The Maksa Geltsa Factory, later the Leningrad printing machines factory ('Leningradskii zavod poligraficheskikh mashin', 'Ленинградский завод полиграфических машин', often abbreviated as 'Lenpoligrafmash', 'Ленполиграфмаш') was a Russian producer of typecasting machines. It sold machines under the names Maksa Geltsa, Neotype, Novatype or just РОССИЯ ('Rossija', meaning 'Russia'). Several Russian machines were very recognizable by their very distinctive green color.
We compiled a list with the known models.
The Н-2 Soviet Linotype was released in 1936.
Figure: The Н-2 model (Katalog poligrafichetskih mashin, 1941, p6.)
The Н-3 Soviet Linotype was released sometime in the 1940s.
The Н-4 Soviet Linotype was released in 1949.
The Н-5 Soviet Linotype was released in 1950.
Figure: The Н-5 model (Agapova & Alii, 1954, p38)
The Н-6 Soviet Linotype (also referred to as the “NMS” – НМС in Cyrillic alphabet) was released in 1954.
The Н-4Ц Soviet Linotype was released in 1956.
The Н-7 Soviet Linotype was released in 1958.
Figures: The Н-7 model (Sokolovskaya, 1964, p14), Advertisement for the Н-7 and Н-11 models.
While the name on this machine was similar to the one above, it is different in some details. It is unclear what the relation between both machines was, and where the ф is referring to. It probably refers to some updates in the model. The machine on the photo was produced in 1960.
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Figure: The Model Н7-ф at the Leipzig Press Museum, Germany
At the moment, it is unclear when models Н-8 and Н-9 were released, if they were at all.
The Н-10 Soviet Linotype was released in 1959. This was the earliest model compatible with the Soviet version of the Teletypesetter, a device that went by the name 'NPU' (НПУ).
Figure: The Н-10 model (Schulmeister, 1967, p8), compatible with the Soviet version of the Teletypesetter, the 'NPU' (НПУ) (Schulmeister, 1967, p8).
The Н-11 Soviet Linotype was released in 1959. This model was apparently a modernised version of model Н-5.
Figure: The Model Н-14 at the Art Book Museum of Łódź, Poland.
Figure: The Model 2Н-104 at the Typorama museum, Switzerland. The machine on the photo was built in 1989.
Figure: The Model Н-140 model at the Leipzig Press Museum, Germany, produced in 1977.
The information on this page is partly based on the research of Victor Thibout.
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