The first machine completed was sent to the New York Tribune, where it was used to set part of the newspaper of July 3, Drawing by J. Coggleshall Wilson. Before the last of the twelve machines had been completed, Mergenthaler had added nine patented improvements. Business control of the venture passed into the hands of a group of newspaper owners, who, seeing big profits in the offing, ordered that more machines be built at all speed.
Mergenthaler, who saw the possibility of further important improvements, pleaded for time but was overruled. He proceeded with the work, struggling with the problem of producing brass matrices on a commercial scale by means of steel punches, which were all engraved by hand.
This was a bottleneck, and he began work on a punch engraving machine. He had not yet finished this work when the Benton pantograph machine was completed, and Mergenthaler stopped work on his own. Trouble between the backers headed by Whitelaw Reid of the Tribune and Mergenthaler had been brewing for some time; now there came a split. Meanwhile Mergenthaler devised such radical improvements that in the syndicate joined with him again to form The Mergenthaler Linotype Co.
Bitter feelings persisted, however, and in Dodge sent a letter to Mergenthaler in which he requested that the inventor allow the company to drop his name from the company title, on the grounds that it was too long, too time-consuming to write out, and subject to misspelling. Constantly driving himself to perfect his invention, Mergenthaler contracted tuberculosis in and began a desperate struggle against the disease. It is a slim book full of bitterness at his betrayal by the syndicate, and quiet pride at his accomplishment.
In , when the original Linotype patents expired, the Intertype machine appeared on the market. In the meantime, he continued working hard in Baltimore to complete the prototype for his improved machine. Mergenthaler was about to create an extra machine because it was very expensive to have these stamps cut by hand. Again, having overcome technical obstacles, Mergenthaler ran into barriers of another sort. This time, the problem came from newspaper publishers who were counting on the implementation and distribution of the machine in its present form and who did not want to incur further production costs for development work.
Thereafter, the syndicate decided to begin manufacturing this new machine in large quantities. Stock options were demanded by stakeholders in the old National Typographic Company and in the syndicate, which wanted to hold the majority interest in the new firm. Hine thereupon demanded twenty-five percent of the capital of the investors in the Washington Group, and Mergenthaler, who had put his entire personal fortune into his factory, accepted a loan from Reid so that he could buy his shares.
The terms of this advance were rather harsh: Reid held the shares as collateral with irrevocable power of attorney and charged six percent interest. The syndicate granted Mergenthaler a contract for more machines. Although production was increasing, syndicate members granted themselves special rights and continued to hold a monopoly on the Blower: the typesetting machine was only available to other printing presses i. The contract for the additional machines gave Mergenthaler enough money and security to reorganize his workshop.
Within a few months, his Camden Street workshop in Baltimore was expanded, and his staff grew from 40 to Among other priorities, Mergenthaler always made sure that his newly recruited employees received optimal training and mentoring. Additionally, he also opened a new building on Preston Street, where more than people worked on machine assembly and matrix production. For the larger components of the machine, Mergenthaler contracted with outside workshops in Baltimore and New York. Unfortunately, the inventor either had to wait a long time for delivered parts or make them himself, an equally time-consuming route.
Likewise, the machine assembly process was slow and problematic, and to remedy this, Mergenthaler devised various methods to reduce the high costs associated with the existing division of labor. Nonetheless, Mergenthaler was still under significant time pressure. As syndicate members began interfering with the management of his development work, the disputes between Mergenthaler and various stakeholders became intolerable. The confrontation between Reid and Mergenthaler peaked when Mergenthaler, who had initially been contracted to manufacture his machines as quickly as possible, was told to produce them more cheaply.
On March 15, , shortly after receiving a patent for this new machine, Mergenthaler announced his resignation from the Mergenthaler Printing Company. According to his own account, he had taken the position only because it was initially agreed that he was to be solely responsible for development work. Later on, however, he was apparently too frequently hassled and too strongly controlled by the executive board of the company.
He would never again work for a fixed income, though he was prepared to accept contract work. In the summer of , Mergenthaler experienced one of the most traumatic events of his life when his second son, Julius, died at the age of four. In the fall of that same year, Mergenthaler suffered a near deadly bout of pleurisy. The following year brought some happier developments: in March , the Blower-model Lintoype became known to the general public after Scientific American published an article about it.
The article appeared on the cover of the March 9, , issue and included a large illustration of a Linotype machine in use at the New York Tribune. No doubt, contemporary readers would have been astounded by the sheer mass of the machine, which was approximately the size of a grand piano. While the Linotype machine was finally becoming known among the general public in America, it was also starting to make inroads into international markets thanks to a promotional campaign led by Stilson Hutchins.
By all accounts, was a good year for Mergenthaler and his business. The new and improved machine, which had been displayed in the Judge Building in New York City in early , was deemed an unqualified success.
Letters Patent No. Of this new machine, historian Richard E. The increased demand for Linotypes led to the merger of the Mergenthaler Printing Company and the National Typographic Company in The merger, in turn, led to the formation of the Mergenthaler Linotype Company, which was headquartered in Brooklyn and led by patent lawyer and attorney-at-law P.
By , it was possible for the company to start issuing dividends payments. He then assigned it to the Rogers Typograph Company. At this stage in his career, even Mergenthaler himself was finally satisfied with his achievements. While the Linotype was driving the spread and advancement of knowledge, Mergenthaler fell ill with tuberculosis. In , health problems forced him to move to the American Southwest, where he settled in Deming, New Mexico.
There, in , he began writing his biography, part of which chronicled the development of the Linotype. In , Mergenthaler published his manuscript at his own expense.
Apparently, the thing that injured him most, however, was P. It was only after company shareholder D. Mergenthaler died on October 28, , at his home in Baltimore. The Mergenthaler Company remained in existence for almost years before being taken over by the German firm Linotype AG, Eschborn, in Former employee William R.
His kindheartedness even extended to animals, particularly horses, and he would not stand for their mistreatment. One evening I was leaving the Linotype workshop for home and rode with Mergenthaler in the same carriage. The driver lost his patience with the horses at an unpaved portion of the road and began whipping the animals.
Mergenthaler jumped to their aid and reprimanded the carriage driver in such a way that he surely had not heard before. This had the desired effect. This man never mistreated his horses again. Charles R. When there were urgent orders to fill that led to overtime, he made sure, went through the workshop and asked everyone if we had eaten lunch.
If we said no, he immediately ordered lunch in the neighboring restaurant. His inventions afforded him an elevated lifestyle in Baltimore and allowed him to purchase a large house in a desirable neighborhood at West Lanvale Street.
There, he enjoyed the recognition and esteem of his fellow citizens, particularly those active in the German clubs and societies to which he also belonged. The machine's use spread quickly throughout the United States and abroad. Although Mergenthaler withdrew from the company manufacturing the Linotype in , his interest in his invention remained as strong as before.
He patented at least 50 improvements to it before his death. Mergenthaler was a friendly, personable man. He delighted in his family and in his love of music. He died in Baltimore on Oct. The former contains a remarkably thorough, illustrated explanation of the Linotype in all its operations. See also Edward W. Mergenthaler, Ottmar, The biography of Ottmar Mergenthaler, inventor of the linotype. All rights reserved.
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