![Melbourne Museum of Printing [36pt Old English]](../../-pix/mmolde36.gif)
P.O. BOX 555, FOOTSCRAY 3011 - - - - - - - - - - - - - (03)9689 7555
OUR WEB PAGE: www.BalanceResearch.com/museum/
OUR COLLECTION: UNIQUE IN THE WORLD
| PRESSES | TYPESETTERS | ARTEFACTS | DOCUMENTS |
PRINTING BUSINESS | WORKING ENVIRONMENT |
| EXTRACTED FROM THE COLLECTION
PAGES OF OUR WEBSITE |
[title]"Melbourne Museum of Printing - Summary of Collections"
[description]"Museum Collections: presses and typesetting machines mainly
for letterpress, thousands of founts; artefacts and documents; office
equipment, furniture, telephone equipment, computers"
[key words]"printing presses - typesetting machines - handset types -
typecasting matrices - linotype matrix - printing artefacts - office
equipment - libraries - printed works - artwork and negatives"
SUMMARY OF COLLECTIONS:
Our Machinery Collection: Nearly 200 Machines:
- Machines for typesetting, prepress, printing and finishing
Our Founts Collection: Over 4000 Founts:
- Founts of hand-set type, typesetting matrices and typecasting matrices.
Phototypesetting founts are included under typesetting.
Our Artefacts, Documents, Other Print Items, Books, Prints
- Tens of thousands of engraved blocks, stereotypes, electrotypes, typeformes,
printers ornaments, hand tools, artwork, negatives, plates;
- proofs, printed samples, job bags, quotations, invoices, business
records;
- Non-mechanical equipment: hand tools, cabinetry, general furniture,
printers' materials;
- books about printing, books as printed artefacts, art prints.
Our Ancilliary Collections:
- Office Equipment, Computers, Telephones: to show the working environment
of a printing office.
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MACHINERY DIVISION
Machines of all kinds for printing, typecasting, typesetting, cutting,
folding, camerawork, platemaking, stereo and many others. For letterpress,
offset, foil printing, stampmaking, labelmaking.
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Our collection of machines features both old technology and new. After
all, what is new today will be old tomorrow. We include quite a few
examples of 'new' technology, already outdated after just a few years.
Typesetting (traditional and/or modern) includes Asian and European
language machines and founts.
Technical notes are included with this Division. Historical notes about
any particular machine or process would be found in our Printing Industry
Department.
Many machines use sets [or founts] of matrices. These founts are in
our Founts Division, but the description of the mats and how they work
is in this Division. |
TYPESETTING MACHINERY SECTION
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Linotype; Intertype; Ludlow; Nebitype; Monotype: machines which produce
metal type, composed ready to print.
TYPECASTING MACHINERY SECTION
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Monotype Supercaster, Thompson Typecaster, manual typecasters: machines
which produce single types, for hand typesetting.
PRE-PRESS EQUIPMENT SECTION
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Computer typesetters and other items which produce an image of type
on film or paper; cameras, platemakers, processors: items which produce
or handle images for photo-based printing.
PRINTING MACHINE SECTION
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Letterpress platen and cylinder presses and proofers; Offset presses,
photocopiers. Label press. Hot Foil Stamping presses.
OTHER MACHINES SECTION
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Guillotine, folder, stitcher/stapler, jogger, bindery: for processing
the paper before or after printing.
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Stereotyping press, melting pot, casting box, backplaner etc., for making
duplicate printing blocks or rubber stamps.
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Stripcasters, to extrude strips of spacing and similar material.
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Sundry items. Examples are machines for sawing and mitring printing
types and strip material, machines to make cross-points for rule-formes,
to put security patterns onto typefaces, clean and adjust mats.
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Printing Presses: 1849 Albion (nearest), Vandercook, Western: used by
visiting artists
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FOUNTS DIVISION
A fount [spelt as 'font' in US English, and pronounced 'font' in any
dialect] is an old typefounder's term for the quantity of type made
in one founding. [OED]
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In the printing sense, the fount of type was meant to be an inexhaustible
supply of letters (of the one face and size), from which a book was
composed. Each fount is stored in a type case, a kind of tray with about
90 compartments, or perhaps a pair of cases to achieve larger compartments.
