Linotype matrix assembler,

Linotype matrix assembler,

ca. 1925.

Gift of Samuel F. “Bill” Royall Jr.

In 1884, Ottmar Mergenthaler patented technology that allowed text to be cast line by line instead of letter by letter, and a machine was introduced in the office of the New-York Tribune in 1886. RBS’s teaching collection includes several internal components of a Linotype machine. Shown here is the matrix assembler. The brass matrices were put into position for casting by using a keyboard resembling a typewriter. The text was set into justified lines, with each full line of text then cast in hot metal, creating a solid metal line of type (as the “Linotype” name suggests).

From the collection of Rare Book School