Oxford Meeting is Great Success

The ancient, historic, and still-thriving city of Oxford, England, was a most fitting setting for the third conference held by our infant organization (the American Typecasting Fellowship) in conjunction with the Printing Historical Society July 16–19, 1982.

The most successful conference will be treated fully in a special edition of this Newsletter with photos and commentary by various members of our group. For now, only a capsule report will be made, primarily to set the stage for things to come.

PHS Chairman Michael Turner did an excellent job of putting together a program of significance for the nearly 100 persons attending, yet the delegates themselves—from the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, Spain, and Switzerland—were the ones who propelled the c onference into the landmark event it became.

Whether by British custom or by good planning, much of the time each day (from lunch to 4 p.m.) was idle time which let delegates mingle and get to know each other. The results were phenomenal, for we discovered a very strong common bond among us all—compelling interest in historic, personal, and incidental facts related to both type design and the processes and machines involved in casting metal printers’ type.

Americans, for the most part, had their first contact with European founders we had known only as “historic giants.” We knew little of their present activities nor their commitment to preserving their ancient and honorable processes.

Having Gertrude Bencehr of D. Stempel, Bram deDoes and Hendrick Drost of Joh. Enschedé, Wolfgang Hartman of Fundicion Tipografica Neufville, Alfred Hoffman of the Haas Typefoundry, and Geoffrey Hulett and Roy Millington of Stephenson-Blake all in the same room intensely discussing type and typography with you... it's bound to get the juices moving, and it certainly did.

Add noted designers such as Dr. Berthold Wolpe (Monotype Albertus, etc.), and the various conference speakers who, in general, took part in all activities, and you begin to get a picture of the typographic “feast” it was.

Then top it all off with a most cordial red-carpet treatment of the American contingent by David Belfort, Duncan Avery, John Dreyfus and all the other enthusiastic, knowledgeable folks who provided a no-holds-barred tour of Monotype International, and you finally come to understand the numbness and extended silence of the 24 United States delegates who attended the conference.

Our silence is not a mark of disappointment; the conference was an event of such far-reaching significance it must be pondered and put in proper perspective. That is what we’ll attempt in the next Newsletter—to report all that went on. 3

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A Word About How This Thing Goes Together

Surely as a compliment, Stan Nelson recently said to me that the high quality of the ATF Newsletter fooled many into believing a full-fledged organization supported the publication. Those who know ATF know this not only to be untrue, but impossible because of our Rules.

But perhaps Stan explains something to me.

Often I’m confronted by someone demanding his or her Newsletter. Surely this attitude would not continue if everyone understood how this publication comes into being.

First I must write it. Then I have to design it, keyboard it, cast it, make up the pages, and then I have to print, collate, bind and mail the thing.

Hey! That takes time, and it also takes time to answer letters and keep the mailing list.

About the time I wanted to start this issue, for example, I ended up in the hospital. That got me behind in my commercial shop and certainly food on the table comes first.

That also explains all the unanswered letters.

This doesn’t imply that others don’t help. It’s amazing what others will do for me. An example: I spotted a unique die-stamp on the back cover of the Gujarati Type Book. I asked Mr. Modi about it and darned if he wasn’t able to find the cut (which hadn’t been used for 50 years) and provide a repro-proof which I have enlarged and used at the top of our first page.

The other front-page illustration is a reduction of a handsome keepsake for the Oxford meeting done by Charles Hinde at his Bean Creek Printery in Santa Clara, Calif.

The next issue is taking shape with articles already submitted by Paul Quyle, Paul Duensing, Guy Botterill, Roy Rice, and Barney Rabin. Mac McGrew has provided his complete list of American Monotype faces and their numbers (the specimen books generally deleted numbers and faces out of vogue at the time, so no specimen book is totally comprehensive).

I definitely solicit your support, your comments and your contributions. I ask that you be tolerant of my slow letter answering.

How about helping right now? Get to your shop and put together your self-description like the ones you have seen in the last two issues. I’ll expect your 24×35 pica made-up form in the mail very soon. 3

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Indian Foundry is 'Discovered'

Indian Foundry Is “Rediscovered”

How would you read if I told you there was a typefoundry—still very much alive today—which offers a variety of designs and ornaments so reminiscent of the early days of this century in America that you get in a time warp studying its specimens?

