Linotype and Machinery Limited was formed as the result of a merger between the Linotype Company Limited, originally registered as a company in 1889, and the Machinery Trust Limited, registered in 1893.
The Linotype Company Limited initially imported American built machines from the Merganthaler Linotype Company. However, as demand grew it looked to producing the parts and making the machines in England initially at a converted mill on Hulme Street, Manchester from 1889 onwards.
The Machinery Trust Limited acted as agents either selling or leasing the composing machines to printers. The success of the companies continued and in order to meet the demand for the machines the two companies merged on the 11th August 1903. They also clarified their position with the American owners of the original patents as to which countries they could sell their machines. The new company occupied the premises of the Linotype Company in Broadheath, Altrincham.
By the time of the outbreak of the First World War, it was estimated that there were 30,000 linotype machines in operation across the world. Linotype and Machinery Company Limited had established branch offices in Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt and Borneo, as well as having a head office in London, and sales offices in Cheltenham.
Date
6th July 1859 - 31st December 1980
Scope and ContentThe collection consists of records for various subsidiary company responsible for either manufacturing or selling composing and printing machinery or supplying consumables required by the printing trades. There are also copies of documents provided by the Mergenthaler Linotype Company of New York, set up in 1886 to build composing machines in the United States. Later, the Merganthaler Linotype Company and the Linotype & Machinery Co Ltd agreed terms as to who would build and sell the machines globally. As part of the agreement in 1909 after swapping shares they created a holding company to look after the shares, it was called Linotype International Limited.
Series of records contain Articles of Association, deed and mortgage registers, minutes of various meetings, stocks and share records, customer order books, correspondence, operation and service manuals, machine registers, typeface specimen books, trade literature and brochures, various in-house publications and a series of bound copies of patents for machines and resulting improvements to them registered both in the United States of America, United Kingdom and Europe.
Extent108 linear metres
Physical descriptionGood condition
Archival historyDonated to the Museum by Linotype & Machinery Limited.
Linotype and Machinery Limited was formed as the result of a merger between the Linotype Company Limited, originally registered as a company in 1889, and the Machinery Trust Limited, registered in 1893.
The Linotype Company Limited initially imported American built machines from the Merganthaler Linotype Company. However, as demand grew it looked to producing the parts and making the machines in England initially at a converted mill on Hulme Street, Manchester from 1889 onwards.
The Machinery Trust Limited acted as agents either selling or leasing the composing machines to printers. The success of the companies continued and in order to meet the demand for the machines the two companies merged on the 11th August 1903. They also clarified their position with the American owners of the original patents as to which countries they could sell their machines. The new company occupied the premises of the Linotype Company in Broadheath, Altrincham.
By the time of the outbreak of the First World War, it was estimated that there were 30,000 linotype machines in operation across the world. Linotype and Machinery Company Limited had established branch offices in Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt and Borneo, as well as having a head office in London, and sales offices in Cheltenham.
A syndicate, headed by Jacob Bright, radical politician and business man from Rochdale, had been formed to purchase the Patents for the Linotype machine, The Linotype Company Limited was created on the 15th July 1889 when an agreement was reached to purchase the Patents from the syndicate. The company later merged with The Machinery Trust Limited to become Linotype and Machinery Limited in 1903.
The Linotype Company Limited initially had found it difficult to raise the required capital, to purchase the Patents in order to manufacture the machines in the United Kingdom, from its initial prospectus. However, the Patent holders of the Linotype Machine agreed to payment with shares rather than cash. On placing the shares for purchase by the public a second time the Linotype Company managed to secure half of the original capital required and decided that they had enough in order to start manufacturing the composing machines.
The company had originally thought to have the machines made by contracting out the work but soon discovered this would be too costly and therefore found premises on Hulme Street, Oxford Street in Manchester which had originally been used as a cotton mill. The company had to rely on American Linotype machines initially while they set up the machine tools in the new factory. The American company continued to provide specialist mechanical support which was required by the British company as demand soon outstripped supply of the Linotype machines.
