own width and
size of type, and in many cases its size varied by a
considerable fraction of a point from that of other
foundries. Very probably this condition was deliberately
maintained by some foundries for the purpose of
holding the entire trade of their customers, the idea
being that if the types coming from different foundries
did not go together well the customer would naturally
be led to buy all of his type in the same place. The
improvement of these conditions was brought about
by the introduction of the point system of bodies,
Benton’s unit width, and the perfection of the lining
and unit set systems now in use.
Some important foundries held out against these
improvements for years, but the demands of their
customers, who perceived the great advantages of the
standardized type, finally compelled adhesion to the
new system. One important result of these changes
was the invention of the punch-cutting or engraving
28machine. The adoption of the improved system
required the production of a vast number of new
punches which had formerly been cut by hand. It
was impossible to find enough skilled workmen to meet
this demand and the engraving machine now used for
making punches was accordingly devised by Benton.
The field for the artistic development of type is
inexhaustible, but it is difficult to imagine how type,
as a mechanical product, can be improved beyond its
present condition. The completeness and perfection
of the system, the excellence of the machinery, and
the skill in processes which have been developed make
the product apparently perfect.
CHAPTER III Composing and Type-Casting Machines
29
With the great expansion of printing in the
early part of the nineteenth century, and with
the invention of greatly improved presses, there
appeared a natural impatience with the slow process
of hand composition. It seemed a strange comment
on human inventiveness that while new machines
had been found for doing so many kinds of man’s
work, while the simple screw press of Gutenberg
had developed into the steam-driven platen and
cylinder, and while so many improvements had been
made in the manufacture of type, the setting of type
was exactly where it was in 1450. More than 350
years had introduced practically no changes in the
primary process of arranging type into words and
sentences. What could be done to apply human
ingenuity to this process?
This question was asked by inventors all over the
world. Naturally the first line of approach to the
answer was from the direction of a machine which
should mechanically take up the types and place them
in the stick, in other words, a mechanical composer
or typesetting machine. Unsuccessful attempts in
this line were made as early as 1820 or 1822. The
experimenters were not deterred by failures and commercially
successful typesetting machines were finally
invented, among which may be named the Rogers,
the Thorne, and the Simplex. The mechanical typesetter
was successful for certain kinds of work and
went a long way toward meeting the general need.
It would probably have been developed to the
point of meeting it far more fully had it not been for
30the epoch-making invention of the type caster. The
first successful type composing and casting machine
to be put on the market was invented by Ottmar
Mergenthaler. Mr. Mergenthaler was born in Germany
in 1854, and there learned the trade of an
electrical instrument maker. In 1872, when he was
eighteen years old, he came in sight of the period
when the law would call him into military service.
The war of 1870 with France was a very fresh memory.
The political stability of Europe seemed then much
less assured than it did at a later date. Young
Mergenthaler had no desire to expose himself to the
danger of being called upon to participate in another
great war. Therefore, like many other young
Europeans, he came to America to avoid military
service.
Arrived in this country, he worked for some time
at his trade. The turning point in his career came
in 1876 when he was engaged as an expert mechanic
to work on the development of a typewriter transfer
machine in which a group of people were interested.
His work on this machine, although long continued,
was not successful, but his study and experimentation
led him to conceive the idea of a type-casting machine
which should be controlled from a keyboard similar
to that of a typewriter, but larger on account of the
greater number of characters necessary. The first
model was produced in 1884. The machine was far
from perfect, but was sufficiently developed to make
it clear that he was on the track of a revolutionary
invention. Two years later, in 1886, Mergenthaler
produced his first successful machine. This was put
into the composing room of the New York Tribune.
Whitelaw Reid, the distinguished editor of the
Tribune, afterward American ambassador to Great
Britain, and other wealthy gentlemen became interested
in Mergenthaler’s work and formed a syndicate,
making a contract with the inventor whereby he was
hired to work for them with a share in the profits of
the business. The machine was named by Mr. Reid
31himself the linotype because it cast a “line o’ type.”
The great success of the machine and the enormous
growth of the business of manufacturing it are too
familiar to need description, while the consequences
of the invention in making possible an enormous
increase in the output of printed matter can hardly
be estimated.[1]
1. See Text Book No. 23, “Type-Casting and Composing Machines.”
Mr. Mergenthaler severed his active connection
with the syndicate in 1888, although he continued
interested in it and made from time to time such
minor improvements in the machine as suggested
themselves to him. He died in 1899 at the early
age of forty-five.
While Mergenthaler was at work Tolbert Lanston
was experimenting along the lines of a different
machine. His aim was not the production of a
machine which should cast type, by lines, but of a
machine which should cast type and spaces separately
and at the same time arrange them in galleys ready
for taking proof. Obviously, the line slug is of use
only for the special purpose for which it was cast,
while the separate types cast by the monotype can
be distributed just as if they were foundry types and
can also be used for hand composition. The type thus
produced is not quite as perfect as foundry type, but
is substantially as useful for many purposes.
