The Printing Stewards
@printingstewards.bsky.social
Preserving the metal type casting tradition. Current focus is Greg Walters' legacy, and the American Type Founders Company.
@fritzswanson.bsky.social
@bowerbox.com
Erin Beckloff
https://printingstewards.org/
https://www.patreon.com/c/theprintingstewards
@fritzswanson.bsky.social
@bowerbox.com
Erin Beckloff
https://printingstewards.org/
https://www.patreon.com/c/theprintingstewards
To really give you a sense of the progress we have made at the foundry, I have posted a short tour of our work area on Patreon. We've got five machines on deck, and the space around them to do our work.
www.patreon.com/posts/stewar...
www.patreon.com/posts/stewar...
June 4, 2025 at 7:52 PM
To really give you a sense of the progress we have made at the foundry, I have posted a short tour of our work area on Patreon. We've got five machines on deck, and the space around them to do our work.
www.patreon.com/posts/stewar...
www.patreon.com/posts/stewar...
We have 16 casters from ATF, and 3 are on a clear restoration track. This Saturday we cleared even more space around the machines so that we can actively work on them. I just sent a project management email this morning to establish our repair timelines. $3/month helps all this happen faster.
June 2, 2025 at 2:54 PM
We have 16 casters from ATF, and 3 are on a clear restoration track. This Saturday we cleared even more space around the machines so that we can actively work on them. I just sent a project management email this morning to establish our repair timelines. $3/month helps all this happen faster.
Metal type has a body which supports the face. The face is driven into a brass matrix which sits as a die at the head of a body mold. This allows the castor to adjust the width of the body, and the position of the face on the body. A "kern" or overhang is one consequence of this design.
May 1, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Metal type has a body which supports the face. The face is driven into a brass matrix which sits as a die at the head of a body mold. This allows the castor to adjust the width of the body, and the position of the face on the body. A "kern" or overhang is one consequence of this design.
Ours is a story which starts with the earliest American printers. As each foundry passed down to the next generation, though they might change their name, the chain of history is clear. Each foundry is the successor and inheritor of the foundry which preceded it. We are the last in the line.
April 27, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Ours is a story which starts with the earliest American printers. As each foundry passed down to the next generation, though they might change their name, the chain of history is clear. Each foundry is the successor and inheritor of the foundry which preceded it. We are the last in the line.
The Printing Steward Board (Jody Harnish, @fritzswanson.bsky.social , @bowerbox.com and Erin Beckloff) are here to lead the design and printing community in the work of preserving and reviving what remains of The American Type Founders Company. From Franklin and Sauer down to you and me.
April 27, 2025 at 11:23 PM
The Printing Steward Board (Jody Harnish, @fritzswanson.bsky.social , @bowerbox.com and Erin Beckloff) are here to lead the design and printing community in the work of preserving and reviving what remains of The American Type Founders Company. From Franklin and Sauer down to you and me.
ATF smashed apart in 1993, and the pieces are scattered across many university and museum collections. But there are only two complete production lines left in the world, where matrices, machines and engravers are gathered together. Only one in America. The Printing Stewards are like a banked ember.
April 27, 2025 at 11:23 PM
ATF smashed apart in 1993, and the pieces are scattered across many university and museum collections. But there are only two complete production lines left in the world, where matrices, machines and engravers are gathered together. Only one in America. The Printing Stewards are like a banked ember.
In 1993, ATF went bankrupt. Most of it went to scrap dealers, but Theo and another man, Greg Walters, saved several whole productions lines. Theo and Greg saved thousands of matrices, Barth casters, Benton engravers, and more rare and essential machines. printingstewards.org/ATAUCTION.html
April 27, 2025 at 11:23 PM
In 1993, ATF went bankrupt. Most of it went to scrap dealers, but Theo and another man, Greg Walters, saved several whole productions lines. Theo and Greg saved thousands of matrices, Barth casters, Benton engravers, and more rare and essential machines. printingstewards.org/ATAUCTION.html
The American Type Founders had amassed a huge collection of machines, matrices, and design heritage under one roof, but once offset printing took hold after World War II, letterpress printing itself went into precipitous decline. ATF released its last new metal type face, Americana, in 1966.
