rixxNov 2, 2021

You know how the Eiffel Tower won the Grand Prize at the 1889 World Fair? Well, it had to share the glory with a book.

Not any book: A book ENTIRELY WOVEN IN SILK.

You heard right. And nerds, get this: All pages of this book were produced on the Jacquard loom in 1889, using thousands (200k-500k) of punch cards. Only 50-60 copies were made. >

Show threadStewart RussellNov 3, 2021
@rixx About this time (maybe a few years later) people were doing the equivalent of ASCII art on Linotypes (except wildly complex). There's a tonne of it in the Inland Printer c.1895-1910. Nowhere near the craft level of this, but digital(ish) enough
Show threadHans GerwitzNov 17, 2022
@scruss ! I would love to learn more about that, if you have any pointers.
Show threadStewart RussellNov 17, 2022

@gerwitz only example I can find without spending too much time is this:

https://smithsonianlibraries.tumblr.com/post/184781887269/linotype-post-cards-from-the-june-1910-issue-of

I remember there were far better ones

While the Inland Printer archives are on archive.org, a single volume comprises thousands of pages

Turning the Book Wheel

Linotype post-cards from the June 1910 issue of The Inland Printer. Full text here.

Tumblr
Show threadHans GerwitzNov 17, 2022
@scruss thank you! You happened to find an example from my hometown, even.
Show threadStewart Russell
@gerwitz I have spent a lot of time there. The City Museum is a work of art
Nov 17, 2022 at 3:29pmWeb