The Paige Compositor

[Mechanic]

I'm sure that people interested in Hotmetal Typesetting will find this page of Houston's University website interesting. It tells the story of the man who bankrupted Mark Twain.

http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1372.htm

You can also listen to an audio version

[Dave Hughes]

Interesting story - the temperamental racehorse versus the steady workhorse!

[rag451]

Did I not read somewhere that the only other surviving Paige Compositor went for scrap during World War I?

[Mechanic]

That's correct Robert, The following is an extract from the Mark Twain Museum's website

Two working models were made but, after failing in pre–production tests, the Paige typesetter never went into production.
One model was given to Columbia University, which later donated it to the scrap metal drive during World War I.
The other model was at the Cornell University Museum from 1894–1897.
The Mergenthaler Company bought this compositor for $20,000 in 1897.
This machine (now the only one in existence) was originally loaned to the Mark Twain House in 1958 by the Mergenthaler Linotype Company of Brooklyn, NY. They donated the machine in 1964.