The Museum Collection

Composing Room

The process of typesetting is also called composition. Traditional composition was based on hot metal, which includes hand composition of foundry type. For much of the history of printing, composition was hand composition of hand-cast type. Only in the 20th century were practical methods of machine setting applied.

Hot Metal Composition: Machine Composition

Monotype

The workhorse for machine typesetting of book work was the Lanston Monotype. It cast individual sorts character by character. Once the page was “worked off,” the type could be melted to be cast anew, or it could be distributed into cases for hand composition or correcting of typographic errors matter set in the same face.

The Museum has a Composition caster with 160 cases of mats and two keyboards.

  • Strip caster with 150 border mats
  • Sorts caster with 110 fonts of mats
Linotype Model 31

The original hot-metal composing machine for newspaper operations was the Mergenthaler Linotype. In contrast to the Monotype, it cast whole lines at once. Typographic errors required the resetting and recasting of the entire line, and sometimes adjacent lines if the spacing was changed too much by the correction.

  • Linotype Model 31
  • Linotype magazines (20)
  • Linotype mats (300 fonts)
  • Linotype Teletypesetter
  • The Linotype was adapted to remote setting using transmission of wire-service copy with the Teletypesetter paper tape keyboard and printer.
  • Perforator keyboards
  • Teletypesetter high-speed Punch
  • “Brownie” counting keyboard
  • Fairchild keyboard (“Greenie”)
Elektron II Linotype

This model was the last Linotype made in the U.S.

The Second Band Machine

This was the second prototype for the Linotype (1872).

lntertype

Intertype was a clone of the Linotype, made to interchange fonts and some parts, and manufactured by the Intertype Corporation.

Ludlow

The Ludlow was the main machine for hot metal headline composition. A compositor assembled matrices for one line of headline or display by hand on a “Ludlow composing stick.” Ludlow type is cast type-high like all other type. We usually run it every Saturday at the Museum.

Ludlows (2) — with 206 fonts of mats in 20-case racks

  • Ludlow Super-Finisher
  • Composing sticks
Unitype

The Unitype foundry-type typesetter set foundry type (harder than the normal hot-metal composing machines could cast on the fly). It requires specially cast foundry type that was notched for machine sorting (not unlike Linotype matrices). 10pt., with font. This one of only four left in the world.

General support equipment

A well-equipped hot-metal composing room had a wide variety of specialized tools (in addition to a general machinery-shop for repairs).

  • Typographical saws
  • Hand lead and slug cutters
  • Rotary mitering machines
  • Hand miters
  • Line-caster slug router
  • Monotabular broach
  • Type-high gauges, dial
  • Smelter – multiple pig mold, 8-pig, water cooled single pig molds
  • Pi trucks

Hot Metal Composition: Hand composition

Hand type

1,700 cases of foundry type in 51 wooden and steel case stands, many with working tops

  • Over 1,000 fonts of wood type
  • The Lyons Collection
  • Quantities of decorative and antique type
  • Large quantity of cuts (pictures, mounted plate or cast metal)
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Make-up and Correction

Imposition

After basic composition, type must be assembled into galleys for first proof and then “imposed” pages and multiple-page forms in preparation for printing. The table upon which the type is organized into one or multi-page forms is called the “imposing stone,” and often is made of marble. Later industrial models are precision steel. Marble and steel are preferred to ensure flatness and levelness of the surface when a form is prepared for the press. Type forms are stored temporarily and long-term tied with page-cord (strong fine waxed string) on a galley in a galley rack. Forms that are going to or from the press for proofs or corrections are stored in chases that fit the press, which are stored special racks and (in larger sizes) wheeled about on special “trucks” or dollies.

  • Imposing stones, galley racks
  • News chases
  • Chase trucks
  • Galleys 12×18
  • Galleys 9×13
  • All in galley ranks, some with standing forms
Proofing

Small shops might take the galley proof with a brayer and ink roller, but larger shops installed presses especially adapted to quickly taking one or a few proofs for the author, editor, and proofreader.

  • Letterpress Proof Presses
  • Vandercook model 1 (“rocker”)
  • Vandercook Universal 1
  • Vandercook Electric proof dryer, rotary
  • Vandercook model 4
  • Poco hand press (2 sizes)
  • C&P galley press, hand
  • Vandercook Model 0
Stereotyping

For large (or repeated) runs of books or newspapers, neither hot-metal machine-composition type nor hand-composed foundry type is ideal. Having large quantities of type metal in standing forms is expensive inventory; and both kinds of type wear (machine comp wears faster than the harder foundry, but the wear on foundry is capital depreciation). In addition, only one press can print the result of one composition; to have multiple presses running hand comp would require multiple settings (and multiple errors and proofings). The solution to this problem was the stereotype (or in French, the cliché), by which each multi-page form, in a special chase, is cast into a solid thin metal plate, which may be printed either upon patent bases on standard presses or on rotary presses built for stereo plates. Multiple plates can thus be made from one setting (hence stereo); and once the plates are made, the type can be distributed or melted for reuse. Mats taken from the type form can be shipped to remote sites for casting, allowing coordinated advertising and syndicated copy without resetting.

Cold Composition

All means of composition not using metal type is called “cold type” or “cold composition.” The typewriters with proportional type were called Strike-on Comp and the various Zip-a-Tone/Letraset products called Rub-on Type. In the middle of the Offset revolution, they were the low-end competitors to pulling reproduction proofs from metal type to produce camera ready art.

