Pentateuch of Printing with a Chapter on Judges (page 1/3)

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Bas-Relief From the Entablature, Jerusalem Chamber, Westminster Abbey

A printing office, with an engraver (I think) at left, a proof-reader, a typesetter (at the back) next to the person operating the press itself, and, at right, a boy wearing tights and I think barefoot, probably a [...] [more...]

Fifteenth Century Wooden Composing Stick

“Standing in front of the case, the compositor held in his left hand a wooden “composing-stick,” in which a rectangular trench had been cut to receive the letters. Reading and keeping in his mind a few words of his manuscript, he picked up the types letter by letter and placed them side by side until first [...] [more...]

Tall Bookcase

A bespectacled gentleman sits reading a large book in front of the end of a tall bookcase. This was originally used as a drop cap for the initial letter I in ‘IN’. [more...]

Cherubs on a book

Two tiny cherubs on the spine of an a book. They face away from us.

The “lay” of a pair of type cases (upper case).

This is the top half of the figure, the upper case. In the actual type tray, individual sorts, or pieces of type, would be stored in the compartment indicated. Note that the actual compartments are open; a type tray generally does not have a lid, so you had to learn where the letters went. [more...]