Rochester Institute of Technology RIT Scholar Works
Theses
5-1-1986
The Contributions of Linn Boyd Benton and Morris Fuller Benton to the technology of typesetting and typeface design
Patricia Cost
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Recommended Citation Cost, Patricia, "The Contributions of Linn Boyd Benton and Morris Fuller Benton to the technology of typesetting and typeface design" (1986). Thesis. Rochester Institute of Technology. Accessed from
This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by RIT Scholar Works. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses by an authorized administrator of RIT Scholar Works. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Sc~l of Printing Rochester Institute of Techno~ Rochester I New York
CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL
MASTER'S niESIS
This is to certify that the Master's Thesis of
Patricia Knittel Cost name of student
with a major in Printing Technology has been approved by the Thesis Comnittee as satisfactory for the thesis requirement for the Master of Science degree at the convocation of
June 24, 1986 date
Thesis Comnittee: Herbert Johnson Thesis Advisor Archibald Provan Thesis Advisor
Joseph L. Noga Graduate Progran Coordinator
Miles Southworth Director THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF LINN BOYD BENTON AND MORRIS FULLER BENTON TO THE TECHNOLOGY OF TYPESETTING AND TYPEFACE DESIGN
by
Patricia Knittel Cost
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in the School of Printing in the College of Graphic Arts and Photography of the Rochester Institute of Technology
May 1986
Thesis Advisors: Herbert H. Johnson Archibald D. Provan COPYRIGHT MAY 1986 Patricia A. Cost
No part of this manuscript may be reproduced in any way without express written consent of the author. The Contributions of Linn Boyd Benton and Morris Fuller Benton to the Technology of Typesetting and Typeface Design
I, Patricia Knittel Cost , prefer to be contacted each time a request for reproduction is made. I can be reached at the following address: 12 Partridgeberry Way west Henrietta, New York 14586 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to give special thanks to two nembers of the
Benton family: Mrs. Caroline Benton Gregg, for her gracious hospitality, time and patience; and Mrs. Elizabeth Benton Swain, for her generous contribution. This research would not have been possible without the help of many others, including Dr. James Eckman, George Gasparik, Walter
Marder, M.F. McGrew, Alexander Lawson, Hermann Zapf , Matthew Carter,
Henry Weiland, Rudolph Ellenbogen, and David Pankow. I am greatly indebted to my advisors, Herb Johnson and Archibald Provan, for their enthusiasm, support, and criticism. Most of all, I want to thank Frank
Cost for his boundless patience and encouragement, and Roger Cost for inspiration.
11 TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of v Tables _
List of Figures vi
Chapter One: Introduction 1 Statement of the Problem 1 Hypothesis Statement 4 Footnotes to Chapter 1 5
Chapter Two: Family Background 6 Footnotes to Chapter 2 16
Chapter Three: The Early Years: The Inventions 19 Typefounding in the 1870s 19 Self-Spacing Types 25 The Benton Punch-Cutting Machine 31 ' Mergenthaler s Linotype Machine 36 Other Inventions 45 Life in Milwaukee 46 Footnotes to Chapter 3 50
Chapter Four: The Bentons at ATF 54 The Merger 54 The Bentons' Early Years in New York 58 Linn Boyd Benton's ATF Career 64 Morris Benton at ATF 71 The Bentons in Plainfield 84 Footnotes to Chapter 4 96
Chapter Five: Typographic