author
Raymond Means
Best known as the co-author of Linotype Mechanism, this early 20th-century printing instructor helped explain one of the machines that transformed newspaper and book production. His surviving published work offers a practical window into the world of hot-metal typesetting.
1 Audiobook
Linotype mechanism
by Alvin Garfield Swank, Raymond Means
About the author
Raymond Means is known today mainly through Linotype Mechanism, a technical manual he wrote with Alvin G. Swank. The book was published in 1926 by the Department of Education of the United Typothetae of America, and later preserved by Project Gutenberg.
The manual is aimed at students, operators, and owners of Linotype machines, reflecting a hands-on teaching approach rather than a literary one. It focuses on how the machine works in detail, helping readers understand the mechanics behind a technology that shaped modern printing.
Very little biographical information about Means appears to be readily available in reliable public sources. What can be said with confidence is that his work survives as part of printing history, and that it remains useful for readers interested in typesetting, industrial craftsmanship, and the tools that once powered the publishing world.