Ian Schaefer

The Monotype is on the way. Shipping confimed. Shipping paid (Don’t ask). Three pallets weighing in at 2400 lbs: 1300 for caster, 750 for keyboard (seems high to me), 350 for compressor and miscellaneous stuff. Arrival is set for the week of the 3rd of May. Hopefully enough space has been cleared in the shop,…it all works out on paper.
This machine formerly belonged to Paul Duesing, at his shop in Watkinsville, Geogia. I first met Paul last year at Monotype University Five in Terra Alta, West Virgina, where he, along with rest of the Monu U faculty, taught several of us the Monotype Composition System. Paul is a rather legendary figure among the fine press, typography and typefounding circles. I feel very fortunate to be ‘inheriting’ some of his equipment.

As of 3:00 PM today, I am the owner of a 1960s ‘Monotype’ Composition Caster and Keyboard. While it is neither paid for nor in my possession, I have committed to it’s shipment northward from Georgia. It is quite irrevocable.

I have always liked the word relish. Maybe I enjoy any word that functions as both a noun and a verb, and where the noun is a concrete thing�skirt is another example. Anyway, I had some fun setting this word in 24-point Fournier Ornamented, and embellishing with a dazzling arrangement of 18-point Arrighi Ornaments. The florid, baroque appearance seems to fit the word: couldn’t it be the label on an old tin of minced sweet pickles?
Fournier type was cast by students, including myself, at Monotype University Five. The Arrighi Ornaments are the finely cast product of the Dale Guild.

I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but it seems reasonably likely that I will obtain a Monotype Composition Casting Machine in the near future. I dreamed about making type for many years, even before I truly understood what it meant to make type in the traditional, 3-dimensional sense. Then, about 3 years ago, I was afforded an opportunity to spend a few days with Mike Anderson of the At Random Press Typefoundry, where my fate was apparently sealed. Working with the Thompson machine left me hungry for more. Upon Mike’s suggestion I enrolled in Monotype University 5, lead by Rich Hopkins. Here I learned that I could actually manage a composition machine—that it was within my grasp, both intellectually and mechanically. After all, it is a big, heavy, hot, greasy, complicated piece of machinery—especially for a guy who doesn’t make it a habit to change the oil in his own car!