Detail of the engraving of the machine from the Alden stock certificate.
Creative Commons LicenseJeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative Commons
Detail of the engraving of the machine from the Alden stock certificate.
IMG 0749

The newspaper proudly displayed their cylinder printing machine in the center of their masthead.

Wisconsin Alden

The newspaper article asserted that Alden's type setter could set type as fast as eight men, and also could distribute the type after it was used.

Detail map of Madison, Wisconsin, United States Overview map of Madison, Wisconsin, United States

A: Madison, Wisconsin, United States

The Wisconsin State Journal Features the Alden Type Setter on its Front Page

4/9/1861
Stock certificate for the Alden Type Setting & Distributing Machine Co.
Creative Commons LicenseJeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative Commons
Stock certificate for the Alden Type Setting & Distributing Machine Co. We see a portrait of Benjamin Franklin in the upper left corner and presumably a portrait of the inventor Timothy Alden in the right corner. A very small image of a Hoe rotary printing machine is visible at the bottom of the certificate in the center, just above the ornamental border.

On Tuesday April 9, 1861 the Wisconsin State Journal, a weekly newspaper published in Madison, Wisconsin featured the Alden Type Setting machine on their front page. Obviously impressed with the novelty of a mechanical typesetting machine that appeared to work, the newspaper featured an article about it on the lower far left column as illustrated below

Timeline Themes

Book Production in the Industrial Revolution: Origins of Mass Media
News Media / Journalism
Typography: Typesetting by Machine