It soon became apparent that the company was providing a machine capable of composing type more cheaply than had been done before. This had the effect of making newspapers and books cheaper allowing more people to be able to afford to buy them to read. The proprietors of the newspapers were so taken by the cheap operating costs of the composing machines that they soon realised that owning shares in the Linotype Company was a sound investment.
The Linotype Company acknowledged that without having supplied a great number of machines to the Machinery Trust Ltd they would not have survived. The Machinery Trust leased composing machines and therefore, at times, found themselves with large numbers of redundant machines. As well as doing business with the Machinery Trust Ltd the Linotype Company also had a large number of shares in the Printing Machinery Company, a direct competitor of theirs. They could not afford to buy the company and therefore agreed to pay to the Printing Machinery Company a guaranteed income on the shares they had, in return for the Printing Machinery Company closing down their business premises and laying off their Agents.
In 1902 the Linotype Company had also begun to realise that having three companies competing in the same market did not make sense and therefore started discussions with The Machinery Trust Ltd and the Printing Machinery Company to merge into one company the Linotype Machinery Company Limited which they duly did in 1903.
The Machinery Trust Limited had steadily grown in both size and capital since its incorporation in 1893. The company had an understanding with the Linotype Company Limited that allowed them to hire or sell Linotype machines in various countries. This understanding was helped by the fact that many of the Shareholders also held shares in the Linotype Company and both companies shared Directors.
For the first six years of the history the company saw increasing turnover of machines which resulted in growing profits. However, The Boer War did have an effect on its performance and it also found itself having to compete for new customers to supply the composing machines which were being made by the Linotype Company but, sold through a different Agency.
There had been discussions between the two companies, shareholders and other interested parties about how to progress the business forward. It was a worry for the company that any kind of falling out with the main supplier of the composing machine, from which it made most of its profits, The Linotype Co Ltd would have a serious effect on its future profits. In order to resolve this major problem it was suggested that the two companies should merge. Thereby protecting the interests of The Machinery Trust but, also would enable some savings to be made on the duplication of services and operations that were being done by both companies at that time.
The British companies combined would then be more able to compete with its main rivals in Germany and the United States of America. The combined capital of the two companies would allow for better investment in new machines and also would take out of the equation the insecurity and isolation felt by Directors of The Machinery Trust at that time. As a result of this a series of Extraordinary General Meetings were held in July 1903 announcing the plans for the merger of the two companies.
The Machinery Trust Ltd and The Linotype Co Ltd agreed to transfer to the new company Linotype and Machinery Ltd all of their undertaking whilst at the same time taking the opportunity to settle any debt liabilities and obligations from both of the old companies.
Manufacturers and dealers in printing machines, articles and things of every description adapted for or capable of being used by printers and publishers.
The Merganthaler Linotype Company was an American corporation founded in 1886 to produce the Linotype machine invented by Ottmar Merganthaler. The Linotype machine revolutionised the process of casting metal type used in the printing industry. Whereas before type had to be set by hand the machine automated this process and in doing so increased the amount of printed material available. The company operated for many years until it was eventually taken over by Monotype Imaging in 2006.
Linotype and Machinery (South Africa) Limited in South Africa acted as an agent for the parent company, Linotype and Machinery Co Ltd, and was incorporated on 1 January 1914. The agency had its registered office at 188 Fleet Street, London. The agency began operating in South Africa on 1 May 1914.
On 29 June 1914, Linotype and Machinery Co Ltd granted Linotype and Machinery (South Africa) Limited the sole right to the re-sale of Linotype machines in the Commonwealth of South Africa and Rhodesia {Zimbabwe]. The agency leased an office in Cape Town from 18 June 1914.
The agency operated successfully until 1964, when the its financial losses resulted in voluntary liquidation. The agency closed in June 1965, and Spicers (South Africa) Ltd began to act as agent for Linotype and Machinery Co Ltd in South Africa.
International Linotype Limited was incorporated in 1909 to act as a holding company to deal in shares issued or guaranteed by Linotype and Machinery Limited and Merganthaler Linotype Company of New York.
International Linotype Limited facilitated the exchange of shares between the two companies, necessary because each company issued the shares in the currency of their country of registration.
International Linotype Limited was dissolved in 1960.
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