Type Archive

London museum of type founding

The Type Archive (formerly the Type Museum) was a collection of artefacts representing the legacy of type founding in England, whose famous type foundries and composing systems supplied the world with type in over 300 languages. The Archive was founded in 1992 by Susan Shaw in Stockwell, South London. The Archive announced in mid 2022 that it would relinquish its building and return portions of its collections to other institutions.

The Type Archive was a repository of the original forms, punches, matrices and patterns of some of the most successful metal type and wood type foundries in the England. It holds a historic collection of presses. The Archive estimated that its collections included over six million artefacts, though collating among sources provides a number over 10 million. The Archive offered apprenticeships and trained several individuals in matrix manufacture. These operations ended on 25 July 2022. The Archive had no regular open hours nor scheduled availability for researchers for most of its operation. However, it conducted open houses from time to time, hosted occasional exhibitions in a gallery space, and had school groups in for printing workshops.

The Type Archive was run by a small team of staff and volunteers. Some were directly involved in the manufacture and provision of Monotype matrices and spare parts and employed by Monotype Hot Metal Ltd. The company had continuous orders for matrices and machine parts since it began operations from the Stockwell site. Uniquely skilled volunteers also maintained and operated the historic presses and Monotype casting machinery. A major exhibition showcasing the work of the late Berthold Wolpe, artist, designer, calligrapher, type designer, and typographer ran from September to December 2017 through December. The Archive said around 1,000 visitors viewed the material on display. The Wolpe exhibition was arranged in conjunction with Monotype Imaging, using a combination of resources in possession of the Type Archive and the children of Berthold Wolpe. An exhibition featuring the calligraphic work of Icelandic artist and handwriting expert, Gunnlaugur SE Briem, opened in June 2018, closing in mid July that year. The COVID 19 pandemic and the unrelated death of founder Susan Shaw (1932 2020) made access particularly difficult for staff, volunteers, and researchers from March 2020. On the 29 November 2021, after over 75 years of involvement with the Monotype Corporation and then Monotype Hot Metal Ltd., Duncan Avery retired. An unsigned note on The Type Archive’s website, posted in mid 2022, said the site would be relinquished and collections moved. Monotype Hot Metal Ltd. informed its customers that it would halt its operation in July 2022.