Each machine has some advantages of its own and
their use is dictated by the result which it is desired
to produce. The Lanston machine appeared in 1892.
These two machines are representative of the types
of type-casting machines in the market. Other
successful machines of the same general types have
been invented and are in extensive use.
CHAPTER IV Electrotyping
32
Electrotyping is an American invention.
As long ago as 1830 the laboratory discovery was
made that when copper was deposited upon the side
of a voltaic battery and then removed, it furnished
a reproduction of the surface upon which it had
been deposited. In the development of this discovery
very interesting experiments in reproduction were
performed by Thomas Spencer of Liverpool, J. C.
Jordan of London, and Prof. Jacobi, a Russian.
These experiments were purely scientific, with no
commercial end in view. In 1839 Joseph A. Adams,
a wood engraver connected with Harper & Brothers,
the New York publishers, conceived the idea of
applying this principle to the printing industry and
made an electrotype from a wood cut which was
used for a magazine illustration in 1841. He also
made the illustrations for Harper’s great family Bible,
which was published in 1842–1844. Adams’s method
was to take an impression of his block in an alloy of
soft metal, probably largely bismuth. The process,
however, destroyed the block, and although experimentally
successful it was not commercially practicable.
The invention of Smee’s battery and the use
of wax for the moulds made the process commercially
sound and practical.
In 1848 John W. Wilcox, of Boston, using these
methods, began business as the first commercial
electrotyper and was successful from the beginning.
His first work contained all the essentials known for
many years. Improvements soon followed. In 1855
John Gay, of New York, introduced the use of tin
33foil for soldering the back of copper shells and the
same year Adams invented a dry brush black-leading
machine to take the place of the hand method which
had hitherto been necessary. In 1856 Filmer, of
Boston, invented the process of backing up the shells
by holding the shell down with springs.
In 1868 Stephen D. Tucker invented the type of
dry brush black-leading machine which is now in use
and ten years later Edward A. Blake, of Chicago,
invented the air blast black-leading machine.
As early as 1871 Silas P. Knight, of Harper &
Brothers, invented the wet black-leading process. It
was successful, but, as sometimes happens, attracted
no particular attention. Its merits in comparison
with other methods do not appear to have been
appreciated and the discovery was forgotten for more
than a quarter of a century. In 1908 Frank H.
Learman, of Buffalo, invented a wet black-leading
machine which was adopted by the industry and
improved by later patents. The wet process is now
considered the best. Perhaps the greatest single step
forward in the development of the electrotype was
the substitution of the dynamo for Smee’s battery,
a change accomplished by Leslie, of New York, in
1872.
R. Hoe & Company, of New York, were greatly
interested in electrotyping machinery and were
leaders in encouraging its development and in putting
it on the market.
CHAPTER V The Development of Printing Presses
34
The development of printing machinery has
already been described to a considerable extent
in two of the preceding volumes of this series (No. 6,
Platen Printing Presses, and No. 7, Cylinder Printing
Machines). It may be worth while, however, to
review briefly in this place the main points of progress
in this direction. As we already know, American
printers originally and for many years imported all
their presses as well as their type. This condition,
however, could not be permanent. As early as 1775
good presses were being made at Philadelphia and
Hartford. These presses were of the Blaeu or
“Dutch” type. They were wooden machines with
stone beds and had undergone practically no change
for a couple of centuries. The best known builder
of these old presses in America was Adam Ramage,
who came from Scotland to Philadelphia in 1790.
Ramage was not only a good workman, but of an
inventive turn of mind, and introduced several
improvements, notably the substitution of an iron
bed for the stone one. The iron press was invented
by Lord Stanhope, in England, about the year 1800
and was the beginning of the improvements in printing
machinery which were to go so far in the course
of a century.
Mr. Henry L. Bullen is authority for the statement
that no Stanhope press was ever brought to America.
The reason lies probably in the fact that an American
invented an iron press at about the same time. This
was George Clymer, of Philadelphia, who after much
experimenting produced the Columbian Press, an
35iron machine which came into general use in England
as well as in the United States about 1816. It was a
complicated machine, but in spite of its complexity
was very durable and beautiful as well as powerful.
It was worked on the ordinary hand-lever principle,
but the leverage system gave a fine chance for the
pressman’s skill. It had wonderful possibilities in
the production of the most perfect work when in the
hands of a skillful workman. It won and long kept
well-deserved favor. It was introduced into England
in 1807, and in 1817 Clymer himself followed it to
England, where he spent the remainder of his life.
In spite of the capacity of the Columbian press for
the production of artistically perfect work there was
a great and increasing demand for presses of a different
type. The demand was for a simpler press and also
for one that would mechanically turn out larger
quantities of work than were possible under the old
leverage system. The first demand was met by the
invention of Peter Smith, of New York, who built a
press somewhat on the lines of the Columbian, which
was very heavy, carried larger forms, and used shorter
levers, and by Samuel Reid, who, in 1824, invented
the simple but excellent Washington hand press,
which is still in common use.
From this point on there are two lines of development
which may be followed separately, one the
development of the power printing press in which
the bed and platen are brought together by a power-driven
gear rather than by a hand-moved lever, the
other the development of the cylinder press.
