Linn Boyd Benton - The Man and His Work

[Dave Hughes]

Taken from the October 1922 edition of the "Inland Printer" and written by Henry Lewis Bullen this great biography of Linn Boyd Benton tells the fascinating story of his "behind the scenes" work which was crucial to the success of both the Linotype and Monotype systems.

"Mergenthaler had little originality - he was persistent in developing other men's ideas, but never satisfactorily, and was by no means a brilliant mechanic. When he severed his connection with those who had poured out nearly two million dollars in experiment, the linotype machine was a failure. It was made marketable by Philip T Dodge, who utilized the inventions of Benton and Schuckers and Rogers to make it the huge success it ultimately became. This we declare on the highest authorities. It is the plain truth."

"Will's earliest important task was to sharpen fifteen pencils and have them on Benton's drawing table early each morning. Benton's first work was to examine the pencil points under a magnifying glass. If five of the fifteen were accepted Will was lucky - most of them would be too flat or too round or too sharp. Benton knew what he wanted and trained his people to give it to him, without compromise."