Arvind Patel, our correspondent and typefounder from Islamabad, in India, passed knowledge of our typecasting fellowship to Mr. Gopalkrishna Modi, partner in the Gujarati Type Foundry at Bombay, India. A series of letters and a specimen book have developed.

Commenting on Newsletter 7, Mr. Modi says “I now realize that all the things that we have inherited are, in your light, extremely valuable. You have made me aware of the ‘Treasure House’ that I have inherited by the Grace of God. I have decided to send you a copy of my type catalog, prepared, compiled and designed by my late uncle Mr. Manilal C. Modi, who adorned the highest place in this institution for a span of 72 years (from Oct. 3, 1900, until October, 1972).

"Our firm was founded on Oct. 3, 1900, at the very place now occupied by us. Over and above the the types of Roman Script, we have with us types for a few Indian Scripts, the decorators, emblems, borders, special signs, etc., seen in the catalog.

"The American point system was accepted by us from the beginning. Yet, we had to carry on with the old Pica system for quite some time. We do have some molds for types, spaces, quads and borders on the Didot system and heights.

We have with us hand-molds for types, leads and rules. We have in running order the following machines:

"All our matrices are of full-growth copper and we have about half a million matrices. We have about 800 molds for pivotal type casters, but the shoulder heights of these as well as the nicks are not uniform. This means that except for the body size and height-to-paper, there has not been a planned standardization.

“I myself joined this family institution April 1, 1937, and at my present age of 67 am the senior partner.

"Most of my machines are operated with electrical power, but the heating is done either by kerosene, liquid petroleum gas, or even by steam coal.”

Mr. Modi, in response to my questions, has agreed to send photographs of the Japanese and Foucher casters, and the Indian-made machines. “The first lot of pivotal type casters was received from Messrs. R. P. Bannerman & Co. and after that some more machines were secured from Messrs. C. A. Wood & Co., London. Subsequently, these machines were copied in India, but no specific innovations were introduced.”

The specimen book is total fascination, and Mr. Modi assures me that “all the matrices are still in stock and therefore, I can cast the required types even if the same may not be in stock.”

Upon reviewing the Gujarati Type Book when visiting the Hill & Dale recently, Mac McGrew of Pittsburgh (who is wrapping up a project of many years, which will display, credit, and explain all 20th-century American hot-metal typefaces), mused that he might be able to get some still-missing specimens from Gujarati.

As Modi explains, all matrices are electro-deposited matrices, made by the foundry over the years since 1900 from types imported from the U.S. and other countries (England, principally).

The specimen book, which measures roughly 6×9 inches and contains about 600 un-numbered pages in hard binding, apparently was compiled and printed for the most part about 1927–28, for those dates most often appear in specimen pages.

Two- and three-color presentations are frequent, and the display of borders, background tints, and two-color types in practical application is extensive and quite well-done.

The only three faces I find in the book identified by their original names are Law Italic, Caslon Old Face, and DeVinne. Caslon Old Face, Mac McGrew assures me, is copied from Stephenson-Blake in England and thus, is the original design. Other faces have come from American Type Founders, Barnhart Brothers & Spindler, and many others are quite reminiscent of faces originated by the Bruce, Conners, and other early American foundries, especially some of the ornamented faces, three-dimensional faces, and “gay nineties” designs which appear crisp and very well reproduced.

The only items which bring the observer to realization that the foundry comes from a different culture is the presence of several pages of specimens for native Indian alphabets, Indian deity emblems, and obviously Indian names applied to foreign designs. Some examples:

Bodoni is Govind, Caslon Open is Ushakant, Cheltenham Oldstyle is Ranade, but Cheltenham Bold Condensed is Mahendra. Generally, only one weight of a series has been copied—the medium.

The foundry is, apparently, very much alive, and Mr. Modi indicates a strong willingness to supply types to those with special interests.

His current pricelist shows type at about 100 rupees per kilo. If my math is right, that’s about $2.20 per pound. Taxes, shipping and import duty would be additional (perhaps double the cost?).

(If you know anything about importing type, please share your information with us in the next Newsletter.)

As knowledge spreads of our revived interest in typecasting on a world-wide basis, it’s absolutely surprising what information is coming to light. We welcome Mr. Modi into our ever-growing fraternity of typecasters. 3

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A Hidden Meaning?

The cartoon found on this page was clipped from an unnamed publication and forwarded by Paul Duensing. Would it have been better had the player piano been putting out letters instead of music?

