Mono Lino Typesetting Company Limited

• Addison & Mainprice
• ML

Mono Lino Typesetting Company Limited was a trade typesetting company that was in operation in Toronto from 1912 to 1985.

The Mono Lino Typesetting Company Limited was founded in 1912 by H. Mainprice, Frank Addison and William Robert Adamson, originally under the name of Addison & Mainprice. The firm, initially operating as a job printer, was the first plant in Eastern Canada to offer Monotype typesetting service and the first to attempt a complete composition and make-up service.

In July of 1912, Mainprice, Addision and Adamson established the trade typesetting end of the company at 154 Pearl St., Toronto, initially operating with one Monotype keyboard and one caster, adding a second keyboard in 1914.

In 1917 the firm was reorganized and incorporated under the new name of Mono Lino Typesetting Company Limited. At this time, William R. Adamson became company President. Soon after, the firm added new Linotype equipment and initiated a complete make-up service.

That same year, the company moved to 160 Richmond St. West, Toronto, where they remained until 1928, when they relocated to 200-206 Adelaide St. West. In 1950, Mono Lino Typesetting relocated to 163 Adelaide St. West. In 1963, the company moved for the last time into the former offices of the H.J. Heintz Co. at 420 Dupont St.

After the death of William R. Adamson in 1929, Mrs. E.M. Adamson became president. In 1958, Walter Robert Adamson (1914-2008), the son of William R. Adamson, became company president, a position he held until 1985.

The company held complete or partial ownership in several different trade typographic and graphic design companies, including: Superior Typesetting Ltd., Lettering Designs Ltd., Fleet Typographers Ltd., Alphalibre Ltd., Alpha Graphics Ltd., Ridgway Graphics Ltd., Computer Composition Inc., and The Type House.

All through its existence, the company promoted its dedication to speed and quality of service, an ethic that led to its place as one of the most successful typesetting companies in Toronto.

In its early years, when metal type dominated the trade typesetting industry, Mono Lino offered its customers newly cast type for every job. Over the years, Mono Lino introduced a variety of different typographic composition and printing technologies into their business model in an effort to keep pace with changing consumer demands. In 1967, the company introduced Phototypesetting into their services, and in 1969, they introduced computerization for the production of electronic composition.

By the early 1980s Mono Lino Typesetting was suffering from the competition brought on by advances in automated typographic composition, which threatened the viability of trade typesetting houses everywhere. Mono Lino Typesetting Company closed its doors in 1985.

Added Apr/12.