Ottmar Mergenthaler and the Printing Revolution

Brooklyn, NY: Mergenthaler Linotype Company. Very Good+ with no dust jacket. 1954. Hardcover. Roll to the lower half of the spine, yet all board edges are parallel and properly aligned.; This book commemorates the 100th birthday of Ottmar Mergenthaler, inventor of the Linotype, a hot metal typesetting system that cast type in lines or slugs instead of individual characters. Linotype steadily replaced hand setting for newspapers, magazines, books, cards, etc. as it shortened the time required for compostion. This revolutionized daily newspaper production which was previously limited by the small number of pages that could be typeset per day. An Introduction by Lin Yutang briefly outlines the history of printing, throughout the world, that led to the need for and design of the Linotype. The main text is a chronology of printing methods, comprised of three sections: I. The Printing Industry Undergoes a Revolution. II. The Effort to Speed Up Typesetting. III. Ottmar Mergenthaler Invents the Linotype. Section initials in red. Numerous cuts of historic printing presses in blue line drawings. A color portrait of Ottmar Mergenthaler is laid down as a frontispiece. With a laid in "with the compliments of" card of Martin M. Reed, President of Merigenthaler Linotype Company at the date of publication. With the ownership signature of Ruth L. Hewitt. Bound in quarter parchment with parchment over boards. Gilt title to spine and the front cover has a gilt illustration of an early Linotype machine. Book made by Mainzer Verlagsanstalt und Druckerei Will und Rothe K G, Mainz. Very Good+ for the roll to the bottom half of the spine, else Near Fine.; Large 8vo 9" - 10" tall; 63 pages .