author

Raymond Means

Known mainly for a practical early-20th-century guide to the Linotype machine, this little-known technical author helped document how one of publishing's most important typesetting systems worked. Very little biographical information appears to be readily available, which makes his surviving work especially interesting as a snapshot of printing history.

1 Audiobook

Linotype mechanism

Linotype mechanism

by Raymond Means, Alvin Garfield Swank

About the author

Raymond Means is credited as co-author, with Alvin Garfield Swank, of Linotype Mechanism, a 1924 manual about the operation and maintenance of Linotype machines. The book reflects the highly skilled, hands-on world of industrial printing and typesetting at a moment when Linotype technology was central to newspaper and book production.

Beyond that publication record, reliable biographical details about his life have proven hard to confirm from readily available sources. No clear, well-sourced public biography was found during this search, so it is safest to remember him through the technical writing attached to his name rather than through unverified personal details.

For readers interested in printing history, Means's work survives as a useful artifact from the age of hot-metal typesetting, when understanding the mechanics of a machine could mean the difference between smooth production and costly delay.