- William Clowes (printer)
William Clowes (
January 1 1779 –January 26 1847 ) founded aprinting firm,William Clowes Ltd. , inLondon in 1803.The firm rapidly expanded, and became the largest printing firm in the world.
In 1870, the firm amalgamated with William Moore, a
Beccles printer who also owned the Caxton press.The firm led the field in the development of
monotype composition.In 1984 William Clowes Ltd. opened their Printing Museum to commemorate the granting of a charter to Beccles by Queen Elizabeth I.
The museum houses a large collection of composing, printing and binding equipment, memorabilia and books, including a pivotal type caster invented in the
United States by David Bruce in 1838, and a Columbian Press, invented in 1898 byGeorge E. Clymer ofPhiladelphia .The Clowes printing factory moved to
Ellough , nearBeccles , in 2005. The original factory was demolished to make way for a newTesco supermarket.The company in 2004 invested in a new
Timsons T48 coldset web press and their share of the consumer book publishing market continues to grow.
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