It does, however, bring to our attention the theory I have heard advanced before—that Tolbert Lanston, while working in the U.S. Patent Office, got his idea for the controller tape to run his Monotype after reviewing patent applications for the player piano.

Anyone ever research this idea? If you have, I would appreciate hearing from you. 3

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What Others Are Doing and Saying

Almost Abandoned His Intertype

We have moved to another location (five years ago) and I am now set up in a garage. And I still have the Linotype though I had toyed with abandoning it at the last place since I had to take out a wall of the garage to remove it. But now that it is here, I'm glad I brought it. I'm about determined to add some fonts of 10 and 12 bookfaces if I can find some nice classic romans, good for antique papers. Can you suggest any good sources currently for mats? Above I said Linotype-actually mine is an Intertype. Don't know why I persist in saying Linotype.

Monotype Setup in The Netherlands

Concerning my Monotype equipment, I can write to you that I own a composition caster, a super caster, a type-and-rule caster, and a keyboard. The collection of molds covers the whole range from 6 Didot points up to 72.

I have looked for Monotype equipment or spares throughout the whole country, being most of the time too late. But in spite of this, I have collected a large collection representative of the Dutch printing industry.

New Designs Slow to Pay Off in India

New (letter) designs in Gujerati in which we cast are not accepted as enthusiastically as expected. The printing presses situated in small towns or village areas insist on old or traditional-design type fonts. New designs pay costs in 10 years. I have prepared those type-designs in lead prototypes and electroplate matrices. It was self-service, so business was or did not affect at all.

In India, as I have written earlier, we, the type, founders, have enough work. The economic conditions will detain the growth of offset-process in India for at least 10 years.

Not Yet Casting, But He's Equipped!

I am not at the moment actually casting type, but am looking forward to trying it in the future. I do have the equipment, starting with hand molds, a Bruce pivotal caster, a Monotype Caster, a Thompson caster, and two Linotypes, and over 200 fonts of mats. I live with anticipation of getting this into my shop and out of storage.

Equipment is Available in Lancaster

I'd appreciate your giving the Lancaster Press a brief write up in the next ATF Newsletter as they are really nice people. They have eight Linotypes, a material maker, 1O Monotypes, type cabinets, proof presses, etc., ad infinitum, and they'd prefer that someone who could use the stuff get it rather than the junk man. George Stadler is the man to contact. They're located at Prince and Lemon Streets in downtown Lancaster, Pa. Phone (717) 394-7241.

Pioneer Hobbyist is Still Making Mats

I still am interested in typecasting, although not doing any of it for some time. If I live long enough, I may again have the caster running and come out with a little type now and then. For the present, I'm still quite busy making matrices for illustrious individuals like Paul Duensing.

Most of my later-day efforts were devoted to the revival of some of the better oldtime decorative faces which I found to be well-received by many of the hobby printers. This, of course, means that aside from having good type to start with, the necessary mats had to be made first, a lonely occupation back in the 195os with information hard to come by. I'm glad to see others getting into this interesting and fascinating art.

Error in ATF Article Corrected

Jotted a note to write you about No. 6 but stuck it in the folder instead of things to do. On page 3 "Duritan" should be "Duratin." Wouldn't mention it except I'm afraid the Newsletter will be used as a reference and the misspelling perpetuated:

Impressed by Report on Haas Foundry

My shop is a very small "public press" without casting equipment but with a_ good collection of foundry metal and hand presses for limited printing. For years I worked closely with Richard Ansell when he was deeply involved in importing European foundry type. If you would send him a copy of your latest issue describing the resurgence of the Haas foundry it might persuade him to get out of his doldrums and do something concrete about makihg foreign types again more available. I know ATF fell flat on their face in their meagre efforts. Yours is a very worthwhile cause. I wish you luck.

Wants to 'Ease Into' Monotype

Bill Murray of Americus, Ga., has telephoned indicating his interest in our group. A lawyer with a basement full of presses, he wants to ease into Monotype and would like to buy a caster, keyboard with accessories, and possibly a Thompson.

Hyden Sizemore's Death Revealed

Hyden passed away Feb. 6 of a heart attack. Thank you for sending the Newsletters to Hyden as I know he enjoyed reading them.

Hyden and his great knowledge of Monotype will be greatly missed.

