Mergenthaler, Ottmar

born May 11, 1854, Hachtel, Württemberg

died Oct. 28, 1899, Baltimore, Md., U.S.

German-U.S. inventor.

He immigrated to the U.S. in 1872. While working in a Baltimore machine shop he began experimenting with type molds, and in 1884 he patented the Linotype typesetting machine. The reduced costs achieved by thus speeding up the typesetting process led to a dramatic expansion of all kinds of publishing.

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▪ American inventor

born May 11, 1854, Hachtel, Württemberg [Germany]

died Oct. 28, 1899, Baltimore

      German-born American inventor who developed the Linotype machine.

      A precocious boy, Mergenthaler was anxious to study engineering, but his father, burdened with financing the higher education of older sons, found the expense beyond his means. He was apprenticed to a watchmaker at age 14 and attended technical school classes at night. In 1872 he emigrated to the United States, becoming a citizen in 1878. While employed in the Baltimore machine shop of a relative, he worked on plans for a device to make type molds of papier-mâché. This device proved impracticable, but Mergenthaler became dedicated to the problem involved—setting type by machine. In 1886 he produced his Linotype, which, by bringing copper matrices into brief contact with a molten but fast-cooling alloy, rapidly molded column widths of type. The machine reduced costs by speeding up the printing process; hence it fostered a dramatic expansion of all areas of publishing. Mergenthaler later patented other successful inventions, but developing the Linotype remained his life interest.

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