Type Case Layouts

[Dave Hughes]

In response to a recent enquiry Jeff Zilles sent in these illustrations taken from a 1923 ATF Catalogue:

[sky22]

This site http://members.aol.com/alembicprs/index.htm#selc might be of some use as well.

It has a lot of diffrent types of type case layouts including some in diffrent languages.

[Dave Hughes]

That's a useful page. I didn't realise how comprehensive it was until I started clicking the links!

[j stafford-baker]

If you want to know about type-case layouts, including for foreign languages, then there is definitely only one place to go,  the Alembic Press web-site  has everything one could ask on that subject ,  and of course will trtain you (hands on) on the Monotype system if you wish. Mr Bolton is the most helpful chap there.

[j. stafford-baker]

Another thing about type case layouts,  apart from minor differences between companies with specialist work,
the case lay  is the  same throughout the UK,  AND in the USA.  Now why is that one might wonder.  There also
the curious point that Micro-fiche (now mostly out-moded) also had transatlantic layout standards, though of
course the French would not agree!    Its very interesting  if one recalls that Ben Franklin came to London whilst dodging creditors, and worked straight away as a compositor. Indeed he ran a sucessful strike here to get a little more money  for setting the very smallest sizes of type. He worked at a shop in Saffron Hill, just off the Farringdon Raod,  in the centre of London.  In the past,  I have worked in another shop just nearby!

So how come the standardisation,  how was England so quick to adopt the Californian Job case,  and the US point system?,  well,  my Grandfather (who was descended from American Loyalists) used to say "we were two
parts of one nation , not always marching in step, but mostly in the same direction". I think he had a point.

regards from England,


Stafford