A-Z: WOOD TYPE

About Wood Type

Wood was used for letterforms and illustrations dating back to the first known Chinese wood block print dating from 868. The forerunner of the block print in China was the wooden stamp. The image on these stamps was most often that of the Buddha, and was quite small. Provided with handles to facilitate their use, they were not unlike the modern rubber-stamps of today.

The use of wood in printing as a material for making type had been made for hundreds of years before the 19th century.With the expansion of the commercial printing industry in America in the first years of the 19th century, it was inevitable that someone would perfect a process for cheaply producing the large letters so in demand for broadsides. Wood was the logical material because of it's lightness, availability, and known printing qualities.

Darius Wells of New York found the means for mass producing letters in 1827, and published the first known wood type catalog in 1828. The usual procedure was to draw the letter on wood, or paper which was pasted to the wood. Then cut around the letter with a knife or graver, gouging out the parts to be left blank.