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Een terugblik naar de negentiende eeuw... |
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In an article from the monthly magazine `Ons Vakblad’ (Our Profession) of December, 1911, appeared an image of Gutenberg, size 9 x 12 cm (3.5 x 4.75 inches). This image had been set with the Typograph Typesetting Machine and reflected the qualities of that machine. A close inspection revealed that the drawing had been composed using just four individual characters.
To duplicate this image of the great inventor, 96 years later, four different new characters had to be cast. The only way to obtain such a large supply was to cast on the Monotype Typecasting Machine. The necessary matrices were requested from the Type Museum in London, but the extreme cost for casting these characters became a threat to the project. At a visit to ‘Das Druckmuseum’ in Darmstadt, [Germany] I spoke with the director concerning my project and she was immediately enthusiastic. Fortunately they had recently completed restoration of their own Monotype. My project then would serve as a good test for its restoration! A later visit to Darmstadt ensured they had the matrices, 80 kilos of old lead and casting could start. Herr Adam was assisted by Herr Gottscheu, an experienced Monotype tradesman from Switzerland. Casting ended in October 2006. The four different types still had to be brought together and hand-composed, in the same manner of Gutenberg. A total of 50,688 characters in 8 point were eventually used. This composition took us many Sunday afternoons. With two persons at work it took more than forty hours before the form was finished.
The 'picture' was now finished and printing could start. Because of the size of the form, I chose to print this with my Marinoni stop-cylinder press, that came last year into my collection. One quiet Saturday, the press was made ready and copies printed. And the result? Looks good, ain’t it so?
Size of the form : 50 x 70 cm |
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GUTENBERG, A HOMMAGE |
