49A Matrix Holder Parts Breakdown

The Monotype 49A matrix holder is listed with plate 35 in the English Spare Parts List book, and although a list of all its parts is included, the holder is not shown in the illustration. This post shows the internals of this holder and identifies all the individual parts.

Rear view, fully assembled

Note that the adjustment for the mould size has a sort of vernier scale, where you match lines to get the desired position. This allows the individual labels to be far enough apart to be legible. The ‘D’ and ‘E’ suffixes on the sizes would appear to refer to Didot and English point systems. I’m not sure what the ‘A’ refers to, perhaps it refers to an American (Lanston) display mould, which uses the same matrix position in all cases and is the same as the English 36-point position.

Front view, fully assembled, with matrix installed

Rear view, assembled but with cover off

Disassembled with individual parts identified

The parts are identified by part code, but if they were marked with a part number as well this is shown in parentheses. I’m not actually sure where that spring labeled only ‘?’ came from, as there are no points to anchor either end of it to. Perhaps it was just sitting loose inside this assembly when I first opened it up.

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