ARABIC TYPOGRAPHY DRAWINGS C.1911 IN 5 FOLDERS CONTAINING APROX 300 DRAWINGS

c. 343 MANUSCRIPT DESIGNS in pencil on card (average 355 x 420mm.), for 12, 14, 18 and 24 point letter fonts, most dated and signed with the designer's initials and stamped and signed by the head of the design department, most with annotations or notes in pencil or ink, some with later dated manuscript amendments, each sheet with "Linotype & Machinery Co." ink stamp, the drawings housed in 5 original card folders, some soiling from use, some creases, wear and tears

Titus Nemeth, Arabic Type-Making in the Machine Age: The Influence of Technology on the Form of Arabic Type, 1908–1993 (Brill, 2017)

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

AN IMPORTANT ARCHIVE INCLUDING SOME OF THE EARLIEST DRAWINGS FOR ARABIC LINOTYPE FONT. "Arabic is the third most widely used script in the world, and its representation in type has engaged printers, engineers, businesses and designers since the 16th century" (Nemeth). The Linotype machine, invented in 1886 by Ottmar Mergenthaler, revolutionized the printing industry and dominated printing in the 20th century, effecting "the greatest revolution in the printing art since Guttenberg" (Frank Romano, History of the Linotype Company, 2014). Instead of setting individual pieces of type by hand, printers operated the Linotype's keyboard to assemble a mould of an entire line of type. The machine then cast the entire line in type metal and printers assembled individual lines of type into full pages. Mergenthaler worked from 1908 in collaboration with the New York Arabic newspaper al-Hoda to develop the first Arabic Linotype machine which was patented in 1910. The Linotype & Machinery Co. was the British offshoot of the American Mergenthaler Linotype Co., and its archive was dispersed prior to the demolition of the factory in the early 2000s. The company had branches in India (Calcutta, Bombay and Madras), Hong Kong, Singapore, South Africa, Nigeria, Borneo and Egypt. Examples from the original archive of artwork can be found in the University of Reading, with the main part of the archive, comprising some 60,000 drawings, now housed in the Letterform Archive in San Francisco.