Photograph of Monometer at T & A Constable Printers

Category

Museums & Galleries Item

Item no

52356

Title

Photograph of the monometer at T & A Constable printers, Hopetoun Street, December 1930

Description

One black and white photograph of the monometer at T & A Constable printers, Hopetoun Street taken in December 1930. In the corner of the room stands a large vesseal with two openings. The bottom opening has a tap protruding from it with moulds underneath. The gentleman stands to the left of the vessel wearing a suit and tie. A lever stands ontop of the vessel. Photograph mounted on grey card with a pencil border around the photograph, and a sticker at the bottom with type caption.

Accession number

SH.2021.070

In the early 20th century, Edinburgh had dozens of printing and publishing companies and many of their buildings still survive. This picture was taken in 1929, soon after the new workshop for T. & A. Constable was opened on Hopetoun Street. T. & A. Constable was founded in the 1790s and by 1839, the firm was appointed Her Majesty's Printer and Publisher in Scotland. By the 1860s, Constable was one of the biggest printing companies in the city and the official printer for the University of Edinburgh.

The monometer was a special furnace used by the printers to melt the metal used to make the type.

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Photograph of monometer at T & A Constable printers