The Automatic Paige Typesetter
Many people believed that the Paige typesetter was printing of the nineteenth century. One person who literally put everything he had into it was Samuel Taylor Clemens better known as Mark Twain. Mark Twain was the principle money investor of the automatic Paige typesetter. Twain thought that his investments in the machine would make him richer, but it turned out that the typesetter did the exact opposite.
James Paige invented the automatic Paige typesetter around 1877. The typesetter was said to have the power of four men’s jobs. It was not only going to be the greatest invention of the nineteenth century, it was going to make publishing companies a fortune by cutting down on time and initial printing costs. In 1877, Dr. George F. Hawley signed a contract with Paige to use his typesetter and the Thompson distributor, another machine that sorted printed papers, to combine them into one machine.
The “Chicago Herald” tested the combined machine, or Paige compositor. The machine was roughly eleven feet long, three and one half feet wide, and six feet high. It weighted nearly 5000 pounds, and the power it needed was transmitted through a round belt to a grooved pulley 14 inches in diameter. The machined used about 1/4 to 1/3 horse-power and it could be started and turned up to speed with one finger at a 7-inch leverage. The compositor was particularly made for newspaper printing work. It did all the work of distributing, setting, justifying, and had mechanisms that were adjustable to any width of column desired for newspaper or bookwork.
Although the compositor seemed like a good idea it had many defects and over 18,000 mechanical parts that were not always in working order. James Paige put a great deal of time, effort, and money into his great invention. Mark Twain himself invested and lost 50,000 dollars in the machine. Despite the efforts of everybody involved with the compositor, the Linotype machine hit the market earlier and was more cost effective.
His first invention was a lubricator for steam engines, U.S. 129,843, which issued on July 12, 1872. The invention allowed machines to remain in motion to be oiled; his new oiling device revolutionized the industrial machine industry.
who is more commonly known by his pen name, Mark Twain. He was born in
This new technology is not without its shortcomings. First, the printing press used limited materials. Next, as Mumford notes, the advent of print led calligraphers and manuscript copyists out of work. Furthermore, as Graff finds, it created “typographical fixity”—material once printed cannot be changed. Finally, mass production was dependent and limited to large markets (Mumford, 95)....
The printing press was invented by the well-known Johannes Guttenberg in 1450’s. The idea of the printing press came from the Chinese which introduced Woodblock Printing in 600CE (BackGround Essay). The exploration of the Printing press idea was useful to the reformation of Guttenberg’s idea of the printing press, going from movable wooden types- To metal frames that wouldn’t wear out. The idea of Exploring the Printing press is a major key because without having the exploration of the printing press there would’ve been no reformation of it, to make it better. The purpose of this essay is to tell whether the Exploration or Reformation was the more important consequence.
Mark Twain who's real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born on November 30, 1835 and later died April 21, 1910. He was best known as an American humorist and for his realistic view of America in the early nineteenth century through his novels and other stories he had wrote. He had the whole worlds interest through his expert writings and lectures.
The printing press was invented in 1453. The movable printing technology was invented in China in 1040 but Johannes Gutenberg was able to perfect this technology by creating the Gutenberg printer in 1440. The printer was a movable type. A movable type was where individual blocks could be set up in order to print almost anything. Before this, wooden blocks, carved by hand were used to print things. These blocks would have consisted of what the individual wanted to print which would take an incredible amount of time. Gutenberg’s invention of a movable type printer established the ability for mass communication.
Mark Twain was considered by far the greatest writer of all time. He had a lot of obstacles to overcome in his lifetime. Many deaths and many large debts, but he overcame them and was eventually announced one of the best writers of all time.
Over the sequence of the industrial revolution, America was swept with vehement new inventions and ideas. In 1793, inventor Eli Whitney successfully created a cotton gin that separated seeds from fibers, accelerating the production of raw cotton. This invention resulted in cotton becoming America’s number one leading export by the mid 19th century. ("Cotton Gin and Eli Whitney") Around the climax of the revolution, Charles Goodyear discovered vulcanization of rubber. By doing so, Goodyear successfully brought “rubber fever” back to America. ("The Charles Goodyear Story") In the year of 1913, the industrial revolution made a final mark in the united states with Ford’s mass production of the Model T Car. This was the last innovation of the american industrial revolution, after which began the takeover of white collar careers. (Morris)
Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1440 to multiply written documents easily, making books cheaper and more nationally available. In 1798, Alois Senefelder invented Lithography to copy graphical designs, developing the culture of advertising (wet-canvas, no given date, Jules Cheret: the father of the modern poster). Ho...
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by the pseudonym Mark Twain, has been central to American literature for over a century. His seemingly effortless diction accurately exemplified America’s southern culture. From his early experiences in journalism to his most famous fictional works, Twain has remained relevant to American writing as well as pop culture. His iconic works are timeless and have given inspiration the youth of America for decades. He distanced himself from formal writing and became one of the most celebrated humorists. Mark Twain’s use of the common vernacular set him apart from authors of his era giving his readers a sense of familiarity and emotional connection to his characters and himself.
Wood-type printing allowed new typefaces to be created and used for printing cheaper than ever before. Technological advances permitted machine-set typography to be printed on machine-manufactured paper with high-speed steam-powered printing presses. The use of color lithography passed the aesthetic experience of colorful images from the privileged few to the whole of society.
The invention of the printing press was one of the most useful technologies in history because it helped spread ideas, produced books, and greatly improved the economy. Johannes Gutenberg, who was a German goldsmith, developed the printing press “in Mainz, Germany between 1446 and 1450” (Ditttmar, 1133). The printing press was made to print books, newspapers, and flyers. The machine was made from wood and was based off screw presses, that worked with inked movable type heads that allowed the paper to be quickly and efficiently pressed with letters. The type head was made by pouring lead-tin alloy into a hand mold, along a rectangular stalk.
During 1448 a German inventor named Johann Gutenberg changed the world. With many different strategies that he overcame and ways that he could spread his creation, he did it so that the whole nation could experience his brilliant invention. Although, there were many achievements throughout the world that deeply impacted many things that we still use today, the most important achievement throughout technology is the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg. It helped spread the sprouting of religion, books and as well as influencing the public’s opinion throughout articles and newspapers.
The controversy started with the invention of the printing press. When the printing press was invented in the mid 15th century by Johannes Gutenburg, it became possible to create copies of written and drawn works with less time and one of the earliest patents known in history came with it. This patent was a five year monopoly given to him in 1469 by the Venetian Republic2.
The “invention and manufacture of standard movable type allowed the beginning of the printing industry” (Thompson 210). “The first printed encyclopedia, the Catholica, appeared in 1460 and the following year a Strasbourg printer, Johan Mentelin, produced a Bible for laymen” (Johnson 18). The invention of printing made a large amount of material cheaply available (Thompson 210).