The International Printing Museum in Torrance, California, is attempting to “rescue a collection of approximately 100 full fonts of antique Ludlow Typecasting matrices, catalog & organize the fonts into our working collection & digitize Ludlow Type Specimen books with notes on available fonts for letterpress projects. Along with the Museum’s other metal, wood type fonts, these matrices will be available for casting type to be used by museum patrons, graphic designers & letterpress printers nationally for all kinds of projects including letterpress poster and business card printing, invitation and greeting card printing projects and creative jewelry making and art projects. We will also develop and offer training and classes on Ludlow operation and maintenance to ensure Ludlow’s legacy. The success of the project would make this the largest active collection of hot metal type in the world available to the public.”
The Ludlow Project is currently raising funds on Kickstarter (here) where a video and longer historical pitch is on hand.
I learned about the project from Josh Korwin, a volunteer at the Museum, who has an informative history, “The Ludlow: Typographic Influence, 1931-1962” on his website. Visit all the sites, see the sights and support the history of type and printing.
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