As the compositor used up the letters, they would be topped up. Work
would stop if the 'case' ran out of any letter.
The collection includes many founts of type, new and used, with the
majority ranging up to 60 years old. Some are older, with many from
foundries long since closed. Most are stored in cases, and some `tied
up' on galleys.
For the typefoundry, there are many founts of matrices for making hand-set
type. It is relevant to note that unlike a fount of type, a fount of
typecasting mats has only one of each character. So it is not a fount
in the truest sense. But it was obviously convenient to use the same
term.
For the linecasters (Linotype, Ludlow, etc.) the matrix founts are stored
and used in magazines or matrix cases, and there are many of each letter.
Founts of matrices are listed here, but their technical notes will be
found along with the machine that uses them.
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HANDSET TYPE SECTION
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Monotype Founts (similar to type made by our foundry)
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Foundry Types (made in foundries using older equipment)
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Special Purpose Types (brass types for hot stamping, T-foot types for
overprinting machines)
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Poster Types (usually of wood, and usually over 72 point size).
TYPESETTING MATRIX SECTION
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Monotype Composition Mats (usually 5pt to 14pt)
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Linotype and Intertype Mats
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Ludlow and Nebitype Founts
TYPECASTING MATRIX SECTION
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Monotype Supercaster Mats (usually 14pt to 72 pt)
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Thompson Typecaster Mats (usually 6 pt to 36 pt)
Note that Monotype Composition machines and mats [see above] can be
used for typecasting as well as typesetting.
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A range of founts: typecasting, typesetting and hand setting
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ARTEFACT DIVISION
Look here for items which are not machinery or founts. If you cannot
find what you're looking for, try our LOOK-UP.
Documentary Artefact Section:
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Pictorial engravings, typeset formes, cutting/creasing formes, stereotypes,
stereo mats, artworks, negs, plates (offset), rubber stamps, etc. Each
of these objects incorporates a document and in most cases can still
be used to print that document.
Design Document Section:
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Layouts, roughs, galley proofs, final proofs, printed sheets and finished
products.
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Suppliers samples (ink, cards, papers).
Non-Mechanical Equipment Section:
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Hand tools, specialised cabinetry and general furniture. Also the range
of printers' material such as spacing strips and blocks, rules, ornamental
borders, chases and quoins.
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Artefacts and documents by the thousand, boxed and palletted. Printing
heritage items waiting in the store for their fate. Will they be saved
for research?
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Library Section:
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Library of Books as Artefacts: This includes thousands of books assembled
to show styles of book design and the work of hundreds of printers and
publishers throughout the world.
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Reference Library: Books about printing and communications.
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Business Records Section: A collection of business records from a
number of former printing businesses. These include thousands of
documents (quotes, invoices, working papers), giving insight into
commerce and working methods over the decades, not only within the
printing industry.
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Art Print Gallery: Made in our Access Studio, as well as a few acquired
from other studios.
ANCILLIARY DIVISION
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We have assembled a large collection of interesting items which serve
to illustrate something about the working environment. Some have a less
direct connection to printing or typesetting.
These include :
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The office equipment collection with such things as duplicators, desktop
accessories, photocopiers, franking machines, cheque writers; [typewriters
and calculators are under Computers];
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The telecommunications collection with not only the telephones but the
switchboards and automatic exchange equipment; also intercoms, telex
machines and faxes; and
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The computer collection covering a range of computers from the 1970's
to the present day, including text and number-based items such as typewriters
and calculators. Many of these were used in a printing business.
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Competition for the printer: an office duplicator
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WOULD YOU LIKE US TO PRESERVE OR INTERPRET ITEMS IN YOUR POSSESSION?
PLEASE LET US KNOW. WE DON'T ACQUIRE EVERY ITEM WE SEE - IT'S GOOD
JUST TO KNOW THAT THEY EXIST.
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