Walker Rumble's new book is . . .
*The Swifts: Printers in the Age of Typesetting Races*
. . . published by the University of Virginia Press.


About the Book On a December day in 1885, Bill Barnes, a journeyman from the New York World, and Joe McCann, representing the New York Herald, faced off in a match race of Swifts, compositors who set type by hand, individually, letter by letter, with incredible accuracy and speed. McCann got off to a slow start, but at the end of the four-hour race, he joined shopfloor legends Clinton "The Kid" DeJarnatt and the "Velocipede" George Arensberg as a work-class hero. It was not the last race of its kind between Swifts, but already looming were changes both social and technological that would cause these gifted tramp printers to disappear. In The Swifts, Walker Rumble follows the trail of these colorful compositors who became famous by winning typesetting races. Tellingly, at the same time that the most celebrated contests were taking place, technological and cultural forces were threatening the Swifts' way of life. First, women printers vied for shopfloor legitimacy; then, in the mid-1880s, typesetting machines such as Mergenthaler's Linotype arrived, forever altering American printing.


		A Table of Contents 1 A Gutenberg Legacy 2 The Arensberg Wager and the Swifts 3 The Gendered Machine of Timothy Alden 4 Augusta Lewis and Women's Typographical Union No. 1 5 Joseph McCann Takes the Swifts to the Show 6 Fast Women: The Boston Typesetting Races of 1886 7 Mr. Mergenthaler's Revolution 8 Art of the Swifts: Shopfloor Design from Harpel to Rogers 9 The Death of a Velocipede


Comment
"In a lively and colorful manner, Walker Rumble captures the excitement and suspense of typesetting races and the men and women who participated in them. In doing so, he recovers a little-known and fascinating corner of American life." — Michael Winship, University of Texas, Austin

			". . . the author uses shop-floor savvy and a doctoral background in history to conjure a vivid lost world . . ." — Nina C. Ayoub, Chronicle of Higher Education

"Typesetting racing didn't die a lingering death, it just stopped. Cold. And then came close to being forgotten entirely. But for Walker Rumble that likely is what would have happened." — Lyn Nofziger, Washington Times


			"Although [Rumble’s] principal subject is the Swifts, the manner in which he describes their interaction with the broader society and culture of their times makes this work about much more than just fast typesetters. Rumble’s book should be accessible to a wide readership . . . It is a model of clarity and inclusion." —Henry Petroski, author of The Evolution of Useful Things and The Pencil

"Although academic in style, this book provides a fascinating study of human endeavor and the extremes of physical capabilities. It also provides a critical perspective on the business and mechanics of publishing in an era marked by rapid change. — Kim Long, The Bloomsbury Review

			"Before you start yawning, realize that there were racers who set type, just as now there are racers who bicycle, and crowds paid to watch them and cheered and bet on the outcome. There must have been something not-so-dull about the contests, and there is nothing dull about The Swifts: Printers in the Age of Typesetting Races." — The Times of Acadiana


	*About Walker Rumble* Rumble prints, edits, and publishes at Oat City Press, in Riverside, Rhode Island. He has written numerous articles on the history of printing. The Ph.D. is from Maryland. He's worked as a compositor and type manager.		*Order The Swifts* By clicking on any of these: Amazon Booksense Borders Books Barnes and Noble University of Virginia Press and from your local bookstore.

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