The first known attempt to apply power to a printing
press was made by William Nicholson, of London,
in 1790, in connection with his abortive attempt at
the invention of a cylinder press, to which reference
will be made later.
The first American attempt to use power was made
by Nathan Hale, father of the famous Edward
Everett Hale, who took possession of the Boston
Advertiser in 1814.
36Daniel Treadwell, of Boston, invented and built
for Hale the first power press used in America. It
was a very large platen with a wooden frame. The
presses of Isaac Adams (1830) and Otis Tufts (1834)
also had originally wooden frames, but later were
built with iron frames. Very few Treadwell presses
were ever used. At first they were driven by horsepower,
later by steam. The early power presses
were worked by horses, by men known as crank-men,
and even in the case of small machines by dogs.
These crude power appliances soon gave way to
steam, and within a few years steam has been largely
supplanted by the electric drive, with a tendency to
a preponderance of individual motor-driven machines.
The electric drive, by the way, is an American
invention.
In 1830 Samuel Adams, of Boston, built a platen
power press, which was long the only power press
capable of fine work and exact register. Not long
later S. P. Ruggles, of Boston, invented the Diamond,
a small, rapid machine for the quick production of
cards, envelopes, and other small work, and later,
in 1839, the Ruggles rotary, a successful and popular
power jobber. In 1856 George P. Gordon began the
line of Gordon presses, still made in improved models
by the Chandler & Price Company, of Cleveland, and
very extensively used. The advantages of the Gordon
were simplicity of design, a strong impression, high
speed, and lightness of running.
In 1869 Merritt Gally invented the Universal press,
using a different mechanical system and producing
a perfectly parallel impression. Gally’s invention
was later improved by John Thomson, who produced
a machine which has been extensively used and is well
known as the John Thomson press. In 1875 Gally
also invented a heavy press for embossing, cutting,
and creasing heavy stock. In 1885 the Colt’s
Armory universal press, a very excellent machine
especially adapted to heavy work, was placed on the
market.
37In 1885 Wellington P. Kidder invented a platen
press of the Gordon type, with automatic feed and
delivery.
In 1890 Albert Harris invented the Harris press, the
first really successful high-speed automatic jobber.
Two other familiar high-speed presses, the Auto Press
and the Kelly, are small high-speed cylinders.
The first known attempt to make a cylinder press
was that of William Nicholson, of London, who
invented, in 1789, a machine that should apply the
paper to the type by means of a cylinder. As we
have seen, Nicholson went so far as to invent application
of power to his machine, forseeing that power
would be necessary for the use of any successful
cylinder presses. Nicholson was not a printer, and
his idea, although it had attracted attention, did not
assume practical shape.
Ten years, or so, later Dr. Kinsley, a Connecticut
man, developed Nicholson’s idea and produced a
cylinder press, which is described at considerable
length by Isaiah Thomas in his History of Printing.
Thomas seems to have been a good deal interested
in the machine, although he appears to have regarded
it as promising rather than successful. He says that
it saved labor and did good work. He was sufficiently
interested to print a picture of it although his book
is not otherwise illustrated. In a general way it was
not unlike a modern cylinder proof press. It printed
on one side only and was not so arranged as to secure
perfect register if an impression was desired on the
other side.
Several other attempts were made at the invention
of cylinder presses, which attracted considerable
attention, but which were not commercially successful.
The first real success was made by Fredrick
König, a native of Saxony, who, in 1814, invented a
cylinder press which was immediately put into use
in the press room of the London Times. König’s
invention, like most first inventions in a new field,
was susceptible of improvement, especially in the
38direction of simplicity. These improvements, however,
were soon made, and the cylinder press started
on its career of wonderful development. The first
cylinder press used in America was a Napier brought
out from England in 1825, and set up in the office
of the National Intelligencer in Washington.
The development of the cylinder press in America
is largely connected with the name of Hoe. Robert
Hoe, a Leicestershire farmer’s son, was born in 1784,
and in due time was apprenticed to a carpenter.
In 1803 he came to New York, where he worked at
his trade. After a time he became associated in
business with his brother-in-law, Matthew Smith, Jr.
Smith was a carpenter and a printer’s joiner (that is
to say, a maker of press frames and other wood work
used by printers) and a brother of Peter Smith, the
press inventor, who has already been mentioned.
Through this association the firm got into the business
of building presses, first of wood and later of iron.
Both the Smiths died in 1823 and Hoe inherited
the business, which he carried on in the name of
Robert Hoe & Company. Hoe was always enterprising
and his attention was quickly drawn to the
Napier press, which had been set up in Washington
in 1825. As usual, this machine was not patented
in this country and Hoe proceeded to imitate it, with
such changes as occurred to him, and put on the
market, in 1827 and 1828, the first flat bed and cylinder
press made in the United States.
