Frank learned that the Oxford University Press printing arm is closing after hundreds of years. He talks about their best known product, the Oxford English Dictionary, a monumental work that traced the derivation and first usage of every word in the English language. It took 30 years to produce the first volume—A and B. Simon Winchester’s “The Professor and the Madman” is an excellent book about the creation of the OED.
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Discussion
By Alan Darling on Jul 02, 2021
What a shame!
When I worked at Monotype in the UK in the 70's I had the pleasure of visiting both the OUP and CUP (Oxford and Cambridge University Presses). They had amassed a collection of hot metal and early phototypesetting equipment (pre-computer). They had 14th century wood cuts, and so the list goes on. The idea being that they could reproduce any important papers in the way that they were originally printed.
The gem for me was that one of them (and I can't remember which) still employed a person that could hand throw type.
Sadly, the bottom line [probably] drives out yet another piece of history.
Alan