Ernie by his 1890 Rogers Typograph, one of the earliest machines he added to the collection from germany
The International Printing Museum features the Ernest A. Lindner Collection. Recognized by many authorities as the largest, most comprehensive collection of historic graphic arts equipment in the world, the Lindner Collection spans more than 500 years of history and features many notable developments in printing. As a young man, Ernest Lindner began collecting while working for his uncle and father who rebuilt and sold used typesetting equipment in Los Angeles. “We would sell a man a machine and take in trade a piece he was replacing. I couldn’t bear to throw away some of these wonderful machines, so I began shoving them into corners, even after there were no more corners!”
After the death of his father in 1940 and his uncle and namesake, Ernest in 1957, Ernie began collecting in earnest. He combed the world searching for old hand-lever presses and typesetting machines that were the wonders of the machine age and assembled one of the largest and finest collections in the world. Since 1988, Ernie and his wife, Harriet, personally restored many of the pieces on display at the Printing Museum. Though Ernie passed away in October of 2001, the Museum continues to build his legacy by collecting pieces that in Ernie’s words, “we just can’t do without!”
E.G. Lindner Co. display at the 1968 Printing equipment trade show in Los Angeles. Ever the showman, Ernie used Pieces from his collection such as the Typograph to attract attention to his exhibit.
Ernie was the national distributor of the Asbern Proof Press, the German version of the now-famous Vandercook.
Every American Asbern has a red Plate affxed to it with the name E.G. LINDNER CO., LOS ANGELES.
