Issue № 18 - Three Years; Onward!

As I sit down to type this, I’m staring down the last three years of research right in front of me both figuratively and literally. I currently have nine 3-ring binders of materials, articles, book excerpts, and interviews for the project that I announced in May 2023. And here I am again, in the month of May, three years later, writing my 18th (!) newsletter to a dedicated list of interested followers.

From the beginning, I did not commit to a specific schedule of writing these newsletters — just writing them when I felt I had enough to share. It wasn’t until this past week that, all-of-a-sudden, I had enough to share. How should I order this? Biggest announcements first? Some sort of three-year overview of my research? Most fun to most nerdy? Read on to find out!

MRes in Type Design

In some ways, this is by-far the biggest news to share, but in other ways, I’m not sure how interesting it is to others? It is personal news, but also related to the book:

Like one of those annoying online posts; I’m excited to announce that I have been accepted to the University of Reading in the United Kingdom to start my graduate work in typography research.

The degree is called an MRes in Type Design and it is a two-year, distance programme where I do most of my work from Denver along with attending two, three-week, in-person sessions in the U.K. during the summer.

I’ve known about Reading for many years and I count many of the alumni of the programme as friends, along with knowing the head of the department, Gerry Leonidas. It is the most well-known and well-established school focused on typography and type research in the world. I mean, obviously this is the right fit for Doug, right?!

You may ask: Why this, why now, and how will it affect the book? Great questions, hypothetical reader! It will give structure to my writing process while also providing a place to put writing that is too in-depth for the book. It’s my hope that my master’s work will inform the book and the book will inform my master’s work.

Manchester Science + Industry Museum

I thought about making a joke like “Surprise! Doug found another location to research!” but it wouldn’t even be funny by this point. So yes, I found another research location which is the Manchester Science + Industry Museum in, well, Manchester, U.K.

They only have two days per month available to researchers (which is sadly not uncommon for museums) so thankfully, their research dates align with the three-week summer course at Reading. So during the in-between week, I’ll be making a trip up to Manchester to dig through the business archives of the British Linotype company, Linotype & Machinery Limited.

Thanks to Titus Nemeth for pushing me to visit the museum. I’m making zero promises this time that I’m finished with researching because I don’t want to lie to you, my dear followers.

ATypI Copenhagen Video

Do you want to watch me spend 23 minutes talking about the Linotype’s introduction to Europe and especially Germany?

No?

How about seeing an advertisement of the Zeppelin “Hindenburg” two years before it exploded? (16:50)

No?

Well, how about watching the part where I fall off the stage out of excitement because I’m such a dork? (14:30)

Finally my talk from ATypI 2025 in Copenhagen (which I shared about in Issue № 13) is available to watch. I hope you enjoy it and I think I need to have a word with the person responsible for the video thumbnail… 😂

Early Photosetting Video

I recently came across this 1960s Kodak industrial film which has an impressively-long examples of early phototypesetting machines in action. Starting at 14:13, it features the most comprehensive showcase of the Mergenthaler Linofilm (their first second photo machine) that I’ve ever seen, along with a Photon machine and even the rare ATF Typesetter.

These are early second-generation phototypesetting machines and they only lasted around 5–10 years before being replaced by newer technology. If you’re interested in how typesetting went from hot-metal machines like the Linotype to cold, computer-controlled photo machines, these in-between models are the link.

Berlin Calling

In April, I was lucky enough to attend the Fontstand Conference in Berlin, Germany. It was my first time at their conference and I really enjoyed seeing old friends and meeting new ones. It was well organized and the programming was tight and relevant.

Whilst in Berlin, I was walking to lunch with my good friend Dan Rhatigan when I said to him, “Wow, this street looks really familiar…” which felt strange since I’ve only been to Berlin twice and never to that part of the city. At the next block, I looked up at the street sign which read Chausseestraße. Now where have I seen that street name before?!

Well, dear friends, we were a mere block away from the original German Linotype company building in Berlin at Chausseestraße 25 completely by accident. I had only ever seen this street when I was doing research for the building in Google Street View (which I shared in Issue № 12) and to stumble across it was such a shocking surprise, as you can see in this photo that Dan took.

DEEP HISTORY SIDEBAR: I’ve know for a while that the German Linotype headquarters (Mergenthaler Setzmaschinen-Fabrik) building became to be in East Germany, but recently I learned that it was just barely in East Berlin — by only a couple blocks! See the maps that show the Berlin Wall in yellow and pink, which divided the city.

After World War II, Linotype moved their German HQ down to Frankfurt to be near D. Stempel, who had been making their typefaces and brass matrices since 1900. This is why Linotype was eventually headquartered in Frankfurt, then Eschborn, and finally Bad Homburg before being acquired by Monotype Imaging in 2006 and moving the HQ back to a different part of Berlin in 2019.

A Quote to End On

This past week, I re-read Erik Larson’s book, “The Devil in the White City” about the World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago in 1893 (which Ottmar Mergenthaler visited and the Linotype company had a display). At the end of the book, he had a note which really rang true to me about researching:

“To me every trip to a library or archive is like a small detective story. There are always little moments on such trips when the past flares to life, like a match in the darkness.”

Like a match in the darkness. I like that.

You’ll hear from me again in the middle of the summer, reporting from the U.K. with my newest finds. Until then, I hope this email finds you well.

Doug Wilson