Type Archive

The Type Archive (formerly the Type Museum) is a collection of artefacts representing the legacy of type founding in England, whose famous type foundries and composing systems supplied the world with type in over 300 languages.[1][2] The Archive was founded in 1992 by Susan Shaw in Stockwell, South London.[3][4]

Gerry Drayton, the last surviving teacher of the Monotype School (96 years of age in 2020), behind a Monotype machine at the Type Archive Museum, photograph made in 2006.

Overview

The Type Archive is a repository of the original forms, punches, matrices and patterns of some of the most successful metal and wood type foundries. It holds a historic collection of presses. It is estimated that the collections include between five and eleven million artefacts.

The archive is a working factory that manufactures matrices (moulds for typecasting) for letterpress printing. The Museum is an educational resource for colleges wanting to see an experimental type workshop.


Collections

The Museum’s major collections are:

  • The Stephenson Blake Collection of English foundry type with industrial and hand casting equipment. In their long trading history Stephenson Blake & Company acquired many of the other famous-name English type foundries. The remaining material associated with these companies now resides at the Type Archive. The cataloguing of the Stephenson Blake collection obtained in 1996, was completed in 2005 by the late Justin Howes thanks to the Pilgrim Trust.
  • The Monotype Collection covers the entire history of Monotype Corporation’s global supply of fine letterpress machine composition in almost all languages and continues as a working company within the Archive.The complete archive and plant of the Monotype Corporation was purchased with a National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) grant in 1992. It belongs to the Science Museum, which delegates its care and operation to the Type Archive. The Science Museum is currently cataloguing the Monotype collection for the public benefit.
  • The Robert DeLittle wood type manufactory — the last specialist English wood type manufacturer is a superb resource in this vital, engaging and under-researched area of type design.

Entities

The Type Archive involves the following entities: the Type Museum Trust, which is a Registered Charity 1009198 and a Registered Museum 1101 and its subsidiary The Type Museum Limited Registered Company 3677895 (trading as Monotype Hot-Metal).

Location
100 Hackford Road
London SW9 0QU
England

Access

A small team of staff and volunteers work at the Type Archive on a regular basis. Some are directly involved in the manufacture and provision of Monotype matrices and spare parts, and are employed by Monotype Hot Metal Ltd. The company has never been without orders for matrices and machine parts since it began trading from the Stockwell site. Uniquely skilled volunteers also maintain and operate the historic presses and Monotype casting machinery.

Access to the Type Archive collections in recent years has been hampered by a shortage of experienced and qualified volunteers who are familiar with the Archive's holdings, but this issue is currently being addressed and it is hoped that provision can be made for researchers to have limited access to the collections in the future. Much of the material held at Stockwell is unique and irreplaceable, so procedures must be in place to protect the holdings from theft or damage. Access will be provided only on days when a volunteer is available to locate material and supervise its use.

A major exhibition showcasing the work of the late Berthold Wolpe, artist, designer, calligrapher and typographer opened in September 2017, and although scheduled to end in October it was extended until 4 December due to popular demand. Around 1000 visitors viewed the material on display. The Wolpe exhibition, arranged in conjunction with Monotype Imaging, which provided much of the funding for the event, is hoped to be the first of a series of regular opportunities for the public to access the wealth of unique, historic material held at Stockwell.

An exhibition featuring the calligraphic work of Icelandic artist and handwriting expert, Gunnlaugur SE Briem, opened in June 2018, closing in mid-July that year. Further exhibitions and a regular series of Type Archive Talks (TAlks) are planned.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the unrelated death of founder Susan Shaw (1932-2020[5]) made access particularly difficult for staff, volunteers and researchers from March 2020.

See also
  • Tipoteca Museo del carattere e della Tipografia: Typeface and Printing Museum in Italy.
  • Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, is the only museum dedicated to the preservation, study, production and printing of wood type. With 1.5 million pieces of wood type and more than 1,000 styles and sizes of patterns, Hamilton's collection is one of the premier wood type collections in the world.

References
  1. Simon Loxley (31 March 2006). Type: The Secret History of Letters. I.B.Tauris. pp. 56–64. ISBN 978-0-85773-017-6.
  2. "Type Archive, Stockwell, London". Prince's Regeneration Trust. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  3. "London's Most Hidden Museum? We Find The Type Museum". Culture 24. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  4. Figg, Thomas. "Reverting to Type". The Independent. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  5. Barker, Nicolas (15 July 2020). "Susan Shaw obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 November 2020.

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