Type Archive facts for kids

Gerry Drayton, a teacher from the Monotype School, with a Monotype machine in 2006. He was 96 years old in 2020.

The Type Archive was a special collection of old machines and tools that showed the history of making printing types in England. Famous English companies that made printing types supplied the world with letters and symbols in over 300 languages. The Archive was started in 1992 by Susan Shaw in Stockwell, South London. In mid-2022, the Archive announced it would close its building and send parts of its collections to other museums.

What was the Type Archive?

The Type Archive was like a treasure chest for original shapes, punches (tools to make letter shapes), matrices (moulds for casting letters), and patterns from some of England's most successful companies that made metal type and wood type. It also had a historic collection of printing presses. The Archive believed its collections included over six million items, though some sources suggest it was more than 10 million.

The Archive was also home to Monotype Hot-Metal Ltd. This was a small group of four retired people who used to work for the Monotype Corporation. They made matrices (moulds) for Monotype hot-metal typesetting machines. These machines are still used around the world by people who enjoy letterpress printing as a hobby and by some businesses. The Archive also offered training to teach people how to make these matrices. These operations stopped on July 25, 2022.

The Type Archive did not have regular opening hours for most of its time. However, it sometimes held open days and special shows in a gallery. It also welcomed school groups for printing workshops.

Amazing Collections

The Type Archive had many Monotype machines stored in large rooms, like these hot-metal casting machines.

The main collections at the Archive were:

• The Stephenson Blake Collection: This collection included English foundry type (metal letters) and the machines used to make them. The Archive said it had 2.5 million items. Over many years, Stephenson Blake & Company bought out many other famous English type foundries, like the Caslon Type Foundry. The remaining items from these companies were kept at the Type Archive. When the Archive announced its closure, it said the Victoria and Albert Museum would temporarily take care of this collection.
• The Monotype Collection: This collection covered the entire history of the Monotype Corporation. Monotype was a global company that supplied machines for making fine letterpress type in almost all languages. The complete collection and factory equipment of the Monotype Corporation were bought in 1992 with a special grant. This collection belongs to the Science Museum. The Science Museum allowed the Type Archive to look after and use it. The Science Museum said in its 2021–2022 report that it would be "moving" the collection. The Science Museum estimates this collection has 6,600 items with 5 million parts.
• The Robert DeLittle wood type factory: This was the last company in England that specialized in making wood type. This collection includes the patterns, the pantograph (a cutting machine), tools, and some finished wood type. The Archive said its leaders bought this collection directly. What happened to this collection has not yet been announced.

Where was it located?

For 30 years, the Archive was located in a group of buildings on Hackford Road in Stockwell. These buildings used to be a place for animal medicine and quarantine, sometimes even housing baby elephants! Because of this history, the founder, Susan Shaw, used an elephant as a symbol for the Archive.

100 Hackford Road

London SW9 0QU

England

How people accessed the Archive

A small team of staff and volunteers ran the Type Archive. Some were directly involved in making and providing Monotype matrices and spare parts. These people worked for Monotype Hot Metal Ltd. This company always had orders for matrices and machine parts since it started operating from the Stockwell site. Very skilled volunteers also looked after and operated the old printing presses and Monotype casting machines.

A big exhibition showing the work of Berthold Wolpe ran from September to December 2017. Wolpe was an artist, designer, and type designer. The Archive said about 1,000 visitors saw the items on display. This exhibition was put together with Monotype Imaging, using items from the Type Archive and from Berthold Wolpe's children.

Another exhibition, featuring the beautiful handwriting of Icelandic artist Gunnlaugur SE Briem, opened in June 2018 and closed in mid-July of that year.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the sad death of founder Susan Shaw (1932–2020) made it very hard for staff, volunteers, and researchers to access the Archive starting in March 2020.

On November 29, 2021, Duncan Avery retired after more than 75 years of working with the Monotype Corporation and then Monotype Hot-Metal Ltd.

In mid-2022, a note on The Type Archive's website said that the site would be given up and the collections moved. Monotype Hot-Metal Ltd. told its customers that it would stop its operations in July 2022.

Images for kids

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

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  The extensive Monotype holdings of the archive were arrayed in huge vaults, including this portion full of Monotype hot-metal casting machines.