Illustration depicting the process of casting type: At 1) on left are 4 type-founders, each with a small furnace for melting the alloy of lead and iron from which the type is cast. The man at the front is filling a ladle with molten metal, ready to tip it into the mould in his left hand. The average number of letters cast in a day was 3000. The letters are next passed to the boys at 2) who break off the shanks. At 3) they are rubbed on a stone to remove un-wanted roughness, and at 4) they are cut to one length. Dated 18th century

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Photo credit: © World History Archive / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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