Seeks a Source for Keyboard Paper

I am currently making plans to purchase some Monotype equipment in Dallas, including a giant caster, material maker, and a couple of 15x15 composition casters plus the keyboards, mats and mat cases. You mentioned having noticed s ome controller tape at your local Radio Shack store. Does this store still have any of this tape? Is Hartzell the only place that carries this particular kind of tape, or can it still be obtained from other sources?

Hartzell is your best bet, although they too are having troubles getting the stuff in the U.S. No, the Radio Shack does not have it. It was a "fluke"; the guy had only one lot and he has sold it now.

Quite a Letterpress Setup!

Note we've moved recently to our new location which is another mill building and allows us to accommodate three comp casters in service, a Thompson, a giant, and a material maker as well as a Meihle vertical press and a Vandercook 325G and a Hacker hand press and a Golding Pearl as well as our bindery... Our composition facility includes two keyboards in service. Some of our latest news includes the casting of Hebrew types, some progress toward casting Arabic and the composition of a book of poetry in Cryllic.

He's Searching for Mats in Australia

I now have two Monotype casters and a double keyboard, but in common with just about everyone else, I am very short on mats.

Is Lynda Subsidizing ATF-NL?

We send you a five so that you'll continue the ATF-NL (sounds like a football playoff). We do think you should consider your costs more and charge at least $2.50 per issue. Think about it. Being unique—one of the kind in format, content and design, and being of such high quality, the Newsletter should be worth more. Is Lynds subsidizing you?

Yes, to a very large extent she is.

Information Needed on Charles Broad

I am presently researching the activities of Mr. Charles Broad. After writing a descriptive history of his business and the antique type he cast, I will print a limited edition book in the new book arts studio I have set up here at Arizona State University in the School of Art. I know that Mr. Broad had contacts with thousands of private, hobby, and small printers and I would greatly appreciate any information you have regarding him or his business or his types.

English Linotype Supplier 'Thriving'

What is even more interesting is that we are still producing hot metal machines, both new and reconstructed, and these are sold in our traditional markets of Africa, the Middle East and India. There are still some thousands of machines spread throughout Europe earning their keep at the hands of small printers. Behind all this, of course, is an enthusiastic band of people who love the Linotype linecasting machine...

We have a very thriving business not only with spares but also with matrices and we have punchcutting facilities which enable us to produce matrices for almost any face.

Unfortunately, because the production of special punches or matrices is labor-intensive, they tend to be expensive. But it is a service which we might offer to any of your members should occasion arise and certainly we will always make an attempt at the production of the impossible before we admit defeat.

Almost Bought a Thompson

The Newsletters have been great. The "ads" in the last one were a good addition. I'm still not even close to typefounding, but am very interested in what other people are doing. The closest I came was trying to buy a Thompson which the company would not sell.

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The Hansestadt Letterfoundry

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Sterling Type Foundry Prop Dies; STF to Close

As this edition of the Newsletter was being put to bed, word arrived of the death of Frank Sassaman, proprietor of the Sterling Type Foundry in Charlotte, Mich. The announcement was forwarded by Paul Duensing, who said Frank died peacefully in his sleep while on a hunting trip Nov. 14, 1982.

Born in 1904, Sassaman purchased from a cousin, Oliver E. McLaughlin, the foundry which was established in 1920. The foundry will cease operations although current orders will be filled as long as shelf stock lasts. "Frank Sassaman was a good man, an accomplished typefounder and a fine friend. The printing fraternity will be poorer without him and I shall miss him long and greatly," Duensing said. 3

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On Keeping Old Machines Alive

What do John Thompson, J. W. Paige, Tolbert Lanston and Ottmar Mergenthaler have in common?

All contrived inventions which affected the printing industry. By discussing their work, perhaps it will be better understood why it is so important for us to preserve the working technology of an era which has rapidly disappeared.

I, obviously, am a Monotype aficionado, and even after 11 years of operating a machine, when everything is working properly, I still am mesmerized by the genius of the operation.

The static, disconnected machines in my garage are of very little interest to the uninitiated visitor to the Hill & Dale. But turn on the power, the heat and the air and watch that same visitor become entranced by a working machine.

At a distance it is captivating. But the closer you get, the more detailed and fascinating the numerous moving parts become. As the mold and mat case are closely examined, a far greater appreciation is gained for the perfect little types marching forth into lines in the galley.