Robert Hoe retired on account of failing health in
1832, but he left the business in the capable hands of
Richard M. Hoe and Matthew Smith, the son of
Matthew, Jr., Robert Hoe’s original partner. The
concern went on building and improving presses and
in 1842 they patented a new bed-driving motion of
which the well-known Meihle press of today is a
development.
In 1845 Hoe & Company brought out the Hoe
type-revolving machine. This was the first press
distinctively for large newspaper circulations, which
39they afterward developed to so wonderful a degree,
and which henceforth was their leading line of production.
In this machine the type forms were
imposed on turtles and fastened on a central cylinder,
against which revolved as many impression cylinders,
from two to ten, as were required. This machine
put American printing machinery in the first rank.
In 1858 the Hoe firm bought out the Isaac Adams
patents and business.
About this time two other important inventions
were made, both of which were later utilized by the
Hoes. In 1853 Pratt built for the Brooklyn Daily
Advertiser the first perfecting press, or press printing
both sides of the paper without removing the sheet.
In 1860 William Bullock began to experiment on a
rotary self-feeding or web printing press, and finally
succeeded in achieving success in 1865. The Bullock
machine was self-feeding, but cut the sheets from a
web before printing.
In 1847 Hoe & Company began work on a rotary
printing press to print from the web without first
cutting it into sheets. This involved all the essential
parts which had been discovered and gathered them
into one machine. The experiment was successful,
resulting in the production of the wonderful multiple
press, which may be seen today in the press room of
any great newspaper.
The invention of the Hoe press, the development
of the autoplate, a machine invented in 1900 by
Henry A. Wise Wood, of New York, whereby the
process of stereotyping is made in a practical way
subsidiary to newspaper printing, and the invention
of wood pulp paper have made possible the modern
newspaper.
We have thus very hastily traced the process of
development in types and presses in the United States.
Much might be said, if space permitted and the purpose
of this series required it, of the invention of
other presses, appliances, and methods, and of the
40improvements which are constantly being made in
the tools and materials used in printing and the allied
industries. These matters, however, are of only
secondary historic interest. So much as the apprentice
needs to know about them he will learn in the
course of his work, as he comes in contact with them
and learns their use. Perhaps the purpose of this
book has been sufficiently accomplished in showing
the milestones along the historical development of the
two great tools of the printer, his type and his press.
The list which follows is a brief statement of the
most important contributions of American inventors
to the art of printing:
Web rotary presses.
Automatic stereotyping machines.
Printing machinery under electrical control.
Two-revolution cylinder presses.
Sheet feed rotary presses.
Multicolor presses.
Rotary direct and rotary offset presses for lithographic work.
This, of course, includes only the inventions which
are fundamental and original. Improvements of some
fundamental invention, made elsewhere or earlier, are
not included, although in this connection it is worth
while to mention one important thing which owes to
America almost everything except its original invention.
This is process printing, both in black and white
and in colors. Process printing was not an American
invention. It is safe to say that it would be only a
scientific experiment if it had not been made practical
by American inventions, such as coated paper, first
made for half-tone work by the Cumberland Mills
Company for Mr. De Vinne, ruling machines for half-tone
work, which were first made by Max Levy, of
Philadelphia, about 1880, and three-color process
plates, which were first made by Frederick Ives, of
Philadelphia, in 1881.
REVIEW QUESTIONS SUGGESTIONS TO STUDENTS AND INSTRUCTORS — QUESTIONS
41
The following questions, based on the contents of this pamphlet,
are intended to serve (1) as a guide to the study of the text, (2)
as an aid to the student in putting the information contained into
definite statements without actually memorizing the text, (3) as
a means of securing from the student a reproduction of the information
in his own words.
A careful following of the questions by the reader will insure
full acquaintance with every part of the text, avoiding the accidental
omission of what might be of value. These primers are
so condensed that nothing should be omitted.
In teaching from these books it is very important that these
questions and such others as may occur to the teacher should
be made the basis of frequent written work, and of final
examinations.
The importance of written work cannot be overstated. It not
only assures knowledge of material, but the power to express that
knowledge correctly and in good form.
If this written work can be submitted to the teacher in printed
form it will be doubly useful.
1. What general course of development do we find
in the United States in relation to European
influence?
2. How has this worked out in the case of type and
presses?
3. Who cast the first type made in this country?
4. Who was Mitchelson, the type founder, and what
did he do?
5. Tell the story of Adam Buell.
6. Tell about Benjamin Franklin’s attempt at
type founding.
7. Tell the story of the first successful type foundry
in the United States.
8. Tell of the attempt of Mappa to start a type
foundry in the United States.
9. What were the prospects for successful type
founding in America about 1795?
10. Tell the story of the starting of the first permanently
successful type foundry in America.
11. What were the first steps taken to enlarge its
facilities?
4212. What inventions did the senior partner work on?
13. Give a brief sketch of the firm from the retirement
of the senior partner to the present time.
14. What other type founder was at work in 1805,
and what was he doing?
15. Tell the story of the starting of the second successful
type foundry in the United States.
16. Who were the Bruces, and how did they start
in business?
17. What did the Bruces do in 1814 and 1815?
18. How did the Bruces become type founders?
19. What improvement did the Bruces attempt in
1822, and with what result?
