Hot Type

Reviews / Votes

Jeff Jarvis has the knack of choosing the right moment and the right subject, and nowhere is this more evident than in this captivating book. He argues persuasively that the steam press, telegraph, and photography were only partly responsible for the great nineteenth-century transformations in communication technology: without the means to speed the process of composition of text there could be no mass media. Linotype was the solution, but only after many alarms and excursions, beautifully
expounded in this superb book. * Andrew Pettegree, Wardlaw Professor of History, University of St. Andrews, UK * Hot Type offers a vivid portrait of the quest to speed up typesetting in an age of mechanical invention, and what the Linotype's introduction meant for the publishing industry. From Mark Twain's toddler daughter to members of the International Typographical Union, this book tells a story about people and their relationships with machines that shows why narratives of mass media's emergence must account for the Linotype. * Sarah Bull, Associate Professor of English, Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada * Jeff Jarvis tells a complex story in a lively journalistic fashion. From the nuts and bolts of the machines to the personalities and motivations of key figures, this engaging story conveys details drawn from a wide
range of sources. Hot Type makes a valuable contribution to the literature of the history of printing and mass media in America. * Katherine M. Ruffin, Director of the Book Studies Program and Senior Lecturer in Art, Wellesley College, USA * The telegraph, wire services, offset lithography, the birth of typographical unions, the challenges women and Black Americans had in entering the industry-Jarvis covers it all in this immensely readable work. He also has a witty way of presenting history ... A fascinating history of print's evolution. * Kirkus Reviews *