WILLIAM

See also:

• WILLIAM GED (1690-1749)

GED (1690-1749)  , the inventor of stereotyping, was born at Edinburgh in 1690 . In 1725 he patented his invention, developed from the simple process of soldering together loose types of Van der Mey . Ged, although he succeeded in obtaining a cast in similar metal, of a type page, could not persuade Edinburgh printers to take up his invention, and finally entered into partnership with a London stationer named Jenner and Thomas James, a typefounder . The partnership, however, turned out very ill; and Ged, broken-hearted at his want of success due to trade jealousy and the compositors' dislike of the innovation, died in poverty on the 19th of October 1749 . Two prayer-books for the university of Cambridge and an edition of Sallust were printed from his stereotype plates . In his time the best type was imported from Holland, and Ged's daughter reports that he had repeated offers from the Dutch which, from patriotic motives, he refused . His sons tried to carry out his patent, and it was eventually perfected by Andrew Wilson .