It is this attraction which draws me to the Monotype. But what about other machines? When I was teaching, I often alluded to J. W. Paige's machine as an example of "failure" and I always mentioned financial involvement on the part of Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain). Yet the Paige typesetter remained for me only a mass of cold steel in a not-too-good photograph. Nearly all the understanding I had of the machine was gained from quotes from a report on the Paige Compositor in History of Composing Machines by John Thompson, inventor of the Thompson typecaster.

First Thompson praised the machine by saying "Perhaps the most wonderful typesetting machine ever invented was the Paige Compositor, the product of the brain of James W. Paige, of Rochester, N . Y."

But other damning bits of misinformation were proffered: "Before the first Paige machine was constructed, the promoters had spent $1,300,000. Probably another million was expended before the end came.

"The (patent) application was filed in 1887 and was pending eight years, mainly owing to the work of examination by the Patent Office. One of the examiners died while the case was pending, another died insane, while the patent attorney who originally prepared the case also died in an insane asylum."

Contrast the comments above to that of Samuel Clemens upon seeing it in operation about 1890 "We only need one more thing: a phonograph on the distributor to yell, 'where the hell is the printer's devil. I want more type.'"

Now these conflicting statements have been cleared up in my mind thanks to an excellent book recently re-issued by the Garland Publishing Co., New York: Typographical Printing Surfaces, by Legros and Grant, first printed in 1916 and acknowledged as a most excellent reference on the state of the art as of that date.

A lengthy article therein concerns the Paige machine and the article makes it obvious that Thompson was off base or just misinformed when he wrote his report.

Did it ever work? It did indeed!

In September, 1894, it was erected in the offices of the Chicago Herald for a 6o-day test. "During the test two or three radical changes were necessary, but even in the face of this handicap the Paige Compositor, with all its delays counted against it, delivered more corrected live matter to the imposing stone, ready for the forms, per operator employed, than any one of the 32 Linotype machines which were in operation in the same composing department, although the latter had had several years' use on newspaper work. This record may fairly claim never to have been equaled by any composing machine on its maiden trial."

It composed type, it justified lines, and it distributed type simultaneously. The keyboard allowed single strokes for syllables and sometimes full words and afforded speeds of up to 12,000 ems per hour in justified lines of type. The distributor would throw out battered or ink-caked letters, and upside-down letters.

There were thousands of moving parts. It weighed 5,000-pounds. It was 11 feet long, 3½ feet wide, and 6 feet high. Yet:

"The power required was transmitted through a ½-inch round belt to a grooved pulley 14 inches in diameter; it consumed about one-fourth to one-third horsepower. It could be started and turned up to speed with one finger at a 7-inch leverage."

A description of the machine published by Mergenthaler Linotype Co. made this incredible statement: “It is not a mere typesetting machine. It is a compositor in the truest sense of the word, as it performs simultaneously all the work of human compositor.”

Its failure was more a matter of timing than anything else. The numerous delays caused for various reasons allowed Ottmar Mergenthaler’s Linotype to get a tremendous head start in the marketplace. Viewing the situation after the Chicago Herald success, backers of the machine concluded that the Mergenthaler machine’s lower cost and great jump on the Paige would be two obstacles too difficult to overcome. Those were the primary reasons for abandoning the project.

The patent attorney Thompson reported to have died insane wrote his impressions of the Paige machine in 1913 in a letter to Legros and Grant:

“This extraordinary creation was both a triumph and a tragedy... I have tried to dismiss prejudice and to measure its merits with those of great inventors of the world, and as an automatic device, considering the character of the varying problems solved by it, I am of the opinion that it is the greatest thing of the kind that has been accomplished in all of the ages... It was an intellectual miracle and its relation to men, as indicating the creative power of mind, is a suggestive verification of the prophecy ‘they shall become as Gods.’”

Doesn’t sound insane or dead, does he?

Legros and Grant continue: “According to C. E. Davis, who was closely associated with the matter and who examined the accounts, the total expenditure did not exceed $1 million. Davis believes that about $800,000 represents the actual expenditure on the engineering, experimental work, production and patent work for all the Paige machines manufactured.”

The full written report in Legros and Grant brings the Paige machine to life in an enticing way. I’d love to see it operate, yet I know the machines remaining (there are two, I believe) are static museum pieces—strictly "hands off."

