There are now three type-foundries in Boston, seven in New York, one in Buffalo, four in Philadelphia, four in Baltimore, two in Cincinnati, four in Chicago, two in Milwaukee, two in St. Louis, one in Richmond, one in St. Paul, one in Cleveland, one in Kansas City, and three in California—in all, thirty-six. Some of these foundries not only supply the printers of the United States, but most of the printers in Canada, some in the British West India Islands, Mexico, South America, China, India and Australasia. American type, in quality, style, and finish, is equal, if not superior, to any made in Europe. The following are the prices at which plain types have been sold for the last seventy-five years, given at ten different dates, and naming only the principal and most useful sizes:— +----------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+ | |1806.|1811.|1819.|1827.|1831.|1841.|1860.|1866.|1876.|1893.| +----------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+ |Pica |$0·44|$0·55|$0·44|$0·42|$0·36|$0·38|$0·32|$0·56|$0·46|$0·32| |Small Pica| ·48| ·58| ·48| ·46| ·38| ·40| ·34| ·58| ·48| ·34| |Lg. Primer| ·56| ·66| ·56| ·50| ·40| ·42| ·36| ·62| ·50| ·36| |Bourgeois | ·66| ·76| ·66| ·58| ·46| ·46| ·40| ·66| ·52| ·38| |Brevier | ·76| ·86| ·76| ·70| ·56| ·54| ·44| ·70| ·55| ·42| |Minion | 1·03| 1·13| 1·00| ·88| ·70| ·66| ·48| ·76| ·58| ·46| |Nonpareil | 1·40| 1·75| 1·40| 1·20| ·90| ·84| ·58| ·84| ·66| ·52| |Agate | | | | 1·44| 1·10| 1·08| ·72| 1·00| ·76| ·60| |Pearl | | | | 1·75| 1·40| 1·40| 1·08| 1·40| 1·20| 1·20| |Diamond | | | | | | | 1·60| 1·80| 1·62| 1·60| +----------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+ STEREOTYPING. Stereotyping is said to have been invented by J. Van der Mey, in Holland, about 1698. A quarto Bible and some other books were printed by him from plates, which were formed by soldering the bottoms of common type together. William Ged, of Edinburgh, discovered the present mode in 1725, and stereotyped parts of the Bible and Prayer-Book. He encountered malicious opposition, and the business was abandoned, the new method dying with the inventor. About 1745, Benjamin Mecom, a nephew of Dr. Franklin, cast plates for a number of the pages of the New Testament. Dr. Alexander Tilloch, of Glasgow, re-discovered the art in 1781. Stereotyping gradually spread, and soon effected a considerable reduction in the cost of books. The arguments that were advanced against its utility have a ridiculous look at the present day, when almost every important work is stereotyped or electrotyped.