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The Linograph was a machine similar to the Linotype and the Intertype. Producing machines similar to the Linotype became possible when the certain patents protecting the Linotype expired. Those patents included for example:

• Patent 311,350 regarding a method of and means for producing printing surfaces (Click to download).
• Patent 313,224 regarding a machine for producing printing bars (Click to download).
• The infamous patent 311,350 regarding Schuckers expandable wedge spaceband (Click to download). This patent was part of the 1890-1892 discussion between the Rogers Typograph Company and the Mergenthaler Linotype Company, a story which can be read here.

The Linograph Manufacturing Company started around 1911 with producing the Linograph. The oldest found public mention of this company was in the Printing Trade News of 1911, p.60 and p.74:

Figure: The oldest found public mention of the Linograph Company (click to download).

The most remarkable difference with the Linotype is that the magazines had a vertical position, standing straight above the keyboard. This resembles the earlier Linotype models. Throughout the years, the Linograph Manufacturing Company advertised its machine as very reliable that suits all needs.

Figures: A 1920 and a 1922 Advertisement for the Linograph in the Inland Printer. Click on the image for a larger view.

However, the Linograph Manufacturing Company was bought by the Intertype Corporation around 1944 and dissolved. Not many Linographs exist today, and sources are limited.

1. LINOGRAPH COMPANY. (1920). The Linograph will serve every printer. [Advertisement in the Inland Printer, n.d.] [download]
2. LINOGRAPH COMPANY. (1922). Your opportunity. [Advertisement in the Inland Printer, n.d.] [download]
3. METAL TYPE. (n.d.). The Linograph. [Online] https://metaltype.co.uk/wpress/early-machines/the-linograph/
4. PRINTING TRADE NEWS PUBLISHING COMPANY. (1911). Volume 40. Page 60 & page 74. [Online] link or download extract.

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