William Ged

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William Ged (* 1690 in Edinburgh , † 19 October 1749 in Leith , Midlothian ) was a Scottish goldsmith and inventor.

Life

In 1725 he patented his method of stereotype . He had soldered the types of the Dutchman J. van der Mey (father of the famous painter) together. His idea was based on pouring a complete type page into a mold.

Since he could not convince the printer in Edinburgh, he entered into a partnership with several people.

  • William Fenner, a stationery dealer with whom he made printing plates from 1729 to 1733. The basis was a process that was known from China and Japan. Since they needed donors for their project, they took on other partners.
  • John James (around 1673-1746), an architect from Greenwich who, among other things , drafted the plans for the construction of St. Mary's Church in Twickenham.
  • Thomas James (type founder, 1685–1738), his brother.
  • James Gadd [Ged], William Ged's son, a captain in the Perth Regiment who was involved in the Jacobite revolt in 1745 and charged with treason. His life was spared as his knowledge of the printing method was considered useful.

Ged was commissioned by the University of Cambridge to print Bibles and prayer books, but this was prevented by intrigue. So he withdrew from printing and became a goldsmith and jeweler. In 1736 he completed a sallust . Andrew Wilson, the printer of Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl Stanhope, perfected his invention.

Ged's son James helped him print the sallust from ages 10 to 12. He also had a daughter who added a chapter to his memoirs and published it after his death. Another son was William Ged Jr. who emigrated to Jamaica, where he worked as a successful printer. He sent money to his brother James to bring his father's tools and printing machines back to Jamaica with him. James hired a friend to ship it, but the goods were lost. James Ged died shortly after arriving in Jamaica.

literature

  • William Ged, Edward Rowe Mores: Biographical memoirs of William Ged - including a particular account of his progress in the art of block-printing . J. Nichols, London 1781 ( archive.org ).
  • William Owen, William Johnston: Ged (William) . In: A new and general biographical dictionary: containing an historical and critical account of the lives and writings of the most eminent persons… Band 6 . W. Strahan et al., London 1784, pp. 61-62 ( books.google.de ).
  • Inventor of Stereotyping - William Ged . In: Scientific American . tape 20 , no. February 8 , 1869, p. 114–115 , doi : 10.1038 / scientificamerican02201869-114a .
  • James Burnley:  Ged, William . In: Leslie Stephen (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 21:  Garnett - Gloucester. , MacMillan & Co, Smith, Elder & Co., New York City / London 1890, pp. 97 - 98 (English).
  • John Carter: William Ged and the Invention of Stereotype . The Bibliographical Society, London 1960, OCLC 40550717 .
  • Janet Backhouse: Reviews . In: The Library . s6-13, no. 2 , 1991, ISSN  0024-2160 , pp. 158–159 , doi : 10.1093 / library / s6-13.2.158 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ged, William . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 11 : Franciscans - Gibson . London 1910, p. 547 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).
  2. ^ Bertha Porter:  James, John (d.1746) . In: Sidney Lee (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 29:  Inglis - John. MacMillan & Co, Smith, Elder & Co., New York City / London, 1892, pp 213 - 215 (English).
  3. ^ William Ged, Edward Rowe Mores: Biographical memoirs of William Ged - including a particular account of his progress in the art of block-printing . J. Nichols, London 1781 ( archive.org ).
  4. ↑ William Ged - Scottish goldsmith. In: Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved May 7, 2019 .
  5. ^ Metz, Küntzel: History of the book trade and the art of printing. P. 273 ( books.google.de ).
  6. ↑ openlibrary.org
personal data
SURNAME Ged, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish inventor
DATE OF BIRTH 1690
PLACE OF BIRTH Edinburgh
DATE OF DEATH October 19, 1749
Place of death Leith , Midlothian