20. What was W. M. Johnson’s invention, and what
became of it?
21. What development took place in the type
founding business, and what was the result?
22. Who was Augustus Ladew, and what did he do?
23. Who was Louis Pelouze, and what did he do?
24. What can you tell about the Boston Type
Foundry?
25. Tell about the work of J. W. Phinney.
26. Who was Henry Barth, and what did he do?
27. What do we owe to John Marder?
28. What do we owe to L. R. Benton?
29. What invention followed the work of Benton
and Werner, and why?
30. What need became acute in composing room, and
what was done to meet it?
31. What invention changed the course of development
along this line?
32. Tell the story of Ottmar Mergenthaler.
33. What did Tolbert Lanston invent?
34. Tell the story of the discovery of the electrotyping
process.
35. Who was the first to apply this process to
printing, and what were the defects of his
method?
4336. Give a sketch of the development of the process
of electrotyping, naming five principal inventions
with dates.
37. What was the greatest single step in advance,
and when, where, and by whom was it made?
38. Where did the first American presses come from?
39. How soon were presses made in America, and
what were they like?
40. Who was the best known American press builder
before 1800, and what improvement did he
make?
41. Who invented the iron press, and when?
42. Who invented the Columbian hand press?
43. What demand soon arose, and how was it met?
44. Who invented the Washington hand press and
when?
45. What was the first attempt to use power in
press operation?
46. What was the first American attempt to use
power in press operation?
47. What sort of power was originally used?
48. Tell about the inventions of Adams, Ruggles, and
Gordon.
49. Tell about the invention of Merritt Gally.
50. What were the inventions of Kidder and Harris?
51. What types of high-speed small presses are made?
52. What was the first attempt to build a cylinder
press?
53. What was the first American attempt to build
a cylinder press?
54. Who invented the first successful cylinder press?
55. Tell the story of Hoe & Co. down to 1845.
56. What important invention did Hoe & Co. bring
out in 1845?
57. What were the inventions of Pratt and Bullock?
58. What did Hoe & Co. produce in 1847?
59. What did Henry A. Wise Wood invent?
60. Give a list of the most important American
inventions in printing machinery.
61. Why is the list not longer?
TYPOGRAPHIC TECHNICAL SERIES FOR APPRENTICES
44
The following list of publications, comprising the Typographic
Technical Series for Apprentices, has been prepared
under the supervision of the Committee on Education of the
United Typothetae of America for use in trade classes, in course of
printing instruction, and by individuals.
Each publication has been compiled by a competent author or
group of authors, and carefully edited, the purpose being to provide
the printers of the United States—employers, journeymen,
and apprentices—with a comprehensive series of handy and
inexpensive compendiums of reliable, up-to-date information upon
the various branches and specialties of the printing craft, all
arranged in orderly fashion for progressive study.
The publications of the series are of uniform size, 5 × 8 inches.
Their general make-up, in typography, illustrations, etc., has
been, as far as practicable, kept in harmony throughout. A brief
synopsis of the particular contents and other chief features of each
volume will be found under each title in the following list.
Each topic is treated in a concise manner, the aim being to
embody in each publication as completely as possible all the
rudimentary information and essential facts necessary to an understanding
of the subject. Care has been taken to make all statements
accurate and clear, with the purpose of bringing essential
information within the understanding of beginners in the different
fields of study. Wherever practicable, simple and well-defined
drawings and illustrations have been used to assist in giving
additional clearness to the text.
In order that the pamphlets may be of the greatest possible
help for use in trade-school classes and for self-instruction, each
title is accompanied by a list of Review Questions covering
essential items of the subject matter. A short Glossary of technical
terms belonging to the subject or department treated is also
added to many of the books.
These are the Official Text-books of the United Typothetae of
America.
Address all orders and inquiries to Committee on Education,
United Typothetae of America, Chicago, Illinois, U. S. A.
45
PART I—Types, Tools, Machines, and Materials
1. Type: a Primer of Information By A. A. Stewart
Relating to the mechanical features of printing types; their sizes, font
schemes, etc., with a brief description of their manufacture. 44 pp.;
illustrated; 74 review questions; glossary.
2. Compositors’ Tools and Materials By A. A. Stewart
A primer of information about composing sticks, galleys, leads, brass
rules, cutting and mitering machines, etc. 47 pp.; illustrated; 50 review
questions; glossary.
3. Type Cases, Composing Room Furniture By A. A. Stewart
A primer of information about type cases, work stands, cabinets, case
racks, galley racks, standing galleys, etc. 43 pp.; illustrated; 33 review
questions; glossary.
4. Imposing Tables and Lock-up Appliances By A. A. Stewart
Describing the tools and materials used in locking up forms for the press,
including some modern utilities for special purposes. 59 pp.; illustrated;
70 review questions; glossary.
5. Proof Presses By A. A. Stewart
A primer of information about the customary methods and machines for
taking printers’ proofs. 40 pp.; illustrated; 41 review questions; glossary.