April 27, 2025 at 11:22 PM
The American Type Founders had amassed a huge collection of machines, matrices, and design heritage under one roof, but once offset printing took hold after World War II, letterpress printing itself went into precipitous decline. ATF released its last new metal type face, Americana, in 1966.
ATF operated from 1892 until 1993, and much of its existence was turmoil. The Linotype took away body type, and the Ludlow took away titling type. ATF responded with constant design innovation. Typographic diversity grows out of economic panic.
April 27, 2025 at 11:22 PM
ATF operated from 1892 until 1993, and much of its existence was turmoil. The Linotype took away body type, and the Ludlow took away titling type. ATF responded with constant design innovation. Typographic diversity grows out of economic panic.
By the end of the 19th century, 36 type foundries remained. In 1892, 23 of them consolidated into the American Type Founders Company, and by the second decade of the 20th, another five had been consumed by ATF. The remaining eight were dead. American typecasting survived in one lone company.
April 27, 2025 at 11:22 PM
By the end of the 19th century, 36 type foundries remained. In 1892, 23 of them consolidated into the American Type Founders Company, and by the second decade of the 20th, another five had been consumed by ATF. The remaining eight were dead. American typecasting survived in one lone company.
The Linotype replaced the need for printers to buy tons of body type. The industry started by Franklin and Sower and others had created a mechanical solution to their type problem which they could not have imagined. But it also destroyed the industry that created it. ATF formed in response.
April 27, 2025 at 11:22 PM
The Linotype replaced the need for printers to buy tons of body type. The industry started by Franklin and Sower and others had created a mechanical solution to their type problem which they could not have imagined. But it also destroyed the industry that created it. ATF formed in response.
In the 18th cent., America relied on imported type. By the 19th cent., a small industry was casting type. By the end, thousands of workers were employed by dozens of foundries. And tens of thousands of people worked to set that type, and print the texts which defined and created American Democracy.
April 27, 2025 at 11:22 PM
In the 18th cent., America relied on imported type. By the 19th cent., a small industry was casting type. By the end, thousands of workers were employed by dozens of foundries. And tens of thousands of people worked to set that type, and print the texts which defined and created American Democracy.
The American type founding industry formed to supply the tons of type needed to set and print the books, magazines and newspapers the growing republic demanded. Competition and innovation through dozens of foundries, produced the pivotal, the Barth Caster, the Benton Engraver and the Linotype.
April 27, 2025 at 11:22 PM
The American type founding industry formed to supply the tons of type needed to set and print the books, magazines and newspapers the growing republic demanded. Competition and innovation through dozens of foundries, produced the pivotal, the Barth Caster, the Benton Engraver and the Linotype.
Matrices before the pantograph had been painstakingly hand-made. While the Linotype, which cast whole lines of type from assembled matrices had been finalized in 1884, each machine needed thousands of matrices to be commercially viable. Pantographic engravers like Benton's made the Linotype viable.
April 27, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Matrices before the pantograph had been painstakingly hand-made. While the Linotype, which cast whole lines of type from assembled matrices had been finalized in 1884, each machine needed thousands of matrices to be commercially viable. Pantographic engravers like Benton's made the Linotype viable.
Benton, Waldo & Co. formed in Milwaukee in 1873, from elements of several previous foundries. Linn Boyd Benton, the engineer/founder, invented the Benton Pantographic Engraver, which radically simplified the production of casting matrices. Benton, his foundry, and his engraver joined ATF in 1892.
April 27, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Benton, Waldo & Co. formed in Milwaukee in 1873, from elements of several previous foundries. Linn Boyd Benton, the engineer/founder, invented the Benton Pantographic Engraver, which radically simplified the production of casting matrices. Benton, his foundry, and his engraver joined ATF in 1892.
The Cincinnati Type Foundry formed in 1817, a branch of the White Type Foundry of New York. Barth joined the foundry in 1849, and brought along a detailed understanding of machine type casters. By 1886 he had perfected the Barth Automatic. CTF, Barth and his machine all joined ATF in 1892.
April 27, 2025 at 11:22 PM
The Cincinnati Type Foundry formed in 1817, a branch of the White Type Foundry of New York. Barth joined the foundry in 1849, and brought along a detailed understanding of machine type casters. By 1886 he had perfected the Barth Automatic. CTF, Barth and his machine all joined ATF in 1892.
