author
H. C. Forster
A little-known writer remembered for a concise history of printing, this author explored how books evolved from woodblocks to metal type. The surviving record is sparse, which gives the work an intriguing, almost archival feel.
1 Audiobook
From Xylographs to Lead Molds; A.D. 1440-A.D. 1921
by H. C. Forster
About the author
H. C. Forster is known today mainly for From Xylographs to Lead Molds; A.D. 1440–A.D. 1921, a nonfiction work on the development of printing. Project Gutenberg lists that title under H. C. Forster, and bookseller and library-style records point to the same work as the one most clearly associated with the name.
Reliable biographical details about the author are limited in the sources I could confirm. One science-history database uses the fuller name Howard Carlyle Forster, but the available evidence does not clearly connect that individual to the book beyond name similarity, so it is safer not to state that as certain fact.
What can be said with confidence is that Forster's surviving reputation rests on an interest in the history of books, type, and printing technology. For readers drawn to publishing history, the work offers a snapshot of how earlier generations understood the long story of print.