Museum of Printing

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Museum of Printing
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Classic small printshop typebed setup
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Location within Massachusetts Essex County
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Museum of Printing (Massachusetts)
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Museum of Printing (the United States)
Established1978
Location Haverhill, Massachusetts, US
TypeHistory of technology
Executive directorFrank Romano [1]
Website www.museumofprinting.org

The Museum of Printing (MoP), [2] located in Haverhill, Massachusetts, is a museum dedicated to preserving the history of printing technologies and practices, the graphic arts, and their role in the development of culture and literacy. [1]

Contents

History

In 1978, a group of New England printers and publishers mobilized to preserve hot metal typesetting equipment which was being replaced by the Boston Globe newspaper. [3] For the first 18 years, the growing collection was dispersed in various warehouses and spaces inaccessible to the public. In 1997, some of the collection was first opened to view in space formerly occupied by the Textile Museum in North Andover, Massachusetts. In 2016, Rochester Institute of Technology Professor Emeritus Frank Romano acquired and donated a former electrical supplies building in Haverhill, Massachusetts to house the museum. [3] [2]

The core of the collection was contributed by Romano, who spent his career in the development of the modern printing business. He contributed 6,000 books from his personal library, plus many classic machines, including early Macintosh desktop publishing computers contributed by Steve Jobs. [2]

The typewriter collection has been the setting and facilitator of at least one successful marriage proposal, in 2020. [4]

Collection

The displays include a number of historic machines and related artifacts: [5]

There is an extensive library of 7,000 books, periodicals, and media related to the history of paper and printing. [6] [3]

Programs

Operation of classic printing equipment is demonstrated, as well as exhibitions and hands-on workshops by artists who use printing technologies. [7] [2] In 2018, the museum celebrated a "QWERTY" Festival, featuring typewriters and their history and culture. [8]

There are art galleries, meeting spaces, and a museum store on premises. The store offers books, souvenirs, and classic printing artifacts. [1]

Related Research Articles

Mimeograph Type of duplicating machine

A mimeograph machine is a low-cost duplicating machine that works by forcing ink through a stencil onto paper. The process is called mimeography, and a copy made by the process is a mimeograph.

Typewriter (Electro-)mechanical writing machines, since 1874

A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an inked ribbon selectively against the paper with a type element. At the end of the nineteenth century, the term 'typewriter' was also applied to a person who used such a device.

The Mergenthaler Linotype Company is a corporation founded in the United States in 1886 to market the Linotype machine, a system to cast metal type in lines (linecaster) invented by Ottmar Mergenthaler. It became the world's leading manufacturer of book and newspaper typesetting equipment; outside North America, its only serious challenger for book typesetting was the Anglo-American Monotype Corporation. Starting in 1960, the Mergenthaler Linotype Company became a major supplier of phototypesetting equipment which included laser typesetters, typefonts, scanners, typesetting computers. In 1987, the US-based Mergenthaler Linotype Company became part of the German Linotype-Hell AG; in the US the company name changed to Linotype Co. In 1996, the German Linotype-Hell AG was taken over by the German printing machine company Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG. A separate business, Linotype Library GMbH was established to manage the digital assets. In 2005, Linotype Library GmbH shortened its name to Linotype GmbH, and in 2007, Linotype GmbH was acquired by Monotype Imaging Holdings, Inc., the parent of Monotype Imaging, Inc. and others.

In writing, a space is a blank area that separates words, sentences, syllables and other written or printed glyphs (characters). Conventions for spacing vary among languages, and in some languages the spacing rules are complex. Inter-word spaces ease the reader's task of identifying words, and avoid outright ambiguities such as "now here" vs. "nowhere". They also provide convenient guides for where a human or program may start new lines.

Typesetting Composition of text by means of arranging physical types or digital equivalents

Typesetting is the composition of text by means of arranging physical type or its digital equivalents. Stored letters and other symbols are retrieved and ordered according to a language's orthography for visual display. Typesetting requires one or more fonts. One significant effect of typesetting was that authorship of works could be spotted more easily, making it difficult for copiers who have not gained permission.

Matthew Carter British type designer

Matthew Carter is a British type designer. A 2005 New Yorker profile described him as 'the most widely read man in the world' by considering the amount of text set in his commonly used fonts.

Letterpress printing Technique of relief printing using a printing press

Letterpress printing is a technique of relief printing. Using a printing press, the process allows many copies to be produced by repeated direct impression of an inked, raised surface against sheets or a continuous roll of paper. A worker composes and locks movable type into the "bed" or "chase" of a press, inks it, and presses paper against it to transfer the ink from the type, which creates an impression on the paper.

Phototypesetting Photographical analog method for text composition

Phototypesetting is a method of setting type, rendered obsolete with the popularity of the personal computer and desktop publishing software, that uses a photographic process to generate columns of type on a scroll of photographic paper.

Friden Flexowriter Teleprinter

The Friden Flexowriter was a teleprinter, a heavy-duty electric typewriter capable of being driven not only by a human typing, but also automatically by several methods, including direct attachment to a computer and by use of paper tape.

