History of the Linotype Company

1. Clephane's History of the Linotype

5 On December 1, 1910, an obituary appeared in The New York Times for a man who had been the guiding spirit behind the development of the typewriter, the Linotype typesetter, Alexander Graham Bell’s Graphophone, and other inventions. JAMES O. CLEPHANE DEAD. DEVELOPMENT OF LINOTYPE MACHINE LARGELY DUE TO HIS EFFORTS. James Ogilvie Clephane, formerly of Washington, D.C., but for many years a resident of Englewood, N.J., died at his home there yesterday morning, following a stroke or apoplexy which he suffered on Thanksgiving Day. Mr. Clephane had been in his usual health up to Thursday of last week, and the stroke which caused his death came without the slightest warning. Mr. Clephane has been by many called the father of the linotype machine, which means that it was to him in large measure the great development in the field of mechanical typesetting is due. Mr. Clephane was born in Washington some seventy years ago. He became interested in the development of the typewriter while secretary to Secretary of State Seward. His exceptional ability brought him early in contact with such men as President Buchanan, President Lincoln, and many other noted men of their day, who became his personal friends. Mr. Clephane was associated through them with many of the most stirring events of the civil war period. He soon turned his attention to the development of the typewriter and other inventions, and under his direction the first typewriter was built for the use of his own employees. These machines suggested to Mr. Clephane the possibility of a typesetting machine, and he employed Charles. T. Moore of West Virginia in this connection . Subsequently, upon his suggestion, Ottmar Mergenthaler began the development of the present machine, which bears his name and which has revolutionized the printing industry of the world. The development of the linotype machine was only accomplished after a terrific struggle, the burden of which fell heavily upon Mr. Clephane’s shoulders. He never lost his confidence in the value of the device, and it was largely to his courage and patience in overcoming skepticism and financial embarrassments that the world is indebted for the immense progress in the art of mechanical typesetting. Later Mr. Clephane was joined in advancing the linotype machine by Whitelaw Reid, William C. Whitney, D. O. Mills, and Philip T. Dodge. He was an officer and Director in the Mergenthaler Linotype Company, the American Graphophone CLEPHANE’S HISTORY OF THE LINOTYPE James Olgilvie Clephane, circa 1890 Company, the National Typographic Company and the Oddur Manufacturing Company. Mr. Clephane leaves a widow, a son, Malcolm W. Clephane, and two daughters, Miss Sadie L. Clephane and Mrs. Peter S. Duryea. Mr. Clephane’s funeral will take place on Friday at 2:30 o’clock. He will be buried in Englewood, N.J.1 James Ogilvie Clephane was born in Washington, D.C., Feb. 21, 1842, the son of James Clephane, a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, whose family was socially intimate with Sir Walter Scott.2 Clephane 1 6 was admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, and “had several tempting offers to enter actively upon the practice of law,”3 but instead became the fastest and most accurate stenographer in Lincoln’s cabinet.4 His challenge as stenographer was to accurately reproduce the spoken words he heard. Clephane was expected to produce multiple transcripts from his verbatim shorthand records, including a fair copy version for the printer. The printer set the text by hand in metal type, proofed it anew, and sent it to the press. Stenography and hand composition for the press were tedious, difficult, and slow. The entire process took days. Accomplished scribes wrote at a rate of 25 to 30 words a minute. Clephane needed a faster way. He expressed “the great desirability of securing some mechanical means by which the slow process of producing manuscript copy could be avoided.”5 Being of a progressive nature, he decided to focus on the attractive and important work of inventions needed in his business. Among these inventions were the Sholes (later Remington) Typewriter and the Moore Typewriter (succeeded by the Planograph). While pursuing this interesting line of activity, he conceived of a machine that would dispense with typesetting by hand, and sponsored an inventor named Charles Moore to produce what they called a “writing machine.”6 When Moore needed help, he and Clephane went to Hahl’s shop in Baltimore, where the young mechanic Ottmar Mergenthaler...