Stereotyp

Streotyp, or stereotype, is a historical method and resulting printing plate used in letterpress production. The technique emerged in the 18th century in Europe as a way to convert movable type into durable printing surfaces, enabling long runs of text without reprinting from individual type pieces.

The basic process involves arranging a page’s type into a forme as for traditional printing. A mold or matrix is then created to capture the exact layout, and molten metal is cast to form a solid stereotype plate. This plate bears the complete page image in relief and can be used on a press much like a regular metal type, often allowing many thousands of impressions before wear becomes a concern. Meanwhile, the original movable type and chases can be reused or stored, making production more efficient for large editions.

Stereotyping offered several advantages: it reduced wear on fragile type, sped up the repeated printing of pages, and facilitated distribution by allowing plates to be shipped separately from the type. However, the method required a substantial upfront investment and was less flexible for frequent corrections, revisions, or small print runs. The rise of more modern technologies—such as hot metal typesetting, electrotyping, phototypesetting, and eventually digital printing—led to a decline in the use of stereotyping in the 20th century.

The term stereotype derives from Greek roots meaning “solid impression.” In historical printing contexts, the process and the resulting plate were commonly referred to as stereotyping or to a stereotype plate. Today, stereotyping is largely of interest to historians, librarians, and those studying the history of printing.