Monotype Imaging American typesetting and typeface design company founded in 1887

Monotype Imaging Holdings Inc., founded as Lanston Monotype Machine Company in 1887 in Philadelphia by Tolbert Lanston, is an American company that specializes in digital typesetting and typeface design for use with consumer electronics devices. Incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in Woburn, Massachusetts, the company has been responsible for many developments in printing technology—in particular the Monotype machine, which was a fully mechanical hotmetal typesetter, that produced texts automatically, all single type. Monotype was involved in the design and production of many typefaces in the 20th century. Monotype developed many of the most widely used typeface designs, including Times New Roman, Gill Sans, Arial, Bembo and Albertus.

Hot metal typesetting Mechanical analog method for text composition

In printing and typography, hot metal typesetting is a technology for typesetting text in letterpress printing. This method injects molten type metal into a mold that has the shape of one or more glyphs. The resulting sorts or slugs are later used to press ink onto paper. Normally the typecasting machine would be controlled by a keyboard or by a paper tape.

Ludlow Typograph

A Ludlow Typograph is a hot metal typesetting system used in letterpress printing. The device casts bars, or slugs of type, out of type metal primarily consisting of lead. These slugs are used for the actual printing, and then are melted down and recycled on the spot. It was used to print large-type material such as newspaper headlines or posters.

Sabon Serif typeface

Sabon is an old-style serif typeface designed by the German-born typographer and designer Jan Tschichold (1902–1974) in the period 1964–1967. It was released jointly by the Linotype, Monotype, and Stempel type foundries in 1967. The design of the roman is based on types by Claude Garamond, particularly a specimen printed by the Frankfurt printer Konrad Berner. Berner had married the widow of a fellow printer Jacques Sabon, the source of the face's name, who had bought some of Garamond's type after his death. The italics are based on types designed by a contemporary of Garamond's, Robert Granjon. It is effectively a Garamond revival, though a different name was chosen as many other modern typefaces already carry this name.

Columbian press

The Columbian press is a type of hand-operated printing press invented in the United States by George Clymer, around 1813. Made from cast iron, it was a very successful design and many thousands were made during the 19th century. They continued to be made as late as the early-20th century, 90 years after their introduction. Some are still used for printing, despite their age.

Compugraphic Corporation, commonly called cg, was an American producer of typesetting systems and phototypesetting equipment, based in Wilmington, Massachusetts, just a few miles from where it was founded. This company is distinct from Compugraphics, a British company founded 1967 in Aldershot, UK that specializes in the production of photomasks used in the production of integrated circuits. In 1987, it was acquired by European competitor Agfa-Gevaert, and its products and processes merged into those of Agfa. By 1988, the merger was complete and the Compugraphic brand was removed from the market.

Grabhorn Institute

The Grabhorn Institute is a nonprofit organization formed in October 2000 for the purpose of preserving and continuing the operation of one of the last integrated facilities for typefounding, letterpress printing, and bookbinding in the fine press tradition, as a living museum and educational and cultural center. It is named in honor of the brothers Edwin and Robert Grabhorn, who established the Grabhorn Press in San Francisco in 1920. The press was "one of the foremost producers of finely printed books in twentieth-century America." The Grabhorn Press Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in San Francisco, California.

James O. Clephane American businessman

James Ogilvie Clephane was an American inventor, bar-admitted court reporter and venture capitalist in Washington, D.C. and New York City. He was involved in improving, promoting and supporting several inventions during the Gilded Age, including the typewriter, the graphophone, and the linotype machine. He has been called the "father of the linotype machine", and the development of mechanical typesetting, including the first typewriter was largely due to his initiative and investment.

Ben Lane Print Shop

The Ben Lane Print Shop is a demonstration site at Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont, in the United States.

History of sentence spacing Evolution of sentence spacing conventions from the introduction of movable type in Europe

The history of sentence spacing is the evolution of sentence spacing conventions from the introduction of movable type in Europe by Johannes Gutenberg to the present day.

The GSI C/A/T is a phototypesetter developed by Graphic Systems in 1972. This phototypesetter, along with troff software for UNIX, revolutionized the typesetting and document printing industry. Phototypesetting is most often used with offset printing technology.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "About the Museum of Printing". Museum of Printing. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Sullivan, James (March 17, 2017). "A place in Haverhill to hold the presses". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Romano, Frank (July 9, 2019). "An introduction to the Museum of Printing, Haverhill, Massachusetts". Association of European Printing Museums. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  4. Sorensen, Meghan (August 28, 2020). "'Print is alive, and so is love:' How the old art of typography led to happily ever after". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  5. "The Museum Collection". Museum of Printing. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  6. "Libraries". Museum of Printing. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  7. "News and Events". Museum of Printing. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  8. Hughes, Morgan (July 26, 2018). "Q-W-E-R-T-Y: Discover its origins at printing museum". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2022-03-02.

Coordinates: 42°46′22.01″N71°7′15.31″W / 42.7727806°N 71.1209194°W / 42.7727806; -71.1209194