Rob Roy Kelly American Wood Type Collection, University of Texas at Austin

Rob Roy Kelly sold the wood type to Dr. Bernard Karpel, librarian at the Museum of Modern Art during the late 1960s because he did not have proper storage conditions. Karpel in turn sold it to the University of Texas where it now is a Study Collection available to scholars at the university library.

This collection is comprised of nearly 150 faces of various sizes and styles, including examples of the most popular printing types in use between 1828 and 1900.

The end-cut method was used by all manufacturers to produce wood type. This consisted of routing the negative shape around a letter out of the face of a type-high block of hardwood.

The die-cut method consisted of stamping a type-high block of hardwood with a thin steel punch fashioned to match the contour of the letter.

Veneer types were produced by designing a letter on a piece of Holly Wood and then affixing it to a wood block. Then it was sanded and polished on the printing side, after which the back was planed to bring the block down to type-high.

(all information from http://www.utexas.edu/cofa/rrk/index.php)