The report on Monotype in Legros and Grant also is interesting, yet far less involved. It is massively inadequate when compared with seeing a machine in action.

The history of type casting and typecasting machines is flat and totally dead when the various machines—the results of millions of hours of human endeavor—all fall silent. Both the machines and knowledge of their operation must be preserved.

Going through a very modern printing plant a couple of years ago, the typesetting manager told me: “We really have a high-powered computerized typesetting system here. But invariably people touring the plant are drawn to the few Linotypes we still have running. We can’t get them to leave once they’ve caught sight of the machines operating.”

There’s no better reason than this for us to continue to pursue our lively interest in typecasting. Our printing heritage will be richer in the years to come because of the efforts we’re making right now. So let’s keep the machines alive and running! 3

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GAM Features Tom Lyons’ Shop

Did you see Dan Solo’s piece on Tom Lyons’ shop in Graphic Arts Monthly? The headline (May, 1981 issue) reads “Tom Lyons has over 3,000 typefaces and endless antique bric-a-brac in his unique New England storefront shop.” Interesting reading for us all. 3

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Printers' Composition Matrix

Members, Activists, Followers, Enthusiasts, Sidewalk Engineers: This is to notify you that The Printer's Composition Matrix is ready to go into type and onto paper, if you make it possible! This treatise will be of vital historical interest to all people who use matrices to cast and set type. Our friend Rich Hopkins has made a start in this direction on page 18 of ATF Newsletter Feb. 1982. So—publication depends on your response. The more the merrier to keep costs down! I am a printer of over 55 years experience, and type casting and setting has been my strongest working feature. Now, please subscribe to The Printer's Composition Matrix.

At this mailing the cost of this book has not been determined. We are aiming at an edition of at least 500 books. Your encouragement on this project is urgently requested and as soon as we have enough promises to buy an approximate cost will be sent to you. Please send your letters to Richard E. Huss, 15 Meadia Ave., Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17602, U.S.A., or to Richard L. Hopkins, P.O. Box 263, Terra Alta, West Virginia 26764, U.S.A. 3

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Moving a Caster Isn't an Impossible Task

Many would-be enthusiasts work on the assumption that it takes a crew of hefty men to move a Monotype caster and therefore, they shy away from acquiring a machine. Also, they assume that wide doors everywhere are necessary to get a machine into a garage or basement. Not so.

With a hydraulic tailgate, three people can handle a machine. With a ramp setup, you’re better off with four. But once the machine is on the floor, one person can take it from there. If you’ve got a 35-inch opening, you can strip your caster so it can be moved in.

Going down a stairwell is virtually prohibitive. Even one or two steps are major obstacles. If you can off-load onto a garage or basement floor, your problems are kept to a minimum.

Machine setup in a garage, it should be noted, is not advisable if the garage is below grade and thus, is damp in the summertime. Composition casters, keyboards, and especially key bars don’t get along well with moisture, so you would be better off moving your caster into the basement where you can keep the room tightly closed with a dehumidifier running all the time when the machine is not in use. (Obviously, ventilation is mandatory when the caster is fired up!)

To move into the basement, you may have to go through a doorway and this may necessitate stripping the machine to fit the opening. There are two ways:

The hard way is to strip off all the front mechanism such as galley, line delivery, galley trip cam, main flywheel and associated stuff. This means getting gears out of synchronization, adjustments screwed up, and so forth. The only advantage: no detached part is too heavy for one person to lift easily.

The easy way is to strip off the complete pot assembly and the under-structure that holds the galley. All this is accomplished by removing eight screws and two cotter pins. The only drawback is the matter of handling the pot once detached from the machine.

Practical advice: Empty the pot before detaching. A full pot is awfully heavy. An empty pot still is too heavy for a person to handle alone. More advice: Buy or borrow an impact screwdriver with a wide blade and a long shaft. The screws which hold the pot to the machine never want to come out easily. Finally, have someone help you lift off (and later reposition) the pot. The entire pump operating mechanism is connected to the machine by an arm which can be reached from the back of the machine. Remove two cotter pins and the arm is detached. Then the pot can be removed.

If there’s a motor attached to the machine base under the pot, it too will need to be removed. And if you’re moving a sorts caster (Orphan Annie), you’ll have to remove one gearbox (four screws) on the opposite (left) side to clear a 35-inch doorway. You’ll have to do a lot more stripping if the door is narrower. It would be possible to tear down a caster to the width of its base and go through a 26-inch opening but that’s drastic medicine. My advice is don’t remove anything you don’t have to.

