Metal Typefaces
In the recent past, metal type was cast at type foundries where large workforces were kept busy by the demands of the book publishers and other printing sectors. Foundries such as Reigate's Monotype, Sheffield's Stephenson Blake, or Miller and Richard were constantly providing new type faces for a hungry industry of designers and printers. Many third party providers supplied Monotype such as Riscatype, Startype and Mouldtype.
However, letterpress was an expensive process. Constantly looking to economise, the printing industry started to move from letterpress to the cheaper lithographic system in the 1960's. Eventually, all the big foundries closed down. Amongst them, Monotype's collapse was most keenly felt, as it had pioneered typecasting and mechanical typesetting machines from the start of the 20th century. The machinery they produced to support letterpress would no longer get the servicing and support from the parent company. The huge number of matrices (master patterns) that they produced for their type faces would no longer be available for purchase or hire.
Happily for British and American letterpress circles, some brave souls have taken on these Monotype machines and have continued to provide a source of freshly cast type. These casters are also engineers, providing bespoke spares for the machines in their care. The service they provide to the letterpress world is so important because if they weren't there, metal type would no longer be viable for printing - it would all eventually wear out. Amongst the few present-day casters we have:
- Ed Denovan at the Hellbox Foundry in Faversham
- Nick Gill at the Effra Press
Of course, only Monotype type faces can be cast on a Monotype machine. Other foundries - and there were many independent foundries upto the 1960's - like Stephenson Blake - will never be cast again. Their matrices, although retained by museums like St Bride's, will never be cast again as the technology used was very different to Monotype.
I have concentrated on Monotype here, but I must mention there are other systems that provide type for letterpress. There are Linotype machines for example, and a similar band of engineer-casters keep these machines in working condition. Although I haven't used Linotype slugs myself for printing, they have been used successfully by many small printers, such as Patrick Randle's Nomad Press. Pat has successfully used a Linotype machine most famously at Glastonbury, at the Glastonbury Free Press.
Note: type is measured by its body height, in points. One point is equal to 1/72nd of an inch, therefore 72 points is one inch. It is exactly the same measure used in moder word processing apps. Except that it always stays the same size. For more information about sizing and measurements see Printing Measures.
Type held by the Vortex Press at Feb 2025
Note: SB=Stephenson Blake, MT=Monotype.
| Name | Series | Size(s) | Foundry & notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grotesque | No 9 | 6pt, 10pt, 18pt, 24pt | SB |
| Grotesque | No 7 | 18pt | SB - ex. Curwen Press; pictured on right |
| Headline Bold | 595 | 10pt, 18pt, 30pt, 72pt | MT |
| Bold Gothic | 150 | 14pt | MT |
| Condensed Sans Serif | No 12 | 12pt | SB |
| Condensed Sans Serif | No 7 | 15pt [yes 15pt], 18pt | SB |
| Veronese | 59 | 10pt, 12pt | MT |
| Modern Extended | 7 | 12pt | MT |
| Modern | No 20 | 14pt | SB |
(This list is a work in progress).
PS: I don't collect Univers, Times New Roman or Gill types (yes, that includes Perpetua).
