This week, together with my old friend and printing teacher Till Schröder, I visited Erich Hirsch at the Museum der Arbeit in Hamburg-Barmbek and got an introduction to the Monotype, very educational and instructive. I had never seen one in operation, only on YouTube. For the first time I understood the Monotype unit system, how the matrices are arranged in the matrix case, and how that is connected to the set wedges and the keyboard. I was also allowed to do a little myself, help clean from a squirt and remount the bridge. I watched how to adjust the type width. Finally, I exchanged a matrix for an “å” so that I could set a Swedish text, which I keyed myself and got cast by Erich. Thank you Erich, that was not the last time!