Moving the machine, once it’s on the floor, can be done by one person if you’re patient, have several lengths of ¾-inch pipe and a good crowbar. That is, moving a machine across a flat floor or through a doorway with no floor-level obstructions.

A word of caution on transporting a Monotype. Be there when it’s done and insist that all persons involved know they should get handholds on solid pieces, not fragile things sticking out here and there. Bent or broken pieces are easily avoided with a bit of caution. Also, be aware that the machine is top heavy and will topple easily in transit or when off-loading.

(And a final note: The aluminum ramp with a U-Haul truck is not strong enough to hold a Mono plus the people moving it. It will work only if you underpin it with a couple of 4×4 timbers propped up by cinder blocks top and bottom.)

I have personally U-Hauled two machines now, and know it can be done without damage or tragedy, providing caution and common sense are applied. Where there’s a will, there’s a way to be a typecaster—so get moving! 3

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A Pro Will 'Beat the Book' Every Time

Paul Duensing of Vicksburg, Mich., Roy Rice of Atlanta, Ga., and Jack Murphy of Elyria, Ohio, all have commented on the invaluable help they have received from professional and retired Monotype operators living in their areas. Help both with first instruction and with troubleshooting once the machine is running.

Understanding just what that meant was a little difficult for me, however, because being isolated in the hills of West Virginia, finding another person with any knowledge of Monotype never happened.

As I have explained at past ATF conferences, every bit of my Monotype knowledge has been gleaned from the various manuals—plus a huge portion of trial and error. I ran my comp caster three months before I found the galley trip—and that’s only one example of the problems this unguided neophyte has had.

But the real value of “help” still evaded me—that is, until Herb Czarnowsky, the Volker brothers (Tom and Bob), and Rich Worch, all from Baltimore and formerly with Baltimore Type Founders, visited this spring to pick up a Thompson caster.

I was “loaded for bear.” I had my caster fired up and had my head stuffed with questions to ask.

“It’s rather disgusting to have fought a problem for months with no success and then have a guy simply turn the machine one revolution, immediately pinpoint the problem, and solve it with a twist of a wrench. Certainly my experiences over the last 11 years put me ahead of the rank beginner, but the short time I had with these men proved I have a lot yet to learn.

Never in my life did I learn so much in such a short time. If you have cooperative professionals in your area, by all means, take advantage of their knowledge!” 3

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Mail-Order Mat Cases

Since type cases have been such a rage for so long in "flea markets" and crafts shops across the country, I guess it was only a matter of time before the Monotype matrix case becomes a "collector's item." Here is the ad hype from a catalog order house in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.:

"Antique printing case. This Monotype mat case was a mold for making lead printing type. The 225 tiny brass squares have letter and symbols engraved. Mats are dated 1894-1914. Mounted on 4-inch wood bases, they make one-of-a-kind trivets, paperweights, wall hangings for book lovers, historians. $29.95." 3

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Hartzell Will No Longer Make Matrices
80-Year Commercial Manufacturing Era Coming to End

The end to over 80 years of commercial Monotype matrix manufacture in the United States was announced in September by the Hartzell Machine Works, Inc., successor to Lanston Monotype Co.

G. Richard Hartzell, president, told of his intention to discontinue manufacturing operations because of a continuing low volume of orders for the product—cellular composition matrices for use with the Monotype composition caster.

Hartzell already has disposed of a very significant lot of Monotype machines and accessories in clearing out a warehouse nearby; floor space in his main building, now occupied by matrix-making paraphernalia, must be moved soon to make room for general machining equipment. As the commercial Monotype market has dried up in recent years, the company has been forced into diverse fields to survive.

It is fortunate that Dick Hartzell knows and u nderstands the heritage represented by the matrix-making facilities he acquired from American Type Founders in 1975.

“It is our desire to move it as a unit, even though a higher monetary figure could be realized by breaking it down,” he explains.

“With this equipment, it is possible, with proper instruction, to either pull from stock (if available) or manufacture matrices 6 point through 12 point of most type series listed in the American Lanston type specimen book, plus borders, ornaments, special signs, math fractions, etc.”

