Box leg setting machine
The Kastenbein typesetting machine was built by Charles Kastenbein typesetting machine .
The typesetting machine was originally conceived by an unknown French typesetter who was known with Kastenbein. After the typesetter's death, the German businessman Charles (actually: Karl) Kastenbein, who had previously worked as a bookbinder in Paris, took over the unfinished model of the machine. He developed it further , encouraged by John Walter III , the owner of the London Times newspaper , and received an English patent on it in 1869.
The typesetting machine stored the letters in vertical magazines that resemble organ pipes. When the typesetter pressed a key on the input keyboard, the corresponding type was released from the magazine and transported to a busbar that could hold a line of text. Another person then performed the exclusion of the row and took it along for further processing. The typesetting machine could be powered by steam or a pedal .
Kastenbein also developed an apparatus for storing fonts . It consisted of a type case with funnels under the respective compartments. In these, the types were erected after being laid down and transported into the magazines in the correct position. The machine could type 7000 to 8000 characters per hour, significantly more than typing by hand. However, this required four workers to operate the machine. One person at a time was required for setting, excluding, filing and filling the magazine. The time saved could not outweigh this high level of manpower.
The box-leg setting machine was initially manufactured in Brussels, where a new factory was established for it. In 1883 production was relocated to Hanover.
The first machines were set up at the London newspaper The Times ; Until 1908 it operated 25 machines, with complete casting machines always casting new letters. The used material was sold to hand setters. It was also found in America and Europe, e.g. B. in Copenhagen in the letterpress C. Ferslew, in Dresden with the "Dresdner Nachrichten" and the Berlin Reichsdruckerei.
literature
- Severin Corsten, Stephan Füssel, a. a. (Ed.): Lexicon of the entire book industry . 2nd Edition. Volume IV. Anton Hiersemann, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-7772-8527-7 .
- Sepp Dußler, Fritz Kolling: Modern typesetting . 4th edition. Verlag Documentation Saur KG, Pullach 1974, ISBN 3-7940-8703-8 .
- Fritz Genzmer: The typesetter's book. 9th edition. Ullstein Fachverlag, Berlin 1967.
- Hans-Jürgen Wolf: History of the printing process. Historical basics, portraits, technology. Historia-Verlag, Elchingen 1992, ISBN 3-9800-257-4-8