Tag Archives: Monotype

Pencil to Pixel – Exhibition of artifacts & artwork from the Monotype archive.

November 15, 2012 – 1:57 pm

The history of  Monotype dates back to the late 19th Century, when it introduced groundbreaking new technology that revolutionised the production of metal type for letterpress printing.  Tolbert Lanston, the inventor of this technology and founder of The Lanston Monotype Machine Company, patented this mechanical typesetting system in 1887 and introduced the first hot metal […]

By Justin Knopp | Posted in craft, design, hot metal, letterpress, matrices, Monotype, printing, typecasting, Typesetting, typography | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (1)

Presstival & Whittington Press Open Day, 1st September 2012

August 9, 2012 – 6:34 pm

Located five miles east of Cheltenham in the shadow of an Elizabethan manor, the family-run Whittington press (established by John Randle in 1971) will be throwing open its doors on Saturday 1st September, accompanied by Presstival, an annual event for the delectation of printing and typography enthusiasts. Pat Randle, mastermind behind the event, has printed […]

By Justin Knopp | Posted in hot metal, John Randle, letterpress, Monotype, OPC, Pat Randle, printing, Private Presses, typecasting, typography, Whittington Press, wood type, woodletter | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Lewis Mitchell – Typecaster for life

April 19, 2012 – 11:23 am

A delightful short movie by the San Francisco Chronicle showing Lewis Mitchell at work, casting type on Monotype machines in the basement at the  Arion Press in San Francisco. “I thoroughly enjoy the sound of the machines turning, and seeing the type come out is a joy,” Mitchell said. He can tell by the sound […]

By Justin Knopp | Posted in craft, hot metal, letterpress, Monotype, typecasting | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Typecasting at The Whittington Press

November 10, 2011 – 6:05 pm

I recently had the great pleasure to return to Whittington again to exhibit at the  Whittington Press Open Day 2011 and was delighted to watch – through the fug of fumes from the  Monotype casters – brand new type being cast by Neil Winter (ex-Libanus Press). Since John Randle bought his first  Monotype caster and […]

By Justin Knopp | Posted in craft, hot metal, John Randle, letterpress, typecasting, Whittington Press | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (3)

‘What Face Wednesday’ No.3

May 6, 2009 – 10:54 am

Welcome to the third ‘What Face Wednesday’ metal typeface identification competition! This week I am offering the prize of a pastiche Victorian letterpress poster (including free International p&p), hand-typeset and printed by myself on a mid-nineteenth century Columbian handpress. The prize can be viewed here. This week I need you to correctly identify the typeface […]

By Justin Knopp | Posted in letterpress, typography, What Face Wednesday | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments (7)

O thou beneficent Art & Mystery

April 8, 2009 – 3:16 pm

Here is an interesting example of hand typesetting; from the back cover of the Spring 1937 edition (Volume XXXVI, No. 1) of The Monotype Recorder. Personally, I feel the mix of Albertus Titling (Series 481) and Sachsenwald-Gotisch (Series 457) is rather clumsy, although it is undoubtedly a striking piece of letterpress typesetting.

By Justin Knopp | Posted in letterpress, typography | Also tagged , , | Comments (1)