Linotype Composing Machine, circa 1923
Add to SetSummary
Invented by Ottmar Mergenthaler in 1886, the Linotype machine revolutionized the printing industry. Instead of setting individual pieces of type by hand, printers operated the Linotype's keyboard to assemble a mould of an entire line of type. The machine then cast the entire line in type metal and printers assembled individual lines of type into full pages.
Invented by Ottmar Mergenthaler in 1886, the Linotype machine revolutionized the printing industry. Instead of setting individual pieces of type by hand, printers operated the Linotype's keyboard to assemble a mould of an entire line of type. The machine then cast the entire line in type metal and printers assembled individual lines of type into full pages.
Artifact
Composing machine
Date Made
circa 1923
Creators
Place of Creation
United States, New York, New York
Creator Notes
Made by Mergentahler Linotype Company in New York, New York.
Location
Not on exhibit to the public.
Object ID
78.72.1
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Material
Cast iron
Dimensions
Height: 84 in
Width: 60 in
Diameter: 59 in
Inscriptions
metal plate on front: LINOTYPE / MODEL 8 NO 33683 / MANUFACTURED BY MERGENTHALER LINOTYPE CO / NEW YORK, U.S.A. / ORIGINATORS AND IMPROVERS OF THE LINOTYPE metal plate at top: TRADE / LINOTYPE / MARK