The Linotype is a typesetting machine invented by Ottmar Mergenthaler and first put into service in 1886 at the New York Tribune. Operated with a keyboard, it casts an entire line of text in a single block of lead, hence its name, from "line of type".
Where to see it
The Linotype dominated the daily press for nearly a century, before being replaced by phototypesetting in the 1970s. Machines can still be seen in museums such as the Musée de l'imprimerie et de la communication graphique in Lyon, and the name lives on through the former Linotype foundry, historic publisher of Helvetica, Frutiger and Univers.
Why this detail matters
The Linotype profoundly transformed printing:
- By setting a whole line at once, it greatly sped up newspaper production compared with hand typesetting;
- It imposed its own design constraints, and many typefaces were created or adapted for it;
- Its name remained attached to a foundry that published some of the most widely used typefaces in the world.
Related term
The Monotype is the other great typesetting machine of the same era, which casts each character separately.