It has sometimes been claimed that William Nicholson, of England, invented a typecasting machine in 1790. So, for a very direct example: "Mr. Nicholson obtained a patent for a type-casting machine in 1790." ( {SPCK 1855}, p. 67) An inspection of the Specification of his patent shows that this was not the case. His patent was for a type-revolving rotary printing press, and his overall process included a hand mold, not a machine, capable of casting multiple types simultaneously.
Nicholson's patent was English (GB) patent No. 1748 of 1790, issued April 29, 1790. Its Specification and Drawings were published in { Repertory 1796} , pp. 145-170 and three Plates. This has been digitized by Google Books from the University of Minnesota and the Cornell University copies. Here is the section containing Nicholson's patent, from the Google Books digitization of the Minnesota copy: repertory-of-arts-1st-series-vol-05-google-ic4cAQAAMAAJ-umn-extract-nicholson-patent.pdf Only two of the Plates appear in the digitization above, however, and they are poorly scanned. Here are the three plates from the better digitization of the Cornell copy: repertory-of-arts-1st-series-vol-05-google-cornell-via-hathi-coo-31924101106510-nicholson-patent-plates.pdf. The plates do not show Nicholson's hand mold.
An abridgment of the Specification of Nicholson's patent appears in {GB 1859}, pp. 97-100. This source also includes bibliographic references to discussions of Nicholson's patent. Besides the Repertory of Arts, these include:
In reading Nicholson's patent, it is necessary to keep in mind the distinctions between:
{GB 1859} Great Britain, Commissioner of Patents. Patents for Inventions: Abridgments of Specifications Relating to Printing. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1859.
For a local copy of the Google Books digitization of this work go up one level.
{Hebert 1846} Hebert, Luke. The Engineer's and Mechanic's Encyclopædia. London: Thomas Kelly, 1846.
This book has been digitized by Google from the New York Public Library copy. Here's a local copy of that digitization: hebert-1846-engineers-and-mechanics-encyclopaedia-v2-google-jyEJAAAAIAAJ-nypl.pdf
{MM 1826} "Messrs. Applegath and Cowper's Printing Press." in Mechanics' Magazine, Juseum, Register, Journal, and Gazette. Whole No. 157, Vol. 6 (1826-08-26): 255-259.
This volume has been digitized by Google from the New York Public Library copy. Here is a local copy of this digitization (note that the volume was published in 1827, even though the individual number referenced here dates to 1826): mechanics-magazine-vol-06-1827-google-p-258-discusses-nicholsons-1790-typefounding.pdf
{ Repertory 1796} The Repertory of Arts and Manufactures. [First Series] Vol. V. London: ["Printed for the Proprietors"], 1796.
This book has been digitized by Google from the University of Minnesota copy. Here's a local copy of that digitization: repertory-of-arts-1st-series-vol-05-google-ic4cAQAAMAAJ-umn.pdf
It has also been digitized by Google from the Cornell University copy, but at present I can only find that via The Hathi Trust. Hathi ID: coo.31924101106510
{SPCK 1855} The History of Printing. London: The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1855.
This book has been digitized by Google from the Oxford copy. Google Book ID: qZEDAAAAQAAJ Here's a local copy of that digitization: spck-1855-history-of-printing-google-qZEDAAAAQAAJ-oxford.pdf
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