Phototypesetters

The primary replacements for hot metal were the photo type and composition machines. Here the photographic negative replaces the matrix casting of hot metal. Most were text machines as with most hot metal. Most shops continued to handset headlines at the case or at the Ludlow to pull repro proofs, but the CG Headliner later filled the niche of the Ludlow.

  • Berthold AG
  • Compugraphic CompuWriter 4
  • Coxhead Headliner
  • Varityper Headliner
  • Friden keyboard/printer
  • Intertype Fotosetter
  • Itek Quadritek
  • Mergenthaler CRTronic
  • Monotype Monophoto
  • Morisawa Headliner
  • Photon 200B
  • Filmotype headliner
  • Stripprinter
  • Diatype headliner
  • Visual Graphics Photo Typositor
Phototypesetting computer

This computer accepted key-to-disk and key-to-tape input as well as OCR reading of typewritten input. The computer handled hyphenation and justification.

  • Digital Equipment Corp. (DEC) PDP 11/70
  • VDT input stations
  • OCR reading machines
  • Disk drives
  • High-speed printers
Composing Typewriters

Called “strike-on” composition, the composing typewriter was used for camera-ready copy in the quick-print business, in academic publishing, and small weeklies, where cost and turn-around were the driving factors. The best were capable of proportional spacing, justification, and handling multiple fonts. The familiar IBM Executive and Selectric can be considered to be in the low-end of this family; the IBM Composing Selectric was a computer-driven, auto-justifying, high-end system.

Photography & Plate-Making

Gallery Cameras

In the cold-type/offset world, plate-making is a photo-mechanical process, and that required cameras big enough to make full-page size negatives.

Darkroom equipment

The gallery camera required a darkroom to develop the negatives and to expose and develop the offset plates.

  • Timers
  • Safe lights
  • Enlarger
  • Exposure frames
Camera/Processors

Later, smaller cameras included built-in, semi-automatic darkrooms.

Platemaking
  • DuPont Dycril (plastic plate) exposure, etching, washout and dryer machines
  • Tabletop exposure machine, w/o vacuum
  • Magnesium and zinc coating and etching machine with eye-fountain
  • Engraver’s dragons blood fixing stove
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Digital Type

The Museum has various Macintosh models, initiating coverage of the new era in composition called desktop publishing.

Pressroom

Letterpress presses
Iron Hand Presses
  • Adams acorn, Stansbury toggle, 13×16½
  • Hoe acorn, Stansbury toggle, 13×16½
  • Adams acorn, 22×28
  • Hoe 24½×27 “Washington”
  • Rust Hand Press
  • Shniedewend 2×27 “Washington”
  • Wesel 20×27 “Washington”
Platen Job Presses

Tabletop (14)
Baltimore 2×3
Kelsey 5×8, 6×8, 6×10
Chandler and Price (C & P) Pilot 6×10.
Golding 5×8.

Floor model platens
  • Chandler and Price (C & P) 7×11, 8×12, 10×15, 12×18
  • Colts Armory (Universal) 10×15
  • Golding Pearl 7×11 (2), 9×14
  • Golding 10×15, 12×18, 15×21
  • Monitor 9×12
  • Prouty 6.5×10, 9×13
Automatic Feed Platens (5)
  • Heideiberg windmill 10×15:
Cylinder Presses
  • 1888 Hoe Rotary Flatbed Cylinder Press, 34×44
  • 1880 Cottrell Cylinder Press

In storage: Goss Sextuple Straight-line curved stereo news press 1922, 62” web, 22′ cutoff, 3- deck. 30 long, 12′ wide, 12′ tall. 45 tons: with automatic ink system, spare rollers and spare parts (3½ tons), with saddles for thin plate operation.

Offset (lithographic) presses
  • A.B. Dick
  • Davidson 10×15 sheet-feed offset-litho press.
Engraving Presses
  • Office Duplicators
  • Multigraph
  • Multigraph composing machine w/ 11 cases Multigraph type in stand & Multigraph supplies and parts in fitted chest
  • Neostyle mimeograph, 1907
  • Gestetner mimeograph with 3 color fountains
  • Titan Rocket spirit duplicator, electric
  • Gestetner
  • Ditto
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Bindery

Paper Cutters

(All hand operated)

  • 18″ table model
  • 20″ National
  • 22″ Challenge
  • 24″ Challenge
  • 24″ early vertical flywheel
  • 30″ Acme
  • 34″ National, Electric
  • Small bench scissors-type and roller-type cutters. Scrap paper baler.
Finishing
  • Spinit paper drill
  • Southworth round-cornering machine
  • Golding padding racks
  • Staplers, floor model
  • table top saddle staplers
  • sticher, electric
  • Hickok pen ruling machine with Baum pile feeder
  • Baum folder, 12×18″
  • Liberty Folder, 12×18″
  • Bookbinder’s press 16×20
  • 45 cases brass bookbinder’s type
Mailing
  • Addressograph, floor model and desktop plate-makers (graphotypes), floor and desktop plate storage cabinets, 18-tray
  • Elliott stencil-cutting typewriter
  • Dick’s hand mailer, brass
  • Saxmayer bundle tying machine, electric
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