6. Platen Printing Presses By Daniel Baker
A primer of information regarding the history and mechanical construction
of platen printing presses, from the original hand press to the modern
job press, to which is added a chapter on automatic presses of small size.
51 pp.; illustrated; 49 review questions; glossary.
7. Cylinder Printing Presses By Herbert L. Baker
Being a study of the mechanism and operation of the principal types of
cylinder printing machines. 64 pp.; illustrated; 47 review questions;
glossary.
8. Mechanical Feeders and Folders By William E. Spurrier
The history and operation of modern feeding and folding machines; with
hints on their care and adjustments. Illustrated; review questions;
glossary.
9. Power for Machinery in Printing Houses By Carl F. Scott
A treatise on the methods of applying power to printing presses and allied
machinery with particular reference to electric drive. 53 pp.; illustrated;
69 review questions; glossary.
10. Paper Cutting Machines By Niel Gray, Jr.
A primer of information about paper and card trimmers, hand-lever
cutters, power cutters, and other automatic machines for cutting paper,
70 pp.; illustrated; 115 review questions; glossary.
11. Printers’ Rollers By A. A. Stewart
A primer of information about the composition, manufacture, and care of
inking rollers. 46 pp.; illustrated; 61 review questions; glossary.
12. Printing Inks By Philip Ruxton
Their composition, properties and manufacture (reprinted by permission
from Circular No. 53, United States Bureau of Standards); together with
some helpful suggestions about the everyday use of printing inks by
Philip Ruxton. 80 pp.; 100 review questions; glossary.
4613. How Paper is Made By William Bond Wheelwright
A primer of information about the materials and processes of manufacturing
paper for printing and writing. 68 pp.; illustrated; 62 review questions;
glossary.
14. Relief Engravings By Joseph P. Donovan
Brief history and non-technical description of modern methods of engraving;
woodcut, zinc plate, half-tone; kind of copy for reproduction; things
to remember when ordering engravings. Illustrated; review questions;
glossary.
15. Electrotyping and Stereotyping
By Harris B. Hatch and A. A. Stewart
A primer of information about the processes of electrotyping and stereotyping.
94 pp.; illustrated; 129 review questions; glossaries.
PART II—Hand and Machine Composition
16. Typesetting By A. A. Stewart
A handbook for beginners, giving information about justifying, spacing,
correcting, and other matters relating to typesetting. Illustrated;
review questions; glossary.
17. Printers’ Proofs By A. A. Stewart
The methods by which they are made, marked, and corrected, with
observations on proofreading. Illustrated; review questions; glossary.
18. First Steps in Job Composition By Camille DeVéze
Suggestions for the apprentice compositor in setting his first jobs,
especially about the important little things which go to make good
display in typography. 63 pp.; examples; 55 review questions; glossary.
19. General Job Composition
How the job compositor handles business stationery, programs and
miscellaneous work. Illustrated; review questions; glossary.
20. Book Composition By J. W. Bothwell
Chapters from DeVinne’s “Modern Methods of Book Composition,”
revised and arranged for this series of text-books by J. W. Bothwell of
The DeVinne Press, New York. Part I: Composition of pages. Part II:
Imposition of pages. 229 pp.; illustrated; 525 review questions; glossary.
21. Tabular Composition By Robert Seaver
A study of the elementary forms of table composition, with examples of
more difficult composition. 36 pp.; examples; 45 review questions.
22. Applied Arithmetic By E. E. Sheldon
Elementary arithmetic applied to problems of the printing trade, calculation
of materials, paper weights and sizes, with standard tables and rules
for computation, each subject amplified with examples and exercises.
159 pp.
23. Typecasting and Composing Machines A. W. Finlay, Editor
Section I—The Linotype By L. A. Hornstein
Section II—The Monotype By Joseph Hays
Section III—The Intertype By Henry W. Cozzens
Section IV—Other Typecasting and Typesetting Machines
By Frank H. Smith
A brief history of typesetting machines, with descriptions of their
mechanical principles and operations. Illustrated; review questions;
glossary.
47
PART III—Imposition and Stonework
24. Locking Forms for the Job Press By Frank S. Henry
Things the apprentice should know about locking up small forms, and
about general work on the stone. Illustrated; review questions; glossary.
25. Preparing Forms for the Cylinder Press By Frank S. Henry
Pamphlet and catalog imposition; margins; fold marks, etc. Methods of
handling type forms and electrotype forms. Illustrated; review questions;
glossary.
PART IV—Presswork
26. Making Ready on Platen Presses By T. G. McGrew
The essential parts of a press and their functions; distinctive features of
commonly used machines. Preparing the tympan, regulating the
impression, underlaying and overlaying, setting gauges, and other
details explained. Illustrated; review questions; glossary.
27. Cylinder Presswork By T. G. McGrew
Preparing the press; adjustment of bed and cylinder, form rollers, ink
fountain, grippers and delivery systems. Underlaying and overlaying;
modern overlay methods. Illustrated; review questions; glossary.
