From carving to casting

Until the middle of the 15th century, all printing relied on using wooden blocks, spreading them with ink, then pushing them down onto the page using a hand press. Originally, a whole page would be carved onto the block, complete with text and illustrations. But, in time, it was deemed better to use small blocks carved with just a single letter. Yet, even in producing a very short passage, the letter ‘e’, for example, is likely to appear a dozen or more times, requiring a lot of carving. A far better method was devised by Johann Gutenberg, a goldsmith from Strasbourg, circa 1446. A steel punch was made, with the letter at the end. The punch was then struck hard into a softer metal to create a negative impression: the mould. Large numbers of letters could then be produced, one after the other, simply by pouring molten metal into the mould. Real changes only began in the 19th century. In 1838, a casting machine was invented in America that brought the mould up to a nozzle attached to a pot of molten metal. The mould opened, the metal was poured in and the mould closed. It was then tilted and opened and the finished letter fell out. This was a far more efficient method for making individual pieces of type. In the 1880s, a new machine came into use, also invented in America by Otto Mergenthaler. It was very similar to the Monotype, except that instead of casting individual letters, it cast an entire line as a solid metal slug; hence the name, Linotype. Major changes to the printing press also came in the 19th century. In 1810, Frederick Koenig built a press in London which used an automatic inking cylinder and added a second rotating cylinder which carried forward the right amount of paper for inking. It was to form the basis for future letterpress printers. Today, the vast majority of books and publications are printed using electronic, computer-controlled technology.