The collection includes over 63,300 3×3 inch and 5½×5½-inch brass patterns, 338,000 .2×.2 punches, 300,000 mathematical cut cards, 350,000 matrices already manufactured, and over 20 precision specialized machines and devices designed for the manufacture of Monotype matrices.

Upon hearing of Hartzell’s plans, I felt compelled to see the setup while still running and made a whirlwind visit Nov. 19 for that purpose. I was amazed on two counts: First, I was struck by the large volume of material in the matrix-making facility and its excellent organization; second, I was most impressed with Hartzell’s deep involvement (in years past) in the actual manufacture of numerous parts and components to the Monotype—and, indeed, complete re-manufacture of the machine.

Hartzell retains a surprisingly large volume of parts in inventory, most parts having been made in the Hartzell plant. The company will retain its mold rebuilding capability and will provide parts from inventory while the existing supply lasts. Users are encouraged to ask about the parts they need, for it is likely the parts needed are in stock.

Hartzell Machine Works was founded in 1937 by Maurice H. Hartzell, Dick’s father. Maurice worked in the Lanston Monotype factory in Philadelphia in the 1920s, later becoming a Monotype operator and machinist at the Chester (Pa.) Times. He set up for repairing and rebuilding molds in his own garage, and slowly built a business which grew to significance and, indeed, out-performed and outlasted the Lanston company itself.

All Lanston matrix-making facilities were bought by American Type Founders in 1969 when Lanston was liquidated. In 1975, when ATF decided to quit making Monotype matrices, Hartzell purchased equipment for making cellular mats from ATF and moved it to Twin Oaks, Pa., where the firm has made matrices to the present time.

(Patterns and equipment for making display matrices were not acquired by Hartzell; ATF retained the patterns but disposed of the equipment.)

The amazing fact is that everything still remains in a very well-organized, systematic state, despite the moves and changes in ownership. The system begun by Lanston is the one still used.

All patterns and most matrices already manufactured are housed in a 35-foot trailer next to the Hartzell building. Reference cards, records, all punches, and equipment are in the building itself.

One can tell at a glance the use rate and history of many letters by checking their “mathematical card”—a card which closey details alignment information and lists precise decimal dimensions for all strokes and serifs involved in the letter. These figures are used to check each matrix for accuracy after it is made.

On the back side of each card—there are over 300,000 of them on file—is a record of how many punches have been made and when. It’s not unusual for entries to go back to the early 1900s.

The Lanston collection represents millions of hours of original design work, and a precise technology which helped change the world. The forward march of technology has rendered it unprofitable today, yet it’s horrifying to think that such a national treasure might have to be broken up or disposed of as junk.

On the other hand, Hartzell must put valuable floor space in his plant to active use if his firm is to survive.

Should you have ideas for solving this dilemma, call me—or Dick Hartzell—immediately. Time is running out and our organization is challenged to find a way to save this invaluable collection and manufacturing process. 3

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Classified Listings

Four brand new 15×17 .050 drive English side-hole fonts Univers with cap, lowercase, accents, wedges. No matrix cases. $100. 10D and 12D 687, 12D 691 and 12D 696. Abe Horowitz, 2850 Ocean Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y. 11235.

We still make leads and slugs, 1-pt. leads, Elrod rule in 10 and 25-pound packages ready for shipment. Printers Rule & Slug Co., 1248 South Ashland Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60608.

Wanted: Photo Lathe or Scan-a-graver by Fairchild for letterpress halftones. Dan Testa, 390 Lincoln Ave., Newark, N.J. 07104.

Linotype mats wanted. Interested in acquiring any of the typographical refinement logo mats such as: Tr, Tu, Ty, Va, Ve, Vo, Wo, Ye, fa, fo, f,, ffe, ffr, f., fi, ct, st and any others for 11-point Caslon Old Face 12 pt. 236. Also interested in learning of any potential sources for the above. Fred C. Williams, 24667 Heather Courte, Hayward, Calif. 94545. Phone (415) 782-3674.

Hot-type composition. Linotype and display Monotype. Send your job for lower-than-cold-type price. Copyfire, 441 W. 11th St., Indianapolis, Ind. 46202.

Sale. Many Lino fonts, parts, supplies. Also Mono molds (new). Fred Sholty, 441 W. 11th St., Indianapolis, Ind. 46202.

For sale: Rouse Panameric hand miterer. Brand new, never used. Any reasonable offer. Leonard Sandick, 350 65th St., Apt. 14-P, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11220.

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