Pasko's American Dictionary of Printing and Bookmaking

Wesley Washington Pasko appears to be remembered mainly for editing the American Dictionary of Printing and Bookmaking, Containing a History of These Arts in Europe and America, with Definitions of Technical Terms and Biographical Sketches published in 1894. Published 23 years after Ringwalt's Encyclopedia, with which it may be conveniently compared, Pasko's work brings a different perspective to much the same subject matter, though it lacks the richness of the illustrations of Ringwalt's work. Pasko does, of course, reflect the updates and improvements that occurred during the preceding 23 years. He also had the advantage of extensive consultation with the great printer-scholar Theodore Low De Vinne.

One way that we may compare developments between Ringwalt's and Pasko's works are the way they cover mechanized typesetting--in which mechanized typesetting finally became dominant with the development and wide application of Linotype and Monotype not long before Pasko published. With my database entry for Ringwalt's Encyclopedia I included photographs of the article on typesetting machines. With this entry I have included the equivalent article from Pasko. Around 10 years after the introduction of Linotype, when Pasko's book was published, in 1894 acceptance of the Mergenthaler Linotype was mainly limited to newspapers, and the Monotype had achieved little acceptance in the U.S.. From Pasko's article on "Typesetting-Machine" I quote from the conclusion on p. 564. Note that Pasko indicates that 100,000 people were employed as hand compositors in the U.S. at the time.

"...At present it seems undoubted that daily newspapers can make money by adopting such machines, but the book trade has used few, and with those which have been employed they have not been very fortunate. The machines most used in Europe are the Kastenbein, the Hattersley and the Thorne; in this country the Mergenthaler [Linotype], the Thorne and the Burr have led. Others which are new, but are used to some extent, are the Lanston [Monotype], the McMillan and the Rogers. Perhaps there may be four hundred and fifty in all in use in the United States. As the number of compositors increases at the rate of three thousand a year, there being already one hundred thousand in this country it will be seen that it will take many years for even a fraction of these workmen to be superseded by machine compositors. In New York City, where more have been displaced relatively than elsewhere, the number of machines of all kinds operated does not reach two hundred. These numbers represent forty years of continuous trial and the sinking of many fortunes in these various attempts. At present the demand for machines of all kinds does not equal two hundred a year. These would perhaps perform as much work as six hundred compositors, but require three hundred operators for this purpose. At present the introduction of machines has produced no appreciable effect upon the trade, considered either as employers or journeymen."

A modest amount of information regarding Pasko (1840-1897) appears in the introduction by Robert E. Runser to the 1967 reprint of his American Dictionary of Printing issued by Gale Research. Runser characterizes Pasko as "author, printer, editor, solider and inventor."