One firm was F.A. Brockhaus, an encyclopedia publisher in Leipzig. Established in 1805, Brockhaus was building pivotal casters in the 1840s, and from them casting type. One young engineer doing that work was Hans Barth. After the failed democratic revolutions of 1848, Barth emigrated to Cincinnati.
April 27, 2025 at 11:22 PM
One firm was F.A. Brockhaus, an encyclopedia publisher in Leipzig. Established in 1805, Brockhaus was building pivotal casters in the 1840s, and from them casting type. One young engineer doing that work was Hans Barth. After the failed democratic revolutions of 1848, Barth emigrated to Cincinnati.
In 1812, David and George Bruce started their own foundry, and importantly David began tinkering with a machine that would ultimately become the Pivotal Type Caster. The Bruce Pivotal raced around the globe, spawning dozens, perhaps hundreds of new foundries. The Bruce Foundry joined ATF in 1901.
April 27, 2025 at 11:22 PM
In 1812, David and George Bruce started their own foundry, and importantly David began tinkering with a machine that would ultimately become the Pivotal Type Caster. The Bruce Pivotal raced around the globe, spawning dozens, perhaps hundreds of new foundries. The Bruce Foundry joined ATF in 1901.
In 1796, Archibald Binny and James Ronaldson established a foundry with equipment from three failed foundries including that of Ben Franklin's grandson (in a wheelbarrow). Lawrence Johnson bought the foundry in 1833, and it would go on to become MacKellar, Smith and Jordan, which joined ATF in 1892.
April 27, 2025 at 11:22 PM
In 1796, Archibald Binny and James Ronaldson established a foundry with equipment from three failed foundries including that of Ben Franklin's grandson (in a wheelbarrow). Lawrence Johnson bought the foundry in 1833, and it would go on to become MacKellar, Smith and Jordan, which joined ATF in 1892.
Sower's son Samuel established a commercial foundry starting in the mid 1790s, with production and sales confirmed by 1805. The Sower heritage would ultimately coalesce into The Baltimore Type Foundry, later known as Charles J. Cary & Co., which would be one of the 23 foundries to form ATF in 1892.
April 27, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Sower's son Samuel established a commercial foundry starting in the mid 1790s, with production and sales confirmed by 1805. The Sower heritage would ultimately coalesce into The Baltimore Type Foundry, later known as Charles J. Cary & Co., which would be one of the 23 foundries to form ATF in 1892.
Sower cast type for his own use from 1770-78, but as he was a Loyalist, he never supplied type to his fellow printers on the other side of the revolution. Benjamin Franklin Bache, by contrast, was too drawn into the political world of publishing to care much for his grandfather's bequest.
April 27, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Sower cast type for his own use from 1770-78, but as he was a Loyalist, he never supplied type to his fellow printers on the other side of the revolution. Benjamin Franklin Bache, by contrast, was too drawn into the political world of publishing to care much for his grandfather's bequest.
Importing metal type was an expensive business. Franklin, when establishing himself as a printer, imported English type in units of 300lbs per size. The scale of the shipments was substantial. And because type is made of lead, it wears away. Having a steady supply is essential to the printing trade.
April 27, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Importing metal type was an expensive business. Franklin, when establishing himself as a printer, imported English type in units of 300lbs per size. The scale of the shipments was substantial. And because type is made of lead, it wears away. Having a steady supply is essential to the printing trade.
Printing in America starts in 1639 with Elizabeth Glover in Cambridge, Mass. By 1727 Ben Franklin observed: "[T]here was no letter-founder in America". In 1770, Franklin's competitor Christopher Sower II imported type casting equipment. Franklin established his grandson as a typefounder in 1786.
April 27, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Printing in America starts in 1639 with Elizabeth Glover in Cambridge, Mass. By 1727 Ben Franklin observed: "[T]here was no letter-founder in America". In 1770, Franklin's competitor Christopher Sower II imported type casting equipment. Franklin established his grandson as a typefounder in 1786.
I've posted a new essay on the Patreon. "The Life Cycle of Type". Come join us and support the work we are doing.
April 21, 2025 at 11:00 AM
I've posted a new essay on the Patreon. "The Life Cycle of Type". Come join us and support the work we are doing.