28. Pressroom Hints and Helps By Charles L. Dunton
Describing some practical methods of pressroom work, with directions
and useful information relating to a variety of printing-press problems.
87 pp.; 176 review questions.
29. Reproductive Processes of the Graphic Arts By A. W. Elson
A primer of information about the distinctive features of the relief, the
intaglio, and the planographic processes of printing. 84 pp.; illustrated;
100 review questions; glossary.
PART V—Pamphlet and Book Binding
30. Pamphlet Binding By Bancroft L. Goodwin
A primer of information about the various operations employed in
binding pamphlets and other work in the bindery. Illustrated; review
questions; glossary.
31. Book Binding By John J. Pleger
Practical information about the usual operations in binding books;
folding; gathering, collating, sewing, forwarding, finishing. Case making
and cased-in books. Hand work and machine work. Job and blank-book
binding. Illustrated; review questions; glossary.
PART VI—Correct Literary Composition
32. Word Study and English Grammar By F. W. Hamilton
A primer of information about words, their relations, and their uses.
68 pp.; 84 review questions; glossary.
33. Punctuation By F. W. Hamilton
A primer of information about the marks of punctuation and their use,
both grammatically and typographically. 56 pp.; 59 review questions;
glossary.
4834. Capitals By F. W. Hamilton
A primer of information about capitalization, with some practical typographic
hints as to the use of capitals. 48 pp.; 92 review questions;
glossary.
35. Division of Words By F. W. Hamilton
Rules for the division of words at the ends of lines, with remarks on
spelling, syllabication and pronunciation. 42 pp.; 70 review questions.
36. Compound Words By F. W. Hamilton
A study of the principles of compounding, the components of compounds,
and the use of the hyphen. 34 pp.; 62 review questions.
37. Abbreviations and Signs By F. W. Hamilton
A primer of information about abbreviations and signs, with classified
lists of those in most common use. 58 pp.; 32 review questions.
38. The Uses of Italic By F. W. Hamilton
A primer of information about the history and uses of italic letters.
31 pp.; 37 review questions.
39. Proofreading By Arnold Levitas
The technical phases of the proofreader’s work; reading, marking,
revising, etc.; methods of handling proofs and copy. Illustrated by
examples. 59 pp.; 69 review questions; glossary.
40. Preparation of Printers’ Copy By F. W. Hamilton
Suggestions for authors, editors, and all who are engaged in preparing
copy for the composing room. 36 pp.; 67 review questions.
41. Printers’ Manual of Style
A reference compilation of approved rules, usages, and suggestions
relating to uniformity in punctuation, capitalization, abbreviations,
numerals, and kindred features of composition.
42. The Printer’s Dictionary By A. A. Stewart
A handbook of definitions and miscellaneous information about various
processes of printing, alphabetically arranged. Technical terms explained.
Illustrated.
PART VII—Design, Color, and Lettering
43. Applied Design for Printers By Harry L. Gage
A handbook of the principles of arrangement, with brief comment on the
periods of design which have most influenced printing. Treats of harmony,
balance, proportion, and rhythm; motion; symmetry and variety;
ornament, esthetic and symbolic. 37 illustrations; 46 review questions;
glossary; bibliography.
44. Elements of Typographic Design By Harry L. Gage
Applications of the principles of decorative design. Building material
of typography: paper, types, ink, decorations and illustrations. Handling
of shapes. Design of complete book, treating each part. Design of
commercial forms and single units. Illustrations; review questions;
glossary; bibliography.
4945. Rudiments of Color in Printing By Harry L. Gage
Use of color: for decoration of black and white, for broad poster effect,
in combinations of two, three, or more printings with process engravings.
Scientific nature of color, physical and chemical. Terms in which color
may be discussed: hue, value, intensity. Diagrams in color, scales and
combinations. Color theory of process engraving. Experiments with
color. Illustrations in full color, and on various papers. Review questions;
glossary; bibliography.
46. Lettering in Typography By Harry L. Gage
Printer’s use of lettering: adaptability and decorative effect. Development
of historic writing and lettering and its influence on type design.
Classification of general forms in lettering. Application of design to
lettering. Drawing for reproduction. Fully illustrated; review questions;
glossary; bibliography.
47. Typographic Design in Advertising By Harry L. Gage
The printer’s function in advertising. Precepts upon which advertising
is based. Printer’s analysis of his copy. Emphasis, legibility, attention,
color. Method of studying advertising typography. Illustrations;
review questions; glossary; bibliography.
48. Making Dummies and Layouts By Harry L. Gage
A layout: the architectural plan. A dummy: the imitation of a proposed
final effect. Use of dummy in sales work. Use of layout. Function of
layout man. Binding schemes for dummies. Dummy envelopes.
Illustrations; review questions; glossary; bibliography.
PART VIII—History of Printing
49. Books Before Typography By F. W. Hamilton
A primer of information about the invention of the alphabet and the
history of bookmaking up to the invention of movable types. 62 pp.;
illustrated; 64 review questions.
50. The Invention of Typography By F. W. Hamilton
A brief sketch of the invention of printing and how it came about.
64 pp.; 62 review questions.
51. History of Printing—Part I By F. W. Hamilton
A primer of information about the beginnings of printing, the development
of the book, the development of printers’ materials, and the work
of the great pioneers. 63 pp.; 55 review questions.
52. History of Printing—Part II By F. W. Hamilton
A brief sketch of the economic conditions of the printing industry from
1450 to 1789, including government regulations, censorship, internal
conditions and industrial relations. 94 pp.; 128 review questions.
53. Printing in England By F. W. Hamilton
A short history of printing in England from Caxton to the present time.
89 pp.; 65 review questions.
54. Printing in America By F. W. Hamilton
A brief sketch of the development of the newspaper, and some notes on
publishers who have especially contributed to printing. 98 pp.; 84
review questions.
55. Type and Presses in America By F. W. Hamilton
A brief historical sketch of the development of type casting and press
building in the United States. 52 pp.; 61 review questions.
50
PART IX—Cost Finding and Accounting
56. Elements of Cost in Printing By Henry P. Porter
A primer of information about all the elements that contribute to the
cost of printing and their relation to each other. Review questions.
Glossary.
57. Use of a Cost System By Henry P. Porter
The Standard Cost-Finding Forms and their uses. What they should
show. How to utilize the information they give. Review questions.
Glossary.
58. The Printer as a Merchant By Henry P. Porter
The selection and purchase of materials and supplies for printing. The
relation of the cost of raw material and the selling price of the finished
product. Review questions. Glossary.
59. Fundamental Principles of Estimating By Henry P. Porter
The estimator and his work; forms to use; general rules for estimating.
Review questions. Glossary.
60. Estimating and Selling By Henry P. Porter
An insight into the methods used in making estimates, and their relation
to selling. Review questions. Glossary.
61. Accounting for Printers By Henry P. Porter
A brief outline of an accounting system for printers; necessary books and
accessory records. Review questions. Glossary.
PART X—Miscellaneous
62. Health, Sanitation, and Safety By Henry P. Porter
Hygiene in the printing trade; a study of conditions old and new; practical
suggestions for improvement; protective appliances and rules for safety.
63. Topical Index By F. W. Hamilton
A book of reference covering the topics treated in the Typographic
Technical Series, alphabetically arranged.
64. Courses of Study By F. W. Hamilton
A guidebook for teachers, with outlines and suggestions for classroom and
shop work.
51
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This series of Typographic Text-books is the result of the
splendid co-operation of a large number of firms and individuals
engaged in the printing business and its allied industries
in the United States of America.
The Committee on Education of the United Typothetae of
America, under whose auspices the books have been prepared and
published, acknowledges its indebtedness for the generous assistance
rendered by the many authors, printers, and others identified
with this work.
While due acknowledgment is made on the title and copyright
pages of those contributing to each book, the Committee nevertheless
felt that a group list of co-operating firms would be of
interest.
The following list is not complete, as it includes only those who
have co-operated in the production of a portion of the volumes,
constituting the first printing. As soon as the entire list of books
comprising the Typographic Technical Series has been completed
(which the Committee hopes will be at an early date), the full list
will be printed in each volume.
The Committee also desires to acknowledge its indebtedness to
the many subscribers to this Series who have patiently awaited its
publication.
Committee on Education,
United Typothetae of America.
Henry P. Porter, Chairman,
E. Lawrence Fell,
A. M. Glossbrenner,
J. Clyde Oswald,
Toby Rubovits.
Frederick W. Hamilton, Education Director.
52
CONTRIBUTORS
For Composition and Electrotypes
Isaac H. Blanchard Company, New York, N. Y.
S. H. Burbank & Co., Philadelphia, Pa.
J. S. Cushing & Co., Norwood, Mass.
The DeVinne Press, New York, N. Y.
R. R. Donnelley & Sons Co., Chicago, Ill.
Geo. H. Ellis Co., Boston, Mass.
Evans-Winter-Hebb, Detroit, Mich.
Franklin Printing Company, Philadelphia, Pa.
F. H. Gilson Company, Boston, Mass.
Stephen Green & Co., Philadelphia, Pa.
W. F. Hall Printing Co., Chicago, Ill.
J. B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia, Pa.
McCalla & Co. Inc., Philadelphia, Pa.
The Patteson Press, New York, New York
The Plimpton Press, Norwood, Mass.
Poole Bros., Chicago, Ill.
Edward Stern & Co., Philadelphia, Pa.
The Stone Printing & Mfg. Co., Roanoke, Va.
C. D. Traphagen, Lincoln, Neb.
The University Press, Cambridge, Mass.
For Composition
Boston Typothetae School Of Printing, Boston, Mass.
West Virginia Pulp & Paper Co., Mechanicville, N. Y.
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
P. vii, changed “The Standard Cost-Finding Forms and their uses. What they
should show. How to utilize the information they give. Review questions. Glossary.” to “A
primer of information about all the elements that contribute to the cost of printing and
their relation to each other. Review questions. Glossary.”
[See https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65596.]
Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in spelling.
Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed.